Book picks similar to
Jackson by Cynthia Dees


romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary
cowboy

Taming a Texas Bad Boy


Katie Lane - 2019
    . . where bad is, oh, so good. Six men return to the boys' ranch they spent one summer at as troubled teens. They're all searching for different things: peace, family, forgiveness, redemption, hope, and faith. It will take the love of strong Texas women to heal these wounded hearts and make these bad, bad boys realize they're good, good men. He’s a wild Texas whirlwind, trying to outrun his painful past. She’s a sweet Lone Star cowgirl, with deep down-home roots. Life in the fast lane is how bad boy Cru Cassidy escapes the aching memories of his childhood. Fast cars and fast women—not necessarily in that order—keep the sexy cowboy from caring or thinking too much. When a road trip has him passing through Simple, Texas, where he spent one summer on a boys’ ranch for troubled teens, he can’t help stopping in to see the two old cowboys who run it. When he sees the bad shape the cowboys and the Double Diamond Ranch are in, Cru knows he has to stay and help . . . and his job is made more enjoyable by the beautiful daughter of a neighboring rancher. He hopes to score a ride with the feisty redhead, but Penny is harder to catch than an unbroken filly. And when he discovers the soft heart under the womanly body, he soon starts to worry that he’ll be the one getting broken and tamed. Penny Gardener has loved Cru almost as long as she’s loved the Texas ranch she calls home. Unfortunately, when they first met, she was an awkward thirteen-year-old—which explains why Cru fell for her pretty older sister instead of her. Since her family’s happiness has always been Penny’s priority, she tries to push her feelings aside. But when Cru returns and sets his devilish green eyes on her, she struggles to remember that he was her sister’s first love. Discovering his heartbreaking past will finally have her giving into her feelings and putting her own happiness first for a change. But will her love be enough to rope and heart-tie her bad boy? Or will he slip through her fingers like the elusive Texas wind?

Making the Love List: A small town, older brother's best friend romance


Barbara DeLeo - 2020
    At least until he finds himself stuck working with his best friend's little sister, Yasmin. Yasmin has reinvented herself. After a brush with death in the wilds of Borneo, she's made a list of all the things she wouldn't have had the courage to do before. The new purple streak in her hair and the diamond stud in her nose is just the beginning. Next up: seduce a tall, dark, handsome man. Lane fits the bill, oh so perfectly. Yasmin is so different from the girl Lane used to know. Her ideas may be impractical and a little bit crazy, but he's irresistibly drawn to her free-spirited nature, never dreaming he's just a number on her Love List.

What Are Friends For?


Patricia McLinn - 2006
    Though that didn’t keep him from longing for the unattainable prom queen, Jennifer. The one person who did understand his out-of-the-box brain was Darcie, his best friend. After their high school graduation, Zeke and Darcie for one night jolted from friends to lovers. And then he left town, and she knew he couldn’t look back. What he didn’t know was the depth of Darcie’s feelings for him. Now it’s 17 years later, and Zeke’s a self-made billionaire founder of a tech security firm, Darcie’s a local cop and Jennifer’s a divorced mom of a tween girl. And their little town is flagging. At Darcie’s urging, Zeke returns to Drago to boost its economy. Will his new wealth attract the still-beautiful Jennifer? Or will Darcie, the one girl who always made him feel at ease, show him that true love knows no boundaries? * * * * * * * * What Are Friends For?, Book 1 of USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn's Seasons in a Small Town series, is a moving, passionate contemporary romance that will captivate fans of Bella Andre, Roxanne St. Clair and Jill Shalvis.

Unforgettable


Linda Barrett - 2021
    A rocking career in finance, a great group of friends and singing with the community chorus fill her calendar and provide her with total satisfaction. Until the phone rings. Until an upbeat familiar voice from the past reawakens her heart and reminds her of what she’s been missing.Playwright Doug Collins has never forgotten the girl he left behind. Even though it was Jennifer who’d made that final decision. “Go to New York and have a wonderful life,” she’d said before running back to her family, a family that still needed her. But that was five years ago. Five years of Jen in the back of his mind, nestled in his heart. Now memories are not enough! Doug packs up his car and heads to Boston in search of that “wonderful life.”Most reunions have bumpy beginnings and not all end well. Jennifer and Doug have a lot to figure out. But they’re smart, honest, and were once madly in love. Do they have a chance at finding the ending they so richly deserve?

