38 Books like Intermezzo

Mr Salary

by Sally Rooney • 2016

For her dying father, she returns to Dublin and the older man she has never left.

3.73

43k+

📚 Literary Romance 🕰️ Age Gap 💭 Unspoken Attraction

Mr Salary 94%

For her dying father, she returns to Dublin and the older man she has never left.

by Sally Rooney 2016

3.73

43k+ ratings

📚 Literary Romance 🕰️ Age Gap 💭 Unspoken Attraction

Conversations with Friends

by Sally Rooney • 2017

A young poet's secret affair with a married actor unravels the friendship she once called love.

3.73

622k+

💔 Extramarital Affair 🏛️ Class Tensions 💜 Bisexual Protagonist

Conversations with Friends 93%

A young poet's secret affair with a married actor unravels the friendship she once called love.

by Sally Rooney 2017

3.73

622k+ ratings

💔 Extramarital Affair 🏛️ Class Tensions 💜 Bisexual Protagonist

The Bee Sting

by Paul Murray • 2023

An Irish family fractures under debt, blackmail, and the weight of a dead brother's ghost.

3.88

141k+

☘️ Irish Family Saga 🚪 Closeted Sexuality 👯 Teenage Friendship

The Bee Sting 93%

An Irish family fractures under debt, blackmail, and the weight of a dead brother's ghost.

by Paul Murray 2023

3.88

141k+ ratings

☘️ Irish Family Saga 🚪 Closeted Sexuality 👯 Teenage Friendship

Panenka

by Ronan Hession • 2021

Nicknamed for a missed penalty, a terminally ill man tries to earn back his daughter's love.

3.97

9k+

🌅 Late Life Love 💝 Family Reconciliation 🍺 Male Camaraderie

Panenka 93%

Nicknamed for a missed penalty, a terminally ill man tries to earn back his daughter's love.

by Ronan Hession 2021

3.97

9k+ ratings

🌅 Late Life Love 💝 Family Reconciliation 🍺 Male Camaraderie

We Are the Brennans

by Tracey Lange • 2021

A DUI lands Sunday Brennan back with her Irish Catholic family, the buried secret waiting.

3.80

84k+

🍀 Irish American Family 💔 Second Chance Romance 🤫 Family Secrets

We Are the Brennans 92%

A DUI lands Sunday Brennan back with her Irish Catholic family, the buried secret waiting.

by Tracey Lange 2021

3.80

84k+ ratings

🍀 Irish American Family 💔 Second Chance Romance 🤫 Family Secrets

Little Cruelties

by Liz Nugent • 2020

Two brothers bury the third, each knowing the other could have saved him.

3.76

17k+

🍀 Irish Family Drama 💔 Sibling Rivalry 🗣️ Unreliable Narrator

Little Cruelties 92%

Two brothers bury the third, each knowing the other could have saved him.

by Liz Nugent 2020

3.76

17k+ ratings

🍀 Irish Family Drama 💔 Sibling Rivalry 🗣️ Unreliable Narrator

Normal People

by Sally Rooney • 2018

A popular boy and a wealthy outcast girl hide their magnetic connection in small-town Ireland.

3.81

1.9M+

📚 Literary Coming Of Age 🤫 Secret Relationship 💷 Class Difference

Normal People 92%

A popular boy and a wealthy outcast girl hide their magnetic connection in small-town Ireland.

by Sally Rooney 2018

3.81

1.9M+ ratings

📚 Literary Coming Of Age 🤫 Secret Relationship 💷 Class Difference

Trespasses

by Louise Kennedy • 2022

A Catholic teacher risks everything for an affair with a Protestant barrister during the Troubles.

3.96

53k+

🕊️ The Troubles 🔥 Forbidden Affair ⏳ Age Gap Relationship

Trespasses 92%

A Catholic teacher risks everything for an affair with a Protestant barrister during the Troubles.

by Louise Kennedy 2022

3.96

53k+ ratings

🕊️ The Troubles 🔥 Forbidden Affair ⏳ Age Gap Relationship

Show Me Where It Hurts

by Claire Gleeson • 2025

When a crash kills her children, an Irish nurse must learn to live inside the wreckage.

