Book picks similar to
Meant to Be by Edie Claire


romance
mystery
suspense
contemporary

Second Chances


Bria Marche - 2015
    Thomas for Abby Melrose Bellavance, or so she thinks. That is, until her husband Remy steals her trust fund and disappears for parts unknown. Now, with five million reasons to write off men for good, she returns to Charleston, broke and groveling at her mother’s feet.Living again in the opulent mansion on South Battery, Abby is thrown another curve ball. Her mother passes away, leaving Abby with an enormous home but no money to support it.Turning the mansion into a boardinghouse has its advantage—immediate cash—and disadvantage—two of the hottest men in Charleston are now Abby’s tenants.Abby wants love again, especially with hunky Erik, the handyman, and sexy Brandon, the prominent attorney, living in the mansion with her. They are so different, yet they’re similar in one way she needs to avoid—they are men, and she should keep her distance.As the southern summer blazes on, Abby’s life becomes even more complicated. Personal secrets are revealed, and fate deals her one final blow. She wonders if she will ever be given a second chance at falling in love.

Unexpected (Bittersweet Book 2)


Karen Lenfestey - 2017
    Sure, she loves fostering shelter dogs, but she never imagined herself as a mother. Anxious to be an aunt, her sister starts pressuring her to be someone she’s not. Her new friend wants her to stay fun and unencumbered. When Hope’s ex says he wants back in her life, she feels like it might be what’s best for her baby. Pulling away from her sister, Hope spends more time with her new friend and risks letting her ex break her heart all over again.

Home Sweet Home


Lilly Mirren - 2020
    Grief and loss force her to re-evaluate her life. The only thing she can think to do is to return to her hometown where she has to deal with all of the things she left behind; a hometown she hasn't visited since high school graduation.When the police officer who lives next door comes knocking with questions about a tragedy from the past, Trina finds herself exploring the trauma of her childhood and facing the pain and stigma she's run from for so long.As she faces a new season of life, Trina must learn how to navigate complex family relationships, new friendships and a return to the career she left behind to raise a family years earlier. In the process, she'll finally confront the ghosts of her past and upend a mystery that's haunted her adult life.

The Monsoon Series: Two Book Bundle


Anya Wylde - 2020
    She decides that the best way to deal with such a situation is to pack her bags and move to a new country. Luck is on her side, and she quickly gets a job as a runner on a documentary being filmed in India. Thus, begins her roller-coaster ride filled with mad decisions and forbidden romance.

Unforgettable


Linda Barrett - 2021
    A rocking career in finance, a great group of friends and singing with the community chorus fill her calendar and provide her with total satisfaction. Until the phone rings. Until an upbeat familiar voice from the past reawakens her heart and reminds her of what she’s been missing.Playwright Doug Collins has never forgotten the girl he left behind. Even though it was Jennifer who’d made that final decision. “Go to New York and have a wonderful life,” she’d said before running back to her family, a family that still needed her. But that was five years ago. Five years of Jen in the back of his mind, nestled in his heart. Now memories are not enough! Doug packs up his car and heads to Boston in search of that “wonderful life.”Most reunions have bumpy beginnings and not all end well. Jennifer and Doug have a lot to figure out. But they’re smart, honest, and were once madly in love. Do they have a chance at finding the ending they so richly deserve?

The Single Wife


Ella King - 2021
    but you can never really know anyone - can you?A group of college friends on the verge of summer graduation wonder about what the future holds - marriage and motherhood, world domination, or a better life elsewhere?One thing they do know is that they'll always be friends, but before life takes them in different directions, they make a pact to reunite in five years to see how their predictions turned out.But over time, it's pretty clear that life hasn't gone according to plan.And all too soon the women find themselves forced into a very different kind of reunion. Realising that sometimes, it's better not to tempt fate ...

To Catch a Bad Guy


Marie Astor - 2012
    When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?

A Cutthroat Business


Jenna Bennett - 2010
    But Savannah doesn’t think she’s supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the ‘bad’ side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about. Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future—not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her. Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed—or kissed—by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.

Castle Cay


Lee Hanson - 2010
    Who could have killed rising artist Marc Solomon, and what does Castle Cay, the Solomon's mysterious Caribbean island, have to do with it? Before long, Julie's sixth-sense pulls a hidden string that unravels a deadly conspiracy...and her own troubled past.

