Book picks similar to
The Groom Wager by Lori Wilde


romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary
free

If the Shoe Fits


Laurie LeClair - 2013
    All she wants is her late father's dream to come true by making his beloved King's Department Store thrive again. However, her stepmother has other ideas. Charlie agrees to help her stepmother find grooms for her sheltered stepsisters. In exchange, the stepmother will release her stronghold on the store's budget. After all, one good deed deserves another, right? But, Charlie has no idea what her heart's in for when... Alexander (Alex) Royale, dubbed by society newspapers as Prince Charming, arrives for dinner to meet the all-female King family. His ailing grandparents yearn for his marriage and then the baby carriage. Well, that and running the family company. Having unsuccessfully searched for months, Alex doesn't hold out any hope in finding his future bride among the King sisters. However, all his expectations, including his idea of a business-like marriage of convenience, vanish the moment Charlie crashes into him. When Alex sets out out to win over Charlotte, he has no idea he has to bargain with the stepmother, secretly buy the store, court Charlotte after the wedding, and, oh yeah, be featured in Charlie's new fairy tale ad campaign, The Charmings, based on them. Can a guy ever get a break? The couple never factored in falling in love with each other. Now, faced with losing all their families ever wanted, Charlie and Alex must choose: Do they live their families' dreams or do they finally live their own?

Cowboy Up


Michelle Beattie - 2019
    But when a medical emergency calls him home and a legal matter affects his business, suddenly his family isn't the only thing in need of a re-build. Unfortunately his new project involves building a house for a woman who not only awakens his desires, but also his fears. But if he wants to claim her as his own, he'll have to tear down the walls he's built around his heart.Single mom Ashley Anderson knows all about juggling. Between an assortment of part-time jobs and raising her sixteen-year old daughter, she doesn't need a hunky construction worker with an attitude as a distraction. Even one who steps in to help her when she needs it most. But life has taught Ashley that when the going gets tough, she's on her own. It's going to take a man with a Texas-sized heart to show her that this cowboy isn't going anywhere.

Breaking the Plan


Jessica Calla - 2019
    But when his girlfriend, Violet, dumps him, Oliver’s strategy for the future slips away. Desperate to win her back, he begs Taryn, his archenemy and Violet’s beauty queen roommate, for help. Taryn’s gorgeous, thinks he’s a nerd, and wouldn’t know a plan from a prom dress, but Oliver soon finds himself tangled in her web of sexy. Suddenly, Ollie’s falling for Taryn and losing track of everything he thought he wanted. Taryn Markos knows that agreeing to help Ollie win back her best friend is a dumb idea. Not only because he’s all wrong for Violet but because the more time she spends with him, the more confused she gets. Who knew Nerdilicious himself could challenge her with a single look, even from underneath those unruly eyebrows in dire need of a tweeze? How could she have known that he would accept her and defend her when she needed it the most? Taryn’s hated Oliver for three years. Why does the sight of him now make her come alive? As things heat up between the frenemies, sparks begin to fly. But Ollie and Taryn know their love-hate flirtationship has to stop—before someone ends up with a broken heart.

Let Your Heart Beat Again


Janith Hooper - 2017
     After four months on the job, twenty-four-year-old Rebecca Harper has become something of a jack-of-all-trades on the Cooper Bar-6 Ranch...except for her cooking. But the four strapping sons who run the ranch in their father's absence need wise counsel more than unburnt bread, and Rebecca is perfect for the job. Whether dealing with the driven eldest, the belligerent youngest, or the personalities in between, she recognizes the source of each young man's pain is a lifetime of a father's indifference. As soon as the rogue returns, Rebecca aims to give "Mr. Cooper" a thick piece of her mind. Not that dishing out hard truth will make her feel any more alive. Past betrayal has taught her to live at arm's length from anyone who might mean too much to her. So she cooks and cleans and counsels, at once harboring anger against a man she has never met and numbing herself against the life she has forgotten to desire. Until one night, one thunderstorm, and one heroic stranger changes it all. In that fleeting moment, Rebecca Harper dares to hope her heart will beat again. * * * Breath Without Life novels portrays seven bachelor ranchers, each so broken down by old wounds that he cannot conceive of ever finding love. Be there when one Cooper after another meets the one incredible woman who can make him whole again. Every book within this series is a stand-alone love story, though ranch life circumstances run chronologically through all six novels.

The Billionaire's Christmas Wish


Laura Haley-McNeil - 2020
    When Coach needs a volunteer to deliver donated football uniforms to the learning center in The Grid, River’s glad to go. What he hadn’t expected was the tiny woman with sparkling dark eyes and dreams bigger than the old schoolhouse she’s renting. He has no intention of falling for her, especially with his career on the ropes.After a disaster turns Soledad Marcos’ life upside down, she’s glad the learning center has given her and her daughter a stable life. She buries the secrets of her dark past and looks forward to the future⸻a future that doesn’t include a dashing football player and his desire to help. Her students love River so she’s forced to ignore the unease that has held her back for years.As Soledad draws closer to River, she learns his tough exterior masks a compassionate and tender soul she’ll resist at all costs, but turning her back on love means a bigger sacrifice that could cost more than a broken heart.

