Book picks similar to
Secondhand Sinners by Genevieve Lynne


contemporary
2nd-chance
secret-child
betrayal

Current


Abby McCarthy - 2016
    One moment was all it took for the river’s current to take everything from them. June would have done anything for Jake. The two were inseparable. He was going to run away to be with her. Then, his abusive father destroyed their happiness. Years later, June sits down to write a review for the band Silent Tides and is floored when she comes face to face with Lucas the keyboardist. Lucas looks so familiar; the resemblance to Jake is uncanny.June falls fast and hard for Lucas, but she continuously questions her feelings for him, unsure if they are because he reminds her of Jake or because of who he is. Just when June thinks she’s found happiness with Lucas, she loses him too. Their new love is torn apart, clouded in a veil of deceit and lies, shattering June. Six years pass and June feels like she finally has found peace in her life. Once again, it’s ripped wide open when she comes face to face with a love from her past.Now it’s June who has a secret.

When You're Ready


J.L. Berg - 2013
    waiting.As a widow and a single mother, I’d made peace with a quiet life. After all, I lost the love of my life. No one could ever replace him. But then, I met Dr. Logan Matthews and everything changed. He appeared like a white knight, caring for my injured daughter as he slowly mended the pieces of my broken heart. The letter Ethan left me has three words written on the envelope, When You’re Ready.So, I guess the question is...Was I ready... to love again?

The Baby Bargain


Jennifer Apodaca - 2013
    Ex-Marine. Ex-boyfriend. And still extremely dangerous territory. But Adam doesn’t know the secret Megan has been keeping from him. The secret that was created three years ago, after their last night together...Adam returns to Raven’s Cove to sell his home in a final break with the town and memories that haunt him. The problem is that his attraction to Megan is as blazing hot as it ever was. But when a vicious smear campaign against Megan turns ugly, Adam learns the truth he never knew—he has a son. Now the only way Megan can protect her child is to strike a bargain with Adam. And it’s a bargain that looks a lot like blackmail...

That's a Promise


Victoria Klahr - 2013
    I’ve been to hell only to find it never really leaves when you get back. It haunts me through nightmares, unrequited love, lies, broken hearts, and now death. A monster almost took my life.My best friend carries half my soul a world away. My boyfriend broke my heart but refuses to let me go. And my father is dead.I don’t believe in fate and I don’t believe in happily-ever-afters, but for some reason, I still hope. Live, even with a tainted spirit.Long for my other half to come back to me. Risk another broken heart, just to feel loved again. And refuse to let another horror break me. In the face of my most recent tragedy, I have to decide whether forgiveness is something I can give. But even if that’s an option, can I be forgiven?(That's a Promise is book 1 in a 3 part series, and the new/ updated version will be available 10-10-2014)

Gina and Mike


Buffy Andrews - 2013
    She's looking forward to the prom, then graduation and senior week at the shore. The only thing she isn't looking forward to is the start of college, because it means she won't be near Mike. They are attending schools on opposite sides of the state. But Gina's normal teen life ends the night she is brutally raped by her math teacher and Mike's baseball coach. Coach Smith threatens to destroy Mike's promising baseball career if Gina tells anyone what happened. To protect Mike, Gina keeps quiet and eventually, unable to deal with the effects of the rape, breaks up with Mike. They reconnect at their 20th high school reunion where the past catches up with them and Mike learns the truth about what happened 20 years ago.

After Love Leaves: The Story of Us


Michelle Alstead - 2017
    When she met Brad Sorenson, Zoe was convinced her bad luck with men had finally changed. He saw past her insecurities and the Oreo addiction she just couldn’t shake, inspiring her to chase her dreams. Brad was looking for a good time online, not love. But Zoe was so sweet, so kind. Everything about her was perfect—until she fell for him. Doesn’t she understand he’s the wrong guy for a woman like her? Zoe doesn’t know why Brad left her standing in an airport; he won’t return her calls or texts. With her self-esteem and dreams shattered, she can’t imagine ever loving anyone else… When a devastating diagnosis changes Brad’s life forever, he’s forced to finally face the truth: there’s only one woman he’s ever truly loved.Will Zoe give Brad a second chance or is she done with love for good?***This is not your typical romance. Real love is complicated and messy. This story is written for those who have loved the wrong person for all the right reasons.

