Book picks similar to
Designing Samantha's Love by P.J. Fiala


great-read
mature
contemporary-romance
second-chance

That Unforgettable Kiss


Tamara Ferguson - 2014
    So men have always been merely a distraction for Kate; she just doesn’t have time for love.Until fate steps in by way of a prophecy foretold, years ago, by a friend who’d been blessed with a remarkable gift. Kate has been warned that, one day, she’ll be kissed by fate. And love will happen with that unforgettable kiss.Michael Murphy already has his life mapped out. After graduating with his degree in Architecture, he’ll be working at a prestigious firm in Chicago. When he arrives in the town of Crystal Rock to serve as an intern at Callahan Construction, the last thing he expects is his instant attraction to lovely crew boss, Kate Callahan.Kate’s immediately drawn to Murphy, too. And sparks fly when they unite in an attempt to discover the identity of the thief who’s been stealing construction materials from her family’s company.But how could a long-term relationship between them ever survive? They’re both young, with different dreams and goals. So even after their unforgettable kiss, Kate lets Murphy go.Six years later, Kate’s finally admitted her mistake; she’s just never been able to forget that kiss. Devastated when she learns that Michael Murphy’s become engaged, Kate comes up with a plan to try to win him back. But will she be too late?

Meridian File


C.B. Samet - 2018
    He wants an uncomplicated assignment. As a celebrity stalker targets Aurora Meridian, the Rider team--Mason and Maxine--are drawn into the sinister underworld of the Russian mafia. Aurora and Mason fight for their lives and each other while Maxine Rider discovers the lines she must cross and the sacrifices to be made to keep her client and her team safe.

Dirty Tactics


Peyton Banks - 2018
     Marcas MacArthur was as tough as they come. The former Navy Seal had dedicated his life to lead the elite Columbia SWAT team and had no time for relationships. He had two reasons. Putting his life on the line daily would be too much to ask any woman to deal with, and she would be a distraction. But when the new neighbor next door moved in, she captured his attention. Sarena Rucker was an emergency room nurse who had a thing for men in uniforms. The single sergeant who lived next door made her knees weak. Decked out in his tactical gear, he was the perfect package—sexy, rugged, intense—and he loved to be in charge. One night together and their lives changed forever. Sarena had got under his skin, and Marcas couldn’t get enough of her. Everything was perfect until Marcas learned of the target on Sarena’s back because of her connection to him. He would do anything to protect her. Will he be able to save her in time, or will he lose the one who gave him hope for the future?Dirty Tactics is a steamy interracial romance for readers over 18 years and older.

As Deep as the Ocean


Serenity Woods - 2017
    “To save the vineyard. It’ll be strictly business.”He’s right, Winifred (Fred) Cartwright thought. It was just a contract, a way to access the money tied up in her inheritance. It didn’t mean anything.She mustn’t think about his broad shoulders. About the intriguing tattoo that curled around his arm, how his muscular body gleamed when he worked in the warm sunshine, or how his ocean-blue eyes heated her from the inside out. She mustn’t think about the stolen kiss, the way he’d slipped his arm around her waist to pull her against him. The soft touch of his lips on hers.“It’ll be strictly business,” he repeated.Yeah, right.

For the Fight


Leah Ashton - 2018
    He’s a SWAT team operator who broke her heart.The gunman holding them hostage? He’s got no idea who he’s dealing with...Luella Brayshaw doesn’t think when she sees Nate Rivers, twelve years since he walked away. She just feels – all the hurt, and all the heat – and she runs. But by the time her brain clicks into gear she’s on a random train, with Nate – and that’s when it all goes very, very wrong.Driven and dedicated, Elite SWAT tactical operator Nate Rivers knows he made the right decision all those years ago. Although it’s hard to remember why with Lou right in front of him, all strong, gorgeous and justifiably furious with him.But then a gunman takes their carriage hostage… and suddenly the past doesn’t matter. Now it’s up to Nate and Lou – unarmed - to save everyone on that train.When their past and present collide, passion ignites – as hot and as powerful as a decade before. But can the mistakes of the past be forgiven? Or will they destroy any chance of a future together?** For the Fight is the first book in the Elite SWAT series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliff-hanger endings. For the Fight was previously published as Undaunted (WASP Team #1).

Man of the Moment


Thea Dawson - 2018
    is here to serve.Tired of being the "cute one" in a family of glamorous people, Annabelle Winter decides to hire a gorgeous man from the Gentlemen, Inc. Agency to be her date at a big family event. Just once, she wants to be the envy of every woman in the room.And with Archer Carleson at her side, she is.Archer, a struggling actor in Los Angeles, doesn't mind making a wallflower like Annabelle look good for an evening—he's getting paid, after all, and it's a chance to further hone his acting skills. But when he realizes that Annabelle's family could hold the key to his career, he decides to take their professional relationship to a personal level.His attempts to boost his career by charming Annabelle backfire, however, when he begins to fall for her. Archer will have to decide which means more to him: Annabelle—or a shot at stardom.

