Book picks similar to
Lex and Lu by J. Santiago


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Off the Ice


Julie Cross - 2017
    One semester off, that’s what she promised herself. Just long enough to take care of her father and keep the family business—a hockey bar beside the ice rink—afloat. After that, she’s getting the hell out. Again.Enter Tate Tanley. What happened between them the night before she left town resurfaces the second they lay eyes on each other. But the guy she remembers has been replaced by a total hottie. When Tate is unexpectedly called in to take over for the hockey team’s star goalie, suddenly he’s in the spotlight and on his way to becoming just another egotistical varsity hockey player. And Claire’s sworn off Juniper Falls hockey players for good.It’s the absolute worst time to fall in love.For Tate and Claire, hockey isn’t just a game. And they both might not survive a body check to the heart.

On a Tuesday


Whitney G. - 2017
    Became best friends, then lovers, on a Tuesday. And everything fell apart on a Tuesday... Charlotte Taylor has three automatic strikes in my book: 1) She hates me. She also claims that I'm a "domineering jerk with a huge, overbearing ego." (I do have something huge. It's not my ego, though.) 2) She takes our mandatory tutoring sessions way too seriously. 3) She's sexy as hell...And a virgin. At least, those were her strikes before our study sessions started lasting longer than they were supposed to. Until one innocent kiss became a hundred dirty ones, and until she became the first woman I ever fell hard for. Our future together after graduation was supposed to be set: Professional football for me. Law school for her. But she left me at the end of the semester with no explanation, and then she completely disappeared from my life. Until tonight.We met on a Tuesday. Became everything, then nothing, on a Tuesday. And now it's seven years later, on a Tuesday... **This is a full length second chance romance, inspired by Adele's "When We Were Young"**

Reed's Reckoning


Ahren Sanders - 2014
    Heartbroken and humiliated, she found herself changing the course of her life and picking up the pieces of her shattered heart. Now four years later, she has a successful career, amazing friends, and a young son with crystal blue eyes that reminds her every day of the love she imagined. Emotionally she has moved on but the wounds never healed. Reed Matthews has it all. Playing professional football was always his dream. Being one of the most successful wide receivers in the league comes with money, fame, and all the women he wants. Even with all his wishes coming true, he never stops thinking of the one woman that owned his soul four years ago. A chance encounter brings Reed to the realization that Ari Williams not only hid a life changing secret from him, but also things weren't as they seemed all those years ago. He's determined to get her back and build their lives together. When the truth behind their deception is revealed- friendships are tested, families are torn apart, and the one person behind it all is relentless.Can Reed protect those he loves and build the future he dreamed of?*Due to graphic language and explicit sexual situations, this book is recommended for readers 18+.

Butterfly Weeds


Laura Miller - 2012
    But she should have known better. Her past haunted her every chance it got these days, and tonight it came in the form of lyrics she never expected to hear again—not after a decade, not in the arms of another man and definitely not in the form of a confession. Now, Julia must discover for herself if the song—and more importantly, the man behind it—is enough to leave her new life for her small-town, Missouri roots and a second chance at love.

Falling for Bentley


Shawnte Borris - 2014
    Just when he reaches his limit of complications, in walks a beautiful blond angel, endangering the delicate balance he’s finally found in his new life. When mistakes of his past threaten to derail his future, will Bentley be man enough to win the heart of the girl he once ridiculed in high school, who just happens to be the woman of his dreams?

Line of Scrimmage


Marie Force - 2008
    Marriage to football superstar Ryan Sanderson was a whirlwind of passion, heat, energy, and excitement, but Susannah got sick of playing second fiddle to his team, watching women throwing themselves at him, and living in terror of the hard hits he took on the field. With their divorce just days from being final, she's already planning a wedding with her new fiance...He's finally figured out what's really important to him. If only it's not too late...Ryan has just ten days to convince his soon-to-be ex-wife to give him a second chance. He has just brought home his third championship and his career is at its pinnacle, but during the year of their separation, Ryan's come to realize it doesn't mean anything at all without Susannah...

Forever Innocent


Deanna Roy - 2013
    On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.New Adult Contemporary Romance

Purple Orchids


Samantha Christy - 2015
    Lovers. Enemies.Sometimes the lines between them are blurred.Gavin McBrideShe blindsided me. Broke me. Shredded me.And now she’s back, thinking I did the very same thing to her.Someone is lying. It's not me. But the thing is - it's not her either.When I reach out to her, I get more than I bargained for. Much more.Baylor MitchellI was eighteen when he left me.I found a way to survive. Without him. Without us. Without the future he promised.Now, a chance meeting threatens everything I know to be true.But loving him again isn't worth the risk I'd have to take or the secret I'd be forced to reveal.Or is it?One day… one moment… one letter.One lie.That’s all it took to change the course of their lives.Get this sizzling second-chance romance now.

