Book picks similar to
Protecting You by Claire Kingsley


romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary
ku

Blind Kiss


Renee Carlino - 2018
    Fourteen years ago, this shop was her childhood dance studio... Now she’s a suburban housewife, dreading the moment her son departs for MIT, leaving her with an impeccably decorated McMansion and a failing marriage. She had her chance at wild, stars-in-her-eyes happiness, but that was a lifetime ago. After The Kiss. Before The Decision.The Kiss was soulful. Magical. Earth-shattering, And it was all for a free gift card. Asked to participate in a psych study that posed the question, “Can you have sexual chemistry without knowing what the other person looks like?” Penny agreed to be blindfolded, make polite conversation with a total stranger, and kiss him. She never expected The Kiss to change her life forever and introduce her to Gavin: tattooed, gorgeous, and spontaneous enough to ask her out seconds after the blindfolds came off.For a year, they danced between friendship and romance—until Penny made The Decision that forced them to settle for friendship. Now, fourteen years later, both of their lives are about to radically change—and it’s his turn to decide what will become of their once-in-a-lifetime connection."

The Way We Fall


Cassia Leo - 2015
    Maybe we shouldn’t have fallen so fast and so willingly.Maybe we shouldn’t have moved in together before we went on our first date.Maybe we should have given our wounds time to heal before we tore each other to shreds.Maybe we should have never been together.Houston has kept a devastating secret from Rory since the day he took her into his home. But the tragic circumstances that brought them together left wounds too deep to heal.Five years after the breakup, Houston and Rory are thrust together by forces beyond their control. And all the resentments and passion return with more intensity than ever.Once again, Houston is left with a choice between the truth and the only girl he’s ever loved.The Way We Fall is the first book in The Story of Us series, which follows the tumultuous love story of Rory and Houston. The sequel, The Way We Break, will be released Spring 2015.

All I Want is You


E.L. Todd - 2014
     Cayson is in love with Skye Preston, his best friend for over twenty years. They grew up together, bathed together, and spent every holiday together. Hoarding the secret hasn’t been easy. Every time Cayson sees her with a boyfriend, he wants to smash his fist into a wall. But he could never tell her the truth. The close friendship they have is too good to be ruined. If he confessed his deepest feelings, how would it change what they have? Would he lose her altogether? But everything changes when Cayson finds Skye at a party, drunk and incoherent. Unable to stand on her own two feet with breath reeking of alcohol, she’s easy prey to the men staring at her noticeable chest. Cayson immediately scoops her into his arms and takes her home. But when they arrive at the house, Skye doesn’t want to sleep. Instead, she wants Cayson in a way she’s never had before. What will this mean for their relationship? Is it the start of something Cayson has always dreamed of? Or will it be the end? THIS IS NOT A CLIFFHANGER.

Rookie Move


Sarina Bowen - 2016
    But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast....

Ruthless Princess


Rachel Van Dyken - 2020
    A mafia romance about best friends turned enemies by Rachel Van Dyken, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series.The enemy of my enemy is my friend…I never thought my father would ask this of me, to become the second generation at Eagle Elite University, to rule with an iron fist, and to take care of anyone who gets in our way.But ever since the incident.Ever since Him.There’s been a war in our little clique.After all, a house divided cannot stand.He’s the problem, not me.He used to kiss me like I was his oxygen.Now he looks at me like I’m his poison.But we both drank it, again and again, never believing there would be a day when our love would start a war.And our friendship would shatter into a million pieces.Then again, the worst thing you could do in the mafia is hang on to hope that your life will be normal.The second worse thing?Fall in love with your best friend.Enemy.And heir to the Nicolasi throne.

