Even if you’ve lived under a digital rock for the past few weeks, you probably know that Taylor Swift’s 12th album, The Life of A Showgirl, dropped earlier this month.
And while reviews are decidedly mixed, listeners can agree that this album ushers in a new Taylor Swift era —one that is playful but lacking the storyteller lyricism fans have come to expect from the star.
Whether you are a diehard Swift or a casual listener, you might be interested in the types of books that could fit every album. The Venn diagram of readers and Swifties might as well be a circle, so we thought it appropriate, in honor of this new era, to recommend a book for every album mood. So whether you’re a little bit Folklore or a Tortured Poet, you can find a book recommendation that speaks to every part of your Swiftie soul.
Taylor Swift
From the subtle twang to the banjo and fiddle combo, Taylor’s first album is a little bit country. Because of that, we’re recommending Maggie Gates’ Griffith Brothers Series, starting with Dust Storm. This cowboy romance trilogy features ranchers, bull-riders, and the women who turn their lives upside down. Read these books if you have Tim McGraw on repeat.
Synopsis: A single dad rancher and a rich city girl bump heads—and more—in this first cowboy romance in the Griffith Brothers series.
For Christian Griffith, his number one rule is: You ride in my truck, you let me open the door. Another problem in his busy life was the last thing he needed. Unfortunately, argumentative Cassandra Parker showing up on his family’s ranch and sticking her nose in their business isn’t even his biggest problem—nor is the fact that, with nowhere else to live, she’s in his house. The biggest problem? The engagement ring on her finger.
Cassandra has a life motto: If you’re going to kill someone, make it look like an accident, cry at the funeral, admit to nothing, and deny everything. Exiled from New York and stranded on a cattle ranch, she didn’t exactly choose to be Christian’s problem. Living with the single dad and his daughters was a downgrade from her high-rise office and city comforts, but she agreed for a straightforward reason: desperation to save her job and salvage what’s left of her career. And this hot cowboy won’t lasso her into staying a second longer than necessary.
Bonus Recs: Emery Lord’s Open Road Summer, which is one of the best YA romances you’ll read. Rebekah Weatherspoon’s scorching Cowboys of California series and Jessica Peterson’s Lucky River Ranch series.
On Sale October 7, 2025 via Berkley. Order here.
Fearless
Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant is the perfect recommendation if your favorite Taylor Swift album is Fearless. Every song from the title track to “Jump Then Fall” is bursting with the excitement of a new crush, the blooming of a sweet new romance, the uncertainty of those teenage years. It makes sense, then, to enjoy a lovely young adult rom-com by an award-winning author who does the job so well. Reggie and Delilah’s story is about chance meetings and gradually falling for each other over the course of a year in a novel we know T. Swift herself would love.
Synopsis: Delilah always keeps her messy, gooey insides hidden behind a wall of shrugs and yeah, whatevers. She goes with the flow—which is how she ends up singing in her friends’ punk band as a favor, even though she’d prefer to hide at the merch table.
Reggie is a D&D Dungeon Master and self-declared Blerd. He spends his free time leading quests and writing essays critiquing the game under a pseudonym, keeping it all under wraps from his disapproving family.
These two, who have practically nothing in common, meet for the first time on New Year’s Eve. And then again on Valentine’s Day. And then again on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s almost like the universe is pushing them together for a reason.
Delilah wishes she were more like Reggie—open about what she likes and who she is, even if it’s not cool. Except . . . it’s all a front. Reggie is just role-playing someone confident—the kind of guy who could be with a girl like Delilah.
As their holiday meetings continue, the two begin to fall for each other. But what happens once they realize they’ve each fallen for a version of the other that doesn’t really exist?
Available now via Quill Tree Books. Order here.
Speak Now
Speak Now is Taylor Swift’s theatrical and sparkly era. This is the type of album for those readers who love a good celebrity romance, and Let’s Make A Scene by Lana Wood is that book. This hate-to-love romance between co-stars who have to fake date for publicity is the kind of romance Swifties crave.
Synopsis: When Cynthie Taylor gets her first real acting job, starring in a small British movie, she is over the moon. There is only one problem…Cynthie’s arrogant and annoyingly handsome costar, Jack, hates her, and the feeling is definitely mutual. While they may be at war behind the scenes, their on-screen chemistry is palpable, and the studio sees an opportunity—to have the two young stars fake a romance that will charm fans and draw crowds.
Thirteen years later, Cynthie and Jack have successfully kept their promise to stay far away from one another, until a surprising offer comes to make a sequel to the cult classic that launched their careers. But there’s a catch: they must also rekindle their pretend relationship…and this time there’s a documentary crew following their every move.