4.20

3k+

☘️ Irish Literary Fiction 💔 Family Tragedy 🥀 Quiet Devastation

Show Me Where It Hurts 92%

When a crash kills her children, an Irish nurse must learn to live inside the wreckage.

by Claire Gleeson 2025

4.20

3k+ ratings

☘️ Irish Literary Fiction 💔 Family Tragedy 🥀 Quiet Devastation

Blue Sisters

by Coco Mellors • 2024

Three sisters reunite after the fourth's overdose. Grief binds them. Secrets could break them.

3.90

336k+

🖤 Sisters In Grief 🏠 Family Drama 🩹 Addiction Recovery

Blue Sisters 92%

Three sisters reunite after the fourth's overdose. Grief binds them. Secrets could break them.

by Coco Mellors 2024

3.90

336k+ ratings

🖤 Sisters In Grief 🏠 Family Drama 🩹 Addiction Recovery

Bitter Sweet

by Hattie Williams • 2025

A grieving assistant falls for her married literary idol, and the secret affair nearly destroys her.

3.82

15k+

🕰️ Age Gap Relationship ⚖️ Power Imbalance 🤫 Secret Affair

Bitter Sweet 92%

A grieving assistant falls for her married literary idol, and the secret affair nearly destroys her.

by Hattie Williams 2025

3.82

15k+ ratings

🕰️ Age Gap Relationship ⚖️ Power Imbalance 🤫 Secret Affair

Dandelion Is Dead

by Rosie Storey • 2026

A grieving woman steals her dead sister's dating app and falls for the divorced father who answers.

3.48

3k+

🪦 Grief Lit 📖 Book Club Fiction 👯 Sibling Loss

Dandelion Is Dead 92%

A grieving woman steals her dead sister's dating app and falls for the divorced father who answers.

by Rosie Storey 2026

3.48

3k+ ratings

🪦 Grief Lit 📖 Book Club Fiction 👯 Sibling Loss

Heart the Lover

by Lily King • 2025

She loves two best friends in college. The one who leaves doesn't know what she's carrying.

4.19

403k+

💔 Literary Love Triangle 🎓 Campus Novel 🤰 Secret Pregnancy

Heart the Lover 92%

She loves two best friends in college. The one who leaves doesn't know what she's carrying.

by Lily King 2025

4.19

403k+ ratings

💔 Literary Love Triangle 🎓 Campus Novel 🤰 Secret Pregnancy

The Promise

by Emma Heatherington • 2021

After a bombing, a Catholic nurse and Protestant minister's son vow to find each other again.

3.97

449

🚫 Forbidden Love 🇮🇪 The Troubles 💔 Trauma Healing

The Promise 92%

After a bombing, a Catholic nurse and Protestant minister's son vow to find each other again.

by Emma Heatherington 2021

3.97

449 ratings

🚫 Forbidden Love 🇮🇪 The Troubles 💔 Trauma Healing

The Beginner's Goodbye

by Anne Tyler • 2012

When a tree kills his wife, she returns in grocery aisles to discuss their imperfect marriage.

3.63

21k+

🏠 Domestic Fiction 👻 Ambiguous Haunting 💔 Imperfect Marriage

The Beginner's Goodbye 92%

When a tree kills his wife, she returns in grocery aisles to discuss their imperfect marriage.

by Anne Tyler 2012

3.63

21k+ ratings

🏠 Domestic Fiction 👻 Ambiguous Haunting 💔 Imperfect Marriage

Sunday Morning

by Jewel E. Ann • 2024

The preacher's daughter was supposed to marry the golden boy. Then his older brother came home.

