Book picks similar to
War & Piste by Alex Thomas


fiction
chick-lit
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great-books

Summer at Sea


Beth Labonte - 2015
     Have you ever helped your parents pack for a weeklong cruise? No? I didn't think so. So shut it. So begins vacation for Summer Hartwell - twenty-six years old, living with her anxiety-ridden parents, and unwillingly booked by her brother on a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. Despite the nightmare of being trapped aboard a cruise ship with Mom and Dad, Summer sees a rare opportunity to fulfill The Prophecy – her mother’s declaration that she will live at home until she gets married. With two thousand passengers onboard, at least one of them must be husband material, right? The only problem is Graham Blenderman – her brother’s best friend who is joining them for the week, in all of his tall, blonde, extroverted glory. Graham doesn’t believe Summer needs a husband in order to break free from her parents. He thinks she just needs a little bit of nerve. And to Summer’s introverted horror, he’s willing to spend the entire week proving that he’s right.

Always the Baker, Never the Bride


Sandra D. Bricker - 2010
    But here's the rub about her job as a baker ... Emma is diabetic. When she tastes her creations, it can only be in the most minute portions. Emma is considered an artisan for the stunning crEme brulee wedding cake that won her the Passionate Palette Award last year, but she's never even had one full slice of it.When Jackson Drake hears about this local baker who has won a prestigious award for her wedding cake artistry, he tells his assistant to be sure and include her in the pastry tastings scheduled at his new wedding destination hotel the following week. And for Jackson, that particular day has started out badly with two workmen trapped in a broken elevator and a delivery of several dozen 300-thread-count bed linens in the wrong size abandoned in the lobby. But when the arrogant baker he met a week prior in Roswell stumbles into the dining room with a platter of pastries and a bucketful of orders, he knows for certain: It's going to be a really rotten day.Can these two ill-suited players master the high-wire act and make a go of their new business venture? Or will they take each other crashing downward, without a net? And will the surprise wedding at The Tanglewood be theirs?

A Spring Affair


Milly Johnson - 2009
    What begins as an earnest spring clean of unwanted household debris - a never-touched omelette maker here, a hideous collection of chintz ornaments there - soon spirals out of control. Before long Lou is hiring giant skips, in which to dump the copious amounts of junk she never knew she had. Lou's loved ones grow concerned - and not a little disgruntled. Where has all this energy come from, her husband Phil wonders? Why is clearing out cupboards suddenly more important than making his breakfast? And since when does quiet, meek, down-trodden Lou snap rude retorts at his sister, her mother, and even Phil himself? The truth is, the more skips Lou fills, the more rubbish she lets go off, the more light and air can get to those painful, closed-up places at the centre of her house: a lovingly prepared room for a baby she would never have; an empty space her best friend Deb once occupied; and a gaping wound left by her husband's affair three years ago.Even lovely Tom Broom, the man who delivers Lou's skips, starts to grow worried about his best customer. But Lou is a woman on a mission, and not even she knows where it will end ...

Almost Jamie


Gina Robinson - 2017
    Unfortunately, it's so hard to find a man like him in the modern world. When the stars of Jamie come to Seattle's Jet City Comicon, Blair dresses up as Jamie's Elinor in a vibrant red gown, hoping to get a seat in their popular presentation and a good view of the handsome, charming star of the show. She doesn't expect to be called on to use her medical skills to treat an injured cosplayer who looks almost like… Jamie. And sets her wounded heart racing.Cosplayer, geek, app designer, and cyber security expert Austin MacDougall has been styled by his matchmaker to look like the actor who plays Jamie. He's been trying to win the prize for best amateur cosplayer for years. Against the advice of his friends, he goes to Jet City Comicon in a kilt as Jamie, the striking redheaded Highlander. When he's injured during a mock battle with a vicious cosplaying orc, his friends get him help from a beautiful doctor in a stunning red dress.Has Austin met his Elinor? The adventure is just beginning…The Jet City Kilt Series These two books must be read in order:Almost JamieAlmost Elinor

The Last Single Girl


Bria Quinlan - 2012
    Last minute. Who doesn't already have plans on the busiest date night of the year.But, so far the best part of the search for a great date has been the cute café I found and the geeky-hot owner who keeps rescuing me from these crazy eLove.com dates. This should be easy-peasy. The internet is the home of all your hopes and needs, right?Spoiler Alert: it isn't.Between the bromance date and the crazed single dad who needs to hire a nanny and housekeeper, not get a date, I'm running out of options. If only a certain cutey didn't have a phone call with "sweetheart" every day.The weirder things get, the more I think just going solo is very I Am Woman, blah blah blah. Forget about the fact that my heart keeps bringing me back to a certain café even when I don't need to be there...I mean, my heart doesn't always get what it wants, does it?

