Book picks similar to
Once Friends by Z.L. Arkadie


romance
contemporary
free
contemporary-romance

The Author


Lexy Timms - 2018
     Annie Clark is a woman stuck in a horrible job with no expectations or desire to find love. She thinks love and relationships are too much work and more drama than she is willing to deal with in her messy life. When Lincoln and Annie meet, the sparks fly. Neither of them can deny the attraction. She can't do love. She can't do relationships. Could Lincoln be the man who changes her thinking? Could she be the one to help him find love again? "Between the pages of a book is a lovely place to be." Spelling Love Series Book 1 – The Author Book 2 – The Book Boyfriend Book 3 – The Words of Love

Cherry Bomb


Madelynne Ellis - 2016
    Done with being told what to do, when to eat, when to exercise, who I can and cannot associate with. It’s time to ditch my squeaky-clean image and put teen drama the Caine Chronicles to rest, even if that means breaking the rules. My plan? Enlist the aid of an A-list British villain. When Dare Wilde kisses me at an award ceremony, our undeniable chemistry lands us on the set of a new action blockbuster. Contractually, we’re not supposed to associate outside of work… As if that’s not an incitement to prod the beast. I’m ready to hand him every scrap of my innocence. What I don’t realise, is that there are layers to this man I never imagined, or how shielded I’ve been from the realities of our industry. Cherry Bomb is the first full length standalone coming-of-age romance in the Stirred Passions series about the Sunsetters, a group of bisexual A-list actors and the women and men who love them. Check out the other titles in the series, including Black Velvet, Soul Kiss, Screw Driver, & Mint to Be.

Choose Me


Donya Lynne - 2018
    He wants more. And he won't stop until he gets it.Katherine Clayton, divorcée and single mother of two, just sent her kids to California to spend the summer with their father. Which means it's time to let her hair down for her annual summer fling. Unfortunately, her past four summer romances have fallen flat. If she can't find a man this summer who can fulfill her needs, this year's fling will be her last.Well-endowed Greyson James is beyond frustrated with his sex life. Below the waist, he's more man than most women can handle, which has led to more than a few failed relationships. Then he meets Katherine. Unlike the others, she's undaunted by his size. In fact, it's his size that seems to excite her the most.But after one mind-blowing night of passion, neither is prepared for the wicked ride fate has in store for them. When Katherine agrees to attend a business meeting on behalf of her father, with intentions of shooting down a competitor's bid to buy her company, she's shocked to find that Greyson is the prospective buyer. He has his sights set on obtaining Katherine's company, and he'll pull out all the stops to convince her to sell. Now Katherine must decide if she can trust Greyson with not only her heart, but with her company.As the Banger Trilogy unfolds, Greyson and Katherine will wrestle with their feelings for each other, long-held family secrets will be revealed, and scandals neither could have imagined will rock them to the core. Will what they've found in each other be enough for happily ever after? Or will one passionate summer be all they share?NOTE: This book was previously published as part of the 7-book Banger Serialized Novel. While the series has been rebranded as a trilogy, and the story slightly altered to accommodate the new format, it is the same story. Please do not buy this book thinking it is a different story or a continuation of the previous Banger books. Thank you.

Romance Down Under: New Zealand Romance Starter Set


Tracey Alvarez - 2016
    A second chance. Everything on the line…Ryan "West" Westlake belongs on the island. It's in his blood and who he is. Nobody can deny that. When Piper Harland walked out of his life years ago, West let her go. He'd never stand in the way of a woman and her dreams. But now that she's back, their past smacks him right in the face. With tempers flared and desires heightened, West just might realize what he lost so long ago.Hide Your Heart (Far North, #1)Lauren Taylor has returned to her rural New Zealand hometown, having cut all ties with her past as a former model. Nate Fraser, a burned-out photojournalist, plans to fix up the property next door and sell it as a celebrity retreat. As passion ignites, Lauren must trust Nate not only with her secrets, but with her heart—before her safe haven is exposed and she can no longer hide in the shadows.Fall in love with these authentic heroes and heroines trying to find their special someone—then read the other standalone books to discover the friends and family who stumble into a once-in-a-lifetime love themselves.

