Book picks similar to
Carolina Mist by Mariah Stewart


romance
mariah-stewart
stewart-mariah
contemporary

Marriage by the Book (Born in the USA: Florida #9)


Joan Johnston - 1989
    So when her children gave her the book You Don't Have to Stay Single, she threw it away. Then she met sexy Tom Steele, and hurried back to the trash can.One heated look from pretty Megan and Tom realized something was missing from his life. But what did a rugged bachelor know about wooing a wife? Or becoming a daddy?

Miss Liz's Passion \ Home on the Ranch


Sherryl Woods - 2011
    Educating them, encouraging them, reaching them—that was easy. It was the living that was hard. After the betrayal, the grief and the pain, there was a kind of peace in giving away her heart to her pupils.That was what made Todd Lewis so dangerous. With his dogged determination and rugged handsomeness, he had slowly staked his own claim on her heart and made her feel again. Made her want to hope and dream. But her hopes, her dreams, her heart—were so fragile. Could she entrust them to him? Or would he destroy them for good?

Just Before Sunrise


Carla Neggers - 1997
    Here, the New York Times bestselling author presents a fast-paced, scintillating tale of love, art, and danger.... JUST BEFORE SUNRISE Annie Payne realizes her dream when she moves to San Francisco and opens an art gallery. But when she accepts a secret commission to bid for a painting going on the auction block, she finds herself thrown into a haunting swirl of events linked to a five-year-old unsolved murder. Who is this secret client? Marina owner Garvin MacCrae was determined to have the portrait of his late wife, and knows of only one person who would want it enough to outbid him. Could the intriguing art dealer who represented the auction winner hold the key to the mystery of his wife's death? Working together to untangle a murderer's clues, Garvin and Annie strike so many sparks off each other that they could start another San Francisco fire -- a four-alarmer fueled by an explosive mix of suspicion, attraction, and love.

Cameo Lake


Susan Wilson - 2001
    In this evocative work, she tells a tender, truthful, and reaffirming story of the fragile nature of love. A loving wife and doting mother, Cleo Grayson McCarthy has always put others first. Now, desperate to finish her novel, she convinces her husband that she needs to spend the summer at a borrowed cottage on Cameo Lake -- alone. But as she immerses herself in writing, Cleo can't help but be aware of the composer who lives across the lake. At night she hears music drifting from his house and senses he's a kindred spirit. A loner, Ben Turner is regarded suspiciously by the tight-knit lake community. But he and Cleo become fast friends, and when a painful betrayal leaves Cleo adrift, she finds unexpected comfort in Ben. Before she can determine if she should fight for her crumbling marriage, Cleo must look into her heart. And Ben, whose past still lies in shadows, must look into his.

The Last One


Tawdra Kandle - 2014
    The last year has been a roller coaster: her widowed mother just married a long-time family friend. Her younger brother unexpectedly became a father and a husband. Everyone's life is changing. . .except for hers. As she begins her final summer of college, Meghan's looking for excitement and maybe a little romance. Nothing serious; this girl just wants to have fun. But the only man for Meghan turns out to be the last one she expects. Sam Reynolds doesn't need excitement, and he doesn't want romance. Fun is out of the question. He's been the steady, responsible one since his parents were killed, and serious is his way of life. When Sam rescues Meghan alongside a dark Georgia backroad, she falls hard for his deep brown eyes and slow drawl. But making him see her as more than just a party girl won't be easy. Sam's tempted by the fiery young artist, even as he realizes that giving into his feelings will mean radical change. . .maybe more than he can handle. Nobody ever said love was simple.

Naughty Vegas Nights


Tawny Weber - 2014
    But now she’s at a convention in Vegas, with a chance to make her dream of becoming a celebrated Lingerie Designer come true. But then she runs into Drew--and suddenly, her dreams take an X-rated turn! Drew used to be the ultimate bad boy—a wild and reckless pool shark. So what happened to him? Family responsibilities, that’s what. Heck, even in Sin City, he’s stuck at a lingerie convention helping out his kid sister. But when he sets eyes on Tasha, he sees his chance to recapture the best part of his misspent youth. Leaving Natasha was his one regret. But it won’t be for long… A good girl gone wild, a bad boy tempting her every step of the way. It’s the ultimate naked and naughty weekend where nothing is off-limits. Vegas will never be the same again!Previously included in the Lucky 7 Bad Boys boxed set!

Driftwood


Shauna Bickley - 2010
    She has changed her name and worked hard to ensure he wouldn't find her, but now he is back in her life again. Is it chance, or something more sinister?Juliet has secrets she needs to keep hidden, but Luke wants to renew their relationship. After meeting him incidents occur that make her fear the unthinkable. Her life may be in danger.She leaves Auckland for Sydney on a business trip, but Luke appears there. Can she trust him, or are his secrets more dangerous than the ones she hides.Driftwood is a romantic suspense novella. Included in the Kindle version are the opening chapters of the new novel, Lies of the Dead, and the opening chapters of Lives Interrupted.

No Regrets


JoAnn Ross - 1997
    Now, tragedy will bring the sisters together again, offering them the chance to find happiness in sorrow. A POWERFUL AND PASSIONATE STORY OF THREE SISTERSTorn apart by tragedy, Molly, Lena and Tessa McBride chose different paths ... until fate and one man reunited them.Molly chose God -- but could never forget the child she gave away ... or her sister's husband.Lena always searched for love -- Dr. Reece Longworth offered her that. Raising her sister's child created the family she so desperately craved.Tessa wanted fame -- but the love of a man led her into terrible danger. A vice cop who needed her to betray her friends offered her the only promise of survival.Only after tragedy strikes once again can the surviving sisters choose happiness .... if they dare pay the price.

