Book picks similar to
Simple Wishes by Lisa Dale


romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
fiction

Love Walked In


Marisa de los Santos - 2005
    But little does she know that her newfound love is only the harbinger of greater changes to come. Meanwhile, across town, Clare Hobbs—eleven years old and abandoned by her erratic mother—goes looking for her lost father. She crosses paths with Cornelia while meeting with him at the café, and the two women form an improbable friendship that carries them through the unpredictable currents of love and life.

The Diary of V: The Affair


Debra Kent - 2001
    But payback - in the shape of a man - will be hers.

The Friendship Test


Elizabeth Noble - 2004
    To pass it means to never, at any cost, betray one another. Twenty years later, they must face that ultimate test.We meet them at the dawn of their camaraderie in the 1980s and already each woman is distinguished from the other: Tamsin, the compassionate mother hen; Reagan, the brazen and clever overachiever; Sarah, the seemingly perfect beauty; and Freddie, who despite being far from her U.S. home, finds strength in her friends. We forward to today, and as promised they are still firm friends . . . that is until a crisis occurs and the principles that define their friendship test are challenged. Exquisitely rendered by Elizabeth Noble, The Friendship Test is a powerful testament to the depth and capacity of female relationships.

The Inn at Eagle Point


Sherryl Woods - 2009
    Original.It's been years since Abby O'Brien Winters set foot in Chesapeake Shores. The Maryland town her father built has too many sad memories and Abby too few spare moments, thanks to her demanding Wall Street career, the crumbling of her marriage and energetic twin daughters. Then one panicked phone call from her youngest sister brings her racing back home to protect Jess's dream of renovating the charming Inn at Eagle Point.But saving the inn from foreclosure means dealing not only with her own fractured family, but also with Trace Riley, the man Abby left ten years ago. Trace can be a roadblock to her plans...or proof that second chances happen in the most unexpected ways.

The Stylist


Rosie Nixon - 2016
    As awards season spins into action Mona is in hot demand and Amber's life turned upside down. Suddenly she catching the attention of two very different suitors, TV producer Rob and Hollywood bad boy rising star Liam. How will Amber keep her head? And what the hell will everyone wear? The Stylist is a fast-paced, fun-packed rummage through the ultimate dressing up box.

The Memory of You


Catherine West - 2017
    Will traveling back to the family winery finally put the memory to rest, or will it completely destroy her?When Natalie Mitchell learns her beloved grandfather has had a heart attack, she’s forced to return to their family-owned winery in Sonoma, something she never intended to do. She’s avoided her grandparents’ sprawling home and all its memories since the summer her sister died—the awful summer Natalie’s nightmares began. But the winery is failing, and Natalie’s father wants her to shut it down. As the majority shareholder, she has the power to do so.And Natalie never says no to her father.Tanner Collins, the vintner on Maoilios, is trying to salvage a bad season and put the Mitchell family’s winery back in business. When Natalie shows up, Tanner sees his future about to be crushed. He knows Natalie intends to close the gates, and he's determined to convince her otherwise. But the Natalie he remembers from childhood is long gone, and he’s not so sure he likes the woman she’s become. Still, the haunted look she wears hints at secrets he wants to unearth. He soon discovers that on the night her sister died, the real Natalie died too. And Tanner must do whatever it takes to resurrect her. But finding freedom from the past means facing it. For both of them.

The Opposite of Love


Julie Buxbaum - 2008
    Somewhere beneath her sense of fun, her bravado, and her independent exterior, Emily knows that her breakup with Andrew has less to do with him and more to do with...her. You‘re your own worst enemy's her best friend Jess tells her. It‘s like you get pleasure out of breaking your own heart. As the holiday season looms and Emily contemplates whether she made a huge mistake, the rest of her world begins to unravel: she is assigned to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit where she must defend the very values she detests by a boss who can‘t keep his hands to himself; her Grandpa Jack, a charming, feisty octogenarian and the person she cares most about in the world, is losing it, while her emotionally distant father has left her to cope with this alone; and underneath it all, fading memories of her deceased mother continue to remind her that love does’t last forever.How this brave, original young heroine finally decides to take control of her life and face the fears that have long haunted her is the great achievement of Julie Buxbaum’s marvelous first novel. Written with the authority, grace, and wisdom of an author far beyond her years, The Opposite of Love heralds the debut of a remarkable talent in contemporary fiction.

