Book picks similar to
Double Standards by Judith McNaught


romance
contemporary-romance
judith-mcnaught
contemporary

To Love, Honor and Betray


Jennie Lucas - 2012
    She thought she'd found the perfect man in her dangerously seductive boss, Eduardo Cruz, but "Get out!" wasn't exactly the morning-after treatment she'd hoped for.Holding her wilting bouquet, Callie waits for her groom—her best friend, a man she'd never kissed, or even wanted to kiss.But once the eminently powerful Eduardo knows about the bump concealed under Callie's oversize, secondhand wedding dress, there's no way he's going to let her walk up the aisle with someone else.

The Duke


Gaelen Foley - 2000
    Even if it means jeopardizing his reputation by engaging in a scandalous affair with London's most provocative courtesan—the desirable but aloof Belinda Hamilton.Bel has used her intelligence and wit to charm the city's titled gentlemen, while struggling to put the pieces of her life back together. She needs a protector, so she accepts Hawk's invitation to become his mistress in name only. He asks nothing of her body, but seeks her help in snaring the same man who shattered her virtue. Together they tempt the unforgiving wrath of society—until their risky charade turns into a dangerous attraction, and Bel must make a devastating decision that could ruin her last chance at love. . . .

Devious Lies


Parker S. Huntington - 2019
    Huntington comes an enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance full of revenge and a dash of fate. “She could enjoy her pretty, perfect world a little longer. Soon enough, everything she owned would be mine.” I had a plan to escape the friend zone. Step one: sneak into Reed’s room. Step two: sleep with him. But when the lights turned on, it wasn’t familiar blue eyes I saw. These were dark, angry, and full of demons. And they belonged to Reed’s much older brother. Four years later, Nash Prescott is no longer the help’s angry son. I’m no longer the town’s prized princess. At twenty-two, I’m broke, in need of a job. At thirty-two, he’s a billionaire, in need of revenge. Who cares if my family ruined his? Who cares if he looks at me with pure loathing? Who cares if every task he assigns me is designed to torture? I need the money. Simple as that. I’ll suffer his cruelty in silence, knowing there’s one thing he wants more than revenge… Me. Note: Devious Lies is a 145,000-word standalone in the Cruel Crown series. If you love banter and angst, this book is for you! Welcome to Eastridge. Enter if you dare.

Back to You


Priscilla Glenn - 2012
    But Lauren saw something in him that caused her to question his bad-boy persona, and against her better judgment, she took a chance. She had no way of knowing that the unlikely friendship they formed would become so important to her.Or that it would end so painfully.Eight years later, when Lauren begins her new job at Learn and Grow Day Care, Michael is the last person she expects to see. Refusing to revisit the hurt and confusion of their past, Lauren vows to keep her distance from him. But staying away from Michael proves to be more difficult than she thought, despite her lingering grief and her instincts for self-preservation.As Lauren and Michael recall the friendship that changed them forever and the events that tore them apart, will they finally be able to heal? Or will the ghosts of Michael’s past prove to be too much to overcome?

From Rags


Suzanne Wright - 2012
    Her mum, who committed suicide. Her sister, who she hasn’t seen since her teens. And Connor McKenzie, who disappeared from her life the same day he left their foster home. The hardest part of that was that he never completely left her life because she was forever seeing him on T.V. or in magazines as a Formula One Driver. But Jaxxon refuses to live a ‘woe is me’ life, even in spite of living alone in her one-roomed flat and being expected to survive on a ridiculously low income. Then one night she is offered a modelling job and before she knows it she has been catapulted to the peak of success, gaining fame, fortune and security. Oh and a stalker. Connor McKenzie is busy trying to shake off his crazy ex-girlfriend – another woman who thought she could get around his no marriage rule – when he sees Jaxxon on the cover of a magazine. Remembering how close they had once been, he’s shocked when she doesn’t respond to his attempts to contact her and then acts indifferently to him when they meet. But Connor can’t let it go. The only reason he had kept his hands off her ten years ago was that she had been younger than him. Now that they’re adults, he isn’t prepared to allow anything – not even Jaxxon – to stop him from having her. Warning: This novel contains a bitchy female who curses like a sailor, a persistent alpha male who doesn’t understand the word ‘no’, and explicit hot sex in some very public places.

Just the Sexiest Man Alive


Julie James - 2008
    In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her—not even her cheating ex-fiancé. So when she's assigned to coach People's "Sexiest Man Alive" for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob's charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.Confident, Famous, Irresistible...Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he's thrown for a loop. She's unlike any other woman he's ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She's the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize she may just be his perfect match.

Black Swan Affair


K.L. Kreig - 2016
    He wears scruff like he invented it and ambles with a swagger that makes panties drop. Killian Shepard. Shep. We grew up together. We played Ghost in the Graveyard. Had our own rock band. It didn’t matter that he was five years older than me. It didn’t matter that he looked at me as a kid sister even as I grew into woman. It didn’t even matter when he left me behind to go to college and start his adult life. He’d be back. He was always meant to be mine.He came back, all right. But instead of smelling of promises, he stunk of betrayal. And he destroyed me—us—the day he married my sister instead of me.So I did the only thing a girl like me in my position could do. I got my revenge. I married his brother, Kael. Now we’re one big happy f*cking family.***mature content appropriate for 18+

Marco's Redemption


Lynda Chance - 2012
    Interested only in satisfying his sexual needs casually and frequently, he has no intention of changing a thing about his life. Natalie Lambert is alone, broke, and new to the city when a chance encounter leaves her under the power and control of Marco Donati. As the story unfolds, tensions mount and trust is tested between two people who can't manage to stay away from each other.

