Book picks similar to
No Place Like Home by Morris Fenris


romance
christmas
contemporary
stand-alone-series

The Hope Jar, SAMPLE


Wanda E. Brunstetter - 2019
    Brunstetter.What happens when making an elderly Amish couple very happy means going along with a lie that gets bigger by the day? Michelle Taylor is not who her new family in Lancaster County believes her to be. The Lapps were looking for their long-lost granddaughter when they met Michelle and she assumed the identity of Sara Murray. Once homeless and hopeless, Michelle has come to love her new Amish friends and even considers the idea of romance among them. Finding an old blue jar in the barn that is filled with slips of paper containing thoughts, quotes, and prayers by an unknown author becomes a boost to Michelle’s budding faith— but also convicting. How can she tell the truth without hurting the ones she has truly come to love?

Winter in Sweetwater County


Ciara Knight - 2014
    With no job or social support, she flees to a small town in hopes of finding a good family for her unborn baby, but instead finds a man who is as broken as she is. Eric Gaylord returns to his home town for a respite after a tragic loss, but when his spitfire mother takes on an unknown woman as a business partner, he is forced to face the nightmare he’d left behind or risk losing the one woman who could heal his heart.

Love on the Half Shell


Mona Ingram - 2018
    Writing to a Boston restaurant critic seemed like a good idea at the time. What could possibly go wrong? Mona Ingram is the author of over forty sweet, clean romances full of hope, inspiration and happily ever afters. For a complete list of Mona’s books, visit her website at www.monaingram.com

Shore Lights


Barbara Bretton - 2003
    Maddy Bainbridge left her Jersey Shore home town right after high school, determined to put as many miles as possible between herself and her many meddling relatives.Now she's back in Paradise Point -- an unemployed single mother whose only option is to accept her mother Rose's offer of a job and a place to live.But it doesn't take Maddy long to discover that the things about your mother that made you crazy at 17 make you even crazier at 32. Rose's critical comments bring out Maddy's inner teenager and by the beginning of December, the end is in sight. Maddy would stay there at the Candlelight Inn, her mother's popular B&B, through Christmas for her daughter Hannah's sake, but once the New Year rolled around… And then fate, in the form of an online auction battle over a Russian samovar that looks like Aladdin's lamp, brings home-town hero Aidan O'Malley into her life and suddenly Maddy begins to believe anything is possible.A child's dreams, an old woman's memories, the joys and heartaches that come with being part of a family, the thrill of new love and the deep comfort of love that stood the test of time -- it all comes together that one special holiday season when even the most battered hearts open just wide enough to let a miracle or two slip through.USA Today bestselling author Barbara Bretton has been hailed as a "monumental talent" (Affaire de Coeur) and now she delves deeply into the mysteries of family and shows us that even the most independent woman is still a daughter at heart.Home: it's where your story starts.(Previously published by Berkley Books)

Four Days of Christmas (a Sweet Holiday Romance Short Story)


Emma St. Clair - 2017
    But when she takes a job as an elf in the mall's Santa's Workshop Photo Place over college break, sparks fly...with more than one man.There's Alex, the handsome photographer with a secret, and then Santa himself, the mystery man behind the costume who keeps her laughing. Will she know either guy well enough to choose by their last day of work on Christmas Eve? Or will a shocking discovery about Santa's Workshop make her walk away from both? Don't miss this Sweet Holiday Romance short story! Download yours and read today!

Christmas Mercies


Emily Josephine - 2020
    Christmas has brought nothing but grief and loneliness for the past decade, after she lost her beloved husband to a fatal car accident. Hearing holiday music day after day during the first few months of the school year is like constantly ripping the scab off an unhealed wound.Determined to keep her husband in her heart, she has kept a fortress around it, allowing only one woman in as a true friend, and avoiding anything more than a passing acquaintance with any man.Until Timothy Fielding, the maintenance man at the apartment complex where she lives, comes along. He happens to love the Christmas season. When circumstances – and Janice’s best friend, Kayla – draw them together, he struggles to keep his growing feelings for Janice at bay. He has his own secret past that he’s sure would repel any woman, once she found out about it.But his desire for love and companionship win out, and he does his best to knock down the walls around Janice’s heart. But even when she finally relents and agrees to spend more time with him, she continues to resist opening her heart back up to Christmas.Because the death of her husband is only the beginning of the tragedy surrounding the day.In the meantime, Lucille Masterson, the great-grandmother of Janice’s star pupil, makes a shocking discovery that almost causes her to ruin Christmas for her family. Again. But then she realizes that if she would face her fear, she could finally release the burden she’s been carrying for the past ten years. What she doesn’t know is that it would release a horrible burden for the very person she’s afraid to face…**********“Christmas Mercies” is the first novel in Emily Josephine’s Christian holiday romance series, “Little River Village Christmas Romance.” A clean and wholesome romance novel, it will warm your heart, build your faith, and leave you feeling refreshed and hopeful.

