Book picks similar to
Pieces of Summer by C.M. Owens


romance
favorites
c-m-owens
contemporary-romance

In the Unlikely Event


L.J. Shen - 2019
    Shen comes a new, star-crossed lovers romance about loss, love, and meeting The One when you are too young to know how to keep them. Sometimes you meet people who are out of this world, so you make them a part of yours. A one-night stand born from vengeance in a foreign land. An explosive chemistry neither of us could deny. We signed a contract on the back of a Boar’s Head Pub napkin that said if we ever met again, we would drop everything and be together. Eight years and thousands of miles later, he’s here. In New York. And he’s America’s music obsession. The intangible Irish poet who brings record executives to their knees. The blizzard in my perfect, unshaken snow globe. Last time we spoke, he was a beggar with no intention of becoming a king. But a king he became, and now I’m his servant. I’m not the same broken princess Malachy Doherty put back together with his callused hands. I have a career I love. A boyfriend I adore. An apartment, a roommate, a life. I changed. He changed, too. But Mal kept the napkin. Question is, will I keep my word?

Dare You to Hate Me


B. Celeste - 2021
    Lindon U’s star tight end.⁣⁣Still as attractive. Still as dedicated.⁣⁣With rumors of him being drafted to the NFL coming to fruition, I know it’s only a matter of time before we have to say goodbye again.⁣⁣But he can’t seem to let me go no matter what I say, and I don’t think I want him to.⁣

In the Stillness


Andrea Randall - 2013
    Staying present is only possible when you let go of the past. But, what if the past won't let go?

Don't Let Go


Sharla Lovelace - 2014
    The two had their future all planned out—until one unspeakable decision tore them apart.Twenty-six years later, Jules is living her life by someone else’s plan. She’s running her mother’s store, living in her mother’s house, following her mother’s rules, and keeping the secrets her mother made her bury.Then Noah comes home, and any sense of order and structure flies out the window. Noah’s return does more than just stir up old memories—it also forces Jules to see her life in a whole new way and uncover secrets even she didn’t know were hidden. But can the power of first love triumph over years of pain and lies? Revised edition: This edition of Don't Let Go includes editorial revisions.

Fighting to Breathe


Aurora Rose Reynolds - 2015
    They never imagined the future could hold anything other than together-forever. When Lea's father dies in a tragic fishing accident, she's crushed under the weight of her grief and catches a glimpse of another type of future, one she knows she's not strong enough to face. Austin is angry. For the past fifteen years, he's believed the woman he loved with every ounce of his soul left him without so much as a backwards glance. When Lea unexpectedly returns to their hometown, all the years of heartache inside Austin bubbles to the surface and presents itself as blinding rage. Faced with the truth about the past, a newly discovered secret, these former lovers will learn that if they want to have any chance at the future they'd given up on all those years ago, they will have to rescue one another from drowning in pain so debilitating it will leave them both fighting to breathe. Contains mature themes.

Unforgiven


Elizabeth Finn - 2013
    It does not mean she’s prepared to come face to face with the cruelest of those memories.Darren Cory’s life is a shell of what it once was, and when he’s forced to endure the cause of his agony, hatred abounds quickly. But hating Bailey destroys him too.Can Darren find a way to move past the pain and forgive the woman he once cared so much for before his anger consumes them both? Or will he drag them into the hell of an unforgiven past.

Marx Girl


T.L. Swan - 2017
    addictive.I fell hard and fast and then I left.I've thought about her every day since.As I sit here at a wedding watching her with her new boyfriend......I have regrets.Regrets for the past things I've done.But I won't regret what I'm about to do.She's telling me no but her body's telling me yes.I need her beneath me.I'm having her tonight. Bridget. It's the little things I remember about Ben.His smile and the icing sugar he had on his pancakes.What started out as private jokes between us soon turned into private visits.The quiet man at the back of the crowd.His dry wit made me laugh.His dominant body ruined me foreverHe never told me he loved me, until he was leaving.That was five years ago.Things are looking up for me.I met someone, someone special.But Ben is back.I find myself thinking about him ......more than I should.No matter how hard my heart is freefalling from my chest.I will never go back there.You only get to break my heart once.This is a stand alone, Contemporary romance.

