Book picks similar to
A Different Game by Charlie M. Matthews
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Fake Marriage Act
Lulu Pratt - 2018
My buddy knows I think relationships – and women – are too much trouble. So as a joke he signed me up for a reality TV show. Marry a stranger and after 6 months get a million dollars. Even better I can walk away first and still get my half, an easy half million in my pocket. Sign me up. Then Mira walks down the aisle, her killer curves filling out her wedding dress. F*ck! Her full lips are begging for an x rated response when I’m told I can kiss the bride. I’m not leaving this marriage until I taste her. But she has other ideas. These six months are going to be … hard. *** A steamy STANDALONE contemporary full-length romance with no cliffhanger, no cheating, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.***
Don't Let Go
Sharla Lovelace - 2014
The two had their future all planned out—until one unspeakable decision tore them apart.Twenty-six years later, Jules is living her life by someone else’s plan. She’s running her mother’s store, living in her mother’s house, following her mother’s rules, and keeping the secrets her mother made her bury.Then Noah comes home, and any sense of order and structure flies out the window. Noah’s return does more than just stir up old memories—it also forces Jules to see her life in a whole new way and uncover secrets even she didn’t know were hidden. But can the power of first love triumph over years of pain and lies?
Revised edition: This edition of Don't Let Go includes editorial revisions.
Reckless Falls Kiss
Amelia Wilde - 2017
I’ve got too much fun to have and too much money to spend to waste time in a small town that never forgot what a piece of shit my father is. He destroyed my life with his affair and I’ll never forgive him for it. So it makes sense that he would die and leave me his estate, forcing me to go back and sell it. I didn’t plan on running into Regina Quinn. We were best friends from the moment we met as kids, but now she’s all grown up. How did I ever think of her as plain and simple? She’s got a body that makes me want to throw away the life I’ve made in the city and worship her forever. One drunken kiss, and she’s got me wrapped around her finger I can’t stay here forever, though, no matter how much I want her. Regina Adam Lane ruined my life. He ran away with my heart—and my one chance to get out of Reckless Falls—clutched in his fists, and he never looked back. I’ve spent every moment since then rebuilding my life out of the rubble he left it in. It’s been so long. I tell myself I’m over it. And I’m over him. But when he shows up here for his ten-year reunion, it’s like he never left at all. I still want his eyes on me. I still want his lips on mine. I’m dying to give myself to him. But we both know he’s not staying in Reckless Falls. He’s a billionaire with a business empire to run. He’s only going to leave. I’m not making this mistake again. I will not give in to his kisses, no matter how bruising. It’s my turn to run. If only he’d stop chasing me… Reckless Falls Kiss is a full-length romance with steamy scenes, adult language, and an HEA that will melt your heart.
A Crack in Everything
L.H. Cosway - 2018
Then Dylan O’Dea broke into my flat, held me against the wall and told me to stay quiet.It was like in the movies, where the universe zeros in on a single scene. I looked into his eyes and knew he was going to change me.For Dylan, the sky was always falling. He showed me how our world is a contradiction of beauty and ugliness. How we choose to ignore the awful and gloss over it with the palatable. How you need just a tiny drop of something unsavoury to create every great scent.Pretty deep for a pair of teenagers living in a block of council flats in inner city Dublin, right? Probably. But we weren’t typical. We both had our obsessions. Mine was growing things, Dylan’s was scent. He taught me how to use my nose, and I introduced him to the magic of flowers.I had no idea that one day he’d build an empire from what we started together. But before that, there was love and happiness, tragedy and epic heartbreak…My name is Evelyn Flynn and I’m going to tell you about the crack in everything.A Crack in Everything is Book #1 in L.H. Cosway’s Cracks duet.
Locked In Silence
Sloane Kennedy - 2017
It’s easier not to try anymore…Ten years after leaving his small Minnesota hometown in his rearview mirror for what Nolan Grainger was sure would be the last time, life has decided to throw the talented musician a curveball and send him back to the town he lived in but was never really home.At twenty-eight, Nolan has traveled the world as a successful concert violinist with some of the best symphonies in the country. But success breeds envy, and when Nolan’s benefactor and lover decides Nolan has flown high enough, he cruelly clips Nolan’s wings. The betrayal and ensuing scandal leaves the violinist’s career in shambles and with barely enough money to start fresh somewhere beyond his vindictive ex’s powerful reach. But just as he’s ready to get his life back on track, Nolan gets the call he’s been dreading.After a stroke leaves his father a partial invalid, duty-bound Nolan returns to Pelican Bay and a life he’s spent years trying to forget. When he’s forced to use the last of his own money to keep from losing the family home, desperation has him turning to the one man he’d hoped never to see again…Even if I could speak, there wouldn’t be anyone there to listen…Pelican Bay’s golden boy, Dallas Kent, had the quintessential perfect life. Smart, gorgeous, and popular, the baseball phenom was well on his way to a life filled with fame and fortune. But more importantly, he had a one-way ticket out of Pelican Bay and far away from the family who used love as currency and whose high expectations were the law of the land. But a stormy night, sharp highway curve and one bad decision changed everything, leaving Dallas with nothing.Because the accident that took his parents, his future and his crown as the boy who could do no wrong, also stole his voice.Despised for the horrific wreck that ended the lives of two of Pelican Bay’s most respected residents, Dallas has retreated to a secluded stretch of land where he’s found refuge in a menagerie of unwanted animals that don’t care that he once had the world at his feet or that he’ll never speak again.But when the quiet, bookish boy he wasn’t allowed to notice in school suddenly reappears ten years later at Dallas’s wildlife rehab center in desperate need of a job, Dallas is thrust back into a world he’s worked hard to escape.Dallas’s silence was supposed to send Nolan scurrying, but what if Nolan ends up being the one person who finally hears him?Will two men who’ve been fleeing from the past finally come home to Pelican Bay for good or will the silence drive them apart forever?
