Book picks similar to
Second Chance Summer by Poppy St. James


arc
contemporary
romance
contemporary-romance

What I Thought Was True


Huntley Fitzpatrick - 2014
    He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

Xavier: The Contract


Miranda P. Charles - 2018
    Now, Xavier not only needs to watch his back--he also has to watch his heart.When Xavier Stirling's father suddenly confesses to fraud, Xavier suspects he's being coerced by a notorious criminal. Then Xavier finds himself the target of false accusations that threaten to ruin his own business. With the police suspecting him of wrongdoing, he desperately looks elsewhere for help. Enter the Indie Rebels--a secret group unsanctioned by law enforcement agencies. But to get their help, Xavier has to become an Indie Rebel himself. His first assignment is to keep journalist Eve Marrin safe--without Eve knowing she's being protected. He's surprised by the strength of his attraction for her. Now Xavier not only needs to watch his back--he also has to watch his heart.For Eve Marrin, her new job as co-lead reporter for a popular public affairs program is a dream come true. She loves nothing more than to uncover scams, unfair business practices and other matters that the public has the right to know about. When she's given a tip to investigate the fitness training business of Xavier Stirling, she soon realizes she needs to build a wall around her heart in order to do her work.***Xavier: The Contract can be enjoyed as a standalone novel in the Indie Rebels series, where steamy, heart-melting romance meets danger, mystery and suspense.

The Friendship Pact


Tara Taylor Quinn - 2014
    “Tara Taylor Quinn tackles the subject of friendship—especially friendship between women—with the emotional investment she brings to all her books. Her writing is dramatic, her characters realistic, her stories involving.”--This is a story for every woman who has a best friend...Bailey Watters and Koralynn Mitchell consider themselves "sisters of the soul." Their circumstances growing up couldn't have been more different; Kora came from a wealthy, privileged family, while Bailey's home life was hard. They'd do anything for each other. "I'd give you a kidney," they always say. There are no secrets between them--until there's one secret Bailey can't share.This is a story for every woman who's been in love.Danny Brown is the only man Kora's ever wanted, ever loved, and her marriage seems as flawless as everything else in her life. Bailey, however, doesn't want a husband. She does want a baby--but only by IVF. And the perfect donor, the perfect biological father, would be a man like...Danny.What happens when love and friendship collide?Kora might be willing to give Bailey a kidney. But what about a baby?

Catch a Falling Star


Kim Culbertson - 2014
    . . and yourself.Nothing ever happens in Little, CA. Which is just the way Carter Moon likes it. But when Hollywood arrives to film a movie starring former child star turned PR mess Adam Jakes, everything changes. Carter's town becomes a giant glittery set and, much to her annoyance, everyone is starry-eyed for Adam. Carter seems to be the only girl not falling all over herself to get a glimpse of him. Which apparently makes her perfect for the secret offer of a lifetime: playing the role of Adam's girlfriend while he's in town, to improve his public image, in exchange for a hefty paycheck. Her family really needs the money and so Carters agrees. But it turns out Adam isn't at all who she thought he was. As they grow closer, their relationship walks a blurry line between what's real and what's fake, and Carter must open her eyes to the scariest of unexplored worlds - her future. Can Carter figure out what she wants out of life AND get the guy? Or are there no Hollywood endings in real life?

EveryDayLove!


Lucy McConnell - 2018
     Daisy Covington has dreamed of having her own line of cosmetics since she was a fourteen-year-old girl with a beauty channel. Her channel has grown over the years to be one of the top two beauty channels on the MyHeartChannel site and her dream is within reach. She just needs a segment that will put her over the top. When Beckett Kingsly, Daisy's older brother’s best friend and career humanitarian, crashes on her couch for a couple days, she comes up with a plan. She’ll do a fundraiser for the charity Beckett works for in exchange for the chance to give him a makeover on her show. His worn-out cargo shorts, unruly beard, and man bun are all on the chopping block. After some pressure from his boss—FreeWater could use the exposure to Daisy’s eleven million subscribers—Beckett reluctantly agrees. But as Daisy works to transform Beckett, she realizes that her crush from long ago hasn’t faded. She’s falling for him even though he’s waiting for orders to leave town. Though Beckett seems like the perfect guy, Daisy wants to settle down with a man who will actually be in the same country for more than a couple weeks. If She can’t find a way to make it work, she'll miss her chance at a truly beautiful life.

