If You're A Fan Of "Gilmore Girls," Read These 19 Books

♫ Where you lead, [these books] will follow. ♫

1. In the Weeds by B. K. Borison

Posie Creative, LLC

Why you should read it: Small towns, unexpected love, and found family. Does it ring any bells? B. K. Borison's Lovelight series is actually the perfect book series to read if you love the hit show Gilmore Girls. It totally has a similar vibe! 

In the Weeds follows Evelyn and Beckett, two souls who find each other. Evelyn is a social media influencer who is currently feeling disconnected from her job. The last time she felt happiness was at Localight Farms in the tiny town of Inglewild. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the grumpy, sexy farmer she spent two amazing nights with all those months ago. This sweet and steamy romance novel will easily bring a smile to your face.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

2. Juniper Hill by Devney Perry

Devney Perry

Why you should read it: When you think about Gilmore Girls, you think about Lorelai Gilmore: the one and only! If you're familiar with the show, you know that Lorelai is estranged from her parents and the world of wealth and privilege she used to live in. In Juniper Hill, you'll meet Memphis Ward, who only wants the best for her newborn son. That's why she decides to move across the country to give him a better future. It's there where she meets Knox Eden, her temporary landlord.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. 

3. Welcome to the Neighborhood by Lisa Roe

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Why you should read it: Lorelai and Rory Gilmore have one of the most iconic mother/daughter relationships in media. They're there for each other through the ups and downs. And their relationship is so special to watch! Welcome to the Neighborhood introduces single mom Ginny who has found a second chance at love when she marries a sweet, divorced guy. Marrying Jeff means moving to an upscale New Jersey suburb where she'll get to experience Real Housewives contenders, complicated alliances in PTA meetings, and sometimes, mean-girl daughters. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

4. Sweeter Than Honey by Joy Avery

Montlake

Why you should read it: Community is another important aspect of Gilmore Girls. There are many secondary characters, but they're still such a big part of the story. You definitely get attached to them!

Sweeter Than Honey is just like that. The community, the small town — they're so important to the development of the story itself. It's why Rylee, a small-town baker, has to pretend to date her next-door neighbor, town sheriff Canten. Her mother has been trying to organize blind dates for her, and Rylee is not having it anymore. So, that's why she says she's currently dating Canten — but she's really not. You'll have to read to discover how they make everyone believe they're happy and together while trying their hardest not to fall for each other.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. 

5. Main Street Dealmaker by Brighton Walsh

Bright Publishing

Why you should read it: Running a hotel — or an inn, in this case — is not easy. The protagonists of Gilmore Girls and Main Street Dealmaker know this and more. For Sadie Rollins, the main character in Walsh's novel, the management of the Starlight Haven Inn (it even has a quirky cute name like Stars Hollow, right?) is tiring her out, especially the piles of debt that it has. When Sadie's cousin offers her a good opportunity to feature the inn in the country's leading wedding magazine, she goes for it. But it also means posing for wedding pictures and pretending to be smitten with her enemy.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. 

6. Once Upon a Sunset by Tif Marcelo

Gallery Books

Why you should read it: A once-in-a-lifetime trip might change this mother and daughter's lives. In Once Upon a Sunset, Marcelo writes a riveting, intriguing, and loving story about a woman who finds, alongside her mother, a box of letters her grandfather sent her grandmother back in the '40s. When both of them learn they have surviving relatives in the Philippines, Diana becomes determined to figure out what happened back then. Her mother, though, refuses to face her history. But her daughter has one goal in mind, and she's ready to go for it.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

7. Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Berkley Books

Why you should read it: Book Lovers has Gilmore Girls vibes, let's not lie to ourselves. A small town, a city girl, and the man who she can't seem to escape. Book Lovers can easily become one of your comfort reads. It follows Nora, a literary agent, who agrees to spend one month in this beautiful town with her sister. There, she bumps into Charlie Lastra, a brooding book editor from back in the city. Nora thinks she's the villain in other people's stories, but in Sunshine Falls, she'll soon realize she can become the heroine of her own story.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

8. Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

Avon Books

Why you should read it: Another great read where the community is also the main character! This time around, the story is set in Napa, California, among the vineyards and chaotic gardeners that will make you fall madly in love. Secretly Yours is a romantic comedy featuring a gardener and a grumpy professor. Hallie fell hard for Julian Vos at 14, hoping for a first kiss that never happened. So, when the prodigal son comes back to town, Hallie feels like this is a second chance to get that kiss! But Julian is not the same teenager she remembers, and their opposite personalities crash when they reunite.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

9. The Suite Spot by Trish Doller

St. Martin's Griffin

Why you should read it: Starting a new life somewhere else is never easy, especially if you are on your own. In this case, Rachel Beck moves across the country with her daughter to become the manager of a brewery hotel. But when she arrives on Kelleys Island, she encounters Mason, the broody and very moody man who owns the hotel, but knows nothing about actually running the hotel. This is where Rachel comes in. Even though it's not the position she was looking for, Mason gives her the opportunity to help build this hotel into something wonderful. And maybe in the process, she might be able to rebuild her life and find love as well. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

