Book picks similar to
A Week and Some Change by Justin Mermelstein


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That Night


J.S. Cooper - 2014
    When Liv Taylor met a handsome stranger at a friend's wedding, she decided to give in to temptation. It was lust at first site and when she followed the man she nicknamed Mr. Tongue into a room before the wedding ceremony, she experienced pleasure like she'd never experienced before. That was why she agreed to one night in his hotel room. One night of unbridled passion. That was all it was supposed to be. But then, her mystery man turned up after that night and his identity was no longer a mystery. It turns out that Liv's one night stand is about to get a whole lot more complicated and she has no idea what she's going to do. Because sometimes one night stands never end at one night. NOTE: This novella is a free steamy prequel to the full-length standalone novel One Night Stand, that will be released on January 5th. It will also be included in One Night Stand when it is released, so you can read it first as a free download or you can read it as part of the novel on release day.

Reinventing Mona


Jennifer Coburn - 2005
    That's when the realization hit: I'm young, I'm rich (thanks to a hefty inheritance), and I'm boring. Not "needs a little zip" boring, either. More like "mustard stain on a Sears tweed couch" drab. French's in a squeeze bottle, that's me. But suddenly I have Grey Poupon aspirations! Things are gonna change-starting now... Building a better mantrap... First things first: Exercise. Carrot juice. Straight hair. Whiter teeth. Clothes that fit (I have breasts? Who knew?) But wait-there's more. Life's kicked me around a bit, and I've been nursing my wounds for too long. I'm finally ready to take a chance on love with the perfect guy. He's handsome. He's smart. He's reliable. He's my CPA. Problem is, I'm clueless about winning him over. It's time to call in an expert. It's time to call in The Dog. Down, boy. Mike "The Dog" Dougherty is a man's man. A guy's guy. Okay, he's a chauvinist pig, and his sty is "The Dog House," a testosterone-charged column in Maximum for Him magazine. On one hand, I abhor all he stands for. On the other hand, who better to coach me? So here I am. Learning the complex unspoken language of the American male (Talk, bad. Sex, good.); trying exciting new things (Stripping lessons are empowering. Really.); falling for Mike. Uh oh. But the Mike I'm getting to know is different from The Dog. And the Mona I'm becoming isn't quite who I expected, either. This whole makeover scheme is getting crazier by the minute. But "crazy" beats "boring"...right? Jennifer Coburn is an award-winning journalist who has written for magazines and newspapers in the United States, Canada and Australia. She lives in San Diego with her husband, William and their daughter, Katie. Jennifer desperately wishes she had Mona's unlimited cash, beachfront estate and singing voice. When she's not living vicariously through chick-lit characters, Jennifer runs a public relations business which serves non-profit organizations and small businesses in southern California. She is also the coordinator of the Del Cerro Soccer Moms League and coach of the real-life Kickin' Chicks, the best seven-year-old girls to ever tear up suburban soccer fields.

A Person of Interest


Ardelle Holden - 2022
    The door stood ajar, which was curious. Siobhan should have been at work. When Samantha peered in, she could just see the outline of two ominous figures skulking in the gloom. She gasped and slammed the door shut. Their muffled shouts were lost in her screams as she flew down the stairs into the howling rain. Suppressing her feelings of vulnerability, she accepts the proffered hand of a handsome stranger, Ben, and they disappear into the bitter night. Can Ben be trusted? He’s charming, personable and persuasive, but then again, so was Ted Bundy. Samantha has escaped with her life, Or has she? The victim of a brutal murder has been discovered!