Just One Year


Penelope Ward - 2020
    On the first day of orientation, I had an altercation with an infuriating British dude in a campus bathroom. (The ladies’ room was out of order. So, I used the men’s room. Don’t judge.)I got home later that night and realized that the foreign student we were expecting to rent a room in my parents’ house was allergic to our cat.So, the spare room went to someone else: Caleb—the British guy from the men’s room. And so it began…my love-hate story with Caleb Yates. Or was it hate-love in that order?The guy knew how to push every one of my buttons. Sometimes I’d email him to express my aggravation and disdain.He’d actually rewrite my own words and send them back to me. That was the type of infuriating person Caleb was.So frustrating.And…Sometimes incredibly funny and endearingly sweet.And hot. He eventually grew on me, and Caleb soon became one of my best friends that year. Too bad he was headed back to England soon, so nothing could happen between us—for so many reasons. I definitely couldn't fall in love with him, especially since all we had was just one year.

Up in the Treehouse


K.K. Allen
    Then again, she never imagined she would fall in love with him either. When she finally reveals her feelings, rejection shatters her, rendering her vulnerable and sending her straight into the destructive arms of the wrong guy.The Rhodes twins never saw the betrayal coming. Chloe has always been their forbidden fantasy--sweet, beautiful, and tempting. But soon the lines between family, friendship, and love become as tangled as the roots of the treehouse they once shared.Now it's too late . . .Four years after a devastating tragedy, Chloe and Gavin find themselves crashing back into each other's lives. Haunted by the past, they're forced to come to terms with all that has transpired to find the peace they deserve. Except they can't seem to get near each other without combatting an intense emotional connection that brings them right back to where it all started . . . their childhood treehouse.Chloe still holds her secrets close, but this time she isn't the only one with something to hide. Can their deep-rooted connection survive the destruction of innocence?

Jase


M.J. Fields - 2013
    He can't seem to get the beautifully innocent, blonde college girl out of his head. So what she's the cousin of a friend who does not approve? Jase has never exercised self-control when it came to getting a woman, and he wasn't going to start now.After tricking Carly into “fake dating," it turns out the joke's on him, as Jase falls hard and fast for her. But as painful secrets from his past come to light, Jase will have to man up and bare it all to Carly, even if the ugly truth could tare them apart forever.JASE is book 1 in the bestselling erotica series MEN OF STEEL by MJ Fields.

The Art of Falling For You


Maya Hughes - 2021
    In her glasses and stage crew black clothes she has a knack for fading into the background. She’s probably the only one who rolls her eyes when I walk past instead of cheering on my last touchdown play. But before I can shove her into the recesses of my mind filed under “Not my problem” she lands herself smack dab in the middle of my dreams. I catch her singing with a voice unlike any I’ve heard before that taps into feelings I shouldn’t have for the girl who avoids me at all costs. With three months until graduation, the final play is on. Only it’s not for more points. It’s for Bay. Unlike my success on the field, this win is anything but assured. But I can’t stop myself from taking the risk. There’s no flashing scoreboard. There’s no cheering crowd. There’s only her and me. The countdown clock is ticking. The only thing scarier than finding my first love will be losing her.The Art of Falling for You is the first book in the new Fulton U universe sports romance, Falling trilogy.

Scandalous


Ella Steele - 2012
    Your muse is back. The thing that gave you passion, tormented you, and haunted you is back. You're reeling in ecstasy and dread. It's something you want, but can't ever have. And the one that brings the pain is pure, white as snow... and standing in front of you."One kiss could have changed Abby's life, but when it didn't happen, she ran. Jack was everything to her and when he didn't respond, Abby couldn't bear it. Everything about that night--leaning in close to his face, feeling the night breeze teasing her hair, the way his scent filled her head--was burned vividly into her mind, including the moment when Jack pulled away. There was no kiss. Abby was wrong. She was wrong about him, wrong about them. Maybe she didn't have to go to college two thousand miles away, but she did. She had to forget about him. Abby threw herself off the grid, disappearing completely from the life she knew. After completing her undergraduate degree, she enrolled in seminary. All contact with her old life was severed and she never looked back, until she was forced to.When Abby puts idealism into practice, her congregation throws her out. If she can survive a year on her own, they'll take her back, and continue to pay off her student loans--but if she fails, Abby is on her own with enough debt to fund a small town. Seminary wasn't cheap. With no place left to go, Abby returns to New York and her best friend takes her in. Desperate to make it on her own and prove she was right, Abby follows a job lead to an art studio on Long Island. It isn't until she hears Jack's voice that she freezes. The hairs on the back of her neck prickle as she turns to see Jack, ten years later, looking even more tempting than before.Fate is cruel. Abby left this life behind, but she's thrown back into it, head first. It's like someone hit rewind on her life and its ten years earlier. She's the cotton-mouthed girl that she always was around Jack, and now her future relies on the man who rejected her.SCANDALOUS 2 WILL BE RELEASED SPRING 2013

