Book picks similar to
Recipe for Love by Ruth Cardello


romance
ruth-cardello
contemporary
christmas

Cake


J. Bengtsson - 2016
    Surviving an unspeakable crime as a young teen had shaped him into a guarded workaholic, and he now lived his life trying to forget. If it hadn’t been for music and the redemption he found through it, he might not have survived. Career success came easily for him. Personal connections did not. When outspoken, vivacious college student Casey Caldwell was paired with the famously reserved rockstar for a friend’s wedding, she was prepared for the worst. What could they possibly have in common? She was a bubbly talker; he was a reclusive loner. His life was filled with music; she couldn’t carry a tune. She’d enjoyed a happy childhood; his was a well-publicized nightmare. Yet despite their obvious differences, Jake and Casey found each other, and her light balanced out his darkness. Would their love be strong enough to survive the weight of his tragic past? AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a *full-length* standalone romance. Cake is a love story at heart but does deal with a sensitive topic and may not be for all. Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of eighteen.*This novel was professionally re-edited on June 28th, 2016*

Breaking Braydon


M.K. Harkins - 2015
    Scarred and humiliated as a teenager, he pledged long ago to never trust a beautiful woman again. But then he never imagined meeting one quite like Jain Parker. Jain, a dedicated medical research scientist, learned early in college that her good looks were a hindrance and she’d have to tone down her beauty to be taken seriously, thus, Plain Jain was born, and men were no longer an issue. Of course, she didn’t count on running into Braydon Decker. A successful venture capitalist, Braydon holds the key to whether Jain’s research company sinks or swims. When the two are forced to work together on a fundraising campaign, they’re instantly drawn to one another, despite their individual vows to remain unattached. As they navigate unchartered waters, their inability to trust wages war with their desire to love. Hearts are broken and trust is shattered when betrayal and lies are revealed. Will the truth bring them healing and forgiveness, or will it be too late? Breaking Braydon offers readers an emotional, compelling story filled with heartwarming humor, romance, heartbreak and love.

Shy Girls Write it Better


May Sage - 2016
    She isn't an executive, she isn't sexy, or otherwise noticeable, but the girl is cute - in a helpless, unique sort of way.He can't pretend to say she ever crosses his mind, though... Until the day he finds the manuscript she worked on during her lunch hour.Shy girls write it better is an adult romance with explicit content. Standalone novella ending on a happily for now note.

Cold As January


Katie Graykowski - 2018
     January Jenkowski’s life just became complicated. She’s pregnant and when she tells the baby’s father that he’s about to become a daddy again, he hangs up on her. In that moment of dead air, January finally realizes that Dr. Giles Nixon never loved her. She was just a pleasant distraction and now she’s no longer amusing. If he doesn’t want to be a part of his child’s life, she doesn’t want him around. She blocks his number and tells her employees that he’s no longer allowed in her bar. Even the doorman at her condo knows not to let him in. She cuts the man she thought she loved completely out of her life. Dr. Giles Nixon can’t get to January and it’s driving him crazy. When January told him she was pregnant, his phone dropped the call. Now, he can’t get close enough to her to tell her how he really feels about the baby and a possible life with her. Worrying over her is consuming his life. He can’t sleep or work or seem to make it five minutes without thinking about her. When he finds out that January has moved on with her life, he redoubles his efforts to see her. January’s bought a new house. Finally after convincing a mutual friend that he really cares about January, she offers to give him the address, but only after he’s gotten his life together. Now that January has thrown herself into remodeling her new house, she’s almost convinced herself that she’s over Giles. Looking back, she realizes that their relationship was very one sided. She loved him, but he didn’t love her. When Giles knocks on her door and refuses to take no for an answer, January will have to decide if she’s willing to risk her heart on a second chance at love. Fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Rachel Gibson won’t want to miss this laugh out loud funny book.

