Book picks similar to
The Only Best Place by Carolyne Aarsen


christian-fiction
christian
romance
fiction

Treading Water


Marie Force - 2011
    Recently back to work after spending more than a year tending to his comatose wife, Jack is focused on getting through each day and caring for his three daughters. However, the moment he sets eyes on Andrea Walsh, the interior designer who has come to decorate the hotel his company is building in Newport, Rhode Island, Jack begins to wonder if Andi might be his second chance. After a disastrous marriage, Andi, single mom to a hearing-impaired son, isn’t exactly looking for love, either, but that’s what she finds with Jack. The two embark on a long-distance relationship fraught with challenges as they balance the needs of their children and dueling careers while Jack continues to care for his wife, Clare. Just when Jack thinks his life is once again settled, he is confronted with a new challenge that tests him in ways he never could've imagined, leaving him to wonder if "happily ever after" is in the cards for him.

Until Forever


Darlene Shortridge - 2010
    No answer. She tried calling several times while she ate her lunch. Still no answer. She closed her eyes and rested her arms and head on her desk. She breathed deeply, wishing she had remembered to call earlier. Until Forever is a story of a young family that is torn apart by the devastating effects of alcoholism. Can healing take place in a relationship when an unforgivable act is committed? Will Jessi's pain and Mark's guilt keep them apart forever, or will unforeseen circumstances bind them together?

Back in the Saddle


K.F. Breene - 2013
    On the tail end of her latest bad decision, Jessica realizes she needs to make a life change. So when college finally ends, she packs up her life and heads to Texas for a fresh start. It is there she meets the most ruggedly handsome cowboy she's ever encountered. An entrepreneur with a million prospects, Jessica knows he's out of her league, but life, and an adventurous spirit, keeps driving her toward him, stumbling and laughing all the way. He can only resist her for so long.

Safe Harbor


Judith Arnold - 1991
    As teenagers, they argued about books, complained about chores and learned from each other a little about the way boys and girls viewed each other. They were best friends—until a tragedy in Shelley’s life tore them apart. Twelve years later, Kip has had to face his own tragedy. When he returns to the island to heal, he discovers that Shelley is now living there, older and wiser but bearing emotional scars. He is scarred, too—something they can share as they rediscover their friendship. But comfort and compassion aren’t love. Kip believes he will never love again. Shelley believes she can’t love. Yet one night, their beliefs are shattered, and they realize they have a lot more to learn from each other. Safe Harbor was a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Rita ® Award.

The One Who Got Away


Jessica Goodwin - 2011
    Reunited after many years and many changes, Lucy and Jackson find themselves caught in a dilemma. Both of them are struggling with the fact that their old feelings for each other have been reawakened… And now both of them are involved with other people. Should Lucy stay in a comfortable, routine relationship with her boyfriend, Matt, even though he doesn’t make her feel the way Jackson does? Should Jackson keep going with the flow in his marriage to Sloane, his overbearing wife who is pressuring him to start a family?What begins as a friendship rekindled leads to a romance caught on fire as Lucy and Jackson question the decisions they made in their younger years and wonder if they are truly meant to be together.

Once More With Feeling


Megan Crane - 2012
    If only she could figure out how she got into this position in the first place, Sarah is sure she could fix it. Somehow. But when Sarah digs into her past, she finds she has to face all the ghosts she left behind—and the reason she left them there. One very tall, very sexy reason named Alec Frasier, who might hold the key to the kind of future Sarah used to dream about. Yet when Tim wakes up and can’t remember what he did, Sarah has the chance to slip back into her old life as if she never left it. Trouble is, she’s no longer sure it fits…

Gone to Green


Judy Christie - 2009
    The paper was an unexpected inheritance from a close colleague, and Lois must keep it for at least a year, bringing a host of challenges, lessons, and blessings into her life.When Lois pulls into Green on New Year’s Day, she expects a charming little town full of smiling people. She quickly realizes her mistake. After settling into a loaned house out on Route 2, she finds herself battling town prejudices and inner doubts and making friends with the most surprising people: troubled teenager Katy, good-looking catfish farmer Chris, wise and feisty Aunt Helen, and a female African-American physician named Kevin.Whether fighting a greedy, deceitful politician or rescuing a dog she fears, Lois notices the headlines in her life have definitely improved. She learns how to provide small-town news in a big-hearted way and realizes that life is full of newsworthy moments. When she encounters racial prejudice and financial corruption, Lois also discovers more about the goodness of real people and the importance of being part of a community.While secretly preparing the paper for a sale, Lois begins to realize that God might indeed have a plan for her life and that perhaps the allure of city life and career ambition are not what she wants after all.