Coming Home


Holly Kerr - 2014
    Liking them is the hard part. After her cheating husband destroys her career, Brenna has nowhere to go but home. Home means her four sisters in the tiny Northern Ontario town with no Starbucks and well-meaning townsfolk who know her every move. Every mistake.And Brenna is making more than a few mistakes. From falling asleep at the local bar to hooking up with her niece’s boyfriend, Brenna’s life is giving the town a lot to talk about.Her sister Cat wants nothing to do with her. Content living in the family home with the ghost of their mother, Cat’s left a trail of broken hearts and failed marriages on the road to Brenna’s ex, Seamus Todd. Brenna’s return brings back old insecurities and unanswered questions for Cat. Sibling rivalries, old grudges and a least one knock-out, drag-down kitchen fight ensue as Brenna and Cat are forced to live under the same roof.And to make it worse, Brenna’s not the only one coming home.

Meridian File


C.B. Samet - 2018
    He wants an uncomplicated assignment. As a celebrity stalker targets Aurora Meridian, the Rider team--Mason and Maxine--are drawn into the sinister underworld of the Russian mafia. Aurora and Mason fight for their lives and each other while Maxine Rider discovers the lines she must cross and the sacrifices to be made to keep her client and her team safe.

Center Stage


Denise Grover Swank - 2016
    Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return . . . until she has no choice. When Magnolia’s breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there’s only one place she can go. She finds herself on her momma’s porch, suitcase in hand. Drama follows Magnolia around like a long lost friend. She reluctantly agrees to help her momma’s catering company at a party for a country music star, only to find herself face-to-face with a sleazy music agent from her past. After a very public spat, Magnolia not only finds him dead but herself center stage in the police’s investigation. Now she must scramble to prove her innocence, relying on the help of acquaintances old and new. But the longer Magnolia stays in Franklin, the more she remembers about the big bad incident that chased her away. The past might not be finished with her yet, and what she doesn’t remember could be her biggest danger.

The Island Affair


Helena Halme - 2019
    During their usual holiday to Åland, the Nordic islands where Alicia grew up, the rift between the couple deepens.Enter tall, blonde Patrick, with the most piercing blue eyes Alicia has ever seen. When Patrick confides in Alicia about the near loss of his daughter and the breakdown of his marriage, Alicia is surprised to feel an affinity with the Swedish reporter. He’s the only person who understands Alicia.But secrets held by people close to Alicia give her life another surprising turn and she finds there is a reason to live – and love – again. Read this new family drama set in one of the most captivating holiday islands in Scandinavia today!

Chasing Justice


Danielle Stewart - 2013
    But her plans of settling into a normal life are derailed when she witnesses a prominent judge in her community committing a violent assault. Running from her own past and fueled by a passion to make the judge answer for his crimes, Piper is forced to decide if she’ll play by the rules or achieve justice in her own way.Complicating things further, Piper finds herself fighting a powerful attraction to rookie cop, Bobby Wright. Although she’s increasingly enamored with Bobby, his staunch belief in the justice system is in stark contrast to her own. She may not share his opinions about the effectiveness of the law, but she certainly can’t deny how safe she feels when she’s in his arms or how every kiss leaves her desperate for more.For Piper, the idea of finally living an ordinary life with a man to love is tempting. However, fate keeps placing the judge, quite literally, in her path. Will she decide the only way to win is to be as wicked as the judge, but with righteous intentions? And more importantly, will Bobby choose to let her go, or follow her as she crosses the line and takes justice into her own hands?

Second Chance Summer


Allie Boniface - 2009
    He’s trying to escape his. Love may be their only hope.Ten years after leaving home, the last thing Summer Thompson expects is to inherit her estranged father's half-renovated mansion. And the last thing she wants is to face the memories of the night her brother died, fleeting as they may be. Now a San Francisco museum curator, she plans to stay east just long enough to settle the estate and get rid of the house. Until she finds it occupied by a hunky handyman who's strangely reluctant to talk about his past.Damian Knight has been hiding his mother and sister from a violent ex, and Whispering Pines is the one place they’ve found peace and safety. He keeps to himself. He tells no one about his past. Yet when the lonely, haunted Summer steals his heart, he finds himself opening up to her in ways he should never risk. Especially to a woman who's planning to leave town after selling their refuge out from under them.As their attraction grows, the past begins to catch up with them. Summer's mounting flashbacks leave her confused and determined to uncover the truth about the night her brother died. But that truth will cross paths with the man Damian and his family have been avoiding for years.Can new love help them defeat the pain of the past? Or are some scars too deep to ever heal?If you love small towns, memorable characters, and swoon-worthy happy endings, then you'll love this sweet romance by a USA Today best-selling author! (Note: this book was previously released as Summer's Song. Revisions and updates accompany this new version!)