35 Books like The Secret Book Society

The Book Club for Troublesome Women

by Marie Bostwick

In 1962, four suburban women read The Feminine Mystique and find the courage to want more.

4.07

141k+

🏘️ Suburban Discontent 📚 Book Club Fiction 👭 Female Friendship 🏠 Found Family ✊ 1960s Feminism

The Book Club for Troublesome Women Summary

The Book Club for Troublesome Women 92%

In 1962, four suburban women read The Feminine Mystique and find the courage to want more.

by Marie Bostwick 2025

4.07

141k+ ratings

🏘️ Suburban Discontent 📚 Book Club Fiction 👭 Female Friendship 🏠 Found Family ✊ 1960s Feminism

Rules for Ruin

by Mimi Matthews • 2025

An orphan spy must destroy a politician. The slum-born king she's falling for needs him alive.

3.95

6k+

🗡️ Enemies To Lovers 🏙️ Victorian London ⚖️ Women's Rights 🏚️ Rookery Underworld 🕵️ Undercover Mission

Rules for Ruin 93%

An orphan spy must destroy a politician. The slum-born king she's falling for needs him alive.

by Mimi Matthews 2025

3.95

6k+ ratings

🗡️ Enemies To Lovers 🏙️ Victorian London ⚖️ Women's Rights 🏚️ Rookery Underworld 🕵️ Undercover Mission

The Lost Apothecary

by Sarah Penner • 2021

Her solo trip uncovers a hidden 1791 apothecary and its secret: poisons for women's revenge.

3.76

508k+

🕰️ Dual Timeline 🔍 Historical Mystery 🗡️ Women's Revenge 🤝 Found Family 👩‍🏫 Mentor-Protege

The Lost Apothecary 92%

Her solo trip uncovers a hidden 1791 apothecary and its secret: poisons for women's revenge.

by Sarah Penner 2021

3.76

508k+ ratings

🕰️ Dual Timeline 🔍 Historical Mystery 🗡️ Women's Revenge 🤝 Found Family 👩‍🏫 Mentor-Protege

The Giver of Stars

by Jojo Moyes • 2019

An English bride joins a packhorse library in 1930s Kentucky and discovers a sisterhood under siege.

4.29

517k+

🏔️ 1930s Appalachia 📚 Packhorse Librarians 🫂 Found Family 🤝 Sisterhood 🔥 Slow-Burn Romance

The Giver of Stars 91%

An English bride joins a packhorse library in 1930s Kentucky and discovers a sisterhood under siege.

by Jojo Moyes 2019

4.29

517k+ ratings

🏔️ 1930s Appalachia 📚 Packhorse Librarians 🫂 Found Family 🤝 Sisterhood 🔥 Slow-Burn Romance

The Nurse's Secret

by Amanda Skenandore • 2022

A pickpocket hiding in Bellevue's nursing school discovers a killer stalking the wards.

4.14

36k+

🕵️‍♀️ Gilded Age Mystery 🎭 Hidden Identity 👮‍♀️ Unlikely Sleuth 🌆 1880s New York City 🤝 Found Family

The Nurse's Secret 91%

A pickpocket hiding in Bellevue's nursing school discovers a killer stalking the wards.

by Amanda Skenandore 2022

4.14

36k+ ratings

🕵️‍♀️ Gilded Age Mystery 🎭 Hidden Identity 👮‍♀️ Unlikely Sleuth 🌆 1880s New York City 🤝 Found Family

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

by Beth Brower • 2019

Banished to her own attic, a penniless heiress keeps a journal her scheming cousin should fear.

4.05

69k+

📖 Epistolary Novel 💪 Plucky Heroine ⚖️ Inheritance Battle 🫖 Cozy Historical 🕯️ Gothic Undertones

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Summary

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion 91%

Banished to her own attic, a penniless heiress keeps a journal her scheming cousin should fear.

by Beth Brower 2019

4.05

69k+ ratings

📖 Epistolary Novel 💪 Plucky Heroine ⚖️ Inheritance Battle 🫖 Cozy Historical 🕯️ Gothic Undertones

The Agency for Scandal

by Laura Wood • 2023

A Victorian wallflower spy falls for a duke who never notices her, until their missions collide.

4.23

5k+

🔍 Women Spy Ring 🎭 Secret Identity ❤️ Slow Burn Romance 💍 Fake Relationship 👑 Class Differences

The Agency for Scandal 91%

A Victorian wallflower spy falls for a duke who never notices her, until their missions collide.

by Laura Wood 2023

4.23

5k+ ratings

🔍 Women Spy Ring 🎭 Secret Identity ❤️ Slow Burn Romance 💍 Fake Relationship 👑 Class Differences

Bloomsbury Girls

by Natalie Jenner • 2022

Three bookshop women in postwar London hunt a lost novel to claim ownership of the shop.

