Every so often I get on to a new genre kick. During those times, I want to read strictly in that genre until I grow tired of the types of stories I’m reading. It’s easy to track down recommended suspense books or authors, romance authors, or legal thrillers. The internet and reader groups are FULL of recommendations.
But when it comes to women’s fiction, I’ve struggled to find compiled lists.
Women’s fiction stories are usually lumped into general fiction, historical, or romance if there is indeed a romance thread woven throughout the story. But I’ve been hard-pressed to find a list of stories that involve the journey of a female character WITHOUT the added romance.
I get it. Romance sells and there’s a massive readership.
But sometimes, readers don’t want the romance. They want a good story that doesn’t always include romance. I remember as a single woman, I hated reading romance stories – especially when my thirties were encroaching and there wasn’t romance in my own life. I did not want to read about happily-ever-after when I didn’t have one of my own.
I’m currently writing a women’s fiction story, where romance falls apart and three different women forge strength in their friendship with each other. In the interest of research (and for my own enjoyment), I’ve compiled a list of authors who write women’s fiction (many are reader recommended authors). Some of these authors do write romance in addition to women’s fiction, so check the book blurbs before you buy or borrow a specific book.
The list below includes titles of books that have little to no romance at all.
Do you know of other authors not mentioned?
GENERAL MARKET CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S FICTION
- Darryl Hannah
- Jodi Picoult
- Lisa Wingate
CHRISTIAN/INSPIRATIONAL MARKET CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S FICTION
- Amy Sorrells
- Angela Hunt – The Pearl, The Debt, The Novelist, The Offering, The Elevator, The Face
- Beth Vogt
- Chris Fabry
- Cynthia Ruchti
- Deborah Raney
- Elizabeth Musser
- Eva Marie Everson
- Jane Daly
- Julie Perkins Cantrell
- Karen Barnett
- Karen Kingsbury
- Katherine Reay
- Lauren Denton
- Linda Nicols
- Lisa Samson
- Meg Moseley
- Michele Phoenix
- Nancy Naigle
- Rachel Linden
- Robin Jones Gunn
- Robin Pearson
- Sandra Byrd
- Sharon Garlough Brown
- Susie Finkbeiner
- T.I. Lowe
- Valerie Fraser Luesse
For more reading lists on the blog: