Book picks similar to
A Heart Restored by Elizabeth Maddrey


romance
contemporary
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Champagne and Lemon Drops


Jean Oram - 2013
    Two men. One meddling small town.Raised by her older sister in the small town of Blueberry Springs, all Beth Wilkinson wants is to create a family so big she’ll never be alone. Things are going great until her fiancé, Oz, rethinks everything from his own career to their nuptial plans—forcing Beth to do the same.As Beth works to rediscover herself in hopes of reattracting Oz, she catches the eye of the charming new city doctor, Nash. Not only does he see her as she’d like to be seen, but he knows exactly what he wants from life—and that includes Beth.Torn between the two men, as well as two versions of herself, Beth discovers that love and dreams are much more complicated than they seem.

The Saturday Night Supper Club


Carla Laureano - 2018
    But when a targeted smear campaign causes her to be pushed out of the business by her partners, she vows to do whatever it takes to get her life back … even if that means joining forces with the man who inadvertently set the disaster in motion.Essayist Alex Kanin never imagined his pointed editorial would go viral. Ironically, his attempt to highlight the pitfalls of online criticism has the opposite effect: it revives his own flagging career by destroying that of a perfect stranger. Plagued by guilt-fueled writer’s block, Alex vows to do whatever he can to repair the damage. He just doesn’t expect his interest in the beautiful chef to turn personal.Alex agrees to help rebuild Rachel’s tarnished image by offering his connections and his home to host an exclusive pop-up dinner party targeted to Denver’s most influential citizens: the Saturday Night Supper Club. As they work together to make the project a success, Rachel begins to realize Alex is not the unfeeling opportunist she once thought he was, and that perhaps there’s life--and love--outside the pressure-cooker of her chosen career. But can she give up her lifelong goals without losing her identity as well?

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.

A Soft Place to Fall


Barbara Bretton - 2001
    All she needs is courage, and time. The last thing she needs is a handsome, charming next-door neighbor...

A Painted Summer


Amy Matayo - 2015
    As a homeschool graduate, a small town resident, and the only child of two over-protective parents, she’s dreamed of chasing big dreams. But big dreams take big courage. So in a moment of uncharacteristic boldness, Darby leaves the only life she’s ever known and sets off for California to test her skills in Hollywood. It works...until she runs out of money. That wasn’t part of her spur-of-the-moment plan, and she finds herself stuck in an unfamiliar city with too much pride to call home for help.With limited options, Darby finds herself working for dangerously hot Lennon Dixon, the owner of a downtown Los Angeles tattoo parlor. Lennon needs help and finds it in Darby. What he doesn’t expect is her odd aversion to his place of business...or his attraction to her. As for Darby, to call her new job unfamiliar is the world's biggest understatement. But to call her mutual attraction to Lennon unexpected is a very close second.Previously published as part of the Just One Summer collection.

The Bookshop on the Corner


Rebecca Raisin - 2014
    The meet-cute, the passion, the drama and the gorgeous men! Now this wouldn’t have been such an issue if she hadn’t been the owner of the only bookshop in Ashford, Connecticut.Ever since her close friend Lil, from The Gingerbread Café, had become engaged she had been yearning for a little love to turn up in her life. Except Sarah knew a good man was hard to find – especially in a tiny town like Ashford. That was until New York journalist, Ridge Warner stepped into her bookshop…Love could be just around the corner for Sarah, but will she be able to truly believe that happy-ever-after can happen in real-life too!

Not Until Forever


Valerie M. Bodden - 2019
    He put his family before her. When they get a second chance, will they choose to put each other first?As she climbs the corporate ladder, Sophie doesn’t let herself think about what she gave up when she declined Spencer’s proposal five years ago. So when she’s called home to say goodbye to her dying grandmother, she goes out of her way to avoid seeing him. Of course, that means he’s the first person she runs into. Much as she fights against it, being near him stirs up old feelings and makes her question old decisions. Leaving college to help on the family farm cost Spencer the woman he loved. But he couldn’t turn his back on his family. Now that Sophie’s back in town, Spencer’s determined to protect his heart. Only he senses something new in Sophie—something that makes him think maybe they could have a second chance. But when his family needs him again, he feels like he’s repeating the past.Only this time, he’s not sure what choice he should make.Is God giving them a second chance? Or are the heartaches of the past too much to overcome?

