Book picks similar to
Second Rate Chances by Holly Stephens


romance
new-adult
contemporary
contemporary-romance

Avoiding Commitment


K.A. Linde - 2012
    Linde…Jack and Lexi never had a typical relationship.After two years without speaking, Lexi receives a phone call that changes everything. Jack wants her to convince his new girlfriend that he's ready to commit.He's calling now, after everything they had been through, because there's another woman. She can't believe it.And yet she goes.For closure.Not to try to win him back. Definitely not.

Trust in Advertising


Victoria Michaels - 2010
    After putting everything on hold to care for her ailing father, it’s finally time for her to start living her life again. An exciting new job holds the promise of a fresh start, until she comes face to face with someone from her past who has always stopped her dead in her tracks, and who evidently still has the power to make her forget her own name. This time around, Lexi’s a grown woman who refuses to back away from her dreams, even if it requires working with her old high school crush. Side by side. Every day. Will he end up being her downfall or exactly what she needs? Vincent doesn’t even remember Lexi from high school, but he begins to take notice when the fiery young woman is hired as his new assistant. Quickly, Lexi turns his world upside down and becomes an invaluable addition not only to his team, but to his life. Having learned a few hard lessons about trust in the past, Vincent is reluctant to let down his guard, especially when it appears that someone is out to sabotage his family’s advertising agency. Professionally, they are dynamite together, but when sparks fly between them personally, will Vincent let lies and jealousy ruin everything between them, or will he finally learn not only how to love, but ultimately trust...in advertising?

On a Tuesday


Whitney G. - 2017
    Became best friends, then lovers, on a Tuesday. And everything fell apart on a Tuesday... Charlotte Taylor has three automatic strikes in my book: 1) She hates me. She also claims that I'm a "domineering jerk with a huge, overbearing ego." (I do have something huge. It's not my ego, though.) 2) She takes our mandatory tutoring sessions way too seriously. 3) She's sexy as hell...And a virgin. At least, those were her strikes before our study sessions started lasting longer than they were supposed to. Until one innocent kiss became a hundred dirty ones, and until she became the first woman I ever fell hard for. Our future together after graduation was supposed to be set: Professional football for me. Law school for her. But she left me at the end of the semester with no explanation, and then she completely disappeared from my life. Until tonight.We met on a Tuesday. Became everything, then nothing, on a Tuesday. And now it's seven years later, on a Tuesday... **This is a full length second chance romance, inspired by Adele's "When We Were Young"**

Wait for Me


Tia Louise - 2019
    Her brother Sawyer would kick my ass if he knew how many times we made out that summer, how close we got.Everything changed when Sawyer and I joined the military.We were honorably discharged, but I didn’t go to her.Instead, I went back to the city… where no amount of money, no amount of pills can heal this wound.Only her whiskey eyes and dark hair, her slim arms and her sweet scent, give me hope. I broke her heart just as surely as I broke mine, but I’m going back to make it right.If she’s still waiting… (WAIT FOR ME is a STAND-ALONE second-chance, military romance with a guaranteed HEA. No cheating. No cliffhangers.)

When Forever Changes


Siobhan Davis - 2018
    Perhaps I did, but I subconsciously chose to ignore them. From the time I was ten, when I first met Dylan, I knew he was my forever guy. Back then, I couldn’t put words to what I was feeling, but, as the years progressed, I came to recognize it for what it was—soul-deep love. The kind only very few people ever get to experience. Dylan was more than just my best friend, my childhood sweetheart, my lover. He was my soul mate. We were carved from the same whole—destined to be together forever. Until he changed. And I believed I was no longer good enough. Until he shattered me so completely, it felt like I ceased to exist. And I’d never experienced such heart-crushing pain. Until he leveled me a second time, and I truly wanted to die. But I had to stay strong because I wasn’t alone in this cruel twist of fate. I look to the sky, pleading with the stars, begging someone to tell me what I should do because I don’t know how to deal with this. I don’t know how to cope when my forever has changed, and I can’t help wondering if I had seen the signs earlier, if I’d pushed him, would it have been enough to save us? Or had fate already decided to alter our forever? Due to mature content and potential triggers this book is only recommended to readers over the age of eighteen.