3.85

18k+

🏪 Bookshop Fiction 🇬🇧 Postwar London 👯 Female Friendship 🫂 Found Family ✊ Feminist Historical

Bloomsbury Girls 92%

Three bookshop women in postwar London hunt a lost novel to claim ownership of the shop.

by Natalie Jenner 2022

3.85

18k+ ratings

🏪 Bookshop Fiction 🇬🇧 Postwar London 👯 Female Friendship 🫂 Found Family ✊ Feminist Historical

The Dictionary of Lost Words

by Pip Williams • 2020

Raised in the shadow of the great dictionary, a girl collects the words it leaves out.

4.01

194k+

📖 Dictionary Making 🗳️ Women's Suffrage 🫂 Found Family 👩‍👧 Mother-Daughter Legacy 🏛️ Academic Setting

The Dictionary of Lost Words 92%

Raised in the shadow of the great dictionary, a girl collects the words it leaves out.

by Pip Williams 2020

4.01

194k+ ratings

📖 Dictionary Making 🗳️ Women's Suffrage 🫂 Found Family 👩‍👧 Mother-Daughter Legacy 🏛️ Academic Setting

The Women on Platform Two

by Laura Anthony

Ireland, 1971: an abused wife risks arrest on the train that defied the contraception ban.

4.41

32k+

🕰️ Dual Timeline 👭 Female Friendship 💔 Domestic Violence ✊ Political Awakening 🩺 Reproductive Rights

The Women on Platform Two 92%

Ireland, 1971: an abused wife risks arrest on the train that defied the contraception ban.

by Laura Anthony 2025

4.41

32k+ ratings

🕰️ Dual Timeline 👭 Female Friendship 💔 Domestic Violence ✊ Political Awakening 🩺 Reproductive Rights

Bringing Down the Duke

by Evie Dunmore • 2019

England's coldest duke. Her scholarship depends on changing his mind. He wants more than politics.

3.92

95k+

🥀 Enemies To Lovers ❄️ Ice Cold Duke 🕯️ Victorian Romance 📚 Bluestocking Heroine ⚖️ Class Difference

Bringing Down the Duke 90%

England's coldest duke. Her scholarship depends on changing his mind. He wants more than politics.

by Evie Dunmore 2019

3.92

95k+ ratings

🥀 Enemies To Lovers ❄️ Ice Cold Duke 🕯️ Victorian Romance 📚 Bluestocking Heroine ⚖️ Class Difference

The Moonflowers

by Abigail Rose-Marie • 2024

A painter memorializes her grandfather in an Appalachian town where his killer waits in the asylum.

4.32

24k+

🌑 Southern Gothic 🌿 Underground Midwifery 🏘️ Small Town Secrets 🩹 Intergenerational Trauma ⛰️ Appalachian Mountains

The Moonflowers 90%

A painter memorializes her grandfather in an Appalachian town where his killer waits in the asylum.

by Abigail Rose-Marie 2024

4.32

24k+ ratings

🌑 Southern Gothic 🌿 Underground Midwifery 🏘️ Small Town Secrets 🩹 Intergenerational Trauma ⛰️ Appalachian Mountains

The Book of Longings

by Sue Monk Kidd • 2020

In ancient Galilee, a scribe's daughter with a forbidden voice marries a radical carpenter, Jesus.

4.23

145k+

📜 Biblical Reimagining 🏺 Ancient World Feminism ✍️ Woman As Writer 💍 Marriage To A Prophet 🤝 Found Family In Exile

The Book of Longings 90%

In ancient Galilee, a scribe's daughter with a forbidden voice marries a radical carpenter, Jesus.

by Sue Monk Kidd 2020

4.23

145k+ ratings

📜 Biblical Reimagining 🏺 Ancient World Feminism ✍️ Woman As Writer 💍 Marriage To A Prophet 🤝 Found Family In Exile

A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke

by Adriana Herrera • 2025

A renegade doctor and a Black duke share one night in Paris. Walking away proves impossible.

3.88

3k+

🩺 Feminist Romance 🗼 Belle Epoque Paris 🩻 Physician Heroine 👑 Outsider Hero 🤫 Secret Affair

A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke 90%

A renegade doctor and a Black duke share one night in Paris. Walking away proves impossible.

by Adriana Herrera 2025

3.88

3k+ ratings

🩺 Feminist Romance 🗼 Belle Epoque Paris 🩻 Physician Heroine 👑 Outsider Hero 🤫 Secret Affair

Finding Flora

by Elinor Florence

A fugitive wife stakes a prairie homestead while her husband and a corrupt inspector close in.

