Book picks similar to
Winter Affair by Doreen Owens Malek


romance
contemporary
ebook
contemporary-romance

Prior Engagements


Sarah Goodwin - 2013
    She’s been jilted at the altar by Stephen-the-indecisive, is paying off a mountain of wedding debt by holding down two jobs, and her flat is mostly made of cardboard and spackle. Then at work she meets a man in need of a date to his ex-fiancée’s wedding. Annie goes, and one wedding and four bottles of wine later, she finds herself getting married in Vegas to Dorian, an erotic illustrator.Of course, it’s all great and romantic, until someone loses an eye, which here means, ‘until Annie gets home, and realizes that her best friend (and boss) Will, has kind of been working up to popping the question himself. Will is not happy to see Annie married, in fact he’s willing to trade his Mohawk and every Ke$ha CD he owns to get Dorian out of the way.As if that wasn’t enough to make things tense at work, Annie’s best-work-friend Yvonne (who knows something really fun you can do with a rugby player, some roller skates and chocolate spread) can’t resist getting involved in Annie’s love life. Neither can Dorian’s kleptomaniac sister Fifi, Dorian’s ex-bride and Annie’s mother.In between breaking into cafés, having her door kicked down by the police and trying not to kill each and every one of her friends and relatives, Annie tries to work out how the hell her life got so complicated.

Unforgettable


Linda Barrett - 2021
    A rocking career in finance, a great group of friends and singing with the community chorus fill her calendar and provide her with total satisfaction. Until the phone rings. Until an upbeat familiar voice from the past reawakens her heart and reminds her of what she’s been missing.Playwright Doug Collins has never forgotten the girl he left behind. Even though it was Jennifer who’d made that final decision. “Go to New York and have a wonderful life,” she’d said before running back to her family, a family that still needed her. But that was five years ago. Five years of Jen in the back of his mind, nestled in his heart. Now memories are not enough! Doug packs up his car and heads to Boston in search of that “wonderful life.”Most reunions have bumpy beginnings and not all end well. Jennifer and Doug have a lot to figure out. But they’re smart, honest, and were once madly in love. Do they have a chance at finding the ending they so richly deserve?

Welcome Home, Abby (Those Hawthorne Men, #1)


Jan Gallagher Dunn - 2019
    He has a bad track record with romance. Abby fell in love with Jackson when she was 19, not realizing he was from the wealthy Hawthorne family. His father sent her away to protect the family money. She returns five years later, escaping a nasty fiancé – determined not to fall in love anytime soon. She needs protection and Jackson needs a mother for his daughter. Abby agrees to a one-year deal, touched by the idea of a motherless child. Jackson admits Abby is the only woman he’s ever loved, but he married the wrong woman after she left. His deceased wife’s family is trying to stake a claim to his daughter. He proposed a platonic marriage. He can handle the fact she’s more beautiful. Too late he discovers she smells just as sweet as he remembered. Abby is wonderful with his daughter. He’s a man who can run any business, why can’t he keep her arm’s length? What happens when both of them want a more permanent relationship, but both are afraid to admit it? Trigger Warning: Heroine discusses past miscarriage

The Last One


Tawdra Kandle - 2014
    The last year has been a roller coaster: her widowed mother just married a long-time family friend. Her younger brother unexpectedly became a father and a husband. Everyone's life is changing. . .except for hers. As she begins her final summer of college, Meghan's looking for excitement and maybe a little romance. Nothing serious; this girl just wants to have fun. But the only man for Meghan turns out to be the last one she expects. Sam Reynolds doesn't need excitement, and he doesn't want romance. Fun is out of the question. He's been the steady, responsible one since his parents were killed, and serious is his way of life. When Sam rescues Meghan alongside a dark Georgia backroad, she falls hard for his deep brown eyes and slow drawl. But making him see her as more than just a party girl won't be easy. Sam's tempted by the fiery young artist, even as he realizes that giving into his feelings will mean radical change. . .maybe more than he can handle. Nobody ever said love was simple.

