Book picks similar to
Emma's Secret by A.P. Jensen
romance
contemporary-romance
alpha-male
contemporary
Just the Way You Are
Barbara Freethy - 2000
a life about to be tested by the return of the only woman who can break them up—Alli's sister, Tessa.A baby brought them together—and even though Alli has always loved her strong, sexy husband Sam and the life they've built together, she has decided to set him free to follow his youthful dreams. It is no longer enough for her to be wife and lover when she knows she holds so little of his heart.Sam has always dreamed of a life away from the close-knit world of Tucker's Landing, but marriage and fatherhood ended all that. Now Sam is torn between what was and what was meant to be. He must decide if it's time to rekindle the dreams of the past ... or accept Alli, and her love, just the way she is.JUST THE WAY YOU ARE is an emotionallly compelling, heartwarming, beautiful love story about choices, second chances, the crush of a youthful love, the intensity of a love born from marriage and life. "An exceptional novel from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy!"
A Lover's Lament
K.L. Grayson - 2015
I hoped in writing it I’d find some peace from the nightmare I was living, some solace in my anger.I didn’t expect him to write back. I wasn’t prepared for his words, and I certainly wasn’t ready for the impact this soldier would have on my life. A deep-rooted hate transformed into friendship, and then molded into a love like I’d never known before.Sergeant Devin Ulysses Clay did what I couldn’t: he put the shattered pieces of my heart back together, restoring my faith in humanity and teaching me how to live again.But now that I’m whole, I have a decision to make. Do I return to my life as I knew it and the fiancé I left behind, or do I walk away from it all for the only man to ever break my heart?***I’ve been living in hell, but you won’t hear me complain.These men depend on me, as I do them, and this brotherhood is the only family I’ve ever known.The Army saved me from a callous mother and a life on the wrong side of the tracks that was quickly spiraling out of control. So unlike most of the men in my platoon, going home wasn’t something I longed for.I was content overseas, spending my days defending this country that gave me my life back. Fighting became my new normal … until her.A letter from Katie Devora—a letter that I almost didn’t open. Her words put a fire back inside of me that I didn’t know I’d lost. She gave me hope during a time when I was fighting every day just to stay alive, and now it’s time I fight for her.
Trailer Park Heart
Rachel Higginson - 2018
It’s my legacy. That’s how my mama lived. And that’s how her mama lived. It’s the life I was born into and it’s the life I swore I would leave the second I was old enough to make it out. Only legacies have a funny way of sneaking up on you. An innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications in my plans to escape. Seven years later, I’ve resigned myself to this small town and the roots I’m tied to. Nothing could make me leave. And nothing could make me spill the secrets that keep me here. Until he walks back into town with a chip on his shoulder and a stupid hunch nobody else in town has been smart enough to follow. Levi Cole is my opposite. Born on the right side of the tracks with family money to spare, he’s the kind of black sheep that can afford to be rebellious—because his family will always pay for his mistakes. He’s also the only living heir to Cole Family Farms, after his brother Logan was killed in duty seven years ago. He sees something in my life that he thinks he has a right to. But he’s wrong. And obnoxious. And he needs to take his stubborn good looks and that intense way he looks at me and go back to wherever it was he came from. I know better than to trust men like him. I was born and raised in a trailer park, I know nothing good happens to girls like me—girls with trailer park lives and trailer park hearts. Especially from gorgeous, kind, pigheaded men like him.
What Price Paradise
Katherine Allred - 2005
Until the night he gets drunk and sleeps with a woman he barely knows.Now, six weeks later, she's pregnant, alone, and broke. Once again, Tate must take responsibility for his actions, and makes plans to marry his child's mother. There's only one problem...he has to tell his fiancée.Abby Grayson hasn't had an easy life. As the daughter of the town whore, people either avoid her or think she's like her mother. For Abby, it's a struggle just to fill her belly and keep a roof over her head.Loneliness and a secret yearning for this man she thought she'd never have led her to spend the night with Tate. But the last thing she needs is a baby when she can barely take care of herself. Desperate, but too proud to ask for help, she finally agrees to accept a job from Tate - the job of being his wife. Now she has almost everything she's ever dreamed of.Unfortunately, only one thing will gain her Tate's love - his realization that the night he spent with her was no drunken accident. It was a last-ditch attempt to win the woman he really wanted.
Forever Innocent
Deanna Roy - 2013
On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.New Adult Contemporary Romance
Wingman [Woman]
Bella Jewel - 2014
Well, in the grand scheme of things - his wing-woman.Reign Braxton. Womaniser. Asshole. Douche of the century. Sexy as sin but as rule would have it - all sexy men have a problem.Reign is still lusting after the one that got away. Enter me. Wing woman of the century, make-ex-jealous extraordinaire.It's my job. Why do I do it, you ask? Simple - money. Reign's obsession gives me a good lifestyle.I am anything he wants me to be, all for a price of course.But I go and do something incredibly stupid - I fall in love with my boss. My boss who is in love with his ex. There are no prizes for second best.
Rock Me
Carly Phillips - 2017
Ben Hollander has sworn off mixing business with pleasure. But keeping his hands off of the sexy songstress is easier said than done and once the threat is neutralized, will she choose fame over love?