Falling into Infinity


Layne Harper - 2013
    A chance meeting with A&M’s star quarterback Colin McKinney changes everything. A friendship between the two grows over time and blossoms into a powerful love affair. Charlie and Colin must learn to cope with his transition to playing professional football, the crushing attention of the media, and constant demands of his fans. At the same time, she’s struggling with how her dream of attending medical school will fit into their already stressed relationship and Colin’s new life. Falling Into Infinity asks the question is just loving someone enough to make a relationship work?

The Stranger I Married


Sylvia Day - 2007
    . .The Marquess of Grayson never felt a twinge of guilt when he stole the beautiful Lady Pelham right out from under his best friend's nose. After all, they were well matched in all things--their sensual appetites, wicked wits, provocative reputations, and their absolute refusal to ruin their marriage of convenience by falling in love. But then a shocking turn of events sent her roguish husband from her side. Four years later, he has returned a powerful, irresistible man who is determined to seduce his way into her affections. No, this is not at all the man she married. But he is the man who might finally steal her heart. . ."Day plays on sensual themes with a lush grace." --RT Book Reviews

Calico


Callie Hart - 2016
     Port Royal, South Carolina, was my home. I was born there. I fell in love there. And I nearly died there. I never thought I’d go back. Now, after so many years, I have to return to bury the man who made my life a living hell. Some nights, I used to cry myself to sleep, praying my father would die. Other nights were different. Other nights, there was him. Callan Cross. My first confidante. My first kiss. My first love. My first everything: Callan was the glue that held me together when everything else was falling apart. He was my savior. He was there for me whenever I needed him… Until he wasn’t. Every night, I’ve seen the love of my life in my sleep. I just never thought I’d have to face him again. Callan Twelve years ago, I f*#@ed up big time. Living life through a camera lens is sometimes easier than dealing with it head on. Scratch that. It’s always easier. For over a decade, I’ve been a master of my art, taking photographs all over the world. Yet despite all of the countries I’ve visited, the amazing things I’ve seen, the beautiful women I’ve screwed, my heart has remained in pieces. Coralie’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, will ever love. And I’m determined to show her that we’re meant to be together. Even if it means unearthing the bones of the past in the process. A lifetime and a thousand miles have stood between us. Now, there’s no length of time I won’t wait, no distance I won’t travel, in order to make her mine.

Now and Then


Brenda Rothert - 2013
    But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma.Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then.

Kiss and Break Up


Ella Fields - 2019
     Dashiell Thane wasn’t a nice guy. He was an abrasive, demanding, conniving, intolerable brat. Yet somehow, we’d been best friends our whole lives. Until our senior year when I finally decided to dip my toes into the dating pool. All it took was one kiss for jealousy, lies, and betrayal to sweep in and propel us heart first into dizzying, hostile depths. You’re not supposed to kiss your best friend. You’re definitely not supposed to kiss your best friend while you’re dating someone else. And the absolute worst thing you could do is fall for your best friend. Unless, of course, you want to ruin everything.

This is Falling


Ginger Scott - 2014
    Then, I had to learn how to survive. Two years, three months and sixteen days had passed since I was the Rowe Stanton from before, since tragedy stole my youth and my heart went along with it. When I left for college, I put a thousand miles between my future and my past. I’d made a choice—I was going to cross back to the other side, to live with the living. I just didn’t know how. And then I met Nate Preeter. An All-American baseball player, Nate wasn’t supposed to notice a ghost-of-a-girl like me. But he did. He shouldn’t want to know my name. But he did. And when he learned my secret and saw the scars it left behind, he was supposed to run. But he didn’t. My heart was dead, and I was never supposed to belong to anyone. But Nate Preeter had me feeling, and he made me want to be his. He showed me everything I was missing. And then he showed me how to fall. *This is a standalone in a three-part series that will focus on different characters. Each book can be read on its own.