Plastic Hearts


Lisa De Jong - 2013
    I like it that way. I grew up in a fake society where plastic hearts rule. If our hearts are made of plastic, they can never be broken. My parents have expectations and I do everything I can to meet them, even if it means giving up on my own dreams. Now, all I want is to be free to make my own choices.Dane Wright is everything I have been warned to stay away from. We met one night while I was with my perfect, parent-approved boyfriend and I haven’t stopped thinking about him. I don’t want to like him. I am doing everything I can to ignore his pull, but my heart seems to want what it cannot have, what it has never had.Can he measure up? He may think I am too good for him, but maybe he is too good for me. Life is a series of choices and I have never been able to make my own. Until one day, when my heart decides to make a choice for me.Recommended for mature readers due to sexual content and language

Revolution


Michelle Betham - 2014
    The Brotherhood of Lone Riders MC had seen to that – they’d driven her away; hounded her out. She’d broken their rules. They’d had no other choice.But now Lexi is back. After spending the past eight years with her father in England, at the Lone Riders mother chapter where her father Charlie Hart has been President for over thirty years, Lexi now needs to face up to the things that had seen her driven out of Paradise all those years ago. She needs to face up to what happened while she was away; the mistakes, and the consequences. She needs to find answers to questions she can’t let go of. She needs to find her own truth because, for far too long, Lexi Hart had been living someone else’s.Growing up within the whole Lone Riders lifestyle, she still finds it difficult, even after thirty-five years, to love the club she was born into; the club her grandfather had created. Getting her head around the way it works isn’t easy for Lexi, even after all that time. And as for the men who live within its confines, her relationship with them is even more complicated. Even more dangerous. With one man proving more dangerous than the others… and now she’s back in Paradise. Where that man is…Can he help her find the truth she so desperately seeks? Those answers she’s looking for? And when dark secrets from the past begin to be revealed, and dangerous games start being played, can the Lone Riders pull together to survive the storm that’s about to hit Paradise…?*Please be aware that Revolution contains strong language, adult content and sex scenes*

A Woman of Fortune


Kellie Coates Gilbert - 2014
     Texas socialite Claire Massey is living the dream—designer clothes, luxury cars, stunning homes. But everything comes crashing down when her charming cattle broker husband is arrested for fraud. Suddenly she finds herself facing attorneys, a media frenzy, and a trail of broken hearts. Betrayed and humiliated, Claire must maneuver incredible odds to save her family—and discover a life worth living. Author Kellie Coates Gilbert delivers a story both poignant and emotionally gripping that celebrates the kind of fortune that lasts.

Prelude to a Wedding


Patricia McLinn - 1991
    Paul was a sweetheart--and very sexy. But he lived for the moment. Bette wasn't sure she should get involved; she couldn't expect commitment from this man. And Paul--well, he had issues of his own about a woman who was so organized. Contemporary romance by Patricia McLinn; originally published as a Silhouette Special Edition

Brother's Best Friend Unwrapped: A Second Chance Romance


Aria Ford - 2017
     Back in high school, I gave him my heart. He broke it and left to join the Army. Now he’s at my brother’s house for our family Christmas. I know I should run, go back home before I let Carson hurt me again. But I can’t disappoint my brother’s kids by leaving. He’s still gorgeous and arrogant, but the pain in his eyes draws me in. I can’t resist him. This sizzling attraction is stronger than ever. Every stolen kiss, every secret rendezvous just makes me fall deeper for him. We’re sneaking around my brother’s house like teenagers, hot and breathless. But something’s wrong—he keeps pushing me away, wrestling his own demons from the war—I want to be there for him and make him forget everything else but us. What if he won’t let me? Maybe this is my chance to be naughty for Christmas. Or maybe he’s the answer to all my dreams.