Sisters in Love


Melissa Foster - 2013
    As a therapist, she prides herself on making reasonable, conservative choices, even if a bit boring, and as part of the Big Sister Program, she has little time for anything more in her life.Blake Carter is a player. He never gets bored of conquering women, and with his sexy good looks and successful lifestyle, he has no trouble finding willing participants. When his friend and business partner dies in a tragic accident, he suddenly, desperately, wants to change his ways. The problem is, he doesn't know how to stop doing what he does best.When Blake walks into Danica's office, the attraction between them is white hot, but Danica isn't the type to give in to the heat and risk her career. Danica's desire sets her on a path of self-discovery, where she begins to question every decision she's ever made. Just this once, Danica wants to indulge in the pleasures of life she's been so willingly ignoring, but with her Little Sister in turmoil and her biological sister's promiscuousness weighing heavily on her heart, she isn't sure it's the right time to set her desires free.

Evvie Drake Starts Over


Linda Holmes - 2019
    Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out.

Eightball Two-Three


Tracy Tappan - 2015
    He has only one flight left to complete at training squadron HT-8, home of the “Eighballers,” before he earns himself his wings of gold. The day of his final solo, Eric’s copilot, Ensign Kyle Hammond, is to act as no more than a warm body…Until everything goes horribly wrong.Fresh from the cockpit of his near-death solo flight, Eric makes it to graduation, only to find that he is a lone man in a sea of his buddies’ celebrating relatives. He finds solace in the arms of a most unlikely woman the night before shipping out to San Diego…and learns more about himself than he ever planned.**Lieutenant Albert Bobcheck, Eric O’Dwyer’s former roommate in flight school, stars in an uplifting novella of second chances in CLEARED HOT.**High school sweethearts Albert Bobcheck and Jessica Larsen parted ways one heartbreaking prom night. Now ten years later, Jessica has a fulfilling career—except she is anything but fulfilled—and Albert is a Navy helicopter pilot for the HSM-48 Vipers out of Mayport, Florida. Currently deployed off the coast of Iran, Albert is thrown unexpectedly into a SEAL mission gone wrong…so wrong he faces his final moments on earth. Will tragedy separate Albert forever from the only woman he ever loved? Or will it offer him the second chance he always wanted?

Operation Prince Charming


Phyllis Bourne - 2010
    With his fiancée out hunting bigger game, Detective Hunter Coleman realizes that good manners are no match for basic instincts, and he’s got all the charm he needs to win the woman he really loves.

The Billionaire's Secret


Jeannette Winters - 2015
    His friends decide to shake him up by entering him as a prize at a charity event.Accountant Lizette Burke is dressed to the nines and covering for her boss at a charity event. She’s hoping to land a donor for the struggling non-profit agency that employs her.She never expected to win a date with a billionaire.He never thought one night could turn his life upside down.One lie stands between them and their happily ever after. Too bad it’s a big one!Betting on You Series:Book One: The Billionaire’s Secret (Free!)Book Two: The Billionaire’s Masquerade (Coming April 2015!)Book Three: The Billionaire’s Longshot (Coming May 2015!)Book Four: The Billionaire’s Jackpot (Coming July 2015!)

Leaping Hearts


Jessica Bird - 2002
    . . All she has to do is learn to hold on . . . A beautiful young woman with a defiant spirit, A. J. Sutherland spends a small fortune on a horse with a wild reputation, and is forced to sacrifice her position at her family's stables to keep him. She plans to ride the magnificent stallion in the biggest event of the show jumping season--and she knows she can win. But without the backing of Sutherland Stables, A. J. must rely on a stranger to help her: a man who makes her heart pound, her head spin . . . and who just happens to be a legend in equestrian circles. When Devlin McCloud's career was cut short by a tragic accident, he never expected to get back in the ring. But when A. J. asks him to be her trainer, he finds he cannot resist the chance--or his stunning new employer. And what begins as a business arrangement soon becomes something deeper, as Devlin and A. J. learn that even in a sport full of hazards, sometimes the most dangerous thing to risk is one's heart. . . .

Love and Shenanigans


Zara Keane - 2014
    When she discovers the drunken vows she exchanged with the groom during a wild Las Vegas trip eight years previously mean they're legally married, her future plans ricochet out of control.Gavin Maguire's life is low on drama, high on stability, and free of pets. But Gavin hadn't reckoned on Fiona blasting back into his life and crashing his wedding. In the space of twenty-four hours, he loses a fiancée and a job, and gains a wife and a puppy. Can he salvage his bland-but-stable life? More importantly, can he resist losing his heart to Fiona all over again?

Changing His Game


Megan Erickson - 2015
    That is, until she realizes he's as turned on by it as she is. But with a big promotion on the line, she refuses to let her current dry spell be her downfall. Maybe.Austin Rivers has no business lusting after the irresistible editor of Gamers Magazine. He's a secret partner in the business—and technically Marley’s boss. One look at that GIF, though, and he’s ready to install a whole lot more than just software…as long as she never finds out who he really is.But reality’s not as virtual as it seems, and when Austin’s identity jeopardizes Marley’s promotion, he has to change his game or risk losing the only woman with the cheat code to his heart.