Book picks similar to
WHY NOT GOODBYE? by Arika Maxwell
abuse
contemporary
second-chance
abused-heroine
Gone For You
Jennifer Van Wyk - 2019
The night was only supposed to be a celebration for my friend, but I couldn’t stop my heart, or body, from being drawn to you.Then I got to know you and you chipped away every wall I’d built around my heart.You don’t know how many times I found reasons to talk to you. To see you.It has to stop.There’s this distance between us I can’t control.Damn you and your dimple for being so irresistible.I wish I wasn’t so Gone for You.Olivia,I knew I wouldn’t be able to let you go the night you walked into my bar. Everything in me screams to keep you close.I’m ready to move forward, to stop making excuses to see you, but I know you need more time.You’ve created this distance between us to protect your heart, but you have to know it’s safe with me.The moments you give me aren’t enough.I want you forever and I’ll stop at nothing to make it happen.After all, I’m so Gone for You.Gone for You is the first of three standalone contemporary romances in the new All for You series. There's elements of brother's best friend and friends to lovers romance with a love that's built over time.
Loss Recovery
Jemma Westbrook - 2019
Knew what it would cost him.It was a price he was willing to pay.But then he met Bess Hines in a bar. One perfect night with her had him second-guessing everything. His choices. His life.Himself.Because no matter how perfect she felt in his arms, Wade had to let her go, taking nothing but the sweet memory of her body under his.It was the only way to keep her safe from the danger following him closer than a shadow.Only Bess wasn’t safe.When Team Rogue is hired to protect Bess from a danger all her own, Wade has a chance to protect the woman he never should have left.
A woman who can give him everything he never knew he wanted.
****
Bess Hines is hiding.
Tucked away in the mountains of Alaska, hoping for a miracle.An answer to her prayers.Wade Denison is neither of those.Two years ago he showed her a tiny taste of heaven then left without so much as a goodbye.Seeing him again is the worst kind of torture. Being put under his protection is worse.Especially since Wade might be just as big of a threat as the one he’s been hired to protect her from.Because he may have walked away from their night together with nothing but a memory, but Bess left with something more.
Something she will guard with her life.
Sweet Little Nothing
L.K. Farlow - 2020
All it took was his word against mine for everything to topple.Liar. Slut. Snitch.Now, I wear my shame like a scarlet letter pinned to my chest. People say I ruined his life. Except, he’s the one who irrevocably broke me—my heart, my body, my soul…my will to live.STERLINGLike a little coward, she thinks the span of five states is enough to keep her safe. But I know where she is and I’m going to make her pay. She ruined my best friend’s life. Now…I’m going to ruin her. One by one, I’ll spill her secrets, until she has nowhere left to turn—except to me, her very own big, bad wolf.
Reclaiming My Wife
Jessica Blake - 2018
We’re older and wiser now. But some things never change. Eight years ago, she was the only woman to heat my blood and make me lose all my senses. I gave her my last name, but within a year, it was over. Now, she’s back in my life and wants the divorce that was never finalized. I want that too, after I get what’s mine. True, I’m not the same college boy she’d married, and she’s not the wild, carefree woman I could never tame. But I still burn for her, and now that she’s back on my ranch, this cowboy will do whatever it takes to melt his ice princess. *** This is a full-length romance novel with an HEA, no cheating and no cliffhanger. ***
Doomsday Love
Shanora Williams - 2016
It also features the first three chapters of Shanora Williams' #1 bestselling taboo standalone novel, Tainted Black.**
Maybe Maby
Willow Aster - 2014
Not the put-her-in-the-loony-bin kind, but the rock-in-the-corner-so-I-can-breathe kind. Maybe they’re one and the same and I really do need to be put away, but I think I just need a little air. I’m bone tired. My eyes look like I haven’t slept in weeks. I’m eating my feelings and developing a pudge that isn’t gonna go anywhere if I keep binging on chocolate, nachos and wine. I’m 28 and everyone has left me. I have no friends. My boyfriend left. My mom died, so technically she left me too. I hate my job. I get this overwhelming 'oh my God, is this what my life is gonna be?' feeling and I want to die. Curl up and die. And since I don’t feel my heartbeat fading or my breathing getting even slightly faint, I panic that I’m gonna have to live. Maybe Maby is a heartbreaking, and at times, hilarious story about coping with loss, finding love in New York, and learning to recognize hope in the middle of it all.
Always Meant to Be
Siobhan Davis - 2022
He’s my eighteen-year-old son’s best friend, and I’m old enough to know better.My marriage is falling apart, and Vander’s home life is tragic.Yet, his broken parts speak to mine, and amid all the chaos, a true connection is formed. The only peace I find is in those stolen moments when we share our darkest secrets and our deepest desires.This thing between us has disaster written all over it.But I’m powerless to resist the magnetic pull that draws us closer and closer.Until lines are crossed, boundaries are broken, and everything I thought I knew about myself is undone.This reverse age-gap romance contains mature scenes, dark themes, and situations that may push your boundaries. Reader caution is advised.