A Taste of Summer


Beverly Preston - 2015
    But once upon a time, he was just Summer to Carrie Ann—before a decade of blockbuster hits skyrocketed his success into superstardom. Summer was smart, gorgeous, and cocky as hell. Nothing was out of his reach. Not even Carrie Ann Lowell. He was the love of her life—until he shattered her heart. Their breakup left more than a profound rift in her soul. It crushed her. When Carrie Ann’s college flame forces his way back into her life, his dirty-talking, bold self-assurance re-ignites a passion she thought had long since been extinguished. Carrie Ann didn’t believe in second chances. Not even for him. No matter how deliciously tempting.With sparks flying and hidden truths unraveling, will Carrie Anne be able to deny her desires to save herself from another heart break?

Fool Me Once


Nikki Ash - 2020
    I wasn’t looking for romance, but his two-dimpled charm made my heart go haywire.We both had one thing in common: we were here to escape our realities. One week. Just the two of us. Not a care in the world. I didn’t know it at the time, but that week would forever change my life.Four years later, and as fate would have it, Keegan and I are brought together again. It’s as if the universe is telling us this is our second chance. The more I get to know him, the harder I fall.Falling hopelessly in love is inevitable with a man like him. Only the joke’s on me, because the guy I’m falling for isn’t the man I thought he was. You know how the saying goes: Fool me once...I’ll be damned if I’m fooled again.

Always


Jennifer Labelle - 2011
    But Liam’s ex-girlfriend Lucy shows up and destroys everything, especially Teegan’s trust in him. Crushed, she heads off to college in a new city, leaving behind the only guy she’s ever loved. Ten years later, Teegan returns home to escape her abusive ex-boyfriend. Already afraid she’s making another mistake, Teegan is shocked to discover her nephew’s best friend LJ is actually Liam Junior—the son Liam had with Lucy. She’s already formed a bond with the endearing boy, and realizes she’s also still in love with his father. Too bad she’s not good enough for either of them, being a shattered shell of a person, thanks to Oliver. Liam, however, has his own agenda—getting Teegan back. Now that the love of his life is back in town, he has no intention of losing her again, and he’s more than willing to leave all other women behind. One woman in particular, though, schemes to make sure Teegan stays far away from Liam, but he catches on quickly and finally wins the battle to regain Teegan’s trust—and love. Though all Teegan wants is to start over, her past isn’t done with her yet. Can Liam save Teegan from an obsessive monster, or will they lose their second chance at always…forever?

Trailer Park Heart


Rachel Higginson - 2018
    It’s my legacy. That’s how my mama lived. And that’s how her mama lived. It’s the life I was born into and it’s the life I swore I would leave the second I was old enough to make it out. Only legacies have a funny way of sneaking up on you. An innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications in my plans to escape. Seven years later, I’ve resigned myself to this small town and the roots I’m tied to. Nothing could make me leave. And nothing could make me spill the secrets that keep me here. Until he walks back into town with a chip on his shoulder and a stupid hunch nobody else in town has been smart enough to follow. Levi Cole is my opposite. Born on the right side of the tracks with family money to spare, he’s the kind of black sheep that can afford to be rebellious—because his family will always pay for his mistakes. He’s also the only living heir to Cole Family Farms, after his brother Logan was killed in duty seven years ago. He sees something in my life that he thinks he has a right to. But he’s wrong. And obnoxious. And he needs to take his stubborn good looks and that intense way he looks at me and go back to wherever it was he came from. I know better than to trust men like him. I was born and raised in a trailer park, I know nothing good happens to girls like me—girls with trailer park lives and trailer park hearts. Especially from gorgeous, kind, pigheaded men like him.

