Book picks similar to
The Upside of Down by Nicole Rodrigues


single-parent
contemporary
romance
futuros-sb

Rock Bottom Girl


Lucy Score - 2019
    Not much has changed in Culpepper. The cool kids are still cool. Now they just own car dealerships and live in McMansions next door. Oh, and the whole town is still talking about that Homecoming she ruined her senior year. Desperate for a new start, Marley accepts a temporary teaching position. Can the girl banned from all future Culpepper High Homecomings keep the losing-est girls soccer team in school history from killing each other and prevent carpal tunnel in a bunch of phone-clutching gym class students? Maybe with the help of Jake Weston, high school bad boy turned sexy good guy. When the school rumor mill sends Marley to the principal’s office to sign an ethics contract, the tattooed track coach, dog dad, and teacher of the year becomes her new fake boyfriend and alibi—for a price. The Deal: He’ll teach her how to coach if she teaches him how to be in a relationship. Who knew a fake boyfriend could deliver such real orgasms? But it’s all temporary. The guy. The job. The team. There’s too much history. Rock bottom can’t turn into a foundation for happily ever after. Can it? Warning: Story also includes a meet-puke, a bouffanted nemesis, a yard swan and donkey basketball, a teenage-orchestrated makeover, and a fake relationship that gets a little too real between the sheets.

Tease Me (Hart of Stone Family, Book 1)


Tory Baker - 2022
    Tanner is a tall glass of water on a hot summer day, handsome didn’t even touch the surface and the way he gave me his rapt attention at my best friends wedding it was unbelievable until it was too good to be true. Yet, he never called and no girl ever wants to be forgotten.After too many days to count of blowing up everyone’s phone, I’d exhausted all efforts and was nowhere near close to finding Marlie’s real number. Yeah, I screwed that up but I’ll do anything I can to make things right and make her mine.

Mr. Man Candy


Alessandra Hart - 2018
    Visit a tropical island, meet a rich, handsome player and root for the bad boy in Alessandra Hart's newest standalone romance novel. Going to a destination wedding should be fun, right? Not when there's a +1 on the invite, and you're painfully single. I don't want to face my family without a date, so I've told them all about my gorgeous, charming, all-around-amazing boyfriend. The only problem? He doesn't exist. In walks Nate Scott. Playboy. Loaded. Handsome. Bad news. He's also my only option, and surprisingly, he agrees to be my fake boyfriend during the wedding festivities. Neither of us know what we're really getting into with this game of pretend, though. We started off as enemies, but suddenly, I don't hate his guts. Suddenly, his smirk is more dangerous than annoying... and suddenly, my fake feelings have turned very real. So maybe he's not just man candy after all. The island weather isn't the only thing heating up, because I might just be falling for my very fake, very handsome and very off-limits boyfriend...

The Consequence of Falling


Claire Contreras - 2019
    Not even my soon-to-be ex-husband is on that list. Nope. I save only the worst of the worst, the crème de la crème, the absolute I cannot even for this list . . .1. Black coffee2. Rude people3. Nathaniel BradleyWhich is why when my father informs me that he’s making Nathaniel Bradley his new business partner, and in turn, my boss, I flip out. 1. He’s an annoying know-it-all. 2. He calls me a spoiled princess every chance he gets. 3. He disapproves of everything I do.I go into this knowing I’ll hate every second in his presence. Except the longer he’s around, the more I find myself staring at his lips and remembering the one time they were on mine. I randomly find myself looking at his hands and wondering how they’d feel on my skin. I try to snap out of it, but I guess I’m not as smart as I thought I was. No matter how many times I remind myself of the times I’ve practically thrown myself at him and he’s pushed me away, I keep falling little by little.I’d always heard that it was a bad idea to mix business with pleasure and if that’s the case, this thing with Nathaniel has demise written all over it.

