Book picks similar to
Once and For All by Cheryl Etchison


romance
military
contemporary
contemporary-romance

Playing Dirty


HelenKay Dimon - 2015
    But when he befriends sexy property manager Shay Alexander in hopes of finding her cousin, a known national security threat, Ford crosses the line, getting to know her better . . . in bed.After being burned by her last relationship, Shay wants to take things slow. Yet she can't keep her hands off the drop-dead gorgeous hottie who's moved into her apartment building. So when Ford's identity as an undercover agent is exposed, his betrayal cuts deep. Shay never wants to see him again, but Ford can't let her go, not when her life is still in danger. He will sacrifice everything to protect her, then be prepared to walk away from the only woman he's ever loved, even if it breaks him.

Fighting Redemption


Kate McCarthy - 2013
    He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.

Great and Precious Things


Rebecca Yarros - 2020
    He left, swearing never to return.But a desperate message from his father brings it all back. The betrayal. The pain. And the need to go home again. But home is where the one person he still loves is waiting. Willow. The one woman he can never have. Because there are secrets buried in Alba that are best left in the dark.If only he could tell his heart to stay locked away when she whispers she’s always loved him, and always will…Great and Precious Things is a heart-wrenching story about family, betrayal, and ultimately how far we're willing to go on behalf of those who need us most.

Consolation


Corinne Michaels - 2015
    I ache for him and I reach for Liam.One night with Liam changed everything. Now I have to decide if I truly love him or if he’s just the consolation prize.

Smoldering


Tiffany Aleman - 2014
     That life came with stipulations… 1. Marry the man I don’t love. 2. Make my parents proud. Wrong. I left my Manolos and fancy apartment behind and fled that life to find out who I really was. Someone unexpected bulldozed my life. Riley Jackson He was the man everyone, including me, wanted, but his future was one I wasn’t sure I wanted to thrust myself back into. And when he chose a career over the family business, his family supported him instead of pushing him away. My past collided with my future. I didn’t see it coming. If I had, I would’ve ran far, far away. Now I’m stuck in the same position I started in two years ago, except this time, it’s not my decision to make. Loyalty to your family? Loyalty to your own happiness? Which would you choose?

Ignite


Tessa Teevan - 2013
    One to the Army; the other in a tragic car accident. Two years after the latter, a ghost from the past reappears, igniting feelings in Alexa she’d thought long dormant.Jace McAllister has spent the last ten years in the Army, defusing bomb after bomb, trying to forget the girl who once set his world on fire. For him, she’s always been the one who got away. After a not-so-chance encounter places her back in his line of sight, he’s locked eyes on target, and won’t let her go without a fight.Ten years ago their chemistry smoldered, and now the sparks threaten to light a fuse leading to an explosion between them even Jace can’t control. Not that he wants to. But when love has slipped through your fingertips before, how can you trust it will once again remain?Will Alexa’s fear of love and loss destroy their second chance at a beautiful future before it can even begin?

Hold on Tight


Serena Bell - 2014
    The son he never knew he had. And the woman he could never forget.Mira Shipley is far from home, raising her son on her own—and the babysitter has just quit. Then salvation appears, in the messiest—and hottest—form possible: Sam’s real dad, who’s an Army Ranger. Jake Taylor was Mira’s first love—her first everything—and she always vowed that if she ever saw Jake again, she’d tell him he had a son. But she wasn’t expecting him to be so wounded and angry. Part of her wants to walk away—but she knows she needs to be patient with him.That was before he volunteered for childcare duty.Now they’re under one roof together. There’s no way to keep this alpha warrior at a distance. No way to protect her own heart, or her son’s. No way to deny the wild chemistry between them. It’s a recipe for the deepest intimacy of her life. The most intense connection she’s ever known. And maybe, if she and Jake can both overcome their fears, a recipe for…family.

Deadly Descent


Kaylea Cross - 2011
    Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives. Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can't ignore the feelings she's hidden for so long. Cam's sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she's too afraid of losing him to give in.When Dev's helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team. What he doesn't know is that the trap is set for him....83,000 words

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.