The Final Piece


Maggi Myers - 2012
    From the moment a trusted family friend steals her innocence until the moment another rescues her, she struggles to just survive.Surrounded by the comfort and protection of her extended family, Beth embarks on a journey of healing far from the horrors of her home. In her darkest moments, she meets a boy named Ryan. For one incredible summer, Ryan shows Beth what it’s like to act her own age.To feel free and let go.If only for a while.Years later, another tragedy threatens to shatter the life Beth has carefully crafted. When faced, yet again, with more pieces to pick up, Beth begins to question what her choices have cost her.Leaving her old life behind, she sets forth on a pilgrimage that will bring her back to the boy she could never forget. He wants to help her pick up the pieces of her life, but is she willing to do what it takes to become whole again?Can she trust him with a piece of herself?

The Law of Moses


Amy Harmon - 2014
    You will know it’s coming, and it will hurt. But you’ll be able to prepare.Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all...a love story.

When I Was Yours


Samantha Towle - 2015
    “I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me.”What’s an eighteen-year-old girl who was madly in love with her nineteen-year-old boyfriend say? Of course, I said yes.Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel to the sounds of “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. Not the best omen. I get that now.Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why. I haven’t seen him since. Not in ten long years.Now, he’s here, standing before me. Looking at me with nothing but hurt and hatred in his eyes, he wants answers. Answers I can’t give.

Fisher's Light


Tara Sivec - 2015
    For one moment, I actually thought you’d changed your mind, that all the awful things you said to me were just your way of coping after everything you’d been through. I was still here, Fisher. I was still here, holding my breath, waiting for you to come back even though you told me you never would. You always said you’d find your way back to me. Out of all the lies you’ve told me, this one hurts the most. Enclosed you will find the signed divorce papers, as requested. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I’m sorry it wasn’t me. LucyTo get the ending they want, Lucy and Fisher will have to go back to the beginning. Through the good and the bad, they’ll be reminded of why they always made their way back to each other, and why this time, one way or another, it will be the last time.

A Thousand Boy Kisses


Tillie Cole - 2016
    But a thousand kisses can last a lifetime. One boy. One girl. A bond that is forged in an instant and cherished for a decade. A bond that neither time nor distance can break. A bond that will last forever. Or so they believe. When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation? Rune's heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come. A stand-alone young adult tearjerker romance, recommended for ages fourteen and up.

Wicked Beautiful


J.T. Geissinger - 2015
    What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again. Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago. Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?

Royal


Winter Renshaw - 2016
    He’s not even a prince - though you could say I loved him once upon a time.He was my older brother’s best friend.Growing up, he sat at our dinner table every Sunday, teased me mercilessly, and pretended I annoyed him.When I was old enough, he took me on my first date.Royal taught me how to drive. Escorted me to my junior prom. Gave me my first kiss…amongst other things. He was my first taste of toe-curling, all-consuming, can’t-sleep love.We had our whole lives ahead of us. There was never anyone else for me but him.And then he disappeared. No letter. No explanation. Not even a goodbye.My sisters and brother never forgave him, and my parents forbade me from speaking his name in our house ever again. For all intents and purposes, we were to pretend Royal Lockhart never existed.I’ve spent the last seven years trying in vain to forget my first love, but just when I think I’ve finally moved on, guess who’s back in town?

Lucas


Jay McLean - 2016
    He also has an older sister, five younger brothers and a father who relies on him to make sure those brothers don’t kill each other.  His saving grace? Lois “Laney” Sanders, a girl he started to fall in like with when he was just eleven. A girl who became his best friend, his confidant, his courage.  It took only sixteen clicks and eight seconds for Lucas to realize that his like for Laney had turned into love.   Eight life-changing seconds.  It’s also the exact length of time it took to lose her.