Book picks similar to
Twisted Fate by Claire Upton


contemporary-romance
freebie
1
200-300-pgs-regular-size

Beautiful Pain


Joanna Mazurkiewicz - 2013
    I needed to get away from London, I wanted to start from scratch in Belfast, escape from the life that I didn’t want. Working for Probation Service for the whole summer was going to give me the experience that I needed. I always felt much better when I could help people whose lives were shattered.My parents told me that I wasn't ready and I wouldn't make it through but I was determined to show them that the past was behind me. I had three months to forget about my bad memories, about the pain and my scars. Then I run straight into him, throwing it all to the wind, falling into a trap of love and lust. Harry O’Donaghue was a local offender. At our first meeting he gave me the impression that he didn’t care about what I had to say and didn’t want to be evaluated by a stupid young girl like me. Harry wasn’t an easy subject, either when it came to straight forward conversation about his future or about the crimes that he had committed.Harry had a secret and everything suddenly became complicated. He was bad to be around, bad for me in every respect, but I still allowed him take me to paradise… Contemporary Romance novel - contains adult situations, high sexuality, violence, suited for ages 18 and up. This book is the first in a series but can be read as a stand alone.*

Big Love in a Small Town


Kate Goldman - 2015
    Three weeks later, Tessa meets Nate Wilder, a Hollywood star, at a restaurant where she waits tables on weekends, and he doesn’t hide his immediate attraction to her. Despite still being heartbroken, Tessa feels a spark and they begin secretly seeing each other. Tessa begins to fall in love with Nate and their relationship seems perfect until a miscommunication causes her to break things off abruptly. A little time passes and Tessa’s ex-boyfriend returns, asking her to come to Nashville so that they can be together again. She realizes that she definitely doesn’t want that – she has fallen for Nate, and she hopes that she hasn’t missed her chance. Now that Tessa finally realizes the truth about her feelings and what a mistake she has made, she hops on a plane for Los Angeles, but when she arrives, she isn’t prepared for what she sees.

Living Again


L.L. Collins - 2013
    Then one day, her life changes forever when she loses her husband in a tragic accident. No longer sure how to navigate life after her enormous loss, Kayley clings to her newborn baby, her family, and her friends to keep herself living.When she meets someone that challenges her belief that she's better off alone, she has to decide if she is capable of letting him in after swearing she was never going to love anyone the same way again.She's not the only one with a painful past. He is struggling with trust issues after a previous relationship went horribly wrong. After a terrible misunderstanding brings out both of their insecurities, will the painful memories of the past keep them both from living again?

Streetlights Like Fireworks


David Pandolfe - 2014
    That’s just their first date.Jack has been getting on his parents’ nerves for some time. Bad enough he’s a rock musician, has crappy grades and hangs out with his “loser” friends. But Jack’s ability to predict the future — well, that just annoys the hell out of them.Jack’s classmate, Lauren, is said to have unique abilities too. The town still talks about when she kept badgering her mother about the money in their wall. For the longest time, Lauren’s mother didn’t listen. Finally, she did and she hasn’t had to work since. Jack would really like to connect with Lauren but can’t figure out how. She’s never looked at him twice. But when he experiences a mystifying event involving visions, voices and spectral visits, Jack figures there’s only one person to help him understand who’s calling out to him and why. Before long, Jack and Lauren are off on a road trip of discovery that could provide answers to a mystery left unsolved for twenty years. More importantly, they might even unravel the greatest mystery of all — how every so often someone will accept you for who you are.