Never Say Never


Taylor Holloway - 2018
    Never hesitate. Never get emotionally involved.Words I've lived by. Until her.I'm a fixer.I fix bad, embarrassing, illegal problems, for the right price.My clients are rich, famous, powerful, and very dangerous.Now I’ve got a problem of my very own: Eva Martin. She just happens to be both my best friend’s little sister, and at the center of the most explosive problem I’ve ever faced. As the body count rises around us, I’m falling for the one woman that’s totally out of bounds. Her wide innocent eyes, perfect curves, and sexy, smoky voice—she’s a liability and a weakness, but I'm unable to resist.Eva’s a risky distraction for a man like me. I'm going to make her mine, and I'll use everything in my arsenal to keep her safe.Even if it means everyone else—including me—becomes collateral damage.

Unwritten


M.C. Decker - 2014
    I thought our story had already been written. College sophomore Brooke Anderson thought she had it all − a loving family, her sexy high school sweetheart, a supportive, quick-witted best friend and dreams of being the next hotshot reporter for the Washington Post. Fate had something else in mind when Brooke collided with the devastatingly handsome upperclassman, Rich Davis. Rich was cocky, conceited and arrogant. He was everything that Brooke didn’t want, but Rich never gave her the option. He had already made the choice to be, at the very least, her friend. Would Brooke accept this egotistical man’s friendship? Would she choose to want more? Would it be too late if she did? Fast forward nearly ten years. Brooke’s life hadn’t played out quite as she had envisioned it. She was suffering from the heartbreaking loss of her mother, her high school sweetheart was long gone, and her dreams of the Washington Post had turned into a career at a small town paper. Brooke decided it was time to follow her dreams. If she couldn’t be happy in love, at least she could be happy in life. Brooke’s dreams brought her to the lobby of the Washington Post where fate intervened once again as she collided with none other than the devastatingly handsome Rich Davis. As her potential employer, Rich now seemed off-limits. Brooke wanted her successful career more than a chance at love. But, was it really her choice to make, or was it beyond her control? Maybe our story is, in fact, Unwritten…

The Publicist


Christina George - 2012
    The ego has landed.Can one woman change an age-old institution like publishing? Probably not, but Kate Mitchell sure wants to try. As a publicist with a large, respected New York publishing house, Kate finds herself at the mercy of a broken publishing system, books that don’t sell, and author egos that are often, well, as big as the island of Manhattan.Enter the star Editor, MacDermott Ellis: Tall, handsome, charismatic, married, and ready to save the day. Then there’s Allan Lavigne, once a revered author--now as forgotten as last year's bestsellers and his nephew Nick: Tall, gorgeous, sweet, single and ready to sweep Kate off her feet. Kate wants to do the right thing but her hormones seem to be driving her decisions. As Kate tries to navigate the landmine of publicity, over-the-top author expectations, and the careful dance of “I’m sorry, your book isn’t on the bestseller list this week,” she also finds authors who are painfully overlooked by a publisher wanting more sex, more celebrities, and more scandal.The story only an insider could tell.

Secrets of Sunbeams


Valerie Comer - 2016
    especially if your neighbor is a goat.Eden Andrusek knows she should have fixed her fence last week. It's too bad her runaway goat makes a less-than-ideal first impression on her new neighbor, who turns out to be cute, brilliant… and a little uptight.
Solar architect Jacob Riehl is furious when he returns outside to find a goat eating his presentation. As someone who likes everything in its place, he has little sympathy for a farm animal in the city or its tattooed owner, but there's something about the lovely Eden that captures his attention.
What will it take to win over a man whose only pet was a goldfish? And how long can Jacob and Eden go without addressing the goat in the room?

Stronger


Suzanne Jenkins - 2018
    Her handsome FBI Director ex lives in Manhattan. Then his fashion-model girlfriend is invited to walk in London Fashion Week, but it can only lead to trouble, right? A former marriage is tested to its limits when Michael's team puts a mobster behind bars and no one in his circle of colleagues or his family is safe.

