Book picks similar to
Deep Blue Sea by Valerie Howard


contemporary
christian
fiction
young-adult

The Laws of Music


Carly Morgan - 2017
    Max Legend breaks them all. Katie Green has big dreams. She's had them since she can remember and she has the lists to prove it. They include: 
Go to college. 
Graduate. 
Go to law school. 
Graduate. 
Don't date musicians! Become a lawyer. Marry.
 Stay married. 
Become partner at a law firm. 
Have three children. 
Buy a home. 
Raise children. 
Stay married. 
Be a good mom. She's accomplished the first four goals on her list and has no doubt the rest will be accomplished soon. Max Legend is the lead singer of a popular Christian rock band. He's kind, talented, and beyond gorgeous. He’s also sure of his destiny, which includes sharing the good news of God’s love through music. Someday he hopes to find an amazing woman willing to love him for who he is and what he does. Katie and Max meet one fateful night at The Attic, a club where Max's band is performing. After a surprising and amazing kiss, they go their separate ways. But their meeting was obviously divine intervention. They are continuously running into each other. Rather quickly they get to know one another, but Katie won't accept that there is anything more than friendship between her and Max. Can Katie break her dating rules and follow her heart or are she and Max destined to be nothing more than a one hit wonder? The Love is a Destination series doesn’t have to be read in order. Each couple gets their happily ever after before THE END. But reading in order does make the experience more fun. ___________ LOVE IS A DESTINATION SERIES The Laws of Music The Laws of Attraction Love's Christmas Miracle My Valentine's Day Fiancé Dating by Design (March 2018)

After Love Leaves: The Story of Us


Michelle Alstead - 2017
    When she met Brad Sorenson, Zoe was convinced her bad luck with men had finally changed. He saw past her insecurities and the Oreo addiction she just couldn’t shake, inspiring her to chase her dreams. Brad was looking for a good time online, not love. But Zoe was so sweet, so kind. Everything about her was perfect—until she fell for him. Doesn’t she understand he’s the wrong guy for a woman like her? Zoe doesn’t know why Brad left her standing in an airport; he won’t return her calls or texts. With her self-esteem and dreams shattered, she can’t imagine ever loving anyone else… When a devastating diagnosis changes Brad’s life forever, he’s forced to finally face the truth: there’s only one woman he’s ever truly loved.Will Zoe give Brad a second chance or is she done with love for good?***This is not your typical romance. Real love is complicated and messy. This story is written for those who have loved the wrong person for all the right reasons.

Shadow Kill


David Caris - 2021
    Betrayed by his employer and left for dead, Kovac decides to lie low in Tokyo.His plan? Revenge...But when a young woman asks him to protect her from the yakuza, Kovac feels duty-bound to help. She’s a victim of abuse, and long experience tells him if he doesn’t step in tonight she’ll be a corpse before dawn.As Kovac works to uncover the truth of his last job, he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy which goes well beyond the yakuza to a new and terrifying multinational cartel. One that will stop at nothing to control the global drug trade.The kingpins are certain they’ve covered all bases. They're well-funded and utterly ruthless. But they’ve failed to account for one man – John Kovac.SHADOW KILL is the first in a fast-paced, unflinching thriller series that won't in any way shortchange you on action. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Mark Greaney and Mark Dawson.

Happy Truth About Love


Karice Bolton - 2017
    Instead of overthinking what’s right in front of her, she embraces the freedom of the unknown and the thrill of leaving everything behind and moves to the small mountain town of Silver Ridge. It isn’t until she arrives at her late uncle’s Bed and Breakfast that she begins to doubt her newfound ability to throw caution to the wind. From the moment she opens the barely hanging front door and steps inside to see peeling wallpaper and a broken banister, she realizes this inheritance might not have been a gift at all. Her uncle had to be using the term Bed and Breakfast loosely in his will because it was more of a deathtrap than anything. But she does love her new town. And the overly helpful Joel North, who is exactly everything she’s told herself to stay away from. He’s gorgeous, somewhat mysterious, and he’s sprinkled with the power to make Autumn blush off just one look, which is completely unacceptable in the real world, but she just can’t help herself. What Autumn doesn’t expect to uncover are secrets that change everything she’s known about her family and the life she’s led. It doesn’t help that Joel seems to hold the answers to some of her darkest questions and there’s one he just won’t answer. As she rebuilds the old mansion, she realizes her uncle’s real gift wasn’t the B&B, but the truth that rested behind its walls.

The Tegen Cave


Inge-Lise Goss - 2013
    But when people around her start dying from poisonous spider bites after she receives a mysterious package with a spider concealed inside, she worries that the family has found her. Life takes an even more bizarre turn when she seems to be not only immune to the spider venom, but also surrounded by a sinister group of people using spiders to incapacitate their prey. Even her new boyfriend starts acting suspiciously. Just who can she trust?Then to make matters worse Sara’s twenty-fifth birthday approaches, and her dark heritage begins to emerge. She is forced to make a life-or-death decision. And somehow, she must find a way to deal with the crime family.