Claiming Grace


Susan Stoker - 2017
    But it’s not long before Logan runs into Grace Mason, his best friend from high school…and the woman who never answered his letters during his Army years.Grace was pleasantly surprised to see Logan return to Castle Rock, despite their falling-out ten years ago. Everyone always assumed they would end up together, including Grace, who had eyes only for him. But as Logan eventually escaped their town, Grace got pulled further into her family’s controlling grasp—and farther away from the man she loved.Now, united by scars both visible and not, the two must fight to free Grace from the suffocating hold of her family. But the Masons won’t let go easily—and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the couple apart.

The Wright Brother


K.A. Linde - 2017
    But when I returned home, Jensen Wright crashed into my life with the confidence of a billionaire CEO and the sex appeal of a god. Even I couldn’t resist our charged chemistry, or the way he fit into my life like a missing puzzle piece.Too bad he’d forgotten the one thing that could destroy us.Because Jensen Wright doesn’t share. Not with anyone. And if his brother finds out, this could all go down in flames.When it all was said and done, was he the Wright brother?

Fool Me Once


Catherine Bybee - 2017
    With one failed marriage under her own personal belt, Lori had fallen hard and early—and it isn’t something she plans on repeating. She’s content focusing on the temporary marriages of her rich and famous clients. When she joins some of her recent divorcées on a celebratory cruise, her only vow is fun, sun, and new friends. But Lori finds herself tempted by a jury of one.For Reed Barlow, falling into the world of private investigation was easy. He knows the law and knows how to avoid breaking it—all while doing his job. His rule to live by? No emotion, no involvement…until Lori. His charming smile and cocky attitude distracts Lori and lowers her guard, which is exactly what Reed desires.But what appears as a one-time-only flirtation may be a plot orchestrated by Reed. As he’s taking his investigation to a dangerous level, it’s Lori who could end up in jeopardy. Reed has only one shot for Lori to grant him a second chance. But if he comes clean with her, he blows his cover. And that just might cost him the opportunity for an alliance of family…and of love.

Keep Me Still


Caisey Quinn - 2013
    When she runs into Landen at freshmen orientation, she has a choice to make. Reinforce those steel walls she's built up around herself or give the only boy who can keep her still a second chance.Landen’s more than ready to tear down those walls, but this time when they come crashing down, they might bury her* This special edition of Keep Me Still includes the novella, Let You Leave:Layla Flaherty had the perfect life, or close to it. Until a stranger gunned her parents down right in front of her, leaving her with seizure inducing PTSD. After years of trying to pass as normal and failing miserably, she resigns herself to being invisible. But new to town Landen O’Brien sees her, and he likes what he sees. Much to Layla’s surprise, he doesn’t freak out when she has a seizure in front of him. He does the exact opposite, calming her until the tremors subside. But Landen has secrets of his own. Secrets that will either bind them together or tear them apart.

The Initiation


Nikki Sloane - 2019
    But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything—the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents’ mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he’s the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it. I’ll make a deal with the devil to save my family and sell myself to the Hales. But Royce will never own my heart.