Book picks similar to
Playing Games by Candace Wondrak
contemporary-romance
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candace-wondrak
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Closer
Mary Elizabeth - 2016
Teller Reddy is wrecked. Misery loves company, and that’s exactly what Ella gets the afternoon her path crosses with Teller’s: the misunderstood premed student who instantly becomes her lifeline when she moves to Los Angeles, an attempt at escaping her heartbreaking past. In the beginning, Lonely and Defensive complete each other. But in the end, their relationship is like broken glass—cutthroat and jagged. Calling it off before they kill each other, Ella and Teller decide to “just be friends” despite the intensity that binds them together. It’s a delicate foundation rocked by tragedy, effectively destroying the illusion they’ve so carefully built. Unable to deny what’s between them any longer, this is what happens when wrecked and damaged collide and close is still not close enough.
Do You Love Me?
Regina Bartley - 2017
One chance to tell the boy of my dreams that I love him, one chance to finally get the guy. And I blew it. I watched him leave. I watched as he went off to college to start a whole new life without me in it. A life filled with drinking, parties, and hot college girls. I suddenly became the pathetic young best friend, pining from afar, while he lived his life. It took me a long time to get a second chance, and now that I have it, I wonder if I’ll finally have the guts to confess my love or if it will all go up in flames.
Humbling Her Cowboy
Natalie Dean - 2020
She’s got a jaded view towards rich people like him. But when he offers to help her out, she may not be able to refuse… The McLintoc Millers aren’t quite like their cousins to the north. Solomon, the second oldest of the six sons, had never really thought of why. As the main heir of the Texas ranching empire, Solomon is focused on the family business. Growing, gaining and improving… that’s what it’s always been about. But… all of that comes screeching to a halt when he runs into a vandal defacing his family’s property. A beautiful vandal. Frenchie hasn’t had the easiest life. On the run since she was seventeen, she went from lower class right to impoverished and hasn’t really been able to get back up since. She’s seen the worst of the world, the darkness that lurks in so many people, and what happens when dollar bills are worth more than a person’s life. When she meets a man who has it all, she’s sure she already has him pegged. But then, little by little, he begins to contradict all the rules she learned for survival. Is he playing the long con, or is it possible that someone like him would even care about someone like her… Author’s Note: Miller Brothers of Texas is a spin-off series of my best-selling series Brothers of Miller Ranch. Fans have liked the Miller brothers so much I decided we couldn’t give them up just yet! This new series is all about their cousins in Texas who own a Texan ranching empire. This series will take you on a journey with six handsome brothers who end up helping their father realize there’s more to ranching than just a profit. Each book is 60,000 sweet words long! Download a Miller Brothers of Texas novel today and come on this sweet cowboy journey with me! Also, download the novella length Miller Brothers of Texas Prologue for FREE! Visit nataliedeanauthor.com to find out how. More of Natalie’s Well-Loved Contemporary Westerns! Brothers of Miller Ranch Series Her Second Chance Cowboy, Book One Saving Her Cowboy, Book Two Her Rival Cowboy, Book Three Her Fake Fiance Cowboy Protector, Book Four Taming Her Cowboy Billionaire, Book Five
Hacking Darkness
Marissa Farrar - 2017
Hard men. Criminals, I'm sure. Willing to do anything to break me, and take what they want.
But locked in the dark, I soon realize it's not only what's in my head they're after. The glint in their eyes, lingering touches and heavy breaths tell a different story.
Darcy, we're here, we're watching you...
Now I have to decide if I want to become part of that story, too.Book one in a brand new Reverse Harem series, with a dark romance twist.
Play the Man
Ketley Allison - 2015
A deliberate loner, he gives you his body, but never his heart. Women find both his eyes and their sheets cold the next day.I’m hired as his new cocktail waitress, and my own losses allow me to see the real pain behind his sins. He’s not what he appears to be, but fixing him isn’t possible.I should listen to my past and stay away. Instead, he lures me into his underworld where vice and fortune thrive. He’s a wickedly hot, illegal addiction. Dangerous. Seductive. Forbidden. I’m not just betting my heart on him. I’m wagering my life.
Play the Man is part of the steamy and suspenseful Falling Paper Duet. Theo and Scarlet's journey concludes in Win the Game, out December 18, 2018!