Uncovering Love


Kacey Shea - 2015
    You’ve got to hold onto it with everything you’ve got."As part owner in a PI firm that specializes in matters of the heart, the rules are simple. I catch cheaters and vet potential suitors. I don't fall in love, especially with the man I'm hired to investigate. Only, that's become a problem. As one case moves beyond professional, I find myself fighting an attraction I cannot resist. This hunky, tatted muscle man is hiding a wicked sense of humor and generous spirit behind his six pack. The more I learn about him, the more I want him for myself.But I can't break the rules, even if I've uncovered love in the most unexpected of places.Uncovering Love is the first in a series, but can also be read as a standalone.

Cured


Stacy Eaton - 2018
    For six years, Ember has closed off her heart, moving from one man to another, trying to feel something other than her own pain and guilt. Colt Barnes is a plastic surgeon who strives to give people a better quality of life, especially children. The night he watches Ember leave the bar with another one-night stand, he resolves to offer up a challenge to get her to view herself in a new light. Little does he know that the challenge will change both their lives, but when Embers’s secret is exposed, will Colt be able to accept it and trust her, or will Ember go back to her old ways and leave Colt broken? Love Medical Romance? Check out the rest of the Heal Me Series for sexy romances that will warm your heart as they deal with life-altering medical and psychological issues. While each book in the Heal Me Series is a stand-alone book, the characters cross between books and are best enjoyed by reading them in order. Cured, Book 1 Revived, Book 2 Mended, Book 3 Rescued, Book Eaton's romances are perfect steamy romances for fans of Melissa Foster, Carly Phillips, Mona Risk, Leanne Banks, Mimi Barbour, Carolyn Brown, and Lexi Blake and other small-town romance fans. The characters are flawed and real, dealing with real-life issues and overcoming real-life odds and earn their happily ever after.

Train Wreck


Elise Faber - 2017
    A chaotic or disastrous situation. 2. An utter catastrophe or mess. 3. A devastating calamity or source of trouble. 4. Pepper O’Brien. As the daughter of a famed film producer, Pepper O’Brien is Hollywood royalty. Also, her life sucks. Because, unfortunately for her, the old adage is true: money can’t buy everything—including grace, true love, or the ability to not screw up every single opportunity her life has brought her. After her latest disaster, Pepper moves across the country to start over but, as usual, her life has other plans, namely in the form of Derek Cashette, her former teenage crush and now ridiculously handsome friend of her older brother. Derek is determined to salvage the train wreck of her life and Pepper’s determined not to let him. Her life is her problem and, dammit, why can’t she be her own hero? But sometimes fate has other plans. Or maybe it’s hormones. Especially when her rescuer comes with a killer smile, a chest Thor would be jealous of, and a butt that any girl just wants to—

Dirty Rich


Amelia Wilde - 2016
    In fact, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.But the soul-crushing hours are going to be worth it someday. That’s what I keep telling myself. If I keep my head down and power through, I’ll have a glowing reference and a ticket to a stellar career.It’s all going to plan…until billionaire Jax Hunter buys us out.It’s hard to focus on photos with him in the office, wearing suits tailor-made for his mouthwatering body. And when he looks at me with those eyes, and whispers such dirty things in my ear…He’s irresistible.And our hot office fling is turning out to be far more serious than either of us imagined.If this goes south, I’ll lose my job.And it's already too late for my heart...

