Book picks similar to
The Inspiration by Ruth Clampett
romance
favorites
contemporary
dnf
Bastards and Scapegoats
Coralee June - 2020
Handsome. Cruel. Twisted.I was drawn to him like fists to glass. We had an angry sort of relationship. There was nothing kind about the broken man that stole my heart and crushed it in his fist. He was all sharp edges. One touch could ruin me. One kiss could end our happy little family.When my mother married Joseph Beauregard, son of the governor of Connecticut, I never imagined I’d fall in love with my stepfather’s younger brother. I never imagined I’d uncover the truth about his family’s bloody legacy.Hamilton escaped with scars to his name and a ruined reputation. And now? I wanted out, too. I guess the scandal of our relationship was the least of our family’s problems.
Hard to Love
W. Winters - 2019
I was too much of a bastard to push her away.I grew up in this life, and now I run these streets. Blood and violence taint everything I touch.Everything but her. She was my constant through it all.Just a touch would singe and soothe.Just a look would tempt and torment.She became my escape and my addiction.I only survived because she was by my side.I should’ve known better than to indulge.I should’ve known better than to let her fall for me.It was only a matter of time before the danger bled into what we had.I was Laura’s downfall. Problem was, she was mine too.
New Leaves, No Strings
C.J. Fallowfield - 2014
Tainted by their pasts, they’re going to try and get over their commitment phobias. Mia’s going to lose her virginity with hot, no strings attached sex. The rebellious Lexi’s going to try ditching her one night stands in favour of attempting to have a relationship.What Mia didn’t count on however was Gabe Austin, confident, sexy and irresistibly gorgeous, who quickly inserts himself into her life. Inextricably drawn to each other, their desire soon leads to a passionate encounter. Gabe’s fears of abandonment and his domineering personality, along with Mia’s own fears of attachment, threaten to derail his attempts to ensure she becomes his, heart body and soul. Despite Mia’s reticence, Gabe Austin’s a guy who is used to getting what he wants. Just as he seems to have won Mia around, he goes and does something that could ruin everything.
Wife Number Seven
Melissa Brown - 2014
Bright, red lipstick. Nothing but lipstick. Even though it’s against our faith to wear a color that screams of sexual promiscuity and deviant behavior, I’m not allowed to protest. But, I want to. So badly. You see, there’s more to me than the braid that spills down my back. More to me than the layers of heavy fabric that maintain my modesty. And so much more than the oppressive wedding band that adorns my finger--the same band that each of my sister wives wear. So much more. To protest would be sinful. I must keep sweet, that is my duty. So I’ll wear the lipstick. I’ll do as I’m told. And I’ll do my best to silence the resistance within me, to push him from my mind. If only my heart would do the same.
Who He Is
S.Q. Williams - 2013
She's never dated a guy in her life, never even hugged a man (outside of her father/manager of the hot and popular rock band, FireNine) but when she decides to spend her summer on tour with FireNine, it all changes. Eliza really gets to meet Gage Grendel - her former crush from high school and the lead singer of FireNine - and witness sides to him to which she'll begin to truly despise. She'll ignore him, she'll dislike his ways, she'll do anything to try and stay away from him until Gage finally gets her to slip up and give in. She agrees on a casual fling with Gage, but soon they'll both see how the fling will blur into something they can't control and when it's finally time for Eliza to go and accomplish her own dreams, she'll know there's more she took from Gage than she ever thought possible.
Love by Pranks
Sunniva Dee - 2018
2) Lucian Spencer Anderson lives in #247 and is possibly the hottest stripper-slash-social-science student you’ll ever meet. 3) #246 (The Blossoms) and #247 (The Dudes) have the longest standing, most ruthless prank war in the history of rivalries. The only thing the two houses agree on is that they live and breathe for the next battle. But the real challenge is the one I never saw coming: an alliance with Lucian. When a cold winter threatens the stray cats of Deepsilver, our mutual love for animals forces us to team up. Bad, right? Well, it gets worse: we’re going to need the cooperation of our two houses to pull this thing off.
Follow Me
Tiffany Snow - 2016
A computer prodigy who landed a coveted programming job at the cutting-edge tech company Cysnet before even graduating from MIT, China is happiest when following her routine: shower before coffee, pizza only on Mondays, bedtime at ten thirty sharp.But then things start to get a little…unpredictable.First Jackson Cooper—Cysnet’s rich, gorgeous, genius CEO—assigns China to a dangerous and highly classified project for a government defense contractor. Her sixteen-year-old runaway niece suddenly arrives in town, begging to move in with China. And then there’s her sexy but oddly unsettling new neighbor, Clark…Quickly the Cysnet assignment becomes disconcerting—and then downright scary—as key staffers turn up dead. China suspects she’s being followed and isn’t sure whom she can trust. For the first time ever, she’ll have to follow her instincts, rather than logic, if she’s going to survive.
The Man I Can't Have
Shanora Williams - 2019
The owner had no pictures of himself on his website, just a portfolio of nice outdoor sitting areas, pools, and vibrant gardens that I’d always dreamed of having.Of course I hired him.I expected to meet an average guy, but Mr. Marcel Ward is far from your average man. He’s handsome, and well-built, and his smile—though a rare trait—is truly infectious. He’s every woman’s dream—a handsome, older man who doesn’t mind getting down and dirty to create something beautiful all because of his passion for it. Unfortunately, that lucky woman can’t be me. Although Mr. Ward tests my limits, quickens my breath, and makes my heart skip a beat when he’s around, I’ve promised to devote myself to my husband.So why am I falling for a man I know I can’t have?
