Book picks similar to
Thief by B. Love


romance
dnf
poc
urban-romance

The Shaadi Set-Up


Lillie Vale - 2021
    Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency. While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….

Persuaded by the Hero (Heroes of Freedom Ridge)


Elle E. Kay - 2021
    Her decision will decide their future.Bryce hasn’t laid eyes on Sabrina in three years despite visiting Freedom Ridge every Christmas. Not that he could blame her for avoiding him. He left town in a hurry and without a backward glance. He isn’t the same irresponsible kid from back then—the Army changed him. But convincing her to trust him again will be a challenge.Avoiding the man she’d once loved every Christmas season was one thing, but now he's back. And he's her boss. Sabrina isn’t prepared to work for Bryce—it will make it impossible to keep her secret. Their story might have derailed three years earlier, but her humiliation feels fresh. Had God rescued her only to throw her back into the mouth of a hungry lion?They soon discover time apart didn’t dim their chemistry and long for buried feelings rise to the surface, but will they have a second chance at romance or is the risk of involving him in her son’s life too great?Return to Freedom, Colorado and enjoy the faith, friendships, and forever-afters of the Heroes of Freedom Ridge in this Christian Christmas romance.Persuaded by the Hero is Book 11 in the Heroes of Freedom Ridge series, but each book can be read as a standalone.

Cocaine and Candy Canes: Falling for a thug on Christmas Day


Tina Marie - 2017
    Deciding to get back up after life has knocked her down Kyona is determined to make this holiday season the best for her and her four-year-old son Xayden. But even that simple plan seems to be beyond her reach. On top of that, the rudest nigga she ever met keeps popping up at every turn. Suddenly she finds herself fighting feelings for a man she told herself she hated. Chrome was focused on two things in life, the streets and the money he made in the streets. His attitude was unapologetic when it came to everyone until he met Kyona. She has him breaking every rule he has as her and her son teach him what true love means. Will love and lust lead to way more on this Christmas holiday or will a blast from kyona's past come back and destroy the bond that she and Chrome are building... Find out in this holiday story Cocaine and candy canes!

This Close to Okay


Leesa Cross-Smith - 2021
    On a rainy October night in Kentucky, recently divorced therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man precariously standing on the side of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and jumps out of the car into the pouring rain. She convinces the man to join her for a cup of coffee, and he eventually agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett. Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett, though she hesitates to confess that this is also her day job. But what she doesn't realize is that he's not the only one who needs healing -- and she's not the only one with secrets.Alternating between Tallie and Emmett's perspectives as they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge's edge -- as well as the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with in her own life -- This Close to Okay is a vibrant, powerful story of two strangers brought together by wild chance at the moment they needed each other most.

Valley Fever


Tessa Bowen - 2015
     Shy and modest Lina Montez has been infatuated with Tobias Langthorne, heir to a Napa Valley land fortune, for as long as she can remember. Growing up alongside the intoxicatingly handsome bully on his family’s fabled vineyard and estate was an experience she will never forget. The young “lord of the manor” spent countless hours tormenting the housekeeper’s daughter as well as inspiring her budding sexual desire. Ten years later Lina finds Tobias as provocative and dangerous as ever, but embittered by divorce and haunted by his own demons of the past. Now Lina must battle her old playmate to save the land she loves, but this time she won’t be intimidated by her sexually magnetic business partner. The biggest struggle of all, however, is the one within herself. Can she fight off an attraction that is as ripe and full bodied as the lush cabernet grapes they farm? And will she breathe new life into the forsaken ranch as well as polish the rust from her tarnished hero?

Trinity Unleashed


Rodney W. Hartman - 2017
    When the Intergalactic Empire has a tough mission, they send in a wizard scout. When they have an impossible mission, they send in Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado. The planet Cavos is on the verge of civil war. Only an outmanned, outgunned force of Empire peacekeepers prevent an outbreak of bloodshed on a global scale. When the peacekeepers’ commander requests an armored regiment as reinforcements, the Imperial High Command sends him Wizard Scout Trinity instead. With only a fresh out of the university grad student and a half-crazy old pilot as allies, Trinity has to find the source of Cavos’s troubles before the Empire becomes part of a disaster far greater than a mere local civil war. Caught between the peacekeepers’ resentful commander and suspicious local government officials, Trinity and her battle computer, Jennifer, have their work cut out for them. Together they must weave their way through one mystery after another leaving a trail of bloody bodies along the way until they find the answer. That is, if they can remain alive long enough to find it.