Happy Endings Book Club Boxed Set Books 1-3


Kylie Gilmore - 2018
     Book 1: Hidden Hollywood She’s on top… When superstar actress Claire Jordan researched her role for the Fierce Trilogy movies, she never expected the bond she feels with the author and her romance book club aka The Happy Endings Book Club. Soon Claire finds herself confessing her secret longing for a regular guy—no more egocentric wealthy players—and the book club is all too ready to help. In disguise as a regular girl, she’s all set for a date with book-club-approved Josh Campbell. He’s on top… Billionaire tech CEO Jake Campbell is weary of gold-digging women, especially the glamorous superficial types. So when his identical twin, Josh, calls in a favor, asking Jake to step in as him on a date, Jake figures one of Josh’s cute girl-next-door types might be just what he needs. One night of passion with the sweet girl next door leaves Jake wanting more, except she seems to have vanished. Sometimes a Happy Ending is just the beginning. Book 2: Inviting Trouble Madison Campbell has worshipped her older brother’s best friend, Parker Shaw, for as long as she can remember. So the night before he leaves for the Air Force, she decides he’s leaving town with her virginity. All she has to do is transform her tomboy self into a sexy woman with a bit of borrowed makeup and some creative fashion choices. The results? One drunken kiss that Park doesn’t even remember. Ten years later, no man has ever gotten close to her heart the way Park did. And now that he’s back, the very unfeminine Madison refuses to blow her second chance. But when her bold attempts to snag his attention (“Oops! Dropped my towel.”) fail miserably, she does something completely insane—she caves to a makeover from the meddling matchmaker in charge of The Happy Endings Book Club. Hey, Park, you want some of this? Madison is about to find out. Book 3: So Revealing The last thing Charlotte Vega needs is a cocky HOT stuntman like Ty Campbell in her life. But when he pulls the ultimate stunt—a sexy romantic gesture that ends with a charming invitation to a sunset dinner cruise—she finds him impossible to resist. Cue disaster. Their rocky first date goes from bad to worse when his yacht (okay, it’s actually borrowed) gets stranded in deep mud. Turns out there’s nothing Ty can do but wait hours and hours for high tide with no power, no way to cook dinner, and a hangry sexy-as-hell woman. But Ty is determined to salvage the date so he starts a game to pass the time. Only what Ty learns makes him realize he may have just botched a date with the perfect woman. How will he ever win her now? The Happy Endings Book Club series continues with Book 4, Formal Arrangement, plus more! Happy Endings Book Club Series Book 1: Hidden Hollywood Book 2: Inviting Trouble Book 3: So Revealing Book 4: Formal Arrangement Book 5: Bad Boy Done Wrong Book 6: Mess With Me Book 7: Resisting Fate Book 8: Chance of Romance Book 9: Wicked Flirt Book 10: An Inconvenient Plan Book 11: A Happy Endings Wedding For more humorous contemporary romance, check out all of Kylie's books! Clover Park Series Book 1: The Opposite of Wild Book 2: Daisy Does It All

All We Were


Elisabeth Grace - 2019
    I’ve finally crossed the line.Even if he knew my reason for doing this, he’d never forgive me.He always puts my needs before his own.Now it’s my turn to protect him.None of that matters though because the betrayal and disgust in his eyes comes from deep within his soul. There’s no coming back from this.He will forever be tormented by what he’s seen, and he will never forgive me.The last fragment of my heart to hold out hope that we’d share a future, withers and dies.

Antihero


C.J. Pinard - 2016
    She's trying to stay clean and walk a straight path. Is the chemistry storming between them enough to keep them together? Ellis I did my time, both on the streets and in the Marine Corps. Now that I’m out, I’m feeling sort of lost. I need to find a job and get past this disability the ugliness of war has left me with. The only thing that makes me feel grounded and stable is Talia Logan. She’s a red-haired breath of fresh air when I feel like I’m drowning in nightmares and responsibilities. So why can’t I just commit to her – make her mine? Because I’m jacked up and no good for anyone. Especially her. Talia The only part of my past I’m proud of is how I beat the addiction that almost killed me. I’m on the right path to a clean life, a college degree, and new friends. Ellis Anderson keeps coming over to worship my body and whisper sweet things in my ear that keep me hanging onto him. But he’s bad for me. A guy with too many demons that I don’t have the time or energy to deal with. So why can’t I just tell him to get out of my life? Because I’ve traded one addiction for another, that’s why. Antihero is book 1 in the Imperfect Heroes series. For readers 18+. Reading order: Antihero (Imperfect Heroes 1) Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes 2) Beneath Broken (Imperfect Heroes 3) Beyond Love (Imperfect Heroes 4, releasing in Spring 2017) Each book can be read as a standalone, however, this is the recommended reading order.

