Books With Characters In Their 30s

Book Summary

Hope once dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but at 36, her life doesn’t look at all the way she imagined. Her mother died of cancer, her husband left, her bank account is almost empty, her family bakery on Cape Cod is failing, and she’s raising a troubled preteen on her own.

Now, she’s losing her beloved French-born grandmother, Mamie, to Alzheimer’s. But in a moment of clarity, Mamie is eager to share the secrets of her past before they are gone forever. She reveals mysterious bits and pieces of her tragic history in WWII Paris. With little more than a list of names, Hope sets out for France in hopes of piecing together a seventy-year-old mystery.

Book Summary

Andy is 35 and has just been dumped by longtime girlfriend, Jen. He doesn’t really understand what went wrong, and thinks if he could figure it out, maybe she’d come back to him.

Most of the story is told from his point of view as he realizes that everyone around him grew up and he has been stagnant, waiting for his stand-up career to take off. He’s doing his best to figure out his life, which includes finding a 78-year-old roommate.

While most of the book is told from Andy’s perspective (he’s funny but not always likable), readers really love the switch to showing Jen’s side later in the book as it gives you a more complete understanding of the relationship.

Book Summary

Alice Love is 29, madly in love with her husband, and pregnant with her first child. At least, that’s the last thing she remembers. When Alice wakes up on the floor of the gym and is whisked off to the hospital, she discovers that it’s actually 2008, not 1998, she has three kids, and she’s getting divorced.

As Alice tries to reconstruct what she’s forgotten about the past decade, she also hopes to reconstruct the life she remembers. Ultimately, she’ll have to decide whether she really wants her old life back.

Book Summary

At thirty-two, Lolly still reflects on how her life is different from what she planned each day as she whips up lemon meringue pies. Ten years ago, her mother died and she had to abandon her dream of opening her own restaurant. Instead, she assumed care of her younger sister, grieving father, and their struggling Seattle diner.

As her birthday approaches, Lolly’s quirky great-aunt gives her three lemon drops, each of which allows her to live a single day in a life that might have been hers. Each experience helps Lolly reconcile her life and what could have been, but also gives her the courage to embrace her current life.

Book Summary

Thirty-two-year-old Helen is recovering from two unfortunately common losses that so many women deal with in their 30s – miscarriage, followed by divorce. Her younger brother wants to help her heal, so he convinces her to attend a wilderness survival course in the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming. She’s ready to take the time out to pull herself together, but then she finds out that her brother’s annoying best friend will also be on the trip.

In a period of three weeks, she’ll have to face both fears and annoyances, but through those experiences, she also learns more about herself and how to be brave.

Book Summary

Lily is a great writer, has a reliable job, and has great friends. But she’s also 32 and single… which is all her mom can seem to focus on. It’s especially hard to ignore her relationship status when everyone else around her is getting married – she’s scheduled to be a bridesmaid in five weddings in a period of six weeks.

She’ll go to any length for the love of her friends, but she also needs a place to vent. Lily starts an anonymous blog called Bridesmania where she dishes on mom-zillas, wicked bridesmaids, body-shaming dress clerks, and even her 88-year-old Granny (who she’s recently been deemed the guardian of) who prefers to enjoy her morning mimosas in the nude. Of course, we all know that secrets are hard to keep on the internet…

Book Summary

Alice Island bookstore owner A.J. Fikry is having a terrible 39th year. His wife has died, the store isn’t making enough sales, and his beloved book of Poe poems has been stolen. As a result, he’s cranky and pushing those around him away more than ever. Luckily, he has a few people who look past his curmudgeonly attitude. 

His depression reaches the point that he no longer enjoys books. But, sometimes, life gives you second chances in unexpected ways. For A.J., it’s a small, but heavy, mysterious package that arrives at his shop. As he begins to see the world around him in a new way, those around him can see him in a new way, too.

Book Summary

From the outside, thirty-something couple Nick and Amy seemed to have a picture-perfect marriage. But on their fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing from their rented McMansion in the fictional town of North Carthage, along Missouri’s Mississippi River. Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. Under the microscope of the resulting police investigation and media frenzy, it becomes apparent that their happy marriage might not have been so happy after all and that Nick – the town’s golden boy – might not be so squeaky clean.

Even as Amy’s fiercely doting parents put more pressure on him, Nick stands by his innocence. But if he didn’t do it, then where is his wife? And what’s in that gift box hidden in the back of Amy’s bedroom closet? Gone Girl combines sharp-edged wit and chilling prose to make reading this book feel like an addiction.

Book Summary

Writers & Lovers is a classic coming-of-age book about the struggle of an in-debt 31-year-old. She works as a waitress to pay the bills while trying not to give up her bigger dream of writing a novel.

The book is a mix of literary fiction and reality TV as the book follows the main character through every aspect of her daily life as she struggles to find her way as an adult.

