Book picks similar to
The Only Way Out by Susan Mallery


romance
susan-mallery
contemporary-romance
romantic-suspense

Plain Jane


Fern Michaels - 2001
    Instead, she was just Plain Jane--overweight, frumpy, and painfully shy. That was then. Today, a lovely and confident Dr. Jane Lewis has a thriving psychotherapy practice, her own radio talk show, a beautiful old Louisiana mansion, and her affectionate, nutty dog, Olive, to keep her company. The only thing missing is someone to share her life.Jane has never forgotten Michael Sorenson, the boy she'd admired from afar in college. Now, he's inspiring her to hope for a future together. She's also never forgotten the brutal, unsolved attack that ended Connie Bryan's life--and haunts Jane still. Suddenly, the present collides with the past, as she finds clues into the identities of Connie's attackers--clues that send her into a world of risk and excitement, challenging her to become a truly extraordinary woman. . .if she dares.

You Will Pay


Lisa Jackson - 2017
    Among the teen counselors, tensions and hormones are running high. No wonder the others agree when Jo-Beth Chancellor suggests they scare Monica O Neal a little .or a lot. Monica has it coming, and no one will really get hurt. What could go wrong?Everything.Twenty years later, Lucas Dalton, a senior detective with the sheriff s department, is investigating the discovery of human remains in a cavern at what used to be Camp Horseshoe. Lucas knows the spot well. His father, a preacher, ran the camp, and Lucas worked there that infamous summer when two girls went missing. One is believed to have been killed by a convict on the loose. Monica O Neal is thought to have drowned and been washed out to sea.Lucas knows he should step down from such a personal case. He s already jeopardized his career by removing evidence of his involvement. But maybe it s time to uncover the whole truth at last. That s why five former female counselors are coming back to the small Oregon town among them, Bernadette Warden, the woman Lucas has never forgotten. Each one knows something about that terrible night. Each promised not to tell. And as they reunite, a new horror unfolds. First come notes containing a personal memento and a simple, terrifying message: You will pay. Then, the murders begin.It started years ago. But it will end here as a web of lust, greed, and betrayal is untangled to reveal a killer waiting to enact the perfect revenge.

A Perfect Fit


Heather Tullis - 2012
    Learning her father picked him out to be her future husband, she is not amused, but neither can she back off the path they’ve begun together. But can two people miles apart in so many ways really make things work?

Claiming Grace


Susan Stoker - 2017
    But it’s not long before Logan runs into Grace Mason, his best friend from high school…and the woman who never answered his letters during his Army years.Grace was pleasantly surprised to see Logan return to Castle Rock, despite their falling-out ten years ago. Everyone always assumed they would end up together, including Grace, who had eyes only for him. But as Logan eventually escaped their town, Grace got pulled further into her family’s controlling grasp—and farther away from the man she loved.Now, united by scars both visible and not, the two must fight to free Grace from the suffocating hold of her family. But the Masons won’t let go easily—and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the couple apart.

Summer's Child


Diane Chamberlain - 1999
    Daria's parent's had adopted the infant, but now they are dead and she has accepted responsibility for Shelly--who has grown into a beautiful, slightly handicapped young woman. Without consulting Daria, Shelly contacts Rory Taylor, host of TV's True Life Stories, to ask his help in finding her birth mother. Rory has a personal interest in Shelly's story since he'd been one of the many teenagers hanging out on the beach the summer the baby was found. Daria, meanwhile, has been keeping to herself the crush she's had on Rory for years--along with Shelly's true story. Here, as in previous offerings, Chamberlain (Breaking the Silence) creates a captivating tale populated with haunting characters.

Home Tears


Tijan - 2016
    Her mother died. Her two sisters loathed her. One aunt hated her. The other was strangely distant, but the worst storm—being dumped by her childhood best friend/high school boyfriend/first love for her younger sister. There went the one person who was hers and with that, the main reason she stuck around. So, she left for ten years. But now she’s back, and nothing’s the same. With help from Jonah Bannon, a reformed—kind of—bad boy she remembers from high school, Dani uncovers family secrets that have spanned generations. And along with those, she’s about to face the biggest sh*t storm of her life. Only this time, she may not survive.

The Backup Plan


Sherryl Woods - 2005
    The world-weary correspondent wants to settle down with the sweet guy she left behind in South Carolina’s Low Country. Instead, she’s confronted by his black-sheep brother, and—despite her longing for serenity—sparks fly.How can she possibly trade her perfectly safe backup plan for a risk-taking guy like Cordell Beaufort after all the dangers she’s already faced? But to Dinah’s dismay—backup plan or not—her heart has its own ideas.

The Coppersmith Farmhouse


Devney Perry - 2017
    It could also tear them apart.Gigi has just uprooted her whole world to start a new life. The unexpected gift of a farmhouse in small-town Montana is just what she and her daughter need to escape big-city loneliness. The last thing she needs is attitude from the town’s sheriff, the most perfectly attractive and ruggedly handsome man she’s ever laid eyes on—and a complete jerk.Jess knows all about women like Gigi. Beautiful. Sexy. Scheming. She’s stolen his sanctuary, the farmhouse that should have been his. But along with a face full of freckles, she’s got a sharp wit and a backbone of steel—something he doesn’t discover until after making a complete fool of himself. If he can earn back her trust and win her heart, he might just find the home he’s always needed.

