Book picks similar to
Wicked by Ashlyn Mathews
romance
dnf
contemporary
freebie
Broken
K. Webster - 2014
She is about to graduate with an Architecture degree and marry her-All American baseball star-fiancé. When she catches him in bed with another woman, her world is turned upside down. Left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, she takes on a new persona—a promiscuous one. This new role protects her heart from ever being broken again. Andi now lives by a set of rules. The game? Sex with a new pawn every weekend. Every Friday, she sets her sight on a new sexy, successful man to play along—no strings attached, please. When Monday rolls around, she kicks them to the curb and moves on. It has helped her get through the pain of her past—that is, until she meets Jackson. The mysterious Jackson is excited to play her game. He too has had his heart broken in the past and isn’t looking for a repeat. Eventually, hearts get involved and Andi wonders if the game is still worth playing. Will she look for a new pawn or will she break the rules with Jackson?
Spark
Brooke Cumberland - 2013
Weak, powerless, and fearing the one person who has hurt her the most…can she overcome the barriers to move forward?Being saved by a muscled Godsend was never on her agenda, but when firefighter, Eric Reilley comes into her life unexpectedly, everything changes. Velaney has never felt loved or cared for, and her past prevents her from letting anyone in. Eric manages to break down her walls—despite the repercussions that come for them afterwards.They have an undeniable spark—something she has never felt before, but will it be enough? Can love overcome all obstacles? Can they save each other to protect their love or will her past shatter everything she never knew she needed…?**Spark is for mature audiences only – strong language, explicit sexual content, and sexual abuse are apparent.**
Break Point
Rachel Blaufeld - 2017
Traumatized by hazing at her last school, all she wants is to attend classes, win tennis matches, and be left the hell alone.She should have known her coach, Drew King, would be a problem from the moment he flexed his sexy-as-hell forearms.What happens when you mix a pissed-off woman with a bunch of snooty teammates and a hot coach? A heated match, complete with team politics and a forbidden game of singles with the coach.It’s reckless and hot until one of them taps out.Unable to admit she may be better off as a double, Jules is convinced she needs to play the game of life alone. Then life throws her a lob and she runs smack into her past.Coach King is back, and he wants to take control of the game. But she’s not certain she wants his advice when it comes to the life she’s built.The power struggle is on, but this time off the court.
Undeniably Perfect
S.E. Rose - 2020
Can they see past their differences or will they strike out when it comes to facing their undeniable attraction?
Lost Without You
Molly O'Keefe - 2017
I failed. And with that failure there's blood on my hands. I owe a dangerous man an equally dangerous debt. When he comes calling, I either pay or spend the rest of my life in jail. I’m ready for anything. Except seeing Beth again. BETH I’ve spent my life hiding behind disguises to protect myself from ever revealing too much. But now my life is falling apart around me, and the past I’ve tried to outrun has caught up. The only man I’ve loved has betrayed me. Again. And both our lives are on the line. Contains The Debt: A Prologue and 50,000 more words in the continuation of Tommy and Beth's story.
30 Days
K. Larsen - 2013
Dealing with the loss of her only sister. A suicide attempt that doesn’t end in death and a husband who wants her inheritance. Elle’s life is a catastrophe. But she has a list and thirty things she’s determined to accomplish. Love isn't on that list but it comes crashing unexpectedly into her life. Boxing coach and personal trainer at the gym he co-owns, Colin’s content with his life. Until a chance meeting with a woman eating alone at a restaurant sets his heart in motion. As secrets unveil themselves his only goal becomes holding on to what he’s found.
Caught Up in Us
Lauren Blakely - 2013
It was a mad, crazy love full of kisses all through the night—but he broke her heart and she had to move on. Five years later, Kat is finishing her graduate degree and building her business as a jewelry designer, when Bryan, head of his own successful company, walks back into her life. Bryan has been assigned to Kat as her new business mentor and the rules are clear. No hanky panky permitted. Kat can handle that because she's totally over him... right? Except, he still makes her laugh, and he remembers all the things she likes. Not to mention that he's even more handsome now than he was then. Then there's the spark between them—the simply undeniable chemistry, and the tender ways he shows he still cares for her. Can they resist each other the second time around or will first love trump all?
