Book picks similar to
Breathless by Leigh LaValle


romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
freebie

Uncovering Love


Kacey Shea - 2015
    You’ve got to hold onto it with everything you’ve got."As part owner in a PI firm that specializes in matters of the heart, the rules are simple. I catch cheaters and vet potential suitors. I don't fall in love, especially with the man I'm hired to investigate. Only, that's become a problem. As one case moves beyond professional, I find myself fighting an attraction I cannot resist. This hunky, tatted muscle man is hiding a wicked sense of humor and generous spirit behind his six pack. The more I learn about him, the more I want him for myself.But I can't break the rules, even if I've uncovered love in the most unexpected of places.Uncovering Love is the first in a series, but can also be read as a standalone.

Dragonfly


Leigh Talbert Moore - 2013
    Pulling Anna into their extravagant lifestyle on the Gulf Coast, Lucy pushed her outside her comfort zone and Jack showed her feelings she's never experienced... Until he mysteriously withdrew.Anna turned to her internship at the city paper and to her old attraction for Julian, a handsome local artist and rising star, for distraction. But both led to her discovery of a decades-old secret closely guarded by the twins' distant, single father.It's a secret that could cost her the boy she loves and permanently change all their lives.

Wicked Beautiful


J.T. Geissinger - 2015
    What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again. Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago. Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?

Now That I've Found You


Bella Andre - 2016
    Ever. Not when he knows all too well just how destructive painter/muse relationships can be. But on the day Rosa Bouchard walks onto the cliffs outside his Montauk cottage, Drake is so captivated that he can't stop himself from bringing her life on canvas.Shocked and horrified by the nude photos of her that have just hit the Internet, reality TV star Rosa's every instinct is to run from her Miami home and hide. After driving all night, she ends up in Montauk, New York, where she doesn't know a soul and plans to lie low until she can figure out how to deal with the media firestorm--and her own mother, who seems all too happy to sell out Rosa's happiness for more fame, more fans, and more money. The very last thing Rosa expects is to find, and to fall for, a sinfully sexy man like Drake Sullivan.Drake has never felt this way about anything he's painted...and he's definitely never felt this way about a woman. When they kiss, everything but sweet, breathless desire melts away. But can he convince Rosa to trust--and to love--again after such a devastating betrayal?

A Perfect Mess


Zoe Dawson - 2012
    He was always the unpredictable one, the one who would be brash enough to make it big self-publishing horror novels on the internet. He promised never to tell, but everyone knows you can never trust an Outlaw.Then a year later, in the middle of the night, she receives a phone call at Tulane. Her aunt, who took her in after her mother’s death, is in a coma under suspicious circumstances. Now she has to face that one person who knows all about what she did that summer—sexy Booker. Returning to Hope Parish to be with her aunt, stirs up all those ugly memories. When Aubree starts getting threats, she can’t help but wonder if what she did last summer was tied to her aunt’s “accident.” Afraid, she turns to the only person who knows the truth and Booker doesn’t hesitate to offer his broad shoulder for her to lean on. But Booker has a secret of his own that could crush their fledgling relationship.As the hot, sultry summer days move on, she finds that even a perfectly smart girl can lose her heart to a perfectly bad boy. What is she going to do when someone starts asking questions Aubree doesn’t want to answer? She’s knee deep into a terribly dangerous, wholly life changing, who-can-she-really-depend-on perfect mess.A Perfect Series: Three perfect girls, three perfect secrets, one unholy trinityA Perfect Mess, Book #1 – the girl most likely to succeed, an unpredictable Outlaw, and a dangerous secret that could be the death of her.A Perfect Mistake, Book #2 – A preacher’s daughter, a reckless Outlaw, and a secret that will change her life forever.A Perfect Dilemma, Book #3 – The town’s poor little rich girl, a sweet-talking Outlaw, and a secret that will ruin all that she holds dear