All My Life


Prescott Lane - 2018
    I loved him while he loved someone else. I loved him when he had a baby with her. I loved him when she left him.The greatest of love stories is that between a dad and his daughter. I should know. I’ve had a front row seat. First steps, first words, all the big moments. Garrett was just a teenager when Mia was born. I’ve watched him braid his daughter’s hair, hold her hand crossing the street, seen her asleep on his chest. I’m the best friend, the one they can count on for everything from dance lessons to motherly advice, anything they need. I’m their go-to girl.The best part of any love story is the happily ever after.But what if the happily ever after doesn’t include you?All my life, that’s how long I’ve loved him.Of course, he’s clueless.

Coming Home


Leslie Kelly - 2011
    But when she has to fly to her sick father's bedside, she comes face to face with the man who broke her heart so many years ago.Wyatt Clayton has come a long way from his bad-boy youth and now runs his family ranch. Still, seeing Nicole again rocks his world and causes him to remember those crazy-wild days when they'd been reckless young lovers. Despite themselves, Nicole and Wyatt find those passionate sparks still erupt whenever they're together. But will they have a future when they learn the truth about what has kept them apart for so long?

Fighting Temptation


K.C. Lynn - 2014
    Yet he’s also beautiful, strong and honorable. I unconditionally and irrevocably love every damaged part of him. And for the boy, who didn’t believe in love, he would always and forever have mine. ~Julia SinclairJulia was different from anyone I’d ever met. I never thought someone so good and genuine existed until her. The more I saw of her the more I became addicted to her. Every time I was around her she would destroy some of the darkness that lurked inside of me. She made the bad shit in my life seem not so terrible. Then, before I knew it, I had fallen for a girl from another world. ~Jaxson ReidTwo unlikely friends—the innocent, good girl and the notorious bad boy. One fateful night brought them together, and they formed a bond—one so strong it was unbreakable—until one night they gave into temptation.Fast forward five years and Jaxson is back to fix the mistakes he’s made with the only girl who’s ever mattered to him. Only someone isn’t happy with his return, someone who thinks Julia is theirs and they will stop at nothing to make sure it stays that way—forever.Jaxson will not only fight to protect Julia, but will also battle the new and existing demons that haunt his soul from death, corruption, destruction and war.This is Book One in the Men Of Honor series. It can be read as a standalone and has a HEA. It’s New Adult Romance and is told from both character’s POV. Due to strong sexual content, coarse language and mature subject matter this book is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.

You Make Me Weak


Juliana Stone - 2016
    He doesn’t believe in much, other than his brothers, his God, and his country. He likes his life simple and hates complications. So running into the-girl-he-let- get-away is one complication he can do without. Yet the flames of desire still burn hot and it’s not so easy to break ties a second time around. Makes a guy wonder… Can a man who only wants to leave find a reason to stay? Rebecca Draper is hoping second chance at life will get her back on track. With a failed marriage behind her and a young son to support, this former beauty queen has no time for Hudson Blackwell—yet running into him stirs up things. Hot things. Wild things. The man broke her heart once so getting involved with him would be crazy. Yet he awakens a desire and a need so intense she can’t deny it. It begs the question… Can a woman who wants love be brave enough to take a chance on a man who could destroy her?

Bent Not Broken


Julia Goda - 2015
    Out of survival she has created walls around her to keep anyone from getting too close. Though she lives in her dream house in the Rocky Mountains and loves being the owner of the town's quirky little bookstore Serendipity, her life is narrow and governed by strict rules that she never deviates from…until Cal Bennett enters her life. For the past nine years Calvin “Cal” Bennett has stayed away from Ivey, thinking she deserved better than to be saddled with a single dad who has never been good at relationships. Until a few chance encounters show him what he’s been missing and he can’t stay away any longer. Little does he know he’s got a fight on his hands that he might not be equipped to win. Shadows from Ivey's past lurk in the dark, ready to strike and bring her low once and for all. But Cal swears he will do whatever it takes to break through that wall of steel to win Ivey’s heart and keep her safe.