The Heart of a Killer


Jaci Burton - 2011
    But for Dante Renaldi, it's murder.Before the Special Forces hero has even unpacked his bags from twelve years of active duty, he's embroiled in murder—corpses bearing the brutal trademark he's seen only once before—on the worst night of his life.The last time Detective Anna Pallino saw Dante Renaldi, they were in love. Now, he's part of the connection to a string of fresh homicides and a horrible assault that Anna only survived thanks to him.More than anything, Anna wants to trust Dante. But as the bodies and the coincidences stack up, Anna will have to decide, and fast: Is the man she owes her life to the very same one who wants her dead?

Targeted


Katie Reus - 2013
    But he still has the same tortured memories—which include the woman he let get away years ago, when they were teenagers. Now his new assignment in Miami will put him so close to the woman he’s never been able to forget, he could reach out and touch her—if only she weren’t under suspicion.When Sophie Moreno uncovers evidence linking the medical supply company she works for with arms smuggling—and worse—she doesn’t know who to turn to. After a shocking betrayal, she realizes the only person she can trust is a mysterious new person in the company—a man with hauntingly familiar eyes.As Sophie questions her intense attraction to this man and Jack struggles not to blow his cover, the two of them must race against the clock to stop terrorists from killing scores of people—starting with them.

Fisher's Light


Tara Sivec - 2015
    For one moment, I actually thought you’d changed your mind, that all the awful things you said to me were just your way of coping after everything you’d been through. I was still here, Fisher. I was still here, holding my breath, waiting for you to come back even though you told me you never would. You always said you’d find your way back to me. Out of all the lies you’ve told me, this one hurts the most. Enclosed you will find the signed divorce papers, as requested. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I’m sorry it wasn’t me. LucyTo get the ending they want, Lucy and Fisher will have to go back to the beginning. Through the good and the bad, they’ll be reminded of why they always made their way back to each other, and why this time, one way or another, it will be the last time.

Wait for Me


Tia Louise - 2019
    Her brother Sawyer would kick my ass if he knew how many times we made out that summer, how close we got.Everything changed when Sawyer and I joined the military.We were honorably discharged, but I didn’t go to her.Instead, I went back to the city… where no amount of money, no amount of pills can heal this wound.Only her whiskey eyes and dark hair, her slim arms and her sweet scent, give me hope. I broke her heart just as surely as I broke mine, but I’m going back to make it right.If she’s still waiting… (WAIT FOR ME is a STAND-ALONE second-chance, military romance with a guaranteed HEA. No cheating. No cliffhangers.)

Bigger Than the Sky


Harper Bentley - 2014
    No, I’m not an idiot.Yes, I had my reasons. Now I’ve made a new life for myself working at a large firm in Richmond and I’ve left the past behind. Or so I thought.Upon returning to my hometown of Serenity Point, Virginia, to take care of some business, I find that Kade’s now home for good and he’s none too happy about my being here. Two months. That’s all I’m staying then I’m out of here. Unless I believe the town’s pink-haired psychic’s prediction. Or embrace the sense of belonging I feel at being back home. Or give in to the emotions stirring inside when Kade's attention is suddenly on me. He scares the crap out of me. He thrills me. He used to tell me our love was bigger than the sky. I always knew ours was a once-in-a-lifetime love. So how can he be so sure it can happen again?

A Cowboy to Remember


Rebekah Weatherspoon - 2020
    . . With a headline spot on a hit morning show and truly mouth-watering culinary skills, chef Evie Buchanan is perched on the edge of stardom. But at an industry party, a fall lands Evie in the hospital—with no memory of who she is. Scrambling to help, Evie’s assistant contacts the only “family” Evie has left, close friends who run the luxury dude ranch in California where Evie grew up. Evie has no recollection of them—until former rodeo champion Zach Pleasant walks into her hospital room, and she realizes his handsome face has been haunting her dreams . . . Zach hasn’t seen Evie in years—not since their families conducted a campaign to make sure their childhood friendship never turned into anything more. When the young cowboy refused to admit the feelings between them were real, Evie left California, making it clear she never wanted to see Zach again. Now he refuses to make the same mistake twice. Starting fresh is a risk when they have a history she can’t recall, but Zach can’t bear to let go of her now. Can he awaken the sleeping beauty inside her who might still love him?