Book Summary

As a thirty-seven-year-old book editor, Julia thought she had a long life ahead of her. But then the unthinkable happens, and she passes away after a cancer diagnosis. While Julie could have followed the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, she instead had the opportunity to observe her family one final summer at their Fire Island home.

She’ll see how her novelist husband Ben and neighbor Shep navigate grieving as new widowers, along with the lives of their other friends and neighbors.

Book Summary

While Emily dreams of making a living as an artist, at 35, she’s still working at her grandmother’s Vermont inn. She tends to play it safe and is the only one in her friend group who hasn’t tried to summit the mountain in their hometown of Crescent Falls, Vermont.

Diana is a go-getter and so close to being next in line as CEO of her father’s hotel chain. Everything in her life is following her careful plans…until she meets an alluring artist on a Vermont mountain.

Emily and Diana’s passion for each other grows quickly…until they realize that Diana is in town to buy Emily’s grandmother’s beloved inn.

Book Summary

Nova is a 33-year-old end-of-life doula, and her job is to help terminally ill patients make peace with their impending death. Unlike her business partner, Nova doesn’t shy away from difficult cases – including those with challenging personalities or those who are young. 

Mason is one of the heartbreakingly young. He’s a 36-year-old indie-favorite singer-songwriter who recently vanished from the public eye. He tells Nova that his condition is getting worse, and with limited use of his hands and arms, it’s becoming impossible for him to do the thing he loves most. Life as he knows it is over, but he doesn’t know how to say goodbye.

Nova knows that helping Mason will be her biggest challenge yet, especially because she’s finding it hard to maintain a professional distance. Before long, Mason’s mom comes knocking at Nova’s door… and reporters are not far behind.

Book Summary

When Valentia was a teenager, her mother, Eloise, abandoned her and her father to start a new life in London. Now in her 30s, Val is a librarian and recently divorced. As she reevaluates her life, she realizes that the lack of closure with her mother is still nagging at her. But in a bittersweet twist of fate, Val learns that her mother has passed away before they’ve had a chance to reconcile.

Val is surprised to discover that Eloise left her a Primrose Hill apartment and the deed to a bookshop that Val never knew her mom owned. Determined to piece together a better understanding of Eloise’s life, Val decides to leave Seattle for a fresh start in London. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with the pastel-colored flat in a cozy neighborhood, not to mention the quaint bookstore. Unfortunately, she soon learns that The Book Garden is in financial trouble.

Told from a dual-timeline perspective, this book explores Valentia’s new life in London, as well as her mother’s past and what happened when she left her daughter behind.

Book Summary

Lydia has a comfortable life in Acapulco as the wife of a journalist and the mother of an 8-year-old little boy. However, when her husband publishes a story about the newest drug lord bringing trouble to town, they become targets of a cartel. After hiding while many family members are massacred, they have to get out of the country for any hope of safety.

Lydia and Luca begin a harrowing journey to the US that will leave you on the edge of your seat. You’ll feel their fear along the way, making the book both suspenseful and heartbreaking as they make the journey of their lives.

Book Summary

Nura is a thirty-one-year-old third-generation matchmaker in Atlanta with an exclusive clientele and an excellent track record. While she occasionally gets hate mail from those she doesn’t take on as clients, she is blindsided by a cascading chain of increasingly terrifying events and realizes someone is taking things too far.

Although she’s still single herself, Nura’s childhood best friend Azar plays the role of her fiance at a wedding so her clients don’t think she’s failing at her own love life. Luckily, he’s also willing to help her get to the bottom of the threats against her business.

Book Summary

Brett seems to have it all – a good job, a spacious loft, and a handsome boyfriend. Her life checks all the boxes of where she thinks she’s supposed to be at thirty-four years old. But according to who?

When her mom passes away, Brett is surprised to learn that her inheritance comes with one major stipulation. She must first complete the list of life goals that she penned at the young age of fourteen. She can’t understand what her mom was thinking. Her teenage goals certainly don’t line up with her adult ambitions, and some of them seem downright impossible.

How can she have a relationship with her father, who passed away seven years ago? And how can she become an awesome teacher when she picked a completely different career path?

She reluctantly sets out on the journey her mother has laid before her, and along the way, she’ll discover that sometimes the best things come from unexpected places, and it’s never too late to reinvent your life!

Book Summary

Struggling novelist and divorced mom of two, Finlay Donovan is BARELY holding things together. Each day has new challenges, like her ex-husband firing the nanny with no warning right before an important meeting.

Money is running out, and her next novel is way behind schedule. While meeting with her agent and attempting to buy more time, she receives a mysterious envelope with an offer of quick cash in exchange for a job.

Desperation and intrigue lead her to follow up with the number on the note, and before she knows what’s happening, she’s kind of agreed to be a contract killer for a woman with a truly terrible husband. Whoops.