Fallen


Shayne Ford - 2018
    GRIPPING. DARK.A WEB OF LUST, DARK LOVE, AND BETRAYAL.What do you do when a force bigger than you wrecks your life, pulling you into a warped reality where nothing is what it seems?"I've never read a storyline like that."~ Amazon ReviewerAt twenty-five, Tess Sandoval seemingly lives the perfect life.Married to a busy banker, she works from home doing what she loves the most–– editing books––while struggling with a hyperactive mind, heightened perception, and a vivid imagination.Then, one day a mysterious man catches her eye, a different reality kicking in.She quickly learns the ravishing billionaire is not the product of her imagination, he's not an illusion or an accident, and he has intimate knowledge about her marriage and her life. Coincidentally or perhaps not, her very existence begins to unravel at the same time, his luring dark secrets becoming her new obsession.Feeding her morsels of information, he teases her with his attention, elusive presence, flowers, and enticing video clips, sending her important messages yet never telling her the whole truth, leaving her baffled and restless.But there is something she picks up on fast.Nothing is what it seems. Not in her life. Not in his life.AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a dark story of love, betrayal, unexpected twists, titillating secrets, and luring mystery that spans over four books, all available in the store.The first three books end in a cliffhanger. The books need to be read in order. The story is complete in the last book.HEA at the end of the series.

Broken


A.E. Murphy - 2014
    He is hers and she is his. Life can't get much better and their love can't get any stronger. That is until mistakes are made and their world comes crumbling down. She's left alone with no money, no home and a growing person invading her stomach. How will she survive? Forced to leave culinary school, the job she needs and the home they made together. Gwen finds a knight in the most unlikely source. Caleb's brother Nathan. A complex man with a phobia she doesn't understand and mannerisms that aren't of this day and age, will she be able to melt his seemingly frozen heart and become his friend? Or will he forever push her away and wallow in his loneliness and self loathing?

The Lies that Save Us


J.L. Redington - 2013
    She purchased a diner in the quiet out of the way town of Startup, Washington and hired employees to help run it. She’s just beginning to feel secure in her loneliness. <br>Suddenly her world is jolted awake by Cayman, a handsome young stranger that enters her diner seemingly from nowhere. Event’s happen quickly, and soon Alexa is deep into secret lives, deception and desire. <br>Will she figure out the riddle of her father’s death? Will she be able to resist the temptation to fall in love with Cayman in spite of her suspicions? Will she live to tell the tale?

52 Steps To Murder


Steve Demaree - 2006
    An elderly woman is found poisoned in the upstairs bedroom of her home whose front door stands 52 steps above the street in an old-fashioned whodunit that blends clues, red herrings, suspects, and humor.

A Killing Tide


P.J. Alderman - 2006
    But now a man is dead, an arsonist has set the Anna Marie ablaze and her brother is missing, accused of both crimes. How much more can she take?THERE'S FIREMichael Chapman knows how to take the heat-- as the new fire chief of Astoria, Oregon, he's dealt with more than his share. No way can he afford to get involved with the sister of a suspect. But the scorching attraction between him and Kaz burns out of control and when someone takes a shot at her, his protective instincts kick in. Whatever happens, he can't allow another woman to die because of him.

Mountain Angel


Suzie O'Connell - 2012
    When a call from her stalker makes it clear he wasn’t deterred, Aelissm asks her overprotective uncle for advice. His decision to send Patrick O’Neil to keep her safe might become an even bigger problem. Pat is a haunted man with a kind smile and sad eyes. Aelissm knows he will leave, but there is something irresistible about him. He could be the best thing to ever happen to her… if she can convince him to stay.

Killer Bait


Martina Dalton - 2019
     Much to the chagrin of her brother, Zen, a homicide detective, Clarity throws caution to the wind and jumps into the investigation with both feet. Zen’s ultra-handsome detective partner, Hunter, encourages Clarity to learn self-defense—especially since she’s getting closer to discovering who the killer is. Using her social media sleuthing skills, she sets out to bait the murderer. Is she clever enough to entrap the killer? Or will she end up as the catch of the day?

