Book picks similar to
Seconds by Freya Barker


romance
salvation-society
suspense
romantic-suspense

Her Forever Hero


J.M. Madden - 2014
    The man is totally wrong for her, but on a lonely Christmas night, in a wine-laden effort to get him out of her system, she gives into her body’s demands. She regrets her actions almost immediately and tries to distance herself. Former Marine Grafton Parks knows Kendall Herrington is pregnant, she’s just too stubborn to admit it to herself. But the luscious woman better come to her senses soon, because the board won’t allow an unwed, pregnant female to run the multi-billion dollar Herrington Limited. Even if she is the boss’s daughter. As they struggle to come to terms with each other, an unexpected danger threatens their very lives. Will they survive long enough for him to be...Her Forever Hero?

Stitched Up Heart


Tarina Deaton - 2016
    Now a physical therapist, she uses her experience to help other veterans heal from their physical wounds; while she battles her own emotional damage. Blaming himself for his best friend’s suicide, former Army Ranger Jase Larken, retreated from life. To honor his best friend’s memory and assuage his guilt, he started an outdoor adventure company to help veterans with PTSD. Bree had better things to do than catch her cheating fiancé in bed with another woman. Jase is something better - for a night at least. For the first time in years, Jase wanted more. When he finds her again, he doesn’t give her another chance to run.Jase’s possessiveness grates on Bree’s independent nature. She’s dealt with her fair share of alpha-male, door kickers and doesn’t need one telling her what to do now. But as a new danger emerges, Bree and Jase must face their pasts, before someone's obsession with Bree destroys any chance they have of a future.

Cyclone


Janie Crouch - 2018
    You don't try to power through anything. We go as slow as you need."Meet Zac Mackay. Military codename: Cyclone.He's a widower, a protector, a hero.And the person who could destroy Anne's life.Doctor Anne Griffin is back in Oak Creek, Wyoming, only because she has no other options. Here, she was always the shy, stuttering girl, invisible to everyone.Except Zac. The very reason she left in the first place.Zac's years in Special Forces taught him survival skills, and he's created a company--Linear Tactical--to teach those skills to others, so they never have to live in fear.Then why is Annie, the last person he'd ever want to hurt, afraid of him?Zac's determined to wipe the fear from the eyes of the woman who has never been far from his mind. And fix the mistakes--his mistakes--that put that look there in the first place.But a predator has set his sights on Annie. And now survival skills will become much more than lessons...From USA Today bestselling author Janie Crouch--a small town love story packed with mystery. A tough former-military alpha hero leaves his pain behind to claim the woman he never knew had gotten away. Full-length romance novel with a guaranteed Happily Ever After.

All That I Am


Rachel Brookes - 2017
    He charges into my life like a force of nature. No matter how hard I try to keep the walls up around my heart, he’s made it his mission to shatter them. I have no chance of resisting him, but I would make sure I won this tug of war.Which was what I wanted. Right? When did the idea of losing myself to him start to sound so good?I wish Ben was the only battle I faced. There’s a reason this small town needs a good detective. One way or another I’m going to have to brace for impact, because no wall I build can stop the new threat thundering toward Monroe. After all, secrets only stay a secret for so long around here.

Break Even


Lisa De Jong - 2015
    Every day, River gives me ten reasons to stay away, and then eleven reasons why I can't. Our relationship was to remain strictly business, or at least I tried. Four years of marriage, and everything with Cole has changed. I never knew two people who lived together could be so distant. But I’m not ready to give up on him.One man wants to break me.The other is just trying to get even. Both are lying to me.

Forbidden With Me


Leigh Lennon - 2020
    I was fighting for justice for a young girl who’s family was murdered before her eyes.Years later, my world is turned upside down when a series of similar murders begin to haunt the Seattle area again.Malia Strickland’s return in the midst of these crimes propels us right back into one another’s lives. She is no longer a little girl, but every bit a woman. I was her hero back then. Now I have the chance to be so much more.My life never made sense but has purpose and meaning with Malia in it.Malia Strickland deserves justice and the future that had been stolen from her so long ago. I’ve made it my mission to give her both, even if it means sacrificing myself.Malia StricklandMy life was altered, in a span of minutes when my family was brutally taken from me. I only escaped with my life, because my hero pulled me from the horrific scene.I spent eleven years away from the one place I loved so much. Now, it’s finally time for me to come back and face the demons that have haunted me. Going home not only resurfaces memories I’d rather forget, but it seems to trigger a whole new string of murders just like the ones that took my family from me.More than ever, I need Wells Shanahan to save me from the past and what’s to come.Wells has always been more than a hero to me. He’s my savior, my future, my everything. Can I convince him, that our forbidden love is worth fighting for?

Creole Kingpin


Meghan March - 2020
    That’s exactly what I am, but I can’t stay away from Magnolia Marie Maison for one more day, let alone another year.We’ve already got fifteen of those between us.As it stands, she’ll want to kill me as soon as she lays eyes on me. And knowing her, she’s completely up to the task.But I’m a man on a mission, and I’ve got everything riding on this.So, here I come, Magnolia. This ghost is ready for whatever you got.After all, there’s only one way I want this to end—’til death do us part.

