Book picks similar to
A Child's Wish by Tara Taylor Quinn
romance
harlequin
fiction
womens-fiction
Before I Knew
Jamie Beck - 2017
In this first Cabot novel, a legacy of secrets tests old friends seeking a second chance at life and love.
On the second anniversary of her husband’s suicide, Colby Cabot-Baxter is ready to let go of her grief and the mistakes made during her turbulent marriage. Her fresh start comes in the form of A CertainTea, the restaurant she’s set to open along Lake Sandy, Oregon, with help from her family. But when her executive chef quits just weeks before the grand opening, Colby is pressured to hire old family friend Alec Morgan. His award-winning reputation could generate buzz, but their friendship has withered since her husband’s reckless dare cost Alec’s brother his life.Distracted by guilty secrets concerning the tragedy that changed his and Colby’s lives, Alec self-destructed and lost his famed restaurant. With his career in tatters, he’s determined to use this opportunity to redeem his reputation and to help the woman he’s loved from afar find happiness again.But secrets have a way of coming out. When Alec’s do, they might destroy the new life he and Colby have rebuilt together.
Jingle Belle
Ally Crew - 2020
But unfortunately, his is still broken.When my past comes knocking and takes away the hope I’d had, can I learn from the past and not run from it?CohenI moved from Denver to get away from memories, but a Christmas the memories flood back in simple moments like hanging an angel on the tree.I thought I was okay, grieving was just taking time.But then a snow angel came into my life and I heard bells.Belle’s like the curvy Rocky Mountains and just as breathtakingly beautiful, too.Can I heal my heart to let her in, or will I stay closed off and miss out on the greatest gift of all?
Breaking Twig
Deborah Epperson - 2011
Not even Twig’s vivid imagination, keen wit, and dark sense of humor is enough to help her survive the escalating assaults of Helen and a new stepbrother, but help comes from an unexpected source—Frank, her stepfather. Sometimes, having one person who loves and believes in you is all a girl needs to keep hope alive. Often raw and irreverent and sprinkled with all the Southern flavoring found in a good bowl of chicken and dumplings, BREAKING TWIG, is about finding love where we least expect it, destroying lives with easy lies, and realizing each of us determine our own truth. (Taken from author's website.)
One Small Thing
Jessica Barksdale Inclán - 2004
She has all she ever wanted except for one small thing...a baby. And after two years of unsuccessful fertility treatments, hope is running thin.Then her husband, Dan, discovers he has a ten-year-old son he never knew about. With the boy's mother now deceased, Dan is the new rightful guardian. He's anxious to bring his son into their life. But for Avery, this child is a constant reminder of her own inability to conceive-and of Dan's secret past, a sordid life she knew nothing about until now. Only when Avery is able to open her heart to all of life's possibilities will she begin to appreciate her imperfect, unexpected family for what it truly is: a perfect blessing.
A Family Man
Mindy Neff - 1996
“Make love to me.” A desperate Josie Alexander spoke those words to a stranger on a rainy backwoods road. She didn’t allow herself to consider the risks—only the consequences. A lifetime of caution, of always doing the right thing meant nothing in the face of her despair. She was sure fate had put him in her path. He was going to be the miracle she needed. Four years later, wealthy pilot Chase Fowler still knew her face; he’d carried it in his heart ever since their night together. But it was the face of Josie’s three-year-old boy that surprised him. Chase had finally come to claim what was rightfully his in this tiny Louisiana town—and now that included his own son. But the boy wasn’t the only secret between them…. “A wonderful mix of complex problems and no easy answers in a romance you will love!” –Affaire de Coeur (4 ½ STARS)
Texas Rescue: Lone Star Lovers Book 8
Jean Brashear - 2012
Walking the night to outrun his memories of those he wasn't able to save, he comes to the rescue of a small, valiant woman who puts herself in danger to save a young runaway. Jilly Sullivan's life is dedicated to making a difference for the poor, championing one hopeless cause after another, spending time in the worst parts of town. When a desperate criminal overpowers her and a nameless hero saves her from harm, both their courses are altered forever. Gabriel finds himself drawn to the vibrant light that is Jilly, and she lures him from the darkness in which he's most comfortable. The more time they spend together, the more powerful their bond becomes. He comes to the defense of a young boy victimized by a brutal drug dealer, and when that drug dealer assaults Jilly in retaliation, Gabriel rescues her but quickly retreats to the darkness where he believes he belongs. Can Jilly, rocked by her brush with evil, convince this man to believe that he deserves to live in the light?
