Book picks similar to
The Permanence of Pain by Desiree Lafawn


romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
free

Steel & Ice


Emily Eck - 2014
    Hardened by years on the streets, she's learned to take care of herself by covering her heart with ice and keeping men at arm's length. She's not weak and she doesn't need to be saved. But she wouldn't mind getting laid a little more often.J's covered his heart with steel. He owe's his life to an MC that is not what it seems. Since he knows his priority must be to the club's demands, no matter how illegal, he decided a long time ago that love didn't fit anywhere in his life.A not so chance, but definitely hot encounter on a crowded dance floor should be enough for J, but he can't seem to stay away from Elle. As she begins to melt his steel, and he manages to chip away her ice, his forced loyalty to the MC threatens to tear them apart. When the risk becomes greater than J expected, will love be enough to keep Elle from freezing her heart to him?

Closing the Gap


Colleen Charles - 2014
    When she finds out a date with her longtime crush is one of the items up for bid at a charity auction, she once again takes an interest in the two-legged species as well. The betrayal and public humiliation retired NHL player Josh Adams suffered at the hands of his ex-wife scarred him deeply. Now he’s only interested in superficial flings…until he connects with Lake at the charity event. She has depth of character and values he holds dear but getting involved with her could cost him everything. Can two scarred people, perfect for each other, overcome their broken hearts and find the love and happiness they deserve? Or will Lake’s past, and a madman bent on revenge, put an end to their promising future?

Fire On The Farm


Betty Shreffler - 2017
    Her only source of comfort is her work—a business dedicated to the care and training of horses. Until one lonely night leads her into the arms of Brock Baisdin. A man who fulfills her deepest desires and reignites a flame long forgotten. Between his picky tastes and running his own business, Brock Baisdin has little time for women, but that doesn't stop him from looking for love. After saving Amy from a cancelled date, Brock is instantly drawn to the shy and beautiful woman hiding secrets beneath her lust-filled baby blues—secrets he finds himself eager to discover. Undeniable attraction pulls them into each other's arms. Hope draws them into each other's lives. For Amy Flanders, Brock Baisdin may be the man to bring love back into her lonely life, if only she can overcome the wounds of her past and face her biggest fear—risking the pain of another shattered heart.

The Forbidden Sitter: A Billionaire Holiday Romance (Nightclub Sins)


Michelle Love - 2021
    

Hooked on You


Lea Coll - 2020
    Attorney was the last person I needed in my business... or my bar. The way she walked in wearing a tight suit and red power heels, flashing that badge should be illegal.Asking her for help was a mistake. Wanting her was a complication, one that I couldn't afford. We were from two different worlds.Taylor was spoiled, privileged and in way over her head. I was just the bad boy that girls like her were attracted to, a passing phase. An itch to scratch.I was no good for her and never would be.Hooked on You was previously titled Easy Moves, and is the prequel to the Annapolis Harbor Series.

Deadly Alliance: A Fortis/Purgatory Crossover Novel


Maddie Wade - 2018
    With the Atlantic Ocean between them, they never thought they would ever collaborate until a series of horrible murders force them to unite. As a former Navy SEAL, Shane Rhodes has suffered his share of tragedies but when his best friend’s little sister is murdered by a vicious serial killer, he takes it personally.Emme Wallace is the perfect bait; she is also young, innocent and skilled. With both their teams behind them, they go after a lethal shadow set on revenge. As danger brings them even closer, barriers are shattered and bonds formed until they realise that they are much stronger together than they are apart. But will their unique talents and skills be enough to survive a threat no one can see?

Rocky Mountain Hook Up


Kate Fargo - 2015
    Isabel Chapel is scared spitless. She’s losing clients faster than broncos toss cowboys at the Calgary Stampede. Tuition is due for her daughters, the advance for her second book is already spent… she can’t afford to lose her practice. Reluctantly, she agrees to some ‘field study’… just to observe… One buff psych student … Tray Taylor is a studious and buff farmer who just returned to university after working the farm during his father’s illness. Despite his killer looks and winning charm, he doesn’t have much confidence with women and he’s determined to find a teacher – his own personal Mrs. Robinson… One Hookup is all they need … When Isabel arrives at The Shore – a club with a certain reputation for older women and younger men – she’s not sure she can go through with it. But when she meets Tray, sparks fly, tempers flare, and she finds herself way outside her comfort zone … She needs to get more in touch with her sexual side. He needs to learn more about pleasuring women. In one night, they both get what they need. But will one night be enough for them to get what they want? Warning: Hot dancing, public seduction, and no holds barred horizontal mambo. Ready to get hooked up?

