Book picks similar to
The Smoky Dragon by Brandon Berntson
fantasy
stand-alone
adult
ebooks
Steel Scars
Victoria Aveyard - 2016
As she travels the land recruiting black market traders, smugglers, and extremists for her first attempt at an attack on the capital, she stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to the entire operation—Mare Barrow.
The Escort
Ramona Gray - 2014
There’s only one problem – she’s a thirty year old virgin and embarrassed as hell about it. When her best friend suggests hiring an escort to not only help rid her of her pesky virginity but teach her some moves in bed, Julie swallows her pride and calls an escort agency. She books a date with the sexy and gorgeous Cal. Court Thomas has been saving his identical twin brother’s butt for years. When Cal calls, begging him to take his place with his latest ‘date’, Court reluctantly agrees. Unprepared for his immediate attraction to the beautiful but fragile woman, he’s rocked by Julie’s request for him to take her virginity. Determined to change her mind, he continues to impersonate his brother. But when Julie’s warm kisses trigger a desire he’s never experienced before, will he convince her to wait for ‘Mr. Right’ or take the sweet gift she’s offering? Author’s note: This is a novella of 35,000 words. It contains explicit and steamy sex scenes that may not be your cup of tea. It is intended for mature readers only.
Deserving Love (Nick & Lexi #1)
Kay Brody - 2015
As the owner of a candy shop in historic Biltmore Village and a well respected member of the Preservation Society, she was happy with her place in the world. Until a friend of a friend comments on one of her Facebook posts and they begin to talk. Nick charms her in a way that throws her off guard. Though the two have never met, they rely on their own form of companionship to get through the stresses of their day. For Alexis, part of this stress involves a jerk named Evan Monroe — an out of state guy trying to build a shopping center in her precious historic village. Something she will fight to see stopped. Evan is a dealmaker. He has helped develop real estate projects all over the country. But none has ever been as difficult as the one he’s trying to get off the ground in Asheville, NC. Who would have imagined that a young woman who owns a candy shop would be his biggest obstacle yet? There’s no doubt about the fact that Alexis is tough and sometimes Evan feels like battling her is going to do him in. Thankfully he has found companionship in a fun and friendly lady named Lexi. Sure, their relationship hasn’t extended beyond chatting online but, even so, there’s something about her that just calms him and helps him to feel a little less lonely. As the battle between Evan and Alexis rages on, they discover that they have more in common than the land over which they are fighting. What will happen when they realize that friend and foe are actually one and the same? Will the battle to win a piece of land destroy the bond between two lonely hearts? And, in the process, obliterate the chances for a happy future together?
After They Go
J. Mercer - 2018
The second stunted by her sister's shadow. The youngest propelled by desperation. Gwen is the oldest of four children in the Aaldenberg family, and the one who seems to have it all. She's also most desperate to escape. Betta, having nursed their dying grandpa for the past three years, is anxious for Gwen to go, so she can finally have reins to the family business. And Esmerelda, viciously determined to follow in Gwen's footsteps, vies for popularity as a freshman in high school, only to learn she must sell her soul, reputation, and most prized possession for acceptance. When Gwen's fiancé moves to town, Gwen does her best to resign herself to a local life, while Betta struggles for meaning without the store. In order to carve out a place for herself, Betta must decide to what lengths she'll go in order to become her own person, and Gwen must decide what's more important: her sister or her future. Can this family pull through their disappointment, jealousy, and regret? Or will they cling so tightly to their desires that it ruins them?
Curse the Dark: The Harstone Legacy Book 1
Leonie Gant - 2019
That was until she was kidnapped and dragged into a world where the monsters and legends of her childhood walked the streets. Certain that a mistake has been made, Sadie struggles to understand what is happening to her and why, but there is one thing that is becoming clear. Despite what she has believed her entire life, she does have family, and her family needs her. Unfortunately, this family could also get her killed.
The Wishing Cake
Ellen Meister - 2012
So when an enchanting elderly couple enters the bakery where she works and orders a cake for their 75th anniversary, she's not quite sure what to make of the "wishing dust" they leave her with. Soon enough she discovers it has more power--and surprises--than she ever imagined.A fresh, original romantic comedy in novelette form, The Wishing Cake is short enough to be devoured in one sitting, rich enough to be savored for years.
