Book picks similar to
Throttle by Kira Blakely


arc
romance
contemporary-romance
3-stars

Accidental Love


Mya Grey - 2020
    I’d been stood up by my online date.As I drank more and more, I was ready to give up on the whole thing, give up on men, when a case of mistaken identity sparked a steamy one-night stand with a stranger.Except, when I walk into my new job the following Monday morning, it seems he won’t stay a stranger.He’s my billionaire boss.GaleThe last thing I expected on a night of unexpected fun was to be at the end of another guy’s punishment: a drink thrown in my face, then my shoes were puked on.Though I’m no knight in shining armour, I couldn’t just leave her there alone in that state.I took her home to keep her safe.Though it might’ve been against my better judgment, we spent the night together in more ways than one.But it seems we’ll be spending a lot more time together in the future.She’s my new secretary.

Lost Without You


Molly O'Keefe - 2017
     I failed. And with that failure there's blood on my hands. I owe a dangerous man an equally dangerous debt. When he comes calling, I either pay or spend the rest of my life in jail. I’m ready for anything. Except seeing Beth again. BETH I’ve spent my life hiding behind disguises to protect myself from ever revealing too much. But now my life is falling apart around me, and the past I’ve tried to outrun has caught up. The only man I’ve loved has betrayed me. Again. And both our lives are on the line. Contains The Debt: A Prologue and 50,000 more words in the continuation of Tommy and Beth's story.

Muscle


Lexi Whitlow - 2018
    Now I'm a star. The hottest director in Hollywood wants me. All I want is his daughter. Hourglass figure. Legs that don't quit. She'll take my commands, then I'll take her to bed. Too bad her daddy hates me, because Winter's pregnant. If the tabloids get hold of this, I'm done. If her daddy finds out, I'm dead. But Winter's mine. And SEALS don't quit. Screw the fame and fortune. I'm about to show my muscle, and this display ain't for the cameras. Can I convince Winter's dad I'm all she needs... or will this be our last take? Muscle is a 60,000 word romance novel with lots of steamy second chance scenes, love and redemption, absolutely no cheating, and a bit of well-cooled revenge. Enjoy!

Raw


Simone Sowood - 2018
    rawThe paparazzi are hounding me about a sex scandal and I have to escape.So I run.Not just from them, from my past, my present, from everything.My car breaks down and I end up walking straight into a peach of a bare ass.The f*cking luck of ending up in the middle of a boudoir photo shoot.Elsie’s bent over, ass in the air and ripe for picking, Insisting she’s not the kind of girl who normally does this sort of thing.A thousand things I want to do to her flash through my mind.Being my salvation isn’t one of them but that’s what she is.A green eyed beauty who belongs to me.Mine.Hope for the first time in my life.But she’s hiding something.And it ruins our future.

Downfall


Jay Crownover - 2019
    Until a stunning, skittish, single mother forces him to pause and recognize just how empty and hollow his busy life has become. From the start, it’s been ingrained in Solo’s DNA to fight.Fight for what he believes is right.Fight for the people he loves.Fight for the traces of good in a place which tends to be filled with a variety of bad.Fight for survival, so at some point, his life will quiet down and find a normal pace.He wasn’t ready for the impact his secretive, shy, obviously out of place new neighbor was going to have on him. And never in a million years was he prepared to fall head over heels for her and her young daughter.Now, he’s facing the most important, and the hardest fight he’s ever fought… the battle to win Orley’s damaged heart. Orley Vincent’s heart is full of fear, leaving no space for love. Until a big, brash, brawler of a man forces his way in and makes her realize facing her fears is the only way she can ever be free. From the start, Orley was groomed to believe she wasn’t good enough.She wasn’t the perfect daughter. Or student. Or girlfriend.But, she has always been the best mother she could be to her daughter, Noble.Keeping Noble safe has always been the one thing she was determined to do, which ironically, is how she ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, living next door to an unlikely hero. Orley’s a woman on the run. She had no idea her frantic sprint was going to land her in the tattooed arms of a man ready to teach her how to fight for herself… and for love.

Cocky Chef


J.D. Hawkins - 2017
    But when you're the best at what you do and have the hottest restaurant on the west coast, with enough Michelin stars to make Gordon Ramsay's head spin, you've earned the right to your confidence.When I give an instruction in the kitchen, it's not a suggestion--it's an order. So when a new chef thinks she can do things her way, and dares to say so to my face, even her sharp wit and gorgeous pouty lips don't make it okay. But I have to admit, she's got talent. She's creative in the kitchen and not even that double-breasted chef jacket can hide her perfect body. As I get to know her, I can't help wanting to know everything she thinks. I've never met a more talented chef. And I've never met a sassier and sexier woman in my life. There's only one way this push and pull can end.With her in my bed, begging for more.

Her Only Salvation


J.C. Valentine - 2012
     Terri thought she was marrying a strong, loving man, only to find that beneath that handsome face lies something cold, brutal, and dangerous. After years of abuse, her husband takes things a little too far, and Terri finally summons the courage to take matters into her own hands and make her escape. But freedom comes at a price. Forging a new life, Terri moves to a new town and tries to forget her past, but she can't help looking over her shoulder at every turn. When prison bars can no longer hold her husband, and her past comes knocking, Terri finds that the strength to trust again may be her only salvation. When her attractive new boss steps up to the plate and vows to protect her at all cost, she’s inclined to accept…but can she ever allow herself to trust her instincts again? *Author Note: This book was originally released under J.C. Valentine's given name and was entitled "Spring Cleaning."*