The Billionaire Love Match


Emma St. Clair - 2018
    When she hears about a matchmaking reality show based on personality tests, she applies on a whim. But moments before the show starts filming, a chance encounter with a stranger has her questioning everything. Colt wants nothing more than to break out from underneath his movie mogul mother’s powerful grip. If he agrees to star in a reality show to help secure a streaming TV deal for her billion-dollar company, he’ll get his wish: his own film studio. He knows as well as anyone those shows are heavily staged, so his heart won’t be on the line. But when he makes a real connection with one of the fifteen women just before the show, he’s got bigger problems. If he follows his mother’s plans, he may wreck his chance at love. If he doesn’t, his mother may destroy them anyway.In front of cameras, under the watchful eye of his mother, and surrounded by fourteen other jealous women, Colt and Casey do their best to let a real relationship unfold. Can they trust something built on live television or will their relationship run out like fifteen minutes of fame? This clean and inspirational billionaire romance is a perfect read if you enjoy witty dialogue and colorful characters or consider shows like The Bachelor a guilty pleasure. Buy The Billionaire Love Match for a refreshing take on billionaire love stories! This is Book 4 in The Billionaire Surprise series! Check out all the books here: Book 1 - The Billionaire Love Match Book 2 - The Billionaire Land Baron (where you first meet Xander!) Book 3 - The Billionaire Benefactor Book 4 - The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

Steal My Heart (Small-Town Romance Collection): Second Chance Romance & Sweet Inspirational Romance


Kimberley Montpetit - 2021
    These five small-town novels will keep you reading and your heart fluttering all night long!THE SECRET OF A KISSA lonely stretch of highway, a handsome stranger, and a long-kept secret that could wreck everything.

 Linden Adair is a talented makeup artist on the New York Broadway show, Phantom of the Opera, creating the hideous scar for the actor who plays the phantom every night. But nobody knows the deep scars Linden carries after the divorce from her husband, Mark Denly—who is the famous director of Phantom.UNBREAK MY HEARTCaitlin Webster suffers the worst New Years' Eve of her life when she discovers her fiancé with his old girlfriend. Soon, Caitlin finds herself in the snowy wilds of Montana almost run over by a red monster truck careening across the icy roads. It’s not the most fortuitous of encounters with contractor Quentin Hudson who's doing a remodel for her aunt's Snow Valley Bed & Breakfast and Caitlin avoids the man like the plague despite the fireworks that erupt between them. MOSTLY DANGEROUSSofia Ambrose is on the brink of a new career, far from the dark secrets of her family’s historic Texas estate, when she and her five sisters are summoned home for the reading of her grandmother’s will—a grandmother who, at 88-years-old, is still alive and kicking. But the truth is more shocking than she could have imagined. Her grandmother has turned Ambrose Estate over to Sofia, and she must give up every hope of a regular life in order to run it and protect her family’s legacy. When several dangerous oil fires break out and she meets firefighter Gavin Spencer, Sofia's life will never be the same again. If you like romantic chemistry and moody mysteries, then you’ll adore this sweet and smoldering love story.THE CHRISTMAS HIDEAWAYMy Christmas Plan This Year:Option 1: Spend Christmas with nosy family members picking at my personal life...or lack thereof. No thank you!Option 2: Spend Christmas in Los Angeles all alone. Not a chance!Option 3: A small-town cozy holiday getaway. Yes please!!One small problem: Logan Redmond. Revé Chatham sure knows how to pick 'em. After two failed engagements, she thinks she's found “the one”, only to have it end—in a very public disaster just before the holidays. All she wants is a man who truly loves her and a kiss that takes her breath away.THE NEIGHBOR’S SECRETEthan Smith:Friend? Yes.Foe? Probably.Enemy? Maybe.Lover? Hopefully! After being left at the altar on her wedding day, Allie returns to her quirky hometown by the ocean, but her nerves are shattered by an intruder on the very first night. The intruder is devastatingly handsome, but she soon learns that he’s using a fake name and has old ties to small-town Heartland Cove that will turn her entire life upside down, especially when her ex-fiancé shows up and wants her back.FREE in Kindle Unlimited!KimberleyMontpetit.comClick the Follow button for Kimberley and never miss a single new release! Now go fall in love all over again!

Set Free


Kelly Collins - 2015
    He’s running from his failed marriage. Can a ramshackle ranch inspire a second-chance romance?Mickey Mercer is determined to leave her past mistakes behind bars. Fixing up the rundown family ranch could be the perfect way to get back on the straight and narrow and make her late father proud. But when her vindictive ex sabotages her every move, she reluctantly accepts a stubborn cop’s offer of protection and finds herself falling head over spurs into his strong arms.Detective Kerrick McKinley may take his vow to serve and protect a little too seriously. While his blue-blooded passion put an end to his marriage, it also compels him to guard a newly freed ex-con from her dangerous stalker. But the more time he spends with the sexy and spontaneous horse rancher, the more he’s itching to get back in the saddle…In the face of old fears and new dangers, can Mickey and Kerrick find the courage to risk it all for a chance at true love?Set Free is the first installment in the compelling Second Chance Series of contemporary romance novels. If you like headstrong characters, fiery chemistry, and rustic ranch settings, then you’ll love Kelly Collins’ pulse-pounding romance.