Book picks similar to
WHY NOT GOODBYE? by Arika Maxwell


contemporary
second-chance
abuse
second-chance-romance

Justice


K.C. Lynn - 2018
    Our loyalty to one another and the man who made us a family is stronger than those bound by blood.The most sought out sharp shooters in the country, our paths were certain, before one woman changed my life and altered the relationship I have with my brothers. Ryanne Lockwood disappeared without a trace but her memory never faded, torturing me on the darkest nights. Until a twist of fate leads me back to her, sending our worlds to collide once more, and this time, there will be no escaping me.***Justice Creed’s bad boy appeal caught my attention from the moment he rolled into town. For years I watched from afar, swallowing up the rumors that surrounded him. Until we shared a night of forbidden passion. One that destroyed my heart and reshaped my soul, and it sent me fleeing from the only town I’ve ever known.Now, years later, he's barged back into my life, uncovering a secret I've worked so hard to keep and it's one that will change our lives forever.

Blurring Lines


Chloe Walsh - 2015
    Three years later, she's back in my life. Beautiful. Haunted. Tempting. Disturbed.I know she's sick. Different. Broken. Fractured. I know what she wants from me is wrong. But she's determined to take back control of her life. To take control of me.Warning: This is a dark book and not for the faint-hearted. It contains scenes of an extremely upsetting nature. Strictly an 18+ read.Author’s Note: This fictional story focuses on the lives of high school students and contains graphic scenes of sexual violence, promiscuity, bullying, physical violence, excessive bad language, self-harm, rape, abduction, child abuse, and substance abuse. Some scenes in this book may be extremely upsetting for some readers and, due to its explicit content, Blurring Lines is recommended for mature readers of eighteen years old and above.

Savage Crimes


Lana Cameo - 2018
    So I find myself protecting an injured stranger, even when instincts tell me he’s trouble. I never meant to fall in love, and at least I was right about one thing. He was trouble, and before I know it I’m left in the dust. Gone, with only the precious gift inside me as his only trace. There’s only one thing left to do now: keep this child safe…and to do that I’ll need to do everything I can to keep the father from knowing it exists. Matt: How could I ever repay her? She saved my life. A life I never asked for, but a life I live. She was the prettiest thing I have ever seen. Even as hurt as I was I couldn’t stop myself from wanting her with everything I had. I had to cut her loose though. It was a mistake to let myself get carried away in the first place. I’ll only break her heart worse down the road… or worse. In my world, one wrong move will get us both killed, and a pretty thing like that deserves better. Warning: “Savage Crimes: A Mafia Secret Baby Romance” contains mature language and scenes. It is intended for adult readers. No cliffhangers and an HEA is a guarantee.

Shh... It's a Secret (Baby)


Annie J. Rose - 2021
    It’s a Secret! (Baby) is a full-length standalone second chance, secret baby romance full of secrets, steam, and naughty small-town gossip. Enjoy these satisfying romances set in the charm of small town South Carolina where the HEA’s are as sweet as the tea.

Wrong Number, Right Guy


Tara Wylde - 2017
    Or that I already had one... My billions don’t make up what I’ve lost: Ella. She’s been keeping this secret so long. It’s time to make things right. Ella I have a secret. She’s seven years old. But she has a problem. Her heart. I’ll do anything to save her. Turn to anyone. Even when I know I shouldn’t… Jason Ella was different. It was only one night, but I’ve chased her for years. But she’s lost without a trace. Until I pick up the phone… Ring. Ring. “Hello?” Wrong Number, Right Guy is a standalone romance with extra steamy bonus content included! Holly and Tara always give you a Happy Ever After, they hate cheating with a passion, and cliffhangers just as much as you do!

Trapped


Beverley Kendall - 2014
    And not in a good way.It’s not exactly Sixteen and Pregnant, but at eighteen my only advantage is a high school diploma. And if that’s not enough, the father—and I use that term loosely—couldn’t have hightailed it out of my life fast enough.I thought I really knew him. Unfortunately, my boyfriend of three years transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde once he realized his carefree, childless days would be coming to an end.I’m over him now though. The real love of my life is chubby, has more gum than teeth, and stands a little over two feet tall. She may not have been planned, but I’ve never regretted having her. She is the center of my world.A world that's been turned upside down when Mitch returns ready to earn the love and trust of the child he abandoned before birth.Letting him into my daughter’s life is one thing but letting him back into mine isn't going to happen. Ever.Now if only I can get my heart to heed the lessons of the past.

Hold on Tight


Serena Bell - 2014
    The son he never knew he had. And the woman he could never forget.Mira Shipley is far from home, raising her son on her own—and the babysitter has just quit. Then salvation appears, in the messiest—and hottest—form possible: Sam’s real dad, who’s an Army Ranger. Jake Taylor was Mira’s first love—her first everything—and she always vowed that if she ever saw Jake again, she’d tell him he had a son. But she wasn’t expecting him to be so wounded and angry. Part of her wants to walk away—but she knows she needs to be patient with him.That was before he volunteered for childcare duty.Now they’re under one roof together. There’s no way to keep this alpha warrior at a distance. No way to protect her own heart, or her son’s. No way to deny the wild chemistry between them. It’s a recipe for the deepest intimacy of her life. The most intense connection she’s ever known. And maybe, if she and Jake can both overcome their fears, a recipe for…family.

Our Last Chance


Ajme Williams - 2020
    ‘Our Last Chance’ is a part of the Heart of Hope series but stands alone. Books do not have to be read in order.

