Book picks similar to
Passion and Illusion by Barbara Delinsky


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Ryan's Return


Barbara Freethy - 1996
    Ryan, the charismatic "bad boy" son, has returned—stirring up past conflicts like a whirlwind, and throwing Kara Delaney's fragile, passionate heart into turmoil.Kara has struggled back from a disastrous marriage to build a new life for herself and her little girl-—a peaceful existence now jeopardized by vicious, small town politics, by her daughter's fanciful ghost stories, and by Ryan's return. Now nature's impending fury threatens to expose long-buried secrets. Kara must join with the enigmatic, misunderstood Ryan to discover the truth that will save their families...and to explore a dangerous, irresistible love as mighty and enduring as the onrushing river.From # 1 NYT Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy comes an emotional and romantic standalone contemporary novel.

Talk of the Town


Karen Hawkins - 2008
    After years of being the perfect Southern lady, all she ended up with was a cheating husband. So she goes bombshell blond, gets a provocatively placed tattoo, and prepares to live it up as a Bad Girl. But then her mother falls ill...and Roxie is forced to return to Glory, North Carolina. He'd Love to Know.Once the town bad boy, Nick Sheppard is now Glory's highly respected sheriff. When the hot blonde he stops for speeding turns out to be formerly prim Homecoming Queen Roxanne Treymayne, Nick doesn't quite know where to look -- though he'd like a much closer one at the tattoo peeking from her shorts. But It Takes Two to Tango.Roxie and Nick had a steamy fling in high school, but a love affair between a Southern princess and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks was doomed from the start. Now they have a second chance. Can they get it right? Or will they just end up...the talk of the town?

FACTORY GIRL: part 1 of 6


Stephanie Bond - 2019
    I'm Hattie Morehead, and for a 19-year-old, I've screwed up my life pretty good so far. I grew up in a town in Tennessee the size of a mud puddle, and I'd planned to be somewhere else by now doing something important. Instead I got myself pregnant, dropped out of high school, and took a job at the same sewing factory that sucked the life out of my mother and my grandmother.My relatives are shady, my friends are freaks, and my romantic prospects are dim. But this small-town girl has big dreams: Someday I'm gonna get out of here. Someday everyone will know my name. Because someday instead of sewing designer clothes for minimum wage, I'll have my own clothing line.I admit, at times that day seems far, far away. But I'm gonna make it happen. I simply have to.For now, I'm hanging in and hanging on... by a thread._______________________This FACTORY GIRL, Part 1 novella is a month's worth of daily segments: JULYThe Part 1 novella is JULY, Part 2 is AUGUST, Part 3 is SEPTEMBER, Part 4 is OCTOBER, Part 5 is NOVEMBER, part 6 is DECEMBER.(In total there are 6 parts to FACTORY GIRL.)Don't miss out on this funny, poignant story everyone is talking about!_____________________OTHER multi-part serials by Stephanie Bond:COMA GIRL, parts 1-6   You can learn a lot when people think you aren't listening.TEMP GIRL, parts 1-6    Change is good... but not great.COMEBACK GIRL, parts 1-6   Home is where the hurt is.

Felicity at the Cross Hotel


Helena Fairfax - 2017
    A few weeks hiking and swimming should restore her.But then the hotel’s new owner, Patrick Cross, takes Felicity for the replacement barmaid, and things don’t turn out quite to plan. With a grumpy chef, a waiter with love troubles, and the old Tudor building in need of renovation, Felicity’s quiet break soon turns into a working holiday.But Patrick’s dreams lie beyond the mountains, and Felicity’s loyalties lie with her family, and anyway, holidays can’t last forever...can they?

Where We Belong


Shann McPherson - 2020
    For years, Murph has been biding her time, waiting for Nash to come back for her.So when he strolls into Piece O’ Cake, Murph’s heart skips a beat—until he hands her an invitation to his wedding… There are painful secrets in both their pasts that only the two of them share, and Murph can’t bear the thought of Nash belonging to someone else.There’s only one thing Murph can think of to do: fake a relationship with local bar owner and old friend Harley Shaw to remind Nash of what he’s losing, and win him back for good.Nash is Murph’s best friend, a vivid reminder of her childhood and all the things she’s lost—but the more time Murph and Harley spend together, the more the lines between real and pretend begin to blur. Can Murph choose between the one who got away and the one who never left—and heal her aching heart?

Amber Beach / Jade Island / Pearl Cove : Three Books In One


Elizabeth Lowell - 2002
    Howe; engineered by Luann Kindem. Honor Donovan has been shut out of Donovan International by her father and four brothers. When her brother Kyle vanishes, along with a fortune in stolen amber, Honor's questions are ignored by the Donovan males. Defying them, she heads to the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest in search of answers. Jade Island, read by Sandra Burr, directed by Laural Merlington; engineered by Jill Sovis Wild, rugged, and restless, Kyle Donovan has freed himself from the constraints of his father's high-powered global gem-trading empire to become a treasure hunter for his own business, Donavan Minerals and Gems. Now his older brother Archer, President of Donovan International, has asked Kyle to get to the bottom of the disappearance of cultural treasures from the Tang vaults. Pearl Cove, read by Dick Hill; directed by Ruth Bloomquist; engineered by Jeremy Spanos. It is desperation that inspires young widow Hannah McGarry to call Archer Donovan. She only saw the man twice in the past ten years, and he struck her as a cold, ruthless piece of work. But as a silent partner in Pearl Cove, her late husband's pearl farm business, Donovan might be willing to help her...if the price is right.