Tangled up in Blue: A Rainy Day Women Romance


Linda Steinberg - 2021
    Deadbeat dads, that is. Until she's arrested by a handsome detective who won't listen to reason. But when she discovers a dead body while working a case, she needs Detective Tall, Dark and Handsome's Help.Protect and serveWhen Dallas P.D. detective Trey Donovan arrests a feisty, gun-toting woman with a stack of hundred dollar bills stashed in her camisole, he senses this is no ordinary drug bust. He manages to maintain his professional composure but he can't get her out of his mind. On his next case, when he finds Selena standing over a dead body, they agree to work together to catch a killer.Trey is by the book; Selena prefers to color outside the lines. But the chemistry between them sparks creative detective work. And ignites simmering passions. Despite their intentions to keep the relationship professional, a rainy night stakeout leaves them 'tangled up in blue.' And when Selena's out-of-the-box ideas put her in danger, Trey realizes this is a woman he will never put out of his mind. And that's a 'Dunn deal.'Tangled up in Blue is the first book in the Rainy Day Women series, featuring women empowering women--and the men who love them. In a converted warehouse near downtown Dallas a group of strong, professional women come together to volunteer their services to the women of an under-served community. They name their facility the Rainy Day Women's Center. Each book is a stand-alone romance about competent, independent women and the equally competent, independent men they can't ignore--or live without.

Explicit


Roxy Sloane - 2016
    So, tell me the truth. Do you fantasize about me?”Bestselling novelist Jackson Ford is arrogant, exacting, and relentless on the page and off. His irresistible new editor, Ellie Parker is smart, headstrong, and not intimidated by Jackson's attitude - or the way he turns every exchange into a filthy seduction.There isn't a thing these two can agree on, except their intense attraction. But with Jackson's deadline looming, can they stop fighting long enough for him to deliver the hit she needs?The relationship between editor and author has never been so intimate or so explicit...

Forever and Ever Boxed Set


E.L. Todd - 2017
     The Skye Preston. The daughter of the wealthiest businessman in the world, and the most beautiful woman I've ever known. Her looks don't compare to her golden heart. And her heart doesn't compare to that big brain of hers. But I could never tell her. Because we've been best friends for twenty years. She has a jerk for a boyfriend, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. The rest of the gang can't stand him either. But I'm not the kind of guy to intervene. I respect her too much to pull a stunt like that. But then I spot her at a party, too drunk to even walk. The men are eyeing her like easy prey so I take her home. But when we get there Skye is different. She looks at me differently. She touches me differently. And she wants me differently.

Friends Like These


Hannah Ellis - 2015
    With her sights set on the flamboyant Sebastian and his sophisticated group, Marie is sure that things are about to change for the better. But when a chance encounter brings some unlikely characters into her life, things start to veer off course. Marie would never normally be seen with this bunch of misfits but to her annoyance they just keep turning up. As lives quickly become entwined and unusual friendships form, Marie realises that we don't always get to choose our friends; sometimes they choose us. Buoyed by her newfound friendships, Marie might even take another chance at love.

Finding Cinderella


Colleen Hoover - 2013
    But this love has conditions: they agree it will last only one hour, and it will be only make-believe.When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them seemed perfect only because they were pretending it was. Moments like that happen only in fairy tales.One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in love-at-first-sight is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Unfortunately for Daniel, finding true love doesn"t guarantee a happily ever after... it only further threatens it.Will an unbearable secret from the past jeopardize Daniel and Six's only chance at saving each other?

Ain't He Precious?


Juliette Poe - 2017
    It has one stoplight, one bar, and the one-and-only Trixie Mancinkus.Eleven years ago, Trixie graduated Harvard Law, turned down a job offer from one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston, and headed home to Whynot to open her own firm. Not only did she leave behind the big city, but she also left her boyfriend of three years. And just so we’re clear… that would be me.So what am I doing in Whynot at this very moment? It seems Trixie needs help with a legal case and for some insane reason, she called on me for assistance. I’ve been in town for five minutes, and I’m every bit as out of place as I feel. Trixie is all sweet, southern curves to my tailored suits and high-priced haircuts. It’s a culture clash of north versus south and about the only thing we have in common is our physical attraction to each other.But I have a new motto since coming to Whynot: When life hands you lemons, all you need is a little sex and sweet tea to make things better.

