Book picks similar to
From Kiss to Queen by Janet Chapman


romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
janet-chapman

Cross My Heart


Carly Phillips - 2006
    As the owner of Odd Jobs, she's gone from rags to riches...sort of. Because Lacey's harboring a secret -- she was born Lillian Dumont, and spent her childhood with a silver spoon in her mouth, until the deaths of her wealthy parents and the evil schemes of an abusive uncle forced her to take drastic measures. She'd never planned to return to her former life or her abandoned identity -- but when her childhood sweetheart, Ty, resurfaces and urges her to claim her rightful inheritance, she decides that maybe being the Dumont heiress wouldn't be so bad. Lacey's uncle doesn't see it that way, though -- and he's willing to do anything to stop her.Now, it's up to Ty to protect Lacey before that silver spoon becomes a silver bullet. But if they live through this, the future's looking bright for this downtown guy and his brand-new uptown girl!

Coming Home


Mariah Stewart - 2010
    But after years in seclusion, his sister’s wedding draws him to St. Dennis, a peaceful town on the Chesapeake Bay. Though he swears he isn’t interested in finding love again, Grady can’t ignore the mutual sparks that fly when he meets Vanessa Keaton.Although her past was marked by bad choices, Vanessa has found that coming to St. Dennis is the best decision she’s ever made. Bling, her trendy boutique, is a success with tourists as well as with the townspeople. She’s made friends, has a home she loves, and has established a life for herself far from the nightmare she left behind. The last thing she’s looking for is romance, but the hot new man in town is hard to resist. And when Vanessa’s past catches up with her, Grady finds that he’s unwilling to let her become a victim again. As together they fight her demons, Grady and Vanessa discover that life still holds some surprises and that love doesn’t always have to hurt.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Mariah Stewart's Long Way Home.

It Must Be Love


Rachel Gibson - 2000
    She'd blown his cover---brought him down with a can of hairspray---and now his new assignment was to pose as her boyfriend. But spending as much time as possible with the utterly irresistible New Age beauty caused unexpected complications. To make matters worse, his matchmaking sisters are picking out china patterns.Joe's brooding good looks and T-shirt-straining muscles might be easy on the eyes, but how could Gabrielle be attracted to a straight-laced detective who's determined to find evidence to arrest her? Still, he invades her dreams and when they share a transcendent lovemaking experience, Gabrielle knows it must be love.

What The Lady Wants


Jennifer Crusie - 1995
    He'd envisioned a world of tough-talking detectives and smart-mouthed, stunning dames. Instead he saw case after case of cheating husbands, suspicious wives and unsuspecting mistresses…until she walked through the door.Right down to her stilettos, Mae Sullivan was a knockout with a lethal body and a lethal family to go with it. There was something not quite on the up-and-up about her, but she came with a case he couldn't afford to refuse…and left him with a case of lust he hadn't had since high school. It didn't take long for him to fall for her, hook, line and sinker. But was Mae interested only in catching the double-crossing crooks who murdered her uncle…or did the lady want to catch him?

Three Fates


Nora Roberts - 2002
    Now, nearly a century later, that priceless heirloom, one of a long-separated set of three, has been stolen. And Malachi, Gideon, and Rebecca Sullivan are determined to recover their great-great-grandfather’s treasure, reunite the Three Fates, and make their fortune.The quest will take them from their home in Ireland to Helsinki, Prague, and New York where they will meet a brilliant scholar who will aid them in their hunt—and an ambitious woman who will stop at nothing to acquire the Fates...

Hard Day's Knight


Katie MacAlister - 2005
    At least that's Pepper Marsh's first impression when she attends a jousting competition at the Rennaissance Faire in Ontario. An unemployed and unattached software engineer, Pepper has had enough of the computer geeks in her dating pool. She years for a man of yore. A man not afraid to stare death in the face ...and laugh at it. A man with a big lance...Pepper's cousin has promised to find her a knight in shining armor, on the condition that Pepper walk around in wench garb. With her mind on her embarrassingly revealing bodice, Pepper promptly steps into the path of an oncoming steed...and is rescued by sexy Englishman Walker McPhail. Once the wild man of jousting, Walker has let a brush with death keep him out of the ring. Though his emotions are clad in almost impenetrable armor, Pepper finds Walker infuriatingly sexy--and she's about to go medieval on his heart...

She Went All the Way


Meg Cabot - 2002
    And it's put her in some bizarre situations -- like in a helicopter en route to the wilds of Alaska, sharing too-close quarters with the last man she wants to be with: Jack Townsend! Once a sexy nobody whom Lou helped make a somebody, Jack's just been dumped by a high-profile Hollywood airhead -- who's eloped with Lou's longtime love! So what else could go wrong?Well...Their pilot could try to shoot the most adored man in America. They could crash land in the icy, mountainous middle of nowhere. And at the worst possible moment, when survival should be their only consideration, Jack could start wondering if maybe he wasn't a wee bit too hasty for not giving this sexy screenwriter a second look -- while Lou could start noticing how superstar Jack is kind of hot after all ...

