6 Books to Read If You Loved the Barbie Movie

If you can’t get enough of the Barbie movie then check out my top 6 recommendations of books to read if you loved the Barbie movie.

The Barbie movie was all the rage this past summer and I too enjoyed its many messages including how you should accept everything about yourself, flaws and all, and not let anyone box you into an identity, purpose, or experience that is not your own or of your own choosing.

Barbie believed she was a big, positive influence on girls and women in the real world even if, in the movie, she realizes that that is not necessarily the case.

But the movie as a whole got me thinking about Barbie and influencers and my favorite romance books with influencers and so today’s She Reads Romance Books Podcast episode was born.

In it, I’m sharing my favorite influencers in romance books like Barbie and the books you should read if you loved the Barbie movie.

So, tune in to Episode #2: Influencers Like Barbie: Romance Books to Read if You Liked the Barbie Movie.

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Books Mentioned on Today’s Episode:

Check out my book review of It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey.

Check out my book review of Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert.

Check out my book review of Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend by Penny Reid.

Show Notes:

The first influencer who came to mind after watching the Barbie movie was Piper Bellinger in It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey which I would describe as an opposites attract romance.

Piper is a fashionable socialite and influencer who spends her days shopping and her nights partying – just spending her step-father’s money.

But when one night of partying gets her arrested, her stepfather cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to the state of Washington to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar.

She’s a city girl that moves into this small-town fishing village where she meets the sea captain Brendan who immediately sizes her up and basically says you’re a socialite and you won’t last here a week.

Because he like probably a lot of others saw Piper as the stereotypical Barbie – someone pretty who’s never had a job or any responsibility despite being 28.

I was just smiling while envisioning the part in the book where Piper is in the grocery store asking Siri what to make for dinner because she was completely clueless with the concept.

So the rest of the book is about Piper proving to her stepfather, to Brendan, but more importantly to herself that she’s more than what people see on the outside.

I really loved seeing Piper come into her own while learning more about her real father and the life that he had.

While she does seem shallow on the surface, Piper’s earnest in her desire to find her usefulness when she’s forced to leave her glam life and while Brendan was quick to judge, I adored how he soon fell for her “Piperness” and that he didn’t want to change her in the slightest which is what endeared me to him the most.

So this is probably my top pick of romance books to read if you loved the Barbie movie.

Moving on to book two in my list of romance books to read after watching the Barbie movie is Sex in the Sticks by Sawyer Bennett. This is another opposites attract romance with an influencer out of her element.

Valentine French is a dating columnist living in New York City, but she’s losing inspiration because there are too many metrosexuals.

So she decides to head to Alaska, to find some “real men” and where she had her pick of dates considering the men outnumber the women fifteen to one.

There she also meets Logan, the town sheriff who’s not interested in being another dating story on her blog but falls for the influencer all the same.

This book was funny and hot and just an overall great read so check it out.

Book three on my list is Love the One You’re With by Lauren Layne which is a fun office romance between two magazine columnists in her Sex, Love and Stilettos series.

Grace is a columnist for Stiletto magazine whose articles are all about relationship advice. But it turns out that her own relationship hits the fritz when she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her.

After taking a hiatus, her first assignment back is to go on a couple of dates with a counterpart from the men’s magazine Oxford, Jake, and report her impressions.

Jake agrees to the dates because he wants to improve his playboy image to the editors so he can secure a column in the new travel section. 

I loved Grace who is this beautiful influencer and gains such confidence in her fake dates with Jake despite him initially writing her off thinking men really do know women better than they know themselves.

It’s also a fun look at girl power because Grace is surrounded by her fellow ladies at Stiletto which the other books in the series are about.

This book is a great throw-back – having released in 2013 that I definitely recommend.

Book four on my list of influencers in romance books is Wicked Beauty Katee Robert. This is a polyamorous romance and modern retelling of Achilles, Patroclus and Helen of Troy in Robert’s Neon Gods/Dark Olympus series.

So if you know the story of Helen of Troy in Greek mythology then you know she was believed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was ancient Greek Barbie!

In Wicked Beauty, the title of Ares, one of 13 leaders of Olympus, is up for grabs and the winner of a competition will be the one to claim the role. To sweeten the deal, Zeus declares that the winner will also have his sister Helen’s hand in marriage.

Not willing to just sit back and see who wins her hand, Helen decides to enter the contest herself and compete for the title.

Helen stole the show for me in this romance because she didn’t settle for being a pretty face. She wanted a seat at the table and I loved her defiance, strength, and willingness to trust in Achilles and Patroclus.

It wasn’t overly spicy like some Robert books but it was definitely steamy. A must-read.

Book five in my list of romance book with influencers like Barbie is Knot My Type by Evie Mitchell.

I read this book because I initially liked the disability representation but I was honestly wowed by the writing and storyline it was so good, so fun and super spicy.

Frankie is a podcast influencer – you go girl! She’s a sexologist and host of the All Access podcast where she helps make intimacy and kink more accessible to her listeners.

To help with that she reaches out to Jay who she learns is skilled in Shibari rope play. She visits the class that he teaches at a local kink club and it’s pretty obvious from that point on that they have chemistry.

Wheelchair Barbie would so love Frankie and the help she is providing others with ability and intimacy concerns. Plus it’s an interesting look at the art of rope play.

Book six on my list of influencers in romance books goes to Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend by Penny Reid. This is a frenemies to lovers romance about Winnie public school science teacher who also has a popular Youtube channel where she shares cool videos to promote women in STEM.

She’s the ultramodern physicist Barbie hoping to make science fun and exciting for girls and young women!

Then there is Byron, bestselling author, Mr. Antisocial who actually agrees to help her with various Tiktok challenges to gain social media followers. And of course the forced proximity of their time together with these challenges created the best slow burn romance.

I loved Winnie and Byron in this romance but I especially loved how Byron pushed her to use her voice when that wasn’t comfortable for her believing since childhood that she shouldn’t or can’t ask for what she needs.

I think Barbie of the Barbie movie would applaud Byron for that because she would want every girl to grow up confident in knowing who she is and what she wants.

These two are one of my favorite romance book couples so I hope you add this book to your TBR list if you haven’t already.

There’s my list folks. If you loved the Barbie movie then I hope I’ve given you some great options for romance books to read that will give you similar vibes. I know I loved them.

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