8 Books Like Dawson’s Creek to Read If You Still Ship Joey and Pacey

I’ve been in a committed, one-sided relationship with Pacey Witter since 1998. And honestly? No regrets.

Before there was a Team Edward and Team Jacob, I was hoarding printouts of Pacey quotes to add to my journal. He bought her a wall!

So if you’ve been spiraling over Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes filming a new movie together and you can still remember yelling at your screen when Joey picked Dawson (ugh), this list is for you. These are the books that feel like long summer nights, slow burns with history, and emotional damage.

Here’s your next bookish binge: Pacey-core, start to finish.

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Books Like Dawson’s Creek (but make it romance)

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

Narrated by Joshua Jackson himself, yes, actual Pacey. That alone makes this the spiritual successor to Capeside. And I’m going to be honest, sure this one feels less like Dawson’s Creek and just more like Pacey, period. The voice probably did it.

Once upon a time, Aurora made up a fake Canadian boyfriend to survive high school. Years later, he walks into her dance studio: real, widowed, hot, and holding a glitter-loving daughter. And he has no idea he was her imaginary prom date.

This is what happens when a panic-prone ex-ballerina and a cinnamon roll hockey dad start building something real, without realizing they already share a fake past. If you’ve ever used fiction to avoid feelings (or people), this is your book.

Grab Canadian Boyfriend on Amazon or read our review of Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

Can we start a petition for him to narrate more romance audiobooks, or…?

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

They were childhood best friends turned first loves, until one night tore it all apart. Now, a decade later, Macy is engaged to someone else, and Elliot is still the boy who knew her favorite words.

Told in past and present, this is the second-chance story for anyone who believes unresolved feelings don’t just disappear.

If Pacey had ghosted Joey post–senior year and walked back in like nothing happened, this would be it.

Grab Love and Other Words on Amazon or read our Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren book review

Also featured in our Romance Authors to Read If You Like Dawson’s Creek

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

They spent six summers falling in love. One moment tore it all apart. Now Percy’s back in their lakeside town, and Sam’s still there, waiting with a decade’s worth of unresolved feelings.

Told over six years and one weekend, this is a nostalgic second-chance romance soaked in guilt, grief, and longing.

If Joey and Pacey had grown up in Ontario and reunited ten years after a blowout? This would be their book.

Grab Every Summer After on Amazon

And if that lakeside romance vibe hits, don’t miss our full lakeside romance books list.

Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino

They were inseparable at NYU, late nights with Jeff Buckley, chasing art, falling in love without saying it out loud. Then one summer changed everything. Fifteen years later, a Craigslist missed connection post pulls them back into each other’s orbit.

If “I remember everything” were a book, this would be it.

Grab Before We Were Strangers on Amazon

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Beach house. Two brothers. One girl trying to figure out where her heart actually lives.

Belly has spent every summer with Jeremiah and Conrad, first as friends, then something more. This is a love triangle soaked in sunscreen, nostalgia, and truly terrible timing.

If Dawson’s Creek had been set on the East Coast with a Taylor Swift soundtrack, this would be it.

Grab The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon

After by Anna Todd

Yes, it’s chaos. But it’s the kind of chaos you couldn’t stop watching at 15.

College. Tattoos. Bad decisions. A boy who says all the wrong things, and a girl who can’t stay away.

Think: the emotionally volatile version of Dawson’s Creek if it had gone full TikTok toxic.

Grab After on Amazon

Things We Hide from the Light by Lucy Score

A broody cop with emotional wounds. A sunshiney neighbor who won’t stop showing up.

If Pacey had stayed in Capeside and grown into his trauma, this would be his slow burn.

Grab Things We Hide from the Light on Amazon

Wait With Me by Amy Daws

She writes steamy romance novels in his tire shop. Banter. Proximity. Tension.

Basically season 4 Pacey in a modern, smuttier setup, with just enough emotional payoff to destroy you.

Grab Wait With Me on Amazon

Still Spiraling About Dawson’s Creek?

Same. Whether it’s the angst, the big moments or the way Pacey always knew when to step back and when to show up, this show lives rent-free in our collective romantic psyche.

If these books cracked your chest open just a little (or a lot), I’m here to tell you you’re not alone. The ache of first love, second chances, and that one person you can’t quite forget? We’ll never stop chasing that high.

For more recs, deep dives, and fangirl Pacey content, check out all our Dawson’s Creek nostalgia.

What book would you add to the Joey and Pacey emotional damage starter pack? Drop it in the comments, we’re always collecting more pain.

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