Faking It as the Maid
Emily James - 2020
I’m desperate, so I concoct a scheme and temporarily take my friend’s job as a maid.But I’m not prepared for him.Gorgeous. Sexy as hell. Millionaire property tycoon, and of course, arrogant jerk.I met him at a bar and he tried to hit on me. When I ignored him, he thought it was because I couldn’t speak English. Figures he’d be my new boss. Now I have to keep up the charade or risk him finding out I don’t actually work for Heavenly Help, the Romanian cleaning agency he hires.Can I keep up the charade of being his maid or will cleaning his mansion make me dirtier than ever?FAKING IT AS THE MAID is a standalone romance, suitable for readers aged 18 or over, due to mature content and sexual themes.
Full Court Press
J. Akridge - 2021
To her, it’s a painful reminder of her past relationship mistakes. But after losing a bet to her sister, she finds herself at an Atlanta Hawks game, hating life. There, she meets basketball star Landon Prince and treats herself to one steamy night with him. Landon sees Kelsi as the kind of girl he could fall for, but it takes a bit of convincing for her to give them a chance. When she finally relents, Landon fully believes he can protect her from the trappings of his fame. He was wrong. One reporter was all it took to catch a picture of them in a compromising position, that could cost Kelsi her teaching job. But when Kelsi’s ex sees the picture, he formulates a plan to exploit the situation in a vicious custody battle. Can Landon and Kelsi work together to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and begin a full court press to their happily ever after? Or will the price of his fame tear them apart?
Road Tripped (Satan's Devils MC Utah #1)
Manda Mellett - 2020
I was angry; I admit it. I love my MC brothers, but they couldn’t understand. I could still ride a bike, allowing me to stay in the club, but I could no longer compete. Drummer decided to give me something else to think about, and temporarily gave me some distance from Tucson. It was a simple enough task—make my way, of necessity slowly, to Utah, and check that chapter out. Sure, the Utah club was friendly enough and never hesitated to support other chapters, but they were secretive. Drummer’s instruction was to discover what went on behind closed doors, and for me to return with the assurance they were following the Satan’s Devils rules and regulations. The time on the road would give me a chance to clear my head, my welcome assured at my destination as they wore the same patch on their backs. Then I’d return home, hopefully with my mood improved.Neither Drummer nor I had anticipated the mishaps along the route, nor that there was a possibility I might not make it back alive.
The All I Want Series (Books 1-2): A Small Town Romance Box Set
Lea Coll - 2021
The only problem is...we work on opposite sides of the law and he's running for sheriff. When the election heats up, will he choose me?Be with Me: When Jack comes back to save his father's business, I noticed he's filled out since high school. When he stops by my bakery each morning with a boyish smile and wink, I don't want to be friends anymore. It's time to show him, I'm all grown up. All I want is for him to be with me.
I Hate You, I Love You Part 1
Bailey B. - 2020
Fierce. Nothing at all like the girl I used to know, which is absolutely terrifying because Danika Winters is the only person outside of that room who knows the truth. She could ruin me, and I’m not talking about my reputation. I couldn’t give two shits about what the kids at St. A’s think. I’m talking major, life altering, jail time ruined.I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her quiet. Even if it means destroying the only person I’ve ever cared about.DanikaThey say when you meet the person you’re supposed to be with, time stops. Your brain takes in every microdetail, committing it all to memory, and you’re hit with this unexplainable need. A need to get to know that person, talk to that person, simply be beside that person. And then there’s the kiss. A fire spreading, earth-shattering, kiss that wipes all others from your memory. I’ve felt that pull towards someone once, and it consumed me. I wasn’t supposed to fall for my middle school best friend. But he wasn’t supposed to break my heart.
Sweet Keeper (Sweet Talkers, #1)
Thalia Sanchez - 2020
until I met Stanley McKinley.From the moment that I met him, I knew that I was going to hate his guts, that he was everything that I'm not, everything I despise.One mistake.That's all it took for our paths to collide and merge into one,and I can't find a way to get rid of the magnetic pull he has over me.I want to push him away, to do everything in my power to keep him as a friend—at most.But friends aren't supposed to flirt and look at each other the way we do.I shouldn't want him... but I do.And there's nothing I can do to change before I mess him up too.STANLEYShe thinks that I'm a golden boy, that I'm the perfect guy.Rich and spoiled asshole that can have everything he wants in life.I'm neither of those things.From the moment I met her, Bree Pierce got under my skin and I can't get her out of my system, no matter how hard I try to. I was an inconvenience for her, someone she only spoke to because we made a mistake, not even worthy of being her friend. But I don't want her friendship.I want her.And I'm willing to do whatever it takes for her to choose me, to keep me as much as I want to keep her.Even if it ruins everything that we have.