Frosting and Flurries


Kimberly Rae Jordan - 2016
     THE SWEETNESS OF HER LOVE—KIMBERLY RAE JORDAN James Dawson may have looked like the hero of one of the romances Erin Kirkland loves to read, but she quickly discovers that he is not the hero for her. After all, how can she have a happily-ever-after with a man who doesn’t believe in love or marriage? Who would have thought that a visit to his grandmother’s favorite bakery to order a cake for her ninetieth birthday would end up causing James to re-evaluate his whole life? Certainly not James Dawson. But following their rather disastrous first meeting, James is determined to show Erin that he is a better man than she’s first judged him to be. Erin doesn’t want to friend-zone James, but she’s not sure she can trust that the changes he’s making will be permanent. Can someone really go from totally dismissing love and marriage to embracing it so quickly? SUGAR AND SPICE—CECELIA DOWDY Sheila Parks is stunned when Mason Smith, the identical twin brother of her ex-boyfriend Reese, moves to Blue Spring and opens a bakery. Reese’s cruel breakup still bothers her and seeing somebody who looks just like him is a painful reminder of her predicament. Unemployed, Sheila needs financial help and it appears that Mason can assist her with her problem. Can she learn to trust a man who looks just like her ex? Mason is stunned when Sheila storms into his bakery, mistakenly thinking that he’s Reese. Mason is used to comforting his womanizing brother’s ex-girlfriends. A stutterer, Mason has always had a hard time socializing with others. However, he finds himself smitten with beautiful Sheila. Can he control his stutter so that he can ask Sheila to be his date to his grandmother’s Christmas birthday party? Both Sheila and Mason deal with past pains as they work together during the Christmas season. MOOSTLETOE —JAN ELDER Rev. Samantha Evans lands in Moose Creek, Maine, where parishioners chew up new ministers for breakfast. Happily, she also reunites with forest ranger Eric Palmer, her best friend from her teenage years. With Samantha’s career on the line, Eric must save her job and rescue his own shattered heart in the process. But how does Matilda the moose factor into the mix? THE HECTOR CLAUSE—CLARE REVELL The last thing Brie Dalgleish expected her boss to do was ask her to play an elf in the toy store grotto. She's even less enthusiastic when she discovers Santa is the same bloke who drove his car through a puddle the previous evening, completely soaking her. Hector Clause is playing Santa in the family owned toy store under sufferance as a favor to his grandfather. He'd rather be in a nice safe office, using his law degree, than playing Santa in a shop full of squealing kids. Even if the chief elf is on the cute side. With the store's centenary fast approaching, the anniversary party is abruptly cancelled. Hector resolves to celebrate anyway, but isn't prepared for the curveball he finds headed his way. GINGER & BRAD’S HOUSE—MARION UECKERMANN When Brad O’Sullivan is unfaithful to Ginger Murphy, she escapes to Australia for five long years. During this time, Brad’s shotgun marriage fails. Besides his little boy, Jamie, one other thing in his life has turned out sweet and successful—his pastry business. Ginger returns to Ireland, when her mother’s diagnosed with heart failure. She loves being a wedding flautist but fears bumping into the wedding cake chef she tries to avoid.

A Love Song for Kayla


Kimberly Rose Johnson - 2017
     Ever since she was sixteen Kayla Russell has dreamed of her perfect man. She even went so far as to make a list of desired qualities. The list has proven to be a bust since no man is that perfect, at least until she meets Derek. But will his secrets come between them and destroy what could have been something wonderful? When music superstar Derek Parker comes to small town Oregon to escape the paparazzi he goes incognito as a deliveryman. He wants to leave his old life behind, but it proves to be harder than he realized when his past finds him. Now the woman he has come to care for feels deceived and no longer wants anything do with him. Formerly published under the title A Valentine for Kayla.

Yours at Yuletide


Josephine Blake - 2019
     Charlotte Wilson is in her very last semester of college. Distractions are completely out of the question, which is what makes everything about Oliver Hull a very bad idea. The local firefighter is so far out of Charlotte's league that he should be classified as a different species. Handsome, charming, and dangerously persistent, Oliver is everything Charlotte cannot handle right now. The small town of Unity Springs is overflowing with Christmas Spirit, and Oliver's work at the fire station is keeping him more than busy. Then along comes Charlotte Wilson, and Oliver's aspirations fall to the wayside in his pursuit of just. One. More. Kiss. When tragedy strikes, Oliver and Charlotte's budding relationship is put to an unexpected test. Why does Charlotte keep running away from everything that makes her heart glow? Love and happiness are within her grasp. Is she strong enough to reach out and take it? ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵ There’s always something happening in a town as small as Unity Springs. Immerse yourself in a snowy wonderland filled with love and laughter this holiday season as Bestselling Author, JOSEPHINE BLAKE, crafts a BRAND NEW SERIES that will steal your heart and warm your soul. Love in Unity Springs, Book Two, SECOND-CHANCE SANTA arrives on December 20th, 2019.

Love and Harmony


Sally Bayless - 2019
    But no performance has ever mattered as much as the upcoming benefit concert for the local food pantry. This concert is not just about music. It’s a chance to make up for her lapse in judgment last summer, not to mention a shot at her dream job.Seth Williams, former naval officer and the new interim high school principal, has barely unpacked when he realizes that the gorgeous local choir director is the same girl he fell for at church camp years ago. As soon as he gets his troubled sixteen-year-old brother on the right path, Seth hopes to pursue a relationship with Becky. With her in town, he’s more determined than ever to convince the school board to make his position permanent.But the faith Seth and Becky once shared is no longer common ground, and the logistics of her concert create a crisis in his job. Will their relationship be torn apart? Or can their renewed love, along with God's abundant grace, allow them to overcome every obstacle?