The Last One


Tawdra Kandle - 2014
    The last year has been a roller coaster: her widowed mother just married a long-time family friend. Her younger brother unexpectedly became a father and a husband. Everyone's life is changing. . .except for hers. As she begins her final summer of college, Meghan's looking for excitement and maybe a little romance. Nothing serious; this girl just wants to have fun. But the only man for Meghan turns out to be the last one she expects. Sam Reynolds doesn't need excitement, and he doesn't want romance. Fun is out of the question. He's been the steady, responsible one since his parents were killed, and serious is his way of life. When Sam rescues Meghan alongside a dark Georgia backroad, she falls hard for his deep brown eyes and slow drawl. But making him see her as more than just a party girl won't be easy. Sam's tempted by the fiery young artist, even as he realizes that giving into his feelings will mean radical change. . .maybe more than he can handle. Nobody ever said love was simple.

Come October


Patricia Kay - 2005
    They believed their love could withstand anything. But life can change in an instant and Claire is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice and disappear. For years afterward Tucker mourns her loss. Can these two star-crossed lovers ever find each other again? Patricia Kay delivers the kind of complex, emotional, deeply satisfying story she is known for in this heartbreaking tale of love and loss. PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR PATRICIA KAY: "A stunning book from a master storyteller. Patricia Kay writes from the heart about matters that touch us all." -- Susan Wiggs, NY Times bestselling author "A beautifully written compelling story you won't be able to put down." --- Georgia Bockoven, USA Today bestselling author "If you love LaVyrle Spencer, you'll love Patricia Kay." --- Deborah Smith "Wonderful . . . (a) sparkling romance." --- Eileen Goudge "Kay's writing is solid, and her narrative swiftly reaches a satisfying finish." -- Publisher's Weekly "Patricia Kay writes from the heart about people we come to love." --- Christina Dodd, NY Times bestselling author "Heartrending and touching . . . Ms. Kay never fails to deliver this kind of story." -- Amanda Kilgore, Huntress Reviews "This marvelous story is full to bursting with winning characters, special moments, and most of all, hope, faith, and the rejuvenating power of love." --- Romantic Times Magazine "An intriguing story of love at first sight." --- Houston Tempo Magazine "There are deep questions about relationships and serious character growth evident in this story, which is also warm, sensuous, and excellent entertainment." --- Rendezvous magazine "A warm, tender, beautifully written love story with an emotional punch that only Patricia Kay can deliver." --- Amanda Stevens, USA Today bestselling author PATRICIA KAY is a USA Today bestselling author of more than 50 novels of romance and women's fiction. Her 2000 novel THE WRONG CHILD was nominated for a Rita, the most prestigious award given to authors of romance and women's fiction by the Romance Writers of America. She and her two cats make their home in Houston, Texas. To learn more about her and her books, visit her website at www.patriciakay.com.

Cart Before the Horse


Bernadette Marie - 2011
     Holly Jacobs has always put the cart before the horse. A prodigy who shot to stardom in textile design, she never knew a normal life—and there's nothing she longs for more than to be normal. Pregnant before she even knows the name of her baby's father, Holly has put the cart miles ahead of the horse this time. But when she and Gabe meet for the second time, they decide to have their baby together. Holly finally begins to accept her unique way of doing everything backward, but Gabe's very normality drives her up the walls. Then his tragic past rears up; pain and loss threaten to destroy forever the fragile bond that has blossomed between him and Holly. Sometimes the only way to get where you need to be is to put the cart before the horse.