Cynthie and Jack both desperately need this film to work, but can two ex-rivals ever really trust each other? And what happens when the roles they’re playing start to feel all too real?
Available now Atria. Order here.
Red
Shoutout to my publicity friend, Kristin, for the rec here: If Red, specifically the Taylor Swift song “Begin Again,” is one of your favorites, then Ellen O’Clover’s debut, The Heartbreak Hotel, is a great read. Red signals a moment of maturity for Swift, both in her vocals and the heartbreak she shares. Therefore, a book as hopeful and mature as your favorite songs on the album will be a good fit.
Synopsis: Louisa Walsh emerged from a tumultuous childhood with a degree in counseling, a wealthy boyfriend, and her sunny outlook on life mostly intact. But that optimism is tested when she’s dumped and left unable to afford rent on their gorgeous house in the mountains of Colorado. Even with her life in disarray, Lou knows losing the one stable place she’s ever called home is not an option.
Her plan: ask her reclusive landlord, Henry Rhodes, to let her stay for free in exchange for renting out the house’s many rooms as a bed-and-breakfast. She’s shocked when he agrees to her terms, and even more surprised to discover Henry is a handsome thirtysomething veterinarian with silver at his temples and sadness in his eyes. One who does not take it well when Lou starts marketing her B&B as a retreat for the recently heartbroken.
But as the Comeback Inn opens its doors to its weary, hopeful guests, Lou and Henry find themselves dancing around both their undeniable connection and the closely held secrets that threaten to topple this fragile new start. A chance at love, here, could be too close to home…or it could be exactly where their hearts finally heal.
Available now via Berkley. Order here.
1989
If your bookshelf has a blank space for a new book, might we suggest The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka? Like this Taylor Swift pop album, The Breakup Tour features a popular songwriter’s song of the summer and the exes she sings about in a fun, swoony romp. 1989 signals reinvention, new beginnings, and self-discovery, and a book that features second chances is a perfect match.
Synopsis: Riley Wynn went from a promising singer-songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her breakup song concept album and its unforgettable lead single. When Riley’s ex-husband claims the hit song is about him, she does something she hasn’t in ten years and calls Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend and the real inspiration for the music of the summer.
Max hasn’t spoken to Riley since their relationship ended. He’s content with managing the retirement home his family owns, but it’s not the life filled with music he dreamed of. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one condition: he’ll join her band on tour.
As they perform across the country, Max and Riley start to realize that while they hit some wrong notes in the past, their future could hold incredible things. And their rekindled relationship will either last forever or go down in flames.
Available now via Berkley. Order here.
Reputation
Reputation is the beginning of an edgy and gritty Taylor Swift era. Therefore, Rep lovers should find a dark romance book worthy of their favorite album. Willing Prey by Allie Oleander is a good match because it’s as primal, sexy, and a bit rough around the edges.
Synopsis: Divorced and buried in student loan debt, Claire Collins eagerly enters a spicy business agreement with an acquaintance who wants to explore his primal desires. The deal is simple: thirty days as his sexual prey, $30,000 in her bank account. All she has to do is give Shane Underwood the hunt of his life.
Claire’s a physical education teacher and perfectly happy to spend her summer having wild, kinky sex instead of working her usual serving job. But once they cross the tree line, she realizes how little she knows about the corporate lawyer paying her to be his prey.
Shane is different in the woods. Brutal. Devastating. Feral.
That’s okay with Claire—she is, too. And she’s sinking her teeth a little deeper into Shane’s heart every time he catches her.
On Sale October 7, 2025 via Berkley. Order here.
Lover
Lover is a hopeful and heartfelt Taylor Swift album, full of pastel optimism. At its core, Dahlia Adler’s Come As You Are (a grumpy sunshine boarding school romance!) has the same bones as this bright and delightful record.
Synopsis: Hot on the heels of a broken heart, Everett “Evie” Riley arrives at Camden Academy ready for a new beginning – one far away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, the sister who stole him, and the best friend who let it happen. But her fresh start is stopped in its tracks when she’s accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm, with no choice but to stay.
When rumors and gossip about Evie’s housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new reputation… but she’s definitely going to require help. Her grumpy emo dorm mate, Salem Grayson, isn’t exactly her first choice, but he needs her help to repair his relationship with his parents just as much as she needs his to learn how to be cool. And so they make a pact: he’ll teach her how to be bad, if she teaches him how to be good.
It’s a flawless plan. Except while Salem thrives academically, romantically, and–annoyingly enough– even physically, Evie’s quest feels like one dead end after another. But when Evie realizes what she wants more than anything, she’ll have to contend with her thrice-broken heart and figure out how to become someone capable of chasing happiness.
Dahlia Adler’s Come As You Are is about refusing to accept less than you deserve, and realizing that the best relationships are forged with people who know exactly who you are.