Listen to Your Heart


Fern Michaels - 2000
    Kitty, the cook, is engaged to be married. Josie runs the business, writes a popular food column for the local newspaper, adores her white Maltese dog, Rosie, and misses her mother. Josie is also hoping for love.But when a drop-dead handsome business tycoon's huge Boxer, Zip, dashes up onto her porch and instantly bonds with Rosie, Josie is thrown for a loop. Fortunately, her mother is "up there", watching out for her...and sending her subtle messages. If Josie listens to her heart -- and to her mother -- maybe she'll find that dream love she always hoped for.Listen to Your Heart is an inspirational, heart-warming book that is perfect for Mother's Day -- and beyond.

Never Tease A Wolf


Joan Johnston - 1991
    Never Tease A Wolf by Joan Johnston released on Mar 23, 2001 is available now for purchase.

Where There's Smoke


Sandra Brown - 1993
    . . but the flames of passion blazing between them could destroy an empire.No one knows why Dr. Lara Mallory opened up her medical practice in the rowdy Texas town controlled by Tackett Oil. But everyone remembers her role in the well-publicized scandal that caused the downfall of White House hopeful Senator Clark Tackett. Now the iron-fisted matriarch of Tackett Oil intends to use her money and power to drive Lara out of town . . . especially when Lara meets Key, the hell-raising -- and handsome -- youngest Tackett son. Following a cataclysmic meeting, this determined doctor and brash, daring pilot find themselves hurtling on a dangerous quest for the one secret that can destroy the Tackett empire -- and anyone who dares to challenge its power. But Lara decides to find the truth behind the corruption in town, even if it costs her everything.

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?

Souls Set Free


Kimmie Easley - 2012
    Actually, she’s not loving at all. Unable to move on from a tormented childhood of abuse she’s now at risk of losing her own family. Hopeless, she goes to bed every night secretly longing to not wake up the next morning. That all changes the day her mother is murdered while living on the streets. Emma must now face all of the pain she has spent years trying to numb with pills and alcohol when she is forced to travel back to her hometown to identify her mother’s body. If only it were that easy…Will reliving the abuse all over again help Emma forgive her mother or send her spiraling back into a world she fought so hard to survive?

Saving Allegheny Green


Lori Wilde - 2005
    Between her family and her nursing job at the local hospital, Ally's hands are too full for things like everlasting love and personal fulfillment. After all, when your aunt chats with the deceased and your sister shoots her cheating boyfriend in the foot, someone has to pay the bail.Then dead bodies start turning up—including her sister Sissy's ex. And when Sissy herself becomes the sheriff's number one suspect, it's up to Ally to save the day yet again…. All she has to do is track down a murderer, save her sister, avoid any romantic notions involving the sheriff and find a life of her own.Simple, really.

A Bride for a Billionaire Box Set


Lynne Graham - 2014
    Now, his ex-wife has returned to his desert and Zahir plans to banish her from his mind once and for all, beginning with reclaiming his wedding night!In The Billionaire's Trophy, when Bastian Christou sees his intern's photo on an escort website, he's stunned by both her double life and her stunning photo. Since Bastian has an ex-fiancée to keep at bay, Emmie Marshall might just be the best armor money can buy!In Challenging Dante, Dante Leonetti is convinced Topaz Marshall is after his family's money, and he's determined to seduce the truth from her lips. After experiencing Leonetti's ferocious reputation firsthand, will she be able to resist his legendary charms?

Naughty Neighbor


Janet Evanovich - 1992
    Red-hot screwball comedies, each and every one of them. Nine of these stories were originally published by the Loveswept line between the years 1988 and 1992. All immediately went out of print and could be found only at used bookstores and yard sales.I'm excited to tell you that those nine stories are now being re-released by HarperCollins. Naughty Neighbor is the eighth in the lineup, and it's presented here in almost original form. Usually when I edit these books I do some modernizing. For instance, I change VHS to DVD, and roller skates to Rollerblades, and sticks of gum are now pieces of gum. I do this because the books were meant to be contemporary (as opposed to historical), and I don't want the reader to have a time disconnect. In the beginning of the original Naughty Neighbor, my heroine throws a handheld phone into the toilet, and the next morning she goes into the bathroom and sees the "slim silver antenna caught between the toilet lid and seat." Okay, so most phones don't have extended antennas anymore, but I just loved the image . . . so I left it in. And I don't know how many women wear front-closure bras anymore, but that got left in, too.Naughty Neighbor is probably the most romancey of all the Loveswepts I wrote, but there's still a small mystery to unravel. Louisa Brannigan is a no-nonsense, hardworking press secretary, fighting her way to the top of Capitol Hill, with no help from her annoying neighbor, Pete Streeter. He receives phone calls all night long, he steals her morning paper, he thinks jeans are formal wear, and worst of all he's involved Louisa in the disappearance of a pig. So this is the story of a pig in Witness Protection and love being found by a workaholic woman and a fun-loving man who makes terrible pots of coffee.Enjoy!Janet Evanovich

Tonight and Always


Nora Roberts - 1983
    Sensation was their textbook and passion their teacher as they searched for the meaning of love and tested the strength of their desire, day by day--and night by night.