Do you have a favorite author?  One who whenever they release their newest work gets preordered online as soon as you hear the news?  You’ve read everything they’ve written and have trouble waiting for more?  That’s how I feel about the following four ladies.  For each of them, I’d read their grocery lists if they published them.  They can do no wrong in the writing world.

Amy Hatvany

With her sociology background, she really knows how to write women’s fiction and books that are relevant.  Issues that you can imagine the everywoman going through.  Start with Best Kept Secret about Cadence, a mother who tackles a drinking problem, and Safe With Me, about two women who meet under less-than-fortunate circumstances and form a bond that ends up saving them both.

Diane Chamberlain

Years ago I stumbled upon Diane’s books and haven’t been able to stop since.  Her power lies in the ability to make all her characters come alive on the page.  She is also known for throwing in a good twist just when you think the story is going in a different direction.  Start with The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes about an infant that goes missing and if the truth will really set you free and an amazing historical fiction novel, Necessary Lies, about a new social worker who befriends a family of tobacco farmers and what role the government should play in their lives.

Sarah Jio

I think Sarah is the one author that I couldn’t possibly choose a favorite.  She is known to alternate between stories set in the present and the past and sometimes has a mystery thrown in.  Her books have me turning the pages and I can usually finish them in a day or two because you’re swept up in their stories.  She is newer to the women’s fiction scene and trust me, she’s not going anywhere.  Start with her first book, The Violets of March, about Emily, a divorced woman who finds a diary that helps her determine if her love life is over for good and The Bungalow, her second novel about an Army nurse who falls for a soldier and what they discover overseas.

Ellen Hopkins 

Genius doesn’t begin to describe Ellen, who writes most of her novels in verse.  While it may take some getting used to, I am in awe every time I pick up a new one.  Her books are longer but they fly by because of her writing style.  Just be warned: there is a lot of profanity, drug use, and sex in her books.  She mostly writes YA but has just started venturing out into adult novels as well.  And all her books tackle extremely prevalent issues going on today.  Start with Crank, loosely based on her real-life daughter’s struggle with crystal meth (this is the first one in a trilogy) and  Identical, about identical twins who are trying to find themselves and what really happened in car accident when they were younger.

Any must-read women I should add to my list?  Would love to hear your favorites.