Billionaire's Unexpected Bride


Alexis Winter - 2021
    “We can’t pretend like they haven’t.”I don’t break rules. EVER.1. NEVER mix business with pleasure.2. DON’T put my job in jeopardy.3. Absolutely do NOT fall in love with a client.Guess I should say . . . I didn’t break them, until I met my new billionaire client, Drake Slade.Arrogant, rude, hated by everyone in town, and 100% NOT my type.The day my perfect LA life was uprooted to move to middle-of-frickin’-nowhere Colorado was the day I was convinced my life was over.Raise and promotion be damned, what good is it if the only place in town is a Dollar Store?But here I am, wearing a denim skirt and cowboy boots, rootin’ and scootin’ my way around town, and square dancing my way into Drake’s bed.Don’t worry, I have a plan. Sort of.He’s just a little distraction to make my time here pass. After I get the town to love him, I can move back to LA.Now I just need to convince my heart . . .

I See...Love


Annalisa Nicole - 2015
    One life-altering tragedy... Three survivors. Each of the Mason siblings takes the outcome of the devastation three completely different ways.When you are born, you’re born a blank canvas. Over time, sadness and heartbreak leave deep scars. Loss and sorrow carve irreparable cracks into that canvas. Love is like paint, it colors your heart and fills in every scar, every wound that life has left behind.River Mason has never led an easy life. He and his younger sister were involved in a horrific car accident that tragically took the lives of both of their parents. Sadly, losing his parents wasn’t the only thing he lost that day; with that came bitterness and anger toward himself, the world, and everyone in it.His number one rule: Never let anyone in…He’s determined to keep his heart closed to the possibility of love because that would be weakness and for River weakness is never allowed.Joss Meyer is perfectly happy in her existence. She and her best friend, Nina, have been each other’s constant since the fifth grade, sharing every experience of their lives. After opening their own personal chef business together, the last thing on Joss’ mind is a man. She stays focused on her career, and her carefree life.But life doesn’t always go as planned….When Joss meets River, he turns her world upside down. She finds herself willing to sacrifice her heart to be with a man who only promises to hurt her in the end. Sometimes the road less traveled is a chance worth taking….Is it better to end up hurt, than to never have loved in the first place? The decision is black and white, but how you feel isn’t. Can one truly see…love?

Mending His Past


Kristen Iten - 2020
    Now, he’s rebuilding the storm-damaged Wounded Warrior Rescue in the seaside town of Liberty Cove. But he’s counting the days until he can put the small-town life behind and get lost in the big city.While in town, a German shepherd from the rescue begins to break through his defenses. But nothing can prepare him for the moment he comes face-to-face with the woman he left behind ten years ago. He wants to love her like she deserves, but fears he’s forgotten how.Olivia Malone once had big-city dreams of her own, but becoming a single mom changed her priorities in a hurry. Now, she has no desire to take her young daughter away from the idyllic town she grew up in, even though work is hard to come by.Her love for her daughter demands that she take any honest job she can find, even if it means treading dangerously close to a ghost from her past — a tall, dark, and handsome ghost. Their chemistry is just as red hot as ever, but she must consider more than her own desires these days.Olivia's been down the road of rejection more than once and has her walls firmly in place! Her daughter is her world, and she can’t risk breaking either of their hearts by inviting a man into their lives whose main goal seems to be leaving her behind… again.War taught him it’s better not to feel. Failed relationships taught her it’s better not to trust. Things heat up at the Wounded Warrior Rescue when Trent and Olivia must decide if taking a second chance at love is worth the risk.

Ruff House


Mellie Callahan - 2019
    She was the reason he stayed. Therapist Katie Mitchell’s dream to buy the property she’s leasing is finally within her reach. After losing her husband and high school sweetheart, the safe haven she intends to build will honor his memory – and ease the guilt she’s felt for years – in their hometown of Tradition, Texas. With funds in hand, the expansion of her animal-centered non-profit seems like a sure thing until a sexy stranger steps foot on her land, right in the way of her plans – and her life in a way that she isn’t ready for.Ex-Marine businessman Troy Montgomery is searching for an answer to the question left by his brother’s journal when he finds the perfect property for his foundation’s equine retreat. He wants it instantly – just like he wants the feisty woman who lives there. She speaks to the damaged cowboy beneath his polished exterior. But the more he pursues, the more he realizes she might hold the key to answers he doesn’t want – and a change he may not be ready to make.This means war. Or cohabitation. Or maybe healing for them both.