Feels like Home
Evelyn Adams - 2014
But when her carefully constructed life crumbles around her, Autumn's forced to return to the small southern town that never let her forget she came from the wrong side of the tracks. Jude Southerland, the town doctor, is used to taking care of people and with a pedigree that has the Ladies Auxiliary reaching for their fans, he’s easily the town’s most eligible bachelor – a status he has no intention of changing. That is until he almost runs down the Maddox girl he never noticed in school and suddenly finds her lush curves, dark curls and blue eyes consuming his thoughts, day and night. Autumn would like nothing more than to live happily ever after with Jude. But with every local matron in the valley trying to marry him off to their own daughters, she knows they won’t let her forget that she's not good enough and never will be. With the chance to finally find happiness, can she overcome her family history and find the confidence she needs to believe in herself or will she let love pass her by?
Changes
Judith Arnold - 2014
No one knows what classic rock songs will come out of the jukebox when a coin is inserted, but every now and then, the jukebox will play a song that casts a spell on two bar patrons—a song that will change their lives and open their hearts to love. Antiques dealer Diana Simms is engaged to her longtime boyfriend when she finds herself inside the Faulk Street Tavern. The song “Changes” emerges from the jukebox and enchants her. It also captivates Nick Fiore, a local guy who’s arrived at adulthood the hard way, after a tour through the juvenile justice system. Now he’s dedicated his life to helping other troubled kids. He has no business even looking at a beautiful, well-bred woman wearing a diamond engagement ring. But once they’re bewitched by the jukebox, he and Diana must change their lives, their goals, their dreams…and their hearts.
Breakaway
Ali Parker - 2016
He’s hard-hitting, rough and puts up with very little. He’s kept to himself throughout his years at Providence University, but it’s time to train the next man up in line for his position. His second on the Hockey team has a twin sister that catches everyone’s eye and leaves most of the guys acting like idiots, but Lucas isn’t interested. Girls are too needy, too catty and a pain in butt. Plain and simple. Aubrey Moore’s had her eye on the captain of the hockey team for the last few years since her brother, Jayce joined the team. He’s known for being a complete jerk, but Aubrey’s had the pleasure of seeing around the edges of his personality and wants to know him more. Now she just has to figure out how to help him breakaway from being so jaded and join her in the best adventure anyone could embark on -love. 18+ Explicit sexual content, possible foul language and violence. **HEA - these novels are all within the Pro-U series, but are about different couples at the university and should stand-alone.
Off Sides
Sawyer Bennett - 2013
Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone... something... to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost... a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved...”Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.Forced her to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days...
Iced
Elise Faber - 2020
So, when she is introduced to Stefan, the Gold's captain, she is determinedly not interested.Stefan is sexy, charming, and has a publicly documented list of conquests a mile long. Brit is unwilling to risk mixing business with pleasure, even when that business is wrapped up in a six-foot-plus, gorgeously muscled package.When management pushes Brit and Stefan together in an effort to gain good press for the beleaguered team, Brit finds that her carefully calculated disinterest doesn’t mask her body's desires. The more she falls for Stefan, the more she risks her career.Will she be able to have it all—a starting position and the heart of the captain? Or will she lose everything?BackhandMike Stewart is a bad boy. Sleeping around. Boozing. Fighting with teammates.Name a bad behavior and he’s done it—done it so well, in fact, that he almost tanked his career as a starting defensemen for the NHL’s San Francisco Gold.But Mike is done with all that. He’s starting with a fresh foot forward and putting his past behind him.That is, until his past quite literally reappears before his eyes.Sara Jetty is just as beautiful as she was a decade before, but Mike hasn’t seen her since she scored a gold medal in women’s figure skating. Now something has put shadows in her eyes, a familiar type of hurt he is all too well-versed in.This Sara wants nothing to do with him. Their easy friendship is gone and in its place is a hardened woman who’s nothing like the girl from his past.Still, Mike hasn’t become a top defensemen