Book picks similar to
Circle of Gold by Diana Palmer
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Blue Love: Blue Valley High — Senior Year
M.J. Fields - 2021
It is a journey through one’s past … maybe even a story resembling someone close to you.It’s our story.He’s the boy you hate to love, and love to hate.Lucas, the star quarterback, seems to have it all—super star athletic abilities, expensive clothes, cars, and women who will stop at nothing to be his, if only for a night.Tessa is a young woman who lives her life always doing what is right. She tries desperately to hold herself accountable to the demanding expectations of her family, and everyone around her, while remaining virtuous.However, when two worlds collide, sparks fly and ignite in a fiery passion that neither Lucas nor especially Tessa are ready for.A troubled home life is exposed. Past flings fight for attention. Exes wreak havoc. And the odds continue to stack up against them.Will the fire and passion of first love win, or will it destroy them? Warning: Highly Emotional!This book contains volatile characters in real-life situations that may be triggers to some readers.PLEASE NOTE: this series was previously released as The Love series (MJ's very first works) and has been through a complete rewrite, which consists of a change from narrative to first person/ dual POV and forty thousand words worth of new content.
The Rancher's Virgin Acquisition
Lynda Chance - 2012
Alone and terrified, she is rescued by Luke Butler, a rancher who knows only one way. His way.When Luke Butler finds Emma Martin, he has no other choice but to bring her back to his ranch. Soon, his life is turned upside down by a female who doesn’t know how to mind and who doesn’t know how to stay put.The battle that follows is a clash of wills, a test of tempers, and a lesson in love.Excerpt:Luke glanced at Emma and gave her a pointed look that meant she was to stay where she was. Then he turned and escorted the sheriff out the door."You're not using your brain, man,” the sheriff argued."Not your concern," Luke responded sharply."She's too soft, Luke. She needs people around her, not just a bunch of rag-tag ranch hands. Let her go back to town with me. I'll keep her safe, I'll see to it that Emma has--"Luke cut him off. "Stop talking," he growled in a hiss. "She's not up for discussion. You lost your chance to keep her safe when you sent me out there to find her. You need to forget she's here. Emma doesn't exist for you anymore. Don't say her name, don't even think about her.""Jesus Christ, Luke. You're not even acting sane." "Don't push me. I'm the only help you've got this side of Silver Creek. You need to move on about your business. You know I'd never hurt her. Soothe your goddamn conscious with that and finish the job you need to be doing. Find the scum that did this. Find 'em and hang 'em high because I don't like the thought of them being alive after seeing her face."The two men glared at each other before the sheriff turned and mounted his horse.Luke hesitated only a moment before he slammed back into the house and prowled to the chair where Emma was still sitting. He pulled her up and with a jerk, she stumbled against him.His arms reached out and encircled her."It'll take half an hour before the sheriff is too far away for one of my men to chase him down and bring him back. So you've got that long to decide." One steely arm was wrapped around her back, the other traced a line down her spine and then up again in a smooth caress."I thought I'd already decided.""You need a little more understanding of the situation before you can make a proper decision."Emma was pleasantly shocked by the intimacy of his touch and held enthralled as she stood in the circle of his arms. She remained mute and concentrated on her breathing that seemed to be rushing in and out of her lungs as if she were completely out of oxygen."Fair warning, Emma-girl," his smooth voice was brutal."Warning?" she managed to ask."I feel inclined to make sure you understand how it’s gonna be while you still have the opportunity to leave. Like I said, in half an hour or so, that option will be taken away from you.""I'm sure." Her voice was hesitant and didn't sound sure at all."Yeah?" His gaze slipped to her mouth and his already dark eyes grew stormy. "Let's hear you repeat that in a few minutes."Emma had no other warning before his mouth fell on hers.
Justified
Jay Crownover - 2019
So as the sheriff of Loveless, Texas, he's determined to do everything by the book--until he's called to Aspen Barlow's office after a so-called break-in. The last thing he wants to do is help the woman who cost him custody of his son. But Aspen isn't the heartless lawyer Case remembers, and he starts to question his long-held grudge...Aspen is scared for her life, and Case is her last hope for protection. But to get him on her side, she'll have to reveal the painful truth from all those years ago. Now, as they work together to track down a dangerous criminal, Case and Aspen learn to trust each other. And as the threats escalate, it becomes clear there's a thin line between love and hate... because there's nothing Case wouldn't do to keep her safe.Includes It's All About That Cowboy, a bonus novella by Carly Bloom!