How to Hack a Heartbreak


Kristin Rockaway - 2019
    Swipe left for disaster.By day, Mel Strickland is an underemployed helpdesk tech at a startup incubator, Hatch, where she helps entitled brogrammers—"Hatchlings"—who can't even fix their own laptops, but are apparently the next wave of startup geniuses. And by night, she goes on bad dates with misbehaving dudes she's matched with on the ubiquitous dating app, Fluttr.But after one dick pic too many, Mel has had it. Using her brilliant coding skills, she designs an app of her own, one that allows users to log harrassers and abusers in online dating space. It's called JerkAlert, and it goes viral overnight.Mel is suddenly in way over her head. Worse still, her almost-boyfriend, the dreamy Alex Hernandez—the only non-douchey guy at Hatch—has no idea she's the brains behind the app. Soon, Mel is faced with a terrible choice: one that could destroy her career, love life, and friendships, or change her life forever.

Built


Jay Crownover - 2016
    At least, that’s what it’s felt like for as long as she can remember. She’s yet to let anyone past her icy exterior – and the one guy she thinks might melt her heart couldn’t possibly be interested in someone so uptight.Rough, hard and hot-as-hell, Zeb Fuller has rebuilt his life and his construction business since protecting his family sent him to jail all those years ago. His elegant client, Sayer, makes him feel like a Neanderthal in denim, but despite the many hints that he’s been dropping to get to know her better, she seems oblivious to his charms.Just as things finally start to heat up, Zeb’s past comes back to haunt him and he needs Sayer’s professional help to right a wrong and to save more than himself. As these opposites dig in for the fight of their lives, fire and ice collide in an unstoppable explosion of steam…

All Are Welcome


Liz Parker - 2021
    Not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t think girls from Connecticut married other girls. Yet here she is with Caroline, the love of her life, at their destination wedding on the Bermuda coast. In attendance—their respective families and a few choice friends. The conflict-phobic Tiny hopes for a beautiful weekend with her bride-to-be. But as the weekend unfolds, it starts to feel like there’s a skeleton in every closet of the resort.From Tiny’s family members, who find the world is changing at an uncomfortable speed, to Caroline’s parents, who are engaged in conspiratorial whispers, to their friends, who packed secrets of their own—nobody seems entirely forthcoming. Not to mention the conspicuous no-show and a tempting visit from the past. What the celebration really needs now is a monsoon to help stir up all the long-held secrets, simmering discontent, and hidden agendas.All Tiny wanted was to get married, but if she can make it through this squall of a wedding, she might just leave with more than a wife.

Crushing It


Lorelei Parker - 2020
    . .To pitch her new role-playing game at a European conference, developer Sierra Reid needs to overcome her terror of public speaking. What better practice than competing in a local bar's diary slam, regaling an audience with old journal entries about her completely humiliating college crush on gorgeous Tristan Spencer?Until the moderator says, "Next up, Tristan Spencer . . ."Sierra is mortified, but Tristan is flattered. Caught up in memories of her decade-old obsession as they reconnect, Sierra tries to dismiss her growing qualms about him. But it's not so easy to ignore her deepening friendship with Alfie, the cute, supportive bar owner. She and Alfie were college classmates too, and little by little, Sierra is starting to wonder if she's been focusing her moves on the wrong target all along, misreading every player's motivations.Maybe the only winning strategy is to start playing by her heart . . . "Relatable, funny, and charming, this gamingesque book delivers laughs and romance in a warm, satisfying bundle." --Elly Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Frostblood "Sexy and delicious." --Kristin Wright, author of Lying Beneath the Oaks

The Dirty Book Club


Lisi Harrison - 2017
    M.J. Stark’s life is picture-perfect—she has her dream job as a magazine editor, a sexy doctor boyfriend, and a glamorous life in New York City. But behind her success, there is a debilitating sense of loneliness. So when her boss betrays her and her boyfriend offers her a completely new life in California, she trades her cashmere for caftans and gives it a try. Once there, M.J. is left to fend for herself in a small beach town, with only the company of her elderly neighbor, Gloria, and an ocean that won’t shut up. One afternoon, M.J. discovers that Gloria has suddenly moved to Paris with her friends to honor a fifty-year-old pact. And in lieu of a goodbye, she’s left a mysterious invitation to a secret club—one that only reads erotic books. Curious, M.J. accepts and meets the three other hand-selected club members. As they bond over naughty bestsellers and the shocking letters they inherited from the original club members, the four strangers start to divulge the intimate details of their own lives… and as they open up, they learn that friendship might just be the key to rewriting their own stories: all they needed was to find each other first.