The Sheriff's Baby Bargain


Susan Lute - 2020
    Marshal-turned-Sheriff Taylor James can trace her family back to the original thirteen Marshals appointed by George Washington. She’s good at her job, but once they find out she’s the local law, she can’t get even one of her dates to stay past the appetizers. Her plan? Convince good friend and hot neighbor Dr. Gabriel Adams to give her dating lessons since his dance card is always full.A survivor of childhood leukemia with no guarantee his remission will last, Gabe lives by two rules: Don’t get emotionally involved and don’t let his well organized life spiral out of control. When he’s given a baby, with his name on her birth certificate, he needs Taylor’s help. But dangling dating lessons in exchange? If that will get the dedicated sheriff to lend a helping hand, could it be a bargain worth making?

Clear Skies


Suzanne Cass - 2021
    Secrets may tear them apart.Daisy’s in trouble. Her car is stalled in the middle of a flooded creek, with the water rising quickly.Dale is in no mood to rescue the woman about to be swept away by a raging tropical storm, who’s clearly a city girl, unfamiliar with the country roads, and driving a completely unsuitable car. He has half a mind to leave her right where she is.Stranded on the wrong side of the creek, Daisy has no other option than to accept Dale’s offer to spend the night at the luxury resort, Stormcloud Station.All of Daisy’s plans to leave the station as soon as she can are thrown into chaos when a girl is discovered drowned in the creek and everyone become suspects in a murder investigation.Daisy has discovered that far north Queensland is a wholly inhospitable country, but it also has a man with mesmerizing dimples, whose kiss has captured her soul. But she hides a secret that would tear them apart.On a night full of chaos, Dale and Daisy uncover the truth about the killer. But how can Dale safeguard this willful, determined woman who owns his heart, when Daisy puts herself squarely in harm’s way?

Date with a Devil


June Winters - 2019
    but you can never trust 'em. Valuable experience for someone who dates hockey players for a living. As the host of Date with a Devil, the young journalist is called into action when the captain of the Dallas Devils insults the team's few remaining fans. Austen's mission: save the athlete's beleaguered reputation. But Dane DeHardt doesn't give a damn about his reputation -- and his one-man war against the media threatens both their careers. Worse, "The Big D" can't keep his eyes off of her. Doesn't he know these dates aren't real? But DeHardt isn't the dimwit she's been led to believe -- and when the sinfully sexy hockey star isn't trying to talk the rookie reporter out of her clothes, he's pushing her to get to the bottom of a story she was ordered not to cover. Can Dane make Austen forget why she swore off jocks in the first place? Is she willing to risk her job because it's the right thing to do? Or is she being played by The Big D? Date with a Devil is a 75,000 word stand-alone hockey romance. Dual POV, no cheating. HEA always guaranteed, but the Dallas Devils drama continues in Book 2!

Sweet Disaster


Ceri Grenelle - 2018
     New York City summers are hot and sticky, which only makes what I’m feeling for the asshole in my new building even messier. Usually, I quietly reserve my opinions for my news articles, but when Tony argues with me, he tempts me to give in to my crazy. I yell back. He smiles. Something in me melts. It was only supposed to be one time, but we can’t get enough. ​With Tony I’m a new person, brave and unashamed. But anything between us can only be a fling. He’s offered a job in Rome. That’s good, right? With a long history of unreliable relationships, messy emotions are a complication I don’t need. Tony…has a sexy new neighbor. I’ve worked my ass off to climb the ladder at my company, even threw away my passion to prove I’m worth something. When they offer me a high position, I should be focused on my work. But no one’s ever spoken to me the way Sophie does. She pushes buttons I don't know I have. Forces me to confront a dream I gave up long ago. In two months, we go our separate ways. No hurt feelings. No misunderstandings. That’s the deal. She doesn’t need to know I’ll be playing for keeps.

Heart on Fire


Brandy L. Rivers - 2014
     Mila Day had plans. When her lover demands she give up her dreams to be a trophy wife, she leaves. Wanting to forget the wasted years, she ends up at a party in the next state, craving one wild night of abandon. It was exactly what she wanted. No strings. No names. But it’s not exactly what she gets. Six years later, she’s a happy high school teacher with a beautiful daughter she will always Cherish. No regrets. Kyle Blake is a fireman who has been burned. He’s happy alone until he hears joyous laughter next door. He finds it hard to resist Mila, and her little girl, who steal his heart. When pieces of her past surface, she’ll question everything. Can they survive the truth?

Burning Muses


J.R. Rogue - 2020
    It can be read as a standalone.Don’t let fear sway you. You’re not your past.Seraphina Daniels feels like running—the kind of running that doesn’t include a set destination. So, when her childhood friend calls in distress, she’s more than prepared to leave behind her failed—and famous—relationship, her writer’s block, and her impending thirtieth birthday. But upon her return to the Ozarks—a sharp contrast to New York City—she discovers that everything’s changed. I think I wanted you before I even knew what it was like to want someone.The homecoming brings Sera to Chace Holloway: the man who’s made a home out of the place that was once hers. Romance isn’t an option, but friendship comes easily with the twenty-two-year-old songwriter—despite the attraction they both feel.He is music, and I am merely madness and melancholy.What started as an escape becomes more of a trap when the past begins to wrap around the present. As hope blooms, Sera and Chace face their biggest obstacles—what they each fear, and what old lovers desire.

