Book picks similar to
Worth the Fight by Rachael Brownell


contemporary
romance
contemporary-romance
tbr

Exes and Goals


Heather C. Myers - 2017
    She has one.Harper Crawford is a big fan of the Newport Beach Seagulls, despite their abysmal previous season. It's been a year since Ken Brown's murder and Seraphina Hanson, Ken's youngest granddaughter, just survived her first year as the new owner and manager of the national hockey team. Barely. The last year was dismal to the point where Seraphina is making drastic changes. Like hiring Harper as their official blogger. Harper gets to travel with the team, write character pieces, critiques, game summaries, and the like. It's her dream job.Another change? Putting together practically a new team, including Zachary Ryan, first line center. At six foot four and two hundred and twenty pounds, he is tall, dark blond, and solid muscle. He's arrogant and direct and the minute he sees Harper at Taboo nightclub during a team bonding session dressed in a plaid shirt and converse sneakers, he has to get to know her better.Except there's a problem from her past that won't go away. Harper has an ex that won't stay in her past - where he belongs. He starts showing up at her place, reminding her of all the wrong choices she made, bringing up things she wants nothing more than to forget. When Zachary gets involved, things get heated and his notorious temper flares.Harper doesn't want to get involved with a hockey player - especially with an overzealous ex who won't leave her alone - but Zachary plans to change her mind. No matter what the cost.

Love & Other Chaos


Jackie Walker - 2020
    Brody’s my friend - just a friend. He’s also my autistic son’s favorite teacher.He’s as off limits as they come, no matter how drop dead gorgeous he is. Falling for him would be wrong. Resisting him though, is becoming pure torture. After being burned by men who can’t handle dating a single-mom of a special-needs child, I refuse to date anymore. Not until my son is grown. My plan is working fine until my trouble-making bestie presents me with a dare that I can’t resist. I’m a sucker for a good dare - especially when margaritas have been consumed. And she’s just dared me to plant a surprise kiss on Brody’s sexy lips, while she records it for a trending TikTok challenge video. But if I do this, it could change everything. My life is already pure chaos and maybe now is not the best time to shake things up even more. Is it worth risking our friendship and his important role in my son’s life for one kiss? What if he wants more? What if I do? Love & Other Chaos is a hilarious, steamy, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy featuring a drop dead gorgeous and seriously buff teacher with the hots for a single-mom of an autistic pre-teen son... who happens to be one of his students. This story also includes wise-cracking grandparents with zero respect for personal boundaries, swoon-worthy beach scenes, a jerky boss with no concept of personal space, nosey siblings and a foul-mouthed best friend who loves to instigate trouble. If you don't like sarcasm, steam, sexy-times, heroines who drink copious amounts of margaritas and laugh-a-minute dialogue, then this might not be the book for you. It’s a stand-alone novel with a happy ending, because cliffhangers will kill your margarita buzz.

Sweet Little Thing


Abbi Glines - 2017
    That was it. No other explanation.Portia Van Allan was not someone Beulah could believe her mother ever knew. Wealthy, self-absorbed and other than the fact Portia was supplying special care for Beulah’s sister, Portia was cruel.The day Portia’s son returns home for the summer, Beulah discovers that Portia isn’t in charge. This isn’t her home at all. Her late husband left her with nothing. It all belongs to their son who doesn’t seem to like his mother at all.Jasper Van Allan doesn’t know why his mother has hired a young gorgeous blonde to take care of the house and almost lets her go before he finds out the truth.Realizing there’s more to Beulah than a stunning face, he keeps finding reasons to be near her all the time. It’s all falling into place, it all begins to make sense . . . until the real lies, the dark secrets, and the skeletons come tumbling out of the Van Allan closet. Twisted truths that will send Beulah running . . .

