15 Authors Like Sophie Kinsella When You Need a Laugh

Discover our guide to the best authors like Sophie Kinsella. Get ready to laugh as you read these heartwarming romance novels from similar authors.

Sophie Kinsella is the pen name for Madeleine Wickham, a successful romance author from a family of writers. Born in England, Wickham attended New College in Oxford, where she studied music before switching to politics and economics. Working as a financial journalist put that education to use and showed her she was good at writing, and she quickly turned her attention to fiction and romantic comedy works.

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Must-Read Authors Like Sophie Kinsella

1. Marian Keyes, 1963 -

Marian Keyes is an Irish author of contemporary chick lit books known for their humor. The storylines of her books feature modern women navigating the world, and while they do usually have some romance in them, that is not the primary focus. For over 30 years, she has been a bestselling author and one of the most successful Irish novelists, with over 35 million copies of her books in 33 languages.

Keys started writing short stories while struggling with alcoholism, and she caught the eye of a publisher who encouraged her to write her first book, Watermelon, which she published in 2015.This Charming Man*, her 2008 novel, won the Irish Book Awards for Irish Popular Fiction, and in 2021 she earned Author of the Year from the same organization. In addition to writing, Keyes sponsors or chairs several awards for writers and uses her popularity to raise awareness about mental health and immigration issues.

“I knew it, I just knew it! The person who had the job of writing my life’s dialogue used to work on a very low budget soap opera.”

Marian Keyes, Watermelon

2. Jane Green, 1968 -

Jane Green was born in England but now lives and writes in the United States, where she pens books for women that feature strong heroines and modern stories.* Straight Talking**,*her first book, was published in 1996 after a bidding war with publishers, and it established her as the “Queen of Chick Lit.” She has 21 novels, 18 on the New York Timesbestseller list.

Today, in addition to writing, she is the head of Emerald Audio, a podcast network that produces dramas for women from books like hers. Before the start of Emerald, Green had over 10 million books in print in over 25 languages*. Sister Stardust*, her most recent book, published in 2022, is her first biographical work, taking a fictional look at the life of Talitha Getty from the 1960s.

“That’s how it is with relationships, it’s a part of life, and all the great love songs and poems and films have been written by people who were standing where I was that morning as Simon shut the door. Doesn’t make it any easier though. ”

Jane Green, Straight Talking

3. Lauren Weisberger, 1977 -

Raised in a Jewish home in Pennsylvania, Lauren Weisberger attended Cornell University in New York, where she majored in English. After graduation, she spent a few years backpacking through Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, then settled in Manhattan to work as an assistant to the editor of Vogue, then moved on to write short stories for additional magazines, all while writing a story based on her time at Vogue. These eventually became her first book,* The Devil Wears Prada*, which she published in 2003.

The bestselling book stayed on the New York Timeslist for six months and became the best-selling, mass-market paperback by the summer of 2006. Though the book is mainly fictional, it drew on her real-life experiences working in Vogueand became a motion picture in 2006. Weisberger continued writing and publishing books every two to three years after her first. Revenge Wears Prada, the sequel to her first book, was released in 2013.

“This was how things worked. Period. Short of death (immediate family only), dismemberment (your own), or nuclear war (only if confirmed by the U.S. government to be directly affecting Manhattan), one was to be present. This would be a watershed moment in the Priestly regime.”

Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada

4. Emma McLaughlin, 1974 -

Emma McLaughlin is an American author who graduated from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.

In college, she met Nicola Kraus, and the women found they had something in common, having worked for about 30 wealthy New York families as nannies. The two women put together some of their stories to create the Nanny Diaries series of chick-lit books, starting with The Nanny Diaries in 2002, the longest-running hardcover bestseller of the year. The authors have over 6 million books in print in 32 languages. In 2007,The Nany Diaries became a major motion picture.

“And he doesn’t care what you’re wearing or what you’ve brought him. He just wants you there. Wanting him. And time is running out. He won’t love you unconditionally that much longer. And soon he won’t love you at all.”

Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, The Nanny Diaries

5. Emily Giffin, 1972 -

Emily Giffin is a former lawyer turned writer who has several chick-lit novels to her name. Originally from the Chicago area, she joined a creative writing club in high school and studied English and history at Wake Forest University before attending law school. She worked for a Manhattan law firm for several years but then moved to London and started writing full-time.

She started her writing career with a young adult novel, which never found a publisher, so she turned her attention to chick lit with Something Borrowed, which made it to theNew York Times bestseller list after its publication in 2004. Nine of her novels have been international bestsellers, andSomething Borrowed was adapted into a film.

“But I have learned that you make your own happiness, that part of going for what you want means losing something else. And when the stakes are high, the losses can be that much greater.”

Emily Griffin, Something Borrowed

6. Helen Fielding, 1958 -

Best-known as the Bridge Jones books writer, including Bridget Jones’s Diaryand Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Helen Fielding was born in Yorkshire, England, and attended St. Anne’s College in Oxford. Fielding got her professional start doing regional research forNationwide**, a BBC magazine, and then as a production manager on children’s shows. After that, she started working as a journalist and started Bridget Jones’s Diary as a column forThe Independent* in 1995.

Its success as a column led to the creation of four novels and three films. However, these were not her first books. That role goes to* Cause Caleb*, which she published in 1994. Due to the success of her work, she earned an honorary doctorate of literature from the University of York.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.”

Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary

7. Jill Mansell, 1957 - 

Jill Mansell started her writing career by publishing Fast Friendsin 1991. This book resulted from her joining a local creative writing class and trying to write fiction. A British author, she is known for her feel-good love stories and romance books full of humor and warmth.* Rumor Has It,* her 2009 novel, was on*The Sunday Times *bestseller list for eight weeks. Since her first book hit the market, she has published over 13 million copies of her books around the globe. When she’s not writing, Jill is often stocking up on stationary and ink for her fountain pen as she hand-writes all of her manuscripts.

“Was it wrong to take a job just because you’d fallen in love with a bed?”

Jill Mansell, Rumor Has It

8. Lindsey Kelk, 1980 -

Bestselling British author Lindsey Kelk got her start in literature as a children’s book editor. After signing a three-book deal with HarperCollins, she started her fiction writing career. I Heart New York was her first novel, which she wrote based on her first trip to New York City after growing up and living in London. The book was published in 2009, followed by seven additional novels. Several other series, including theTess Brookes andJenny Lopez**, are also in her name. In addition to writing, she hosts and producesFull Coverage**, an award-winning beauty podcast.

“If you didn’t feel like your support system was strong enough, then getting yourself out of the situation was the best thing to do.”

Lindsey Kelk, I Heart New York

9. Meg Cabot, 1967 -

American novelist Meg Cabot is most famous for her book The Princess Diaries, which became aNew York Times bestseller and a Disney movie. However, that is just one of the many books she’s written for adults and children. In total, she has over 50 novels in publication. For adults, she has several series, including theBoy series, which starts with her 2002 novel The Boy Next Door. Cabot writes under several pen names, including Patricia Cabot, Jenny Carroll, and Mia Thermopolis, her main character inThe Princess Diariesbooks.

“All men are pigs and I hope they die and monkeys take over, then things would be way better.”

Meg Cabot, The Boy Next Door

10. Candace Bushnell, 1958 -

Candace Bushnell sold her first story, a children’s story when she was just 19 years old and then started working as a freelance journalist while trying to make enough money to live in New York City. As a result, she landed a column in the New York Observer, which she titled “Sex and the City” and based it on her own dating experiences in NYC. The column was wildly popular, and she soon turned it into a book by the same name, which then became a film.

Bushnell then published several bestselling novels, including Trading Up and*One Fifth Avenue, *establishing herself as a chick lit writer. Lipstick Jungle, her 2005 novel, was eventually made into a television series. You might also enjoy these authors like Tom Sharpe).

“Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder—no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.”

