Book picks similar to
Closer to You by Jill Sanders


romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
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Mrs. Saint and the Defectives


Julie Lawson Timmer - 2017
    But Markie and Jesse are unable to escape the attention of their new neighbor Mrs. Saint, an irascible, elderly New European woman who takes it upon herself, along with her ragtag group of “defectives,” to identify and fix the flaws in those around her, whether they want her to or not.What Markie doesn’t realize is that Mrs. Saint has big plans for the divorcée’s broken spirit. Soon, the quirky yet endearing woman recruits Markie to join her eccentric community, a world where both hidden truths and hope unite them. But when Mrs. Saint’s own secrets threaten to unravel their fragile web of healing, it’s up to Markie to mend these wounds and usher in a new era for the “defectives”—one full of second chances and happiness.

You Were There Too


Colleen Oakley - 2020
    But she has other dreams too — unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of them, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he's been dreaming of her too. Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?Acclaimed author Colleen Oakley delivers a heart-wrenching and unforgettable love story about a woman who must choose between the man she loves and the man fate has chosen for her in a novel that reminds us that the best life is one led by the heart.

Digging In


Loretta Nyhan - 2018
    Since his death, she’s been sleepwalking through life, barely holding on for the sake of her teenage son. Her house is a wreck, the grass is overrun with weeds, and she’s at risk of losing her job. As Paige stares at her neglected lawn, she knows she’s hit rock bottom. So she does something entirely unexpected: she begins to dig.As the hole gets bigger, Paige decides to turn her entire yard into a vegetable garden. The neighbors in her tidy gated community are more than a little alarmed. Paige knows nothing about gardening, and she’s boldly flouting neighborhood-association bylaws. But with the help of new friends, a charming local cop, and the transformative power of the soil, Paige starts to see potential in the chaos of her life. Something big is beginning to take root—both in her garden and in herself.

Reckless Memories


Catherine Cowles - 2020
    From skinned knees to first dates and everything in between. But he was never mine to love. I settled for friendship, even though I always wanted more. That was before. Before he ripped my world apart and didn’t bother sticking around to help me pick up the pieces. I knit every last shred back together all on my own. And I’ve all but forgotten his name. Now, he’s back, and everything is torn apart once more. But he’s not the only one doing the tearing this time. And there might be no stopping the person who has it out for us both.

Hammered


Jasinda Wilder - 2018
    Have a leaky faucet or clogged disposal? Need a new patio with intricate brickpaving designs? Want your garage transformed into a yoga studio? Dad Bod Contracting has you COVERED. Our clean, well-mannered, and friendly professionals pride themselves on attention to detail. Every job comes with a 100% customer SATISFACTION guarantee. No job is too small. Hand us your “honey-do” list and we’ll get it done, and we’ll look good doing it! A good job well done is one phone call away, so call Dad Bod Contracting today! It started with a window that was jammed shut. Pretty simple, right? All I wanted was to open the windows while I tidied the house. I’d been after my no-good husband to do it for months, but he never did. And then he shacked up with his secretary, leaving me with a pile of bills, husband-free for the first time in ten years, and with a house that was falling apart. The ad popped up on the side of my social media feed—a local contracting agency willing to do pretty much anything. Since I don’t really know a screwdriver from a ratchet, I gave them a call. And let me tell you, the ad was NOT lying. Jesse O’Neill can do it ALL…and looks amazing doing it. He fixed my window, so I called him back to fix the sagging, splintery front steps. Which led to him fixing my kitchen sink. And then he recarpeted my stairs. And then fixed the squeak in my bed. He was supposed to fix my house, not my rusty, sputtering libido. And certainly not my broken heart.

Lessons from a One-Night Stand


Piper Rayne - 2019
    Get details. Details are crucial.Lesson Four: don't alter her bio in front of an auditorium of high school students unless you know she has a sense of humor for that sort of thing.Lesson Five: if you ignore Lesson Four, apologize instead of flirt when you're sent to the principal's office.Lesson Six: NEVER sleep with her again.Lesson Seven: pay attention to this one, it's the most important of them all.Don't fall for your one-night stand.Class dismissed.

Tell Me Lies


Carola Lovering - 2018
    The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating. Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart. Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, Tell Me Lies follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. Deep down, Lucy knows she has to acknowledge the truth about Stephen. But before she can free herself from this addicting entanglement, she must confront and heal her relationship with her mother—or risk losing herself in a delusion about what it truly means to love. With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.

True to Me


Kay Bratt - 2019
    All of that comes undone by her mother’s deathbed confession—the absentee father Quinn spent thirty years resenting is not her real father at all. With that one revealing whisper, Quinn embarks on a journey to Maui, her mother’s childhood home, a storied paradise that holds the truth about her mother’s past and all its secrets Quinn is determined to uncover.But settling on the island has its complications, and with the fiancé she left behind questioning every choice she makes, Quinn’s quest for her truth is even more difficult than she expected. As time passes and she digs deeper into her family history and her own identity, one thing becomes clear: Maui is as beautiful as she’d always imagined, and its magic is helping uncover the woman that Quinn was always meant to be.