Her Ten-Year Secret: A Seriously Sweet Romance


Cindy Kirk - 2019
    Fool me twice… Patty Bradley learned early what happens when love is blind. Back in high school, Patty treasured her late-night talks on the front porch steps with neighbor, Jack Krieger. She told herself it didn’t matter that at school they were strangers. She understood. After all, he was popular and she was ‘Fatty Patty.’ Handsome, athletic and a friend to many, Jack Krieger bore the weight of everyone’s high expectations with a smile. Only around Patty could he let down his guard and be himself. When an incident the night of prom shatters their tenuous friendship, Patty leaves town right after graduation. Ten years later, when she returns to Lynnwood to sell her grandmother’s house, it’s as thin, stylish, single mom Trish. Jack is determined to resurrect their friendship but how can she trust the man who once shattered her tender heart? Especially with her son’s welfare at stake.

Come Back for Me


Corinne Michaels - 2020
    I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania.When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget.And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen.Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right. Because when long-ago secrets are exposed, rocking us both to the core, I have no choice but to watch her walk away again....

Trading Yesterday


Kahlen Aymes - 2017
     Chase, I need you. Please come. -Teagan Something inside me snapped as her text screamed from the screen of my phone. My heart started pounding as I was sucked into a vortex of emotions, pulled unwillingly into a past I wanted to forget. Teagan Tessler was the love of my life. At least, I thought so. My professional soccer career was part of the we future planned together, but an offer one year ahead of schedule sent me to London. Just months after I left, she betrayed me with my best friend without explanation and I was completely and utterly destroyed. After six years, I could breathe again and my professional and personal life was in a good place. I’d have to be insane to consider ripping open those wounds, but whatever it was, this had to be huge. The truth of my feelings resonated; my head told me to shut off the phone and forget her forever, but my traitorous heart told me to get on a plane, no questions asked. Trading Yesterday is a roller coaster of emotion; ultimate loss, longing, betrayal, and forgiveness that will restore your faith in unconditional love and leave you gasping for more.

The Cowboy's Baby (Devlin Brothers Ranch, #1)


Joanna Bell - 2020
    It was always hers to leave.I knew Hailey when she was just a proud, talented girl from the wrong side of the tracks and I was the scion of western Montana's richest ranching family. That was before we grew up, before I knew what it was to hold her in my arms – and before she ghosted me so hard it damn near broke me.Now I can't forget her no matter how hard I try. And I'm starting to think destiny is what you make it.Hailey: He was the king of our little town, even when we were kids. Cowboy, prom king, crush object of every girl within a hundred miles.And I was his. No one ever made my heart beat as fast as Jackson Devlin did. But his family didn't approve, and neither of us understood the lengths certain people would go to keep us apart.Now it's 5 years later and I've got a secret. An adorable secret with freckled cheeks and the same ice-blue eyes as his daddy.A novel about small towns, first loves and second chances...Author's Note: 'The Cowboy's Baby' is the first book in the Devlin Brothers Ranch series. It can be read as a standalone and is a full-length (100k) romance novel. This book contains adult themes and language and is intended for readers over 18.

Tortured


Nicole Williams - 2017
    She didn’t realize how right she was. When Lance Corporal Brecken Connolly gets taken as a POW, Camryn hopes for the best but steels herself for the worst. In the end, steel was what she needed to survive when he didn’t. She moves on the only way she knows how—gilding herself in more steel. Years go by. She builds a new life. She leaves the old one behind.Until one day, she sees the face of a ghost on the news. Brecken seems to have risen from the dead, but she knows she can’t perform the same miracle for herself. While Brecken was held in a torture camp for the past five years, she’s been trapped in her own kind of prison. One she can't be saved from.The man she mourned comes back to join the living, but the girl he wanted to spend his life with isn’t the same woman he comes back for. Brecken isn’t the same person either. The past five years have changed them both. While he’s determined to put the pieces back together, she’s resolved to let hers rot where they shattered. Broken or not, Brecken wants her back. He’ll do anything to achieve that. Even if it means going against the warden of Camryn’s personal prison—her husband.

Fighting For a Second Chance


Nikki Ash - 2016
    I’m starting college and can’t be distracted. Besides, he has his own life to get back to.  CooperThe moment I saw her I knew she was the one, but what my heart wants it doesn’t get. I know how life works. I’ve been fighting most of my life. My dad was a fighter, and so was his dad. I watched my mom cheat on him, and in return, he destroyed her. I will never do that to a woman. I get thirty hours with Liz and then we’re both walking away. At the end of the day, all we’ll have are the memories we have created here in Miami. ***Five years later, Liz runs into Cooper, only he has no idea that memories weren’t the only thing they created in Miami. He broke her heart once the day he left and now she’s guarded. Will he succeed in winning her heart over a second time? The only thing he knows for sure is that he’s fighting for a second chance, and this time, he won’t let her go that easily.

Therapy


Kathryn Perez - 2014
    I’m needy. I’m broken. Cutting breaks through my numbness, but only opens more wounds. Depression, self-harm, bullying....that's my reality. Sex and guys....that's my escape. The space between the truth and lies is blurred leaving me torn, lost and confused. And while the monsters that live in my head try to beat me-- the two men that I love try to save me. This is my story of friendship, heartache, and the grueling journey that is mental-illness.Warning: Due to possible triggering subject matter and some sexual situations this book is not recommended for anyone under the age of 17 years old.