by Emily Henry
Berkley, 2025. 418 pages. Romance
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story. But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.
Emily Henry has penned bestselling romance after bestselling romance the past few years thanks to the strength of her flawed, yet likable characters and the witty banter between them. Great Big Beautiful Life lives up to those expectations, but I was surprised to find myself more pulled in by the Ives family saga than Alice and Hayden’s grumpy-sunshine romance. With this new release, Henry stretches her writing into historical fiction and pulls it off well. This is a good pick for readers who enjoy alternating and overlapping stories with elements of historical fiction, romantic comedy, and more serious contemporary fiction.
If you like Great Big Beautiful Life, you might also like:
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Atria Books, 2017. 391 pages. Fiction
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn's Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn's life unfolds, revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love, Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn's story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique's own in tragic and irreversible ways.
by Abby Jimenez
Forever, 2023. 398 pages. Romance
Dr. Briana Ortiz's life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother's running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that's probably going to the new man-doctor who's been frustrating her daily. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter. And it's a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn't actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who's terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her "sob closet," and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable--a kidney for her brother--she wonders just how she can resist him . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can't refuse.
SGR
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