Starting Over


Rachel Hanna - 2015
     When the calm and serenity of her life is threatened by a loud karate instructor upstairs, Kelly Cole goes on the offensive. With his sexy alpha hero personality, Quinn Maverick isn't budging either which makes working in the same small building difficult. A widower with a big secret, Quinn becomes Kelly's protector in a few situations, cementing the connection between them but when she finds out what he's hiding, can she forgive him? When the scars of the past bring out the guilt, can the wounds be healed? ** This is a sweet romance and features no explicit scenes. **

Simply Sinful


Carly Phillips - 2000
    But when danger lurks, he’s the man she needs.Any rookie on the force could verify if Charmed! is a legit etiquette school for businessmen, or…something else. But coming off a wrenching drug bust, Detective Kane McDermott’s captain gave him a choice. Take the fluff case, or take enforced time off.The moment Kane meets Kayla Luck, he's in trouble. She’s fierce, keen-eyed intelligence in a body built for sin. And when they touch, the jolt of desire reminds him it’s never wise to mix police work with pleasure.Kayla is used to handling men who are more focused on her curves than her mind. But when her newest client arrives for lessons in foreign language and business etiquette, she’s the one who can’t tear her eyes off all those muscles wrapped in a sexy, double-breasted suit.Dinner out leads to a hot night in bed, and Kayla falls hard and fast. Until she learns the business suit hides a badge, and she calls it quits. But Kane’s already lost his heart—and discovered she’s in danger. And if he can’t convince her she’s safe with him, he’ll lose the woman he loves.

An Offer He Can't Refuse


Theresa Ragan - 2012
    Someone who can put on the performance of his life…someone tall, dark and temporary. According to her grandfather's trust, she must marry before she turns thirty if she wants to inherit millions of dollars. Otherwise, the money will go to her cousin, Heather. Jackson Lang, a thirty-four-year-old self-made millionaire, lost his father when he and his little brother were toddlers. With a sickly mother who was underpaid and over worked, Jackson was left to care for his younger brother. He grew up believing that the good things in life went to those with money and power…those who took control…those who worked a little harder than the next guy. Jackson is mourning the death of Walter Garrett, a man who took him and his brother under his wing, when Walter's widow, Heather, asks Jackson for a favor. Madison and Jackson must convince family and friends that they are in love. Not an easy feat considering they don’t even like one another.

Beautiful Oblivion


Addison Moore - 2013
    She’s tired of dating Warren McCarthy just to make her father happy. Reese has long since had her eye on someone else, and this summer she’s determined to make it happen.Growing up in Lake Loveless there has always been a strict monetary divide—there was the rest of the Lake and then there were the Waterman’s. Ace Waterman has worked for everything he has, and he doesn’t have a lot. He breaks his back doing grunt work while putting himself through college. He’s used to life passing him by.Reese has loved Ace from afar for as long as she can remember. The summer of her freshman year she comes home with plans to land Ace in her bed at least for a few short weeks, and, if she’s lucky, forever.Ace has loved Reese for as long as he can remember, but their friendship has never graduated beyond platonic, so when Reese comes home from her first year away and proposes the two of them have a summer fling, Ace is quick to comply. The rules: no strings, no expectations, just something hotter than the sun to set the sheets on fire.But when their worlds collide, and neither of them is willing to admit to having true feelings, it becomes clear to Ace he’s nothing more than a dirty little secret—that the summer fling was just something meaningless to pass the time.Reese wonders if she can ever stop trying to please her father, and it’s only through her mother’s letters that she finds the answers she truly seeks, but will they be the ones she wants to hear?As summer draws to a close, Ace and Reese are still very much enraptured even though the time has come to douse the flame and move on—but neither one of them is prepared to leave this BEAUTIFUL OBLIVION.

Forever My Lady


Jeff Rivera - 2005
    But his hard exterior softened when he met Jennifer. Jennifer understands Dio like no one else and makes him want to be a better man. Suddenly a drive-by shooting lands Dio in a prison boot camp and sends Jennifer to the hospital. When Dio learns that Jennifer is pregnant, he realizes that he must find a way to turn his life around and return to his lady. But can trainee Rodriguez get his act together among the hardcases in prison? And will Jennifer be waiting for him if and when he does?

Risking Love


Brenda S. Anderson - 2016
    From her job to romance, every major decision is planned out. But before she can go out on a date with Mr. Perfect, she attends a charity auction with her meddling mom who wins Lissa a date with thrill-seeker Caleb Johnson. Caleb lived for adventure until heart disease stole his wife’s life. Then debt closed his business and now threatens to take his home. With a toddler to raise, he vows that his risk-taking days are over. But then he meets the cautious yet curious Lissa Morgan and decides it’s time to take one more risk—this time on love. When Lissa learns the extent of Caleb’s debt, she wonders if she can collect on his heart if she forecloses on his home. And why is she falling for the wrong man—one who challenges her to leap from her orderly life and into his waiting arms?