Maintenance Required
Giulia Lagomarsino - 2020
There are right and wrong ways to do things, and I always make sure that I'm on the right side. My brothers call me a wet blanket. They say I'm buttoned-up, boring, and that I don't know how to let loose. There's a reason I'm that way, and she just walked through my door. With one wild night, I've thrown all my moral guidelines out the window. Now I'm stuck with her and there's no possible way this could work between us. We're complete opposites in every way, but damn she's sexy. Not that it matters. There will never be more between us. One of us will end up killing the other first.KatAfter a long shift in the cancer ward at the children's hospital, I just want to let loose. My friend set me up on a date, and I gladly took it to let off some steam. I've got a fun outfit and I'm ready to let loose. But my one night of fun was spoiled the minute he walked through that door. I was just looking for a good time, and I got him instead. He's good-looking, but that's about all that he has going for him. He's not at all my type, and now he seems to think that I'm some loose whore. It was one night! But I'm stuck with him, so I have to find a way to make this work. If I don't figure out a way to make the man loosen up, I'll go insane.
So Much It Hurts
Melanie Dawn - 2013
All she wants to do is relax and rejuvenate on her weekend escape to the beach. Having a drink at the bar with the girls sounds like the perfect way to unwind. That is, until Kaitlyn hears a familiar voice from the stage that shakes her to her core. She grapples with her memory until Chris King, the lead singer of the band, walks up to her and eliminates the questions in her mind.Chris King…the misunderstood bad boy who once saved her in ways that no one else could. Kaitlyn’s friends beg to know the story behind this mystery man. Forced to revisit a painful past from which she has spent years trying to heal, Kaitlyn's recollection of Chris awakens intense feelings that she has kept buried deep inside her heart. Has time changed him, or is he still the same person Kaitlyn fell in love with so many years ago? Marriage vows are sacred, but temptation is a powerful thing.Seeing Chris again has caused a war between her head and her heart. In the end, which one will win the battle? Facing a difficult decision, Kaitlyn just wants to be sure of one thing when she walks away from this weekend—no regrets.This is an emotionally gripping story of love, loss, redemption, and hope. This Contemporary Romance Novel coming in Sept 2013!
Craving Constellations
Nicole Jacquelyn - 2013
Now, five years later she's running from her clean cut husband straight back to the motorcycle club that raised her... and the man she left behind. She left with a secret, and as soon as she returns the truth will break her carefully constructed life wide open.
Second Time Around: Small Town Second Chance Romance
Alandra Knight - 2019
He’s lived them. Four years earlier, he and his brother lost their wives. Since then, they’ve been left to raise their children all alone.His world is everything mine can never be.It doesn’t matter that our chemistry is off the charts. It doesn’t matter that Jaxson’s arms are the only ones I feel safe in.He and I are like oil and water – and while opposites clearly attract, I can’t believe there’d ever be a place for a girl like me in Jaxson’s world of foam dart battles and bedtime stories.Or, at least, that’s what I thought until we both dared open our hearts – and began wondering if, just maybe, we deserved a shot at love the second time around.Second Time Around is the first in Alandra Knight's Finding Our Forever series - emotionally intense tales of true love, featuring beautifully crafted characters overcoming the darkest odds to earn their happily-ever-after.
Joker (Sons of Havoc MC #1)
Claire Shaw - 2022
It comes with being part of the club, but when it affects others in my life I can't bear to watch it unfold. At least, it's what happened years ago. I ended up putting my nose in a situation where I probably shouldn't have.In the end, I lost the greatest love of my life . . . or so I thought.Ten years have gone by since I never stopped looking for her. That is, until a surprise turns up out of the blue, followed by Carrie herself.I can't let her go this time.I won't let her go.Not now, and not ever again.
Faded Sunset
Rachel Blaufeld - 2021
As far as I’m concerned, Tommy broke your vows when he hurt you. You deserve happiness, and I want you to get it soon. Grab all of it.” ~ my friend, Sheila Margaret Long’s world looks bright and shiny on the outside. Married to a successful attorney, she lives in a mini-mansion with her husband and their perfect daughter. No one would imagine how dim and dark her life really is. With a fractured heart and a broken body, she wonders how to break free.The day Margaret happens to meet Mick Grantham is serendipitous. With a huge appetite for success after rescuing his mom from a violent situation, he now feeds that hunger by rebuilding broken businesses, not people. Although Margaret has a vibrant personality, her fragile exterior brings out his compassion, drawing him into her world.It’s a dangerous situation, especially with Margaret’s outspoken daughter involved, who is wiser than her years. Someone is likely to get hurt, but Margaret and Mick’s attraction can’t be helped until changing circumstances force them to a halt. Not all happy endings are born easily, but those won through adversity are often the most satisfying.
Unspeakable Truths
Alice Tribue - 2014
Yet, hours after we said "I do," I lost him. Forever... The dreams we'd shared, the future we'd planned—all of our hopes and desires, were ripped away in mere seconds. And now, four years later, my life still feels like a hopeless eternity. So, I guess it's quite fitting that the last person I want to hear from is currently standing at my front door. He wants to tell me the truth about that night, he wants to be my new knight in shining armor, but the thing is… He was the best man...
Promise Me Always
Kari March - 2014
After being left with a broken heart by his only girlfriend, Blake swore off relationships for good and turned to the only two things that made him feel sufficient - sex and firefighting. Tessa Collins was brought up in the traditional 'perfect' family - loving parents, great sister, and amazing friends. After falling in love with Jared, her life was perfect - until he betrayed her. She has no idea that his betrayal could end up costing her more than just a shattered heart.Blake and Tessa have been friends since high school. Never wanting to admit their attraction for each other, the two always remained close friends. Now, three years later, Blake and Tessa find themselves being pulled together by a force much greater than friendship. Blake and Tessa have promised to be friends forever, but as fate pulls them together, they embark on a roller coaster ride of a lifetime. Will his self doubt and her insecurities keep them apart? Or will they be able to promise each other always? **content is for +18yrs.**