Romi Moondi is a Canadian writer who primarily writes romantic comedies with the aim to make you laugh, activate your heartstrings, and maybe even make your eyes produce some salty discharge. When she’s not writing novels, Romi can be found dreaming up screenplays, copywriting for clients, traveling, trying out new recipes, and loving Seinfeld forever.
Want to keep up on all things Romi? Check out her website or follow her on Instagram or Twitter
Here are her top recommendations for books to read after finishing 24 Hours in Paris.
Can’t get enough Romi?
One Day by David Nicholls
This one’s been around for a while, but I always go back to it. I just love the idea of two people being apart and returning to each other, and all that hangs in the air (maybe that’s why my next book will be a second-chance romance)! I also think this book is better than the movie.
Synopsis:
15th July 1988: Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that?
And every year that follows?
On a Night Like This by Lindsay Kelk
This author is my go-to for a fun, modern rom-com when I want to feel happy, and I loved that it was set in Italy because A: I love a good travel rom com, and B: my next book is set in Italy, so the Italy obsession is very real.
Synopsis:
Within days of wishing she could change her life, Fran Cooper is acting assistant to a celebrity, on a yacht in the Mediterranean, and en route to a tiny Italian island and the glittering Crystal Ball, along with the world’s rich and famous.
When she – quite literally – bumps into a handsome American called Evan, a man able to keep his cool in the face of chaos, the magic really begins.
Evan makes her a promise: no last names, no life stories, just one unforgettable night. Yet Evan belongs at the Crystal Ball and Fran is a gatecrasher. They may be soulmates, but their homes are an ocean apart, and their lives a world apart. They’ll never meet again – unless, on a night like this, everything can change forever…
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
Having a South Asian background myself, it’s heartening to see more South Asian authors finding success. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I love how boldly it takes on the genre while including great cultural representation.
Synopsis:
Kareena Mann dreams of having a love story like her parents, but she prefers restoring her classic car to swiping right on dating apps. When her father announces he’s selling her mother’s home, Kareena makes a deal with him: he’ll gift her the house if she can get engaged in four months. Her search for her soulmate becomes impossible when her argument with Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show, goes viral. Now the only man in her life is the one she doesn’t want.
Dr. Prem Verma is dedicated to building a local community health center, but he needs to get donors with deep pockets. The Dr. Dil Show was doing just that, until his argument with Kareena went viral, and he’s left short changed. That’s when Kareena’s meddling aunties presented him with a solution: convince Kareena he’s her soulmate and they’ll fund his clinic.
Even though they have conflicting views on love-matches and arranged-matches, the more time Prem spends with Kareena, the more he begins to believe she’s the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. But for Prem and Kareena to find their happily ever after, they must admit that hate has turned into fate.
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
If you’re like me and were late to the Emily Henry craze, you might enjoy this one if you haven’t yet read her previous books and are all about that rom com banter (which I very much am, and which you might’ve noticed if you read 24 Hours in Paris)! It also has flashbacks mixed in with present day which keeps things interesting.
Synopsis:
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
Yes, I’m recommending two books set in Italy (see previous note on being obsessed). I read this one when I knew my follow up book 24 Hours in Italy would be set on the Amalfi Coast, but it’s also great for any armchair traveller—even if it’s more about a mother-daughter relationship than a full-on romance, because there are romance elements, plus time travel!
Synopsis:
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
