These 11 Wonderful Books About Renovating Old Homes Are Our Favorites.

The Homewreckers

Mary Kay Andrews

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work restoring homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at eighteen, married the boss’s son at twenty, and became a widow at twenty-five. Now, she’s passionate about her work, but that’s the only passion in her life. “Never love something that can’t love you back,” is advice her father-in-law gives her, but Hattie doesn’t follow it and falls head-over-heels for a money pit of a house.

She’s determined to make it work, but disaster after disaster occurs, and Hattie’s dream might cost Kavanaugh & Son their livelihood. Hattie needs money, and fast.

Release Date: May 3, 2022

Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell

Taj McCoy

Savvy Sheldon spends a lot of time tiptoeing around the cracks in her life: her high-stress and low-thanks job, her clueless boyfriend and the falling-apart kitchen she inherited from her beloved grandma—who taught her how to cook and how to love people by feeding them. But when Savvy’s world starts to crash down around her, she knows it’s time for some renovations.

Starting from the outside in, Savvy tackles her crumbling kitchen, her relationship with her body, her work–life balance (or lack thereof) and, last but not least, her love life.

Release Date: March 22, 2022

After Hours on Milagro Street

Angelina M. Lopez

Professor Jeremiah Post, the poor handsome man, is in fact standing in the way of Alejandra “Alex” Torres turning Loretta’s, her grandmother’s bar, into a viable business. The hot brainiac who sleeps in one of the upstairs tenant rooms already has all of her Mexican American family’s admiration; she won’t let him have the bar and building she needs to resurrect her career, too. Alex blowing into town has rocked Jeremiah to his mild-mannered core, but the large, boisterous Torres clan is everything he never had.

Release Date: July 12, 2022

Practically Perfect

Katie Fforde

Anna, a newly qualified interior designer, has decided it’s time to put her money and her expertise where her mouth is and risk everything to buy a tiny but adorable cottage in desperate need of renovation.

Outside, the chocolate-box cottage is perfect, but inside, all is chaos. With a ladder for a staircase, no downstairs flooring, candles the only form of lighting, and a sleeping bag and camping mat for a bed, Anna soon wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew.

Release Date: April 15, 2008

Awaken Me

Farrah Rochon

As the baby of his family, Reid Holmes has happily played the role of the Charming, Irresponsible One. But as his 30th birthday approaches, Reid wonders whether he should be doing more with his life than working as a plumber for Holmes Construction. Now he has the chance to shed his carefree playboy image and go into business for himself, but is leaving his cousin’s construction company a sign of growing up, or the ultimate show of disloyalty? And with the arrival of Holmes Construction’s gorgeous new site coordinator, Reid isn’t sure now is the best time to jump ship.

Release Date: January 24, 2018

House Lessons

Erica Bauermeister

In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us.

A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in, this book is designed for anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels for a house. It is also a story of a marriage, of family, and of the kind of roots that settle deep into your heart.

Release Date: March 24, 2020