No Angel
Penny Vincenzi - 2000
Celia Lytton is the beautiful and strong-willed daughter of wealthy aristocrats and she is used to getting her way. She moves through life making difficult and often dangerous decisions that affect herself and others-her husband, Oliver, and their children; the destitute Sylvia Miller, whose life is transformed by Celia's intrusion; as well as Oliver's daunting elder sister, who is not all she appears to be; and Sebastian Brooke, for whom Celia makes the most dangerous decision of all. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of London and New York in the First World War, No Angel is, as British Good Housekeeping wrote, "an absorbing page-turner, packed with believable characters and satisfyingly extreme villains, eccentrics, and manipulators." Readers of Maeve Binchy, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Anita Shreve will fall in love with this epic, un-put-downable novel.With more than 3.5 million copies sold, Penny Vincenzi is one of the world's preeminent writers of popular fiction-and American readers no longer have to miss out on the fun. With the publication of No Angel, a novel introducing the engaging cast of characters in the Lytton family, Overlook opens a thrilling new dimension to this author's already illustrious career.
The Healing Summer
Heather B. Moore - 2021
They’d been trapped beneath a collapsed roof for hours, injured and unable to call for help.The morning of their rescue, Orlando Gallo promised he would find her again. But Maggie hasn’t seen or heard from him in over seventy years, and now, widowed and childless, Maggie hopes to leave her estate to Orlando’s descendants. She invites her neighbor, forty-year-old Jo Sampson, to travel with her, and as the two women return to San Francisco to track down Orlando, they form a strong bond of friendship and healing that transcends time and place.
Stiltsville
Susanna Daniel - 2010
Set in Miami from the late '60s to the 1990s, Stiltsville is a sweeping journey seen through the eyes of one woman as she experiences love, motherhood, friendship, hurricanes, racial tension, and finally, a tragic death in slow motion.In her debut novel, Daniel describes the experiences of three generations in one family whose spiritual heart is centered in a modest bungalow built a few feet above the water. When Frances meets and marries Dennis, she learns to live her life on the water, from bay to ocean to everglade to bayou. She navigates through it all; infidelity, empty-nest syndrome, and debilitating illness; sometimes with grace and humor, sometimes with anger and bitterness, but always with the same people by her side.Daniel excels in capturing the flavor and decadence of Miami as it became a multicultural hotbed. In Stiltsville, she has woven factual events into Frances's life from a tumultuous period that witnessed racial beatings, the cocaine wars, and Hurricane Andrew. The result is a riveting novel filled with pathos.
The Sunrise Cove Inn
Katie Winters - 2020
Her first love. The island she abandoned for a better life over twenty years ago.Susan Sheridan knows Martha’s Vineyard like the back of her hand. She grew up there as the eldest of the three Sheridan Sisters, their father the longtime owner of the Sunrise Cove Inn in Oak Bluffs. The Inn, the water, the sun all spun with laughter, and love, with the most important people— her family and friends. It was her glittering, perfect life—until it wasn’t.Tragedy struck over twenty years ago, and Susan has hardly said a word to her sisters or her father or anyone else she ever loved.Not until now.Her father and Sunrise Cove Inn are both falling apart, just like Susan’s life. Her husband left her for the secretary at their shared law firm, and her children have their separate lives. And she’s keeping her own secrets.Now it’s time to go back to the island she once loved so much. Time to face the horrors and secrets of her past, everything she’s tucked away since she left the Vineyard and started a family of her own.But as she digs deeper into the dark psyche of her past, she digs up old truths, lost loves, and regrets—all with the once-familiar backdrop of this gorgeous island.The Vineyard has been waiting for her. But can she handle what she finds there? Can she forgive and never again regret?