Vow of Silence (The Jill Shannon Murder #2)


Chris Patchell - 2018
     Five years after the brutal slaying of her husband, software executive Jill Shannon is ready to take the next step in her life. But with her wedding to prosecuting attorney Conner Manning just eight weeks away, her future father-in-law’s political ambitions for her fiancé threaten all her hopes. Jill’s past holds dark secrets. Secrets she can’t afford to have exposed under the relentless lights of a political campaign. When Phoenix Detective David Shaw turns up at Jill’s door asking questions about a reporter's murder, he has no idea what a lethal Pandora’s Box he’s just opened. Was the womanizing reporter killed by a jealous husband, or was it related to his drug use? Or did it have something to do with the secret expose the reporter was working on? Jill Shannon looks like a dead-end lead but Shaw can’t shake the feeling the beautiful widow has secrets she’s not sharing. Jill is caught between the sins of her past and the shattered hopes for her future. Shaw finds himself drawn deeper into a twisted labyrinth of lies and danger. One thing is clear: some vows are made out loud in front of witnesses. But some vows are made in silence, and witnesses can’t be left alive.

Unexpected Mistletoe Kisses


Milan Watson - 2017
    How much longer can she deny the feelings she has secretly harbored for her brother’s best friend?After he saved her kitten, Megan Price knew that Prince Charming didn’t always ride a white horse. Sometimes he was your brother’s best friend. As the years moved on Kingston became more and more handsome and so did the long line of broken hearts he left in his wake. The first time Kingston Halloway noticed that little Megan had grown up, was the evening of her prom. He had paid for it with a bloody nose and a promise to Alex to never look her way again. For years he has ignored her chestnut hair and amber eyes and the way her smile lit up a room.When Megan unwittingly buys the house next to Kingston and hires him to help her renovate, can they both keep denying the attraction between them?

Watching the Grass Grow


Diane Michaels - 2017
     They say you shouldn’t make eye contact with a stranger on the subway in New York City. It may not be an actual violation of the subway system code of conduct, but still. Lisa and Geoff, two strangers smushed together on a crowded E train, break that code when their train unexpectedly stops. Their conversation is the perfect antidote to the boredom and frustration of the delay. And more than the broken AC is to blame for the rising heat between them. When the train moves again, Lisa wonders if they should go back to behaving like strangers. But what if their paths were meant to cross? Tom—middle-aged, divorced, and out of work—needs to get a life. Instead, he gets a juror summons. Hardly expecting to ‘find himself’ while fulfilling his civic duty, he sets a single goal for the day: persuade the judge to exempt him from being picked for a jury. Time had stood still in the juror lounge. It begins to spin backward when he reconnects with Susan, a fellow juror and his middle school crush. Before long, he’s back under her spell. Could a man in his current position interest her? When she swipes through a dating app in front of him, she indicates the answer is no. With nothing else to lose, Tom prepares to sacrifice the one goal he has in order to capture her attention.

The Replacement Bridesmaid


Laurie Ralston - 2012
    But she has no purpose, nothing to do. She is resigned to this safe and boring existence when she gets a chance to chuck it all for just a little while and run off to Ireland to be a replacement bridesmaid.Once in Ireland, her old dreams and aspirations come back to her, and so does love. Jill rediscovers herself and ends up finding herself having do choose between her old safe life, or her new risky life and the possibility of heartbreak - or love and fame.Authors note: The first edition of this book had a multitude of mistakes, but this version has been professionally proofread. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did dreaming it up.

Wanted


Terry Compton - 2014
    He hunts them down and brings them to justice – one way or another. When he and his android partner Cherry Kang close in on one of the worst, the fireworks start. After the big explosion, they wake up in a different galaxy with their spaceship crashed on an asteroid and shot to smithereens. When they get a derelict spaceship ready to fly with parts from their ruined ship and escape, Josh finds something he hates worse than pirates. Josh Gunn and Cherry Kang intend to hunt every last one of them down and make sure they pay.

Hidden Memories


Jennifer Hayden - 2015
    His struggle to find a way out of the darkness that has enveloped his family has been heart wrenching. He has almost given up hope of ever seeing Katie again, when suddenly the mystery of her disappearance begins to unravel. After twenty long years, a mysterious stranger brings forth a most chilling discovery, forcing Jase and his family back into a nightmare he has tried for so long to leave behind. Murder, betrayal and unexpected love reinforce undeniable ties as two families come together after decades of emptiness and sorrow and search among their own for the answers that will finally lay their anguish to rest.

