Book picks similar to
A Portrait for Toni by Annette Lyon


romance
contemporary
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romantic

Save The Best For Last (Gen/Liv/Cesca Book 1)


Bettye Griffin - 2009
     THE LAW AND THE LADY . . . Graphic artist Genevieve L'Esperance has got it all together, even by tough New York standards: A thriving career, a spacious Upper East Side condo, even a sort-of boyfriend named Barry. But the one thing she *doesn't* have is something Americans take for granted . . . and if she's found out it'll mean the end of life as she knows it. And now the law is closing in on her . . . THE LADY AND THE LAWYER . . . Gen's friend Barry comes up with a solution and quickly moves her to a rented room uptown while he finalizes arrangements to keep her safe. While Gen is grateful to him, she can't help feeling that she's sold out her future. But then Barry's master plan gets delayed, and when she meets Dexter Gray, the struggling law student who occupies the other room on the floor, things *really* start to get complicated . . .

Wind Chime Café


Sophie Moss - 2014
    Hearing rumors that a developer is about to build a five-star resort on the sleepy Chesapeake Bay island, she plans to transform the café into a premier upscale bistro. But Annie’s life is about to get a lot more complicated.Back on Heron Island for the first time in ten years, Navy SEAL Will Dozier has no intention of selling his grandparents’ property to a developer. As he works on renovating the house and trying to find another buyer, he’s forced to face a painful reality—that he’s secretly struggling with PTSD. Determined to hide his troubles from the rest of the islanders, Will decides that a fling with the new girl is the perfect way to help him “get his head straight.” The last thing Will expects is to fall in love…with his hometown and with Annie. But Will’s life and career are in San Diego with the SEALs. Can Annie’s love and the healing magic of the island be enough to convince him to stay?

Body Double


Alane Hudson - 2013
    Two years ago, her fiancé failed to show up on the day of their wedding, forever changing her outlook on marriage. Now she’s being offered enough money to solve her financial woes in exchange for acting as proxy for another woman—Andrea's double—in her marriage to handsome and rich Blake Thomas. All Andrea has to do is play the part of the bride in the wedding and then share a two-week honeymoon in Hawaii with Blake.Old fears of being jilted resurface as the wedding day approaches. But after she meets the dashing groom, her ability to distance herself from the job becomes more challenging every day. Will Andrea be able to cash out of this arrangement with her heart intact when Blake’s new wife claims her place at his side?

Runaway Heart


Teresa Slack - 2013
    She’s never held onto a relationship for more than a few months, and she’s quit more jobs than most people apply for. Until Will Lachland. He’s the first man who ever made her think of getting serious about something, about putting down roots. But she can’t forget her mother’s ominous warning. Men are users. They take and take and leave nothing but a shell of who she's meant to be. Fear of losing her heart to anyone or anything has kept Kyla running all her life. This time she runs from Chicago to the family farm where she spent her happiest childhood summers. A new life and a new chance at romance seem like the answer to her prayers. But things are never as simple as they seem. Can she find the love she longs for even though she can’t forget Will? Or is something else, something greater, calling her heart toward home? This unpredictable Christian fiction romance full of surprises and humor will encourage readers while reminding them how much fun falling in love can be..

Challenging Andie


Sally Clements - 2012
    When his colleague Emily Harte is murdered, he feels responsible for her death, and travels to England to return Emily’s effects to her daughter.Bereaved, primary school teacher, Andie Harte has set herself a list of challenges to prove she can be as brave as her recently murdered mother, but when she’s hounded by the press the need to escape means she must accept help from Ryan. During their time in seclusion, attraction blossoms into an affair. Their relationship was only supposed to be a fling. When the time comes for Ryan to return to Bekostan, can she risk loving a thrillseeker, or is that a challenge too far?Ryan avoids love, knowing the pain losing it can bring. A life without Andie is sensible, but is it possible?

After We Break


Katy Regnery - 2014
    It is intended for readers 18+**

To the Sea


Deirdre Riordan Hall - 2014
    When her husband Jeremy dies in a car accident, loss casts her adrift, but her heart cracks wide open when she uncovers the secrets he left behind.Despite her dislike for the ocean with the whipping wind and itchy sand, Kira seeks solace in salt: tears, sweat, and the sea, helping her move beyond the myth of perfection, and guiding her toward the truth of who she really is.She takes surf lessons to overcome her fear of the water and her well of grief. In the local surf scene, she meets sultry Jamie, with a hot Australian accent. He’s eager to spend time with her, but mostly between the sheets. Then there’s soulful Ian, her surf instructor, who helps her get on her feet and ride the waves.During a transformative trip to South Africa on surfari, she learns the best way to be loved, yet when she returns to the shores of New England, grief continues to haunt her. She must let go, but how? Torn between the tides, Kira discovers strength and courage, navigates loss, lust, and love, taking readers along for the plunge.

Summer of Change


Elena Aitken - 2014
    And he wants her.Successful, handsome and too damn charming for his own good—he's perfect.The only problem? Letting him in could destroy everything she knows and loves.Samantha Burke loves her quiet close-knit community of Cedar Springs, just the way it is thank you very much.The addition of an upscale new resort as well as its arrogant owner, Trent Harrison, and the change they're both sure to bring to town, is certainly not welcome. As far as Sam's concerned, Trent can turn right around and go back to where he came from.That is, until one very hot—and completely unexpected—kiss changes everything. Now Trent is pushing his way into her town, and her life and it's getting harder and harder for Sam to deny the heat between them. Change is inevitable, but can either of them drop their guard long enough to accept it when there's so much on the line? Including the chance for love?