Just the Way You Are


Barbara Freethy - 2000
    a life about to be tested by the return of the only woman who can break them up—Alli's sister, Tessa.A baby brought them together—and even though Alli has always loved her strong, sexy husband Sam and the life they've built together, she has decided to set him free to follow his youthful dreams. It is no longer enough for her to be wife and lover when she knows she holds so little of his heart.Sam has always dreamed of a life away from the close-knit world of Tucker's Landing, but marriage and fatherhood ended all that. Now Sam is torn between what was and what was meant to be. He must decide if it's time to rekindle the dreams of the past ... or accept Alli, and her love, just the way she is.JUST THE WAY YOU ARE is an emotionallly compelling, heartwarming, beautiful love story about choices, second chances, the crush of a youthful love, the intensity of a love born from marriage and life. "An exceptional novel from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy!"

Montana Sky


Nora Roberts - 1996
    Now his three daughters—each born of a different mother, and each unknown by the others—are gathered to hear the reading of the will. But the women are shocked to learn that before any of them can inherit, they must live together on the ranch for one year. For Tess, a screenwriter who just wants to collect her cash and get back to Hollywood, it’s a nightmare. For Lily, on the run from her abusive ex-husband, it’s a refuge. And for Willa—who grew up on the ranch—it’s an intrusion into her rightful home.They are sisters…and strangers. Now they face a challenge: to put their bitterness aside and live like a family. To protect each other from danger—and unite against a brutal enemy who threatens to destroy them all…

Fragile Longing


Cora Reilly - 2020
    Perfection. Until she wasn’t. Until she ran off to be with the enemy and left her fiancé behind.Now Sofia is given to Danilo in her sister’s stead, knowing she’ll never be more than second best. Yet, she can’t stop longing for the love of the man she’s been crushing on even when he was still her sister’s.Danilo is a man who’s used to getting what he wants.Power.Respect.The sought-after ice princess.Until another man steals his bride-to-be. Danilo knows that for a man in his position losing his woman can lead to a loss of face.Wounded pride.Thirst for revenge.A dangerous combination—one Danilo can’t leave behind, not even when a girl just as precious takes her sister’s place to placate him. Yet, she’s got one flaw: she’s not her sister.Unable to forget what he’s lost, Danilo might lose what he’s been given.

The Do-Over


M.K. Schiller - 2013
    Attorney Lanie Carmichael’s appearance is no surprise. She is dowdy, awkward, and dressed in so many layers she resembles a wedding cake, but not in an edible way. Her brazen attitude though, astonishes him, especially when she explains she has no interest in gorgeous Kyle. Lanie Carmichael is in love with Brad, and wants Kyle’s assistance in winning his best friend’s heart. Kyle gradually accepts, justifying that the mystery of Lanie has sparked his natural, thirsty curiosity. As an ambitious journalist, he also can’t resist the Pulitzer worthy scoop she offers him. However, as Lanie sheds more layers, both emotionally and physically, Kyle begins to examine his life choices, and his true feelings for this enigmatic girl. With Kyle’s support, Lanie begins to unravel the secrets of her past, and the deep pain that has quietly defined her life. As they each learn more about themselves and each other, both question how a relationship built on fraudulent lies between two broken people could ever survive.

The Stranger I Married


Sylvia Day - 2007
    . .The Marquess of Grayson never felt a twinge of guilt when he stole the beautiful Lady Pelham right out from under his best friend's nose. After all, they were well matched in all things--their sensual appetites, wicked wits, provocative reputations, and their absolute refusal to ruin their marriage of convenience by falling in love. But then a shocking turn of events sent her roguish husband from her side. Four years later, he has returned a powerful, irresistible man who is determined to seduce his way into her affections. No, this is not at all the man she married. But he is the man who might finally steal her heart. . ."Day plays on sensual themes with a lush grace." --RT Book Reviews

Left Drowning


Jessica Park - 2013
    Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning. *This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.Note: due to mature content recommended for Ages 17+

Tempt Me Tonight


Toni Blake - 2007
    Then he betrayed her and broke her heart. Now her revenge will be oh-so-sweet . . . and hot!Trish Henderson has returned home to Eden to take care of some family business . . . and some personal business, as well. Though she's achieved remarkable success as a high-powered Chicago attorney, Trish has never forgotten her small-town high school sweetheart, Joe Ramsey, or the devastation of heartbreak.Now she's come face-to-face with the gorgeous sex god Joe has grown into, and she's determined to get him out of her system once and for all—and maybe take a little revenge, too. And this time, she has all the power. After all, where is it written that only men can explore and enjoy a physical relationship without commitment? Her plan: seduce him for just one night, then walk away . . .But there's just one problem. Trish is about to find out that one night with Joe may never be enough . . .