Our Cross To Bear: Crossroad Soldiers MC
Liberty Parker - 2019
Together they built an unshakable brotherhood, one that’s stood the test of time. That is, until Lorenzo crossed paths with them, then we were in a war that took several of our beloved brothers and one of the old ladies from us.
The MC and family were forever changed. War, one word, it’s almost all I’ve known and can remember since I was a young boy. It’s one that is forever ingrained into my memory. I live and breathe the MC. A pact between the kids was made, it was meant to keep us safe from outsiders trying to make their way in.
I was ready to spend a loveless relationship, bound by honor and respect, an eternity of understanding and compassion, with her. With Amberly, but somehow, she snuck under my defenses and my world spun on its axis. The MC was no longer the only thing that mattered in my world, that became her. I always knew she’d be the one, but I never told anyone that secretly, I’d worshipped the ground she walked on since I was ten years old.
But nothing could prepare me for the turbulence that was her. I thought I knew her better than anyone, I’ve never been so wrong in my life.
Amberly
: Women are to be servants and old ladies to the men. What a crock of shit. I’ve grown up in this lifestyle just as much as any one of the boys did. I lost loved ones like they did. My father is a member, he’s one of the founders. He helped build this club from the ground up and I’m his only child. I should be allowed to take his seat just as the boys take their fathers!
I’m ready to take a stand, start a movement in the club, if I must. Change isn’t always a bad thing, but something that’s necessary. Us girls can keep up with the men, we are just as badass as they are. But old-fashioned values of ‘protect the girls’, are still ever present in their minds. I understand things happened in the club to cement this mentality, but I will have Kobe’s ear, and I will force him to listen to reason.
I was in no way prepared for my man to be as alpha as he is.
He took me off guard, made me need things that I didn’t realize I’d wanted. It’s a ride I wasn’t expecting, but one I’m willing to get onboard with.
We were supposed to be convenient; we weren’t supposed to get our emotions involved. But he evoked every one that laid dormant inside of me. Ones that I’d coveted, and hidden, from the outside world.
Will the war that started at their fathers’ hands be the one that destroys them? Things are changing, the MC is growing…but does it keep them together and make them stronger or does it divide them in the end?
Kobe and Amberly are the ones who set the precedent…but will the others fall in line and back them up, or will it start a riot within?
This is Book One in the Crossroad Soldiers MC and it’s a wild one. Hold on tight and buckle up. Things will be rocky and full of chaos.
This book contains content that should not be read by those under 18 years of age or younger.
Only Ever You
C.D. Reiss - 2019
She had a plan, after all. First college, then a climb up the professional ladder. Love, marriage, children. All of it was on the schedule.The cheap Hollywood apartment wasn’t on the list. Neither was the string of heartbreaks. Or the effect her mother’s cancer had on her career.It’s hard to stay practical and on point when everything takes a left turn.Enter Sebastian, the nerd across the street. The boy she defended when he couldn’t defend himself. The best friend she promised she’d marry if life didn’t go according to plan.Not only is he successful, confident, and gorgeous, but he also still has their handwritten marriage contract.No one goes through with childhood wedding pacts.That’s crazy.But their families might just be crazy enough to rent a hall and set a date. All Rachel and Sebastian have to do is fall in love.
The Sweet Gum Tree
Katherine Allred - 2005
But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone.Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.