Book Summary

Nora has decided she is done. Done with the way her life is going. In a moment of darkness, she attempts suicide, but she finds herself in the Midnight Library between life and death. The shelves go on and on, and inside each book is a life that she could have lived, had she made just one different choice somewhere along the way – from following dreams to pursuing different careers to undoing old breakups.

Each time she opens a book, she finds herself living that alternate life, and she is faced with the decision of whether she wants to permanently exchange her life for a new one. As she visits these alternate realities, she’ll have to decide not only which life she wants, but also what makes life worth living in the first place.

Book Summary

Neighbors Celeste and Wendy are both moms. As far as they can tell, that’s the only thing they have in common – other than their mutual disdain for each other!

Celeste is a stay-at-home mom who spends her days volunteering and creating a Pinterest-worthy life that makes other moms despise her. Wendy is a career-driven working mom who lives by her minute-to-minute schedule as she balances her business and keeps things afloat at home.

After a bit too much sangria at a softball potluck, Celeste and Wendy wake up in each other’s bodies – Freaky Friday style. Soon everything they thought they knew about the other is turned upside down. Their messy lives are about to get a whole lot more complicated, but along the way, they’ll discover they might not be so different after all.

Book Summary

Artist Celestial and young corporate executive Roy are newly married, and all signs point toward them having a happy, successful life. However, everything goes wrong one night in a hotel when someone accuses Roy of a crime that Celestial knows was impossible. 

Despite their protests, Roy is convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In the beginning, she holds strong to their love. After five years, Roy’s conviction is overturned and he returns to Atlanta, ready to pick up right where they left off. However, Celestial’s life has been moving forward while he was away, leaving everyone in a tough situation.

Book Summary

Lauren and Ryan were college sweethearts. They’ve been together for 11 years and married for six, but now, in their early 30s, they’ve grown apart. Their marriage is at a breaking point, but they aren’t ready to call it quits. Instead, they’ve come up with a plan – they’ll take one year apart in hopes that at the end of the year, they’ll find a way to fall in love again. There is just one rule – during their year off, they cannot contact each other. Other than that, anything goes.

Told from Lauren’s perspective, you’ll join her for her year of self-discovery. Her friends and family all have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. As the year goes on, she questions everything she thought she knew about love and lust, loyalty and commitment.

Book Summary

After her husband sent an unsolicited personal photo to another woman that quickly went viral among every mom group in Charleston, thirty-something Magnolia “Mack” Bishop is facing divorce and single motherhood. But she’s determined not to let her personal life get in the way of her professional interior design ambitions.

Mack is close to securing the prestigious Historic Preservation Design Fellowship, but after a series of calamities at a house tour, her shot at the fellowship goes up in flames. Her mom – the original Magnolia Bishop, who enjoys her perch at the top of the Southern social ladder, swoops in with a lead on a big project to save Mack. But it comes with strings attached, which is of no surprise to Mack, given how much her mom likes to control her life.

Mack dreads working for her mom until a television network puts out a call for local designers. She sees the opportunity to pitch the project and potentially win the renovation and historic preservation TV pilot of her dreams. But she’ll have to keep it secret in order to avoid interference from her mother.

Just when she’s starting to get her professional life back on track, the man who got away starts unloading a moving truck next door. Fifteen years earlier, she had a summer romance with Lincoln Kelly, but then he followed his dreams to New York and left Mack brokenhearted.

Book Summary

Bea is a plus-sized fashion blogger tired of watching casts full of size 0 models. After a drunken post about the un-realness of the reality dating show, Main Squeeze, she gets a shocking call asking HER to be the next star of the show.

Can she trust the male contestants with her heart or is it safer to remember she’s on the show largely for her career? As the season progresses throughout the book, you’ll be rooting for Bea to find love.

Book Summary

At 36, Phronsie is running out of time to create the family she longs for. So when her childhood friend suggests that they both give up on romance and marry each other, it’s a tempting offer. But, as fate would have it, the moment they announce their engagement, another possibility enters the picture. 

Phronsie’s always been a mix of genes that came from her hippie mom and rational dad. Which side will win out when it comes to love?

Book Summary

Successful food writer Nina expected her 30s to be liberating, but at 32, she’s finding life quite stressful. She’s been focused on her career and enjoying her younger years, but now it seems everyone is moving on without her. From ex’s finding new love to best friends having babies and leaving London to the suburbs, she feels like her own opportunities for a family are slipping away. 

On top of that, her parents are becoming more of a concern. Her dad is slipping into the grasp of dementia, and her mom is having her own identity crisis.

Book Summary

Robbie is a 35-year-old math genius and well-known philanthropist who is also quite reclusive. When he gets a terminal diagnosis, he doesn’t want the world to know. As Robbie considers his remaining time on Earth, he begins planning how to change the lives of his three oldest friends – Blair, Cat, and Wade. 

To share his news, he invites them to Fenwick Island, where he plans to fill them in on his plans for their lives. However, Robbie isn’t the only one of these high school friends with a secret. Can Robbie’s plans really help once he knows more about each situation?