Somewhere With You


Britney King - 2014
    And those that come in between... Jack Harrison is a relentless overachiever who leaves little in the way of compromise. A businessman to the core--he's hell-bent on being at the top of the food chain. After all, no one can trip you up if you're on top, as he likes to say. The problem for Jack is there's only one thing that continually trips him up -- and that's her. Amelie Rose, with a name like poetry and a heart of gold, as her father always said, is a free-spirited photographer who has managed to land a job at one of the top travel magazines in the world. This is both a blessing and a curse since Amelie never stays in one place for long and has refused to commit to anything -- ever. It might seem to the casual observer that these two have almost nothing in common. But fate would disagree. The story chronicles Jack and Amelie's lives from childhood into adulthood, beginning when they meet as then eight- and ten-year-olds at summer camp specifically designed for children who've lost too much. As fate steps in, and that first summer seals the deal, they come to depend on each other in ways neither of them expected, with each summer bringing them closer than the last. As they come to terms with life and loss, with hanging on and letting go, they'll teach each other that some bonds are meant to last. Together, they will travel the world, meeting in various places where they'll come together, and fall apart, all the while struggling to discern if the other could possibly be the one. This unlikely love story takes us on an adventure where two people come of age, fall in and out of love, and question the role timing plays in it all. Their story is proof that neither time nor distance -- perhaps not even death -- can destroy what love creates. So it seems the only question left to ask is whether love is enough?

The Mechanic


Vanessa Waltz - 2016
    Now we're married! Olivia Gage Carter is the poster boy for rude, rugged, and obnoxious. He’s the town’s mechanic. When he’s not giving me a hard time about my car, he’s mocking my city girl ways. He's a small town roughneck with a dirty reputation and a mouth to match. I'm a city girl. We go together like champagne and whiskey. People told me he was trouble. But that didn’t stop me from craving his filthy promises that make my blood pound for hours. Or having full body shivers whenever he says my name. This joy ride’s gone too far. Now we’re married—by accident—no less. The town’s most ineligible bachelor is my husband. Oh, and I’m pregnant. —— Gage The last thing I need is a wife… Especially a high-maintenance one like Olivia Stewart. I’ve got no patience for a demanding, feisty city girl who thinks she can walk into my business and order me around. But now that I’ve tasted her, I can’t get her out of my mind. She may be a burr in my side but she’s as sweet as honey. When she’s not driving me crazy, she’s driving me wild. One problem: Some puffed-up rich boy from San Francisco thinks she’s his, and he’ll make my life hell if I don’t give her up. Good luck with that. I can’t be bought, and I’m not giving up my wife and baby. He wants a fight? This means war.

The Brands Who Came For Christmas


Maggie Shayne - 2000
     When he learns the truth, Caleb rushes back to Big Falls, determined to make it right despite what the scandal will do to his high profile career–the family legacy he had never truly wanted. All he wants is Maya, and their child. But can a girl whose father abandoned and betrayed her, ever truly believe in the goodness of a man who left town the morning after their one night stand? How can he convince her that he hasn’t stopped thinking about her since then, much less, do so with the whole world watching? He has to prove himself to a woman he’s not even sure he’s worthy of. But he has no idea how. The Oklahoma All-Girl Brands is a six-book, small town, contemporary romance series with shades of HOPE FLOATS and YOU’VE GOT MAIL. Spin off of the bestselling Texas Brand Series.

Echoes in the Glass - A Lighthouse Novel


Cheri Lasota - 2013
    When all their secrets are laid bare, will the truth rip them apart or forever silence the echoes of the past?Seventeen-year-old Finnian Bell has been on the run for years, but he finally has a chance to rebuild his life while restoring an abandoned lighthouse on the Oregon Coast. Tiria Vaughn, the lightkeeper’s daughter, is still reeling from the pain of an event that has shattered her innocence. Fear and bitterness have turned her heart from Finnian, but he is determined not to let her go.The lighthouse harbors dark secrets of its own…When Finnian and Tiria uncover the story of two teens hidden in the tower back in 1934, they discover a shocking connection that bridges time and death.

