Book picks similar to
The Mermaid and Her King by Scarlet Wolfe


new-adult
romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary

The Almost Wives Club


Nancy Warren - 2015
    Edward Carnarvon III is rich, handsome and hers. But at the final fitting of her wedding gown, one of the seamstresses pricks her and a tiny blood spot appears on the outrageously expensive gown. Its famous designer fires the clumsy seamstress on the spot, whereupon the girl puts a curse on the dress and storms out. Kate doesn't believe in curses. She’s modern, American and in love with the perfect guy. What could go wrong? But that very evening she meets a man who makes her question her future. And then she discovers that Edward has been hiding a secret or two… and before you can say, “This dress is so cursed,” she’s on the run from Edward, his family, her mother, the paparazzi and the person she thought she was. When the man who discovers her hiding place turns out to be the last man she should trust, it’s time to throw her cautious good sense out with the satin shoes she won’t be wearing. Playing it safe hasn’t done her much good. Maybe it’s time to play by a new set of rules. Her rules. Sometimes Prince Charming is the one who turns out to be the frog, and true love appears in the most unexpected places. Follow the cursed dress through five sets of bridal hands as four more women join The Almost Wives Club. These are complete novels. Watch for: Secondhand Bride coming in April, 2015 Bridesmaid for Hire coming in May, 2015 The Wedding Flight in June, 2015 If the Dress Fits in July 2015

Happy Pants Cafe


Mimi Jean Pamfiloff - 2014
    And what are they searching for? It’s not coffee. And it’s not pants. It’s true love, and everyone who goes, finds it!So what, exactly, is the café’s big secret? Harper Branton, a columnist for the San Francisco Tribune, who’d sooner believe in unicorns than in true love, is about to find out. And it’s the perfect story to save her train wreck of a career.Too bad she’s got competition. He’s sexy, he’s arrogant, and he thinks she’s crazy. ("What kind of person doesn’t believe in love?") And this coming from a man!When these two rivals go head to head, it's more like a WWF smackdown. A shared history binds them in wonderful, terrible ways quickly turning their duel into more than just a fight for a story. Will they tear each other apart for the win or end up as two more satisfied Happy Pants customers?Note: Stand-alone story

We Fight, We Fall


Nicole Callesto - 2013
    Read at your own risk ;)We Fight, We Fall (Fight and Fall #1)Two fallen people, consumed by secrets. Can they heal each other? Or will past demons destroy everything worth fighting for? There are times when we must fight before we fall.24-year old Emma Blackwell is running. Running away from the life she once had in Arizona. She moves to Astoria, Oregon, hoping for a new beginning. Can she finally repair the damage that was done to her?Aiden Crowe is hiding. Hiding the man that he wants to be, before everything fell apart. All he wants is to live day to day, his pain a bitter reminder of the past. He's broken beyond repair, and nothing can change that.Two people, who find themselves with nowhere to go, find exactly what they weren't looking for. When ruptured hearts cross paths, will they finally mend or forever remain shattered?In We Fight, We Fall, love decides who is worth fighting for and what is worth falling for.

Chasing Butterflies


Jennifer Labelle - 2016
     Eight years ago my sister and I decided to leave our home and drug addict parents behind to build a new life somewhere else. Now that I’ve found my passion in art and tattooing I’m convinced that we’re finally happy…until tragedy changes everything. Deciding that going back to my roots is the best option for me, I return to the Hill Country of Texas, opening my own tattoo shop as a way to start over once again. One thing I didn’t count on…running into a blast from my past. Jagger is more attractive than I remember. He’s all grown up, filling those jeans and cowboy boots with raw muscle and a whole lot of sexy. The problem is, I’ve been forced to guard my heart for so long I don’t know how to let someone in. But Jagger makes it perfectly clear that he always gets what he wants. And what he wants…is me.

Pinned Up


C. Michelle - 2013
    The cat eyeliner with exaggerated lashes and the red lipstick on my porcelain face make the forties inspired look reach perfection.I enjoy being a pin-up model…C. Michelle’s vibrant debut novel, Pinned Up is full of snappy dialogue, edgy humor, and a lot of heart. This fun look into the world of a modern-day pin-up model is one wild ride!Twenty-five-year-old Nina Moretti lives a double life of sorts. She’s a victim advocate during the day and as a side gig, lives out her 1940s fetish as a pin-up model in San Francisco, California. While she may not “do” serious relationships, she has fulfillment in her work and hanging out with her best friend, Kade—the greatest sidekick any woman could possibly want. All is well in Nina’s hectic, but satisfying life…That is, until she meets Josh, a stunningly handsome man who has a notorious reputation as a ladies’ man. For his part, Josh is reluctant to commit to any woman, largely due to his loving, yet overbearing mother. Nina, however, sparks his interest in a way that no other woman has before. As they navigate the pitfalls of romantic entanglement, both come to realize their pasts are intertwined in ways they could never imagine. Perhaps, they have more in common than just their fear of relationships. What are two people afraid of commitment supposed to do?