Promises to Keep


Nikki Sex - 2014
     When he’s unable to save the life of his wounded medic, the soldier's dying request is for Jack to personally deliver his wedding ring to Laura, his newlywed bride. He vows to do so the moment he returns home. Jack’s been through Hell on earth, while Laura’s a feisty, stubborn survivor of her own personal Hell. She's got a mind of her own, and she’s no victim—but what is she so afraid of? Despite their growing attraction, there’s just one thing the young widow doesn’t know about her husband’s death: Jack Curren is the one who got him killed.

Changes


Judith Arnold - 2014
    No one knows what classic rock songs will come out of the jukebox when a coin is inserted, but every now and then, the jukebox will play a song that casts a spell on two bar patrons—a song that will change their lives and open their hearts to love. Antiques dealer Diana Simms is engaged to her longtime boyfriend when she finds herself inside the Faulk Street Tavern. The song “Changes” emerges from the jukebox and enchants her. It also captivates Nick Fiore, a local guy who’s arrived at adulthood the hard way, after a tour through the juvenile justice system. Now he’s dedicated his life to helping other troubled kids. He has no business even looking at a beautiful, well-bred woman wearing a diamond engagement ring. But once they’re bewitched by the jukebox, he and Diana must change their lives, their goals, their dreams…and their hearts.

Across the Creek


Jeremy Asher - 2012
    An unlikely childhood romance between a poor boy and a wealthy girl began the day Jesse decided to do the impossible and cross the creek. A love was born, one that would become their shelter, protecting them from the storms of their lives, until the day Jesse witnessed his mother’s murder, forcing him to leave his childhood home…and first love. Ten years later, life has finally gotten better for Jesse. He has a loving family, a charming pet shop to run, and one semester left before graduating with a degree in architecture. Everything is great, until the day fate intervenes and his long-lost love walks into his shop and back into his life.Sarah, engaged to a budding attorney, is struggling to keep everything together. Her father, diagnosed with terminal cancer, is running out of time. Sarah races to build their dream business while planning her wedding in time for her father to walk her down the aisle.Their brief encounter starts a series of events that neither Jesse nor Sarah expects. After a decade of running, Jesse is now forced to face the demons from his past, while Sarah has to choose between her handsome attorney and her first love. Just when they think love has given them a second chance, Jesse is faced with an impossible decision, one that will change their lives forever.Across the Creek is the first in a 2-book series. Beneath the Willow is the second.

In The Now


Jennifer Ann Shore - 2020
    Scratch that. There are many reasons why I haven’t been home—family drama, small-town gossip, and my career probably take up the top three spots.But when my career stalls and I get devastating family news, I’m back to the very place I ran away from a decade ago. The last thing I want to do is pick up right where I left off, and as I'm drawn to Noah, my terrifyingly gorgeous high school bully, I know that things have certainly changed.I was supposed to run away and never look back, but I’m stuck dealing with my past and planning for the future. But all I want to do is live in the now.—“In The Now” is an enemies to lovers, second chance adult romance by Amazon bestseller Jennifer Ann Shore.

Close Your Eyes


Ellen Wolf - 2012
    As the younger of the two Harper brothers, Matt can enjoy his life of luxury and privileges to the fullest. After all, Ryan is the one who will inherit the family business. Matt doesn’t mind it in the slightest. His rebellious nature makes it an easy choice to step aside and let Ryan take the spotlight. His beloved older brother can have it all, as far as Matt is concerned.The only thing that makes Matt envy his brother is Megan’s love.Megan has always known she wanted to be with Ryan, ever since their school days. She is happy to be in a stable relationship with the most desired bachelor in town. Any day now, he might finally take the final step to solidify their future together. Becoming a member of the Harper family is everything she has ever wanted. Matt is a part of her life, too. His easy smile and mischievous nature make it difficult to keep him in the proper, brother-like category. As hard as she tries, it’s impossible to silence her stubborn heart. Could it be that behind Matt’s scandalous and “bad boy” attitude, something else is hiding, waiting to be discovered? Torn between the brothers, Megan is afraid to find out what it might be. Could Matt ever see her as something other than his brother’s girlfriend? Does he feel the same almost magnetic pull that makes it impossible for her to avoid him altogether? Only time will tell…

Feels like Home


Evelyn Adams - 2014
    But when her carefully constructed life crumbles around her, Autumn's forced to return to the small southern town that never let her forget she came from the wrong side of the tracks. Jude Southerland, the town doctor, is used to taking care of people and with a pedigree that has the Ladies Auxiliary reaching for their fans, he’s easily the town’s most eligible bachelor – a status he has no intention of changing. That is until he almost runs down the Maddox girl he never noticed in school and suddenly finds her lush curves, dark curls and blue eyes consuming his thoughts, day and night. Autumn would like nothing more than to live happily ever after with Jude. But with every local matron in the valley trying to marry him off to their own daughters, she knows they won’t let her forget that she's not good enough and never will be. With the chance to finally find happiness, can she overcome her family history and find the confidence she needs to believe in herself or will she let love pass her by?

Almost Never


Amy Lamont - 2018
     Son of an aging rock star, Declan Cooper is considered royalty on the Warren College campus. When he meets petite freshman Harper Warden, he dismisses her as just another groupie. He realizes his mistake pretty quickly, but despite his near-obsession with the premed student, he keeps his distance. The last thing she needs is the notoriety that comes along with being connected to his infamous family. Getting blown off by the sexy and popular King of Campus is the kiss of death for the new life Harper hoped to make for herself at college. Her only goal now is to get into medical school so she can leave her past, and Declan Cooper, far behind. But when the plans Harper made are threatened, Declan might be the only person who can help. All she has to do is trust him with a few small things—like her heart and her future.