Book picks similar to
Grand Love by J.C. Hawke
romance
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contemporary-romance
dnf
The Sun and Her Star
Dylan Allen - 2018
Once upon a time, that star shone only for me. Now, I have to share him with the rest of the world. For a while, I thought I could do it. Because, beneath the hypnotic smile, gorgeous body and God-given charm that made him famous, I still caught glimpses of my best friend.Of the boy who called me sunshine and loved me. I wore that love like a crown . . . until he placed it on another’s head. Losing him was agony, distance felt like the only cure. When tragedy reunites us after years apart, it only takes one touch to erase the past. Just like that, I'm back in his arms. He promises this time will be different. But I’m afraid to believe him. Because behind his star’s blinding brilliance is a darkness that doesn’t want to let him go. I know a star that bright can’t belong to just one person, but my jealous heart doesn’t want to share him.I want all of him . . . even if wanting what doesn't belong to me leads me to ruin.
King of the Court
R.S. Grey - 2021
That’s why everyone is all in a tizzy over the fact that the USA men’s Olympic basketball team will be training here of all places before this year’s Summer Games. With little else to talk about, rumors about the players have been spreading like wildfire, and there’s one man in the middle of it all holding a match.Ben Castillo.NBA champion.Olympic gold medalist.Widely hailed ‘King of the Court’.The morning he walks into my dingy diner, I have enough sense to keep my head down and go right on wiping tables, pouring coffee, and serving up short stacks. A man who looks like that—superstar or not—has only ever meant trouble, and more trouble is the last thing I need, what with taking care of Nan and scraping by on tips from truckers.If anything, he seems drawn to my indifference. His steely gaze pierces me behind the counter. My knees nearly buckle under the weight of his attention. But while Mr. Pretty Boy is probably used to snagging city girls with a smile, this gal is country strong.I won’t be some clichéd convenience for him on his way through town.So look over your choices carefully, Benny-boy. We serve up sides of hash browns here, not heartbreak.
The Roommate
Rosie Danan - 2020
The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet... Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.
Tramp
Mary Elizabeth - 2020
After fleeing a tragic past, Lydia’s determined never to go back to the life she left behind at any price. She lands in Grand Haven, California—a city booming with billion dollar corporations and tech money—and everything changes. Armed with the only lesson she learned from her mother, Lydia builds a life of routine, solitude, and success. Nothing is out of reach when you’re beautiful. Nearly a decade after her arrival, Lydia's the highest paid escort in the city, and only the most influential people in Grand Haven can get near her. She's a goddess among her clients, and out of reach to everyone else. Lydia's created the perfect illusion, and no one will take it from her again.Until a misunderstanding lands her in the office of the city’s most eligible bachelor. Talent Ridge is Grand Haven royalty. Despite running in the same circles as Lydia’s clients, he’s scandal-free and on his way to being the most powerful man in the area. Their chemistry is undeniable, but a relationship has the potential to destroy everything they’ve worked for. Especially when Lydia is running from her past, and Talent is running toward a future she can never be a part of. Beauty and money can’t save them this time. Are Lydia and Talent willing to give it all up for each other, or will their differences cost too much?
Hunter
Eden Summers - 2018
I've been running for ten years - fleeing my past and clawing my way toward an inescapable act of vengeance. Until he walks into my life, sure and strong and full of secrets. He dilutes my thirst for retribution with his touch. He obliterates my need for solitude with his kiss. But it's his hidden agenda that makes the hair on the back of my neck prickle. He wants something. Something that doesn't revolve around sweaty skin and tangled silk sheets like he'd have me believe. I have to stop falling for him, otherwise the last ten years will all be for nothing. I need to keep running, keep fighting for vengeance, even though I know he will track me down. But trying to escape him is just another problem. Because now I crave the hunt.