Replay


Amy Daws - 2021
    Football club lawyer, Santino Rossi is known in the locker room as the two-month chump. For years he’s been on a mission to find someone he can share his basil plant with and cure him of his former playboy ways. Tilly Logan is a fiery, Scottish lass who didn’t bat an eye five years ago when a smoldering Italian pulled her into a nightclub bathroom. He was dark, dangerous, and exactly the good time Tilly was looking for—even if he worked for her over-protective brother’s team. But a lot has changed and when Tilly returns to London five years later only to find herself trapped in an elevator with the smoldering Italian, it isn’t a happy reunion. Especially because her brother blames Santino for her high tailing it back to Scotland in the first place. Tilly doesn’t want a replay of past mistakes and reconnecting with Santino is playing with fire.But if they keep their relationship a secret, it could be worth the burn.

Friends With Benedicts


Staci Hart - 2021
    Their high school summers were spent wrapped up in each other until she would inevitably go home to California. One season after college, Sebastian finally escaped the little Texas town to travel the world, and they said goodbye for what they thought might be the last time.Sebastian went one way. Presley went the other. For the first time in five years, they’re both in town, but the timing is no better than ever. So the only thing to do is what they do best. Keep it casual. Friends with benefits. They’ve done it before—doing it again will be easy.But their hearts don’t get the memo.When the lines of their arrangement blur, Presley and Sebastian are faced with decisions they’ve avoided for years. And that’s not even their biggest problem.A small town in danger of failing.A secret that could tear them apart.And two hearts that can’t hide anymore.They’ve shared so many summers, but none compare to what they’ll face.Timing is everything.And their time is almost up.

We Said Forever


Marie James - 2017
    Second chances are meant only for those that deserve them.Love isn’t enough to heal when you’ve shattered a heart.Love isn’t enough to make you forget.Love isn’t enough to make you look back when you’re supposed to be moving forward.Love just—isn’t enough.I broke Fallyn McIntyre, and in doing so I broke myself.Betrayal, addiction, and years separate us.I’m no longer the man I used to be.But I’m still not sure I’m man enough.

Lexi, Baby


Lynda LeeAnne - 2012
    She is madly in love with her sexy, drop-your-panties-at-first-sight, hottie boyfriend who is equally in love with her; more like downright obsessed. He treats her like she is his heart; like he needs her to exist; like he would do anything in his power to make her happy.Lexi knows Landyn James loves her just as much as she loves him, if not more. Deep down, she also knows high school sweethearts aren’t expected to last, but their relationship is different. They are soul mates. Their connection is unbreakable.What could possibly go wrong when you have love like that...?Everything.What will the future hold...?Only time will tell.Author's Note: Contains Adult Content – Namely, a teenager-turned-woman with a very dirty mouth and fiery temper that may or may not know how to throw a punch. Also includes hot and steamy scenes, and a small glimpse into physical/verbal abuse.

Moonshot


Alessandra Torre - 2016
    The daughter of a legend, the Yankees were my family, their stadium my home, their dugout my workplace. My focus was on the game. Chase... he started out as a distraction. A distraction with sex appeal poured into every inch of his six foot frame. A distraction who played like a god and partied like a devil. I tried to stay away. I couldn’t. Then, the team started losing. Women started dying. And everything in my world broke apart.

Out at Home


J.L. Paul - 2011
    She's supposed to interview Brady Nolan, a local boy who made it to the big leagues. Unfortunately for Taylor, she has a history with Brady.Brady had been the big man on campus back at high school - leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him. But he'd seemed different with Taylor - more attentive and loving. They'd managed to stay together most of the school year - even attending Senior Prom. But all of that ended the day after Prom when her best friend informed her that she had been part of a bet that Brady had made with his friend, Jason.It took Taylor years to get over it - but she'd managed. Now, however, Brady Nolan is thrust back into her life, and although she's determined to put him and the entire high school incident behind her - he's determined to never let her go again.

Resentment


Nicole London - 2015
    (Yes, I’m well aware that’s not the actual definition, but it might as well be . . .) It’s been ten years since we've seen each other and the feelings are still as strong. I’m not going to bore you with all the details of how our love was once intoxicating, consuming, and perfect. Because it was . . . until it wasn't. I've been fine without him. I haven’t missed his cruelty, his coldness and his spite. And after the ugliest breakup in the history of breakups, I forced myself to move on. Year by year, the feelings I had for him slowly drifted away, but one encounter with him recently changed everything. One encounter made me realize how the heart doesn't forget shit, and how my mind is going to have to work overtime to make sure I never forget my definition of resentment.