The Dysfunctional Affair
Hadena James - 2013
The security company that she owns is being sued, her mother is coming to visit for a week, and some unpleasant realities about her "charity" work are about to surface. She thought this was as bad as it could get, but she was wrong-dead wrong. Someone believes she knows a secret - a secret worth killing for. With assassins tracking her every move, Nadine wishes the only thing she had to worry about was her mother pestering her to settle down with her suspected live-in boyfriend, Zeke, but she can't think about the future when the present might end with her death.
While You Were Mine
Ann Howard Creel - 2016
But on V-J Day, her worst fear is realized. As celebrating crowds gather in Times Square, a soldier appears on her doorstep to claim Mary, the baby abandoned to Gwen one year earlier. Suddenly Gwen is on the verge of losing the child she has nurtured and loves dearly.With no legal claim to Mary, Gwen begins to teach Lieutenant John McKee how to care for his child, knowing that he will ultimately take Mary away. What starts as a contentious relationship, however, turns into something more, and Gwen must open her heart to learn that love means taking chances.While You Were Mine paints a vivid portrait of 1940s New York and tells an enchanting tale of the nature of love and trust.
Silver Bells
Sadie Hart - 2011
It’s a job he started fifteen years ago, when Dash became Dasher, one of Santa’s reindeer, and accepted the worn leather harness now hanging on the hooks at the back of the carousel barn. The one with its beautiful, silver bells that once made the most wondrous sound in the world, and now lay quiet.That is, until Merry, a young, homeless woman wanders in looking for a place out of the cold. Unlike Dash, she can hear the sweet chimes of the bells, proving to him that it’s not the harness that’s broken. As Christmas draws near, Dash finds himself drawn to Merry and her quiet, stubborn pride. However, unable to hear the sleigh bells Dash isn’t sure what Christmas this year will bring, only that the magic in that harness is far less important than the woman he’s come to love. BONUS: Also includes the first chapter from What the Heart Haunts, a novella by Sadie Hart (around an extra 2,000 words)!
Bridge of Snow
Marie Rutkoski - 2014
Let the carriage to a royal ball wait. There is a story to be told: of a starless night, a mother and her sick son, and a mortal who falls in love with the snow god, and will do anything to have her...
Unbroken
Jessica Sorensen - 2014
Normally, he would eliminate someone in Gemma’s position to protect himself, but his feelings for Gemma won’t allow him to do that. She’s too important to him and he knows he has to save her without hurting her.But can he find a way to save her before someone gets hurt?
Long Time Coming
Edie Claire - 2003
But back at home, the past is ready and waiting to haunt her...Eighteen years have passed since Joy's childhood best friend, Jenny, met her death in a tragic car accident just a few days after their senior prom. A broken Joy left their small Kentucky hometown shortly after - determined never to come back. But when her father's illness forces her to return, she realizes that neither time nor distance have truly healed her troubled soul.Plagued with nightmares of the accident and crippled by a vague fear whose source she can't identify, Joy realizes that in order to move on she must face the truth behind several disturbing gaps in her memory of that fateful spring. But the only person who can help her is a man she despises - Jenny's erstwhile boyfriend Jeff, now a respected doctor, whose carelessness as a teenager was the cause of Jenny's horrendous death - and Joy's own emotional destruction. Can she ever forgive? She may have no choice but to try. Because both the danger she sensed - and the childhood friendship she treasured - now suddenly seem very much alive...
The Seven Steps to Closure
Donna Joy Usher - 2012
Things go from bad to worse when she discovers that, not only is her ex-husband engaged to her cousin - Tash, the woman he left her for - but that Jake is also running for Lord Mayor of Sydney.Desperate to leave the destructive relationship behind and with nothing to lose, she decides- with encouragement from her three best friends - to follow the dubious advice from a magazine article, Closure in Seven Easy Steps.The Seven Steps to Closure follows Tara on her sometimes disastrous- always hilarious - path to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Winter in Sweetwater County
Ciara Knight - 2014
With no job or social support, she flees to a small town in hopes of finding a good family for her unborn baby, but instead finds a man who is as broken as she is. Eric Gaylord returns to his home town for a respite after a tragic loss, but when his spitfire mother takes on an unknown woman as a business partner, he is forced to face the nightmare he’d left behind or risk losing the one woman who could heal his heart.