Tickled Pink


Christina Jones - 2002
    Lola planned her happily-ever-after for twenty-eight years. When a sudden death makes her homeless and jobless, she must leave the fancy biscuit trade without so much as a custard cream for the journey. The village of Steeple Fritton appears to be their only salvation. They have to utilise their assets or go under. But when the assets are a showman’s traction engine, an ailing pub and a village full of eccentrics, the new life plan is not immediately obvious to either of them.

Tell Me When It Hurts


Christine M. Whitehead - 2009
    A magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, with a law degree from Columbia, Archer has a great husband, a wonderful daughter, and a fulfilling career. Add to that a slot on the U.S. Equestrian Team and Archer can almost forget her mysterious past, her violent history. Almost perfect. But nothing stays at equipoise forever. When Archer's daughter, Annie, is murdered, her life shatters and deadly skills, long dormant, emerge as highly relevant. As Archer embarks on her own path to salvation, she snips all ties with the past. Love is now an extravagance, no longer affordable for her.At her darkest ebb, Connor McCall, Harvard-educated financial baron turned Wyoming rancher, stumbles into Archer's life and presses her to start reconnecting the dots. It's an edgy blend of La Femme Nikita, The Horse Whisperer, and something else.In Tell Me When It Hurts, memories can sustain or sink you, all in the same night and all the same memories*READERS FAVORITE HONORABLE MENTION AWARD8

Going For Broke


Nina Howard - 2012
    She also knows that living well is the best revenge, and through brains, beauty and an advantageous marriage, she not only lives well, she lives downright spectacularly. Until the day that the FBI shows up on her doorstep and seizes everything she owns. She's left with no money, no friends and no resources, and her only option is to move back to her mother's house in the town she vowed never to see again.Coming home is worse than she could have imagined. Forced to navigate a past she didn’t want to confront, children she barely knows, her estranged mother and a determined FBI agent that is convinced that the path to her thieving husband is to her front door.In the hilarious romp Going for Broke Victoria learns the hard way (the really quite humiliating and pathetic way, if you ask her) that a life filled with private jets, society galas and millions of dollars is not necessarily one worth mourning. And that sometimes stripping life down to the bare essentials is the way to find your true worth.

V-Card


Alicia Michaels - 2014
    In fact, the twenty year-old college junior is about to enter her senior year still carrying her v-card. All she wants is to be with that special someone without it resulting in a trip to the emergency room, runaway office supplies, or being scarred for life by someone's weird fetishes. With several botched attempts under her belt, she begins to fear she'll end up a lonely spinster or a crazy cat lady.With only 60 days until her 21st birthday, Jennifer is determined to lose her virginity once and for all. Little does she know that her mission will lead her down a path toward love. She never expects that her mission will lead her to a discovery of what true womanhood is, and where true and lasting love begins.

The Distant Shore


Mariam Kobras - 2012
    There's nothing like finding a letter on your breakfast table informing you have a teenage son you knew nothing about, but that's what happens to international rock star, Jonathon Stone. He drops everything to find the boy, and his mother the girl he loved so many years ago who left him when his rock n roll life became too much for her to bear.Seeing her is like falling in love all over again, and everything seems perfect, until someone sets out to destroy their idyllic life.

The Butterfly Storm


Kate Frost - 2013
    A new start in Greece with Alekos, her boyfriend of just six weeks, removes Sophie from a mundane 9-5 job, takes her away from the difficult relationship she has with her mum, and gives her the opportunity and belief that she is finally doing something positive and exciting with her life.But a lot can change in four years. An engagement, a domineering mother-in-law to be and the reality of life in Greece not being quite what Sophie imagined puts a strain on her relationship with Alekos.When an accident forces Sophie back to the UK to look after her estranged mum, she has time to reevaluate her life, her idea of family, where she wants to be and, most importantly, who she loves.

Mangled Hearts


Felicia Tatum - 2013
    Until the person she blames for her heartache is assigned as her new client. Cade doesn’t take life seriously, finding it easier to drink his problems away than deal with them. But when Francesca steps back into his life, he’s forced to revisit the past. Can he bring himself to tell her the truth about her sister’s death? Will the truth bring them back together, or push them further apart?