Book picks similar to
An Unexpected Love by Claire Matthews


contemporary
romance
adult
contemporary-romance

Meant to Be


Terri Osburn - 2013
    Lucky for her, a lovable mutt and his tall, sexy, blue-eyed owner provide enough distraction to subdue her paralyzing panic attack. But Beth’s human tranquilizer turns out to be her future brother-in-law, Joe Dempsey, and their instant attraction is both unwelcome and undeniable. Joe expects his brother’s fiancé to follow the materialistic, blonde-bimbo stereotype that is Lucas’ usual fare. Wild-haired, sweet-natured Beth doesn’t fit the part, but she does fit Joe and his island better than any woman he’s ever met. Though the men haven’t been close for years, Joe would never put the moves on his brother’s fiancé. That means Beth is off limits, no matter how much he wants her. When a demanding case pulls Lucas back to the city, Beth realizes her fiancé is already married – to his work. Are solitary nights and mind-numbing dinner parties really what she wants? Torn between loyalty to Lucas and her growing feelings for Joe, Beth rethinks her choices and contemplates a future different from the one laid out before her. One that includes an island, a dog, and a man she can never have.

Perfect for the Beach


Lori Foster - 2004
    Now he's out to prove that when it comes to loving her forever, he's the man for the job."One Wilde Weekend" - Janelle Denison: Alex Wilde is crazy about Dana Reed. Career-driven Dana wants him as a lover, not a husband...until Alex whisks her away for a weekend that will fulfil every forbidden desire. "Blue Crush" - Erin McCarthy: Dr Sara Davis loses her bikini top to a powerful wave and finds herself in the arms of gorgeous lifeguard Kyle Vanderhoff...where a little mouth-to-mouth just might resuscitate her love life."My Thief" - MaryJanice Davidson: John Crusher is hauled into his hotel room only to come fact-to-face with a stunning redhead who orders him to strip. But when the room service is this superb, what's a guy to do but show his appreciation."Hot and Bothered" - Kayla Perrin: Marrying Trey Arnold after a whirlwind romance was the dumbest thing Jenna Maxwell ever did. Divorce is the simple solution, but once she sees Trey's sexy smile again, things get complicated...and very, very hot." Murphy's Law" - Morgan Leith: Kat Murphy is in love with her lawyer boss, Sam Parrish. Fearing his heart may never heal, she quits her job and heads for the beach. And when Sam follows, the sensual heat they generate is out of this world.

The Sheik's Dangerous Lover


Elizabeth Lennox - 2013
    There was a darker side to this story though. The urgency was due to several assassination attempts and Malik had to marry quickly and produce an heir. The stability of his country depended on constancy and conservative leadership. He couldn’t allow his enemies to win. But he wasn’t prepared for the silver clad goddess that caught his vision as she snuck down the servants’ hallway. Nor was he prepared for her resistance. In a room full of beautiful women, his interest was captured by a beauty that wanted nothing to do with him. Except that she caught on fire when he touched her and her soft, sensuous body inflamed him with need. What was a man to do? Accept the challenge of convincing the lovely Shanelle to fall in love with him. Over a weekend of passionate kisses and stolen passion, Shanelle and Malik discovered that protecting the kingdom could be quite exhilarating. A very short novella by Elizabeth Lennox! Enjoy!

Sweet Rivalry


K. Bromberg - 2017
     He was going to stride into the conference room, do the required song and dance over the next five days, and win the biggest contract of his career. But when he walked in and heard the voice of one of his competitors, all his plans were shot to hell. Harper Denton. She was always on top. In college. First in their class. Always using every advantage to edge him out to win the coveted positions. The only one who could beat him. His academic rival. More like a constant thorn in his side. And his ego’s. When he heard her voice, he was brought back to years before. To the bitter taste of being second best. But the woman who meets his gaze is nothing like the drab wallflower he used to know. Hell no. She was all woman now: curves, confidence, and staggering sex appeal. And no doubt, still brilliant. The fact that she’s gorgeous and bright won’t distract him. This time, Ryder’s determined to be the one on top. But not if Harper can help it.

The Theory of Attraction


Delphine Dryden - 2012
    She relishes each glimpse of his shirtless abs, and is dying to see more. But it's hard to connect with a man who doesn't seem to know she exists...Ivan feels at home in the lab, not in social situations. When he finally approaches his attractive neighbor, it's not for a date—he wants tutoring in how to behave at an important fundraiser. Ivan doesn't expect the chemistry between them to be quite so explosive, and is surprised when Cami actually accepts his proposal to embark on a series of "lessons."Cami soon discovers Ivan's schedule isn't the only thing he likes to be strict about—he needs to be charge in the bedroom as well. She's shocked at how much she comes to enjoy her submissive side, but wonders if a real relationship is in the equation...