Prelude


JoAnn Durgin - 2014
    Lewis and Sarah Jordan, parents to Sam Lewis, the core character of The Lewis Legacy Series. Prelude gives insights into Sam’s family history in this involving, heartfelt story of family, friendship, and love. A story of never letting go of our dreams, and how faith, sacrifice and trusting our lives to the Lord’s guidance will always triumph over our human fears, temptations, insecurities and frailties. On April 24, 1962, U.S. Air Force Captain Samuel Lewis returns home to small Rockbridge, Texas. Six years older than Sarah, Sam is the boy who moved four doors down when she was ten. A teenager who nicknamed her Tomboy and teased her like an older brother. That boy is now a fully grown, incredibly handsome man who makes her heart race, but what does she know of love or life? In another year, she’ll be able to save the five thousand dollars she needs to attend nursing school in Austin. Besides, everyone in Rockbridge expects Sam to date her older sister, Tess, the prettiest girl in town with the beauty queen titles to prove it. Not to mention Tess announces her intention of marrying Captain Lewis. After his return stateside, Sam Lewis finds Sarah Jordan occupying his favorite pondering spot at Thornton’s Creek. After his years away from home, first at the Air Force Academy and then serving in the Air Force, Sam finds himself unexpectedly drawn to Sarah. The sassy, funny girl he used to tease has grown up into a beautiful, charming woman with wit and intelligence who challenges him more than any other woman he’s ever met. Sarah’s frequent reminders that she’s leaving Rockbridge, along with her encouragement to date any other girl in town, unsettle him. During the eventful summer of 1962, their friendship grows deeper and blossoms into love. Sam knows he can’t hold Sarah back from achieving her dreams. Besides, he has no plans to leave town since he’s stepped into place beside his father as the vice president of Rockbridge Savings & Loan. Sam's heart is torn. All seems hopeless when she tells him it’s her dream to work as a nurse on mission fields across the world. When an unexpected financial gift gives Sarah the needed funds to enter nursing school in the fall, she faces saying good-bye to Sam earlier than expected. Are Sam and Sarah destined to be together or to spend their lives apart? Can these two find a place where their hearts can meet or does the Lord have a much better plan that only He can design? Prelude releases on December 19, 2014.

It Will Be Forever


Jennifer Rodewald - 2019
    Thought she’d stay gone…Big-hearted Dre Rustin fled her small Nebraska hometown to distance herself from her brother’s troubled past. Texas seemed like a good place to start a new life. Now she’s looking forward to graduating from college, but first she’s got to handle Thanksgiving break. She’ll head home for the first time in years. No way is she going to get sucked back into the drama and charm—namely her brother’s best friend Tommy Kent—of Rock Creek. For moral support, she convinces her best friend to travel with her. Little good that does her.Tom Kent might not have been the rebel Paul Rustin had been, but he’d earned a less-than-honorable reputation with the girls, which ruined the fragile hope he’d had for romance with Dre before she left for college. In the four years since Dre had shut Tom out, he hasn’t been able to let her go. Now she’s coming home, and he’s got this one last chance. What if she could forgive him? What if they could recapture the tender feelings they’d shared years ago? What if they could build new dreams together? It could be good. Really good. Maybe, just maybe, it could be forever.