Dear Ava
Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2020
Once upon a time, I wanted to be part of their world--until they destroyed me.The last thing I expected was an anonymous love letter from one of them.Please. I hate every one of those rich jerks for what they did to me. The question is, which Shark is my secret admirer?Knox, the scarred quarterback.Dane, his twin brother.Or Chance, the ex who dumped me. . .Dear Ava,Your eyes are the color of the Caribbean Sea.Wait. That's stupid.What I really mean is, you look at me and I feel something REAL.It's been ten months since you were here, but I can't forget you.I've missed seeing you walk down the hall.I've missed you cheering at my football games.I've missed the smell of your hair.And then everything fell apart the night of the kegger.Don't hate me because I'm a Shark.I just want to make you mine.Still.Mature Content. Recommended for 18+.A short excerpt of Dear Ava appeared in Team Player 2. (No longer available) This all-new, full-length version is 376 pages and 100,000 words.
Whatever Life Throws at You
Julie Cross - 2014
Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher.But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…
Jane's Melody
Ryan Winfield - 2013
A sexy but touching love story that will leave you both tantalized and in tears, Jane's Melody follows a forty-year-old woman on a romantic journey of rediscovery after years of struggling alone.Sometimes our greatest gifts come from our greatest pain. And now Jane must decide if it's too late for her to start over, or if true love really knows no limits.
When Forever Changes
Siobhan Davis - 2018
Perhaps I did, but I subconsciously chose to ignore them. From the time I was ten, when I first met Dylan, I knew he was my forever guy. Back then, I couldn’t put words to what I was feeling, but, as the years progressed, I came to recognize it for what it was—soul-deep love. The kind only very few people ever get to experience. Dylan was more than just my best friend, my childhood sweetheart, my lover. He was my soul mate. We were carved from the same whole—destined to be together forever. Until he changed. And I believed I was no longer good enough. Until he shattered me so completely, it felt like I ceased to exist. And I’d never experienced such heart-crushing pain. Until he leveled me a second time, and I truly wanted to die. But I had to stay strong because I wasn’t alone in this cruel twist of fate. I look to the sky, pleading with the stars, begging someone to tell me what I should do because I don’t know how to deal with this. I don’t know how to cope when my forever has changed, and I can’t help wondering if I had seen the signs earlier, if I’d pushed him, would it have been enough to save us? Or had fate already decided to alter our forever? Due to mature content and potential triggers this book is only recommended to readers over the age of eighteen.
Thin Love
Eden Butler - 2014
It isn't supposed to leave you bleeding. Kona pushed, Keira pulled, and in their wake, they left behind destruction. She sacrificed everything for him. It wasn't enough. But the wounds of the past can never be completely forgotten and still the flame remains, slumbers between the pleasure of yesterday and the thought of what might have been. Now, sixteen years later, Keira returns home to bury the mother who betrayed her, just as Kona tries to hold onto what remains of his NFL career with the New Orleans Steamers. Across the crowded bustle of a busy French Market, their paths collide, conjuring forgotten memories of a consuming touch, skin on skin, and the still smoldering fire that begs to be rekindled. When Kona realizes the trifecta of betrayal—his, Keira's and those lies told to keep them apart—his life is irrevocably changed and he once again takes Keira down with him into the fire that threatens to ignite them both.
When I See You
Katherine Owen - 2011
He believes most risks are worth taking, the promises he makes can be kept, and love doesn't factor in his relationships any longer. They're both wrong.Jordan Holloway has never fully recovered from the unexpected deaths of her famous Hollywood parents. At 27, she is still slow to trust and remains uncertain about the true duration of love and happiness. Yet, it's been four years since she fell in love with Ethan when he rocked her world even as he marched off to war leaving her alone with their young son Max. Now, Ethan tells her this will be his last tour in Afghanistan and that soon the three of them will be together. Still anxious at his leaving again, Jordan extracts a promise for Ethan's safe return from Brock Wainwright, her husband's sniper partner and best friend. But, can she put all her trust in Brock and can he keep such a promise?At 29, Brock Wainwright fully embraces the dangerous life of a Navy Seal. He enjoys his freedom and not being committed to anyone; and, there's been a long line of women who can attest to that. Everything changes for Brock after he meets Jordan. When the two men return to Afghanistan, Brock's intent on keeping his promise to Jordan about keeping Ethan safe for a variety of reasons, including the most disturbing one of all, he is more than just attracted to his best friend's wife. This revelation plagues Brock on the battlefield and in a violent moment changes everything. If you enjoy Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One or Dear John and the twists and turns of storylines like those of Jodi Picoult, you've got to read When I See You.
Love Like Crazy
Megan Squires - 2014
She’s not waiting on the handsome prince with his white horse to come to her rescue. But even though she’s not waiting on it, that doesn’t stop nineteen-year-old Lincoln Ross from driving straight into her heart with his teal and white campervan and his too tall stature and perpetually goofy grin.It’s difficult to believe in a happily ever after when a happy now is quite hard to find. But Lincoln gives Eppie hope that despite the odds, a true and unconditional love might actually be out there. A revised fairytale. A new kind of love story.But then again, that might just be plain crazy.(Love Like Crazy is an upper YA novel.)