The best books with stage-stealing sidekicks

Why are we passionate about this?

A sidekick is someone who knows you better than you know yourself. Someone who will travel 750 miles on your wedding day, and then help you escape out of a window before you make a huge mistake. A sidekick is someone who will have your back, even when you’re making some of the most ridiculous decisions of your life. We're best friends, writing partners, and each other’s sidekicks. We write books that reward every struggle with a happy ending because life is not always kind. We create characters who inspire us to keep laughing and encourage readers to laugh with us. Here’s hoping everyone has a humorous sidekick in his or her life.


We wrote...

Dear Pink: A Romantic Comedy

By Michelle Angelle,

Book cover of Dear Pink: A Romantic Comedy

What is our book about?

After a heart-shattering breakup, Hannah buries herself in the basement copy-editing room. Resigned to a life without risks or adventures, Hannah’s world is rocked on its side when she receives an unexpected bucket list from her deceased best friend. The crazy list propels Hannah out of her comfort zone and into new experiences. When she meets Gabe, a down-to-earth bike enthusiast, a spark ignites. With the help of Gabe and his amazing family, they turn Hannah’s expectations positively upside down and inside out. Will she put aside her fears and let love change her life forever? 

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Daisy Jones & The Six

Michelle Angelle Why did I love this book?

Cue the music. That’s what you’ll want to do after reading this book. Then, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Daisy Jones and The Six is a fictional 1970s rock band. Yep, that’s how good the writing feels. Structured like a music documentary transcript, the most compelling parts of the story come from the personal accounts of the bandmates. Although the book has a love story at its center, this introspective inside view of the side characters gives this novel its true rock and roll heart and soul.

By Taylor Jenkins Reid,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Daisy Jones & The Six as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SOON TO BE AN AMAZON PRIME TV SERIES STARRING SAM CLAFLIN, RILEY KEOUGH AND CAMILA MORRONE

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the author of THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO and the bestselling MALIBU RISING

'I LOVE it . . . I can't remember the last time I read a book that was so fun' DOLLY ALDERTON

Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six.

From the moment Daisy walked barefoot on to the stage at the Whisky, she and the band were a sensation.

Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They…


Book cover of The Mother Road

Michelle Angelle Why did I love this book?

Not going to lie, we’re in a fit of giggles just thinking about these hilariously raunchy sidekicks. This book is three-fourths slapstick-middle school boy humor with one-fourth romance thrown in. The love connection wouldn’t even happen if not for the hijinks of the sidekicks. When the family unit travels in an RV across the country in search of great hotdogs, it reunites the spark between old childhood sweethearts. Who wouldn’t want a road trip with a dad who cusses presidents' names, and a goofy brother who makes inexcusable references to whale sperm? Love is simply inevitable.

By Meghan Quinn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mother Road as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Never in a million years would I have pictured myself as an axe-wielding, dragon lady, chopping up multi-colored flannel shirts into my very own plaid mulch. But here I am, chopping away my frustrations.

It all started when my brother, Paul, convinced me to go on one last family road trip across the Mother Road with him and my dad.. Just like old times, right? Wrong. What Paul fails to mention is his best man, Porter, will be joining us, who just so happens to be my childhood crush and the man who broke my heart four years ago.

What…


Book cover of You Had Me at Hello

Michelle Angelle Why did I love this book?

We are total suckers for British humor. Give us a smashing bloke or a cheeky heroine, and we are all in. Mhairi McFarlane weaves together a friends-to-lovers trope with a second-chance love story. In this novel, readers explore the fantasy of the one who got away along with the complex problems that happen in real life, such as failing marriages and self-doubt. You’ll fall in love with the main character, Rachel, but it is through her friend relationships and inner monologues that you see her development. She isn’t a damsel in distress. No, she is a strong female character with a tight group of friends who you quickly fancy. It doesn’t hurt that there is a leading man sure to make you swoon. 

By Mhairi McFarlane,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You Had Me at Hello as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling comedy from #1 bestseller Mhairi McFarlane

'Think of the great duos of history. We're just like them.'

'You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?'

'I think you've missed the point, Rachel.'

Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It's been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.

They'd been partners in crime and the best of friends. But…


Book cover of The Bromance Book Club

Michelle Angelle Why did I love this book?

This is the first book in the series and by far the best one. Lyssa Kay Adams flips the typical all-female book club dynamic on its back and upside down in the most surprising way in this romance. Not only are all the book club members men, but they are “manly” men who are secretly using steamy Harlequin romances as relationship manuals. Their book club quickly develops into a support group where the men are free from societal restraints to become honest and vulnerable with one another. The result is hilarious and charming. It’s a wonder why this Bromance Book Club isn’t a real trend among men. If only every woman could have a Bromance Book Club for her partner.

By Lyssa Kay Adams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bromance Book Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first rule of book club: You don't talk about book club.

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him. 

Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's…


Book cover of My Favorite Half-Night Stand

Michelle Angelle Why did I love this book?

A friends-to-lovers romance like this one by Christina Lauren never gets old, but sometimes the rules of “romance novels” can restrain the two main characters and make their love story feel a little dated and monotonous. Well-written sidekicks, however, are free agents. They can have outrageous backstories and hilarious quirks that inject much-appreciated chaos into the story. This is the case with Reid and Millie’s funny group of fellow academics, Chris, Ed, and Alex. The fact that they are more interesting than the two main characters is no downside. This unabashed friend group is so interesting that it is a welcome addition to the main story plot. This romantic comedy lets you have your sidekick cake and eat it too, and isn’t that what we want in any good romcom? Let us all eat cake!

By Christina Lauren,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Favorite Half-Night Stand as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to…


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American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

Book cover of American Flygirl

Susan Tate Ankeny Author Of The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Resistance and Rescue in Nazi-Occupied France

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés. 

Susan's book list on women during WW2

What is my book about?

The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.

This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.

Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.

American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

What is this book about?

One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.

Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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