C is for Carter: A Secret Baby Mountain Man Romance (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)


Natasha L. Black - 2022
    

Halo


R.C. Stephens - 2016
     I fell in love with Thomas Wells and knew he was my forever. I was sixteen when I gave him my heart. Our love was the kind to last a lifetime. But Thomas was broken. The first day we met he told me he was going to become a Navy SEAL. At nineteen he enlisted. At twenty he married me. At twenty five he left me pregnant and didn't turn back. I knew he was suffering…. I also knew I couldn't save him. He left me broken. I was scared and alone. Until I met Ryder St. John a wounded soldier… He was lost. I was lost. Together we made sense. I fell in love again… What Ryder forgot to mention was that he held a secret so explosive that it could shatter both our worlds. ***This is a full length novel and is intended for a mature audience.***

Forty Candles


A.M. Willard - 2018
    I married the man that my family thought I was supposed to. I turned a blind eye when his after work activities weren't really for work. What I couldn’t look past anymore was how lonely I’d become.All it took was one night to change my life.I filed for a separation. I moved my teenage daughter and me in with my parents. Did I mention that my room should be placed in an 80’s museum? Yes, it’s not changed in decades.Then my life changed again right before my 40th birthday.Just when I thought things were going to get back to normal, in walks Lenny Ward. He’s the man your parents warn you about. You know the type… A body like a God, smart, oh and the sex… It’s like a 10.0 earthquake off the charts type of connection.Even though we have chemistry, I have to protect not only my heart but my daughters.

Client No. 6 (Dial-A-Date, #1)


Cassandra Dee - 2018
    Then again, I never thought Jason Morgan would show up to service me! Jennie needs a date for her high school reunion. Ten years out, she wants to show the mean girls that she’s made it – career-wise, looks-wise, and most importantly, relationship-wise. One problem: There’s no boyfriend in sight. Not even close. Jason’s a former high school quarterback who works as a movie producer. He moonlights on the side meeting women while providing the “boyfriend experience.” Little does he know that his next client is the curvy girl from his past … who’s turned into a bombshell! Warning: This story is absolute filth mixed with a dose of pure, sweet goodness. It’s so sugary that you’ll have trouble swallowing. But who hasn’t wanted to go back to their HS reunion with a hot guy on their arm? Trust me, you’ll love it :) As always, bonus stories included for your reading pleasure. Xoxo, Cassie and Kendall

Lily and the Billionaire: (A Fun and Dirty Billionaire Romance)


Beth Michele - 2019
    My business--making billions.I've got it all.Money.Confidence.Sexual prowess.I know--I'm quite a catch. At least to most women. But Lily Conrad isn't like any woman I've met before.Damn her and that red dress.Now all I think about is her. All I fantasize about is her--her smile, her laugh, her long legs wrapped around my waist.My dilemma, you ask? She doesn't care that I'm a billionaire. And why should she? It means nothing, it tells her nothing about who I am.Lily Conrad doesn't know what I'm made of, but you can be sure of one thing...She's going to find out.

Hail Mary


Nicola Rendell - 2016
    After she wakes him up with a few slaps and some smelling salts, the very first thing he does is ask her out for ribs and beer. His name is Jimmy. He looks like a Gillette model. And he’s just too hunky to resist.Jimmy “The Falcon” Falconi is mystified that Mary has absolutely no idea who he is. Mystified and refreshed. He is, after all, not your everyday NFL quarterback. He shops at Costco, has a soft spot for Pinterest, and is in the midst of an epic losing streak.Jimmy falls for Mary fast and hard, the way he does everything—balls out and like it’s fourth and long. And he realizes he’s finally met his match. That stamina he’s so proud of? Doesn’t stand a chance against her Kegels.But what they don’t know is she’s also his new physical therapist, recently hired by the Bears to work on his rotator cuff…and groin injury. If she can’t help him, he’ll be traded faster than they can say “offensive penetration.”In spite of the thousands of internet memes featuring Jimmy’s face with captions like: “HEY GIRL, WANT TO TOUCH MY BALLS?” Mary finds herself falling for him and his unrelenting desire to make her his.Until a toddler shows up at Jimmy’s door.And throws their lives into total chaos.***To the reader: Sweet. Safe. HEA. This is a comedy that gets very dirty, so be advised. Other tasters' notes: Hints of honey and champagne. And a feisty little dog named Frankie Knuckles.

