Book picks similar to
Second Chances by Martina Reilly


fiction
adult
romance
realistic-fiction

Pleasure Island


Anna-Lou Weatherley - 2015
    Scandal. Betrayal. In Paradise, pleasure comes at a dangerously high price…Three couples each receive an exclusive invitation to the fantasy holiday destination of a lifetime… The host: Martin McKenzie, global billionaire and media mogul. Charismatic, powerful and always gets what he wants. The location: A breathtakingly beautiful undiscovered island, nestled in the Aegean Sea. Private, secluded and not quite as it seems. The details: Seven days of pure hedonism, five-star luxury tailored to every desire, also includes… secrets, lies, and infidelity. As the guests begin to enjoy everything the luxury island has to offer, cracks begin to surface between the three couples. But that is not all. Someone is watching them. When they discover the truth – it will be explosive in more ways than they can ever imagine. A jaw-dropping, absorbing and spectacular blockbuster of a novel. THE beach read of the summer you won’t want to be without.

Honeymoon Hotel


Hester Browne - 2014
    Recent years haven’t been kind, but thanks to events manager Rosie, it’s reclaiming some of its old cachet as a wish list wedding venue. While Rosie’s weddings are the ultimate in romance, Rosie herself isn’t; her focus is fixed firmly on the details, not on the dramas. She lives with a professionally furious food critic and works tirelessly toward that coveted promotion. But when the hotel owner appoints his eccentric son Joe to help run Rosie’s department, she’s suddenly butting heads with the free spirit whose predilection for the unconventional threatens to unravel her picture-perfect plans for the most elaborate—not to mention high-profile—wedding the hotel has ever seen, a wedding that could make or break not only the hotel’s reputation, but also Rosie’s career.From the author whose books are described as “deliciously addictive” (Cosmopolitan), Honeymoon Hotel will reaffirm your belief in happily ever after.

The Royal Runaway


Lindsay Emory - 2018
    After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place. So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it. Funny, fast-paced, and full of more twists and turns than the castle Thea lives in, The Royal Runaway is a fresh romantic comedy that will leave you cheering for the modern-day royal who chucks the rulebook aside to create her own happily-ever-after.

Winter in Paradise


Elin Hilderbrand - 2018
    Join New York Times Bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand on the stunning beaches of St. John for the beginning of her thrilling new winter series-The Paradise. Welcome to Paradise, the first book in the Paradise series, has everything that readers have come to know and love about an Elin Hilderbrand novel, plus a healthy dose of intrigue. Irene Steele’s idyllic life-house, husband, family-is shattered when she is woken up by a late-night phone call. Her beloved husband has been found dead, but before Irene can process this tragic news, she must confront the perplexing details of her husband’s death. He was found on St. John island, a tropical paradise far removed from their suburban life. Leaving the cold winter behind, Irene flies down to the beautiful Caribbean beaches of St. John only to make another shocking discovery: her husband had a secret second family. As Irene investigates the mysterious circumstances of her husband’s death, she is plunged into a web of intrigue and deceit belied by the pristine white sand beaches of St. John’s. This exciting first book in the Paradise series will transport readers to a new beach locale-another world that Elin knows as well as her beloved Nantucket-and have them longing for winter

Power Games


Victoria Fox
    He knows the celebrities involved, he’s determined to bring them down and he will make them answer to their sins. And he believes his plan to do so is faultless…

Four Weddings and a Festival


Annie Robertson - 2019
    Four weddings. One happy ending...?Lifelong friends and rom-com fans Bea, Lizzie, Hannah and Kat have curled up with Bridget Jones, sobbed at Love, Actually and memorised the script to Notting Hill. They always joked about getting married in one summer - their own Four Weddings - and it seems like this might just be the year . . .That is, until Bea turns down her boyfriend's proposal. Is her own Hugh Grant waiting for her amid the champagne and confetti? Can real-life romance ever live up to a Richard Curtis movie?As the wedding - and festival - season gets into its swing, can all four friends find their happy ever after...?Raise a glass of champagne and get ready for this summer's most charming romantic comedy! Perfect for fans of Sophie Ranalds, Mandy Baggot and Sue Roberts

After Dark


Beverly Barton - 2000
    Lane Noble Graham stands accused of murdering her ex-husband. The one man who can help her, Johnny Mack Cahill, vowed never to return to the town that scorned him. But one secret could make Lane and Johnny Mack the target of a twisted killer.

Bittersweet


Miranda Beverly-Whittemore - 2014
    Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at Bittersweet, her cottage on the Vermont estate where her family has been holding court for more than a century; it’s the kind of place where children twirl sparklers across the lawn during cocktail hour. Mabel falls in love with midnight skinny-dipping, the wet dog smell that lingers near the yachts, and the moneyed laughter that carries across the still lake while fireworks burst overhead. Before she knows it, she has everything she’s ever wanted: friendship, a boyfriend, access to wealth, and, most of all, for the first time in her life, the sense that she belongs.But as Mabel becomes an insider, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact - and what they might do to anyone who threatens them. Mabel must choose: either expose the ugliness surrounding her and face expulsion from paradise, or keep the family’s dark secrets and make Ev’s world her own.

The Beloveds


Maureen Lindley - 2018
    Everything falls into their laps without effort: happiness, beauty, good fortune, allure. Betty Stash is not a Beloved—but her little sister, the delightful Gloria, is. She’s the one with the golden curls and sunny disposition and captivating smile, the one whose best friend used to be Betty’s, the one whose husband should have been Betty’s. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Gloria inherits the family manse—a vast, gorgeous pile of ancient stone, imposing timbers, and lush gardens—that was never meant to be hers. Losing what Betty considers her rightful inheritance is the final indignity. As she single-mindedly pursues her plan to see the estate returned to her in all its glory, her determined and increasingly unhinged behavior—aided by poisonous mushrooms, talking walls, and a phantom dog—escalates to the point of no return. The Beloveds will have you wondering if there’s a length to which an envious sister won’t go.