4.21

8k+

🌻 Women Homesteaders 🌾 Prairie Frontier 🏠 Found Family 🏃‍♀️ Escaping Abuse 💕 Slow Burn Romance

Finding Flora 91%

A fugitive wife stakes a prairie homestead while her husband and a corrupt inspector close in.

by Elinor Florence 2025

4.21

8k+ ratings

🌻 Women Homesteaders 🌾 Prairie Frontier 🏠 Found Family 🏃‍♀️ Escaping Abuse 💕 Slow Burn Romance

The Queens of Crime

by Marie Benedict • 2025

Five mystery novelists secretly solve a nurse's locked-room murder that the police buried.

3.80

29k+

🔍 Golden Age Mystery 📚 Real Authors As Characters 👩‍⚖️ Women Sleuths 🤫 Secret Society 🗝️ Locked Room Puzzle

The Queens of Crime 92%

Five mystery novelists secretly solve a nurse's locked-room murder that the police buried.

by Marie Benedict 2025

3.80

29k+ ratings

🔍 Golden Age Mystery 📚 Real Authors As Characters 👩‍⚖️ Women Sleuths 🤫 Secret Society 🗝️ Locked Room Puzzle

The Phoenix Crown

by Kate Quinn • 2024

In 1906 San Francisco, three women track a vanished artist into a charming patron's private asylum.

3.86

51k+

🔍 Historical Mystery 💕 Sapphic Romance 🎭 Hidden Identity 👯 Female Friendship 🕰️ Edwardian Era

The Phoenix Crown 91%

In 1906 San Francisco, three women track a vanished artist into a charming patron's private asylum.

by Kate Quinn 2024

3.86

51k+ ratings

🔍 Historical Mystery 💕 Sapphic Romance 🎭 Hidden Identity 👯 Female Friendship 🕰️ Edwardian Era

The Curse of Penryth Hall

by Jess Armstrong • 2023

An exile delivers books to a cursed Cornish manor and finds her lost love's husband dead.

3.58

7k+

🏚️ Postwar Gothic 🌿 Folk Horror Mystery 💔 Forbidden Queer Love 🤫 Village Secrets ⛓️ Abusive Marriage

The Curse of Penryth Hall 90%

An exile delivers books to a cursed Cornish manor and finds her lost love's husband dead.

by Jess Armstrong 2023

3.58

7k+ ratings

🏚️ Postwar Gothic 🌿 Folk Horror Mystery 💔 Forbidden Queer Love 🤫 Village Secrets ⛓️ Abusive Marriage

Women of a Promiscuous Nature

by Donna Everhart • 2026

1931 North Carolina: solitary cells, forced sterilization. Three women in a reform colony resist.

3.89

8k+

🏚️ Southern Gothic 🏛️ Institutional Horror ✊ Bodily Autonomy 💉 Medical Abuse 🤝 Women's Solidarity

Women of a Promiscuous Nature 90%

1931 North Carolina: solitary cells, forced sterilization. Three women in a reform colony resist.

by Donna Everhart 2026

3.89

8k+ ratings

🏚️ Southern Gothic 🏛️ Institutional Horror ✊ Bodily Autonomy 💉 Medical Abuse 🤝 Women's Solidarity

The Miniaturist

by Jessie Burton • 2014

Newly married in Amsterdam, she fills a dollhouse whose tiny figures predict the household's ruin.

3.62

155k+

🏙️ Dutch Golden Age 🕯️ Gothic Domestic Suspense 💍 Arranged Marriage 💔 Forbidden Love 🔒 Family Secrets

The Miniaturist 91%

Newly married in Amsterdam, she fills a dollhouse whose tiny figures predict the household's ruin.

by Jessie Burton 2014

3.62

155k+ ratings

🏙️ Dutch Golden Age 🕯️ Gothic Domestic Suspense 💍 Arranged Marriage 💔 Forbidden Love 🔒 Family Secrets

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt

by Chelsea Iversen • 2024

Her garden feels her moods, but a missing father brings an inspector who sees only madness.