My Kinda Kisses


Lacey Black - 2016
    Jaime Summer learned that lesson the hard way when her fiancé wreaked havoc on her carefully constructed life plan. Now, Jaime’s back in her hometown, working at her sister’s flower shop and living with her family once again, swearing off dating and men for the rest of her life. That is, until Ryan Elson walks through the door.Ryan has been in Jupiter Bay for a year now, and has worked hard to make this new town his home. His construction business is growing and while his personal relationships with the fairer sex are lacking, he’s more content than he’s ever been.He doesn’t need a woman, but a chance meeting with Jaime has Ryan ready to pull out all the stops to have her.Exhilarating. Intoxicating. Consuming. Ravenous. Passionate.What happens when those kisses lead towards something more? Something that looks a lot like forever. Note: This book is intended for those 18 and over due to graphic language, descriptive sex, and the world’s most inappropriate grandparents.

Grumpy Best Friend


B.B. Hamel - 2021
    I had to escape my drunk, abusive father, but leaving her behind was the biggest mistake of my life.Now I have another shot at making things right. Jude’s new boss wants to build a factory outside of Philadelphia, and she brings me in to help.I’m thrust back into Jude’s world, and not much has changed. She’s still beautiful, still hilarious, and still hates my guts.Little by little, she’ll remember why we fell in love back in high school. I’ll make her pout, then make her laugh— then make her strip down and kiss me.And soon I’ll have her back, all grown up and perfect.Or else I'll lose the empire I built with my own calloused hands.Another hot grumpy man! Watch Lady Fluke’s assistant Jude find her happily-ever-after with Bret while they both face their broken pasts and grow together. It’s steamy and fun and I think you’ll fall in love with protective, growly Bret just like I did. As always, Grumpy Best Friend is a full length standalone novel with no cheating, no cliffhanger, and a happily-ever-after guaranteed. Enjoy! XO BB

Make it Count


Megan Erickson - 2014
    The defective organ is constantly distracted, terrible at statistics, and absolutely flooded with inappropriate thoughts about her boyfriend’s gorgeous best friend, Alec…who just so happens to be her brand new math tutor. Who knew nerd was so hot?Kat usually goes through tutors like she does boyfriends—both always seem to bail when they realize how hopeless she is. It’s safer for her heart to keep everyone at arm’s reach. But Alec is always stepping just a little too close.Alec Stone should not be fantasizing about Kat. She’s adorable, unbelievably witty, and completely off limits. He’d never stab his best friend in the back…But when secrets are revealed, the lines of loyalty are blurred. To make it count, Alec must learn messy human emotions can’t be solved like a trigonometry function. And Kat has to trust Alec may be the first guy to want her for who she is, and not in spite of it.

Villain


Samantha Young - 2017
     Nadia Ray is not just a broadcast meteorologist. She’s Boston’s morning television It Girl. Successful and independent, she’s put a past she’s ashamed of behind her and is forging a future she can be proud of. However, when her new boss discovers her secret he blackmails her, intent on using Nadia’s popularity to make them the number one morning show in Massachusetts. He wants her to be part of uncovering the city’s biggest scandal - a secret billionaire Caine Carraway is hiding. Soon Nadia is thrown into the path of Caine’s best friend: sexy, wealthy bachelor Henry Lexington. But she doesn’t encounter the dashing high society gentleman Henry is purported to be. Instead she’s faced with an insulting and defensive villain who misjudges her at every turn. When Henry finally realizes the truth, and decides to make amends, Nadia wants nothing to do with him. But she underestimates his determination and charm and soon they find themselves embroiled in an intense, passionate affair.An affair Nadia knows must come to an end before their feelings grow any deeper and he discovers her secrets.After all, Henry Lexington isn’t the only one who played the part of a villain once…

Stay with Me


Maya Banks - 2008
    On the night of her fifth anniversary, Catherine Cullen-Wellesley intends to break the news to the two men in her life. She’s pregnant with their child. It’ll be the perfect preamble to the vacation they’ve promised her: Two weeks on a Jamaican beach. No cell phones, no emails, no business. But when Logan and Rhys blow off the trip for yet another “business emergency”, Catherine faces some difficult truths. She hasn’t come first in her busy husbands’ lives in a long time. Defiantly, she packs her bags for her long-awaited vacation—alone. It’ll give her a chance to figure out what the hell she’s going to do with the rest of her life.When Logan and Rhys come home to an empty house, they realize two things: One, it was a mistake to take Catherine for granted. Two, they’re not willing to just let her walk out of their lives.Winning her back will be the most difficult battle of their lives—more important than any business deal they’ve ever negotiated.Warning: This title contains explicit sex, ménage a trois, a polyamorous relationship, graphic language, and sex near a beach (and in the shower).