4.14

17k+

🏘️ Small Town Romance 💔 Forbidden Love 👤 Brother Love Triangle

Sunday Morning 92%

The preacher's daughter was supposed to marry the golden boy. Then his older brother came home.

by Jewel E. Ann 2024

4.14

17k+ ratings

🏘️ Small Town Romance 💔 Forbidden Love 👤 Brother Love Triangle

Beautiful Graves

by L.J. Shen • 2022

Ever's one great love was a stranger in Spain. Now she's engaged to his brother.

3.90

40k+

💔 Sibling Love Triangle 🕊️ Second Chance Love 🖤 Grief And Healing

Beautiful Graves 92%

Ever's one great love was a stranger in Spain. Now she's engaged to his brother.

by L.J. Shen 2022

3.90

40k+ ratings

💔 Sibling Love Triangle 🕊️ Second Chance Love 🖤 Grief And Healing

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

by Bryn Greenwood • 2016

A silent eight-year-old and a wounded ex-con form a bond the law cannot abide.

3.97

214k+

🚫 Forbidden Love ⏳ Age Gap Romance 🏠 Found Family

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things Summary

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things 92%

A silent eight-year-old and a wounded ex-con form a bond the law cannot abide.

by Bryn Greenwood 2016

3.97

214k+ ratings

🚫 Forbidden Love ⏳ Age Gap Romance 🏠 Found Family

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance

by Alison Espach • 2022

A teenager loses her older sister in a crash, then spends years confessing to her ghost.

3.81

41k+

👯 Sister Bond 🪦 Sibling Loss 😔 Survivor'S Guilt

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance Summary

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance 92%

A teenager loses her older sister in a crash, then spends years confessing to her ghost.

by Alison Espach 2022

3.81

41k+ ratings

👯 Sister Bond 🪦 Sibling Loss 😔 Survivor'S Guilt

The Boy from the Sea

by Garrett Carr • 2025

A baby washes ashore, a fishing family takes him in, two brothers wrestle over who belongs.

3.79

8k+

🇮🇪 Irish Family Saga 🎣 Fishing Community ⚔️ Sibling Rivalry

The Boy from the Sea 91%

A baby washes ashore, a fishing family takes him in, two brothers wrestle over who belongs.

by Garrett Carr 2025

3.79

8k+ ratings

🇮🇪 Irish Family Saga 🎣 Fishing Community ⚔️ Sibling Rivalry

Whistler

by Ann Patchett • 2026

Forty-four years after he vanished, her stepfather stands across the Met gallery.

4.45

62k+

📖 Family Saga 🫂 Found Family 🏳️‍🌈 Hidden Gay Love

Whistler 91%

Forty-four years after he vanished, her stepfather stands across the Met gallery.

by Ann Patchett 2026

4.45

62k+ ratings

📖 Family Saga 🫂 Found Family 🏳️‍🌈 Hidden Gay Love

The Trick to Time

by Kit de Waal • 2018

An Irish dollmaker crafts weighted babies for grieving mothers. Her own daughter was stillborn.

3.93

2k+

🔀 Dual Timeline 👶 Infant Loss 💕 Late-Life Romance

The Trick to Time 91%

An Irish dollmaker crafts weighted babies for grieving mothers. Her own daughter was stillborn.

by Kit de Waal 2018

3.93

2k+ ratings

🔀 Dual Timeline 👶 Infant Loss 💕 Late-Life Romance

The Rachel Incident

by Caroline O'Donoghue • 2023

An Irish bookshop clerk, her gay flatmate, and the married professor they both desire.

4.06

145k+

🏛️ University Campus Novel 👯 Platonic Soulmates 🏳️‍🌈 Gay Awakening

The Rachel Incident 91%

An Irish bookshop clerk, her gay flatmate, and the married professor they both desire.

by Caroline O'Donoghue 2023

4.06

145k+ ratings

🏛️ University Campus Novel 👯 Platonic Soulmates 🏳️‍🌈 Gay Awakening

Nora Webster

by Colm Tóibín • 2014

A widow in 1960s Ireland finds that silence, properly tended, begins to sound like music.