Dating a Cougar


Donna McDonald - 2011
    It’s shocking at fifty to find herself wanting a sex life again, and even more shocking to be an older woman attracted to a younger man.Thirty-eight-year-old, medically retired Marine, Casey Carter, is incredibly sexy, but a relationship with the man is totally out of the question. Casey is related to her daughter’s boyfriend. The last thing Alexa needs is another talk-show worthy drama in her already complicated life, no matter how well Casey kisses.ABOUT THE NEVER TOO LATE SERIES:Tired of younger heroines and heroes getting all the action? How about something different? The Never Too Late series is a collection of six sexy, romantic comedies about finding love and romance after turning 40 and 50.These contemporary romances are intentionally heavy on humor and light on tears. The heroines are successful in life, but not successful in love, as their friends are quick to point out. The heroes are drool-worthy, confident, and know what it takes to make a woman feel loved and wanted.

Made for Me


Kathryn R. Biel - 2016
    While her meddling family questions how she can end up in this predicament, at the age of 29, and single to boot, Michele doesn't want to admit the truth. All she wants to do is sew. Faced with the prospect of moving back into her parents' house, Michele throws a Hail Mary pass and applies for a TV design contest, Made for Me. In order to win the contest, Michele will have to compete with nine other contestants to design the new wardrobe for Duchess Maryn Medrovovich, who's about to marry Prince Stephan of the United Republic of Montabago. While in the seclusion of the show, Michele starts to realize where her focus in life should be, and what's truly important to her. However, a dashing competitor might just cause her to lose her focus once and for all. Can Michele keep her eye on the prize while being true to herself?

Unbreak My Heart


Helen Scott Taylor - 2012
    He's twenty-five now, and he still remembers the moment perfectly, the moment Kate Frost slipped inside his heart.His family owned a big hotel, her parents worked there. Andre's father spent years trying to separate his son from the daughter of the hired help. Eventually he grew desperate and sent Andre away to boarding school.Nine years later, Kate turns up on the doorstep of Andre's prestigious hotel with the paparazzi at her heels and the six-week-old daughter of her celebrity ex in her arms. She has nowhere left to run except back to the place where she left her heart all those years ago.Andre lost Kate once. He can't lose her again. But he has an image to maintain, a reputation as a successful businessman. A bohemian young woman with beads in her hair is not a suitable wife for him.In Andre, Kate sees tantalizing glimpses of the boy she adored. But most of the time she hardly recognizes the powerful, successful man he's become, his lifestyle so like that of his despised father.Can they forgive the pain of the past, accept each other as they are now, and rediscover the childhood love that was snatched away from them?

Lost and Found


Elle Casey - 2014
    Sometimes engagement rings can get lost and then found. Sometimes people can too. All it takes is a heavy-duty dose of karma and the magic of Manhattan to make it all come together.Leah is a financially destitute new age hippy. James is a wealthy surgeon with a trust fund. She's awkward, he's poised. She's completely crazy, he's way too sane. People might say they have nothing in common, but they'd be wrong. They both live in Manhattan, they both have no idea how to change a baby diaper, and they're both lost … until they find one another. LOVE IN NEW YORK SERIES READING ORDER Love in New York: Book 1 (Lost and Found)Love in New York: Book 2 (Cabin Fever)Love in New York: Book 3 (Mister Fixit)About this series: I’d never been to New York City before, but I knew I would love it and wanted to write a story that was set in the most exciting city in the world. So I hopped on a plane with my friend Susan and spent 5 whirlwind days there, soaking up the culture, seeing the sights and nailing down the scenes that would eventually end up in this series. Those of you familiar with New York City know what I’m talking about when I say you just can’t beat Russ and Daughters’ bagels, Central Park, Times Square, Brooklyn, and Yonnah Schimmels’ knishes.

A Cutthroat Business


Jenna Bennett - 2010
    But Savannah doesn’t think she’s supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the ‘bad’ side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about. Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future—not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her. Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed—or kissed—by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.