Before You: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Eve Cates - 2015
Stay with me. Just until I don’t need you anymore…’ When Willa Henderson flew to Chicago, she was just supposed to pack up her brother’s apartment and ship everything inside it back to LA. That included packing up his roommate's things up as well. It was a big ask, but Dave was her big brother, so Willa agreed. The last thing she was expecting was to run into said roommate - the intense German named, André Bauer, a photojournalist who was supposed to be in Afghanistan working for the next few weeks - on her first night there. She also wasn’t expecting him to throw her out on her a** without even trying to let her explain who she was and why she was there. Let’s just say it was…hate at first sight. From the moment they met, they didn’t like each other, and neither of them really had any interest in changing that fact. But one thing they did know, was that they were unequivocally attracted, and it didn’t take too long for them to collide. With both of them screwed up by their pasts, neither of them could handle a relationship if they tried - André is a self-confessed a**hole. Willa is a self-confessed commitment-phone and gets angry whenever she feels. Then there's Willa’s brother, who could very well kill André if he found out he’d slept with his sister. But, when desires go unchecked, there’s little that can change the outcome, and eventually Willa and André agreed to give in – just until they got each other out of their system. They expected it would take a week, maybe two. Then they could walk away without anyone getting hurt. Before each other, that arrangement might have worked out, but there was something there - an intensity they couldn't explain. As layers are peeled back and secrets are revealed, they find themselves in a state of need that neither was prepared for... Before You is a standalone contemporary romance with no cliffhanger and its own HEA.
Detour
A. Marie - 2020
Angela Head down, eyes peeled for any opportunity to get off the dead-end course my mother carelessly paved for me years ago.My plan takes a sharp turn landing me directly across the hall from Creekwood’s resident bad boys. The three streetbike riding misfits are as stubborn as they are sexy. And they. Are. Sexy. Especially the one with the mocha swirl eyes watching my every move.But even the six-foot hallway separating us can’t keep the overbearing trio from constantly getting in my way.When my past threatens to catch up with me, I quickly learn not every detour promises an easier route, no matter how tempting my new neighbors might make it look. Coty Head up, eyes locked on anything threatening to throw me off the carefully constructed path I have mapped out.I live my life the same way I ride my bike, never once regretting the roads I’ve chosen.Lately though, after years of the same scenery, everything’s starting to blur together. It’s only when our elusive neighbor girl comes out of nowhere that I realize what’s been missing.And now that I have, I don’t think I can let her pass by so quickly. At least not without proving the lengths I’ll go for her first.
Cards of Love: The Sun
Stevie J. Cole - 2018
The glamorous prom queen gets knocked-up by the swoon-worthy tattooed god who smells of leather and exhaust from his motorcycle.That is not how this story goes.Elias Black may have had a sleeve of tattoos and grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, but he didn’t have a true bad bone in his body.Until he fell for me. Then he was terribly bad.
The Fated Duet
Charisse Spiers - 2019
Presley Dunagin has always been my girl in ways. I held her when she was born. I played with her when we were kids. I protected her. She snuck in my bed on nights she stayed over when she was afraid. We were virtually inseparable in ever way. She was my best friend just like she was my sister’s, but her and me—we were closer. Then we got older. A kid goes through a lot of changes in middle school, especially for a boy. Our bodies start changing, we notice girls in a different light, and we mentally advance in many ways. The way I looked at her changed. The way I felt about her was stronger. She wasn’t just my friend anymore. It got to where I wanted to see her in the stands with my parents on days of my football games instead of expecting it. Things between us were changing. I could see it in her too. At least, I thought. They say a single moment can alter your entire life. That moment for me was the day I lost her to someone else, so I gave my heart away. If only I could go back and erase it, because now, years later, her and me aren’t so easy anymore. Something more still lies beneath the surface, but I’m broken, she’s bruised, and we have too much history to pick up where everything went wrong. What I didn’t realize—we would hurt each other far worse before we’d finally get it right. Note from the author: This is a compilation of Fated for You and Fated for Me, as well as chapter one of Fate by Forgiveness.