Book picks similar to
His Muse by Annie J. Rose


romance
second-chance
contemporary
dnf

Blame It On Your Heart


Jami Alden - 2013
    But after Damon broke her heart and crushed her dreams, Ellie couldn't get out of town fast enough. Twelve years later, Ellie is back, and life is nothing like she'd once imagined At age 30, she is widowed, broke, and a single parent to a 5 year old son. Humiliated after discovering that her "Wizard of Wall Street" husband had swindled his clients out of billions of dollars, Ellie is forced to move back in with her mother until she can get her life back on track. When she'd forced to work closely with Damon, Ellie tries to ignore the powerful attraction still simmering between them. But it doesn't take long before she finds herself once again under Damon's spell. .There was a time when Damon believed Ellie wanted the same things he did - to get married and raise a family in Big Timber. But her move to New York and marriage to a Wall Street high flyer proved that the life Ellie really wanted was nothing Damon could ever give her. As far as he's concerned, Ellie Tanner did him a favor when she dumped him cold all those years ago. Then Ellie shows up back in town, looking more beautiful than ever, sending Damon's blood - and his heart - racing. But he learned the hard way not to count on a future with Ellie. While he may not be able to keep his hands off her, this time he knows better than to let himself fall for her all over again. Until he's forced to admit that when it comes to it comes to loving Ellie, he doesn't have a choice.

Code Name: Genesis


Sawyer Bennett - 2019
    She was an up-and-coming superstar and I was the security professional hired to keep her safe. We fell hard and fast, no matter how much we tried to resist one another. But not everyone around us was happy about our relationship, and a string of lies and deceit destroyed what we once had. I moved on from her and didn’t look back.Now I’ve taken the helm of a nationally renowned protective services company, and I’m looking to rebrand my career. The newly crowned Jameson Force Security is moving from the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas to the mountainous steel town of Pittsburgh, and the last thing I have time for is to deal with my past.More than a decade has passed since our split, but even a bruised and battered heart remembers its first love. So when Joslyn Meyers comes to me for help, I reluctantly agree to keep her safe from a terrifying stalker who keeps threatening her life.As the danger continues to intensify, it becomes clear that I’ll stop at nothing to protect the woman who turned her back on me all those years ago. Because one thing is certain—no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise, Joslyn still has my heart.

Gemini


Penelope Ward - 2013
    After he abruptly leaves the restaurant, she can’t get him out of her head.She has no idea that he had actually come on a mission to find her.Cedric Callahan wasn’t expecting to fall in love at first sight with the pretty waitress he’d set out to find. In fact, she was the last woman on Earth he should be having feelings for. But his selfish heart had other plans. Feeling compelled to know her before revealing himself, he makes her believe their meetings are coincidental. After a passionate romance ignites, Cedric’s lies and secrets are finally revealed, changing both of their lives forever.

Undertow


Elizabeth O'Roark - 2013
    It almost seems like enough until Nate Sullivan comes home. Nate – her childhood best friend, her first love. The boy who left without a trace one night and broke her heart. When their attraction threatens the future she and her parents have so carefully crafted, loyalties will be tested and secrets will be uncovered. Giving in may cost her everything. But how do you resist the only thing you’ve ever really wanted?

Eleanor & Grey


Brittainy C. Cherry - 2019
     As the young girl who first fell for him, I didn’t know much about life. I did know about his smiles, though, and his laughs, and the strange way my stomach flipped when he was near. Life was perfect…until it wasn’t, and when we were forced to go our separate ways, I held on to our memories, let go of my first crush, and wished for the day I’d find him again. When my wish came true, it was nothing like I imagined. I couldn’t have known when I took the nanny position that it would be his children I looked after, that my new boss would be that boy I used to know, that boy who was now a man—a cold, lonely, detached man. The smile and laugh I had loved so much were gone, now distant memories. Every part of him was covered in a fresh pain. When he realized who I was, he made me promise to do my job and my job only. He made me promise not to try to get to know him, not to recall the memories I’d treasured all this time. But, sometimes, I saw the boy I’d once known in his stormy eyes. I saw the Greyson who smiled and laughed, who had stolen a young girl’s heart, and there was no doubt in my mind that this boy was worth fighting for. I was given a second chance with the one who’d left his mark on me. All I hoped was that somehow I’d leave a mark on his soul, too.

