Book picks similar to
The Groom (Keeper, #1) by Melissa McClone
romance
clean-romance
second-chance
arc
Anything For You
Layla Hagen - 2018
He knows his way around the boardroom, and his work has been front and center for him ever since losing his wife. But after sealing the biggest deal of his career, he decides to take a trip to his hometown. Nothing spells vacation like a little time in the LA sun with the boisterous family he’s missed so much. But the tempting landscape designer working for his sister spells a whole lot more than fun. Maddie Jennings is everything Landon didn't think he wanted anymore. He can’t get enough of Maddie’s sweetness, or her sensual curves, and he pursues her every chance he gets. Despite fanning herself every time Landon comes near her, Maddie tries to ignore their attraction. But Maddie hasn’t met anyone quite like Landon. He’s sexier than anyone has the right to be, and more intense too. When Landon romances her with late night walks and flowers, she can’t help giving in to him. His touch is intoxicating, and his love is beautiful. But can Landon open up his heart for longer than a summer? *This book is a standalone and intended for readers 18+.
If the Shoe Fits
Laurie LeClair - 2013
All she wants is her late father's dream to come true by making his beloved King's Department Store thrive again. However, her stepmother has other ideas. Charlie agrees to help her stepmother find grooms for her sheltered stepsisters. In exchange, the stepmother will release her stronghold on the store's budget. After all, one good deed deserves another, right? But, Charlie has no idea what her heart's in for when... Alexander (Alex) Royale, dubbed by society newspapers as Prince Charming, arrives for dinner to meet the all-female King family. His ailing grandparents yearn for his marriage and then the baby carriage. Well, that and running the family company. Having unsuccessfully searched for months, Alex doesn't hold out any hope in finding his future bride among the King sisters. However, all his expectations, including his idea of a business-like marriage of convenience, vanish the moment Charlie crashes into him. When Alex sets out out to win over Charlotte, he has no idea he has to bargain with the stepmother, secretly buy the store, court Charlotte after the wedding, and, oh yeah, be featured in Charlie's new fairy tale ad campaign, The Charmings, based on them. Can a guy ever get a break? The couple never factored in falling in love with each other. Now, faced with losing all their families ever wanted, Charlie and Alex must choose: Do they live their families' dreams or do they finally live their own?
The Reluctant Bachelorette
Rachael Anderson - 2012
His parents have long since left, the small farming community is on the brink of extinction, and only one close friend from his childhood remains--Taycee Emerson, his best friend’s little sister, who isn’t so little anymore. Then there’s the matter of Shelter’s Bachelorette, an online reality dating show created to raise some much needed funds for the town. Unwittingly cast as the bachelorette, Taycee wants out, especially when she discovers that Luke, her childhood crush, is back in town and will be one of the bachelors. To make matters worse, it's up to the viewers--not her--to decide which bachelors stay or go. And they all seem to like Luke.Unwilling to let him break her heart again, Taycee launches a subtle attack on Luke’s good name with the hope of getting him voted off the show. But she’d forgotten that Luke's an eye-for-an-eye kind of guy, and when he discovers what she's up to, it means revenge.
The Worth Series: Books 1-3
Mara Jacobs - 2013
Having lost half her body weight, she's headed to her small hometown to test out her new body on an old flame. Just a harmless fling to get her self confidence back before she returns to the city and the new man in her life.But Lizzie's plan has a few bumps in the road.Finn Robbins can't believe Liz is back in town. Desperate to be the holder of her innocence eighteen years ago, he never got the chance. Now she's back and he can finally check her off his to do list.But her friends, his son, and the mysterious Annie may have something to say about that.Book 2:Worth The DriveAll Katie ever wanted was a baby. Be careful what you wish for.Katie Lipton is the town beauty, but that never got her what she wanted most—a baby. And, oh yeah, a faithful husband would have been nice, too.Reeling from her husband’s cheating and desertion, Katie embarks on a one-night fling with professional golfer Darío Luna. Never could she have imagined that one night with Darío would give her something fifteen years of marriage couldn’t—morning sickness.Darío was raised without a father, and he has no intention of the same fate befalling his child. He’s still not sure about Katie, though. Did she trick him? Lie to him? But his feelings for her, and this crazy attraction he feels, soon has him putting his doubts aside to spend more time with her. He tells himself it’s for the sake of the baby. Yeah. Right.Agreeing to try to work out some sort of relationship before the baby is due, Katie travels with Darío to his golf tournaments, walking the course with him by day...and giving in to their attraction by night. But will it be enough?Book 3:Worth The FallAlison is way too smart to be this dumb about a guy.Alison Jukuri is the smart one. But it hasn't seemed to help her much in her relationships with men. And now she's on the verge of making one, big stupid move.Again.Petey Ryan has spent his life hitting and being hit as a defenseman in the NHL. But now he's about to go up against his biggest foe of all ... tiny Alison Jukuri.A woman with whom he shares a long-held secret. * * * * * * * * * * These books each contain 2-3 fairly graphic love scenes and the F-bomb is detonated somewhat frequently. If they were movies, they would be rated R.The Worth Series thus far:1. Worth the Weight (Lizzie and Finn)2. Worth the Drive (Katie and Dario3. Worth the Fall (Alison and Petey)4. Worth the Effort (Deni and Sawyer)4.5 Totally Worth Christmas - novella (Phoebe and Charlie)5. Worth The Price (Liv and Twain)6. Worth The Lies (Kelsey and Huck)
Deep Check
Kimberly Kincaid - 2017
his other—okay, former—best friend.The woman he kissed.The woman he wanted.The woman he left behind.January might be as beautiful and fierceas ever now that sheruns a house full of firefightersbut Finn’s ghosts belong in the past.As soon as he’s done at the cemetery,he’s on the first flight out of Remington.For good.Even if he does get stuck in townwith January tempting himat every turn.But Finn’s ghosts won’t let go so easily.Will he and January learnto build new trustOr will their past keep themfrom falling in deep…One dirty-talking, bad-boy hero + his former BFF who’s always wanted more + a touch of enemies-to-lovers, a firehouse fundraiser to warm your heart, and a whole lot of sexytimes to warm the rest of you = this standalone novella that ends in a sweet and steamy HEA.Originally published in the HOT ON ICE hockey anthology.