3.63

24k+

🧠 Psychological Realism 🖤 Widowhood 🏘️ Small Town Ireland

Nora Webster 91%

A widow in 1960s Ireland finds that silence, properly tended, begins to sound like music.

by Colm Tóibín 2014

3.63

24k+ ratings

🧠 Psychological Realism 🖤 Widowhood 🏘️ Small Town Ireland

Daun Yang Jatuh Tak Pernah Membenci Angin

by Tere Liye • 2010

A street child rescued by a kind older man grows up loving him. He marries someone else.

3.98

19k+

🕰️ Age Gap Romance 💔 Forbidden Love 🏠 Found Family

Daun Yang Jatuh Tak Pernah Membenci Angin Summary

Daun Yang Jatuh Tak Pernah Membenci Angin 91%

A street child rescued by a kind older man grows up loving him. He marries someone else.

by Tere Liye 2010

3.98

19k+ ratings

🕰️ Age Gap Romance 💔 Forbidden Love 🏠 Found Family

Mothers and Daughters

by Erica James • 2022

A seaside widow falls in love again while her daughters wrestle infertility and a controlling man.

4.29

6k+

📖 Family Saga 👭 Sibling Rivalry 🤰 Fertility Struggles

Mothers and Daughters 91%

A seaside widow falls in love again while her daughters wrestle infertility and a controlling man.

by Erica James 2022

4.29

6k+ ratings

📖 Family Saga 👭 Sibling Rivalry 🤰 Fertility Struggles

The Sea

by John Banville • 2005

A widowed art historian returns to the seaside boarding house where his childhood ended in drowning.

3.55

35k+

🎭 Unreliable Narrator 🏖️ Tragic Summer 🩺 Terminal Illness

The Sea 91%

A widowed art historian returns to the seaside boarding house where his childhood ended in drowning.

by John Banville 2005

3.55

35k+ ratings

🎭 Unreliable Narrator 🏖️ Tragic Summer 🩺 Terminal Illness

Ask Again, Yes

by Mary Beth Keane • 2019

One cop shoots his neighbor. The children they leave behind spend decades orbiting the ruins.

3.93

206k+

🏠 Family Saga 💞 Childhood Friends To Lovers 🧠 Mental Illness

Ask Again, Yes 91%

One cop shoots his neighbor. The children they leave behind spend decades orbiting the ruins.

by Mary Beth Keane 2019

3.93

206k+ ratings

🏠 Family Saga 💞 Childhood Friends To Lovers 🧠 Mental Illness

Leaving

by Roxana Robinson • 2024

Former lovers reunite at the opera. He is married; she is divorced; the pull has only grown.

3.77

8k+

🌊 Rekindled First Love 🌅 Late-Life Romance 💔 Forbidden Affair

Leaving 91%

Former lovers reunite at the opera. He is married; she is divorced; the pull has only grown.

by Roxana Robinson 2024

3.77

8k+ ratings

🌊 Rekindled First Love 🌅 Late-Life Romance 💔 Forbidden Affair

What Eden Did Next

by Sheila O'Flanagan • 2022

A widow and her childhood best friend, both raising daughters alone, reconnect. Her in-laws object.

4.04

2k+

🖤 Widow Romance 👫 Childhood Friends To Lovers 👧 Single Parent Romance

What Eden Did Next 91%

A widow and her childhood best friend, both raising daughters alone, reconnect. Her in-laws object.

by Sheila O'Flanagan 2022

4.04

2k+ ratings

🖤 Widow Romance 👫 Childhood Friends To Lovers 👧 Single Parent Romance

The Alternatives

by Caoilinn Hughes • 2024

When their eldest sister disappears, three women search rural Ireland and their own fractured past.