The SEAL's Baby Deal


Katie Knight - 2020
    But when his lifelong best friend, Eleanor Thornton, shows up looking gorgeous as ever and asking for a huge favor…he’ll have to rethink his stringent stance on playing Baby Daddy.Wildlife photographer Ele knows she wants a baby—romantic partner not included. And who better to go all in on no-strings-attached baby-making than with her SEAL BFF? Besides, she’s always wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped up in David’s muscled, rock-solid alpha male arms…When their toe-curling efforts quickly lead to a positive pregnancy test, both David and Ele are secretly disappointed their contracted time is cut short—especially after David is deployed, leaving Ele to give birth to their daughter on her own.Reunited while David’s on assignment in the African rainforest, their passion is reignited. But when the area is gripped by a dangerous insurgency, all of David’s fears about getting too close come rushing back to the surface.How can he possibly hope for a future with Ele when he can’t even guarantee they’ll survive?

Conflicted


M.M. Koenig - 2013
    Her life was everything she wanted it to be; until one fateful night changed everything – leaving her broken and without direction. Nearly a year later, she still has little faith in anyone or anything. Desperate to reclaim her life’s ambition, she takes an unexpected offer that promises to solve all her problems. But as Mia moves forward, she’s faced with obstacles she couldn’t have foreseen. The biggest of them lies within the mystery of Ethan Fitzgerald; a man who affects her like no other, but who she should avoid pursuing, at all costs. On a mission himself, Ethan Fitzgerald didn’t care who he pissed off on his road to fulfill his mother’s dying wish. He relied on himself, and was closed off to the world around him – until Mia Ryan walked through his door. Normally one to avoid messy emotions, Ethan’s world is turned upside down by Mia, and he can’t seem to get enough of her. There are lines you can cross that will change the course of your life forever …

Lovers at Heart


Melissa Foster - 2013
    When Max Armstrong walked into his life six months earlier, he saw right through the efficient and capable façade she wore like a shield, to the sweet, sensual woman who lay beneath. She sparked an unfamiliar desire in him for more than a one-night stand, leaving his heart reeling and his blood boiling. But one mistake caused her to turn away, and now, after six months of longing for the one woman he cannot have, he's going home to try to forget her all together.Max Armstrong has a successful career, a comfortable lifestyle, and she's never needed a man to help her find her way--until Treat Braden caught her attention at a wedding in Nassau, causing a surge of emotions too reminiscent of the painful past she'd spent years trying to forget. Max will do anything to avoid reliving that pain--including forgoing her toe-curling, heart-pounding desire for Treat.When a chance encounter turns into a night of intense passion, Treat realizes that the mistake he made six months earlier may cause him to lose Max completely. He will do everything within his power to win her heart forever--and Max is forced to face her hurtful past head on for the man she cannot help but love.**CONTENT WARNING: Due to mature content, recommended for readers aged 18+**

Heartthrob


Belinda Williams - 2020
    She definitely wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for a movie star. Particularly not a Hollywood heartthrob like Jacob Swan.It doesn’t help that there’s a lot more to Jacob than his on-screen good guy, all-American persona. But Ally is in LA with a job to do. She’s in town to pursue her dreams of fashion design and create some gowns for the awards season for her friend and actress, Lena Lyons—not get distracted by Lena’s co-star.Of course the media has other ideas. When Ally is spotted in public with Jacob, threats aimed at destroying her fashion career go too far. Someone obviously doesn’t like all the attention she’s getting, and Ally becomes convinced she’s living in crazy town.The sensible thing would be to retreat home before it all ends in spectacular fashion. But will Ally be leaving more than her dreams behind if she says goodbye to Hollywood?This glamorous, fast-paced contemporary romance that will make you smile, is perfect for fans of Rachel Gibson, Victoria Dahl, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Liliana Hart.

Miss Match


Lindzee Armstrong - 2015
    Luke is her billionaire best friend determined to break them all...Welcome to Toujour Matchmaking Inc., where your happily ever after is guaranteed!Luke has loved Brooke for eight long years. Now that she’s engaged to someone else, he’s given up hope that she’ll ever see him as anything but a best friend. When Brooke begs him for a favor, Luke is leery to accept—until he finds out that if he doesn’t, she’s moving to Italy with her fiancé. And Luke isn’t about to lose his best friend and soul mate in one swoop.Brooke has finally achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a professional matchmaker, and now the company is crumbling around her. But she knows who can help—her billionaire best friend, Luke Ryder. If she can convince him to sign up as her next client, he'll find love and she'll keep her job. It’s a match made in heaven.Everything is going as planned until Brooke realizes that finding Luke love means losing him forever. Suddenly, her rules to keep them in the friend zone seem ridiculous. Maybe she’s picked the wrong man for her happily ever after. Now the only match she’s worried about is the one she can’t have.This is a full-length sweet/clean contemporary romantic comedy that will delight readers who love Hallmark movies. Each book in this series by USA Today bestselling author Lindzee Armstrong can be read as a stand-alone.