The Good Ones
Jenn McKinlay - 2019
He's everything a hero should be, and Lord knows, Maisy Kelly has read enough of her great-aunt Eloise's romance novels to recognize one when she sees one. But like all fairy tales, Maisy can't help but wonder if this Prince Charming is too good to be true...Ryder is drawn to the shy, curly haired professor who hires him to convert the Victorian house she's inherited from her aunt into a romance bookstore. Attracted to a woman for the first time since his divorce, Ryder finds himself wishing for a future with Maisy that he knows is impossible. Ryder has never wavered from his plan to leave the small town of Fairdale, North Carolina, so he can give his daughter the life she deserves. But suddenly he's not so sure. And the closer he gets to Maisy, the harder it's going to be to walk away...
A SEAL's Oath
Cora Seton - 2016
But they need land, so when Martin Fulsom, iconic leader of the Fulsom Foundation, offers them Westfield, an uninhabited ranch in Chance Creek, Montana, they take it sight unseen—and agree to Fulsom’s condition that they document their progress on a reality television show. Building a working community will be hard enough, but Boone’s got another problem. Fulsom expects families—not single men—to make up the population of the new town. Now Boone’s got to find a wife, fast, before he loses his funding, and his dream. So when he arrives at Westfield to find it already occupied by Riley Eaton, the woman he thought he'd lost forever, he wonders if fate itself has provided him with an answer. Riley Eaton's played by the rules all her life, but it hasn't gotten her anywhere. Now she's out of work and no closer to being a full-time artist--or meeting a man and starting a family. Never happier than when she’s buried in a Jane Austen novel, she knows she’s not the only woman longing for a simpler, more beautiful life—one that allows time for art, literature and music. When she discovers her friends are in the same frame of mind, she throws caution to the wind and invites them to Westfield, the ranch her uncle inherited long ago, but has never lived in. Equipped with a key and a standing invitation to stay there whenever she likes, she heads to Chance Creek and gives up all things twenty-first century in order to take a six-month Jane-Austen style vacation. Westfield is perfect for Regency living with its wide lawns, extensive gardens and large ballroom. But when sexy, stubborn Boone shows up with plans to build a hyper-modern sustainable community on the ranch, it’s clear her Regency paradise is over before it even began. Now Boone has thirty days to marry Riley or lose the ranch to developers, and Riley has to decide whether to marry Boone or say good-bye to Westfield--and her Jane Austen life--forever. Can they overcome their prejudices to help each other? Or will their pride destroy both their futures?
Love Drunk Cowboy
Carolyn Brown - 2011
Until the drop dead sexy cowboy next door, Rye O'Donnell, decides he'll only take the farm if he can get the fiery woman who owns it as part of the deal...Praise for Getting Lucky:"Smart dialogue and unmistakable characters will leave readers wanting more." -Affaire de Coeur"The down home Texas feel comes through in spades in Brown's writing." -Leslie's Psyche"This is not your mother's western romance!" -RT Book Review
Southern Chance
Natasha Madison - 2020
Kallie I fell in love with him when I was seven. I scraped my knee, and he helped carry me inside. Our love story was the talk of the town until a woman told everyone she was pregnant with his baby. The only rational solution was to high tail it out of town and never come back. My best friend needed a place to hide, and you can’t get much more covert than my family farm, so I came back. For her. It was supposed to be temporary, and I wasn’t supposed to see him, but that’s what happens when you live in a small town where everyone knows each other. Jacob Being the sheriff in a small town was never my dream. My father died and my older brother took off, so I had to be the one to look after my mother. I stayed. I fulfilled my duties as a son and I protected my hometown. My life wasn’t perfect, but I was content. Until I locked eyes with a ghost from my past, Kallie. I thought it was my imagination, it couldn’t be. I loved her most of my life, but now I hated her. The town gossip mill was going into overdrive. I kept my head down and my mind off of the woman who shattered my heart when she ran away. She didn’t give me a chance to explain, it didn’t matter to her then. I didn’t matter. A second chance is never promised, but now that mine is right under my nose, I’m not sure I can take it.
Against the Wind
Kat Martin - 2010
But when her husband is murdered and his associates come looking for her and her daughter, Sarah has only one place left to go—Wind Canyon, Wyoming. She runs right into Jackson Raines, the man she spurned in high school, who has now become a successful ranch owner. She expects anger from him, but instead she gets mercy. Jackson knows Sarah and her daughter, Holly, are in trouble, and he can’t turn them away. He’s never forgotten the beautiful girl he could never have, and she’s more alluring now than she ever was in high school. So when Sarah’s enemies show up in Wind Canyon, Jackson is determined to protect Sarah and Holly, and prove to them that they’ve finally found their way home.
The Only Best Place
Carolyne Aarsen - 2006
Her five year plan had never included being a farmer's wife but now she's helping move cows, feed chickens and trying to find her way through the VandeKeere family interactions where she doesn't feel she fits in. The fact that the move was only temporary helped her go along with this detour in their life. That and the fact that their marriage was on shaky ground. Leslie hopes taking a break from their previous life will help her and her husband rekindle their marriage. But when her husband hints that the move might be permanent, she has to decide what to do. As she faces questions about her marriage and her faith in a God she didn't know much of before, Leslie has to struggle to find the only best place for her heart.
