Book picks similar to
Midnight Clear by Leslie Esdaile


african-american-romance
chick-lit
diversity-challenge
msretiree

Across the Pond


Virginia Jewel - 2011
    

Magic In Dixie


Beth Albright - 2014
    And of all places to start digging them up—a funeral.” ~Vivi McFadden HeartFull Description: “I was born into a house full of secrets and bad behavior.”Rhonda Cartwright Bently is having the most important moment of her life. She has finally been asked to help cater the Governor’s ball at the Emmy Awards in LA— But before the big day she has to get home to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and bury her estranged father. What she discovers in the aftermath of the funeral turns her life upside down in a matter of seconds. A gift from her father from the grave—a dilapidated southern mansion with an old trunk full of family secrets, will transform Rhonda’s life in an instant and make her question everything she’s ever believed about her family and herself. And then there’s that list--the one she made about her dream man when she was just a teenager. Her perfect love may be right here under her nose, but for Rhonda this is one last complication she could do without. She intended to get home, bury Daddy, sell that dilapidated monstrosity and get back to LA, as fast as she could. But plans never quite work out just as we hope.Rhonda will have to call on her old BFF’s, Blake and Vivi, to help solve the family mystery. But what those original Sassy Belles finally create out of that pile of dust could change Rhonda’s life for good, make her Hollywood dreams fade to black, and maybe even help her uncover her heart right where she left it—in Dixie. But sometimes things aren’t as they seem. And people aren’t always who we think they are.Beth Albright is at her southern best with this new series of sexy romance, laugh out loud comedy, and edge-of-your-seat mystery—exactly what we have come to love in the Beth Albright brand! So grab your girlfriends and put on your seatbelts for this one-- an exciting, unpredictable joy ride though the Deep South that will keep you guessing until the final shocking pages.

The Hunter


Brenda Jackson - 2017
    is about all she can handle. But when circumstances throw them back together, Mallory's about to learn that the "P" in P.I. stands for playa...but even the baddest boys around can be tamed.

Once Upon a Holiday: Holiday Heat / Candy Christmas / Chocolate Truffles


Beverly Jenkins - 2010
    Abandoning her inhibitions, she shares a blissful tryst with a mysterious partner. Though Eve runs from their hotel room the next morning, Leyton Palmer is determined to track her down and show her that the night neither can forget was only the start of something sensational….Candy Christmas by Adrianne ByrdPeace on earth and goodwill to all men? Not if the man in question is drop-dead-sexy Montel Starks, Candy Lahane's competitor since he started at their ad agency a year ago. But on a business trip to Europe, rivalry gives way to a red-hot, explosive affair that makes Candy realize that what she really wants for Christmas is right in front of her, just waiting to be unwrapped….Chocolate Truffles by Kimberly Kaye TerryIt started as an innocent drink with a stranger to celebrate her promotion. It turned into the most erotic night of Camille Jackson's life. But the man she was sure she'd never see again is now her instructor in a two-week managerial workshop, and Gideon Taber is making it clear that he'd love to relive every delicious detail of their encounter, again and again….

. . . and Baby Makes Two: A Novel


Judy Sheehan - 2005
    But that’s before she sees the perfect child. There he sits in his stroller, angelic and beautiful, magnetic and serene– and he makes Jane question everything she has and everything she thought she wanted. Suddenly all she can see are babies and pregnant woman everywhere. Were there always so many of them? And while there was once a man in her life–her one true love, Sam, gone from this world too soon–there is no man now. Jane must make a choice: possibly become a bitter and childless old lady, letting her biological clock tick on ’till menopause, or tend the ache in her heart now, by becoming a single mother. As Jane struggles to make the most important decision of her life, friends and family offer no shortage of opinions. There’s Ray, her “hubstitute” and gay best friend who would be jealous of any kid who got Jane as a mom; Sheila, her sister, who went from zero to sixty when she eloped with Raoul–who had two young twin sons– and has mixed feelings about being a new mommy; her strict, Catholic father who can’ t imagine what level of hell Jane would banish herself to if she becomes a single mother; and the women of Families with Children from China who are preparing to adopt orphan daughters–without a man in sight. Just as she thinks she’s made up her mind, Jane discovers one small wrench in her plans: handsome, charming, funny Peter, who just happens to be (unhappily) married. . . . And Baby Makes Two is a heartbreakingly honest, wonderfully addictive, and funny novel about love and loss, family and friendship. Judy Sheehan, co-creator of the smash hit Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, has perfectly captured the delights and dilemmas of the scariest job in the world: motherhood.From the Hardcover edition.

Make-Believe Marriage


Marilyn Shank - 2000
    Otherwise, she'll lose her inheritance. Trevor Mathison, Headmaster of Brookshire School, needs both a sixth-grade teacher and a wife.When a comedy of errors leads Claire's grandfather, the Chairman of the Board, to believe Claire and Trevor are married, they play along - both too afraid to tell the older man the truth.A powerful magnetism sparks between the couple but her free-spirited lifestyle clashes with his highly structured one. The conflicts they face both at school and at home turn Trevor's organized life into instant chaos.Can Claire and Trevor make their love last? Will they turn this pretend marriage into happily ever after?

Dorothy's War


Ruth Hamilton - 2005
    Her escape is achieved just before the disastrous advent of Hitler, and there is further tragedy to come.Follow her through childhood and adolescence, then on into her twenties when, finally made whole, she wins her own battle for freedom, for love and for her own place in the world.

My Heart Before You


Laura Langa - 2020
    It's taken her years to get where she is today— starting over in a city that doesn’t haunt her with memories, and returning to her beloved career as a nurse.After a decade and a half dedicating his life to his surgical career, Colin Abernan is struggling with his newly reduced work hours, especially after his father’s unexpected death. Having already lost his mother to cancer at thirteen, he’s unimaginably hollow now that he’s utterly alone.Colin has too much time to think about his grief, and the pulling connection he shares with his colleague, although she's emotionally off limits. When a simple touch in the hospital corridor holds the potential to change their relationship, Emilie doubts she can open her heart again— even to a man who fixes them for a living.

Ohana


Dustin Stevens - 2013
    Just weeks removed from losing his parents in a tragic car accident, Dyson Nicks decides to take himself as far away from home as he can for the holiday season. What was supposed to be a retreat to Oahu soon turns ugly as within minutes of arriving, he is initiated into the unseen side of Hawaii. Theft, violence, and territorialism that mark the flip side of paradise, the side most people refuse to believe exists. Through time, will, and pure dumb luck, Dyson serves to carve out his own niche within the island community. With the aid of Mahana, a local girl hiding from a past just as scarred as his own, he begins to find his way forward again. Through the kindness and generosity of strangers, he discovers the true meaning of ohana and how it comes to define Hawaiian life.

Grave Secrets


Linda Trout - 2012
    But six months later, time is running out and Sara turns to the one man she shouldn't--insurance investigator Morgan Daniels. Dangerously attractive, he's a threat to more than just her heart, and if she isn't careful, he'll unearth secrets better left buried. Proving Sara murdered her husband is Morgan's top priority. Helping her find her child is the perfect opportunity to get the proof he needs. But when he starts to think of her as a woman rather than a suspect, she slips under his armor. He can't trust her. Worse, he can't trust himself around her. All evidence points to Sara as a murderer, but Morgan's gut tells him the evidence is wrong. Is his obsession with her blinding him to the facts? Or is the real murderer still out there--stalking Sara? This is a new release of a previously published edition.

The Billionaire's Fake Engagement (Durand Billionaire Brothers Book 1)


Leslie North - 2022
    

From The Hood With Love


BriAnn Danae - 2021