What If


Rebecca Donovan - 2014
    After all, no one has seen or heard from her since they graduated over a year ago.Except this girl isn't Nicole.She looks exactly like Cal's shy childhood crush, but her name is Nyelle Preston and she has no idea who he is. This girl is impulsive and daring, her passion for life infectious. The complete opposite of Nicole. Cal finds himself utterly fascinated-and falling hard. But Nyelle is also extremely secretive. And the closer he comes to finding out what she's hiding, the less he wants to know.When the secrets from the past and present collide, one thing becomes clear: Nothing is what it seems.

In the Dark / Person of Interest


Heather Graham - 2004
    After stumbling upon the body of a dead woman, she found that her working paradise on Moon Bay Island had turned into a nightmare. Each piece of evidence she discovered seemed to point toward someone on the island—and to herself as the next victim. But who would do this? And why had David Denham, the ex-husband she hadn't seen for more than a year, chosen this moment to reappear in her life?When a hurricane destroyed her only escape route, Alexandra found herself believing her ex-husband's claims that he'd returned out of concern for her, but there had always been more to David than met the eye. What was he hiding? The evidence pointed toward his guilt, but Alexandra felt compelled to defy logic and trust in the safety of his embrace. No matter what, either her heart or her life would be forfeit.

Tempting Secrets (Tempting Nights Romance #1)


Michelle Windsor - 2018
    Or at least, it’s the name my clients call me. I work for the elite escort agency, Temptations, and for a price, I’ll be whatever you want and need me to be. I have the body, I have the looks, and I have a smile that makes any woman swoon. But It’s just a job. A necessary evil to help fund my dreams of becoming a doctor. I’m simply a robot, performing my required tasks. Until the night I’m hired to seduce Charlotte Harvey and remind her how good a man can make her feel. I didn’t expect her beauty to spark a desire in me long buried. I didn’t expect her smile to turn that spark into a flame. And I definitely didn’t expect her passion to ignite that flame into an inferno. I should have walked away without looking back, but she started a fire in me that I can’t seem to tame. Tempting Nights is the first book in the Tempted Nights Romance Series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone and features a happily ever after.

If I Were You


Lisa Renee Jones - 2012
    Or so I told myself. Later, I’d question that, as I would question pretty much everything I knew about me, my relationships, and my desires. It all began when my neighbor thrust a key to a storage unit at me. She’d bought it to make extra money after watching some storage auction show. Now she was on her way to the airport to elope with a man she barely knew, and she needed me to clear out the unit before the lease expired.Soon, I was standing inside a small room that held the intimate details of another woman’s life, feeling uncomfortable, as if I was invading her privacy. Why had she let these items so neatly packed, possessions that she clearly cared about deeply, be lost at an auction? Driven to find out by some unnamed force, I began to dig, to discover this woman’s life, and yes, read her journals—-dark, erotic journals that I had no business reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I read on obsessively, living out fantasies through her words that I’d never dare experience on my own, compelled by the three men in her life, none of whom had names. I read onward until the last terrifying dark entry left me certain that something had happened to this woman. I had to find her and be sure she was okay.Before long, I was taking her job for the summer at the art gallery, living her life, and she was nowhere to be found. I was becoming someone I didn’t know. I was becoming her.The dark, passion it becomes…Now, I am working at a prestigious gallery, where I have always dreamed of being, and I’ve been delivered to the doorstep of several men, all of which I envision as one I’ve read about in the journal. But there is one man that will call to me, that will awaken me in ways I never believed possible. That man is the ruggedly sexy artist, Chris Merit, who wants to paint me. He is rich and famous, and dark in ways I shouldn’t find intriguing, but I do. I so do. I don’t understand why his dark side appeals to me, but the attraction between us is rich with velvety promises of satisfaction. Chris is dark, and so are his desires, but I cannot turn away. He is damaged beneath his confident good looks and need for control, and in some way, I feel he needs me. I need him.All I know for certain is that he knows me like I don’t even know me, and he says I know him. Still, I keep asking myself — do I know him? Did he know her, the journal writer, and where is she? And why doesn’t it seem to matter anymore? There is just him and me, and the burn for more.

This Can't Be Love


Kasey Michaels - 2004
    Free-spirited Molly Preston, a former lingerie model who must work for ten months out of each year to keep her vast inheritance, is hired to watch the niece and nephew of hot young Broadway producer Dom Longstreet, a challenging assignment that lands her a starring role in Dom's love life.

A Place Called Home


Margaret Watson - 2008
    The whispers. They started when she and her sisters were young – the triplet daughters of a famous father. Now, the people of Spruce Lake watch her for a different reason – they think she murdered her husband. When her former father-in-law has a stroke, Zoe is blamed. When she's thrown in jail, the man she assumes was sent by her attorney turns out to be the stroke victim's son – and her former husband's brother. She's appalled by her attraction to Gideon Tate. Horrified to find that he's equally attracted to her. There's no way she'd get involved with another Tate. She and her sisters are trying to rebuild their ruptured relationship, and Zoe insists she’s not interested in Gideon. But she finds herself spending more and more time with him. Could Mr. Wrong be Mr. Right?

Verity


Colleen Hoover - 2018
    Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.