At the Cowboy's Mercy
Emma Jay - 2012
Her father, a rodeo cowboy, recently passed away after a long, expensive illness. The medical bills, combined with his habit of gambling and the fact that she had to quit her job to take care of him,has left her homeless and with no place to go but back to the rodeo. She tracks down Luke Delaney, one of her father’s proteges, and asks for help. Luke Delaney thought of Red Stacey as a father. Kennedy didn’t call him when Red was sick, so he didn’t get to say good-bye to the man he loved like a father. He can’t forgive her for that, and turns her away.But when she turns to his brother Liam for help instead,Luke steps forward, partly because of his concern of how his brother the player will treat her, and partly because he knows her father would want him to. Since she’s homeless, she has to stay in his tiny RV. At first close quarters lead to sparring as they fight their attraction--and she fights to have some kind of independence when she’s leaning so heavily on him. But nature can only hold out so long, and despite their better judgement, they give in to their desires. But Kennedy is afraid he’s taking her body in payment, and he’s afraid of the feelings he has for her as he gets to know her again, the feelings he hasn’t let himself feel since they were sixteen years old.
Outplayed
Lila Rose - 2019
She has it all: a place of her own, a business where her temper has its uses, and great people who work for her. But something is missing. The problem is, her stubbornness refuses to admit how lonely she actually is. She lost the one man she thought she could marry, a university love, but when their careers drive them in different directions they went their separate ways. Now he’s back. He’s also changed. Unsure if she wants to hug him or throat punch him, she keeps her distance. Or tries to. Travis Stewart moves to Ballarat for one reason—to have Violet back in his life. His love has never diminished. Not through the years, the distance, or even in the underworld he finds himself a part of. He will always love her. Now he just has to convince Violet that his heart is hers, and his soul isn’t as black as it seems. His mission is simple: get Violet to understand they have a future together before getting kneed in the balls. Easy, especially as he refuses to be outplayed.
Brazen
Maya Banks - 2007
Jasmine left the Sweetwater Ranch and the Morgan brothers, no longer able to bear the painful dilemma of loving them both. After a year away, in which she gains new perspective, she returns home with one goal. To make Seth and Zane Morgan hers. Jaz may have left an innocent girl, but she's returned a beautiful, sensual woman. Seth and Zane arent prepared for the full on assault she launches and each battle an attraction they've fought for years. She wants them both, but Seth has no intention of sharing his woman. It's up to her to change his mind because she can't and won't choose between two men she loves with equal passion. For her, it's all or nothing.
Reese's Cowboy Kiss: Witness Protection - Rancher Style: Blake's Story
Kimberly Krey - 2014
Now she must leave her friends and family to enter a protection program on Emerson Ranch. A group of good-looking cowboys awaits her, but Reese has her eye on Blake Emerson, the one man too busy with the ranch to give her a chance. Blake Emerson has no time to go lookin' for love. He's got a ranch to run, positions to fill, and an ache in his heart from love gone wrong. So when he agrees to harbor a witness to help on the ranch, Blake assumes his first two problems are solved. But he never dreamed his new guest would be a woman. One he was destined to lose his heart to. With sparks burning hot and danger around the bend, one question lingers in his mind: Has he only added to his list of troubles, or has Blake just found the woman of his dreams?
Unbreak My Heart
Lorelei James - 2016
The brooding bad boy. We were friends, even when I secretly wanted more, but I settled for what he offered. After he left Wyoming--and me--I grew up. Moved on. Or so I believed until he blew back into my life with the scorching force of an Arizona desert wind.I'm not that innocent sixteen-year-old girl anymore--I'm a businesswoman who swore never to settle again. But this older, wiser, hotter version of Boone unsettles me. How am I supposed to resist his megawatt smile and his built-army-strong body? Especially when he's inserting himself into every aspect of my life? Now he's determined to prove he can offer me everything that he couldn't before--and he's the only man that can fix the heart that he broke.BooneJoining the army? Best decision I ever made. Even though it meant I had to leave her behind. Sierra McKay. The wide-eyed beauty, who saw more in me than I saw in myself. I didn't dare offer her anything more than friendship, because one kiss, one touch and I wouldn't have had the guts to go.I've worked hard to become the man I am. I have a career. A purpose. After a chance encounter with the one woman I never forgot--I'm not leaving anything else to chance. Now that I've chased her across three states, I'm ready to demonstrate that the passion we couldn't act on before burns hotter than ever between us. And I'll use every weapon in my arsenal to show Sierra McKay that she's always been mine.