Candace Bushnell, Lipstick Jungle

11. Cecelia Ahern, 1981 -

Cecelia Ahern is an Irish novelist known for her romance and young adult books. PS, I Love You, her first novel published in 2004 when she was just 21 years old, became the number one bestseller in Ireland that year.Where Rainbows End, her second novel published in 2005, won the German CORINE Award and was adapted into a movie in 2014. In 2009, she was named Writer of the Year at the Woman of the Year awards hosted by*Tatler**. Since her first book, Ahern has published one book every year, 18 novels - they have sold an impressive 25 million copies and are available in 30 languages.

“Age is just a number, not a state of mind or a reason for any type of particular behaviour.”

Cecelia Ahern, Where Rainbows End

12. Jennifer Weiner 1970 -

Author, journalist, and television producer Jennifer Weiner studied at Princeton University, where she graduated with high marks and a degree in English in 1991. Despite her success studying English at school, she didn’t start writing until a decade later, publishing her first book, Good in Bed, in 2001. Before she started writing fiction, she was a columnist for a local newspaper. After the success of her first and second novels, she continued writing and has nine bestselling books that have sold over 11 million copies. Weiner also contributes toThe New York Times as a columnist and works as a television producer.

“When I was five I learned to read. Books were a miracle to me - white pages, black ink, and new worlds and different friends in each one. To this day, I relish the feeling of cracking a binding for the first time, the anticipation of where I’ll go and whom I’ll meet inside.”

Jennifer Weiner, Good in Bed

13. Carole Matthews, 1960 -

Carole Matthews is a British author who has gained a wide following for her romance novels, unpublished in over 31 countries. In 1997 she published her first novel, Let’s Meet on Platform Eight, and has published a novel nearly every year since then. Due to the popularity and influence of her work, she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2021 for Sunny Days and Sea Breezes. Two of her novels,Welcome to the Real World andHappiness for Beginners*, were short-listed for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Carole’s books are known for their laugh-out-loud humor.

“It sounds as if I know what I’m doing, as if there was a plan. But I don’t and there wasn’t. I only know that I had to get away to a place where no one knows me, where I don’t keep having the same conversation over and over.”

Carole Matthews, Sunny Days and Sea Breezes

14. Beth Harbison

New York Times bestselling author Beth Harbison is known for her romance novels and cookbooks.A Groom for Maggie was her first book, published in 1997. She published Wife Without a Past the same year, establishing herself as a romance author. In 2007, she published Shoe Addicts Anonymous, her first bestseller. Harbison uses Elizabeth and Beth as names for her publications, but all are from the same prolific author.

“I think things ultimately work out the way they’re supposed to, even if it’s not always the most comfortable, cushy way.”

Beth Harbison, Shoe Addicts Anonymous

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a great romance book?

Great romance books feature well-developed characters, emotional depth, and believable relationships. They should create genuine emotional connection between characters and readers, with satisfying character growth and relationship development.

Are romance books only for women?

No, romance books are for anyone who enjoys stories about relationships and emotional connections. While the genre has traditionally been marketed to women, many men enjoy romance books, and the genre is becoming more diverse in its readership and representation.

What are the different types of romance books?

Romance books include contemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, and many subgenres. Each type offers different settings, themes, and levels of heat, allowing readers to find stories that match their preferences.

Why do people love romance books?

People love romance books for the emotional satisfaction, hope, and escape they provide. They offer stories of love, connection, and happy endings that can be comforting and uplifting in a complex world.

15. Julie James

Julie James is a bestselling contemporary romance author. A former attorney, she got her writing started penning screenplays. When Hollywood optioned them, she quit practicing law to write full-time. Just the Sexiest Man Alive was James’s first book, published in 2008, and it was quite successful. She often pulls in her knowledge about the legal system in her books, and several of the books are in the FBI-US Attorney series that starts with Something About You, her 2010 novel.

“I realized that the one person who could break my heart is the only one who should have it.”

Julie James, Just the Sexiest Man Alive