The Charismatic Cowboy


Keira K. Barton - 2019
    When her father dies, the ranch’s long-time foreman leaves unexpectedly, and Blaire is left scrambling to hire anyone who can help her keep the ranch running smoothly—a seemingly impossible feat in the one-horse town. Cole Reeves has gone along with everyone else’s plans for his life since he was eighteen. Working for his father’s business has been a blessing and a curse, and he’s finally ready to see what he can do on his own. His looks and charm have always gotten him by, but he wonders if it’ll be enough to win over his boss—the only woman he’s ever truly wanted. Will Blaire and Cole be able to weather the challenges they face, or will the pressures of life on the ranch be too much for the runaway-prone cowboy?

Nobody Else But You


Claire Marti - 2022
    She doesn’t care how gorgeous he is––she wants him gone after he threatens to pull her family back into the paparazzi filled world they escaped from over a decade ago.Holt knows Sam hates him on sight and the feeling is becoming mutual. But his entire career is riding on a favor from Sam’s legendary film director father. No way will he allow one irritating, sexy redhead to stand in his way.Sam intends to fight him at every turn…if only her heart didn’t race when they’re together. Holt does his best to steer clear of her…except all he wants to do is hold her close. The sizzling attraction between them is either going to burn up the sheets or burn down the ranch…

Hitched


Rhonda Lee Carver - 2019
     Buzz Colt was a liar, cheat, and a scrooge but the one thing he did right was father five sons. Growing up without a father, Baxter Colt learned how to be a man on his own. He’d written Buzz out of his life until he passed and left a few surprises and secrets—and hoops to jump through. Fury wasn’t a strong enough word to describe Baxter’s feelings when he heard the stipulations of his father’s will. Five brothers who are strangers are given the choice to live together for six months and work the Grinning Spurs Ranch or give up everything they’ve worked for—including their homesteads. However, that’s only the beginning. All five must be married before time is up. Since her mother was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease, Abriella Craig was responsible for the family bakery and her little brother. Financially she was strapped and emotionally and physically she was alone, but when a brooding, handsome stranger strolls into town he might be the answer to her prayers. Abriella is as sweet as the cupcakes she creates and would make the perfect wife, but as secrets start to unfold Baxter realizes he wants more than a marriage of convenience. But is he too much like his father to ever find love? The Colt brothers will each take a journey in finding love, brotherhood and forgiveness in the small town of Tarnation, Texas where love blooms in the unlikeliest places.

The Cowboy's Stolen Heart


Jean Oram - 2020
    When an inheritance brings her to Sweetheart Creek, Texas, she shucks her old life and dives headlong into small town living. Too bad the handsome and serious cowboy Levi Wylder she’s crushing on sees her as nothing more than a princess.Was it the sparkly cowboy boots? Because it couldn’t be due to how she stepped in and calmed that rearing horse outside his stable.The last thing Levi Wylder needs is a high-maintenance woman interfering with his plans. But that’s exactly what he gets when his family ranch suddenly finds itself without a riding stable manager. And the only person he can find to fill those empty boots is a woman who buys her footwear based on looks alone.But when Laura steps into the ring, Levi discovers there’s something about this beautiful stranger that he completely underestimated—such as her power to steal his well-protected heart.

The Billionaire's High School Reunion


April Murdock - 2019
    Can this billionaire make his great life perfect? Blake Murphy wants redemption. More than that, he wants a second chance. He'd been avoiding his home town since the day he left for college. Trista Kennedy would be there and he had no idea how he'd face her after the way he'd treated her. But now he'd find out. His high school reunion was coming up and he'd see her then. Trista had moved on from Blake. Until she saw him when he came home for their high school reunion. He was handsome, rich, and easy going. He'd only been boyishly good looking in high school. So much had happened in a decade. Blake's old flame - the one who'd come after he'd broken Trista's heart - was ready to scoop him up again. Trista couldn't even think about competing with her. She'd never outshine the former cheerleader and constant social butterfly. But she felt something. Yearning. What might have been. Regret. She thought he felt it, too. Is there a chance to mend broken relationships in the heat of a small Arizona town after a decade apart?

Her Cowboy King


Madeline Ash - 2019
    . . Mark Jaroka is content with his life on the ranch, his brothers by his side. Until he becomes the cowboy king. Hauled halfway across the world after a royal family tragedy, Mark resolves to be worthy of the title. He’ll learn the ways of a monarch, but between him and his untamed brothers, the marble floors better get used to worn leather boots. Then he falters at an unexpected duty—forming a strategic alliance with the whip-tongued and supercilious Princess Ava Veisi. Ava’s only chance at happiness is to escape royal life and leave her poisonous secrets behind. The problem? Her parents have demanded she marry the new King Markus. She stoops treacherously low to try to make him refuse her, but as her escape plans start to take form, she finds herself falling for the sexy, kind-natured cowboy. On the brink of fleeing, Ava is torn between claiming her freedom and the love of a king. No matter her choice, it’s going to break her heart. Her Cowboy King is the first book in the Cowboy Princes contemporary romance series. If you enjoy heartfelt emotion, real and compelling characters, and sweeping settings, then you’ll love this trope-blending romance by award-winning author Madeline Ash.