The Accidental Mother
Rowan Coleman - 2005
Sophie and Carrie were childhood best friends, but in the last few years they've lost touch. While Carrie chose motherhood in a small town, Sophie is powering up the London career track. She's a corporate manager poised for her next promotion. Sure, she doesn't have much time for men, but she has a great shoe collection and a cat who's never going to let her down. And then Sophie is told that Carrie has died, with nobody left to care for her two daughters, Bella and Izzy, aged six and three. Their father, who left before Carrie's death, is nowhere to be found; their grandmother is moving into assisted living. Sophie once promised Carrie she would take care of her children if the worst ever happened...and now that day has come. Witty, wise, and filled with genuinely powerful emotion, The Accidental Mother is the heartwarming, heartbreaking story of a woman who is woefully under-equipped to be suddenly thrown into motherhood, but who through the eyes of two little girls learns more about loss, commitment, and true love than she had ever realized existed.
Marrying a Doctor: The Doctor's Girl / A Special Kind of Woman
Betty Neels - 2001
Andrew Fforde offered her a job as his temporary receptionist. She hadn't expected to fall in love with him, but he was just so handsome and charming!Caroline Anderson's A Special Kind of Woman : When single mother Cait Cooper sees her daughter off to medical school, she feels now's the time to do all the things she's yearned to do. Enter Dr. Owen Douglas, who sets about giving Cait more fun than she's ever had, until their affair puts her right back where she started and Cait doesn't know which way to turn.
Grown Ups
Marian Keyes - 2020
And they're a happy family. Johnny's wife, Jessie - who has the most money - insists on it.Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much . . .Everything stays under control until Ed's wife Cara, gets concussion and can't keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at Johnny's birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets.In the subsequent unravelling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it's time - finally - to grow up?
Where the Stars Still Shine
Trish Doller - 2013
She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility.Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love, betrayal, and how not to lose your mind will resonate with readers who want their stories gritty and utterly true.
Special Ops Shifters: Dallas Force Box Set (#1-4)
Meg Ripley - 2020
One heart-pounding series.Get lost in the fiery, action-packed pages of the Special Ops Shifters: Dallas Force series, now available as a complete collection! These rock-hard alpha shifters will stop at nothing to protect their mates, no matter what dangerous missions they face.If you like swoonworthy shifter tales with powerful soldiers, camaraderie, strong and sassy heroines, action and adventure, and an adorable baby she-cub, you'll fall in love with the Special Ops Shifters: Dallas Force series.AshAfter retiring from the Delta Force, I'm more than ready to settle down.I've got my eye on a ranch in Alaska, where I'll have the freedom to unleash my pent-up polar bear at will.But my inner beast knows life up north will be a lonely one without a mate.When the Special Ops Shifter Force asks me to enlist in their new Dallas unit, curiosity gets the best of me and I rethink my plans.Being deployed on a covert mission to Antarctica wasn't something I expected.Neither was finding a dragoness who captivated my bear the moment we met.LaneMy flight and I relocated to the tranquility of Antarctica years ago.But as one of the few dragons in existence, I don't know if I'll ever find my fated in a place so remote.Our serenity is shattered when the military infiltrates, quickly turning our home into a prison for experimentation.But little do I know the rebel who claims he's come to help might also rescue my heart.Can I trust my so-called savior, or is this the end for me and my clan?Read Rescued by the Soldier Bear and the following stories in this sizzling shifter romance box set: Rescued by the Soldier BearProtected by the Soldier TigerFated to the Soldier FoxBaby for the Soldier CougarSteamy shifter love scenes and HEAs inside! No cheating or cliffhangers in these standalone stories. Readers 18+.