Borrowing Amor Boxed Set: Books 1-3
Kat Bellemore - 2020
Chile peppers, hot air balloons and white sand dunes mix with a small town mayor, a fake fiance, and a second chance at love.
Borrowing Amor:
Love is a nuisance when all you want is to disappear.
Two weeks before Christmas, Katie is kicked out of her apartment. Again. Rather than wander the streets and continue to work for a dirty cop, she decides to leave the city and disappear for good. But her car breaks down in a small New Mexican town, and everything is threatened when she falls for the charming mayor. Sam Freedman is the first bachelor mayor of Amor. After convincing the locals that having a mayor without family responsibilities means he can dedicate all his time to the community, townspeople watch his every move. Then Katie Andersen shows up. Against Sam’s better judgement, he hires her to replace his event coordinator. Now he can barely think straight, let alone run a town. In the midst of half-truths and outright lies, Katie and Sam desperately search for the place where honesty and trust lead to love. But they have to find it before the past catches up with them.
Borrowing Love:
It’s better to have loved and lost, they said. They were wrong.
Ruby Freedman hasn’t left the small town of Amor in four years--not since her husband died. The memory of his fateful accident was enough to cause her to sell her airplane, and never ride in a car again. Then Parker Loveland comes back to town. Now she has to add him to her list of things she intends to avoid.After years away, Parker Loveland is back in Amor to celebrate his parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary. He has worked hard to escape the clutches of his hometown, but when he runs into Ruby, the only girl he cared about in high school, and the only one that ever stood him up on a date, he’s torn between the embarrassment he felt more than a decade before, and his desire to be around her.Caught between memories of the past and fear of the future, it will take leaving Amor to help Ruby and Parker find the second chance they didn’t know they were looking for.
Borrowing a Fiance:
She wanted freedom. She got a fiance instead.
Melinda Garrett has been stuck managing her parent’s diner for over a decade, when all she had wanted was to go to college. When her younger sister gets married, Melinda reluctantly agrees to attend with her friend, Daniel, as her date. But when the pressure is on, she claims he is her fiance, in hopes that her parents’ opinion of selling the diner will change.Daniel Armstrong isn’t the kind of guy a girl takes home to meet her parents, but when he offers to attend a wedding as Melinda’s date, he finds himself labeled as her future spouse. Now, challenges lie around every corner, testing Melinda’s claim that she and Daniel are in love.
A Crystal Lake Novel Boxed Set 1-3
Juliana Stone - 2020
The Thing About TroubleCam Booker learned the hard way that commitment and love aren’t for him. Fresh out of a relationship that nearly saw him go to jail, he’s focused on building a life and his business. But when he suddenly finds himself responsible for a motherless five-year-old, his world is turned upside down. What does he know about caring for a little girl? On top of that, his newest client, the notorious widow Banes is definitely the kind of trouble he doesn’t need.That Thing You DoAll her life, tomboy Molly Malone, has been one of the guys. When her brother decides to get married it means the gang will reunite, but more importantly it means Nate Jacobs will finally come home. With the impending nuptials looming fast and a family that can barely put together a grocery list, Molly will be tested like never before. To make matters worse, one look from Nate confirms he’s still her kryptonite and that her teenage crush is now something more. He's only ever thought of her as ‘one of the boys’ and to protect her heart, she’s determined to keep it that way.A Little Bit of ChristmasFor ex-con, Cash Bodine, surprising his sister at Christmas just got complicated. His plan to blow into Crystal Lake and then leave is squashed when a winter storm settles in, stranding him at a motel outside of town. He has no choice but to hunker down and make the best of it, and while the woman next door intrigues him, he has no desire to get tangled up in her life. He’s not sticking around past the holidays, so why bother?