Dreams Come True Boxed Set


Emma Nichols - 2016
    Meet the billionaire playboys from Montreal: Gabriel, Sebastian, and Ben. Their lives have been a fairy tale, both charmed and tragic. Only love can heal and help them find balance. Read their stories, in the contemporary retellings of Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin. Book One: First a Dream Her life had never been a fairy tale. Adopted at birth, Isabella never felt like she fit in. All she ever wanted was a happy family and a love of her own. When she suddenly became a single mother of two, her life changed for the worst until she ran into a handsome stranger. A billionaire playboy, Gabriel had lived a charmed life. Never one to settle down, he didn’t understand why he was drawn to this woman he knew his father would never accept. Still, one date leads to another and suddenly he had the life he never knew he always wanted. Together, their life was perfect, until the lies were exposed. Then, their happily ever after couldn’t be further away. Book Two: Second Chances For as long as he could remember, Sebastian had been cursed. It began with the tragic death of his parents when he inherited the modern art gallery. It continued every day when he looked in the mirror and saw a monster where a man should be. He’d tried everything without success. Then he happened upon her, his cure, the one who could give him a second chance at life, love and happiness. After years of repairing what her father destroyed during his drunken rampages, opening a shop for repurposed and redesigned furniture seemed a natural progression for Marisa. When Sebastian hired her, she finally had a chance to get paid to do what she’d done for years for free. It seemed like a win, until he proposed. The moment they met, Sebastian was drawn to her. Of course, losing everything in thirty days if he didn’t marry was a huge incentive. So he asked and she refused. An experienced negotiator, he never gave up when he had his heart set on something. For Marisa, marriage wasn’t on the table and love wasn’t negotiable. Still, always quick to see the best in others, she looked at him and saw a project, her ultimate redesign. Maybe even Sebastian deserved a second chance. Book Three: Three Wishes With his gift for storytelling and his degree in film making, his plan had always been to see the world. A semester from finishing his graduate degree, Ben was assigned to make a dying girl’s wish come true. If he could hold it together, he might just fulfill one of his own. The problem was he’d never been good with kids and even less comfortable with beautiful women. Life hadn’t been easy for Charlie after being kicked out of her parent’s house and dumped by her boyfriend when she refused to have an abortion. Now, six years later, Charlie’s daughter had leukemia and all she wanted was the same thing she’d wanted since she took the pregnancy test so long ago: for her baby to live. After two long years of treatment, and news it hadn’t helped, Olivia had one last wish: to leave a legacy for her mother. As she worked on the documentary with Ben, it seemed to be working and Olivia felt better than she had in a very long time. Then the father she’d never met showed up. Three people. Three wishes. One chance to make all their dreams come true.

The Christmas Blanket


Kandi Steiner - 2020
    I haven't been home in four years, not since I left this town with my eyes set on adventure.And my heart set on forgetting the only man I’ve ever loved.River Jensen -- my ex-husband.I don't plan on seeing him during my visit. I definitely don't plan on him saving me when my little rental car slides off the icy road. And the last thing I could have ever prepared for is being stuck in a tiny cabin with him, waiting out the storm.Four years have passed since I've seen him -- the boy I loved, now a man I don't know at all. But being stuck inside with him leaves us nothing but time together.Everything about him has changed, and yet, he still has the same forest green eyes that have haunted me since I left. Back then, we were at an impasse. Back then, there was nothing left to talk about, nothing left to fix. Back then, the only choice I had was to leave and start anew.But the more I re-discover the man I left behind, the more I question why I ever left at all.And if I’m too late to find my way back home. The Christmas Blanket is a stand-alone holiday novella set in a snowy small town in Vermont.

Ready to Fall


Daisy Prescott - 2013
    With rugged good looks, his ever present plaid shirt, and a dog named Babe, John is a modern alpha male lumberjack.After his favorite neighbor rents out her beach cabin for the winter, John finds himself playing tour guide to Diane Watson, a beautiful brunette with her own messy past and recent battle scars.Will he be ready to fall in love? Or will he go back to his old, flirty ways?Hold onto your heart as John Day tells his story in this male POV contemporary adult romance/romantic comedy.Ready to Fall is the first novel in the Wingmen series of standalone, lighthearted small town romances set in the Pacific Northwest. Each book can be read without having read the previous titles.