Yield: Emily & Damon


Lilia Moon - 2016
    Her superpower is managing a thousand details without dropping a single one, and her deepest desire is an hour-long bubble bath and a foot rub. Until her newest clients want to get married at a BDSM club. Damon Black owns Fettered. He’s proud of who he is and what he does, and nothing scares him – until two of his favorite people want to get married at the place where they fell in love, no matter how many spanking benches they have to move out of the way to do it. Damon knows as soon as he lays eyes on Emily that she doesn’t belong in his world. A quick tour of his club will prove it. Except it doesn't...

Forgotten Secrets


Robin Perini - 2016
    Fifteen years later, she’s channeled the pain of her past into a career as an FBI profiler. Riley devotes her life to bringing violent criminals to justice…and secretly uses government resources to search for her sister, who was never found.When Riley gets a call from the only man who’s ever swept her off her feet with a killer two-step and dangerous smile—ex-Navy SEAL Thayne Blackwood of Singing River, Wyoming—it stirs up dark memories. Thayne’s sister, Cheyenne, has been kidnapped. There are no leads, and the only witness is the victim’s Alzheimer’s-afflicted grandmother.Desperate to find Cheyenne, Thayne needs Riley’s expertise. With time running short, they delve into dangerous small-town secrets while fighting against an increasingly ruthless adversary. But when her past and his present collide in a shocking revelation, can they overcome the secrets that have kept them apart?

Dare Me


Rebecca Shea - 2016
    Behind his crystal blue eyes is a secret, one that screams danger but calls to me anyway.My name is Saige Phillips.I never walk away from a dare.

Undercover Love


Lucy Score - 2015
    Do you want me to spy on my fiancé or get naked with you?”“Both. I thought that was obvious.”Revenge. It’s the only thing Ashley can think about after finding her supposed fiancé, Steven, with his tongue down the throat of the worst human being in the history of the world—his colleague, Ice Queen Victoria. Turns out it’s not the only body part he’s betrayed her with.Humiliated and furious, Ashley finds herself being propositioned by security expert and ridiculously sexy Jason Baine. But he’s not just looking to get her into bed. He needs her help taking down Steven and Victoria and rescuing his family’s company before it’s too late.Ashley’s a regular girl, a normal person. She doesn’t dabble in corporate espionage or illicit affairs. At least she didn’t until Jason… But now she’s in too deep and things are getting dangerous.

Tell Me


Abigail Strom - 2017
    She’s made peace with it, unlike Sam’s business partner, Caleb, who’s always nudging Jane to go after what she really wants. Why should she care what blunt, brash Caleb thinks? They’ve never had much in common, except for Sam.After tragedy strikes, they don’t even have that.Caleb can’t quite remember when Sam’s little sister stopped being like a surrogate sibling to him and became just… Jane. She’s the most intriguing woman he’s ever met, and so much sexier and stronger than she thinks. On the emotional journey to honor Sam’s memory, the spark they’ve tried to deny becomes an inferno. This journey was meant to be an ending, but will they discover an unexpected new beginning?

Crazy for Her


Sandra Owens - 2014
    But for two years he kept his distance…torn between honoring his solemn vow and succumbing to his secret love for his fallen comrade’s wife. But when Dani Prescott desperately reaches out to Logan for the help only he can give, he rushes to her side—determined to fight for her safety as fiercely as he fights against his own buried desire.Someone claiming to be her husband is stalking Dani and her infant daughter, making them virtually prisoners in their remote country home. Logan’s elite military training and high-risk security expertise have outmatched more dangerous enemies. But the real challenge will be the burning temptation that threatens to overcome Logan whenever Dani is near…especially when she reveals her own hidden passion.

Something Great


M. Clarke - 2013
    He was everything Jeanella didn’t need in her life. Only Maxwell didn’t see it that way. His pursuit was relentless, making her even more determined to push him away.Fresh out of college, life was simple and plain for Jeanella Mefferd. Every part of her life was smooth sailing; her friends, her job, and even the guy she’d started dating. Then one night, while at dinner, she spotted someone who made her feel things she’d never felt before—dangerous, heart pounding and breathless heat. Thinking she would never see him again, she brushed it off, but when she started to run into him unexpectedly, all she could think of was how he made her feel with his sweet flirtations. Everything about Maxwell Knight screamed trouble, especially when she found out he was her new boss’s son. Now, heading to a New York fashion show, would she be able to focus on her career instead of Maxwell, who had been scheduled to attend with her? As much as she tried to forget their encounters, his good looks, smooth words and determination to win her over gravitated her toward him. The next thing she knew, her mind was utterly consumed by him. Would she be willing to ignore all the dangerous signs and jump into his arms? Or would she miss out on the chance of finding something great?