3.35

4k+

👩‍👩‍👩‍👩 Sisterhood Saga 🪨 Sibling Caretaker 🗣️ Multiple Narrators

The Alternatives 91%

When their eldest sister disappears, three women search rural Ireland and their own fractured past.

by Caoilinn Hughes 2024

3.35

4k+ ratings

👩‍👩‍👩‍👩 Sisterhood Saga 🪨 Sibling Caretaker 🗣️ Multiple Narrators

The Elements

by John Boyne • 2025

On a remote Irish island, a disgraced woman searches for the truth behind her daughter's drowning.

4.43

26k+

🧬 Intergenerational Trauma 🔄 Cycles Of Abuse 💔 Estranged Parent

The Elements 91%

On a remote Irish island, a disgraced woman searches for the truth behind her daughter's drowning.

by John Boyne 2025

4.43

26k+ ratings

🧬 Intergenerational Trauma 🔄 Cycles Of Abuse 💔 Estranged Parent

The Second Time Around

by Mary Beesley • 2023

A widow nannies for a wealthy widower but can't resist his thirty-year-old son.

3.96

647

🖤 Widow Finds Love 💕 Reverse Age Gap 🔥 Slow Burn

The Second Time Around 91%

A widow nannies for a wealthy widower but can't resist his thirty-year-old son.

by Mary Beesley 2023

3.96

647 ratings

🖤 Widow Finds Love 💕 Reverse Age Gap 🔥 Slow Burn

Dream State

by Eric Puchner • 2025

At her fiance's Montana lake house, Cece plans a wedding while falling for the best man.

3.57

30k+

🏠 Family Saga 💔 Love Triangle 😬 Best Friend'S Wife

Dream State 91%

At her fiance's Montana lake house, Cece plans a wedding while falling for the best man.

by Eric Puchner 2025

3.57

30k+ ratings

🏠 Family Saga 💔 Love Triangle 😬 Best Friend'S Wife

One & Only

by Maurene Goo • 2026

A magical matchmaker finds her destined man, then falls for his younger colleague the same weekend.

4.00

31k+

🪄 Magical Romance ⏳ Age Gap Romance 💞 Destined Love

One & Only 91%

A magical matchmaker finds her destined man, then falls for his younger colleague the same weekend.

by Maurene Goo 2026

4.00

31k+ ratings

🪄 Magical Romance ⏳ Age Gap Romance 💞 Destined Love

Brooklyn

by Colm Tóibín • 2009

An Irish emigrant finds love in Brooklyn, then a death back home forces an impossible choice.

3.75

163k+

🗽 Immigrant Experience 📚 Quiet Literary Realism 🌍 Between Two Worlds

Brooklyn 91%

An Irish emigrant finds love in Brooklyn, then a death back home forces an impossible choice.

by Colm Tóibín 2009

3.75

163k+ ratings

🗽 Immigrant Experience 📚 Quiet Literary Realism 🌍 Between Two Worlds

The House We Grew Up In

by Lisa Jewell • 2013

Four siblings, a hoarded house, and the Easter tragedy that broke them.

3.78

126k+

🏡 Family Saga 🤫 Family Secrets 👩‍👧 Complicated Mothers

The House We Grew Up In 91%

Four siblings, a hoarded house, and the Easter tragedy that broke them.

by Lisa Jewell 2013

3.78

126k+ ratings

🏡 Family Saga 🤫 Family Secrets 👩‍👧 Complicated Mothers

After Annie

by Anna Quindlen • 2024

Annie's death at dinner leaves her husband and teenage daughter struggling to keep the family whole.

3.98

38k+

🏠 Domestic Drama 🖤 Grief Fiction 💔 Sudden Death Of A Parent

After Annie 91%

Annie's death at dinner leaves her husband and teenage daughter struggling to keep the family whole.

by Anna Quindlen 2024

3.98

38k+ ratings

🏠 Domestic Drama 🖤 Grief Fiction 💔 Sudden Death Of A Parent

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