Book picks similar to
Scorched by R. Holmes
virgin-heroine
virgin-hero
military
contemporary-romance
Everything Has Changed
Mia Kayla - 2015
Bliss has known Jimmy Brason since first grade. He took on the role of the big brother Bliss never had, breaking Bliss out of her shy shell, encouraging her to have fun in high school, and pushing her to live her life to the fullest. They have always been friends—until one day, Bliss wanted more. Now seeing women everywhere swooning over Jimmy, head quarterback of the New York Cougars, is enough to drive her to madness.Jimmy has been in love with Bliss forever, but she doesn’t know and she can never find out. In all the craziness of his fast track to fame and money, Bliss is the one person who has kept him sane. He firmly believes that history repeats itself and with his tainted past, he’s afraid that he’s fated to hurt her if he allows himself to follow his heart.Bliss has watched Jimmy grow from a boy into a man, and it’s not fair that someone else will get to keep him when she knows in her heart that he only belongs to her.When they tiptoe on the edge of love, can their friendship remain intact with both of them ignoring the rumblings that’s threatening to explode?EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED is a story of love, loss, and longing for the one you grew up loving.
Kiss an Angel
Susan Elizabeth Phillips - 1996
Arranged marriages don't happen in the modern world, so how did the irrepressible Daisy find herself in this fix?Alex Markov, as humorless as he is deadly handsome, has no intention of playing the loving bridegroom to a spoiled little feather-head with champagne tastes. He drags Daisy from her uptown life to a broken down traveling circus and sets out to tame her to his ways.But this man without a soul has met his match in a woman who's nothing but heart. Before long, passion will send them flying sky high without a safety net... risking it all in search of a love that will last forever.
Swear on This Life
Renee Carlino - 2016
As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?
Win Some, Lose Some
Shay Savage - 2016
Each task others complete without thinking is a challenge for him. Recently orphaned, he has to finish the last few months of high school and take care of his disabled sister on his own.When Mayra comes into his life, his comfortable routines implode. Matthew can’t handle change, but Mayra is unrelenting in her quest to understand him, to show him acceptance and maybe even love. When she breaks through his shell, Matthew’s world will never be the same again.An awkward boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, a persistent girl who pulls him out of his isolated existence, and a lottery ticket that will change their lives forever.
Fragile Longing
Cora Reilly - 2020
Perfection. Until she wasn’t. Until she ran off to be with the enemy and left her fiancé behind.Now Sofia is given to Danilo in her sister’s stead, knowing she’ll never be more than second best. Yet, she can’t stop longing for the love of the man she’s been crushing on even when he was still her sister’s.Danilo is a man who’s used to getting what he wants.Power.Respect.The sought-after ice princess.Until another man steals his bride-to-be. Danilo knows that for a man in his position losing his woman can lead to a loss of face.Wounded pride.Thirst for revenge.A dangerous combination—one Danilo can’t leave behind, not even when a girl just as precious takes her sister’s place to placate him. Yet, she’s got one flaw: she’s not her sister.Unable to forget what he’s lost, Danilo might lose what he’s been given.
Stalker of Mine
Jagger Cole - 2020
She just doesn’t know it.She doesn’t know me at all, actually. To her, I’m a ghost or a familiar shadow haunting her dreams. She never saw me the night I first laid eyes on her. She has no idea what I did that night, either. But I’ve watched from the shadows ever since. I’ve kept her safe, and kept the wolves from her door.I’ve also kept any and every man, worthy or not, from her. With threats, bribery, or worse. You could call it selfish. You could say I’ve deprived her of a life. But I do not care.Everything I do, I do for her. My job is to watch her. My life is forfeit to keep her safe. There’s never been another woman but her. Mackenzie is my addiction. My obsession.My true love, and then some.But a crime was committed that first night I saw her. I’ve buried my demons deep. But the past is coming for her again, and I’m not sure how invisible I can remain.They say true love lasts a lifetime. But when it comes to Mackenzie, a lifetime’s not good enough. I want her always. I want her for forever. And nothing is going to stop me.
