Book picks similar to
Country At Heart by Char Dafoe


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The Burden of Happiness


L. Dreamer - 2021
    She would rather go through life with minimal interaction than learn to open up and trust others; keeping her emotional scars in the front of her mind so she won’t get hurt. When a visit back to her hometown doesn’t bring the answers or closure she’s yearned for, she wonders if she’ll ever be made whole again.While in town Sarah meets Kate, a professor at the local community college. The instant connection she feels with Kate confuses and scares her, but it also gives her a glimpse of a life she wished she could have. Will Sarah finally find it within herself to conquer her fears and pursue the life she’s always wanted but thought she could never have?Content warning: This novel deals with alcoholism and references a suicide, an abortion and a rape. They all occur off-page and are only mentioned as backstory with no graphic detail.

The Falcon's Heart


Diana Green - 2020
    She knows little beyond the constraints of palace life, until one night, a notorious woman outlaw steals her away.Through her journey, Saba discovers joy and freedom beyond anything she has known. But her fate remains uncertain. The king is in pursuit, aided by a sorcerer who seeks to claim Saba as his own.Can a princess and an outlaw find love together, or will malign magic destroy all they have gained?54,000 words

Acceptable Losses


Kat Smith - 2019
    When her father dies, she is forced to return to her childhood home on Amelia Island, Florida. Jessica is determined to bury her past once and for all beneath the largest project of her career. However, her progress is hindered at every turn by a secret her father took to the grave. Kate Callahan, owner of the local marina and an environmental advocate is holding onto a secret of her own. Seeing Jessica again after sixteen years brings painful memories to the surface. With her quiet life on the island in jeopardy, Kate gears up for the fight of her life, but soon finds that she alone holds the key to Jessica's future.

Burn It Down


K. Aten - 2019
    As a result she lives her life weighed down by the guilt of her past. To atone for childhood misdeeds, Ash trained as a paramedic after high school and eventually became a firefighter with the Detroit fire department, along with her childhood best friend Derek. Friend, confidant, brother, he has been her light in an otherwise dark life. When tragedy strikes on the job, injury and forced leave from the department are the least of her concerns. Suffering from even more guilt and depression after the loss of her two closest friends Ash is set adrift in a sea of pain.​When Mia Thomas buys the house next door, Ash finds friendship in the most unlikely of places. It’s Mia’s nature to help and to heal. Many would say she has a knack for finding the broken ones and leading them into the light. But Ash’s secret still lives deep inside her. Before the firefighter can even think of a future, she has to amend her past. Like the phoenix of legend, Ash has to burn her fears to the ground before she can be reborn.

Midas Touch


Alex Hall - 2020
    Frankie Porter has spent the last year renovating that same estate, turning the dilapidated Cook mansion into a show piece. Gwen and Frankie shared a childhood full of hard secrets and ripe with first love. Now adults, their paths cross again and sparks fly.A HEA with content warnings for PTSD and implied child abuse.Genre: WLW romance

The Duchess and the Dreamer


Jenny Frame - 2020
    After her grandmother, and famous social reformer, blew the family fortune on her dream of creating a new kind of community, the family land was sold off and their coffers drained. Clementine grew up watching her mother struggle and now lives in the small gate house behind her former family home. Evan Fox has a dream that could change the world and save the planet. As CEO of her family toy company, she creates fuel for the imagination. When the Rosebrook estate comes up for sale, Evan jumps at the chance to make her vision of a utopian eco community come to life. Clementine is wary of the good-looking newcomer, but Evan is determined to win over the beautiful duchess and prove that sometimes dreams really do come true.Cover Artist: SheriGenres: Contemporary / RomanceTags: Small Town Romances, Financial gap/Class disparity78,000 words

Serenity


Jesse J. Thoma - 2020
    Serenity is in the acceptance.Kit Marsden is proud that she’s put her heroin use in the past. She’d really just prefer if no one made a big deal about it so she can move on with her life. After all, people hear the word “heroin,” smile politely, and run for the hills. Kit would have more success ignoring her past if her NA meetings weren’t at the library where she nearly died. Plus, she can’t stop thinking about the librarian, Thea Harris.Thea’s desperate to protect her library and keep it a safe place for the community. She’s used to keeping her life orderly and predictable, working hard, and preparing for every possibility at work and at home. But nothing prepares her for Kit Marsden.Will Kit and Thea be able to embrace who they are, what they want, and what they can create together, or will the library and their chance at love falter?Cover Artist: Tammy SedickGenres: Contemporary / RomanceWords: 78,000