Dangerous in Love


Sidney Bristol - 2017
     A good SEAL, Shane York values chain of command. Following the rules means staying alive. All of that is wrecked when his team is sent to Jamaica on a hostage rescue. She’s not the mission, but they leave no one behind. She breaks the rules. Travel blogger Lacey Miles lives for today. Thanks to her unexpected rescue from certain death, she has a shot at tomorrow. She wants her mercenary captors to pay, and she has the evidence to ensure it—if she lives long enough to deliver it. Opposites spark an unlikely romance in the heat of danger. Delivering the intel and keeping the hostages alive becomes priority one for the Aegis Group Alpha Team. The last thing Shane and Lacey have time for is love. As the team races home and bullets fly, rules fall by the wayside and lines begin to blur. With a traitor in their midst, will love be a distraction or a strength? Aegis Group Dangerous Attraction Dangerous in Training Dangerous Games Dangerous Assignment Dangerous Protector Aegis Group Alpha Team Dangerous in Love Dangerous in Action (October 2017) Dangerous in Secret (TBA) Dangerous in Motion (TBA) Dangerous in Charge (TBA)

Lianne


Mona Ingram - 2017
     Following in her late husband's footsteps, Lianne visits the spectacular Cornwall coast of England where she begins to find herself again. What she doesn't plan for is a growing attraction to a local man... and his dog. But when he disappears unexpectedly, she returns home and puts all of her energies into revitalizing her home town. But memories of those golden days linger, igniting her desire to love again. Mona Ingram is the author of over forty sweet, clean romances full of hope, inspiration and happily ever afters. For a complete list of Mona's books, visit her website at monaingram.com

SEAL's Homecoming


Leslie North - 2019
    Now, more than ten years later, Chance and his brothers are back in town for their father’s funeral, but Mandy is no longer that moon-eyed teenager she once was. She’s a fiercely independent woman determined to solve her own problems—and she has plenty. When her gambler father died two years prior, he left Mandy—along with a successful auto repair business—with a ton of debt owed to a ruthless loan shark. Mandy is barely getting by, and when her mechanic quits, she’s in a real bind. It just so happens, Chance is willing to help out. Sure, Chance is bigger, stronger, and sexier than ever, but Mandy isn’t interested in anything but his mechanical skills. Or maybe just a bit interested in his kissing skills—which, by the way, are just as good as she remembers. Mandy wasn’t the only one brokenhearted when they were just teens. Chance never did get over his first love, and seeing her now only brings back those feelings in a major way. He’s grown up a lot since he left their little town, and now that he’s home, he’s determined to win back the girl he never should have lost. If only he can convince Mandy that he can protect her from the loan shark and his thugs, and that she doesn’t have to protect her heart from him. But just as the two are beginning to realize they’re meant to be together, the loan shark makes things more than just a little precarious, putting both their love and their lives in danger.

Bennett


Seraphina Donavan - 2015
    She takes care of her ailing mother, she manages PR for the family’s distillery, Fire Creek. And every day she quietly resents the fact that he stepped in and kept her from being with the one man she loved… a man who still lives there in their small town of Fontaine, Kentucky and who haunts her every minute of the day, waking or asleep. Bennett Hayes has loved Mia his whole life, and for one brief moment, when they were young and full of hope, it seemed like even the long history of bad blood between their families wasn’t enough to keep them apart. But he’d been wrong. Mia never showed the night they were supposed to run away together and when he confronted her about it, she broke his heart. But fate and circumstance throw them together again and the fire that raged between them at eighteen is even hotter now. The burn is inevitable. But there are forces at play, people on the periphery of their lives whose agenda goes far beyond just keeping them apart… they will stop at nothing to keep their secrets, even if it means murder.