Brothers of the Vine
Forever Evermore
Women of W.A.R.
Taylor Swift is a big fave here at Romance.com.au. And with the re-release of her lesser-known, but top-tier, 2010 album Speak Now coming this week we thought we’d make a Speak Now reading list!
RELATED: What to read based on your fave Taylor Swift album
Speak Now is an album about the highs and lows of love. It’s about the ineffable spark of love that ignites when you fall for a stranger, it’s about breaking up with your first love and regretting it for months after. It’s an album about growing up, maturing, reflecting and crying. Is it a work of art? In all ways, yes.
Here’s what to read based on your favourite Speak Now song!
Mine
You said, “I remember how we felt, sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it’s like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man’s careful daughter.
She is the best thing that’s ever been mine.”
Mine is a sweet romantic tale about two lovers facing adversity and trials, but deciding to stay together. BIG small-town romance vibes! If you love the romance of two people finding their way back to each other read The Trouble With Exes by Sera Taino
A prescription for love…or disaster?
Fighting for funding for her local clinic, Dr Natalía Navarro never expected her ex — surgeon Leo Espinoza — to show up in her ER! Five years earlier, Nati knew the only way to compel Leo toward the prestigious future he’d been working towards was to set him free. But with Leo back in East Ward, the duo’s long-dormant electricity sparks into instant flame. Now Leo not only holds the clinic’s future in the balance…but might also have Nati’s heart!
Sparks Fly
Drop everything now
Meet me in the pouring rain
Kiss me on the sidewalk
Take away the pain
‘Cause I see sparks fly, whenever you smile
For romance with a spark of magic, where two people can’t fight the sparks between themselves, read Written In The Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur.
After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.
Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy… a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle’s new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date Because… awkward.
Darcy begs Elle to play along and she agrees to pretend they’re dating. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family during the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a faux relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars
Back To December
It turns out freedom ain’t nothin’ but missin’ you
Wishin’ I’d realized what I had when you were mine
I’d go back to December, turn around and make it alright
The couple in Back To December don’t work out, but if you was a HEA where a couple almost breaks up… but decide to make it work read Pets of Park Avenue by Stefanie London.
What do you do when The One is also the one who broke your heart?
Self-proclaimed hot mess Scout Myers is determined to prove she’s finally got her act together. Raised by grandparents who saw her as her wayward mother’s wayward daughter, Scout’s used to being written off. So when the opportunity for a promotion arises at Paws in the City, the talent agency where she works, Scout is desperate to rise to the occasion. With shared custody of her little sister also on the line, Scout can’t afford a single mistake…like suddenly needing a canine stand-in for an important photoshoot. Luckily (or not) she knows the owner of the perfect pup replacement: the estranged husband she walked out on years ago.
On the surface, it appears Lane Halliday’s life has been blissfully drama free without Scout, but she suspects her handsome-as-ever not-quite-ex-husband doth protest too much. Working together even feels like old times — except for all that lingering, unresolved tension. But Scout’s not sure she’s ready to confront the reasons she left Lane, and when their plans to finalise the divorce become very real, Scout starts to wonder whether second chances might be worth a little hot mess.
Speak Now
So don’t say yes, run away now
I’ll meet you when you’re out of the church at the back door
Is there any trope more deliciously romantic than an interrupted wedding? You can check out our full list of books here, but if I only get one pick then we choose…
She thought she had life all figured out. But perfect doesn’t always mean it’s right…
Cate Penland once believed she could have it all — but that was before her fiancé left her at the altar in front of twelve hundred guests. Heartbroken and humiliated, Cate can think of only one thing to do: run. But escape leads right to her nemesis, Prescott ‘Harry’ Harrington III. They’re ten years apart and not compatible. He might be lauded in their Atlanta social circles, but she doesn’t like him. He makes her feel prickly and all…something inside. Why is he rescuing her? Putting her up in his penthouse suite, offering a sympathetic ear — suddenly the older, wiser Harry is someone she can lean on…
Now Cate isn’t sure what she wants. The life she left behind…or the one she hasn’t quite found yet? The one thing she knows: she’s going home to Blossom Branch. Even if Harry says he’s coming with her. Maybe there, under the peach trees, is where she’ll find out what perfection really means…
Dear John
Dear John, I see it all now that you’re gone
This song HURTS! If you need some feel-good vibes afterwards, and the hope of a second-chance romance, read The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa.
Mia Sosa delivers a sassy, steamy #ownvoices enemies-to-lovers novel, perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Helen Hoang, and Sally Thorne!
A wedding planner left at the altar Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.
Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.
If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own.
Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again…
Mean
But someday, I’ll be livin’ in a big old city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean, yeah
Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Love a story of an underdog succeeding? Read On The Same Page by Penelope Janu.