Wild Love


Melissa Schroeder - 2021
    In fact, I prefer my partners don't get too clingy. Don't get me wrong. I like a good night of loving, but beyond that, I’m happy to see them leave inthe morning, without my number.Then I met him. Quinn is a big bear of a man, with massive hands and amazing...staying power. Like all night long and the next morning kind of staying power. So when he asks me to spend the next day with him, I do. The only reason I give him my number is because he makes me laugh. And, okay, so I might have met up with him once or twice.That doesn't mean I need him. Because I am Everly Freaking Spencer, and I don't need anyone (other than my bestie), and definitely not a man.Only...He shows up by chance at my store, which totally freaks me out. Finding out he's my favorite author doesn't help either.And the surprise that's dropped in our laps later that day?Major. Freak. Out.But, like I said, I don't need anyone.Right?If I keep repeating that, I might just believe it.Author warning: Get ready for a trip into the hippiest little town in Texas. There's gossipy little old ladies (LOLs), an app that every teenager hates, trips to Denver and Cali, a woman who is convinced true love doesn't exist, and  man who aims to prove her wrong by doing things to her that should embarrass the author. And she was. (Not really). Along the way readers get to spend time with the gorgeous Hawthorne brothers and gay ducks. SERIOUSLY. GAY. DUCKS. Just get the book already because you know you want to know about them. Also, there's a happily ever after fit for a woman with commitment issues and man who just doesn't know when to give up.

Walk With Me, One Hundred Days of Crazy


Ernesto H. Lee - 2019
    As a successful commodities trader with one of the leading London trading houses, he was happy, healthy and, engaged to be married to the woman he loved. Then came the devastating news that would change his life forever. Less than two years later, his health is in tatters, his fiancée is gone, and his life is reduced to nothing more than a series of difficult choices and harsh realities. In search of answers and, in search of a drink, he walks an unfamiliar part of London. He doesn’t find the answers he is looking for, but he does find Karen. With Karen, he finds hope. With Karen, he finds love. With Karen, nothing is ever going to be the same again.Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite- 5 StarsWalk With Me: One Hundred Days of Crazy is a romantic and bitter sweet work of fiction penned by author Ernesto H Lee. Written for mature audiences, but not overly graphic in its romantic content, this tale focuses on love later in life. Our central hero Mark Rennie is a man who once thought he had a perfect life all figured out, but then his life and health fall apart aged forty-one. In a world of difficult choices, Mark chooses to drift the streets of London in search of some kind of answer. When he finds Karen, however, he gets a lot more than he was looking for.This is an emotional and unusual love story in the realm of tragic romances, but it has so many beautiful and uplifting qualities in spite of the situation that Mark finds himself in. The back drop of London is well drawn to bring out the atmosphere of each moment in Mark and Karen's relationship, and author Ernesto H Lee has a cinematic sense of how to construct scenes and move the plot along without any unnecessary details derailing it. The narration is personal, close to the characters, and sensitive in matters of health, the future and the notion of hope. What results is an emotionally intelligent and realistic romance that will grip its readers from start to finish. Overall, Walk With Me: One Hundred Days of Crazy is a rollercoaster ride with stylish narration, compelling dialogue and a plot you'll cry over again and again.Reviewed By Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite- 5 StarsWalk With Me: One Hundred Days of Crazy by Ernesto H Lee is a novel about love, acceptance, and learning to live in the moment. We are all guilty of it and we all take our present for granted while we push for the future. This is something that happened to Mark Rennie in this novel. He kept looking forward and worked hard, only to have his life slip away from him. His story is heartbreaking as well as encouraging.The author did a great job of creating an atmosphere that is sensitive yet hopeful. There were emotional ups and downs in the story, but the author kept the momentum going and ensured that the reader enjoyed the journey with Mark and Karen. While the topic of cancer is very bleak,the author added as much hope and happiness to the story as possible. To say that I got emotional reading this novel would be an understatement. I was so involved and invested in Mark and Karen that I just didn't want their story to end. Absolutely beautiful! “Walk With Me, One Hundred Days of Crazy is a novel with a powerful tale of romance and one that explores the deep longings of the human heart.” Ruffina Oserio for Readers Favorite. “Walk With Me, One Hundred Days of Crazy by Ernesto H Lee is a fascinating book packed with craziness, emotions, family, and love (lots of love).” Ankita Shukla for Readers Favorite.