Room 212
Kate Stewart - 2014
Her only plans for life are to make no plans. She revels in her fascination of the unexpected as she navigates her way through mid -1990’s Dallas nightlife. One very bad night brings her face to face with the one man likely to change her mind about…well...everything.Twenty-three year old Seth Whitaker has every intention of seeing through with his well mapped out life. He is a hard working over-achiever that has no intentions of slowing his pace for anyone. With a fierce determination to not let life pass him by without taking a huge bite, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to the one distraction that could keep him from his best laid plans. Little did he know his determination to keep his life on track would be the very thing to trigger the events that change the course of both their lives.In this life she had only done one thing right...and she was his only chance at salvation.*Explicit sex, strong language, some drug use. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Thin Love
Eden Butler - 2014
It isn't supposed to leave you bleeding. Kona pushed, Keira pulled, and in their wake, they left behind destruction. She sacrificed everything for him. It wasn't enough. But the wounds of the past can never be completely forgotten and still the flame remains, slumbers between the pleasure of yesterday and the thought of what might have been. Now, sixteen years later, Keira returns home to bury the mother who betrayed her, just as Kona tries to hold onto what remains of his NFL career with the New Orleans Steamers. Across the crowded bustle of a busy French Market, their paths collide, conjuring forgotten memories of a consuming touch, skin on skin, and the still smoldering fire that begs to be rekindled. When Kona realizes the trifecta of betrayal—his, Keira's and those lies told to keep them apart—his life is irrevocably changed and he once again takes Keira down with him into the fire that threatens to ignite them both.
This Much is True
Katherine Owen - 2013
A ballerina who lies. A baseball player who believes her. Well, the truth changes everything. Tally Landon just wants to escape her tragic story if just for one night. She doesn't count on meeting Lincoln Presley, Stanford's baseball wonder, but plans to add him to her long list of one-night stands. That's the plan. Lying to him about her age and her name is just a part of her don't-get-emotionally-attached style. She doesn't count on being found out, nor on ever seeing Linc again or falling in love. Lincoln Presley's life is all mapped out. There is only baseball. With the major leagues circling their favorite prospect with a lucrative offer, he cannot afford to mess up. And, he doesn't; until he meets up with the girl he saved from the burning wreckage on the 101 on Valentine's Day months before. By the time he learns her real name and of all the lies she's told, he's in far too deep to ever really let her go. When fame and lies tear them apart, one truth remains; and fate, most definitely, has a different set of plans. This much is true.Author's Note: A coming of age story? Could be. A powerful love story? Most definitely. An unforgettable read? Most likely. Intended for mature audiences, ages 17+? Absolutely. This best selling new adult contemporary romance novel will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride and is the first book (which should really be two books) in the Truth In Lies series, but it can be read as a standalone. It is 432 pages long in 12-point type so carve out some time.
Promise Me
Barbie Bohrman - 2013
Drawing strength from him, she left everything behind and sought a new life for herself, far away from the pain and shame.Fast forward ten years: Sabrina is settled in Miami, happy at last—until her best friend urges her to attend her high school reunion and face her painful past once and for all.And…maybe meet the mysterious Tyler once again.Can Sabrina find the courage to face the demons in her past, let go of the pain, and move forward into happiness? Or will insecurity and self-doubt ruin her one chance to get the love she’s not sure she even deserves?
All My Life
Prescott Lane - 2018
I loved him while he loved someone else. I loved him when he had a baby with her. I loved him when she left him.The greatest of love stories is that between a dad and his daughter. I should know. I’ve had a front row seat. First steps, first words, all the big moments. Garrett was just a teenager when Mia was born. I’ve watched him braid his daughter’s hair, hold her hand crossing the street, seen her asleep on his chest. I’m the best friend, the one they can count on for everything from dance lessons to motherly advice, anything they need. I’m their go-to girl.The best part of any love story is the happily ever after.But what if the happily ever after doesn’t include you?All my life, that’s how long I’ve loved him.Of course, he’s clueless.
Believing Lies
Rachel Everleigh - 2014
In her eyes, everything is going perfectly—until she discovers she’s wrong.Broken hearted and betrayed, she moves in with her cousin, Sophie. Sienna isn’t ready for another relationship. But she can’t deny the attraction she feels towards Adam Korbell. Sienna desperately fights her growing feelings for the cocky, sexy, tattooed guy who’s only interested in meaningless sex. Meanwhile, Adam attempts to resist the allure of the feisty blonde who has no intention of becoming his next one-night stand . . . But love and fate have a sneaky way of breaking down even the best defenses.Sienna has a secret she’s not ready to reveal. What she doesn’t know is the price of her hesitation. A string of misunderstandings that tear them apart.Deceptions and betrayals that cut too deep.A vicious lie that even the truth may never fix.
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.
Blind Kiss
Renee Carlino - 2018
Fourteen years ago, this shop was her childhood dance studio... Now she’s a suburban housewife, dreading the moment her son departs for MIT, leaving her with an impeccably decorated McMansion and a failing marriage. She had her chance at wild, stars-in-her-eyes happiness, but that was a lifetime ago. After The Kiss. Before The Decision.The Kiss was soulful. Magical. Earth-shattering, And it was all for a free gift card. Asked to participate in a psych study that posed the question, “Can you have sexual chemistry without knowing what the other person looks like?” Penny agreed to be blindfolded, make polite conversation with a total stranger, and kiss him. She never expected The Kiss to change her life forever and introduce her to Gavin: tattooed, gorgeous, and spontaneous enough to ask her out seconds after the blindfolds came off.For a year, they danced between friendship and romance—until Penny made The Decision that forced them to settle for friendship. Now, fourteen years later, both of their lives are about to radically change—and it’s his turn to decide what will become of their once-in-a-lifetime connection."