Seeing Julia


Katherine Owen - 2011
    A weak moment. One Kiss. Jake Winston has always done the right thing, which is why he walked out of his best friend's wedding over a year ago and took the job in London to avoid meeting up with Evan's beautiful, young bride. But now, Julia needs him, and he can't just walk away this time.Julia Hamilton is well acquainted with grief, but when she carelessly imbibes in a deadly combination of pain killers and martinis at her dead husband's funeral and confides to a complete stranger that she's unsure she can start over again, it leads to an inexplicable connection that never should have happened. After all, Julia loved Evan, didn't she? And, it turns out; Jake Winston has secrets of his own. Julia explains it away by telling her well-meaning friends that it was just one kiss in a weak moment for both of them. It doesn't change anything. Or, does it change everything? And, therein lies the problem. Please be advised that SEEING JULIA contains adult language and adult situations and is not appropriate for young readers. (New Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance)

Greater Than Rubies


Hallee Bridgeman - 2012
    It doesn't hurt that he completely loves and adores Robin with all his heart and soul from practically the moment they first meet. Robin comes from a blistering past, struggling and fighting for the survival of herself and her two younger half-sisters in a cold, cruel world. By the time Tony thaws her heart, she has known hunger, poverty, violence, and want. Robin never had a chance to dream of a white wedding gown or a prince charming. Instead, her dreams were nightmares dark and clouded with fear and desperation.For months, Tony courted the blond beauty with the sapphire eyes. He teased Robin and pursued her. He showered with attention, respect, and charm. He covered her in diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. Tony satisfied every heart's desire. Finally, Robin came to understand God's love for her as imitated by the unconditional love Tony freely offered. Then, on a sunny Florida beach, Tony proposed and Robin eagerly said "Yes!"Back in bitter cold Boston, doubts about becoming a billionaire's bride begin to crowd out her hopes for happiness. Robin worked for tips until just a few months before Tony proposed on that sunny stretch of sand. In fact, she waited his table less than half a year earlier. Having no experience facing these challenges, Robin struggles to cope feeling the pressures of relocating; of unreliable transportation; of the never-ending details of the shower, the ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon; of worries that her sisters will smoothly transition along with her; of changing her name; all while dealing with her father's very serious legal problems.As the date draws inexorably near and the pressure mounts, Robin begins to grasp the scale of her fiancé's vast material wealth and holdings, the responsibilities of the virtual empire he commands. She witnesses his generosity when he takes on a young protegee straight from the tough South Boston streets.Ultimately, Robin questions whether she is truly the girl of Tony's dreams. Is she the woman God has made for him? In taking her on as a wife, would she act as helpmeet or poison apple? In truly loving Tony, would it be better to bind herself to him for all eternity or return his freedom? When her nightmares return in full force, they remind Robin of an even deeper and more terrifying prospect. Will she give in to her insecurities and cancel Boston's "Royal Wedding" for good? Or, with God's guidance, will Tony sacrifice everything to prove to his beloved Robin her true worth?

Fakers


Meg Collett - 2014
    Her bubbling personality and fresh beauty capture her audience each week, but they don't know the truth-she's just faking it. Beneath the surface of light-hearted smiles is a simmering darkness threatening to pull Kyra under. When Kyra moves to Canaan Island and buys her deceased mother's childhood home, she hopes to confront the lurking shadows haunting her every step. But when she meets her grumpy contractor, even her best-laid plans start to unravel. Hale Cooper is as brutally honest as he is intriguing. He hates fakers, and isn't afraid to call Kyra on her false personality. Yet, she is drawn to him, and the unexpected attraction to a man who challenges her to be her true self lands her in unchartered waters. But if she lowers her guard and allows herself to be honest with Hale, will the darkness creep in too?*This book is recommended for mature readers due to some sexual content and language. Cutting is represented in this book, and scenes may be considered triggering to some.*