Book picks similar to
When the Smoke Clears by Kenya Wright


romance
interracial-romance
contemporary
interracial

Underneath It All


Kate Canterbary - 2014
    It's all the little things--the action plans, the long-kept promises--that started falling apart when my life slipped into controlled chaos. After I fell ass-over-elbow into Matthew Walsh's arms, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to run screaming or rip his pants off, and most days I wanted a little of both. If I was being honest with myself, it was rip his pants off, ride him like a workhorse, and then run screaming. Meet Matthew Walsh. A rebellious streak ran through Lauren Halsted. It was fierce and unrelentingly beautiful, and she wasn't letting anyone tell her what to do--unless, of course, she was naked. She wasn't looking for me and I sure as shit wasn't looking for her, but we found each other anyway, and now we were locked in a battle of wills, waiting for the other to blink.

Have My Baby


Taryn Quinn - 2017
    But Seth is a workaholic millionaire and doesn't have time to meet someone. Someone who won't screw him over, like his kid's mother.  Only problem is this someone has secretly been in love with him since high school. I've been hiding it forever, not wanting to risk our friendship. Sleeping with him is my biggest fantasy. And I've fantasized plenty, being a virgin. Another thing he doesn't know.Now I have to make the biggest decision of my life.Is having a no strings attached affair just to make a baby better than never having him at all?Author’s note: this case of insta-love and insta-naked-time has been brewing for over a decade. Babymaking has never been so hot…or so funny…or so complicated.Author’s Note part deux: Have My Baby is a standalone rom com with a romantic HEA ending and no cliffhanger.

#1 Crush


Kaia Bennett - 2014
    Gabriel has always seen Nicole as his good friend’s very pretty, but extremely off limits baby sister. Then a hot summer day and an even hotter discovery pushes them over the lines of friendship, over the lines of unrequited desire, and into each other's arms.Will they indulge and move on? Or will this crush turn into something more, something deeper? Something that leaves loose ends begging to be tied…#1 Crush is book one in the Loose Ends series. Each book is a full novel and the series will conclude with book three.

Single You Out


Faleena Hopkins - 2019
    Single dad. Stock trader. New York City. A ginger who wears a suit like money is his church. I'm drenched from the rain, sticking my foot in my mouth. I'd like to stick something else in there. But like the heat in my building...That pulses up from a dark boiler room...Touch that pipe at your peril.

Heartless


Winter Renshaw - 2016
    It was raining sideways that morning, and my plan was to return it the next day; safe and dry. Only I kept it. I kept it, and I read it. A week later, overwhelmed with curiosity and feeling guilty for harboring secrets that didn’t belong to me, I tried to return it. Only I wasn’t expecting to meet him. Unapologetically heartless and enigmatically sexy, he claims he knows nothing about the journal I found outside his place, but the reticent glint in his blue-green gaze tells me otherwise. There’s something different about him; something damaged yet magical, and I’m drawn to him; pulled into his orbit. There’s just one problem. The more I get to know him, the more I’m positive the journal belonged to him... ...and the more I find myself hoping, selfishly, that I’m wrong.

The Sweet Spot: A Maple Hills Story (Book 1)


Tay Mo'Nae - 2020
    

Happy Trail


Daisy Prescott - 2019
    Never quite fitting in with either side of his family, he prefers the company of birds and trees to people.Yeah, he’d most definitely prefer a bird—any bird, any bird at all, take a vulture for instance—to the human-tornado hybrid that just blew onto his peaceful stretch of the Appalachian Trail.The path of true love never has run smooth for Olive Perry. After getting dumped and promptly abandoned in the middle of her multi-month hike, Olive swears off men. Determined to finish the long trek by herself, she doesn’t need a prince—or broody and taciturn ranger—to save her.Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, and Ranger Daniels is charged with getting hikers to safety, that includes hot-tempered Olive Perry. Snowed in and forced to share an abandoned cabin, can Olive’s heated intensity melt Jay’s cool reserve?And if so, will this happy trail lead to true love? Or will their time together be just another bump in the road?‘Happy Trail’ is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Park Ranger series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Hard Core


Tess Oliver - 2016
    But I'd taken the opposite side of the forked road and headed off looking for even more trouble, like a junkie constantly searching for the next high. Never would I have guessed that turn would lead me to her . I couldn't stop thinking about her. She was an angel, a hard core, bone-fide angel and in her short life, she'd already had a taste of hell .-JACY-Despair. Heartbreak. Silence. That was all I'd grown to know, until he showed up next door.The handsome, tattooed stranger had the kind of eyes that were hard to look away from, and he gazed at me as if we'd been friends or even lovers in a different life. He looked at me as if he knew me, and suddenly I had this flash of feeling as if I was right where I was supposed to be. Hard Core is a full-length, standalone novel.Contains mature content. Intended for readers 18+