Seduce


Lexi Buchanan - 2013
    His wife, Viv, had died in a car accident, with her current lover, on the way to meet with the divorce attorney’s six years ago. Michael was divorcing her because he’d discovered she’d had a stream of lovers during the course of their marriage. Since her death he’s had no wish to get involved with anyone, until Lily. Lily, having lost her job at Oakfield Development gains employment at McKenzie Holdings thinking she’s going to work as the Assistant to Dale Roberts, but unbeknown to Lily she has been hired to work as Michael’s assistant. Lily is shocked, and disappointed to realize that the man she’s just been flirting with in the elevator is actually her boss. Lily and Michael are instantly drawn to each other, but he’s her boss and Lily lives with her boyfriend of seven years. David, her boyfriend, has been acting strange for about five months which has caused Lily to re-evaluate her relationship with him and it comes up short, a lot. She had decided before meeting Michael that she wanted out of her relationship with David, but she has nowhere else to go, so she stays with him for now. Michael and Lily finally start their relationship, which involves a lot of hot loving and scarves which Lily uses on Michael! Their relationship seems to be heading towards happily ever after, until Lily makes an announcement to Michael, which has him telling her to leave his home. She does, heartbroken, and runs to his brother Lucien. This is book 1 of a 5 book series. Each book has a HEA!

Pieces of Perfect


Elizabeth Hayley - 2013
    Handsome single father Adam Carter is the man most women wait a lifetime for. They each take bold and impulsive Lily Hamilton on a journey of self-discovery that’s woven with jealousy, deceit, and a whole lot of fun. Lily gets a glimpse of two versions of happily ever after, but will her own piece of perfect be the bad boy or the nice guy? In her quest to have it all, she’s risking everything, and only one thing is certain. She’ll never be the same.

Emily and Einstein


Linda Francis Lee - 2010
    But he needed one…Emily and her husband Sandy Portman seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building.  But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident.  The funeral isn't even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment.  But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies.  Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was . . . all the while feeling that somehow he isn't really gone.  Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein.  But is Einstein's seemingly odd determination that she save herself enough to make Emily confront her own past?  Can he help her find a future—even after she meets a new man?

Millie's Fling


Jill Mansell - 2001
    Actually, Millie's relieved. She's happy to enjoy a man-free summer in Cornwall. But Orla has other ideas. She's determined that Millie should meet the man of her dreams. Trouble is, Millie's taste in men doesn't tally with Orla's. The one who really interests her is Hugh Emerson, and he's the man with whom Orla's adamant she mustn't get involved...

Mountain Man


Sherilee Gray - 2017
    He doesn’t like strangers, and he doesn’t like leaving his sanctuary. Now I’m trapped here with him until the snow melts.  I see him looking at me. He tries to hide behind a gruff exterior, but I see the longing and the heat burning in his eyes. I know he wants me, and I can’t resist him. I want to feel those big, rough hands all over my body. But once he’s unleashed his raw, barely tried desire on me, will I be able to leave my mountain man behind, or will he make me his? Warning: The Smith Brothers are not just identical twins, they’re big, burly, bearded, insanely hot mountain men. They’re also sweet, and very, very dirty. Did I mention dirty?

Sex and the City


Candace Bushnell - 1996
    In essays drawn from her witty and sometimes brutally candid column in the New York Observer, Candace Bushnell introduces us to the young and beautiful who travel in packs from parties to bars to clubs. Meet "Carrie," the quintessential young writer looking for love in all the wrong places..."Mr. Big," the business tycoon who drifts from one relationship to another..."Samantha Jones," the fortyish, successful, "testosterone woman" who uses sex like a man...not to mention "Psycho Moms," "Bicycle Boys," "International Crazy Girls," and the rest of the New Yorkers who have inspired one of the most watched TV series of our time. You've seen them on HBO, now read the book that started it all...