The Sweetest Match


Abby Tyler - 2020
    Abby Tyler welcomes you to the witty, well-meaning busybodies of Applebottom, Missouri, where the community takes its pies -- and its matchmaking -- very seriously. When Sandy Miller emerges from her shack on the edge of town after eighteen years, she finds a job making tea cakes for a little shop on Town Square.But then everyone starts spotting secret words of love and longing on her cakes.Andrew McCallister is the first to admit that he never got over Sandy Miller when she dropped out of high school and disappeared. But now she’s back.He just has to get the guts to talk to her.When the town summons the pair to a meeting to plan the school’s centennial bash, Andrew and Sandy discover they are the only two members of the committee. As they attempt to rekindle the long-lost flame, they realize the community must come together for more than an anniversary party. For their new relationship to flourish, the old guard must learn to support their most vulnerable members even when times get hard.

Seaside Sweets


Melissa Chambers - 2018
    He's got a big one.After her ex runs up her credit card, clears her bank account, and gets her fired, Seanna Perry makes her escape to the quaint beach town of Seaside, Florida. The houses are pastel, the ocean air heaven, and the men hot as the Gulf Coast sun…one in particular. But while paying the price, literally, for the last man she trusted with her heart, she’s not interested in any sort of beach romance, or so she keeps reminding herself.Living in the idyllic coastal paradise of the 30A area hasn’t eased Blake Evans’ guilt over what went down three years ago. He can’t stop blaming himself, and certainly none of his wonderful friends can ever find out what happened. Blake’s done a good job of keeping romantic feelings toward any women at bay, and he needs to keep it that way. But when Seanna begins to show him how to live again, he finds himself struggling to keep his guard up. Seaside Sweets is book one in the Love Along Highway 30A series, which features beautiful beach communities, a circle of unique and amazing friends, and romances that will have you cheering on the couples and fanning yourself from the heat. All books are standalone and can be enjoyed in or out of order.

Royally Matched


Mckenna James - 2020
    I have little dealings with women in general, so I hire a matchmaker to vet some candidates.Then one evening, in a room filled with suitable future queens, I discover her.Lisabet Olinescu.The haunting notes emanating from her cello, that gorgeous mane flowing wildly down her back, those deeply expressive eyes—they awaken something in my soul.She brings colors to my world I’ve never seen before, and I know I must have her.The fact that she’s not interested in becoming a queen is but a minor detail.I’ll stop at nothing to make her mine.And who knows? Maybe she is fiery enough to melt my stone cold heart.

Claimed Bride


Linzi Basset - 2018
     Penelope was not having a good week. First her newly minted ‘Ex’husband (she was going to get a t-shirt made) decided to drive off into the sunset (literally) and left her in a pile of shit (figuratively). She’d barely put some dirt on it (actually), when the most gorgeous man on planet Earth showed up and opened his stupid mouth. Alexander Sinclair—billionaire extraordinaire, real estate mogul, one part of Rogues of Manhattan trio, and all parts wrong for her! “I need a wife . . . and I don’t do pretend, Penelope.” Alex was not having a good week (either). First, his star employee took millions of investors’ money to his grave, leaving Alex to deal with a bloody mess. It got worse (liar!) when he went hunting for the wicked Mrs. Carver, but found a delicious little fire-cracker instead. Alex took one look at Penny and bid adieu to his brain (the one in his head at any rate!). How else could he explain his insane attraction for this sinfully-sexy-potentially-deceptive-caveman-invoking woman? Sparks fly as the Penny and Alex clash in a battle of wills . . . and tangle of limbs (you’ll see). But the Houdini embezzler is still at large and Alex will stop at nothing to keep Penny safe in his arms . . . as his claimed bride. Editor’s Note: Bring out the #PornCoc. Your week just got better!

Love at Coco Bay


Kirsty McManus - 2021
    With a recent promotion from receptionist to co-assistant manager—not to mention the ongoing opportunity to live and work with her best friends—everything is perfect.Well, except for one tiny thing. Sasha has never had much luck in the boyfriend department, and the only guy she’s ever been interested in is event planner Dash, a Channing Tatum lookalike who is oblivious to her affections.But when a resort guest insists that Sasha work with Dash on an upcoming wedding, they are suddenly thrust into a three-month-long high-pressure environment. Sasha can no longer hide from Dash, and Dash has no option but to get to know Sasha.As expected, things get off to a rocky start, and when a mystery investor arrives at the island, the situation only gets worse. Sudden changes in the corporate hierarchy and bizarre managerial decisions mean that not only the wedding, but the entire resort’s future is in jeopardy.Can Sasha survive the chaos, make the wedding a success, and end up with her dream guy?She’s going to try.