Baby Baby: Chicago


Victoria H. Smith - 2016
     Surrogacy... This hadn't been the plan for Chicago native Johari Russell. But then again, neither had raking up thousands of dollars in medical school debt. Desperate, she accepts the money for her education from sources she probably shouldn't have, and now, finds herself waiting to meet with one-half of a happy couple with the intention of carrying their future child. This is the new plan for Johari and once she makes one, she sticks to it. She never intended to have such a strong connection with the prospective father of the future child, or for his brown eyes to tighten her tummy in ways it probably shouldn't. And why did he look so familiar to her? Cancer... Illness nearly ended Alexander Ricci's life before it barely began, a life of opulence, thanks to the successes of his late father and one that's also very much under the microscope due to his own accomplishments or, erm... indiscretions. He and his brother Asa have been dubbed the "Princes of Chicago" by the media, a direct result of a long stent of playboy debauchery. But, at least for Alexander, that seems so long ago. The face of the tabloids had been one before the life of an altering diagnosis, before chemo and now that he's cancer-free, he just wants to leave that man and his previous legacy behind. The people in his life don't make it easy, though. Especially, after he meets a young woman who makes him not only want for more out of his life... But demand for it. Alexander wasn't supposed to meet Johari in that café. She was there for someone else, but it seemed that fate, destiny, had other plans. So how could they both ignore it? Baby, Baby is a standalone, BWWM contemporary romance with no cliffhanger and a happily ever after. This is a tale of fate and second chances. Find out what happens when two people throw all logic out the window and go by the beat of their hearts!

Under His Kilt


Melissa Blue - 2013
    Her imagination runs wild and then fixates on Ian Baird. He'll be working at the Langston Museum for a short stint as a consulting curator. He's Scottish. He believes sex is fun to be had. He's the perfect choice for a fling. She only has to get him break his rule about sleeping with co-workers. Seducing a man was on her bucket list...Ian is no one's fool and knows exactly what Jocelyn wants—him. If she didn't work for the Langston Museum, he'd be more than happy to oblige any and every fantasy she desired, but she's the curator. She's sweet, inexperienced and well liked by everyone including the museum owner and director. Ian can't risk losing such an important contact for his consulting business. Not even when everything within in him craves a taste of her.When Jocelyn sets her sights on him, there's no way Ian can deny her. They agree their affair will end in thirty days. No emotions, no entanglements, just sex. The closer the end date looms, they start to question if it's possible to walk away. They'll either have to come to terms of what they've become or stick to their original agreement.

The Troublemaker Next Door


Marie Harte - 2014
    But when Maddie calls him over to help fix her faulty sink, he’s a goner. Too bad the fiercely independent interior designer wants nothing to do with him. Even worse, he’s forced to rely on the advice of his nosy brothers — and his five-year-old nephew! — to figure out how to make her give him a shot.

Black Butterfly


Sienna Mynx - 2011
    To dance one day on Broadway, and be a star. She's moved to New York, and with her best friends Portia and Trish at her side, her dream is destined to be a reality. That is until she meets the Executive Producer of her show--Nolen Adams. A Wall Street Investment banker who's playboy ways are notorious among the Big Apple's socialites. His lust and desires for Sydney are at first spurned. She will never be a casting couch bunny. But Nolen Adams doesn't take well to rejection. He's a man who always gets who and what he wants. Despite her efforts to achieve her chance at stardom through handwork and discipline, she is forced to address the admiration of her Producer. His pursuit of her sets Sydney and her friends on a collision path of pain, heartache, and self-discovery that will forever change their friendship. Every bond between friends and new lovers are put to the test when lies and deceit overshadow the best of intentions. And Sydney soon learns the price of fame can ultimately be the cost of one's heart.Publisher Warning: Strong language, Explicit Sexual Content, Autoerotic Asphyxiation, Mild Violence, Strong Adult Themes. If you want more of Sienna Mynx, please be sure to visit: thedivaspen.com.

Dark Lessons


Julia Sykes - 2017
    That’s all it was supposed to be. So when my darkly domineering one-night stand turns out to be one of my instructors at Quantico, my life becomes far too complicated. I’m training as an FBI agent, but Jason has other forms of training in mind. Like bending me over his desk for a spanking.I try to resist him, but soon we’re stealing forbidden hours of lust when no one’s watching. It could cost us both our careers, but I can’t help myself. He’s broken, and I want to be his salvation.In return, he says he wants to protect me, to love me. But can he save me when my new job puts me directly in the path of danger?

Dare to Love


Carly Phillips - 2013
    But any future he might have with Riley means he'll have to confront his past — a past he'd rather forget. And that's something this NFL team owner won't dare to do — not even for love.

Rusty Cage


Bijou Hunter - 2017
    She arrives in Rawlins, Arkansas with the plan of showing the Heretics Motorcycle Club who's the boss.Oz Savo is the newly minted president of the local club when the foxy blonde enters his life. Ginger views him as an obstacle, forever giving him grief. Oz, though, sees her as a challenge he has no intention of losing.Can the two alphas stop sparring long enough to realize they're perfect for each other?Trigger warning: Rusty Cage contains details of past sexual abuse, graphic sexual content, violent situations, and extreme profanity. The book is only appropriate for adult readers age 18+.