3.56

3k+

🪴 Sentient Garden 🕯️ Victorian Gothic 🔥 Female Rage 💍 Gaslighting Husband 🏚️ Asylum Threat

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt Summary

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt 91%

Her garden feels her moods, but a missing father brings an inspector who sees only madness.

by Chelsea Iversen 2024

3.56

3k+ ratings

🪴 Sentient Garden 🕯️ Victorian Gothic 🔥 Female Rage 💍 Gaslighting Husband 🏚️ Asylum Threat

The Calamity Club

by Kathryn Stockett

A churchgoing spinster opens a brothel to rescue an orphan from a eugenics asylum.

4.60

120k+

🏚️ Southern Fiction ✊ Feminist Historical 🤝 Found Family 👯‍♀️ Women Outcasts 👩‍🦳 Spinster Heroine

The Calamity Club 91%

A churchgoing spinster opens a brothel to rescue an orphan from a eugenics asylum.

by Kathryn Stockett 2026

4.60

120k+ ratings

🏚️ Southern Fiction ✊ Feminist Historical 🤝 Found Family 👯‍♀️ Women Outcasts 👩‍🦳 Spinster Heroine

The Imposter's Inheritance

by C.J. Archer • 2020

When a magical coronet disappears, a watch magician follows the clues into London's secret trade.

4.04

8k+

🕰️ Victorian Fantasy 🔍 Married Sleuths 💎 Magical Heist 🫂 Found Family 👑 Secret Heir

The Imposter's Inheritance 90%

When a magical coronet disappears, a watch magician follows the clues into London's secret trade.

by C.J. Archer 2020

4.04

8k+ ratings

🕰️ Victorian Fantasy 🔍 Married Sleuths 💎 Magical Heist 🫂 Found Family 👑 Secret Heir

The Silk Weaver

by Liz Trenow • 2017

His silk loom, her secret sketches: forbidden love in Georgian London that could ruin them both.

3.88

2k+

💘 Forbidden Romance 🧵 Artisan Craft 🎨 Creative Partnership 👩‍🎨 Female Artist ✊ Workers' Struggle

The Silk Weaver 90%

His silk loom, her secret sketches: forbidden love in Georgian London that could ruin them both.

by Liz Trenow 2017

3.88

2k+ ratings

💘 Forbidden Romance 🧵 Artisan Craft 🎨 Creative Partnership 👩‍🎨 Female Artist ✊ Workers' Struggle

The Mad Wife

by Meagan Church

She found her neighbor's lobotomy records. Now her husband carries the same doctor's phone number.

3.86

148k+

🏚️ Domestic Suspense 🏘️ 1950s Suburbia 🌀 Unreliable Narrator 💊 Medical Gaslighting 🔒 Coercive Control

The Mad Wife 90%

She found her neighbor's lobotomy records. Now her husband carries the same doctor's phone number.

by Meagan Church 2025

3.86

148k+ ratings

🏚️ Domestic Suspense 🏘️ 1950s Suburbia 🌀 Unreliable Narrator 💊 Medical Gaslighting 🔒 Coercive Control

The Gifts

by Liz Hyder • 2022

Women grow wings in Victorian England. One surgeon will do anything to own them.

3.69

3k+

🦋 Winged Women 🎩 Victorian Fantasy 🤝 Female Solidarity ⚔️ Rival Surgeons 🔬 Obsessive Scientist

The Gifts 91%

Women grow wings in Victorian England. One surgeon will do anything to own them.

by Liz Hyder 2022

3.69

3k+ ratings

🦋 Winged Women 🎩 Victorian Fantasy 🤝 Female Solidarity ⚔️ Rival Surgeons 🔬 Obsessive Scientist

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days

by Kerrigan Byrne • 2019

To escape blackmail, a scholar marries a scarred duke, trading her fortune for his protection.

4.12

9k+

🤝 Marriage Of Convenience 🥀 Beauty And The Beast 💔 Trauma Recovery 👯 Found Family 🔥 Slow Burn

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days 91%

To escape blackmail, a scholar marries a scarred duke, trading her fortune for his protection.

by Kerrigan Byrne 2019

4.12

9k+ ratings

🤝 Marriage Of Convenience 🥀 Beauty And The Beast 💔 Trauma Recovery 👯 Found Family 🔥 Slow Burn

Olivia Twist

by Lorie Langdon • 2018

She survived as Oliver Twist. Now a society lady, the thief who knew her secret is back.

3.88

4k+

🌀 Gender-Swapped Retelling 🏙️ Victorian London 🎭 Secret Identity 💕 Friends To Lovers 🗡️ Rogue With A Heart

Olivia Twist 90%

She survived as Oliver Twist. Now a society lady, the thief who knew her secret is back.

by Lorie Langdon 2018

3.88

4k+ ratings

🌀 Gender-Swapped Retelling 🏙️ Victorian London 🎭 Secret Identity 💕 Friends To Lovers 🗡️ Rogue With A Heart

A Perilous Undertaking

by Deanna Raybourn • 2017

A lepidopterist and her partner race through London's vice dens to prove a condemned man innocent.