Emma's Dream


M. Lee Prescott - 2015
    Doctor's orders, he's home to heal, but the sooner he can get back to Santa Barbara, the better. Then he runs into Maggie Williams on Main Street, prompting vivid memories of a magical night, and Ben's ailing heart skips a beat. Father of her beloved five year old daughter, the eldest of the Morgan sons is the last person Maggie expects to have crash into her car and back into her life. For years, she has struggled to forget him and to make a life for herself and her daughter, Emma, the mirror image of a father, who is unaware of her existence. Now, here he is, looking more gorgeous than the day he ran out of town. Maggie swears Ben Morgan will never break her heart again.

Venom (Vampires of Hollywood Book 2)


Madisyn Ashmore - 2017
    When Caleb Crane, a ripped and protective vampire bad boy, seduced her at his Hollywood estate, she knew he was dangerous, but she couldn't resist. Caleb fell hard for Abby, but his love came at a price. Caleb's in deep with Abby when he discovers a shocking secret. Will he fight for the woman he loves, or will their romance bite the dust?Indulge in the romantic, steamy journey of the hottest vampires in Hollywood, in the Vampires of Hollywood Series. Compulsively readable, Venom is a sexy, enthralling vampire romance novel and a must-read for paranormal fiction fans.Venom is the second book in the Vampires of Hollywood Series. This story is steamy, spicy, sexy, and hot. You've been warned...

Finding Destiny


Christa Simpson - 2014
    He has never strayed from those rules. And yet Destiny has him breaking every last one of them. Destiny was looking forward to a bit of solitude in the north. She figured surrounding herself with her two besties, at an expensive spa retreat, would beat away the winter blues. That was the plan. Destiny liked plans. But plans don’t always work out the way you want them to. Skylar never expected to find three ladies trudging through the snow. But after finding them stranded, in the middle of nowhere, during the biggest snow storm of the year, he’s forced to invite Destiny and her friends back to his cabin. Though he tried to ignore what was subtly unraveling between them, he couldn't discount their attraction. The way Destiny could read into his thoughts and the way his jealousy raged at the thought of his brother taking her to his bed, he knew he had better stake his claim. But when tragedy strikes, torn from her arms at lightning speed, Skylar’s left to wonder whether he would ever find his destiny.

Chez Stinky


Susan C. Daffron - 2013
    She hasn't laid eyes on her great aunt Abigail since she was eight, so she’s stumped when she inherits Abgail's house in the small hamlet of Alpine Grove.Kat's uncomplicated life gets decidedly less so when she discovers the inheritance comes with some hairy conditions: four dogs and five cats that her aunt wanted her to love as her own. Of course, the house smells like a barn--with a touch of antique skunk--and, naturally, has serious roof issues. And that's before the three-legged cat gets stuck in the wall and the shower goes kablooey.When Kat meets Joel, an unemployed techie type with no love lost for his sister, Kat looks past his obvious flaws, given his timely and desirable skill set: a talent for fixing things (and his own tools).Despite out-of-control dogs, cat fights, dust dinosaurs, massive spiders and an old grizzled hippie passed out in the yard, Kat discovers the tranquility of the forests of Alpine Grove starting to seep into her soul.And why she can't she stop thinking about Joel?

Never Date Your Brother's Best Friend


Jules Barnard - 2014
    My friend needed a date, and my brother's best friend was single. Problem solved.Until I saw Jaeger for the first time in years, and sparks flew in the wrong direction.Jaeger has grown up and bulked up. But that shouldn't matter, because I have the perfect life. Really.Only my plans are beginning to unravel and now visions of Jaeger's hard abs, broad shoulders, and intense green eyes fill my head.I should hold back in case my friend is interested. Or in case of a million other reasons. But if Jaeger isn't willing to play by the rules, I don't think I can either.