Book picks similar to
Moving Forward by Erika Ashby


romance
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Game of Love


Melissa Foster - 2014
    In the twenty-five years she’s been alive, Dex Remington has been the only person who has always believed in her and been there for her. But four years earlier she came to Dex seeking comfort, and then disappeared like a thief in the night, leaving him a broken man. Dex Remington is one of the top PC game developers in the U.S. He’s handsome, smart, and numb. So damn numb that he’s not sure he’ll ever find a reason to feel again. A chance encounter sparks intense desires in Ellie and Dex. Desires that make her want to run—and make him want to feel. A combination of lust and fear leads these young lovers down a dangerous path. Is it possible to cross a burned bridge or are they destined to be apart forever?

My First: Jason & Katie


Melanie Shawn - 2013
    With his easygoing charm, whiskey-colored brown eyes, and sinfully sexy half smile, women just seem to fall all over themselves when he’s around.Well... most women, anyway. Katie Lawson’s the one woman who isn't putty in his hands, and she's the only one he’s ever wanted in his arms.Katie Lawson left Harper's Crossing in the middle of the night ten years ago, immediately after her high school boyfriend Nick's funeral. She left behind all memories of Nick, and she left behind her life-long best friend, Jason Sloan.Now she's on the fast track to junior partner at one of San Francisco's top law firms. She's made a life for herself that's all about maintaining order and sticking to the rules. Rule #1 is keeping herself WAY too busy to think about all that she ran away from. If she can do that, after all, she can keep everything under control.But that rule is about to be broken. She’s headed back home to be the maid of honor in Nick’s little sister’s wedding. It's time to face the truth she's been avoiding all these years, the same one that sent her running ten years ago - that maybe she didn't lose her first love the summer after high school. Maybe her first love has been waiting for her all this time, at home in Harper's Crossing.

Picture Perfect


Alessandra Thomas - 2013
    After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two. When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes. When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again.But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground. Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.(This book contains sex and adult language.)

A Risk Worth Taking


Heather Hildenbrand - 2013
    Everything she thought she knew—heck, everything she thought she wanted for her own life—feels like a lie. The truth is love is a risk. And the true kind, the kind that lasts, might even be a fairy tale. Reeling from the divorce, Summer derails her own future by breaking up with her parent-approved boyfriend and giving up her lifelong plans for a big-city career. She moves back home, business degree in hand. Dad needs her to fill the gaps her mother left behind; Summer needs to find who she is outside of the cookie-cutter life that failed so miserably for her parents.Ford O’Neal’s future involves one person: himself. He doesn’t have a permanent address and he definitely doesn’t commit. To a place or a person. Raised by hippies, he plans just far enough ahead to secure his next stop, this one landing him at a work-study program at Heritage Plantation where he can grow his own herbal and medicinal creations. Summer is gorgeous and smart and fun to be with, the perfect way to pass five months. It won’t be love—Ford’s got too many things to accomplish, too many places to go, before he settles down. Yet Summer pulls him in, challenging him to rethink his own philosophy. When Ford’s five months are up, each of them must decide if love is really worth the risk.

On the Rocks


Sawyer Bennett - 2014
    Now he’s returned home to the sand and salty breeze of the North Carolina Outer Banks so he can open The Last Call, a beach bar nestled among the dunes of the Atlantic.Five years ago, Gabby Ward drunkenly threw herself at her best friend’s brother, only to have her young heart crushed. Hunter is back but Gabby is content to stay far away from him and his dangerously charming ways. Gabby’s well-schemed plans to ignore Hunter go up in flames when he presents her an offer she simply can’t refuse. Working together day in and day out proves problematic for two reasons—Gabby realizes her feelings for Hunter are still very much alive, while Hunter struggles to break through to Gabby’s cold heart. What starts out as a mutual business arrangement soon turns into a passion that neither can deny.But when the pro surfing tour comes knocking and Hunter has a chance to reclaim his former glory, hard choices lie ahead for both of them.Choices that could destroy what they have built or take them further than they could ever dare to hope in their second chance at romance.

Every Little Piece


Kate Ashton - 2013
    A story of love, hope and healing.** Needing the truth… I wanted to spend the night before graduation making out with Seth, but one of my best friends had the whole night planned. Lucky for me, we ran into him and his friends playing pool where we made some silly bet over a game, and the losers had to run through town in nothing but their underwear. A year later, I wish more than ever we’d just made out at Raker’s Bluff instead, because maybe the night would’ve turned out differently. Now Seth’s back, the guy who broke my heart, the guy I’m still in love with…I just hope he doesn’t break me all over again. Desperate for redemption… No one wants to fess up to having a screwed-up family. When my parents dropped the big divorce bomb on me, I decided to keep it a secret. Just the thought of the pity-stares and pats-on-the-back made me feel sick. I’d tell Haley and my friends another time. Except, I never got the chance. Stuff happened. Stuff that totally sucked and changed our lives forever. Instead of telling my truth, I took the coward’s way out, and I’ve regretted it ever since. But I’m back, determined to tell Haley everything, down to the last gritty detail, if she’ll give me the chance…even if it means losing her forever.

Searching For Moore


Julie A. Richman - 2013
     I lost the love of my life when she disappeared without even a goodbye. It was the 80’s – there was no internet, no Google, no cell phones. If you wanted to disappear, you could. And she did. She crushed my soul. A friend just told me he saw her on Facebook. And now I’m a keystroke away from asking her the question that’s haunted me for two decades. “Why did you leave me?” Two decades after she broke his heart, sexy entrepreneur Schooner Moore uncovers the truth and betrayal his life has been built on when he Facebook friend requests college love, Mia Silver. Determined to win Mia’s love once again, Schooner embarks on a life-altering journey that could cost him everything. This is the first book of the Needing Moore Series trilogy and is not meant to be read as a stand-alone. Book 2 - Moore to Lose and Book 3 - Moore than Forever are currently available.Julie A. Richman's latest stand-alone novel, Bad Son Rising, releases September 12, 2014.