Christmas at Whitefriars


Jill Steeples - 2018
    That’s until she finds herself in the depths of the English countryside working for celebrity chef, Rocco di Castri. Not only has she to deal with his legendary moods, but she has to contend with his prickly girlfriend, international supermodel, Pandora, and his best friend, the rock guitarist, Zak Stranger. Struggling with her feelings of rejection and loss, Beth finds a new sense of contentment in the country and despite herself develops a fanciful crush on her boss, Rocco.When her ex turns up unexpectedly, Beth’s certain he must want a reconciliation, but there’s unsettling news which causes Beth to question her own needs and desires.There’s even more upsetting news for Beth when she learns that Pandora and Rocco are to be engaged. Heartbroken, Beth flees the country to go back to her old life. But will she ever find true love of her own and how will she ever get over the man who has stolen her heart?

Whiskey Prince


Toni Aleo - 2014
    Having been caretaker to her for most of her teenage years, Amberlyn is inexperienced in many aspects of life. She hasn’t had time to live, have fun, or enjoy even the little things. It’s only when a letter from her mother, asking her to fulfill three things, sends her off to Ireland to live a life she never thought possible that she begins to heal.Declan O’Callaghan was born and raised in Ireland and has his family’s legendary whiskey in his veins. He’s shy and not a fan of the pressure and spotlight that comes with his family name, or the title he was given at birth—the Whiskey Prince. Declan knows just what he wants and that is to take over the family dynasty, but when his father gives him an ultimatum, everything he’s worked for could come undone in the blink of an eye.With six months to get married, the reclusive Declan spots Amberlyn across a lake and instantly feels the need to know her. Soon, the two find themselves traveling down a path neither expected. However, like any road, there are bumps and side streets to derail them. Can Declan help find the pieces that will make Amberlyn whole again? And will Amberlyn stay or run when she learns of Declan’s deadline of marriage?

Hope For Christmas


Becky McGraw - 2015
    This novella launches The Cowboy Way series. Cord Dixon, Mr. Laramie in the world of western clothing modeling, loses his job because he refuses to sleep with his female boss. Christmas is coming, and his bills are due, so he takes the only job he can find. A mall Santa. Socialite wedding photographer, Hope Carlisle’s life disintegrates when she ruins the wedding of the year. In one fell swoop, she loses her best friend, her business partner and her fiancé. Unemployed and needing a job fast, Hope takes a job as an elf photographer at the local mall. She is not looking forward to her new job, until she meets her sexy Santa. Individually, Hope and Cord’s lives seem to be a hopeless mess. But with the magic of Christmas in the air, they work together to reclaim their lives and find love in the process.

Play Dead


Avery Cockburn - 2017
    He’s ready for his big comeback on the football pitch and can’t wait to return to a normal life—especially the rampaging sex he and his boyfriend, Lord Andrew, once indulged in.But Andrew has his own invisible wounds. Each day the memories of that near-fatal attack tighten their grip on his mind. Yet he must stay strong for the man he loves, the man who almost died to save him.Colin knows something’s wrong. The more questions he asks, the more Andrew hides behind his aristocratic stiff upper lip. A surprise turn of events may give them the justice they crave, but will it be enough?When Andrew finally breaks down—in typically spectacular fashion—he must learn to trust like never before. And Colin must learn there’s more than one kind of strength.Because with a love as mad as theirs, there’s no such thing as normal.Note: Play Dead features the heroes of Playing to Win, but like all Glasgow Lads books, it may be read as a stand-alone story.

Gemini


Penelope Ward - 2013
    After he abruptly leaves the restaurant, she can’t get him out of her head.She has no idea that he had actually come on a mission to find her.Cedric Callahan wasn’t expecting to fall in love at first sight with the pretty waitress he’d set out to find. In fact, she was the last woman on Earth he should be having feelings for. But his selfish heart had other plans. Feeling compelled to know her before revealing himself, he makes her believe their meetings are coincidental. After a passionate romance ignites, Cedric’s lies and secrets are finally revealed, changing both of their lives forever.