Trust


Janet Dailey - 2011
    But Ann Montgomery's long-ago abduction is too intriguing to pass up. Ann was just three when she was taken in the night from her family's historic Virginia mansion more than twenty-five years ago. The socially prominent Montgomerys launched a heartbreaking search but no trace of the missing girl was ever found.Bannon knows the chances of finding her now--alive or dead--are slim, yet he can't stop searching for answers. Especially once he meets Erin Randall. A beautiful, talented local artist, she seems to share some tantalizing connections with the vanished Ann. As the legacy of lies and deception comes to a shocking climax, a hidden menace explodes, and Bannon vows to protect Erin at all costs...even if it puts his own life on the line...

Live Wire


Cristin Harber - 2016
    New recruits mean Jared Westin has potential new hires to scrutinize. What he didn’t expect was his very pregnant wife Sugar to finagle her way onto the surveillance team as the prospects were assessed. Her involvement in the simple observation goes dangerously wrong. She and best friend Lexi Black stumble into a problem with Russian mobsters. Sugar is forced to draw on her old ATF tricks, but weeks from her due date, she has no choice but to team up with Bishop O’Kane, a potential-new recruit and Parker Black, Lexi’s hacker husband, who must go undercover. This is special ops novella is packed with high-stakes crime and intrigue, a baby story for Boss Man, and two steamy romances for two of Titan’s favorite couples.

Desperate Girls


Laura Griffin - 2018
    With her sharp wit and pointed words, she has a tendency to intimidate, and she likes it that way. She’s a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom, but in her personal life, she’s a mess.When a vicious murderer she once helped prosecute resurfaces and starts a killing spree to wipeout those who put him behind bars, one thing becomes clear: Brynn needs to run for her life.With no help from the police, Brynn is forced to take matters into her own hands, turning to a private security firm for protection. But when Brynn defies advice and gets involved in the investigation, even the former Secret Service agent assigned to protect her may not be able to keep her safe. With every new clue she discovers, Brynn is pulled back into the vortex of a disturbing case from her past.As the clock ticks down on a manhunt, Brynn’s desperate search for the truth unearths long-buried secrets and reignites a killer’s fury.

Endgame


Dee Davis - 2005
    FBI criminal profiler Madison Harper understands dangerous minds. Tough, tenacious, with nerves of steel, she’s the best of the best. So is her new partner, Gabriel Roarke, a crack CIA operative who likes to do things his way. When the two are forced to jointly head up a task force investigating murder in high places – it’s no surprise that sparks begin to fly. As they race through a shadow world of power, politics and deadly secrets, the passion that simmers between Madison and Gabriel soon ignites. But a clever killer at the top of his game has challenged Madison to play to the very end. Now all she can trust is her instincts—and Gabriel, the one man reckless enough to keep her alive... Rio Award winner, Endgame is the first novel in Dee Davis's newly re-released Last Chance Series. Don't miss the other books in the series: Enigma and Exposure.

The Last White Knight


Tami Hoag - 1992
    So it's no wonder State Senator Erik Gunther mistakes her for one. Not that he exactly fits the description of a politician, with his movie-star looks and athletic build. Even Lynn, cynical, stubborn, and decidedly not looking for a relationship, can't ignore her body's response to the man. Allegedly, he's come to defend Lynn from angry locals who don't want her home for delinquent girls in their neighborhood. But as far as Lynn is concerned, he's looking for a photo op, a chance to play the hero-the last thing either she or her troubled girls need. What they need is understanding. Lynn knows teenage rebellion all too well. And she knows firsthand its heartbreaking price. She won't touch the good senator with a ten-foot pole only to watch him disappear once he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, Erik refuses to go away. The moment Erik looks into her emerald eyes, his interest in work falls into serious competition with his interest in Lynn Shaw. Her rejection of his assistance only intrigues him further. He is determined to know her-and to help her. If that means practically moving into Horizon House, so be it. But as the two engage in a battle of hearts, it becomes clear that Lynn is waging a private war of her own, against demons of the past-and against her overwhelming desire for the one man who may be worth fighting for.

Blank Slate


Tiffany Snow - 2012
    She’s escaped his clutches often and easily. Except tonight.In the snow-covered switchbacks of the Colorado mountains in a worsening snowstorm, a car crash robs Clarissa of her memory and lands her as Erik’s prisoner. Riding out the storm in a cabin, Erik is forced to protect someone he knows to be a criminal, though O’Connell isn’t anything like he’d imagined her to be. In a race to stay one step ahead of those who’ll do anything for what she knows, Clarissa and Erik must dig into her locked memories if they’re going to survive. But revelations of her past prove to Clarissa she’s everything Erik despises. Can she trust his feelings even when he knows the truth? Is it really possible to start over with a blank slate?

Deep Waters


Jayne Ann Krentz - 1997
    Fate has brought them together in Washington’s tiny Whispering Waters Cove, each eager to downsize and simplify. They’re both determined to avoid mergers of any kind—but when they meet, the attraction is nothing short of blue-chip.And they definitely have at least one thing in common: A martial arts master, Elias is a novice at relationships; a formidable former CEO, Charity is starting in the mail room when it comes to love. But when the town is rocked by two shocking murders, Charity and Elias realize that they must join forces to catch a killer. Because behind the town’s sleepy facade run currents fed by treacherous secrets and Deep Waters.