The Exception


Mickey Miller - 2021
    Turns out your first order of business is dinner with a new player who just signed with the team. But he’s not just any new player. He's Dallas Connelly, Super Bowl champion. Through a series of coincidences, he was also your steamy rebound a few months ago in Hawaii. You can look, but you can't touch. Because the consequences of hooking up with one of your players would be nothing short of national scandal and complete embarrassment. Is Dallas panty-meltingly handsome with a too-cocky attitude I'd like to smack off his pretty mug? Sure.Do I have one, fine, maybe two fantasies about him sneaking into my office for a late-night kiss? Sure, I admit it. None of that matters though. Because Dallas is off-limits. To say ours is smooth, easy romance would be a lie. I never thought I would fall in love with a man like Dallas and break all of my rules. I certainly never imagined Dallas would be the exception. … or that I would be his.

Tattooed Dots


Kimberly Knight - 2014
    Over time, we find out who is meant to be a temporary acquaintance and who will be there for a lifetime.Easton Crawford put his modeling career before his marriage until it was ending in divorce. Years later, he is finally learning how to be the father his daughter needs him to be. He’s not looking for someone to step into the mother role—just nightly casual hook-ups. When his best friend convinces him that a good way to meet single women is to go on a singles cruise, he finds more than just a one night stand. At age thirteen, Brooke Bradley became an adult, raising her younger sister while her mother continually ignored her parenting responsibilities. Since then, Brooke has continued to take care of the people in her life, including her deadbeat boyfriend, Jared.For Brooke’s thirtieth birthday, her best friend surprises her with a cruise but fails to mention it’s a singles cruise. When Brooke meets Easton, the one man willing to be her constant, will she finally find the courage to leave Jared? Easton knows that Brooke is someone who is meant to be in his life forever, but when a health scare threatens to change everything, Brooke and Easton are faced with unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Kiss My Putt


Tara Sivec - 2020
    Needing some place to hide, to lick my wounds and figure out what I even want to do with my life once this blows over, I can only think of one place I need to be. Summersweet Island, where everyone treats me like one of their own, and they’ll all be happy to have me home again.Well, except maybe one person. It’s been two years since I last set foot on Summersweet Island or spoke to anyone there. But I’m sure Birdie Bennett, my best friend since I was 15 and the clubhouse manager of my favorite golf course, has had plenty of time to forgive me for that tiny little misunderstanding where I blocked her on social media and blocked her in my phone. Oh, and I guess I kind of, sort of accused her of being a stalker. It’s fine!Once my sexy, spunky, former best friend gets over the shock of seeing me again and stops trying to drive a 9-iron into my skull, I can finally let her know I’ve also kind of, sort of always been in love with her...

Ruined Promises


Stefanie Jenkins - 2020
    One decision. It only took one night out to turn Lexi Baker’s so-called perfect world upside down. A chance encounter with a tall, dark, and handsome stranger makes her feel things she’s never felt before, both physically and emotionally. When her emotions get the best of her, she escapes with only his first name: Ben. A one-night stand—that’s all it was supposed to be. She was never supposed to see him again. And he definitely wasn’t supposed to be standing in her office Monday morning being introduced as her new boss. Ben and Lexi promise each other that nothing more can happen and they must remain professional. But some promises are meant to be ruined, right?

I Don't: A Romantic Comedy


Andrea Johnston - 2018
    I thought my dream was finally coming true. Fate, however, has other plans. My perfectly planned life hits a snag eight days before our wedding. I walk in on my fiancé on the couch with someone who isn’t me. Trying to “blow off” that visual, and without thinking, I accept an invitation to take a road trip with the boy who broke my teenage heart. Lucas DeCosta is all man, and surprise surprise—a male stripper. Beyond his movie-star good looks, his oh so sexy dance moves, and those big brown eyes, I find a kind heart and the overall goodness of the boy who still sets my heart on fire. Each time he looks at me, I feel it. Zing. Zang. Electricity. It. When life hands you lemons . . . take a shot of tequila and hand fate the keys to your life. Because, sometimes the best thing to say is “I Don’t” before you can ever say “I Do.”