If She Likes Abby Jimenez, She’ll Love These Books (2025 Gift Guide)

A blocked romance author and her brooding literary rival spend a summer in neighboring beach houses and make a pact to swap genres—she’ll write something tragic, he’ll write something happy. But as research outings turn into sparks and creative boundaries blur, their deal to avoid falling in love becomes the one plot twist neither of them can control.

A reserved photographer returns to the lake where one perfect summer changed her life, only to reunite with the charming boy from an old photograph—now a man who sees straight through her defenses. As golden days and late-night boat rides blur into something tender and dangerous, Alice must decide whether she's ready to stop observing life from the sidelines and finally step into the frame.

Kristin Wollett's closed-door Florida island rom-com sits squarely in the Abby-Jimenez-but-cleaner lane: a heroine who returns to the tiny Gulf island town she left behind, unresolved family history, grief handled with hope, and a best friend's brother slow burn. All the emotional warmth and banter — fully closed-door, no explicit scenes. Bonus for audiobook lovers: Kristin, a SAG actress, narrates it herself.

A reluctant black-sheep daughter returns to her family’s private island for her father’s funeral, only to discover he’s left behind a twisted inheritance game that forces his heirs to stay together for a week and complete humiliating tasks. Trapped with explosive secrets, clashing siblings, and her father’s unsettlingly attractive right-hand man, Alice must survive the storm inside the house long enough to claim her future—or finally break free from her family for good.