No Tomorrow
Carian Cole - 2018
They steal our breath.They steal our sanity.And we let them.Over and over and over again.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *They say you never forget your first love.Mine was a homeless musician who wandered straight into my soul.He was my first everything. And fourteen years later, I still can't get him out of my head.He broke all my rules.He also broke my heart.I watched him climb to stardom, cheering him on from afar.But I was never a fan; just a girl in love.Like a tornado, he spiraled, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.But love conquers all, right? It has to. Because here I stand, ravaged and ruined, needing it to be true.You can't go back, but I want to. Back to the park. Back to when he sang only for me. Before he was famous. Before he shattered my heart.I thought I knew everything about him.But I could not have been more wrong.He promised me every tomorrow. And here I am, waiting.And hoping.Again. _______________________ Note: This is not a fluffy, light read or a swoony romance. It's a journey of love between two people who can't let each other go, even though they are far from perfect. It's about loving someone who is struggling with mental illness and addiction and all the ups and downs that come with it. It's about finding a happily ever after that works between two people loving each other the best they can with patience, understanding, and unconditional love. Not everyone will agree with this kind of love and acceptance - but it exists, and it's real, and it happens every day.
Stealing Valentine
Madison Faye - 2019
I came to rob diamonds, But now I’m stealing her too… I’ve spent my life taking what I want, even if it doesn’t belong to me. Stealing the infamous Whistler diamonds is supposed to be my last job before I can retire wealthy beyond imagination, and I’ve planned for everything… Everything except for her. Valentine is like nothing I’ve ever known before. Good, young, sweet, and alluring—with curves and an innocence far more tempting than any vault or priceless art. I didn’t plan on her, and I sure as h*ll didn’t plan on the diamonds I’m supposed to steal being draped around her neck. …So I’m taking her too. But when I lay my hands on the gorgeous little tease squirming against me, and with one taste of that sassy mouth, I’m lost. And when I find out she’s never been touched? Well, that’s something else I’ll be stealing too. I know she’s off limits. I know this breaks every one of my rules. I know I don’t give a damn about any of that. Claiming her cherry is going to be the sweetest sin. But stealing her heart is going to be the greatest heist this thief ever pulled… All the clichés, ridiculously over-the-top, and more sugary sweetness than a marshmallow peep. Chocolates, roses, diamonds, kidnapped by an obsessed growly alpha... you know, just the old fashioned classics ;). As with all my books, this standalone is safe, with no cheating, and a HEA guaranteed.
Sweetened With a Kiss
Lexxi Callahan - 2013
Especially when his own parents raised her after her brother and parents died. Tell that to his heart. Though she accepts his proposal, she breaks it off and escapes to Paris, leaving him devastated. But she’s finally back in New Orleans and Stefan will do anything to get her back. Jen has always loved Stefan but she’s sick of being treated like a little girl. Attending pastry school in Paris was the best decision she’s ever made. She’s a woman now, and she knows what she wants—passion not pity. Stefan needs to man up if she’s going to agree to marry him. But soon she learns the best way to get Stephan to agree to her demands is to sweeten them with a kiss.Sweetened with a Kiss is a slightly steamy somewhat angsty contemporary romance set in New Orleans. Intended for mature audiences.
Kane's Hell
Elizabeth Finn - 2015
Eleven years later their lives are nothing like they once were. Time has changed them … and not for the better.Helene is smart, driven, and accomplished—her education and achievements a smoke screen hiding the frigid and fragile child wounded long ago. Kane is equally obsessed with his coping mechanisms—fighting … drinking … screwing … compulsively destroying himself one vice at a time.When their paths collide again, their past becomes an obstacle no coping mechanism in the world can protect them from. But confronting the past so they can heal in the present is no easy task. Can Kane reach Helene and recapture what used to burn so warmly between them, or will his own self destructive demons pull her into his hell?A woman determined to look forward. A man always looking back. A love desperate to be restored. “You’re the brightest, warmest star in my universe. You’ll never be less than everything to me.”WARNING: This book contains darker subject matter and violent content that may be difficult for some readers.
