Book picks similar to
Drawing Lessons by Julia Gabriel


romance
contemporary-romance
freebie
contemporary

Perfectly Played


Holly Kerr - 2019
    No flowers, no patient groom… no perfect love story waiting for her. And so she pulled up her wedding dress and ran out of the chapel—straight into the sweetest, saddest, tallest guy she’d ever seen.Ex-ball player Dean thought a wedding was expected until an icy cold text to his best man let him know it wasn’t going to happen. Ever. Now there’s nothing to do but spend a few hours commiserating with the cute bride who ran out of her own wedding.It is Las Vegas, after all.One perfect night later, with strippers and syrup and drag queens, Flora and Dean go home alone, forgetting about last names and usernames and even old-school addresses. Maybe they can find love again, but not if they can’t find each other.But love plays its own game, and the best happily ever afters always have a bit of serendipity involved. Will Flora and Dean’s love story be perfectly played?

Happy Truth About Love


Karice Bolton - 2017
    Instead of overthinking what’s right in front of her, she embraces the freedom of the unknown and the thrill of leaving everything behind and moves to the small mountain town of Silver Ridge. It isn’t until she arrives at her late uncle’s Bed and Breakfast that she begins to doubt her newfound ability to throw caution to the wind. From the moment she opens the barely hanging front door and steps inside to see peeling wallpaper and a broken banister, she realizes this inheritance might not have been a gift at all. Her uncle had to be using the term Bed and Breakfast loosely in his will because it was more of a deathtrap than anything. But she does love her new town. And the overly helpful Joel North, who is exactly everything she’s told herself to stay away from. He’s gorgeous, somewhat mysterious, and he’s sprinkled with the power to make Autumn blush off just one look, which is completely unacceptable in the real world, but she just can’t help herself. What Autumn doesn’t expect to uncover are secrets that change everything she’s known about her family and the life she’s led. It doesn’t help that Joel seems to hold the answers to some of her darkest questions and there’s one he just won’t answer. As she rebuilds the old mansion, she realizes her uncle’s real gift wasn’t the B&B, but the truth that rested behind its walls.

Chasing Sunsets


Eva Marie Everson - 2011
    A divorced mother of two, Kim resents her ex-husband for moving on with his life and living it up while she struggles to understand what went wrong. When her sons end up spending five weeks of summer vacation with their father, Kim's own father suggests a respite in the family vacation home on tiny Cedar Key Island. As Kim revisits her childhood memories and loves, she soon discovers that treasures in life are often buried, and mistakes--both past and present--become redeemable in God's hand.Readers will be swept away to an island retreat where they walk alongside Kim as she discovers that God's answers may not come easily, but they do come.

Going Down


Jayne Rylon - 2016
    If you’re extraordinarily lucky, you’ll be invited to join them on The Divemaster, where work and pleasure go hand in hand. Welcome aboard! Archer Banks relishes his carefree lifestyle. Together with friends and fellow divemasters Miguel Torres and Tosin Ellis, he travels the world, SCUBA diving by day, entertaining lonely female tourists by night. Until his father dies, instantly transforming Archer from a beach bum to a billionaire by shackling him with an enormous, undesired inheritance. With the help of his family’s longtime butler, Archer is determined to turn his new golden handcuffs into a golden opportunity. He prays Miguel and Tosin will come along for the ride when he repurposes his family’s mega-yacht into a vessel well-suited for both work and hardcore play. Never in his worst nightmares does he expect their maiden voyage to be such rough sailing. Not only is Archer’s old crush, Waverly Adams, among their passengers, but the men have also stumbled upon a vast sunken treasure—one worth killing for. Waverly surprises Archer with an alluring naughtiness he never got the chance to experience in their younger days. Busy accepting the challenge she issues his dominant side in The Divemaster’s onboard club every night, he might be distracted and short on sleep. But could he also be blind to more dangerous facets of her personality? When the divemasters can no longer deny there’s foul play at hand, will Archer be going down with the ship, cursed by his family’s fortune, or will Waverly turn out to be the woman of his most wicked dreams? *This is a standalone novel set in the Divemasters world*

Faster


Deana Birch - 2018
    The junior producer knows she's dodged a bullet. Because, despite his melt-your-heart chocolate eyes and rising fame, Jake Riley is not boyfriend material. And those messages he sends in the middle of the night get filed under, "drunk text, best to ignore," without delay.Twelve grueling years of paying dues has finally resulted in a hit song for Jake. But, knowing the new zeroes in his bank account come with as many ways to blow it, he craves stability. So, stocked with an arsenal of charm and a reminder of what happened against her front door, he persuades Louana to see him again the next time he's in town. Now, certain he's found the calm to his storm, he asks her for the previously unthinkable-monogamy.

Waltz Back to Texas


M.J. Fredrick - 2012
     After growing up in a dying town, with only two restaurants, no movie theater, and no future, waitress Cassidy Simon wants out. For once, luck is on her side when the oil boom comes to South Texas. She’s determined to use it for her advantage, starting up an RV park for the oilfield workers to add to her escape fund. She’s never been out of Texas, and she’s itching for adventure. Grady McKenna couldn’t get away from his family’s ranch fast enough when he was a teenager, but a tour in the Air Force in the Middle East is enough to convince him there’s no place like home. He’s seen the world, had his adventure. Now he’s ready to contribute to his family’s legacy in Evansville. Naturally, the woman who draws his attention is the one intent on slipping through his fingers. How can he convince her life with him will be all the adventure she needs?