Back to Lazarus


Judy K. Walker - 2014
    He beat and choked her to death. I'm told that he was found hanging from a homemade noose in his cell. I want to know why he waited so long to do it." Sydney Brennan isn't sure how to answer her client's question, short of holding a séance, and the Tallahassee detective has some questions of her own. Why does Noel Thomas remember so little about her childhood? Why is she delving into her father's suicide now? And, most importantly, why isn't Noel telling her the truth?Sydney crisscrosses the Florida Panhandle, reconstructing the tragic Thomas family history. The violence that destroyed the Thomas family connects to a present-day web of deceit and corruption through a desperate man willing to do anything to keep his secrets safe. To discover his identity, Sydney must go Back to Lazarus, back to the town where Noel's beautiful but troubled mother began her inevitable descent over twenty years ago. But by following in the footsteps of the murdered woman, does Sydney risk sharing her fate?Rooted in bars and back roads and Panhandle prisons, forgotten towns and forgotten people, at its heart Back to Lazarus is about stories: the stories people tell us, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize it's all a lie.

The Billionaire's Offer


Lila Lacroix - 2014
    Running from her ex, running from her past, running from any kind of meaningful relationship. When her boss, billionaire property developer Jonathan Jergen, offers her millions of dollars to marry her so he can stay in the country, Vanessa can't help but be tempted. After all, with that kind of money, she could escape her past forever. It should be easy, right, pretending to be in love for a couple of years? Or so Vanessa thought. As she and Jonathan get closer, Vanessa struggles to stop herself from opening up to a man, something she's learned from experience is a very bad idea. But will Jonathan's charming personality break down the barriers Vanessa has spent years building? This 15,000 word story is the first part of a trilogy.

Gloop!


David Brian - 2015
    It has lain in the cold and dark of the bog, waiting patiently for a host to set it free. Now, for John Cluer and his family, nothing will ever be the same again.A novelette of approximately 10,000 words.

Slip


Shelley Hazen - 2016
    That's what Harriet and Arthur Bloomsbury think, but that comforting feeling is a fiction. Hiding among the stone walls, picturesque barns, and hay bales is a horror they can't imagine. It's deadly, impossible -- maybe even paranormal. This short story isn’t your average murder mystery, because this time, the threat isn’t quite so clear. Is it the serial killers hunting you? Your own paranoia? Or the very laws of nature? The suspense is free.

The Billionaire Fake Fiancé: Escape to Sun Valley (Grant Brothers Billionaire Boss Romance Book 7)


Sarah Gay - 2021
    

Read, Write, Love at Seaside


Addison Cole - 2014
    He spends twelve hours a day in front of his computer, rarely leaving the seclusion of his beach-front property, where he’s come to finish his latest thriller — that is, until free-spirited Leanna Bray nearly drowns in the ocean trying to save her dog. Kurt’s best-laid plans are shot when he comes to their rescue. Kurt’s as irritated as he is intrigued by the sexy, hot mess of a woman who lives life on a whim, forgets everything, and doesn’t even know the definition of the word organized.Leanna’s come to the Cape hoping to find a fulfilling career in the jam-making business, and until she figures out her own life, a man is not on the menu. But Leanna can’t get the six-two, deliciously muscled and tragically neat Kurt out of her mind. She tells herself she’s just stopping by to say thank you, but the heart-warming afternoon sparks an emotional and unexpectedly sweet ride as Kurt and Leanna test the powers of Chemistry 101: Opposites Attract.Read, Write, Love at Seaside is a Sweet with Heat novel and conveys all of the passion you'd expect to find between two people in love without any graphic scenes or harsh language. If you're looking for a spicier romance, pick up the steamy edition, Read, Write, Love, written by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster. Addison Cole is Melissa's sweet-romance pen name.