Goodbye To You


A.J. Matthews - 2014
    We’ve been together for such a short time, but wow, fun times. You’ve caused me grief as well, but mostly it’s been an unbelievable ride. Especially our time in Key West. But the potential harm you could cause makes this radical step necessary. So I say: “Goodbye to you, boobs.”A preventative double mastectomy is taking you away soon, and I’d had no doubt this was the right thing to do until I met him. His name is Shay Kelly. He likes me, but you? He can’t keep his hands off of you. An Unexpected LoveIt was a summer fling. Or was supposed to be, but as ass-kicking fate would have it, he’s going to med school at my college. I ran into him at the hospital, and agreed to one date, which turned into so much more. Shay is perfect. Gorgeous, smart, and ambitious. He doesn't know you’ll be leaving soon. The one thing he despises is being lied to, the way people lied to him for years about a family tragedy. Now I’m lying by colossal omission. So I need to figure out a way to tell Shay about the surgery...and find the strength to watch him walk away. I’ll miss him, and I’ll miss you, too. But I must say goodbye. Adiós. Au revoir. Ta-ta forever, ta-tas.The joke isn't so funny now that I have even more to lose.

Rough Edges: Allie's Story


Kimberly Krey - 2015
    Between parenting and paying the bills, she hasn’t even thought about meeting a man. That changes once she hears local carpenter, Braden Fox, is in need of a secretary. Back in high school, Allie had done all she could to deny the sparks burning between her and Braden; but would the chemistry still be there after all this time?Braden has heard all about what Terrance did to Allie and the girls, has been planning to stop by and see how she’s getting along, but Allie beats him to it by showing up at his shop in search of a job. Her unexpected visit reignites the old flame Braden used to torch for her; trouble is, old feelings of resentment return as well. Allie did choose Terrance over him, after all. And as much as Braden wants Allie in his life, he’s not sure he can open his heart to her again.With this second chance at romance, will thebumps in their relationship be too much to get over,or will this carpenter learn to smooth out the past?

Gone for You


Jayne Frost - 2015
    Painting. But when Cameron Knight, the sexy as sin guitarist for the band Caged, needs a place to hide out from the press for a few days, Lily’s entire world turns upside down.Dangerous. Sexy. Wild. Cam is everything Lily shouldn’t want. Not to mention, a fling with a musician might just be the one thing that severs her relationship with her family for good.Cameron loves his life. His freedom. His music. When it comes to women, there's no such thing as a repeat performance. But one night with the gorgeous blonde has him bending the rules.  Lily wants a taste of something forbidden.Cameron wants to give it to her.They've only got four days. So what could it hurt?Gone For You is a light hearted introduction to Jayne Frost's angsty rock star romance series, The Sixth Street Bands, Each book in the series features recurring characters, but can be read as a standalone. NO CLIFFHANGERS.*** PLEASE NOTE: This book was revised on 12/2018. ***

Shadow of Love


Ellen Wolf - 2012
    He had learnt from early on that trust and unconditional love end badly. Both his mother’s failed relationship with his rich and absent father and his mentor’s marriage to a scrupulous and selfish woman taught him the lesson not to carry his heart on his sleeve. The man who had turned James’ life around in the darkest of his teenage years, died alone and rejected. Ridiculous accusations that prompted such ending left James incredulous and furious, the heat of his anger never completely leaving him in the years that followed.It is impossible to escape the past, his mentor’s suicide and the events that lead to it still very much on his mind. The fate has given him the rare opportunity to finally settle the scores. Avenging Steve Masden’s death is simply too tempting to be ignored. Emily Beggins knows right away that something isn’t right about her stepsister’s mysterious fiancé. He might well be the most handsome and charming man she has ever met, but there is a certain icy resolve in his eyes that frightens her witless. Behind the impeccable façade and lethal smile, she senses something dark and dangerous. Something that shouldn’t really be there…Loyalty has always been a big part of her character, even though her life with her stepmother and stepsister had proven far more challenging and difficult than she had ever anticipated. They share enough memories and dirty secrets to bind them together with the invisible thread of guilt and obligations. Saving Sophie from the unknown disaster leaves Emily no choice but to confront the man who had managed to capture her stepsister’s heart in a span of mere days.Only James isn’t ready to play fair, one sweep of his hand pushing aside any hopes she might have for a happy ending. He knows too much and cares too little to have any sympathy for her or her family.She has to play by his rules, each step taking her deeper and deeper into his world. Soon it becomes her world too and the lines between black and white blur, nothing certain any longer.As time goes by the question of how to survive being around James becomes replaced by another, more urgent one.How will she ever live without him?