Long Time Coming


Edie Claire - 2003
    But back at home, the past is ready and waiting to haunt her...Eighteen years have passed since Joy's childhood best friend, Jenny, met her death in a tragic car accident just a few days after their senior prom. A broken Joy left their small Kentucky hometown shortly after - determined never to come back. But when her father's illness forces her to return, she realizes that neither time nor distance have truly healed her troubled soul.Plagued with nightmares of the accident and crippled by a vague fear whose source she can't identify, Joy realizes that in order to move on she must face the truth behind several disturbing gaps in her memory of that fateful spring. But the only person who can help her is a man she despises - Jenny's erstwhile boyfriend Jeff, now a respected doctor, whose carelessness as a teenager was the cause of Jenny's horrendous death - and Joy's own emotional destruction. Can she ever forgive? She may have no choice but to try. Because both the danger she sensed - and the childhood friendship she treasured - now suddenly seem very much alive...

Hidden Talents


Jayne Ann Krentz - 1993
    She's expanding her natural foods emporium to sell local handicrafts by mail—which she hopes will benefit her offbeat artist community in Witt's End, Washington. But she needs a crack financial adviser to make her dream a reality—so she charms her way into the office of Caleb Ventress, a handsome wolf in conservative clothing. An expert in the art of the deal, Caleb isn't sure what to make of the unconventional Serenity—but there's no doubt he's attracted. A pass from a paragon of conformity—even one as handsome as Caleb—is more than free-spirited Serenity bargained for. But when a lethal blackmailer threatens her plans and perhaps her life, she puts her whole trust in the man who seems her complete opposite—and the net result might be true love.

Shut Up and Kiss Me


Christie Craig - 2010
    Pictures can say a thousand words, and one of Shala's is screaming bloody murder. Now she has to entrust a macho, infuriating lawman with her life -- but she'll never trust him with her heart. Trust or not, Sky Gomez isn't about to let a killer get his hands on Shala's Nikon -- or any of her more comely assets, for that matter. Her mouth might move faster than a Piney Woods roadrunner, but all he can think about is how good it must taste...and how she'll never escape true love.

Hunk for the Holidays


Katie Lane - 2012
    That might explain why she doesn't have a date for the company Christmas party. But it doesn't quite explain why she's crazy enough to hire an escort for the event or - crazier still - why she's dying to unwrap him like a present . . . With whiskey-colored eyes and a killer smile, James is one gorgeous hunk who really knows how to fill out a tuxedo. He charms everyone, including Cassie. And when the night ends, the party doesn't stop. As Cassie falls, literally, into his bed, James falls head over heels in love. Now he has to figure out a way to tell her the truth: he's not an escort. He's her family's fiercest business rival. But all he wants for Christmas is her . . .

Be My Baby


Susan Andersen - 1999
    He's too big, too pushy, too virile, too . . . everything! His shameless, hungry-eyed gaze shakes her carefully cultivated decorum. But Juliet is a Lowell—and there's no way she's ever going to lose control!Beau has more important things to do than babysit a beautiful Yankee rich girl. By driving the well-mannered socialite beyond the bounds of her good-girl restraints, he figures he can get himself pulled off of the assignment. But who would have thought that real passion sizzled beneath Juliet's polish—or that when she lets her hair down, she just might prove to be more woman than Beau can handle?

It Had to Be Him


Tamra Baumann - 2015
    But with another job lost and the gorgeous father of her daughter trying to make contact after disappearing three years ago, a break is definitely in order. Hopefully the little town filled with big, juicy secrets can help.After being off the grid for years, Josh Granger, a man with his own secrets, wants Meg and his daughter back. But first he has to get past townspeople as protective as a pack of rottweilers. He’s not the man Meg thinks he is, but he can’t tell her why…not yet.As Meg slowly warms to Josh, it’s clear the old spark is still there. But when his secret is exposed—along with Meg’s own shocking revelation—will it tear their family apart again, or bind them forever?

Mouth to Mouth


Erin McCarthy - 2005
    Police detective Russ Evans gets more than he had bargained for when he is assigned to watch gorgeous coffee shop owner Laurel Wilkins, supposedly the latest target of con man Trevor Dean, in a sensuous and witty novel of mistaken identity and romance.

The Royal Runaway


Lindsay Emory - 2018
    After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place. So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it. Funny, fast-paced, and full of more twists and turns than the castle Thea lives in, The Royal Runaway is a fresh romantic comedy that will leave you cheering for the modern-day royal who chucks the rulebook aside to create her own happily-ever-after.