We Were Once
S.L. Scott - 2020
Scott, crafts her signature heartfelt style into a brand new emotional, second chance, standalone romance. I have three goals: graduate from an Ivy League university, get into medical school, and follow in my father’s well-established footsteps. Everything was going exactly as planned until the local bad boy was delivered to my doorstep. Literally.From the moment we meet, my old life becomes unrecognizable, but I have no regrets. I’m utterly captivated by him. His smirk. His heart. His sharp wit. He pushes me to live, to be wild, to pursue the dream I’ve always hidden inside.To the rest of the world, we make no sense.Me, the girl from the gilded New England coast.Joshua, from the small city of New Haven.To us, we’re destiny.Together, we had it all. Desperately. Madly. In love.Until we didn’t. One tragic night changed everything.
Little Lies
H. Hunting - 2020
You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords.And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.A standalone angsty new adult romance. Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )
Things We Never Got Over
Lucy Score - 2022
Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon. Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.
Mr. Sin
S.J. Tilly - 2021
SinI should have run the other way. Paid my tab and gone back to my room. But he was there. And he was… everything. I figured what’s the harm in letting passion rule my decisions for one night? So what if he looks like the Devil in a suit. I’d be leaving in the morning. Flying home, back to my pleasant but predictable life. I’d never see him again.Except I do. In the last place I expected. And now everything I’ve worked so hard for is in jeopardy.We can’t stop what we’ve started, but this is bigger than the two of us.And when his past comes back to haunt him, love might not be enough to save me.
Wolf
Penelope Black - 2020
So when she invites me to stay with her for the summer, I don't hesitate.And I make a new summer plan: skip the vacation, take online courses, and dig up dirt on Mom's new fiancé.What I didn't plan for was Wolf Fitzgerald--and his brothers. Dangerously good-looking with tattoos and bad attitudes.And my new stepbrothers.
Mourning Wood
Heather M. Orgeron - 2021
Keeping my growing feelings tucked away should be a piece of cake. Except, seeing him every day definitely throws a wrench in that plan.Before I know it, we’re trading favors for dates, and as much I don’t want to admit it, the feelings for him I thought were dead and buried are taking root and growing into something that looks a lot like love.
Daigle Family Funeral Services… don’t be caught dead any place else.
Chasing Love
Kat T. Masen - 2020
So when the ever-so-perfect Julian Baker proposes marriage, I'm ready to forget the past and move on with my new love.In a cruel twist of fate, my past and future collide. I'm forced to face the man who destroyed my heart back in high school.Lex Edwards, turned billionaire tycoon, is ruthless, cunning, and will not stop until I'm his.A complicated love triangle was never something I imagined when Julian proposed to me. Especially not involving Lex.Hearts and egos are bound to be broken.But whose heart will capture mine when the darkness fades? **This title was previously published as Into the Darkness. It has been extensively rewritten, re-edited, and has a steamy new cover**
King of Code
C.D. Reiss - 2017
Step by step, and for every step she'll unlock a piece of his system.Kissing unlocks a partition.Touching unlocks another.Using your mouth to…How far is this crazy woman going to go?They hate each other. They can't keep away from each other. They're decoding each other with every step, until all Harper's secrets are revealed, and Taylor risks losing his heart as well as his company.
Perfect Love Story
Natasha Madison - 2018
That the vows you made to each other were simply empty promises.You pick up and move to the country to start fresh. When life hands you limes, you make sure you have tequila because your life is about to get stirred up.JensenMarried to my high school sweetheart, the best thing she gave me was my baby girl. But we weren't enough for her. I wasn't enough for her. The last thing I expected on my birthday was a Dear John letter, but that’s what I got when she upped and left. Now, it's just me and my girl against the world till the new girl moves in next door. Is there such a thing as a perfect love story?
Poison
Jade West - 2020
The monster who left me in pieces over a decade ago.I swore I'd never speak to him again, that I'd never set eyes on him again as long as I lived.But I was wrong.When life gets too much and you need to escape, the poison that might kill you becomes oh so tempting.I craved his perverted ways, his smirk, his laughter as he pushed my body way past its limits.I needed a release from the crazy. Just once.Just one night. That’s what I told myself.No strings, no illusions, no promises. Nothing but the lasting thrill of his flesh on mine.The lasting hit of his poisonous touch.But when poison runs through your veins, the way he runs through mine, it’s toxic and eats you alive.This much passion always comes at a price...**This is a typically edgy Jade West novel. Please proceed with caution.**