“The things we remember are what we hold on to. And what we hold on to becomes the story of our lives.”
Happiness for Beginners is a contemporary romance novel by Katherine Center. A year after finalising her divorce, Helen Carpenter lets her decade-younger brother sign her up for a wilderness survival course. It’s supposed to be the thing that will pull her back together. However, after discovering that her brother’s infuriating best friend is coming along too, she cannot imagine it being anything less than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest three-week-long adventure of Helen’s life. Set against a stunning backdrop of Wyoming’s remote wilderness, Helen survives everything from mosquito infestations to a group of sorority girls, emerging with a renewed sense of her life being far bigger than before. If you loved Katherine Center’s empowering story, join us today at What We Reading for the best books like Happiness for Beginners!
Expiration Dates – Rebecca Serle
First up on our list of romance books like Happiness for Beginners is Rebecca Serle’s Expiration Dates. Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it – the exact amount of time they will spend together. Daphne has been receiving the same papers for twenty years now, always wondering when she might receive one without an expiration date on it.
Finally, she meets Jake. But, as Jake and Daphne’s story starts to unfold, she starts to question the paper’s prediction, falling down a rabbit hole of what it means to be truthful and committed. Ultimately, Daphne knows that Jake doesn’t. Information that, if he were to find out, would shatter his heart.
How To Walk Away – Katherine Center
If you loved Happiness for Beginners, why not pick up another one of Katherine Center’s best books as your next follow-up? How to Walk Away follows Margaret Jacobsen, a woman with a big future ahead of her. Then, in an instant, everything she worked for is snatched away from her.
In the hospital and forced to contend with the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must find a way to move forward on her own terms. To do so, she must confront long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak and the possibility that love might find her in the last place she would ever expect to feel it.
Happy Trail (Park Ranger #1) – Daisy Prescott
Ranger Jay Daniels values the calm tranquillity of the Great Smoky Mountains along the Tenessese-North Carolina border. Never one to fit in with either side of his family, he prefers to spend his time in the company of the birds and the trees. Olive Perry has just been dumped and abandoned midway through her multi-month hike. Swearing off men for life, she is nevertheless determined to finish the long trek by herself.
Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, Ranger Daniels is tasked with getting all the hikers to safety – including the hot-tempered Olive. Snowed in and forced to share an abandoned cabin together, will Olive’s intensity be enough to melt Jay’s cool exterior? One of the best books like Happiness for Beginners, Daisy Prescott’s Happy Trail is another great outdoorsy romance read.
Maybe We Won’t (Silver Harbour #3) – Melissa Foster
When workaholic Boston attorney Deirdra de Messieres is passed over for a promotion, she decides to take a two-month hiatus to demonstrate to her boss just how much he needs her. She returns home to Silver Island. But whilst she is pleased to see her sisters, she has no interest in the family restaurant, reliving painful childhood memories or spending a second with Josiah ‘Jagger’ Jones.
But, whilst he might be living in a van with his dog and unable to commit to any work schedule, Jagger has overcome his personal trials and taken stock in life’s family, friends, peace and, if he has his own way, an uptight attorney. And Jagger knows the perfect person to help Deirdra overcome her past and find happiness in the present. But, with the two of them on diverging paths in life, is there any hope for a future for the two of them together?
The Good Part – Sophie Cousens
At twenty-six, Lucy Young is tired of fetching coffees for TV directors, tired of sharing a flat with roommates who don’t believe in buying toilet rolls and tired of going on disastrous dates. After another diabolical date lands her suddenly in a storm and no money for the bus, Lucy finds herself sheltering in a shop and stumbling across a curious wishing machine. With her last coin, she closes her eyes and wishes to ‘skip to the good part’ of her life.
When she wakes the next morning to a handsome man, a ring on her finger, a high-powered job and a picture-perfect son and daughter, Lucy cannot believe it is real. Now in her forties, she begins to wonder whether she’s actually managed to skip forward to the future, or whether she’s simply forgetting a huge chunk of her life. Sophie Cousens’ The Good Part is another great book like Happiness for Beginners that explores what it means to be fulfilled and find meaning and enjoyment in life.
Part Of Your World (Part Of Your World #1) – Abby Jimenez
Another touching book similar to Happiness for Beginners not afraid to tackle some big issues comes from Abby Jimenez in Part of Your World. After a wild bet, gourmet-grilled cheese sandwiches and a cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world upended. The cause: Daniel Grant. Ten years younger, ridiculously attractive and as casual as they come, he is the total opposite of the sophisticated city girl Alexis.
Every minute she spends with Daniel, the more she becomes aware of what she really wants from life. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and the possibility of helping thousands. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?
The Simple Wild (Wild #1) – K.A. Tucker
Calla Fletcher was just two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wilderness, unable to stand the isolation and leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher. Calla never looked back and, now twenty-six, a hustle and bustle life in Toronto is all she knows. But, when her father reaches out to say his days are numbered, she knows it’s time for her to return to the frontier.
Whilst she struggles to adjust to the wildlife, strange daylight hours and occasional outhouse, Jonah, the quiet and brooding Alaskan pilot who looks after her father’s charter plane, cannot imagine living anywhere else. He is expecting to have to fly her back home, but she is determined to prove him wrong. And, as time passes, the undercurrent of disapproval is replaced by a tentative friendship and maybe something even more serious. But Calla is not in Alaska to stay, and Jonah will never leave. It would be a mistake to try and take the same path her parents tried – and failed at – all those years ago.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