in the NHL by being afraid of hard work, and he isn’t about to let Sara push him away. Come hell or high water, he’s going to crack her tough outer shell and find the sweet, innocent woman he’s lusted after and loved, in equal measure, for more than ten years.BoardingMuscles. Mandy’s work was supposed to be regulated to muscles. Well, muscles and ligaments and tendons . . . and general body health and—Blane was her fantasy—literally her nightly fantasy. He was sexy, strong, talented, and normally she would have thrown herself at his feet and begged for a night—or, cough, more—showing him exactly what that fantasy was.But that would mean she would get fired . . . and worse, so would he.She couldn’t have that on her conscience, not when Blane was a gifted player for the San Francisco Gold. Plus, he was a professional athlete and their relationships were doomed to fail. Mandy knew that firsthand and she also knew she couldn’t live that life. Always being the one left behind, always way down on the priority list.Hockey was his job and it was all consuming. That was reality and everything was fine—Until Blane got hurt. Until she was spending more time with him. Much more time.Until Blane told her she was his fantasy too.Empty Net (never before released novella)Empty. That was her life—What? No. Shannon had been referring to the other half of the duplex she lived in, the half that her best friend and fabulous baker of a business partner, Molly, had moved out of when she’d reunited with the love of her life.But, if she was being truthful, Shannon’s life was a little empty. She had a steady and growing business, even helping Molly expand their joint venture into the Gold Mine, arena for the San Francisco Gold, but she was bored and well . . . a little empty.Until Evan moved into the other half of the duplex and tall, dark, and brooding took over her life with the ease of a fire alarm blaring through the quiet, night air.
The Posse
Tawdra Kandle - 2013
After her husband’s death, she’s left with her family’s beach restaurant and two nearly-grown children. The last thing she’s looking for is another chance at love.However, if her husband’s best friends, the Posse, have anything to say about it, love is just what she’s going to get. The Posse is determined to take care of Jude, and when they decide the best way to do that is for one of them to sweep her off her feet, three begin to vie for her affections. But only one can reach her heart.In a story of friendship, loss and second chances, Jude will learn her life is far from being over.
Dear Emily
Trudy Stiles - 2013
Comfortable. Blissfully happy. She was surrounded by her best friends in the world, who love and adore her, and would do anything to support her. But one violent night destroys everything, breaking down her perfect world and tearing away her safety. Kyle Finnegan comes into her life when she’s at her lowest. Can he help restore her faith? And can they build a future together?Tabitha Fletcher ran away from a violent and turbulent past. She attempts to hide in a new city, enveloping herself in a veil of safety. Alex Treadway strolls into her life and struggles to break through her protective barrier. As she slowly opens her heart, can she learn to love? Can he help her heal? Tabitha’s demons resurface, threatening to destroy her new life. When she finds herself at rock bottom, a surprise pregnancy only adds to her turmoil.Tabitha must make the ultimate choice to give her unborn child a chance at a wonderful life. The life Tabitha wished she had herself. Free from fear. Free from pain. Carly and Kyle desperately yearn for a family of their own. Will Tabitha’s choice give them that chance?And can they all find what they desire most…Redemption?Love?Family?Dear Emily is the first book in the Forever Family series.This book is not suitable for young readers. It is intended for mature adults only (18+). It contains strong language, adult/sexual situations, non-consensual sex and some violence.
Shuttered Affections
Rene Folsom - 2013
The crippling memories of an abusive relationship, and the lack of support from her family, lead her to flee her old life and begin anew.After settling into a quaint college town, Juliana finally feels at peace, content to stay under the radar and keep things simple.Until Aiden Stone, her new photography professor, crashes into her life, blurring the line between love and lust. As their torrid affair reaches untold heights, Juliana struggles to keep her shuttered emotions, and growing affections, from throwing her into a relationship she isn't prepared for.With her newfound romance blinding her from the looming shadows of her past, her nightmares become reality, and she is forced to discover her true strength within.Warning: This novel contains sexual situations and is meant for adult readers ages 18 and up.