Hold on Tight


Serena Bell - 2014
    The son he never knew he had. And the woman he could never forget.Mira Shipley is far from home, raising her son on her own—and the babysitter has just quit. Then salvation appears, in the messiest—and hottest—form possible: Sam’s real dad, who’s an Army Ranger. Jake Taylor was Mira’s first love—her first everything—and she always vowed that if she ever saw Jake again, she’d tell him he had a son. But she wasn’t expecting him to be so wounded and angry. Part of her wants to walk away—but she knows she needs to be patient with him.That was before he volunteered for childcare duty.Now they’re under one roof together. There’s no way to keep this alpha warrior at a distance. No way to protect her own heart, or her son’s. No way to deny the wild chemistry between them. It’s a recipe for the deepest intimacy of her life. The most intense connection she’s ever known. And maybe, if she and Jake can both overcome their fears, a recipe for…family.

Second Chance Charmer


Brighton Walsh - 2018
    She’s small town royalty. Their love was doomed from the start.Finn spent his childhood living so far on the wrong side of the tracks, he couldn’t even see them through his trailer window. When he moves back to his small, southern hometown to open the first bar in a formerly dry county, he’s no longer the boy who left—he’s a man with something to prove. As long as he doesn’t allow himself to get sidetracked by the only girl he’s ever loved.Willow learned a long time ago to protect her heart at all costs, so her walls are firmly in place when her ex comes strolling back into town, all cockiness and charm. When they're thrown together on the job, she knows better than to give in to the tug of attraction that still simmers between them. She might be drawn to him, but she certainly doesn't trust him. It's time for her to prove she's not the brokenhearted girl he left behind.There’s no room for second chances in Havenbrook. And Willow’s daddy—the mayor—will do anything to keep it that way.

Heartbroken


Gabrielle G. - 2020
    But the universe is funny that way. My life is proof of it—secrets and all.So I’m not surprised when he stands in my classroom before me as the parent of one of my students. Forgiving him when he walked away had always been hard, but not as hard as it is to finally tell him the truth.***Can you forget your first love?I didn’t.Even if I didn’t recognize her right away, the girl with a star-shaped birthmark was always somewhere on my mind. But she isn’t the competitive and driven seventeen-year-old captain of the girls hockey team I loved anymore.I don’t know what happened but she has lost her fire and never made it into the pros like she dreamt of.Now I know why, and it’s my turn to decide if I can forgive her. A second-chance, small-town romance novel you won’t be able to put down.

The Best Is Yet To Come


Bella Riley - 2017
    Now get ready for Calvin's emotional, sexy, and heartwarming second-chance love story in THE BEST IS YET TO COME.  Best friends. High school sweethearts. Passionate lovers. Once upon a time, Sarah Bartow and Calvin Vaughn were everything to each other. Until big dreams—and an even bigger tragedy—tore them apart.  Ten years after good-bye, they're finally together again at Summer Lake in the Adirondacks...and the sparks between them are hotter than ever. Soon one kiss is turning into so much more. Not only breathtaking, sizzling lovemaking—but also deep, honest emotions that can't be denied. Calvin refuses to let the ambitions and disasters that separated them a decade ago wreck them this time. Not when he knows for sure that Sarah is his one—his only—true love. He let her get away once. He won't make the same mistake again. Even if it means risking his entire heart, and every last piece of his soul, to show her they belong together now...and forever.  Note for readers:  THE BEST IS YET TO COME was previously published as Home Sweet Home under a pen name. This new edition has been extensively revised and rewritten.

Ain't He Precious?