Courted by a Cowboy


Mindy Neff - 2003
     Bamboozled Into Going Home Again… Ten years ago, Sunny Carmichael left Hope Valley, Texas and became a veterinary disease specialist—a darn good one! When her meddling, matchmaking mother urges her to come home to investigate the mysterious deaths of several cows before news spreads and ruins the local cattle industry, Sunny reluctantly agrees, even though she will likely run into the man who broke her heart and caused her to flee her small hometown so long ago. He has no idea he’s been set up… Jackson Slade never forgot the girl who got away. But he had to put the painful past behind him and move on with his life. Now a widowed, single-father, he is raising his quiet little girl alone on his ranch that is suddenly losing cattle. With his livelihood and life in possible jeopardy, the last person he expects to find nosing around his herd is the very same woman he's tried to forget—Sunny Carmichael. Now what? A second chance at love...? Although this Texas Sweetheart is not home to stay, it isn’t long before the passionate spark that fired their youthful romance quickly blazes into a scorching flame. Now Sunny and Jack have two problems on their hands: a deadly cattle epidemic and their undeniable attraction! “Mindy Neff weaves a wonderful romance!” —Romantic Times Review

True Blue Cowboy


Debra Holt - 2020
    He’d fallen early and hard, but because her heart had belonged to his careless and indifferent brother, Chance had been permanently friend-zoned since Josie was a teen. Now Josie’s running her failing ranch all alone, and it’s time for Chance to step up and keep a promise he made to her dying mother –  marry Josie and combine their ranches.  Josie Monroe doesn’t want help or need to be saved by anyone – especially her wealthy ranching neighbor and forever thorn in her paw, Chance Braxton. The serious, way-too-handsome cowboy has starred in too many of her fantasies, but he still sees her as a heart-broken girl. She’s a woman now, and she’s determined to prove everyone wrong: She can save her ranch and rebuild her father’s legacy…alone.  When Chance proposes, Josie’s problems are just beginning. So why does her pulse kick up every time he rides by and tips his Stetson?

Romance Reset


Kay Lyons - 2020
    That’s why she’s researching sperm banks and procedures. It’s also why her best friend hires a matchmaker for her. She insists Amelia deserves—needs—a romance reset before she embarks on single parenthood.Widower Lincoln Hayes is about to be an empty nester with his twins going off to college. He’s ready to have some fun, but he doesn’t want to do it alone. Dating, though.... Staying offline and hiring a matchmaker who vets his dates makes sense.Imagine Lincoln’s surprise when his first date in twenty years is actually his first love, the one who broke his heart and got away. Amelia is shocked to see Lincoln, and the chemistry between them is as strong as ever. Amelia can easily imagine having Lincoln’s baby— but is her biological clock and desire for a child more than Lincoln can handle?

Small Town Southern Romance Series Starters


Kait Nolan - 2021
    Determined, she's falling hard for the charms of town--and the man. But even if they send the suits packing, can she really give up her corner office for a corner booth a the local diner? MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE: Wishing For a HeroWill danger catapult these lifelong friends to lovers?Autumn has loved Judd all her life. Years ago, her dreams of more ended in blood and a nightmare that nearly cost them both their lives. Now she’s ready to take the leap and profess all to the friend who’s stood by her through thick and thin. But before she can make her confession, their nightmare returns and secrets are revealed that threaten the very fabric of their lifelong friendship.WHEN YOU GOT A GOOD THING: The Misfit InnShe thought she could never go home again. Kennedy Reynolds has spent the past decade traveling the world as a free spirit. She never looks back at the past, the place, or the love she left behind—until her mother’s unexpected death forces her home to Eden’s Ridge, TN. Will Kennedy be able to bury the past, or will the secret that sent her running destroy her second chance?

Cowboy Up


Michelle Beattie - 2019
    But when a medical emergency calls him home and a legal matter affects his business, suddenly his family isn't the only thing in need of a re-build. Unfortunately his new project involves building a house for a woman who not only awakens his desires, but also his fears. But if he wants to claim her as his own, he'll have to tear down the walls he's built around his heart.Single mom Ashley Anderson knows all about juggling. Between an assortment of part-time jobs and raising her sixteen-year old daughter, she doesn't need a hunky construction worker with an attitude as a distraction. Even one who steps in to help her when she needs it most. But life has taught Ashley that when the going gets tough, she's on her own. It's going to take a man with a Texas-sized heart to show her that this cowboy isn't going anywhere.