4.09

35k+

🕵️ Victorian Murder Mystery 🔍 Amateur Sleuth Duo 💕 Slow Burn Romance 🔬 Female Scientist Lead 💬 Witty Banter

A Perilous Undertaking 90%

A lepidopterist and her partner race through London's vice dens to prove a condemned man innocent.

by Deanna Raybourn 2017

4.09

35k+ ratings

🕵️ Victorian Murder Mystery 🔍 Amateur Sleuth Duo 💕 Slow Burn Romance 🔬 Female Scientist Lead 💬 Witty Banter

Master of His Fate

by Barbara Taylor Bradford • 2018

A barrow boy and heiress pursue ambition through commerce, loss, and love in Victorian London.

3.75

3k+

🏛️ Victorian Family Saga 📈 Rags To Riches 💼 Self-Made Hero 👩‍💼 Independent Heroine 💔 Tragic Romance

Master of His Fate 91%

A barrow boy and heiress pursue ambition through commerce, loss, and love in Victorian London.

by Barbara Taylor Bradford 2018

3.75

3k+ ratings

🏛️ Victorian Family Saga 📈 Rags To Riches 💼 Self-Made Hero 👩‍💼 Independent Heroine 💔 Tragic Romance

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

by Emma R. Alban • 2024

In Victorian London, a debutante dreads marrying a lord after she falls for an ungovernable heiress.

3.76

22k+

👑 Victorian Romance 💕 Friends To Lovers 👩‍❤️‍👩 Sapphic Romance 💌 Secret Relationship 🔄 Second Chance Romance

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend Summary

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend 91%

In Victorian London, a debutante dreads marrying a lord after she falls for an ungovernable heiress.

by Emma R. Alban 2024

3.76

22k+ ratings

👑 Victorian Romance 💕 Friends To Lovers 👩‍❤️‍👩 Sapphic Romance 💌 Secret Relationship 🔄 Second Chance Romance

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

A pickpocket poses as a lady's maid to help swindle an heiress, then falls for her.

4.02

120k+

🕯️ Victorian Gothic 💘 Enemies To Lovers 🔒 Forbidden Love 🎭 Mistaken Identity 🃏 Con Artists

Fingersmith 90%

A pickpocket poses as a lady's maid to help swindle an heiress, then falls for her.

by Sarah Waters 2002

4.02

120k+ ratings

🕯️ Victorian Gothic 💘 Enemies To Lovers 🔒 Forbidden Love 🎭 Mistaken Identity 🃏 Con Artists

Wayward Girls

by Susan Wiggs • 2025

In a 1968 Catholic laundry, lost girls discover their only way out is each other.

4.18

24k+

✝️ Catholic Reform Schools 🍼 Forced Adoption 👯 Found Sisterhood 🔗 Generational Trauma ⚖️ Slow-Burn Justice

Wayward Girls 90%

In a 1968 Catholic laundry, lost girls discover their only way out is each other.

by Susan Wiggs 2025

4.18

24k+ ratings

✝️ Catholic Reform Schools 🍼 Forced Adoption 👯 Found Sisterhood 🔗 Generational Trauma ⚖️ Slow-Burn Justice

The Duke Undone

by Joanna Lowell • 2021

A struggling artist paints a naked duke; scandal binds them in a bargain neither can afford.

3.62

5k+

🎨 Artist Heroine 💕 Enemies To Lovers 🏛️ Class Difference 🎭 Secret Identity 🔥 Slow Burn Romance

The Duke Undone 90%

A struggling artist paints a naked duke; scandal binds them in a bargain neither can afford.

by Joanna Lowell 2021

3.62

5k+ ratings

🎨 Artist Heroine 💕 Enemies To Lovers 🏛️ Class Difference 🎭 Secret Identity 🔥 Slow Burn Romance

Weyward

by Emilia Hart • 2023

One family. Three centuries. Three women who discover the natural world is on their side.

4.05

415k+

🕯️ Witch Trials 🌿 Nature Magic ⏳ Triple Timeline 💔 Domestic Abuse Survival 📜 Hidden Family History

Weyward 90%

One family. Three centuries. Three women who discover the natural world is on their side.

by Emilia Hart 2023

4.05

415k+ ratings

🕯️ Witch Trials 🌿 Nature Magic ⏳ Triple Timeline 💔 Domestic Abuse Survival 📜 Hidden Family History

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