Juliette Poe - 2017
    It has one stoplight, one bar, and the one-and-only Trixie Mancinkus.Eleven years ago, Trixie graduated Harvard Law, turned down a job offer from one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston, and headed home to Whynot to open her own firm. Not only did she leave behind the big city, but she also left her boyfriend of three years. And just so we’re clear… that would be me.So what am I doing in Whynot at this very moment? It seems Trixie needs help with a legal case and for some insane reason, she called on me for assistance. I’ve been in town for five minutes, and I’m every bit as out of place as I feel. Trixie is all sweet, southern curves to my tailored suits and high-priced haircuts. It’s a culture clash of north versus south and about the only thing we have in common is our physical attraction to each other.But I have a new motto since coming to Whynot: When life hands you lemons, all you need is a little sex and sweet tea to make things better.

Rough Terrain


Cheryl Douglas - 2016
    He signed the adoption papers, but he never stopped loving the baby he’d never met. Years passed, success found him, but there was a hole in his heart and life that he knew only one thing could fill. His son. Sage Breville was stunned to learn her ex-boyfriend was back in town. With him came a rush of memories and questions about the kind of life they could have had if she’d been brave enough to stand up to her parents years ago and raise the child she’d so desperately wanted with the man she loved. There were some wounds time couldn’t heal, and Sage was convinced there was no way back for them. But did Wes see it her way or was he ready to forgive… and move on?

Spark


S.L. Scott - 2018
    Scott, comes a new book that will introduce you to rock stars with heart and soul as well as revisit with some favorites from The Resistance. One break is all The Crow Brothers need and we’re about to get it. Johnny Outlaw, rock legend and lead singer of The Resistance, is here to watch us play. But he’s not the only familiar face in the crowd—killer little body, heart-shaped face, and drop-dead gorgeous. Hannah Nichols sitting at the bar makes it hard to concentrate, sparks already reigniting. The beauty was never a groupie and tonight she’s not here to catch our show. She came to drop a bomb. “You have a son.” She underestimated me. I’ll prove to my son, and her, that I can be the dad he needs. What is it about musicians? Why are they so damn sexy? My heart was Jet Crow’s the moment he opened his sexy mouth and sang that first song. One stolen night with that man would never be enough, but I’m not here to fall into his bed. Again. I’m here to fight for custody of a son he’s never known. There’s just one problem. Those sparks between us have become flames. If we’re not careful we’re both going to get burned.

Then There Was You


Claire Contreras - 2018
    Love is about walking to the edge of the cliff and taking the leap together.Timing was never on our side.My first mistake was hooking up with my best friend.My second came years later, when we met again, and I fell for her. My third was letting her go, because I had to. Because a love like this wasn't built to withstand the winds coming in our direction.Love and timing.I didn't believe in either. Then there was you . . .

Nest or Invest


Enni Amanda - 2021
    He's the hotshot developer about to make her homeless.Single mum Shasa Daniels is heartbroken to lose her beloved, cheap rental. Even worse, it's being sold to Mac McCarthy, a developer about to replace the old villa with luxury condos. Determined to stop him, Shasa gathers her friends to outbid him and build community housing instead.Mac, the man in thousand-dollar shoes, isn't as financially stable as he makes out. This deal promises to secure his future until Shasa the eco-warrior stands in his way. It's time to keep his eyes on the prize. Definitely not the time to get distracted by some bleeding-heart hippie, no matter how sexy and cute.Looks can be deceiving. As Shasa learns more about (okay, snoops on) Mac, she discovers one surprise after another, including a mutual love of acting and sizzling stage chemistry. The more she finds out about the real Mac, the more she's torn between her building plans and the man she's inevitably falling for. In the end, is it better to win in love or in real estate?Escape into this cheeky, heartfelt love story set against New Zealand's overheated real estate market.

Tap


Georgia Cates - 2015
    That’s all she was when I agreed to play a part in deceiving her. But then the unplanned happened.We met. And all I wanted from her was a dirty weekend . . . until that wasn’t enough and I longed for so much more.Lawrence Thorn suddenly means the world to me. And that’s a problem. She’s my business partner’s sister. Forbidden fruit. Pursuing her can mean trouble for me at Lovibond Brewery. But I don’t care.I yearn for her skin against mine.I crave her smell on my body.I want to make her laugh and then hear her moan my name.And she does for a brief moment in time.But Lawrence wants more than I’m able to give. And it’s a damn shame because there’s no one on earth I want more than her.An epic love.A miserable ending.Unless it’s not.