Love at Coco Bay


Kirsty McManus - 2021
    With a recent promotion from receptionist to co-assistant manager—not to mention the ongoing opportunity to live and work with her best friends—everything is perfect.Well, except for one tiny thing. Sasha has never had much luck in the boyfriend department, and the only guy she’s ever been interested in is event planner Dash, a Channing Tatum lookalike who is oblivious to her affections.But when a resort guest insists that Sasha work with Dash on an upcoming wedding, they are suddenly thrust into a three-month-long high-pressure environment. Sasha can no longer hide from Dash, and Dash has no option but to get to know Sasha.As expected, things get off to a rocky start, and when a mystery investor arrives at the island, the situation only gets worse. Sudden changes in the corporate hierarchy and bizarre managerial decisions mean that not only the wedding, but the entire resort’s future is in jeopardy.Can Sasha survive the chaos, make the wedding a success, and end up with her dream guy?She’s going to try.

Stay With Me


Kelly Elliott - 2016
    Only people who have never lost anyone they loved with all their heart can blindly believe those words. What if I didn’t want to move on? What if I wanted to wake up every morning with that familiar ache in my chest, knowing I’d never see her again? But, life can change in a moment.I knew that better than anyone … So, when I couldn’t get those mesmerizing green eyes out of my head, I decided to do something about it. Would one night with her be enough, or would my heart decide it was finally time to move on from the past?

Life, Unscheduled


Kristin Rockaway - 2021
    As a user experience designer at Virtuality, an artificial intelligence company in Los Angeles, Nicole is at her desk from sunrise to sunset. She doesn’t have time for a social life (or a love life), but that’s perfectly fine with her. Until her best friend, Parisa Shahin, announces her engagement and asks Nicole to be her maid of honor.That’s when Nicole decides to meticulously schedule out the next six months of her life—from her project due dates to her dress-fitting appointments to how many hours she plans to sleep each night. If she can stick to her schedule, she’ll balance everything fine. Of course, that’s a really big if. And after she crosses paths with emerging restaurateur Brandon Phelps, Nicole is feeling feelings she hasn’t felt in…well, ever. But scheduling time to fall in love might push even the most meticulous plans into pure chaos.

The Wright Brother


K.A. Linde - 2017
    But when I returned home, Jensen Wright crashed into my life with the confidence of a billionaire CEO and the sex appeal of a god. Even I couldn’t resist our charged chemistry, or the way he fit into my life like a missing puzzle piece.Too bad he’d forgotten the one thing that could destroy us.Because Jensen Wright doesn’t share. Not with anyone. And if his brother finds out, this could all go down in flames.When it all was said and done, was he the Wright brother?

Winning the Cowboy Billionaire : A Chappell Brothers Novel


Emmy Eugene - 2020
    Oh, and did Olivia Hudson mention his money?He's got a ton of that too.As the oldest son in the Chappell family, it's up to Spur to lead his brothers into the next generation of raising and selling championship racehorses. He loves it with his whole heart and soul, but a horse can't keep him warm at night.So when Olli Hudson, one of his neighbors, asks him to be her arm candy for one night to woo an investor, the worst he thinks can happen is his eyes might get permanently stuck up in his head for how often he rolls them.He wasn't expecting to be swept off his feet by the five-and-half-foot powerhouse of a woman with a nose that can sniff out the purest scents...and all of his hidden feelings for her.Will Olli be able to win over the cowboy billionaire? Or will she lose everything--including her heart?Start this brand-new series by Emmy Eugene and meet the Chappell family of cowboys in the beautiful Kentucky Bluegrass region!

Bouquet Toss


Melissa Brown - 2012
    Be it a blessing or a curse, Daphne (a hopeless romantic and perpetual single girl) catches the bouquet at every single wedding she attends. Daphne’s love life is a mess. Her first love, Mayson, haunts her heart and keeps her from pursuing happiness with any man who comes along. As she struggles to move on from the one who got away, Daphne wonders if she will ever break her curse and find her happily ever after.

The Weight of Life


Whitney Barbetti - 2017
    The words I would soon say again, in a moment that didn’t involve bridges, but something much more fragile: my heart.He held onto me for three weeks, in a time when I needed to be held. Needed to connect to someone who understood how loss tunneled unrepentantly through the fabric of your soul.Although he said he'd stay, we both knew he wouldn't. I had already survived one loss—I didn't know if I'd survive another.-Ames-She spun into my life like a tornado of smiles and chatter and everything else I'd long avoided, with a persistence that I admired, albeit begrudgingly. She broke down each neat wall I’d constructed without even trying. Her presence alone caused me to remember what it felt like to smile, to look forward to what the day would bring.But it was only supposed to last three weeks.“Don’t let go,” she’d pleaded.I’d promised her I wouldn’t—but I would. I didn't have a choice.