That Man 1
Nelle L'Amour - 2014
Until he meets Jennifer McCoy, his outspoken new assistant and development executive.Newly engaged Jennifer has no idea that her devastating new boss is the man she kissed, blindfolded, in a game of Truth or Dare. That kiss, that man, that beautiful stranger she cannot forget.Blake hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss either…and he’ll do anything to win Jennifer —even if it means being a beautiful bastard and breaking all the rules.
Heights of Desire
Mara White - 2013
They bring each other to a height of desire neither thought possible, but is it enough to overcome the differences that tear them apart? Kate Champion, a forty-two-year-old, married mother of two, leads an enviable upper class life of luxury. Her comfortable path takes an unexpected detour after a chance encounter at a neighborhood playground. Jaylee Inoa is a twenty-two-year-old, second generation New York Dominican with close ties to the Heights and the gangs that run them. Her life of privilege is no match for the code of the streets he navigates with ease. When a crime of the heart leads to a crime in the flesh, how far will she go to redeem him? Can she risk all in her life that is golden for the love of her golden-eyed man?Warning:Heights of Desire contains descriptions of: gang activity, graphic sex, violence, dubious consent, unprotected sex, infidelity, infidelity and more infidelity, questionable parenting and some dialogue in Spanish without translation.
Instigation
Tessa Teevan - 2015
Three years after her life changed forever, Gabriella Latham finally has it all. Killer job [if working for her boyfriend counts]. Killer closet [even if she doesn't technically own any of it]. Killer boyfriend [who refuses to let her leave him, even when she tries]. Unfortunately for her, the last part isn't hyperbole. She just doesn't know it yet.Adrian Morningstar was a dream come true. No one had ever loved her more, and for the first time, in longer than she could remember, she was no longer alone. He was the Prince Charming to her Cinderella, until suddenly he became the Beast with whom she could not escape.Until him.When Rafe Matthews is hired to oversee the guest home construction of one of the most powerful businessmen in the country, he finally has his in. Nothing will get in the way of what he sets out to do. Until her.Watching from the shadows, he's drawn to the beautiful, isolated woman of the house. His curiosity is piqued and he has to have her. She may be taken by the boss, but that's not enough to stop him. Or her.Nothing is quite as it seems, and this is only the beginning.
Passions ignite. Tempers flare. Secrets kill.
Fool for You
Megan Noelle - 2013
Danielle promised herself she would never return, but now - she has no choice. The family Inn her Grandparents put their lives into is going under and Danielle is the last hope they have to save it. When she temporarily returns to her home town, she’s even less prepared than expected to run into her first love, Oliver Garrison. After their encounter leaves her on edge she decides what is really needed is a distraction. What she doesn’t expect is the way she feels when she meets Corey Preston with the bad boy edge, a gentle heart and smoking body. Oliver is everything she thought she ever wanted while Corey is everything she never thought she needed. Dani promised herself when she left Serenity Cove at 18 that never again, would this be her home. However, her heart didn’t get the memo and for the first time in her life, she feels at home. But will her demons from the past let her have the love she deserves? Or will she return to her life in New York - once again leaving her heart behind in the one place she fears to be?
Set the Pace
Kim Karr - 2016
He protected me. Shielded me. Kept me safe. And I would have done anything for him.Fate tore us apart—leaving a world between us, and both our hearts broken.Now Jasper is Detroit's white knight, a reckless rogue turned sexy savior, pulling the city and himself out of destitution.Everything he does is fast. He talks fast, f*cks fast, and drives fast.I know I should keep my distance. That I should stay away. There's too much history between us. Too much left unsaid.Yet I can't resist him.Just being near him is a thrill—his perfect body, our incredible explosive chemistry, the enticing danger that follows him everywhere he goes.But then the city turns against us, and we can't hold on.
When it’s us against the world—will our love survive?
The Hard Truth About Sunshine
Sawyer Bennett - 2017
Provocatively heart-breaking, audaciously irreverent and romantically fulfilling, The Hard Truth About Sunshine exposes just how very thin the line is between a full life and an empty existence. An angry, bitter amputee. An optimist losing her eyesight. A dying kid. A suicidal thief. Four people with nothing in common but their destination. Despite having narrowly escaped death’s clutches, Christopher Barlow is grateful for nothing. His capacity to love has been crushed. He hates everyone and everything, completely unable to see past the gray stain of misery that coats his perception of the world. It’s only after he involuntarily joins a band of depressed misfits who are struggling to overcome their own problems, does Christopher start to re-evaluate his lot in life. What could they possibly learn from one another? How could they possibly help each other to heal? And the question that Christopher asks himself over and over again… can he learn to love again? He’s about to find out as he embarks upon a cross country trip with a beautiful woman who is going blind, a boy with terminal cancer, and an abuse victim who can’t decide whether she wants to live or die. They will encounter adventure, thrills, loss and love. And within their travels they will learn the greatest lesson of all. The hard truth about sunshine… Warning: This book deals with some tough issues including suicide and sexual abuse.
Hooked
Emily McIntire - 2021
Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy. His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy. Until one day, something changed; stripped his innocence away.The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play. His dreams gone forever, he grew up way too fast. An endless night of crocodiles, and watches made of glass. He grew into a villain, the taste of vengeance on his tongue. Craving to make his enemies pay for the misdeeds they had done. Instead he found a darling girl, and refused to let her go. For what better way to make the man pay, than to steal his little shadow. *Hooked is a full-length, complete standalone and the first in The Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. This is a DARK Contemporary romance (not a literal retelling and not fantasy) featuring mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised.*