Break In Two


M.J. Summers - 2013
    Witty. Sexy as hell. A story as satisfying as the perfect man.Thirty-one-year-old Claire Hatley is running from Seattle having just discovered that her live-in boyfriend has traded her in for a twenty-two-year-old hostess. Devastated and alone Claire must make a fresh start. She answers an ad for a chef at a guest ranch just outside Colorado Springs and finds herself face to face with Cole Mitchell, quite possibly the sexiest man to ever ride a horse. Common sense tells them to stay away from each other, but their attraction is not to be denied. He gives her a glimpse of what love should be, but just as she starts to trust him, the past comes back to tear them apart.Join Claire and Cole as they embark on the stormy love affair of a lifetime.

Playing with Temptation


Erika Wilde - 2015
    . . When Raina Beck is given an invitation to The Players Club, all she wants is a night of decadence with a gorgeous, sexy stranger. The seductive, mysterious man she meets fulfills her deepest desires and most erotic fantasies, giving her a night she’ll never forget. But forgetting him isn’t quite so easy. Logan Cruz prefers his women submissive and compliant in the bedroom... everything the independent Raina is not. Yet from the first moment he lays eyes on her, he’s determined to make Raina his. Despite her resistance. When Logan is assigned to protect Raina from a stalker, everything between them changes. Sex becomes more than just physical, and emotions run deep. Falling in love was never on Raina’s agenda, but can she let go of the past and surrender the one thing he wants the most... her heart? An alternate cover for this ASIN can be found here.

Honeymoon for One


Chris Keniston - 2013
    Coaxed by a thrill seeking hunk she never expects to see again, she slowly sheds her good girl persona to have some well deserved fun. But unlike Vegas, what happens on the high seas doesn't always stay there.

Shadowboxer


Cari Quinn - 2014
    I’ve faced the darkest parts of life and survived. But now I’m starting a new life with my baby sister. And that means I need cash.Quick. To get the money I need, I’m going to beat the reigning king of the male fighters in New York’s underground MMA circuit, Tray “Fox” Knox. Tray refuses to fight a woman, until he learns I’m not what he expected. At all. Then he makes me a bet I can’t refuse. He’ll fight me, but if he wins, I will spend the night in his bed. All night long, his rules. No tapping out. I agree, certain he will lose. Because I have to win. I have no choice. What I didn’t realize is that Tray loves to fight dirty…and that this match may end up being the most important one of our lives.Author’s note: Shadowboxer is a full-length MMA novel and is book 1 in the Tapped Out MMA series. It has a happily ever after ending and no cliffhanger, though it contains violent material that may be triggering. It was previously published by Cari Quinn in 2014 and has been lightly re-edited.

Rebel


Elle Casey - 2013
    Overnight, her life of privilege becomes one of survival, and no matter where she turns, it seems like the world is out to get her. She's not going to fall apart, though. She's a rebel and she's strong … determined to live life on her own terms … and nothing's going to stop her from getting things done and making things right. But when a twist of fate brings her to the doorstep of a different kind of Rebel, she's forced to figure out when something's worth fighting for and when something's worth letting go.Content Warning: Contains sexy adult situations, creative foul language, and some mild violence. May not be appropriate for younger readers.Rebel Wheels Series Reading OrderRebel (Rebel Wheels Book 1)Hellion (Rebel Wheels Book 2)Trouble (Rebel Wheels Book 3)

Freefall


Tess Oliver - 2013
    A small inheritance from his grandfather has given him the funds to open up his tattoo shop, Freefall, and he has started to pull his life together. Aside from trying to keep his best friend, Dray, from killing himself in the fight ring, and his slight obsession with a pin-up model he's never met, Nix's life is going smoothly . . . until Scotlyn James, the object of his obsession, walks into his shop.Ever since a tragic accident killed her family and left her alone in the world, Scotlyn James hasn't spoken one word. Up until now she didn't care that she had no way of talking to people. Her awful aunt would never have listened, and Lincoln Hammond the arrogant, selfish man who pulled her from the streets of Los Angeles wouldn't hear her words if she could speak. But when Lincoln insists she get a tattoo to cover up a scar on her side, Scotlyn meets the artist, Nix Pierce. And now she longs for her voice. Now she has found someone who will hear her.