Fallen
Lexxi James - 2021
Her chance to submit.Kathryn Chase never imaged saving his life would lead to her submission.Jake Russo thought he could leave it all behind.Being a soldier. And his life as a Dom. A brush with death will do that to a man.Make him believe that abandoning the past would be his only future.But he had one cross to bear.Watching over Kathryn Chase . . . in secret. Keeping an eye on this woman.Her unangelic guardian paying back a debt.This Sinful Soldier Romance is a steamy stand-alone romantic suspense.Publisher's Note: Fallen was previously published as Fallen Dom.
Ethan
Dale Mayer - 2019
When he connects with Badger and the rest of his Titanium Corp. group of former SEALs, Badger offers Ethan an opportunity he can’t refuse. A chance to do the work he used to do … with a twist.Cinnamon works from home as a project manager plus is heavily involved in global dog rescues—dogs of all kinds. When Ethan walks into the next door’s vet’s office with an injured shepherd in his arms, she sees another lost soul—just like the canine ones she helps.Ethan knows he’s about to take a dangerous step, but he’s on the job, and no one—on the job or not—hurts animals while he’s around. This poor shepherd has taken enough abuse, and Ethan fears she is only the tip of a nightmare he’s determined to uncover. But he knows she’s going to lead him in the right direction. He has his sights set on saving one dog in particular, Sentry: K9 File 01.
Tasty Mango: A Billionaire and Single Mom Romantic Comedy
J.J. Knight - 2021
Ladies, you’ve never had a first date quite like this.He’s a billionaire.Desperately handsomeWildly charismatic.In fact, a certain article of clothing of mine has gotten quite damp.Except…It’s not the good kind of damp.In fact, I’m suddenly very, very wet.Oh no.I’ve left out something important.I’m nine months pregnant.Don’t ask about the father.I’d rather forget.But I’m sitting in the fanciest restaurant you can imagine.Opposite the man of my dreams.It’s our first time alone together.The start of something spectacular.And…My water just broke.___Tasty Mango is a standalone romantic comedy about going into labor on a first date with a billionaire, the ensuing hilarity (and pushing) in a very expensive limo, and trying to manage a new relationship with the world’s most eligible bachelor while cleaning spit up out of your hair.
Mangled Hearts
Felicia Tatum - 2013
Until the person she blames for her heartache is assigned as her new client. Cade doesn’t take life seriously, finding it easier to drink his problems away than deal with them. But when Francesca steps back into his life, he’s forced to revisit the past. Can he bring himself to tell her the truth about her sister’s death? Will the truth bring them back together, or push them further apart?
From This Moment On
Debra Clopton - 2016
Determined to never again risk her heart, she throws herself into running the family’s small boutique resort on the Florida coast, a place so full of romance that it’s a reminder every day of what she’ll never have. But when renowned artist Grant Ellington shows up to paint a mural on the wall of the resort, she’s swept away by her response to the artist. Suddenly, every time he looks at her, Cali finds it harder than she ever thought possible to keep her heart protected. Grant Ellington loves his ranch, his horses, and his life as a sought-after artist. But after walking away from a plane crash that killed his best friend and the young pilot, he’s still struggling with survivor’s guilt as he heads to Windswept Bay. Painting a sea life mural at the resort started out as a favor to his neighbor, but one meeting with the beautiful Cali and he feels alive again—and determined to spend time on the moonlit beaches with her in his arms… But, like him, Cali has her own emotional scars—can they learn to trust the love that sparks between them and move forward from this moment on?
My Uptown Girl
C. Morgan - 2020
I’m all for it.The electricity between us has me taking one step back and three forward.This is the woman I want beside and beneath me for the rest of my life.But her father thinks I’m riffraff. And he just might be right.Maybe if I just keep things professional, which is almost impossible.Heat blazes in and out of the kitchen as we try to work together, and I’ve got one thing on my mind.Owning every part of her.No matter what her family or anyone else thinks about it.This woman is my uptown girl.
Love Bites
Cynthia St. Aubin - 2019
Recently divorced art history grad student Hanna Harvey has just fibbed her way into a job as the assistant to dangerously drool-worthy art gallery owner Mark Abernathy. For Hanna, working in the field she desperately loves provides the perfect opportunity to begin putting her life back together. Soon her cheese budget is in the black and her feline life partners are no longer eyeing her like a six-foot can of Fancy Feast.But when her boss's lady friends start turning up dead, Hanna finds herself in the cross hairs of a murder investigation. Even worse, hunky homicide detective James Morrison fears hers might be the next body he discovers.With the "help" of the gallery's quirky cast of resident artists, Hanna will have to hunt down the truth about Abernathy’s dark secret—before it hunts her.Read the entire Tails from the Alpha Art Gallery series in order:Love BitesLove SucksLove Lies
Stateless
Meli Raine - 2019
She doesn’t care why.I do.Treason comes in many forms.Love is one of them.Our training taught me to be a sociopath. A machine. A pawn. Nothing more than a tool for a larger goal, without attachments or feelings.Our teachers forgot one important detail:Pawns shouldn’t have hearts.Yet we do.It turns out our emotions are our greatest weapon.And I know exactly where mine are aimed.