Torn Bond


Abigail Davies - 2020
    I’d been deep undercover for nine months.Nine months away from the self-made family I’d been accepted into.Nine months of losing myself in a world I’d grown up in.Nine months of forgetting who I was.But all it took was one action to springboard me back into the real world.Belle wasn’t meant to walk into the club of a cartel boss. She wasn’t meant to fall into my arms—literally.But there she was, the girl I’d known since she took her first breath. The girl who had grown into a woman people couldn’t take their eyes off.I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was protecting her from the evil surrounding us.I thought kissing her and getting her out of there was the only option to keep her safe.It didn’t matter that her lips pressed against mine roared a fire to life within me.It didn’t matter that there was a twenty-two year age gap.It didn’t matter that she was my bosses daughter.All that mattered was that she was safe.Until she wasn’t. I vowed to protect her with my life.I promised she wouldn’t get hurt.But I hadn’t factored her feelings into it.Belle was forbidden fruit I hadn’t been able to resist, and now there was no going back.Bonds weren’t meant to be broken, but ours had been torn apart irrecoverably.

Saving Cade


Victorine E. Lieske - 2018
    Afraid the police will be after her, the last thing she needs is a wanted man in her car. But when Cade McMillan saves her life and gets hurt, she can’t just leave him by the side of the road, bleeding. And waiting for the cops is out of the question. Cade McMillan just wants to clear his name, but in order to do that he has to find the man who murdered his girlfriend and set him up. He doesn’t need to get tangled up in a relationship, and definitely doesn’t need to fall in love. But he can’t help feeling drawn to the sassy woman who saved him from getting picked up by the police. As Cade realizes someone is trying to kill him, he must decide if staying with Meg is worth the danger he’s putting her in. Saving Cade is a sweet romantic suspense.

Singe


Aly Martinez - 2017
    Every time I closed my eyes, I watched her fall into that inferno. Over and over, I failed to save her.I hadn’t been able to reach her, and the guilt only burned hotter over time. Four years later, I was the unreachable one.Heroes aren’t always saints. Sometimes, we’re nothing more than jaded sinners driven by sleepless nights and hearts full of darkness.And then I met her. She was a dreamer who managed to soothe my scars and heal my wounds.But, as the flames closed in around us, I feared I wasn’t the right man to save her. That is until I realized she was the one woman I’d burn the world down to protect.

Beg for Mercy


Jami Alden - 2011
    . . And once he has you, all you can do is. . . Beg For Mercy Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn't just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn't have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother's life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO. Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can't stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city's elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey.

Twisted Truth


Melinda Leigh - 2017
    However, he is shocked to find a young boy chained in the basement. The terrified child refuses to speak, but Seth knows he is the key to something sinister.Reluctantly, Seth calls the only social worker he trusts with the traumatized boy—his wife. Carly is recovering from her own trauma suffered on the job, but she can’t turn away from this case, not from another child in trouble. With torrential rain bearing down, threatening to isolate their little town in a killer flood, Seth and Carly know the best way to keep the boy safe from danger is to take him back to their farm.But danger is as relentless as the storm. And it’s following them all the way home.

The Shark


Mary Burton - 2016
    When she was a teenage runaway, she was kidnapped, drugged, and left unconscious on the streets. She has no memories of what happened, only strange recurring dreams of two men playing cards.Former FBI agent Clay Bowman, Riley’s old flame, is Shield Security’s newest member. He’s plagued by the unsolved case of a serial killer nicknamed the Shark who murdered girls as part of a sadistic poker game. Only one girl survived. With the Shark now bent on evening that score, Clay has a chilling suspicion: Riley is the girl who escaped the Shark’s deadly amusement—and she is his next prey.As the Shark gets ready to play his hand, can Riley and Clay stop him—or will this killer finally claim the one who got away?

Wilde Nights in Paradise


Tonya Burrows - 2013
    Although she makes it clear she wants nothing to do with Jude, they’re forced to fake a relationship for her safety. He can’t ignore the heat still simmering between them, and when her stalker’s threats escalate to attempted murder, he’s left with no choice but to whisk her away to a friend’s safe house in Key West, FL. Cooped up in paradise together, Jude begins to chip away at Libby’s resolve to hate him. But even as she gives in to his proximity and her body’s demands for his, she refuses to fall for his charms again. Maybe a torrid affair in the sun is exactly what she needs to get him out of her system. But when her stalker tracks them down, can they escape the steamy Key West night without anyone getting hurt?

Before I Ever Met You


Karina Halle - 2017
     I first met William McAlister when I was just a teenager. He was handsome, had a beautiful wife and was on the verge of success, having just joined my father as his business partner. Mr. McAlister was full of smooth charm, but back then he was barely a blip on my radar. Just a family friend. Fast forward ten years: I’m 25 years old and a single mom trying to make things right for her seven-year old son. I’ve made some mistakes, grappled with my demons and now I’m back in the city of Vancouver, getting a second chance at a better life. I’ve started by working for my father’s production company as an executive assistant. My first day on the job and I already know I could have a promising career there. That is until I see Will McAlister for the first time in a decade. Now recently divorced and as sophisticated as always, Will has gone from being my father’s friend and business partner to something so much more. We’re both older, for one thing, and he just oozes this worldly confidence and stark sexuality. Combined with his tall, muscular build and sharp suits, strong jaw and bedroom eyes, Will has turned into one hell of a distraction. A distraction I’m having a hard time staying away from, considering his office is right across from my desk and I work with him in such close proximity. But it’s just a harmless crush, right? It’s just an innocent fantasy of screwing him on his desk, right? It can’t ever be more because he’s my father’s best friend, business partner, and my boss. Right? Wrong. NOTE: This novel is a light-hearted, swoony read. It doesn't contain any cheating but it does have ample amounts of sex and swearing.