Double Standards
Judith McNaught - 1984
The ruggedly handsome president of Global Industries handled his business the way he handled his women -- with charm, daring and ruthless self-control. A man used to the very best, Nick hired Lauren Danner, and assumed the proud beauty would soon be another easy conquest. But Lauren's flashing wit and rare spirit dazzled him -- and slowly, against his will, he was intrigued, challenged -- and in love. Yet Lauren was living a lie, a charade that became more dangerous with every passing moment. Trapped in a web of deceit, she fought her growing love for Nick. Her secret could destroy his fragile trust -- and the promise of life with the most compelling man she had ever met!
Trailer Park Heart
Rachel Higginson - 2018
It’s my legacy. That’s how my mama lived. And that’s how her mama lived. It’s the life I was born into and it’s the life I swore I would leave the second I was old enough to make it out. Only legacies have a funny way of sneaking up on you. An innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications in my plans to escape. Seven years later, I’ve resigned myself to this small town and the roots I’m tied to. Nothing could make me leave. And nothing could make me spill the secrets that keep me here. Until he walks back into town with a chip on his shoulder and a stupid hunch nobody else in town has been smart enough to follow. Levi Cole is my opposite. Born on the right side of the tracks with family money to spare, he’s the kind of black sheep that can afford to be rebellious—because his family will always pay for his mistakes. He’s also the only living heir to Cole Family Farms, after his brother Logan was killed in duty seven years ago. He sees something in my life that he thinks he has a right to. But he’s wrong. And obnoxious. And he needs to take his stubborn good looks and that intense way he looks at me and go back to wherever it was he came from. I know better than to trust men like him. I was born and raised in a trailer park, I know nothing good happens to girls like me—girls with trailer park lives and trailer park hearts. Especially from gorgeous, kind, pigheaded men like him.
Enemy Dearest (Monreaux Brothers)
Winter Renshaw - 2021
I lost him. And now he’s back. August Monreaux was a stormy sea of a man, the dark between the stars, an electric chill cutting through a crowded room—all wrapped into one wicked, beautiful package. He was also off-limits. My entire life, I was kept a safe distance from the notoriously virulent Monreauxs, banned from so much as breathing the same air. And like the good daughter I was, I obeyed those rules. Until the one time I didn’t …Only while I sampled him, he devoured me like the forbidden fruit that I was. And in the blink of an eye, my worst enemy became my first love. His poison became my antidote. His touch, my addiction. After we severed our ill-fated ties, I thought I’d never see him again. Until he crashed back into my life at the worst possible moment—and asked me to marry him.But it wasn’t that simple.It never is. Turns out marrying a wealthy powerhouse of a man comes with a price. But walking away, could cost me everything.
Unstable
S.E. Hall - 2016
After eight years, Henley Calvert is headed home. Back to the family farm and small town she left behind, never to be thought of again. Too much regret and shame to bear. But she’s the only one left to see to her family’s legacy, so she must return to Ashfall and face all the ghosts that haunt her. **** Gatlin Holt, the family farmhand, awaits her arrival, and lends a hand—in more ways than one. He reacquaints Henley with the lay of the land while helping her heal her soul with a new outlook on life. Yet every time she thinks some peace may be within reach, Henley hits another roadblock. The biggest of which is Keaton Cash—her childhood nemesis who owns the farm next door. **** And no, it’s not a love triangle. That’s impossible when Henley’s heart is closed, incapable of love.
Harley & Rose
Carmen Jenner - 2016
So what if this isn’t her actual wedding day, and that she’s only here because Harley was left at the altar just a few hours earlier? Trading San Francisco for paradise and swapping her bridesmaid’s bouquet for a Blue Hawaii, Rose hopes she can finally escape the friend zone. Once upon a time they had been more than friends, but life got in the way. She’s spent every day since wishing Harley would get a clue. She’s always been his best friend. He’s always been hers. She’s in love with him. He’s … not in love with her. He’s … marrying someone else. He’s … hiding something. He’s … well—it’s complicated.