Dial A for Aunties


Jesse Q. Sutanto - 2021
    Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—"Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!"—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's perfect buttercream flowers.But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

Kirsty's Vineyard


Anna Jacobs - 2008
    But there is a condition attached to his legacy: she must live at the remote vineyard in a corner of Western Australia for at least one year.

Hurricane Beach (Southern Storms #1)


Lexie Nicholas - 2020
    They were also convinced they were soulmates—until the breakup. Can a hurricane threatening the Georgia Coast reunite the once high school sweethearts? With her disgruntled teenage daughter in tow, Anna, a recently divorced paramedic, has moved back to her hometown of Magnolia Hill to start over. Her priority is to heal the emotional wounds her now ex-husband had caused. She also needs to prove to herself that she is capable of providing for herself and her daughter on her own. Only by facing her inner demons and the people who’ve told her she's not worthy can she make room in her heart to love again.Two years after the fatal car accident that claimed his wife, Chief Meteorologist Jason Morrison is still grieving. However, when he collides with Anna at a community event, memories of his senior year resurface, and he can’t get her out of his mind. He invites Anna to tag along on an opportunity of a lifetime—to cover Hurricane Gerard’s landfall at Tybee Island—just as friends. Nothing ever goes as planned, though. Spending time together rekindles the familiar feelings they had for each other when they dated in high school nearly two decades ago. But they can't be together. He’s made a sacred promise. She has to learn to trust again. Will they find a way? If you enjoy clean romances with charming characters and a small-town feel, stories about second chances, and the excitement of stormy weather, then you’ll love Lexie Nicholas’s debut novel.

Back to the Burbs


Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolff
    

You're My Exception (Short and Sweet Book 2)


K.C. Mills - 2021
    

Being Hospitable


Meka James - 2019
    What she doesn’t expect is for her new roommate to become temptation in the form of novelty panties and flirty innuendos. But Charley is off limits…for several reasons.Charley Graham wants to be seen as more than her brother’s little sister. And she wants Kiki to do the seeing. Her new internship provides the perfect opportunity. Plan in motion, she’s not going to let their close living quarters go to waste.The arrangement is supposed to be temporary, but as they grow closer a permanent change of address might be in order.

Single by Saturday: By Catherine Bybee -- Review


Expert Book Reviews - 2014
    The strong protagonist, Karen Jones, has been married to Hollywood superstar Michael Wolfe for a year. A seemingly happy couple to the eyes of the public, their marriage is just a publicity stunt to hide Michael's secret gay lifestyle. Before Karen and her husband can go through with the amicable divorce they planned, her brother-in-law shows up with an ultimatum. Michael's family is demanding to meet his wife, and they are willing to make the trip to Hollywood from Utah if necessary. This review of "Single by Saturday" offers insightful opinions from experts, critics, and readers like you. Learn more about the author and her inspirations while determining if this story will meet your expectations. Zach Gardner, Michael's brother, wins the heart of readers and offers an interesting yet unexpected love interest for Karen. Bybee superbly illustrates her characters with believable strengths and flaws while weaving themes of family throughout the plot in "Single by Saturday." Gain more from this uplifting romance as you read this review alongside "Single by Saturday" for character revelations and alternative concepts you never considered.

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted


Jayne Allen - 2018
    Education? Check. Good job? Check. Down payment for a nice house? Check. Dating marriage material? Check, check, and check. With a coveted position as a local news reporter, a "paper-perfect" boyfriend, and even a standing Saturday morning appointment with a reliable hairstylist, everything seems to be falling into place.Then Tabby receives an unexpected diagnosis that brings her picture-perfect life crashing down, jeopardizing the keystone she took for granted: having children. With her dreams at risk of falling through the cracks of her checklist, suddenly she is faced with an impossible choice between her career, her dream home, and a family of her own.With the help of her best friends, the irreverent and headstrong Laila and Alexis, the mom jeans-wearing former "Sexy Lexi," and the generational wisdom of her grandmother and the nonagenarian firebrand Ms. Gretchen, Tabby explores the reaches of modern medicine and tests the limits of her relationships, hoping to salvage the future she always dreamed of. But the fight is all consuming, demanding a steep price that forces an honest reckoning for nearly everyone in her life. As Tabby soon learns, her grandmother's age-old adage just might still be true: Black girls must die exhausted.

Saving Jenna


Christina Butrum - 2018
    He had left once before, and nothing would stop him from leaving again. Coming back to West Grove was the last thing Ian wanted to do. If it hadn't been for the rental property, the small town would've never seen him again. Two weeks and he'd be gone. Until he sees Jenna Avery and realizes there's more than a house needing repaired. The only problem - Two weeks may not be enough time to save her.