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?

Beautiful Chances


Alicia Rae - 2013
    As she solely focuses on her work, she refuses to form any emotional attachments in fear of struggling through another unbearable loss. …until Kyle enters her life with his possessive and overbearing personality. Instead of running, Lily finds herself drawn to him. Helping her on a path to healing, Kyle stands by her side and lends her his strength. A bond is formed, but it is tested when the unthinkable happens. Can taking a chance on love conquer all? Book contains mature content. Full length novel of approximately 97k words.

In Too Deep


Tracey Alvarez - 2013
    He broke her heart to save his own.As an elite police diver tormented by her father's fatal drowning accident, Piper Harland is forced back to the one place she'd sworn never to return. Her tiny hometown on New Zealand’s isolated Stewart Island hasn’t much changed in the nine years she’s been gone. But she soon comes face to face with everything she ran from — grief, regret, and the scalding pain of a love lost.The one place Ryan "West" Westlake belongs is a hundred feet below Stewart Island’s dangerous waters with one breath of air and only a line to guide him to the surface. Down deep he can forget his mentor’s death. Down deep he can forget the one woman who seared his heart when she left. Only now she’s back, and as it turns out, he hasn’t forgotten a thing.Desire and tempers flare when West and Piper cross paths again. Can they face their past and be together? Two hearts. A second chance. Everything on the line...IN TOO DEEP is the first story in Tracey Alvarez's best-selling Stewart Island books set against the stunning backdrop of Aotearoa, New Zealand. If you like heartwarming, sexy and sweet small town romances with a touch of comedy, you'll love sharing the journey with these authentic men and women struggling to find their special someone.Intended for mature 18+ aged readers who enjoy their feel good romance on the steamier side.

Sway


Amy Matayo - 2014
    Unless you fall for the wrong person. Finally settled after a tragedy-laden life, 24-year-old Caleb has found security in his faith, his friends, and his career. It’s the life he’s always wanted—simple, predictable, and safe. Enter Kate Hawkins, the attractive 21-year-old stranger he rescues from a bar fight who has an odd affinity for the color pink and a unique sense of humor. It doesn’t take long to realize their connection is intense, but after only a handful of dates, a shocking revelation surfaces. Lines are drawn, sides are taken, and loyalties are decided as their newfound relationship is brought to a sudden halt. But unlike most couples who split, avoiding each other is impossible. As daily interactions become unbearable, one realization becomes clear: they’ve both fallen hard for the absolute wrong person, which leaves both scrambling for a way to make it right.

Take a Gamble


Rachael Brownell - 2014
    One chance meeting. One devastating phone call.MacKenna Trist is not happy about spending a month with her family in Myrtle Beach. She would rather be at home, hanging out with her friends, before starting her senior year of high school. That is, until she meets the guy staying in the beach house next door. Roe Gamble is speechless when he first lays eyes on Mac. Normally, pretty girls are his specialty but not this girl. From this girl, he wants more. More of everything. More than she can give him. Most importantly, more time to show her how he feels about her.But time is working against them in more ways than one. How much time do you really need to fall in love? What would you gamble to hold onto it?

Game On


Katie McCoy - 2015
    Rumor has it Nathan is going to be drafted to the Major league, and yet he still fits an intense training regime around volunteering at a animal shelter. He's a prodigy with a heart of gold, as American as apple pie and has an ass that deserves a trophy all its own. He may be the country's heartthrob, but Sophie isn't going to fall for that. She just has to remain objective and cover the story. But she didn't bet on Nathan's gorgeous green eyes or the way his arms flex with muscle when he's holding a bat. And she certainly didn't think he'd be witty and smart and caring. Nathan is completely untouchable, but she can't help it if those lingering gazes turn into something more. How could she not fall at the thought of the hottest guy she's ever met devoting his limited free time to saving kittens?When Sophie's scoop turns into Nathan's scandal, Nathan needs her more than ever. With both of their careers on the line will they strike out - or hit a home run?