Broken Miles


Claire Kingsley - 2018
    I could feel it happening. Like she was gently unbuttoning the collar of a shirt that fit too tight.”Single-minded drive earned Roland Miles success—and cost him his first love. When his marriage to Zoe ended, he did the only thing he knew. He dove into work to put his heartbreak behind him.Zoe Sutton’s life hasn’t exactly gone to plan. She certainly didn’t plan on losing Roland or moving home to work for his family’s winery. Four years after their divorce, she wonders if her chance at happily ever after is behind her.After discovering his family might lose their land, Roland comes home to help sort out the mess. But between his brothers’ antics, a baby sister who’s all grown up, and a father keeping secrets, complicated isn’t even the half of it.And then there’s Zoe.He didn’t come home looking for a second chance with her. But the more time they spend together, the more he realizes what they lost. What they could have again.Because the truth is, they broke each other’s hearts. And maybe they’re the only ones who can put them back together.Author’s note: A stoic hero who’s soft on the inside. A sassy heroine who doesn’t take any sh*t. Messy family. Lots of shenanigans. Mattress burning bonfires. And a second chance at love with a big HEA.The Miles Family series are best enjoyed in order.

Intentional


M.K. Harkins - 2013
    But their perfect love disintegrates when Mattie discovers evidence of Jeremy's massive betrayal.With her heart in pieces, Mattie flees to Mercer Island, Washington intent to start over. Everything was going according to plan - until she meets Cade.Tattooed engineer by day, lead singer in a rock band at night, Cade has experienced his own brand of pain with the loss of his college sweetheart. As their friendship deepens, it ignites a new flame within Mattie, soothing the constant heartache for her former fiancée.Just when Mattie thinks she may have found another stab at happiness, Jeremy reenters her life, and with him, all the crushing memories. It's soon clear, though, that the trauma from her past may not be quite what it first seemed. Will the truth bring closure and a new beginning - or will it mean the end of both relationships forever?Offering a rarely-before-seen glimpse into the heart and mind of a romantic villain, audiences will find a welcome reprieve from the typical romance novel.

On the Rocks


Kandi Steiner - 2019
    It's what the town said when his father died and the Becker brothers went wild. And it's on repeat in my mind the day I walk into the whiskey distillery where he works to buy a wedding gift for my fiancé.He's trouble. Dirty, sweaty, rude trouble. No matter how many times I repeat it, I can't escape Noah in our small Tennessee town. And the more I run into him, the more he infuriates me. Because he sees what no one else does.He sees me—the real me. The me I'm not sure I'm allowed to be.I'm Ruby Grace Barnett, the mayor's daughter. Soon to be a politician's wife, just like Mama and Daddy always wanted. Soon to fulfill my family's legacy, just like I always knew I would.Until the boy everyone warned me about makes me question everything, like whether the wedding I'm planning is one I even want. Everyone says Noah Becker is nothing but trouble.If only I had listened.

Friends With Benedicts


Staci Hart - 2021
    Their high school summers were spent wrapped up in each other until she would inevitably go home to California. One season after college, Sebastian finally escaped the little Texas town to travel the world, and they said goodbye for what they thought might be the last time.Sebastian went one way. Presley went the other. For the first time in five years, they’re both in town, but the timing is no better than ever. So the only thing to do is what they do best. Keep it casual. Friends with benefits. They’ve done it before—doing it again will be easy.But their hearts don’t get the memo.When the lines of their arrangement blur, Presley and Sebastian are faced with decisions they’ve avoided for years. And that’s not even their biggest problem.A small town in danger of failing.A secret that could tear them apart.And two hearts that can’t hide anymore.They’ve shared so many summers, but none compare to what they’ll face.Timing is everything.And their time is almost up.