10. If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

Inkyard Press

Why you should read it: One aspect of Gilmore Girls I definitely wanted to highlight is Rory's time at Chilton, an elite, posh prep school. (So, you'll definitely see a few books taking place in academies and boarding schools on this list.) If You Could See the Sun not only takes place in an elite Beijing international boarding school, but it also has a little bit of magic in it. This YA contemporary fantasy novel follows Alice Sun, who feels invisible at her boarding school. She's the only scholarship student among China's richest, most influential teenagers, so maybe that's a contributing factor. When she suddenly actually turns invisible, she decides to monetize her new power in order to afford her tuition.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

11. As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr

Forever

Why you should read it: Don't lie and tell me that after watching Gilmore Girls, you didn't want to move to a small town and find that type of love that makes you weak in the knees. But...what if those are just lies? In As Seen on TV, emerging journalist Adina Gellar believes, from the bottom of her heart, that moving to a small town will solve all her problems. But that's not what happens. Because when she arrives at Pleasant Hollow, she realizes that no one in this town is actually pleasant. Especially Finn Adams. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

12. The Bloom Girls by Amy Pine

Forever

Why you should read it: The Bloom Girls is another great novel if you want to read a story about a mother and daughter who suddenly discover that important things happen in the most unexpected ways. Gabi Bloom is about to get married after finding the love of her life while in Ireland. Alissa Bloom has too many things on her plate, and one of them is planning her daughter's upcoming nuptials. The other issues? She's currently pregnant with her ex's baby — Gabi's father — and he wants her back. Gilmore Girls meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Bloom Girls is a book that showcases parallel storylines, giving you surprises, love, and family.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

13. The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim

Quill Tree Books

Why you should read it: Gilmore Girls fans will fall quite easily for this book. Even though the cover features just one girl, you'll soon realize, as you start reading the novel, that this book has a mother and a daughter at the center of the story. Following the death of her dear aunt, Noreen and her mother travel to New Delhi, hoping that India can lessen their grief. It's a heartfelt story that talks about finding yourself in the midst of a great loss. 

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

14. Don't Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Why you should read it: Moreno has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Don't Date Rosa Santos tells the story of one girl who has been cursed by the sea. Or, well, that's what the people in her town say. Dating Rosa Santos is bad news! Except Rosa feels more stuck than cursed. As she's choosing what to do with her life after high school, she meets Alex Aquino, a mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean. Moreno wrote a love letter to Latine culture, family, and love, and you won't be able to stop reading about Rosa Santos at all.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

15. The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt

Tarah DeWitt

Why you should read it: One summer, back in their teenage years, LaRynn and Deacon were in love. But circumstances broke them apart, and they haven't seen each other in years. A decade later, their grandmothers left them with shared ownership of an apartment in a Santa Cruz building. The thing is — it's crumbling down; it desperately needs renovation. LaRynn has the money, but no expertise. Deacon knows his way around a toolbox, but currently has no money to fix it at all. The solution? A marriage of convenience! Just until they can fix the apartment and sell it to the highest bidder. But when forced proximity and unresolved feelings start to surface yet again, LaRynn and Deacon soon realize that maybe it won't be easy at all to let go.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. 

16. Meet Me Halfway by Lilian T. James

Crystal Pages Publishing

Why you should read it: Lorelai Gilmore gave Rory everything she had. She left her parents who wanted her to be something she didn't want when she was young. She made her own path, and even though it was harder than the path her parents had planned for her, she followed through. Meet Me Halfway's protagonist reminds me of Lorelai. 

Madison gave her heart to many people who constantly let her down. After leaving an abusive relationship, she feels like she can start anew with her son. Balancing motherhood, three jobs, and a college degree, Madison doesn't have time to think about anything else, not even love. But her grumpy next-door neighbor always happens to be there when she needs him the most.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. 

17. The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian

Balzer & Bray/Harperteen

Why you should read it: A coveted writing group is about to change these teens' lives. The Chandler Legacies tells the story of five teenagers who get to be part of The Circle, a writing group where lifelong friends are made. But these teens haven't exactly revealed everything about themselves, including their deepest secrets. Even though we love to romanticize boarding schools, there are far deeper, horrifying things hidden inside their walls. These five teens share their world through writing, their lives in the New England boarding school, and the friendships and enemies they make along the way.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.    

18. Christmas at Fireside Cabins by Jenny Hale

Forever

Why you should read it: Read it for the grumpy-with-a-heart-made-of-ice coffee shop owner. Ring any bells? (*wink*) Plus, Christmas at Fireside Cabins takes place during the holiday season, so now is the perfect time to read.  

This book follows Lila Evans, who has organized a getaway with her friends to try to forget her loneliness after her father's death. Fireside Cabins seems like a great spot to spend some quality time with her closest friends, but it's far from a winter wonderland. The owner confesses the cabins are on the brink of closure, and Lila wants to help her out in any way possible. This book will bring Christmas joy and festive magic to your life!

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound.

19. The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Why you should read it: Another fabulous holiday read awaits you in The Holiday Trap! Look, every time I think about Gilmore Girls, I think about the holidays. The holiday episodes of the TV shows made in the 2000s are iconic, right? Nowadays, you don't really get that specific holiday-centered episode anymore. Some TV shows now have six-to-eight episodes each season, which is a bummer because we love seeing our favorite characters living their everyday life, to be honest. We want more content!

In The Holiday Trap, you'll get to meet Greta and Truman who decide to swap houses over the winter holidays. Maybe they'll find their community and family in each other's places. But they'll have to figure out if what they've found is worth it if it's so far away from home.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.