Book picks similar to
Just Jake by Shirley Larson


harlequin-temptation
romance
category-romance
contemporary-romance

A Falling Star


Carolyn Brown - 1999
    Then she met Denison Adams, a tall, handsome rancher from Oklahoma, who was trying to break into the song-writing world. Denison was attracted to the sassy Retta from the first, but he had no intentions of getting involved with any woman who didn’t accept him for what he was.

The Nightmare Ex-Boyfriend Before Christmas: A modern day Christmas Carol


Devon Hartford - 2019
    It’s also the epicenter of our past scandal that nearly killed me and my parents when it broke.Trust me, it made the local TV news every night for two weeks. One night, it went national.Guess who never left King City?Channing.The curb turd.As relentless as he was on the field, I would’ve thought he’d go on to play in the NFL. He never did. Knee injury. Oh, the cliche.Small pond, meet big fish.Only this fish has grown bigger than anyone ever expected, built up his own business empire. Turns out he’s better at business than he ever was at football, and that’s saying something. Despite his knee injury, he managed to keep his college football body, abs and all. Wherever he goes, it’s raining money and marriage proposals.When he finds out I’m home for the holidays, he just has to come knocking at my parents’ house bearing meaningless gifts.News flash, unless he’s hoping for an immaculate conception, he has another thing coming, and it definitely won’t be me.

Cowboy Seeks a Horse Whisperer


Marley Michaels - 2021
    Ever since she spent her summers volunteering with neglected animals as a teenager, she’s wanted to run her own horse rescue center. And with her new job working in the Alaskan mountains at a small town vet clinic, all she needs is to work hard and build up her professional reputation as a horse whisperer, and she’ll be one step closer to making her dream a reality.Jesse Barnes was born a cowboy and will end his days as one too. Working with his brothers on their family ranch in the shadow of Eagle Mountain, they protect the land, while owning and running one of the top producing ranches on this side of the country.Passions collide when Jesse rescues a mistreated horse who needs specialty care. Knowing he can’t do it alone, he calls in the only person who may be able to save the animal—the town’s new horse-whispering vet.Just seeing the sickly horse ignites Kendra’s compassionate side. She’ll go above and beyond to save him, the bonus being the time she gets to spend with the horse’s rescuer. Something about Jesse has her feeling things she’s never felt. But his habit of pulling back the moment they get close has her beyond confused. And then there’s the strange dreams she’s been having. It’s almost as if the Mountain is communicating with her…For Jesse, meeting Kendra ignites something beneath his skin that feels a lot like fate and a lot like something he can’t ignore. The idea of finally meeting his soulmate seems almost unreal, but as time goes by, it’s a feeling he can’t deny.These two dedicated souls will need to navigate their feelings for each other and understand the meaning of the mountain spirit’s Call, all while staying true to themselves and their dreams for the future.***Hold on to your hats! Cowboy Seeks a Horse Whisperer is book 1 in the new Eagle Mountain Ranch series. They're the same kind of sweet, flirty, feel-good, and heart-felt stories you've come to love from Marley, but this time you'll get the big, gruff and tough mountain ranchers living off the land and protecting their own near the town of Kinleyville. The mountains have always provided for the keepers of the lands, and now the Eagle Mountain prophecy has been fulfilled, it's time for their soulmates to warm up their hearts and their bunks, and make their lives on the ranch complete. Can we all say, awww.

The Inn at Cranberry Cove (Cranberry Cove Series Book 1)


June Foster - 2020
    She’s inherited her aunt’s B&B and is determined to carry on her legacy. Upon preparing for guests, she learns of a century-old tale of treasure within the inn. Many have searched for the illusive gems but to no avail. She discovers a man working on the inn’s grounds, but is he the gardener Gina Price hired? Perhaps he’s searching for the hidden treasure.James Atwood, corporate executive, works in the Atwood’s thriving cranberry business. Tragedy strikes, and he’s numb and riddled with guilt. Befriended by Gina Price, he finds solace working evening and weekends in the fresh earth, fescue grass, and aromatic blossoms of the inn’s gardens, helping to divert his mind from his dishonest cousin Robert, bent on destroying the Atwood business. He continues tending the grounds after Gina passes, and the new owner believes he’s a gardener. After she calls late one night upon hearing a prowler, James races to her rescue and discovers his feelings are more than protective.Ashton’s first guests, the Claxton’s, appear out of nowhere saying they’ve had reservations for a year though she finds no record of a deposit. She chalks the failure up to faulty accounting before she arrived. When an elusive intruder continues to make frightening midnight visits, Ashton fears for her own safety and that of the Claxtons. But then, their odd comings and goings cause Ashton to wonder. Are they really vacationing visitors from California, or do they have other motives for staying at the inn?Can two people allow the majestic northwest and fragrant coastal air heal their wounded hearts? Will they discover the secret of The Inn at Cranberry Cove?

The Love Spectrum


Mel Dau - 2020
    (KJ) has always lived a life of obstacles when it came to dealing with his autism, but with a strong support system and utilized resources, he’s overcome every one of them. Now as a grown man living on his own in Charlotte, North Carolina and running two successful businesses, a new challenge shows itself to be one that has the potential to change his life. Never feeling worthy of love, he tends to shy away from even the possibility of romance. After all, autism or not, he’s just a different breed. What happens when the stars align perfectly allowing the Moon to rise smoothly into his orbit without warning?Luna Goodwin is simply a country girl with city girl dreams. From the small town of Estill, South Carolina, she has always been a party of one. As an only child and outcast because of actions that are not her own, she learns to be independently awesome and fearless at a very young age. Moving to Charlotte, she finds herself without warning orbiting a planet that is unfamiliar to her in so many ways. Will the climate of this new planet be complimentary to her needs as the Moon?Will KJ look to the east for the rising of the Moon with acceptance of the love it has to offer, or will the planet’s climates be too much for the Moon, causing an early setting?

A Second Chance For The Sheikh (Sweet Sheikh Surprises Book 2)


Holly Rayner - 2021
    

Make-Believe Marriage


Marilyn Shank - 2000
    Otherwise, she'll lose her inheritance. Trevor Mathison, Headmaster of Brookshire School, needs both a sixth-grade teacher and a wife.When a comedy of errors leads Claire's grandfather, the Chairman of the Board, to believe Claire and Trevor are married, they play along - both too afraid to tell the older man the truth.A powerful magnetism sparks between the couple but her free-spirited lifestyle clashes with his highly structured one. The conflicts they face both at school and at home turn Trevor's organized life into instant chaos.Can Claire and Trevor make their love last? Will they turn this pretend marriage into happily ever after?