Available now via Wednesday Books. Order here.
Folklore
Shoutout to The Last Great American Dynasty, a song made for listening on repeat while you drive through Rhode Island. In honor of sprawling New England families and the vibes the song gives out, I’m recommending a novel by an author who knows how to keep readers enraptured by her words just as Swift does. Sarah MacLean launched These Summer Storms, and just like Swift, that book was everywhere. It’s an epic family drama with romance, secrets, and it’s oh so good.
Synopsis: Alice Storm hasn’t been welcome at her family’s magnificent private island off the Rhode Island coast in five years—not since she was cast out and built her life beyond the Storm name, influence, and untold billions. But the shocking death of her larger-than-life father changes everything.
Alice plans to keep her head down, pay her final respects (such as they are), and leave the minute the funeral is over. Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his family a final challenge—an inheritance game designed to upend their world. The rules are clear: spend one week on the island, complete their assigned tasks, and receive the inheritance.
But a whole week on Storm Island is no easy task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting with chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s unyielding arrogance. Her younger sister’s constant analysis of the vibes and her mother’s cold judgment. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s intriguing and too-handsome second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape unscathed.
A smart and tender story about the transformative power of grief, love, and family, this luscious novel explores past secrets, present truths, and futures forged in the wake of wild summer storms.
Available now via. Order here.
Evermore
Evermore has so many incredible songs. From “Willow,” to Champagne Problems,” to “Tolerate It,” to “‘Tis The Damn Season.” But the star (for me) is an angry collaboration that Taylor Swift did with Haim. “No Body, No Crime” is a delightful hell-hath-no-fury bop full of vengeance and women committing crime. It calls to mind “Goodbye Earl” and “Revenge” and is perfection. An angry anthem needs an angrier, righteous novel to accompany it. We recommend The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, about a woman who uses the false rumors about her abusive husband’s murder to build community and help other women with their own abusive husbands.
Synopsis: Five years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. As in, she actually lost him—he walked out on her and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. And it’s a rumor that just won’t die.
It turns out that being known as a “self-made” widow comes with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her, or tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry.
Freedom must look good on Geeta, because now other women are asking for her “expertise,” making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal.
And not all of them are asking nicely.
With Geeta’s dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she’s built—but even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry. What happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything, not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village.
Available now via Ballantine Books. Order here.
Midnights
Midnights is both a throwback and a look ahead. It’s introspective and a combination of all of the past eras of Taylor Swift. Seven Days In June by Tia Williams is a bit of that, too. It’s about acknowledging our past selves (and the hurt) for getting us to where we are now. Even if it was messy and beautiful along the way. If you love big-hearted, heavy romances with characters who are storytellers and use their past pain in creative ways, then this is the book for you.
Synopsis: Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer. Shane Hall is a reclusive, award-winning novelist. When the two meet at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that when they were teenager, Eva and Shane spent one crazy week madly in love. They can pretend they’ve never met, but they can’t deny their chemistry–or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.
With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Days in June is a hilarious star-crossed romance.
Available now via Grand Central Publishing. Order here.
The Tortured Poets Department
Say what you want about Taylor Swift, but she knows how to write a breakup album. The Tortured Poets Department, like most of her discography, is a collection of allusions and references, some literary and others personal, but all with a melancholy longing and tone of someone who broke up with the person they thought was their soulmate, again. A book that echoes this type of longing and loss is an appropriate recommendation, so we’re going with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Synopsis: Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star. But as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Available now via Atria Books. Order here.
The Life Of A Showgirl
The booktok girlies are going feral at the thought that Taylor Swift wrote “Opalite” about Fourth Wing and Onyx Storm. And while the fangirl in me always grasps at straws when it comes to references (the number of times I made a song fit Sam and Dean’s brotherly bond in Supernatural was comical), but I don’t know about this one. That said, you can take that as your recommendation. You can also read a fantastic romance novel about the cost of fame: Reel by Kennedy Ryan.
Synopsis: Neevah Saint is ready for the spotlight. After months as an understudy, this is her night to shine. She never imagined he would be in the audience. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine.
Before she can catch her breath, everything is changing. Neevah goes from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to having her name on everyone’s lips when Canon casts her as the lead in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic.
But forbidden attraction, scandal, and circumstances beyond Neevah’s control soon put her dream in jeopardy. Could this one shot–the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime–cost her everything?
Available now via Forever. Order here.
What are you reading while listening to the latest Taylor Swift album? Let us know here.
Brianna Robinson is a book publicist and Sarah Lawrence College alum. She lives in New York with too many books and two enthusiastic dachshunds. You can find her on twitter @blrobins2.