Mirage


Ashley Suzanne - 2013
    Two sets of best friends embark on a new adventure together, forming life long bonds. Mira and Danny are looking forward to their future as husband and wife. Everything was going according to plan. That was until tragedy struck them on graduation night leaving three broken people to pick up the pieces. Skylar has always stood in the background, watching his best friend begin a life with the woman he fell in love with until he can no longer keep a distance. Right when Mira thinks her life is back on track it spirals out of control. What if everything you thought you knew was nothing more than a mirage?This is an alternate-cover edition for ASIN B00ESL6T52.

Offside


Juliana Stone - 2012
    Not because Billie's talent is in question, but because Billie is a woman. And though these are modern times, some of the local guys still have a problem letting a girl into their 'men's club.'Soon, Billie is at the center of a small town battle of the sexes, with everyone choosing sides. Her sisters. The townsfolk. Her friends. And yet, the only person whose opinion she cares about doesn't seem to care much at all. Logan Forest, the man who broke her heart when she was eighteen and the man she now shares the bench with every Friday night. She's got a lot to prove and though Billie Jo Barker scores on the ice, will this girl ever score with the man of her dreams?

Caught Up in Us


Lauren Blakely - 2013
    It was a mad, crazy love full of kisses all through the night—but he broke her heart and she had to move on. Five years later, Kat is finishing her graduate degree and building her business as a jewelry designer, when Bryan, head of his own successful company, walks back into her life. Bryan has been assigned to Kat as her new business mentor and the rules are clear. No hanky panky permitted. Kat can handle that because she's totally over him... right? Except, he still makes her laugh, and he remembers all the things she likes. Not to mention that he's even more handsome now than he was then. Then there's the spark between them—the simply undeniable chemistry, and the tender ways he shows he still cares for her. Can they resist each other the second time around or will first love trump all?

Edge of Disaster


A.M. Hargrove - 2012
    A life of partying, alcohol, drugs and men has brought her near the edge of disaster. That is until one night while at work as a waitress in an upscale restaurant, she falls under the spell of one of her customers, Pearce Middleton. Once she gazes into his smoky gray eyes, her life takes on new meaning. But can she put her past behind her and allow herself to fall for the exciting and gorgeous Pearce, or will her lewd behavior come back to haunt her and ruin her chances of happiness forever?

Coming Home


Laurie Breton - 2012
    Eighteen-year-old aspiring songwriter Casey Bradley is four weeks away from marrying her childhood sweetheart when Danny blows into her life and turns it upside down.Three days after they meet, Casey leaves behind everything and everyone she’s ever known to marry this charismatic man and follow his dreams. Together with laid-back guitarist Rob MacKenzie, Casey writes the songs that catapult her husband to a fame beyond their wildest imaginings. But it's not all glitz and glamour. The road to success is loaded with land mines, and every time Danny breaks her heart, it’s Rob who picks her up, dusts her off, and sets her back on her feet.It's not until an unimaginable tragedy occurs that Casey begins to question who she is and what she really wants from life. In the process, she discovers that the choices you make at thirty may differ vastly from those you made at eighteen.Fall into the book that readers have called "heartfelt," "poignant," and "brilliant."

Because You're Mine


K. Langston - 2013
    She’s already working for one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston as a research assistant, and in a few short months, she will finally graduate from Harvard and collect her law degree. Everything she’s worked so hard to accomplish is well within her reach. But when Madison has to take an unexpected trip back home, she's blindsided by the one thing she never anticipated. A man who not only tests her patience but tempts her heart. Madison doesn’t have time for love and a love as consuming as his will only derail her perfectly laid plans. Desperate to escape his wicked past, Holden Brooks moved to Madison's hometown five years ago, hell-bent on overcoming the demons that nearly destroyed him back in Texas. He’s in a good place in his life. Love is the last thing on his mind until he tastes her honeysuckle skin and looks into those deep blue eyes. Desire ignites as their two paths collide and they soon find out, fate has a plan of its own.

Breathe for Me


Natalie Anderson - 2013
    Turns out her ‘hero’ is a former lifeguard who has no hesitation in offering the kiss of life. So not happening, right? But for emotionally chastened Chelsea, one touch changes everything. She discovers a desire to satisfy this arrogant, demanding tease. Unable to express her own fantasies, she finds unspeakable pleasure in serving his.Xander Lawson exudes easy charm. He likes a woman unafraid to match his appetite for unfettered fun. He doesn’t do complicated or emotional. But the raw need emanating from fragile Chelsea compels him closer. He can’t resist spinning a sensual fantasy world around them. As passion spills outside their carefully selected boundaries, Xander learns Chelsea’s stronger than he first thought. But is she strong enough to handle the intensity he’s always kept hidden?

Love Love


Beth Michele - 2013
    She's funny. And oh yes, she's a bit klutzy. When Gabrielle left sunny California bound for the energy of Manhattan, she was willingly leaving the life she had known for the new life she would create. But was she really leaving something behind or was she running away?On the outside, Gabrielle Willis had it all under control. A new life in Manhattan, a great roommate, and a good job. But she was haunted. Haunted by a memory she'd tried to forget and by a family who'd abandoned her. Enter Dane Rhodes. He was gorgeous, smart, and sexy as hell. Just what Gabby wanted, or so she thought. But when she met Brad Dixon, the sweet guy with the crooked smile, he began to make her see that the very thing she was trying to run from, was the very thing that just might push her to see the light.**This Contemporary Romance contains mature language and sexual content and is only recommended for readers 17 and older.**