The Mixtape


Brittainy C. Cherry - 2021
    Emery finds him first.Emery has never felt more alone. Raising her daughter is both her pleasure and her pain as she struggles to hold on to her job as a bartender and keep a roof over their heads. With no one to help them—no support system—any unexpected expense or late bill could turn their whole world upside down.Reeling from the death of his twin brother and bandmate, rock star Oliver Smith is trying to drink his problems away. Apparently he isn’t very good at it; they follow him wherever he goes. Also in hot pursuit are the paparazzi, who catch Oliver at his lowest low.He could have walked into any bar in California, but he walked into hers. Emery helps Oliver lose the crowd, and they find themselves alone: two people whose paths are marked with loss and pain. However, they hold an unshakable hope for healing. They find solace together, but can their love withstand the world?

The Magic of Found Objects


Maddie Dawson - 2021
    All her life she’s been torn between the two. But now that she’s been betrayed by both love and the mother she once idolized, her rational side is winning.So when her best friend from childhood proposes that they give up on romance and marry each other, Phronsie agrees. Who better to spend your life with than your best friend? Maybe the connection they already have is love. Maybe there’s no falling to be done. But immediately after they announce their engagement, she encounters someone who makes a very charming and compelling argument for revisiting romance.While her even-keeled stepmother argues for the safety that comes with her new engagement and her mother relays messages from the universe to hold out for true love, Phronsie must look to her own heart to find the answers that have been there all along.

First Comes Love (Love & Marriage, #1)


Emily Goodwin - 2016
    Then comes marriage. Then comes a—Hold up. You’re joking right? As if life works off a neat little list like that, moving down, checking things off before jumping to the next task. We’re not married. We’re not lovers. Hell, we’re hardly even friends. Noah Wilson isn’t exactly “life partner” material, and he sure as hell isn’t “father material”. He’s my older brother’s best friend, and has been off limits, sworn off, locked in the highest tower and out of reach since we met over ten years ago. With his devilish good looks, tattoos, motorcycle, and trail of broken hearts and tears, I’ve had good reason to stay away from the bad boy my mother warned me about.Until one night. One stupid, regrettable night that changed both of our lives forever. And now I only have nine months to decide our fate, to see if Noah’s rebel heart is capable of anything more than a one night stand.This isn’t a love story. This is a life story. And life doesn’t go according to plan.

Lie Next to Me


Sandi Lynn - 2014
    I had to keep running because, if I didn’t, he’d find me. I looked behind me as I ran through the streets; scared, alone, and in the dark as the mist of rain hit my face. There was no time to think, and there was no time to stop. My shoes were soaked as they sloshed through the puddles of the dimly lit streets.My name is Rory Sinclair, and the night I was violently attacked was the night that changed my life forever. One man, a man named Ian Braxton, made it his mission to heal me, to save me, and to show me a world that previously had been only a dream to me.Ian Braxton is far from perfect. He’s a self-absorbed, demeaning, arrogant, and a womanizing millionaire. He makes it so easy to hate him, but so very hard to resist him. We’re from opposite sides of the spectrum. He comes from money and I come from poverty. When our worlds collide, his struggles become mine, and mine become his, leaving us with one question:How much would you give up to be with someone who was meant to be yours?

Plain Jayne


Laura Drewry - 2014
      Worn out from the long drive back home, Jayne Morgan can only smirk at the irony: Of course the first person she sees from her old life is Nick Scott. Once best friends, they lost touch when Jayne left town at eighteen, but nothing could keep them apart forever. Jayne has returned to take over her grandmother’s bookstore, determined to put all her bittersweet memories and secret disappointments strictly in the past — until, that is, Nick insists she bunk at his place.   Nick never did care what people thought about having a girl for a best friend — or the “scandal” she caused by showing up to his wife’s funeral four years earlier — so he’s got no problem with the gossips now. Jayne was always the one person he could count on in his life. Now Nick is starting to realize that he never wants her to leave again... and that being “just friends” isn’t going to be enough anymore.  Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.