Wicked Firsts


Elisabeth Naughton - 2013
    A weekend that will change her life…When actress Avery Scott’s assistant goes missing researching a role for Avery at an exclusive adults-only resort, Avery finds herself with only one choice: travel to the resort herself and look for clues. She hires an elite operative from Aegis Security to accompany her. She just doesn’t expect to get former undercover FBI agent Cade Blackwell—the man who ripped out her teenage heart twelve years before. One weekend at the sexiest resort in the world with the only man she’s ever loved will expose her to more than just a kinky new lifestyle. It’ll expose her to numerous wicked firsts that will test every ounce of her self-control. And if she’s not careful, she could lose her heart—and her life—in the process.First Rapture by Alexandra IvyMadison Philips has only one reason to return to Las Vegas: Luc Angeli. The tall, dark bad boy took her virginity on her eighteenth birthday and then walked away, now she’s back, and ready for revenge. Luc Angeli spent his youth trying to earn the approval of his philandering father. Now he’s his own man, but there’s still something missing from his life. He doesn’t know what it is until he catches sight of Madison across a balcony. Suddenly he knows this woman is what he’s been searching for, and this time he’s not walking away.First Taste of Darkness by Cynthia EdenHot sex. No regrets. Jess Delaney has spent her life playing the role of the good-girl. On a trip to Vegas, she decides to walk on the wild side when she meets mysterious Blake Landon. Rich, powerful, and carrying plenty of secrets, Blake is unlike any man she has ever met before. But as the passion burns between them, danger waits in the darkness…a danger that may just claim Jess’s life…First Ink by Laura WrightRush... Women in his bed, celebs and rockers in his chair, life is pretty freaking swell. Then she walks back into it again. Not for pleasure, but for pain. For Ink. A bleeding heart to match the one she left him with five years ago.Addison... She can’t forget him or the pain she caused him. All she has is a hope for redemption. But it’ll only work if he lets her inside his exclusive world, under his famous artist’s needle and into his bed—once again.First Surrender by Katie ReusHe’s dangerous, sexy, and everything she wants. And he’s about to make his claim…Hayden, the dangerously sexy, tattooed ex-SEAL is one of the best friends Sierra has ever had—and the main star in her wildest fantasies. But he doesn’t see her that way. And she’d die of embarrassment if he found out she was still a virgin.Hayden’s struggled to keep his attraction to the beautiful, dark haired casino chef a secret. But when an attacker targets Sierra, Hayden’s protective instincts go into overdrive. With the attraction between them burning out of control, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her and make her his.First Temptation by Joan SwanCounterterrorist agent Taft Walker is up for the challenge of posing as an adult store owner with a new female undercover partner who is also a sex-toy virgin. At least until he sees the real woman beneath her tough façade.Border Patrol Agent Zoe Brooks is ready to get off the front lines. She’s willing to tolerate a swaggering partner like Taft for a new opportunity. But she’s not prepared for the way he understands her deepest, sexiest desires.

Continental Breakfast


Ella Dominguez - 2013
    Not for closed-minded individuals or readers under the age of 18. Bella Darcy is personal assistant, muse and plaything to wealthy businessman Mr. Pettifor. Their 9-5 relationship is unconventional, but mutually satisfying.Mr. Pettifor is alpha male personified - demanding, stern, insatiable, emotionally closed-off and seemingly indifferent to anything that doesn't involve six zeros behind it. Bella had never wanted more until the day she heard passionate cries that didn't belong to her, coming from his office. Deeply hurt and realizing that she cannot be with a man who can so blatantly be with another woman while she is mere feet away, Bella turns in her letter of resignation, throwing Mr. Pettifor into a tailspin.

The Frog Prince


Elle Lothlorien - 2010
    Sort of."It was his pheromones that did it. With one sniff, sex researcher Leigh Fromm recognizes that any offspring she might have with the mysterious stranger would have a better-than-average chance of surviving any number of impending pandemics.But when Leigh finds out that the handsome “someone” at her great aunt’s wake is Prince Roman Habsburg von Lorraine of Austria, she suddenly doubts her instincts—not that she was intending to sleep with the guy. The royal house of Habsburg was once completely inbred, insanity and impotency among the highlights of their genetic pedigree. (The extreme “bulldog underbite” that plagued them wasn’t called the Habsburg Jaw for nothing.)It doesn’t matter that his family hasn’t sat on a throne (other than the ones in their Toilette) since 1918, or that Austria is now a parliamentary democracy. Their lives couldn’t be more different: Roman is routinely mobbed by paparazzi in Europe. Leigh is regularly mocked for having the social skills of a potted plant. Even if she suddenly developed grace, charm and a pedigree that would withstand the scrutiny of the press and his family, what exactly is she supposed to do with this would-have-been king of Austria who is in self-imposed exile in Denver, Colorado?

Venus in Blue Jeans


Meg Benjamin - 2009
    A girl. A Chihuahua. Two of them will find the love of their lives. Coming off a broken engagement to a lying charmer, all bookstore owner Docia Kent wants is a fling, not a long-term romance. And for her fabulously wealthy and fabulously nosy parents to butt out of her life for a while. The Texas Hill Country town of Konigsburg looks like the perfect place to get both. Especially when she gets a look at long, tall country vet Cal Toleffson. Cal has other plans for Docia. One glance at the six-foot version of Botticelli's Venus, and he knows he's looking at the woman of his dreams. Now if he can just fend off the eccentric characters of Konigsburg long enough to convince her romance isn't such a bad idea. One night of mind-blowing sex isn't the only thing that leaves them both stunned. With Docia's bookstore under attack, Konigsburg suddenly doesn't seem so welcoming. Once again she finds her trust tested and is left wondering if she was ever meant to have a happily ever, after all. Warning: Contains explicit sex, hot Texas nights, cool sarcastic friends, the world's sweetest hero and the world's saddest Chihuahua.