Secret Acquisitions


Raleigh Davis - 2019
    Fast.When I stumble onto a tech giant's plot to spy on everyone's phones, I know my security company is only one who can stop them. But my little start up needs money. Lots of it.Enter Mark Taylor, the hottest venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. And the only billionaire I know on a personal level. And the guy I reluctantly turned down in college.I'm in his office and ready to beg... but he's not the forgive and forget type.Mark: I never hear the word no. Not since I remade myself from a skinny nerd into the deal making playboy of Bastard Capital.January was the last woman to tell me no--and the one woman I can't forget. She's as enticing as ever, so I offer her a deal: I say yes to her in the boardroom and she says yes to me in the bedroom. A quick, scorching affair is exactly what I need to get her out of my system.But when a shadowy conspiracy threatens her company--and the privacy of everybody--all my protective instincts flare to life. And this quick affair is suddenly much deeper than we'd ever expected... Enter the world of Bastard Capital: Unrivaled men. Unimaginable wealth. Unlimited power. Books in the Bastard Capital SeriesSecret Acquisitions (Book One, Mark's story)Unfinished Seductions (Book Two, Logan's story)Competitive Instincts (Book Three, Finn's story)Intimate Mergers (Book Four, Paul's story)Hostile Attractions (Book Five, Elliot's story)Private Disclosures (Book Six, Dev's story)

The Best Man's Bride


Jamie Dallas - 2021
    The last person she expects to chase her down is her ex’s sexy but aloof business partner who’s kept her at arm’s length for years. He offers her a lifeline, but his help comes with a catch. Does she dare say yes?Jace Hartman doesn’t believe in love. And he doesn’t believe in giving up. He won’t let his company’s event planner walk away from their biggest launch—even if she has a broken heart. Business comes first, so he makes Hailey an offer she can’t refuse. But it’s her counter offer that has him worried. She needs a place to live for the month, and he has an extra bedroom.Jace has spent the past few years trying his best to bury his attraction to Hailey. Now she’s everywhere and making him forget all the reasons he should never mix business and pleasure.

Wasted


Suzannah Daniels - 2014
    It was part of his job after all, and he needed the tips—badly. When Lexi Swafford plopped her pretty little tail down on the bar stool, Mason offered her a drink. He had no idea that he would soon be working with her or that he’d be letting her room with him until her new apartment was ready.In fact, once Lexi Swafford landed in Creekview, Tennessee, life as Mason Cambridge knew it would cease to exist…because after a night of drinking away the agony of his loneliness, one touch from her would change everything.WASTED is a new adult contemporary romance recommended for adult readers due to mature content.It is the first book in the WHISKEY NIGHTS series. Since each book in this series will focus on a different couple, they can be read as stand-alones. Many readers may prefer to read them in order for maximum enjoyment.WHISKEY NIGHTS series order:Wasted #1Ignited #2Deceived #3Betrayed #4Seduced #5 (Release date to be announced.)

My Journey to the Ocean


Lena Mikado - 2015
    Her whole picture-perfect existence is planned out and allows for no deviation. She is engaged to be married and intends to be happy. Along with three of her girlfriends, she takes a summer trip across the ocean, to St. Simons Island, United States. Her whole world is about to be rock-n-rolled, and she will have to face a pretty hard choice. It all sounds like a setup for a summer-fling novel, but is it really like that in actuality, or does Miss Real Life have something more conniving under her sleeve? Are there happy endings in real life? This book is a love story. It's about love in all possible representations, forms and masks it can wear. It's a love story of a girl in her 20s, looked back on by a woman in her 30s, who is also trying to take a peek into the future. It's an ageless book, it's a borderless book, it’s a book that focuses on and laughs at our cultural differences, yet sweeps away all man-made boundaries on its way. But I made it sound too complex. It's first and foremost a story about a summer away from home, it's a story about falling in and out of love - it's a story about My Journey to the Ocean.

Good Karma


Donya Lynne - 2014
    Bullied as a child, she hides behind an unremarkable wardrobe and relegates herself to the shadows. But when her best friend convinces her to attend a charity benefit in Chicago wearing a stunning red dress that catches the eye of every man in the room, she discovers a surprising side to her personality. One that adores the spotlight but has no idea how to handle the attention.Mark Strong, a wealthy Chicago businessman, is brimming with confidence. He’s in total control. Nothing—and no one—escapes his notice. However, Mark carries a heavy, painful burden. After finding his fiancée with another man six years ago, he’s erected a fortress around his heart, unwilling to let himself fall in love again. But when enchanting Karma snares his gaze from across the room, he has no idea she will shatter his carefully ordered life.What starts out as a casual flirtation takes a series of surprising turns as Mark and Karma embark on a sensual journey destined by fate. Mark is driven to know Karma, understand her…educate her, and Karma is his willing student, eager to experience the pleasure he promises. But when the student becomes the teacher, Mark has to make a choice between taking another chance on love or a future alone.