For readers of Mhairi McFarlane, Beth O’Leary, Lindsay Kelk and Sally Thorne comes this utterly charming and delightfully funny love story where opposites attract – or do they?
By day Miles Franklin, named after the famous author, is a successful lawyer. By night, in secret, she writes historical romance novels under the pen name Emma Browning. When ‘Emma’s’ novels win one of Australia’s biggest literary awards, Miles’s perfectly ordered life begins to unthread at the bindings. Especially when Lars Kristensen, CEO of the publishing company contracted to publish the prize-winning books, insists on meeting the author.
Besides mutual antipathy and sexual attraction, socially anxious Miles and supremely confident Lars have nothing in common. Nothing. But the more time they spend together, the more blurred the lines between fact and fiction and love and hate become.
Miles is determined to both protect her privacy and to keep writing-even if it means mastering pole dancing, choreographing a love scene in the back of a horse-drawn carriage, and confronting the prejudices of her parents and publishers.
Like the heroines in her books, Miles has the grit to stand her ground. But Lars has the smouldering looks, arrogance and pride of all her romantic heroes rolled into one. And he is good at reading between the lines. Who is going win this battle of wills? Can Miles and Lars ever be on the same page?
‘Endearingly quirky and utterly charming. Funny and sweet and wonderful.’ -Amy Andrews, USA Today bestselling author
The Story Of Us
Now I’m standing alone in a crowded room
And we’re not speaking and I’m dying to know
Is it killing you like it’s killing me yeah
I don’t know what to say since the twist of fate
When it all broke down and the story of us
Looks a lot like a tragedy now
The couple in The Story of Us does not work it out, but what if the hero met their true love AT that party…?
Cameron Carson has a secret. A secret with the power to break apart his friend group.
Cameron Carson, member of the Geeks and Nerds United (GANU) club, has been secretly hooking up with student council president, cheerleader, theater enthusiast, and all-around queen bee Karla Ortega since the summer. The one problem — what was meant to be a summer fling between coffee shop coworkers has now evolved into a clandestine senior-year entanglement, where Karla isn’t intending on blending their friend groups anytime soon, or at all.
Enter Mackenzie Briggs, who isn’t afraid to be herself or wear her heart on her sleeve. When Cameron finds himself unexpectedly bonding with Mackenzie and repeatedly snubbed in public by Karla, he starts to wonder who he can truly consider a friend and who might have the potential to become more…
Never Grow Up
So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
This song makes us want to call my Mum! If you want a read that’s more about family than romance (and if you need a laugh after crying through the whole song) read Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Sutanto.
It’s supposed to be the perfect day…
After getting away with literal murder, Meddy can’t wait to settle down and marry the love of her life, Nathan. She’s found the dress, got the dream venue at Christ Church College, Oxford, plus having a destination wedding comes with the added bonus of not having to invite her very large extended family.
…But is it even a wedding if nobody gets killed?
Although when her meddling aunties get involved, Meddy knows her wedding is going to be anything but quiet. Even though there’s no dead body hidden in the freezer this time, for better or worse, it’s certainly going to be a day she’s never going to forget…
Enchanted
And it was enchanting to meet you
All I can say is, I was enchanted to meet you
This song is a romance novel in and of itself! A true Cinderella-story of love at first sight! Read The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston.
An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
Six months ago, Clementine West had the worst day of her life. So, she came up with a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, take no risks. And it’s been working.
That is until one day she finds a strange man standing in her kitchen. A man with kind eyes, a crooked smile, and a recipe for the perfect lemon meringue pie. The kind of man that, before everything, she could have fallen for . . .
He’s perfect but for one thing: he lives in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact.
This should be impossible, but Clementine used to love impossible things. And maybe, just maybe, she will again. After all, love is never a matter of time – but a matter of timing.
Better Than Revenge
The story starts when it was hot and it was summer
And, I had it all I had him right there where I wanted him
Bad girl energy x100. Read Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins.
Falling in love is the ultimate payback in this delightful, breezy romcom about an interior designer who teams up with an enigmatic architect at her firm to get revenge on her ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door.
They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiance’s house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their Realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House.
That plan quickly becomes complicated when Dani is forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, the handsome, haughty architect at her firm, and the only person available to draw up blueprints. Wyatt is terse and stern, the kind of man who eats his sandwich with a knife and fork. But as they spend time together on – and off – site, Dani glimpses something deeper beneath that hard veneer, something surprising, vulnerable, and real. And the closer she gets to her goal, the more she wonders if winning revenge could mean losing something infinitely sweeter…
Innocent
It’s okay, life is a tough crowd
32 and still growin’ up now
Who you are is not what you did
You’re still an innocent
Low key don’t know what to recommend here this song is about Kanye… If you just want an all-round great read with cute vibes to make you forget about VMA dramas try Seoulmates by Susan Lee.
Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama?
Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out — the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.
But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do — he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.
But someone who does know K-dramas — so well that he’s actually starring in one — is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.
Haunted
Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Something’s gone terribly wrong
Break ups are hard! For a read that’s literally all about being forced to re-remember your devastating break-up with an ex over and over read Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher.
Forgetting is terrifying. Remembering is worse…
Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished.
Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.
The Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives for a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.
Last Kiss
I never thought we’d have a last kiss
Never imagined we’d end like this
Your name, forever the name on my lips
This song is devastating. If you just want FEELS read If You Change Your Mind by Robby Weber.
Sometimes love has its own script.
Harry wants nothing more than to write Hollywood screenplays. The first step? Winning the screenwriting competition that will guarantee admission into the college of his dreams. With his priorities set, he’s determined to spend his summer free of distractions — also known as boys — and finish his script. After last year, Harry is certain love only exists in the movies anyway.
But then the cause of his first heartbreak, Grant, returns with a secret that could change everything — not to mention, there’s a new boy in town, Logan, who is so charming and sweet, he’s making Harry question everything he knows about romance. As Harry tries to keep his emotions in check and stick to his perfect plan for the future, he’s about to learn that life doesn’t always follow a script.
Long Live
Long live the walls we crashed through
I had the time of my life with you
Friendship. Memory. Shared experiences and celebration. This song is SPECIAL! For a read from a fellow Taylor-fan read If You Could See The Sun by Ann Liang.
No secret is safe.
Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student in a sea of uber-wealthy classmates. But she has a plan: be top in the class, attend a prestigious university, secure a killer job, and finally lift her family out of poverty.
Then her parents drop a bomb — they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship. But that’s the least of Alice’s problems, because she has started uncontrollably turning invisible. As in completely, physically invisible.
Alice realises there’s an upside to her strange new power — unparalleled access to the secrets of China’s most rich and influential teens. Soon, Alice has a new plan: offer her invisibility services to find out what her classmates want to know — for a price.
But between balancing schoolwork, a growing relationship with academic-rival-turned-business-partner Henry, and stealing secrets, things start to fall through the cracks. As the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if helping her family is worth losing her conscience — or even her life.
Ours
Don’t you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
And life makes love look hard
The stakes are high, the water’s rough
But this love is ours
A sweet little love song, cute a cozy! Read Would You Rather by Allison Ashley!
Would you rather play it safe in the friend zone, or risk it all with a modern marriage of convenience?
Noah and Mia have always been best friends. Life is going great for Noah and he’s up for a promotion in a job he loves. But Mia’s life is on hold as she awaits a kidney transplant. She’s stuck in a dead-end job and, never wanting to be a burden, has sworn off all romance. So when the chance of a lifetime comes to go back to school and pursue her dream, it’s especially painful to pass up. She can’t quit her job or she’ll lose the medical insurance she so desperately needs.
To support her, Noah suggests they get married – in name only – so she can study full-time and still keep the insurance. It’s a risk to both of them, with jobs, health and hearts on the line, and they’ll need to convince suspicious coworkers and nosy roommates that they’re the real deal. But if they can let go of all the baggage holding them back, they might realise that they would rather be together forever.
Superman
I watch superman fly away
You’ve got a busy day today
Go save the world I’ll be around
Superman is a feel-good song about being utterly devoted and in awe of your partner. You’ve got gooey feels every time they’re around. For cinnamon-roll romance (with a Superman-esque hero) read When Sparks Fly by Ally Blake and Rachael Stewart.
They can only resist each other for so long…
When Opposites Attract – Ally Blake
Interview with a billionaire.A fling that’s not supposed to last…
Quirky Adelaid yearns to be taken seriously as a journalist — writing an article on genius Ted Fincher is the perfect way. But when she meets this tall hunk of gorgeousness, the frisson of attraction between them is completely distracting! She should suppress her exuberance long enough to discover why Ted’s heart is so guarded…yet she can’t resist bowling headlong into an affair — one that has shocking consequences!
Also published as Whirlwind Fling to Baby Bombshell
Temptation Calls – Rachael Stewart
My twelve months of sacrifice…or temptation?
My foster mother’s will states I, Summer, must live with her grandson, infamous billionaire Edward Fitzroy, for one year on her Scottish estate or we forfeit our inheritance! Years ago, scared of our intense connection, I left without saying goodbye. Now, I’m completely unprepared for how devastatingly attractive Edward’s become — and how he still makes me feel. We’re from different worlds, surely this can’t work! But it’s oh-so tempting to give into the sparks flying between us…
Also published as My Year With the Billionaire
Happy reading Swifties! Still looking for Swiftie inspiration? Check out our list of songs to read based on your fave Fearless and Lover songs!