The Irish Cottage: Finding Elizabeth


Juliet Gauvin - 2014
    Book 1 of 3. Elizabeth Lara built a perfect life as San Francisco’s top divorce attorney, but when she loses her great-aunt Mags, the woman who raised her, she boards a plane and leaves it all behind.The Irish shores welcome her as she learns a shocking truth, kept secret for thirty-five years. Devastated and now alone in the world, Beth tries to find peace in a beautiful cottage by Lough Rhiannon, but peace isn’t what fate had in mind. Almost as soon as she arrives, Beth’s solitary retreat into the magic wilds of Ireland is interrupted by Connor Bannon. A man with light brown hair, ice blue eyes and a secret of his own. He’s gorgeous, grieving, and completely unexpected. With the help of Mags’ letters, the colorful townspeople of Dingle, and Connor, Elizabeth might just find a way back to the girl she lost long ago and become the woman she always wanted to be.

Brooks


Savannah Rylan - 2021
    Prison food sucked.But now that I'm finally out, There's only one dish I'm looking for...A dark-haired beauty named Raven.She was my best friend's girl.But he's gone now.And it's all my fault.It's only right that I should take care of her.But once I lay eyes on her again,I know I want to do more than comfort her.I don't know if I can control myself.And then there's the f*ckin club.Things have gone to sh*t since I got locked up.I can barely take care of myself...But now Raven,And the club?F*ck.Prison was easier.

Sinners of Hawthorne University Complete Series


Eva Ashwood - 2021
    It contains violence, dark subject matter, and high steam.**

My Sister's Keeper


Edna Curry - 2011
    She needs to meet her deadline and doesn’t have time to bail Jolene out of trouble for the umpteenth time. She’s sick of responsibility. But FBI agent Luke shows up, saying Jolene is part of a jewelry thief gang. Worse, Luke suspects Candi of being one of the thieves herself. Assigned to watch her, he finds himself falling for her and the cute baby, wanting her, but never gets involved with a suspect. Then they find that secrets from the past threaten Candi’s whole family.

Give Me Love


Paige P. Horne - 2015
     Abandoned by her mother at only eight years old, Kathrine Harrison was taught that relying on yourself is the only way. She grew up in chaos, getting abused by her stepdad who reminded her daily that she wasn’t worth loving. Bryce Grant was used to his dad’s drinking but couldn't understand why the man was obsessed with a woman who constantly chose drugs over her family. Bryce cared for only one person and did everything he could to keep his brother, Jace, from witnessing just how bad their parents were. Tragedy changes the boys’ lives and sets them on a path they have never envisioned for themselves. Meeting by chance, Kat and Bryce have no idea how much they have in common and love is not a choice. Can it change how they see things, or will it destroy the life they've worked so hard to maintain?

Hotter Than Ever


Linda Cousine - 2012
    Follow along as unconventional Lexi Taylor navigates the minefield that is menopause in this fast-paced fun spin on aging. She had it all ... and lost it in a hot flash.Lexi Taylor had the picture perfect life--fame, fortune, beauty, and a loving family. But Lexi's hit the big five-o and now everything has changed. In one year, she's managed to lose her husband, her figure, her friends … and she just might have lost her mind. After her second incarceration for acts committed while in the throes of menopausal madness, a family intervention convinces Lexi she needs some professional help, and she checks herself into Sunnyvale Sanitarium, Home for the Mostly Menopausal, for a ninety-day stay. With the help of an army of doctors and one very therapeutic nun, Lexi manages to reclaim her sanity, her self-respect, her sex-drive, and learn the true purpose of her colorful life. The Middle-Aged Hottie series: HOTTER THAN EVER (Book 1) TOO HOT TO HOLD (Book 2) HOT TO TROT (Book 3)

Coming Home to Heritage Cove


Helen J. Rolfe - 2020
    After an absence of five years, her return isn’t going to be easy, especially when she bumps into Harvey, the love of her life and the man she’s never been able to forget. For reasons he couldn't explain at the time, Harvey changed his mind about going with Melissa to start afresh as they'd planned, and life moved on for the both of them. But with Melissa back in the village and determined to stick around to help Barney, they can't avoid each other forever. Melissa knows she let so many people down by staying away for so long, but she and Harvey blame each other for what happened and neither of them is willing to admit to being in the wrong.When Barney insists on cancelling the Wedding Dress Ball, the charity fundraiser he holds every year in the stunning barn on his property, Melissa and Harvey realise they’re going to have to pull together. Otherwise the man they once knew might be gone forever. And when they unearth a secret Barney has never shared with anyone, they go in search of answers to not only ensure the ball runs this summer, but to bring back the Barney they know and love. Back in the cove after all this time, Melissa gets to see the life she left behind and it’s time to deal with what it was that drove her away in the first place.Beneath the summer sunshine in Heritage Cove, the sea sparkles, the heat rises and new love, reconciliations and the answers to an old love story could bring changes for everyone. Perfect summer reading for fans of Sarah Morgan, Holly Martin and Jill Mansell

Lucy's Hearth


M. Lee Prescott - 2019
    Her new neighbor back east, Richard is a self-made billionaire who goes after what he wants, and he wants Lucy. Back home in New England, they begin a white hot love affair. As the heat pumps up, Lucy tries to step back, scared she is in too deep, too fast. Will this gorgeous Morgan man let her go? And, in pulling away, is she giving up a dream of happiness she never thought possible? As Lucy and Richard’s love story unfolds, join another branch of the Morgan family in this first book of Morgan’s Fire!

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?