The Promise


Claire Highton-Stevenson - 2018
    Their life together is mapped out on a one-way path to happiness, that is until Susan is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Ali refuses to accept it - her world is shattered. Susan's last act of love is to make her wife promise that one day she will open her heart again and let somebody else love her. But will Ali keep her promise?60,000 words

Where Secrets Are Safe


Jamey Moody - 2021
    Unfortunately being out and proud could affect your career. But after twenty years as an award winning actress Krista was able to be her authentic self in a world where being someone else was the norm.With an opportunity to buy a lake resort with her best friend, Krista creates a safe place where those that weren’t yet ready to live openly in public can come with their partners and girlfriends and be themselves.When a sleazy journalist, known for outing people, finds out about the hideaway Krista offers to show her what the resort really means and uncovers a secret that changes them both.This is the first book in the Lovers Landing Series where celebrities find their true love in the most unlikely people.

Soul Mates


K.A. Moll - 2015
    The horrific nature of that violation has left her unable to engage in intimate relationships. They were bullies and as far as she’s concerned, they destroyed her life. When Jaina’s mother was incarcerated, she and her brother were placed in foster care. The years spent lingering in that system have left her battling lifelong issues of abandonment. Jaina trusts no one enough to risk being hurt again. Sex is fine, but relationships are out of the question. When circumstances result in Jaina embarking on a search for her bio-family, her path will cross with Zane’s. Both recognize the other as a soul mate, but will their love be strong enough to overcome a lifetime of baggage?

Reading Her


Amanda Radley - 2022
    Lauren Evans loves her job as an instructor at Fitness Zone, and she wants to guide him. Unfortunately, Hugo paid for his membership by stealing his mother’s credit card, and it doesn’t take his mother long to track down her wayward son.In a courtroom, shrewd barrister Allegra Whittaker is unstoppable, but when it comes to her son Hugo, she’s afraid she’s losing her touch. She reluctantly allows him to continue using the gym as long as she can keep an eye on him—and his undeniably intriguing instructor.As each encounter leaves them wanting more, Lauren and Allegra learn love and happiness are right where they least expect it. There’s just one little problem: Lauren has a huge secret she absolutely cannot tell anyone, and Allegra knows she’s hiding something.

Her Royal Happiness


Lola Keeley - 2022
    It’s even harder when you’re a lesbian who has just fallen madly in love. An opposites attract, charming royal romance with a dash of fake dating.When tabloid darling Princess Alice, the first out member of the British royal family, meets an opinionated single mother, the encounter goes viral. It seems the anti-monarchist education specialist Sara has a view on all things and doesn’t mind sharing.So when Alice later has to ask Sara to help diagnose her young nephew’s learning difficulties, it’s seriously awkward. At least until they discover how beautifully they click together.With the press sniffing around them, and Alice desperately wanting to protect her nephew’s privacy, they agree to claim they’re dating.But as their fake dates start to feel like much more, Sara and Alice must navigate having a real relationship in the public eye. Is that even possible, though, while keeping Sara’s daughter safe and happy, and facing the Queen’s disapproval?Can they overcome their doubts for love? A love they can no longer hide?

Just One Moment


Dena Blake - 2019
    When Shay realizes she’s leaving, tragedy strikes. A car accident leaves Shay confused and vulnerable, and with no friends or family to care for her, Chloe feels obligated to stay until she recovers.Shay Buchanan can remember her whole life except for the past year. Everything seems to fit into place, but Chloe is distant, and Shay can’t figure out why. Something is missing.As Chloe helps Shay recover, they become close again, working together to rebuild her memories. Except Shay doesn’t remember what she did to break their marriage, and Chloe can’t seem to forget.When their happiness is threatened, will they be able to forgive each other and give love a second chance?Cover Artist: Tammy SedickGenres: Contemporary / Romance Tags: Weddings, Amnesia, Medical Romance, Second Chance at LoveWords: 80,000

Holding her Heart (The Ashforth Series #2)


Melissa Tereze - 2021
    

The Summer Visitors


Fiona O'Brien - 2017
    He's hoping that three months researching an old cable station in a remote village on the south-west coast of Ireland will help him and his traumatised son finally move on from the accident that killed his wife.Meanwhile local hotel owner's daughter Annie Sullivan has communication problems of her own to deal with. Home on sabbatical from her life in London, she's keeping a secret from her dysfunctional family and trying to save them and the hotel from their latest drama.As summer draws to a close in Ballyanna, both Dan and Annie are forced to confront the pasts they've been escaping. But will they be able to grasp the future that lies ahead? The Summer Visitors is a heart-warming story about love, second chances and moving on.