Bound to the Bachelor


Sarah Mayberry - 2015
    Dig deep to secure the attentions of one of Montana’s most eligible – and elusive – bachelors.Lily Taylor knows Beau Bennett dislikes her, but that won’t stop her from asking him to volunteer for the Bachelor Auction she’s organized to help her friend Molly provide for her tragically injured son, Josh. If Beau’s gorgeous face, piercing blue eyes and chiseled body inspires the women of Marietta to dig into their pockets for a good cause, then Lily will do whatever it takes to secure his participation.Beau Bennett isn’t sure how he wound up on the auction block being eyed up by hundreds of eager women, but he knows who to blame for it – Lily Taylor, the sexy, distracting, off-limits best friend of his kid sister. As far as he’s concerned, the sooner this nightmare is over, the better.The last thing either of them expects is for Lily to wind up bidding on – and winning – Beau, or that their date will lead to Beau stepping in to save Lily when her past comes back to haunt her. As Beau does his best to keep Lily safe, they discover that maybe they don’t dislike each other quite as much as they thought.In fact, maybe it’s just the opposite…

Wanted by You


Steph Nuss - 2014
    Carter was captivated by Ellyson Evans the moment he laid eyes on her, but she was the one girl who didn't beg for his attention.He wanted her.Ellyson vowed to never fall in love, because love can destroy you, but then she met Carter Jennings.She wanted him.Unwilling to risk their comfortable friendship, neither confessed their desires.Losing touch after college, a chance meeting reconnects them.They want each other.But love in the city is never quite that easy.

Rescue


Kemmie Michaels - 2014
    The emptiness in her gaze he understands to his core, and he's instantly compelled to help this brown-haired beauty fight the source of her pain. Determined and intense, he needs to use his strength to help her find her own. Cam Foster, in that instant, becomes the dove he wants to free from her cage. From the first night, he needs her.Cruelly, the past refuses to let her go. The lingering manipulation holds her in that cage as the control she lived under continues to crush the woman she wants to become. Even though Ledger offers her heated passion and a safe haven, she can't find her way out.Desire and danger fight to pull her life in two directions…but those forces may crumble as Ledger fights harder than any barrier he and his dove face.

Room Service


Summer Cooper - 2018
    Not when you’re the servant’s daughter. Not when you’re in love with the master’s son. And not when he seems to hate you! Now a successful pastry chef at a five-star hotel, I’m all grown up and finally happy. I’m over the cold, cruel Trent Thompson. Now he’s back to take care of his father’s hotel and all I want to do is avoid him. But he’s hotter than ever and determined to make me service him right... Author's Note: This book is a full length standalone with an HEA. Story contains mature language and themes, intended for adults only.

Before I Knew


Jamie Beck - 2017
    In this first Cabot novel, a legacy of secrets tests old friends seeking a second chance at life and love. On the second anniversary of her husband’s suicide, Colby Cabot-Baxter is ready to let go of her grief and the mistakes made during her turbulent marriage. Her fresh start comes in the form of A CertainTea, the restaurant she’s set to open along Lake Sandy, Oregon, with help from her family. But when her executive chef quits just weeks before the grand opening, Colby is pressured to hire old family friend Alec Morgan. His award-winning reputation could generate buzz, but their friendship has withered since her husband’s reckless dare cost Alec’s brother his life.Distracted by guilty secrets concerning the tragedy that changed his and Colby’s lives, Alec self-destructed and lost his famed restaurant. With his career in tatters, he’s determined to use this opportunity to redeem his reputation and to help the woman he’s loved from afar find happiness again.But secrets have a way of coming out. When Alec’s do, they might destroy the new life he and Colby have rebuilt together.

Barely Breathing


Pamela Clare - 2016
    Now, here she is—over thirty, out of a job and with little choice but to move back in with her father. Lexi knows it’s just a matter of time before she runs into Austin Taylor, her first boyfriend and her first heartbreak. She’s determined to show him she’s over him—until he steps out of a pickup truck and back into her life, looking sexy as hell in his mountain ranger uniform.As far as Austin is concerned, Lexi can turn her snazzy little convertible around and drive back to Chicago. After all, she ripped his teenage heart apart and turned her back on the town he loves. But from the moment he sees her again, he can’t get her out of his mind. Even her smile messes with his head. When an evening of conversation turns into something else, Lexi and Austin agree to be friends again—with benefits. But as Lexi starts making plans to return to the big city, Austin realizes he’ll lose her a second time unless he can show her that what she’s searching for has been right here all along.Note to readers: This is straight contemporary romance, not romantic suspense.

Bound To You


Vanessa Holland - 2011
    Instead, he dumped her with barely a word of explanation and left the state. Three years later, she’s a single mom struggling to provide for her son and young sister, and harassed by an obsessed stalker. After leaving home three years ago to run his aging grandfather’s ranch in Texas, Sam Strickland returns to Tennessee to discover a child he didn’t know existed. He thought he was saving Jenna’s future when he left home, and left her behind. He never dreamed he’d return to see a child with eyes the same shade as his own - and Jenna in serious trouble. Sam thinks his only dilemma is whether he can earn back the trust of the woman he loves and commit to the responsibility of fatherhood. But Jenna’s life is more complicated than he could have imagined and he finds himself involved in a dangerous situation that could threaten his new son’s life.

Mouth to Mouth


Tessa Bailey - 2018
    Tell that to Rory Prince. He should stay the hell away from Olive Cunningham. There’s one small problem, though. She won’t stop almost getting killed—and with this too-smart, too-sweet girl holding his heart in her hands, Rory is powerless to do anything but keep saving her. Homeschooled from a young age, Olive is now out on her own and discovering the world, one milkshake flavor at a time. Until recently, she has experienced life through books. She’s walked in a million sets of shoes while flipping pages—enough to know that Rory gives her once-in-a-lifetime feelings. If only he would stop trying to protect her…from himself.