Married Lovers


Jackie Collins - 2008
    Tall, blond, with a body to die for, it doesn’t take Cameron long to find a job at an exclusive private fitness club where she encounters LA's most important players. She has plans to open her own studio one day, and while every man she meets comes on to her, she is more focused on saving money and working hard than getting caught up in the L.A. scene of wild parties and recreational drugs.Until she meets Ryan Lambert, an extremely successful independent movie producer. Ryan is married to overly privileged Mandy Lambert, the daughter of Hamilton J. Heckerling, a Hollywood power-player son-of-a-bitch mogul. Ryan has never cheated on his demanding Hollywood Princess wife, but when he meets Cameron, all bets are off, especially since she’s seeing his best friend Don Verona, the devastatingly attractive talk-show host and legendary player.In her latest sizzling blockbuster, internationally bestselling author Jackie Collins explores what happens when lust and desire collide with marriage and power—and the results lead to murder.

Regretting You


Colleen Hoover - 2019
    By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

Easily Amused


Karen McQuestion - 2009
    After all, she’s happily single, with fabulous friends and her dream job working at a popular magazine. Life is perfect—until her new neighbors make her their new “project,” a heartbroken high school friend crashes indefinitely at her house, and her younger sister announces she’s getting married…on Lola’s thirtieth birthday. Suddenly Lola’s not so keen on her newfound domestic bliss. But when she meets handsome, mysterious Ryan Moriarty, Lola dares to hope she’s found the perfect guy to one-up her sister and add a little spice back into her life. This light-hearted romantic comedy from Karen McQuestion is headlined by a charming cast of characters, led by the self-deprecatingly funny Lola. Breezy and fun, Easily Amused serves as a gentle, often amusing reminder that love can often be found in the place we least expect—under our very noses.

More Than Memories


Kristen James - 2011
    She meets Trent Williams, a Ridge City police detective, and something else definitely sparks. Not only does he know her, Trent takes on her case and promises to do everything he can to solve it. He wants to know why she left town, with her parents, but without a word to anyone. She doesn’t remember that life. She can only tell him she knew her parents briefly before they died . . . or were murdered, she’s not sure. She hopes regaining her memory will help answer that question. Trent has his own secrets, but they have a mystery to solve. As they work together, and Molly meets their old friends, she realizes her relationship with Trent went deeper than memories. In fact, she grew up in Ridge City, even though her parents had said they lived there just a few years. How could she have forgotten her lifelong friend and love? Has he really been looking for her—waiting for her—for the last four years? Can she love him again if she doesn’t remember him? There’s also the possibility that she did something awful –and maybe that’s why she’s afraid to remember her old life. Molly knows she wants Trent now, but the truth might destroy their love.

Last Day


Luanne Rice - 2020
    The detective assigned to the case, Conor Reid, swore to protect the sisters from then on.Beth moved on, throwing herself fully into the art world, running the family gallery, and raising a beautiful daughter with her husband Pete. Kate, instead, retreated into herself and took to the skies as a pilot, always on the run. When Beth is found strangled in her home, and Moonlight goes missing again, Detective Reid can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.Reid immediately suspects Beth’s husband, whose affair is a poorly kept secret. He has an airtight alibi—but he also has a motive, and the evidence seems to point to him. Kate and Reid, along with the sisters’ closest childhood friends, struggle to make sense of Beth’s death, but they only find more questions: Who else would have wanted Beth dead? What’s the significance of Moonlight?Twenty years ago, Reid vowed to protect Beth and Kate—and he’s failed. Now solving the case is turning into an obsession . . .

Some Kind of Wonderful


Barbara Freethy - 2001
    Strong characters, believable storyline and true romance makes Some Kind of Wonderful, well, wonderful!" — Romance Readers ConnectionWhen investigative reporter and determined bachelor, Matt Winters, discovers a newborn baby girl on his doorstep, he desperately turns to his temptingly pretty neighbor Caitlyn Devereaux for help. Caitlyn's aching vulnerability as she holds the precious baby piques his curiosity. Clearly, she has secrets. But then so does he…Caitlyn doesn’t need a man or a baby in her life. Despite the fact that she designs wedding dresses for a living, marriage and motherhood are not for her. But as the sweet baby binds Matt and Caitlyn together, they are both tempted with the image of a future they are afraid to believe in. The baby has a mother somewhere, and she might be coming back. Falling in love with the baby, with each other, could break both their hearts. Is either one willing to take the risk to find happily ever after?#1 NYT Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy is known for her unforgettable stories, where ordinary people find extraordinary love--and where unexpected soulmates are sometimes found right next door...PRAISE FOR BARBARA FREETHY BOOKS"An emotional roller-coaster, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL is also tender and charming." — Heartstrings Reviews"The title says it all: SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL is exactly that. Ms. Freethy delivers another powerful and moving story that includes a touch of the paranormal for a very poignant and satisfying ending. But start this book early — it’s an all-nighter!" — AOL Fiction ForumDon't miss Barbara's other popular standalone contemporary novels:ALMOST HOMEASK MARIAHDANIEL'S GIFTJUST THE WAY YOU ARELOVE WILL FIND A WAYONE TRUE LOVERYAN'S RETURNTHE SWEETEST THING