She's Gotta Be Mine


Jennifer Skully - 2004
    Instead, she reinvents herself and the new Bobbie Jones—new haircut, new name, new attitude—follows her soon-to-be ex to the small Northern California town of Cottonmouth. What better way to show him—and his sweetheart—what he’s missing in the brand new Bobbie Jones than taking up with the town’s local bad boy—who’s also reputed to be a serial killer. Nick Angel is devilishly handsome and sexy as all get-out. In a word, perfect.It’s all going exactly according to plan...until a real murder rocks the little town of Cottonmouth. Of course, Nick didn’t do it...did he?“She’s Gotta Be Mine”, previously published as “Sex and the Serial Killer”,

A Time to Treasure


Juliette Duncan - 2018
    He lost his wife but is ready to move on. Will a chance meeting in a foreign city change their lives forever? Following her husband’s untimely death, Wendy Miller’s life revolves around her adult children, but when she accepts an invitation to her late husband’s grandmother’s 90th birthday party in London, she meets a dashing, silver-haired Texan cowboy in Dublin. Bruce captures her heart, but can she move past the memories of her late husband and truly open her heart all over again?Bruce McCarthy did his best to hold his family and ranch together after his wife died in a car accident ten years before, but following a recent health scare, he decides to live every day as if it were his last and books a flight to Ireland to find his Irish family.The captivating woman he accidentally spills coffee on one morning stirs something inside him, and Bruce wonders if God might be giving him a second chance at love…As they meet again in London, Paris and Venice, their friendship grows deeper, but while Bruce is eager to take their friendship further, Wendy is unsure if her adult children will accept a new man in her life, especially when one of them still blames God for allowing her father to die prematurely.If Wendy can trust God to take care of the details, and Bruce can overcome his fears of his cancer returning, then they may just find true love again after all…A Time to Treasure is the first book in The Time For Everything Series, a set of contemporary Christian romance novels set in Sydney, Australia, and Texas, USA. If you like real-life characters, faith-filled families, and friendships that become something more, then you’ll love Juliette Duncan’s inspirational second-chance romance.Buy A Time to Treasure and fall in love with Wendy and Bruce today!

Critical Care


Candace Calvert - 2009
    She's determined to make a fresh start--new hospital, new career in nursing education--move forward, no turning back. But her plans fall apart when she's called to offer stress counseling for medical staff after a heartbreaking day care center explosion. Worse, she's forced back to the ER, where she clashes with Logan Caldwell, a doctor who believes touchy-feely counseling is a waste of time. He demands his staff be as tough as he is. Yet he finds himself drawn to this nurse educator . . . who just might teach him the true meaning of healing.

Summer at Willow Lake


Susan Wiggs - 2006
    Tempted by the hazy, nostalgic memories of summers past - childhood innocence and the romance and rivalries of her teens - it's the perfect place to flee after her broken engagement. But what began as an escape may just be a new beginning...As Olivia uncovers secrets buried thick with dust, one by one her family return, their lives as frayed at the edges as the resort.

The Inn at Eagle Point


Sherryl Woods - 2009
    Original.It's been years since Abby O'Brien Winters set foot in Chesapeake Shores. The Maryland town her father built has too many sad memories and Abby too few spare moments, thanks to her demanding Wall Street career, the crumbling of her marriage and energetic twin daughters. Then one panicked phone call from her youngest sister brings her racing back home to protect Jess's dream of renovating the charming Inn at Eagle Point.But saving the inn from foreclosure means dealing not only with her own fractured family, but also with Trace Riley, the man Abby left ten years ago. Trace can be a roadblock to her plans...or proof that second chances happen in the most unexpected ways.

The Wedding Gift


Lucy Kevin - 2012
    She plans to dazzle the bride and groom so the Chalet’s owner will keep her around, but fate has other plans for her when the bride’s brother shows up for the first food tasting.Andrew Kyle is not only the Cuisine Channel’s Edgy Eats host and chef, but his recent review of Julie’s restaurant was the final nail in its coffin. Once he meets Julie at the Rose Chalet, he’s certain she’s playing it safe. And he wants nothing more than to be the one to break her guarded passions loose.But despite the undeniable sparks between Julie and Andrew — and the fact that he seems to believe in her when no one else does — can she afford to be taking risks with her cooking, with her career… or with her heart?