Book picks similar to
The Lying Game by Maxine Barry


contemporary-romance
freebie
joffe-books
romantic-suspense

Mountain Angel


Suzie O'Connell - 2012
    When a call from her stalker makes it clear he wasn’t deterred, Aelissm asks her overprotective uncle for advice. His decision to send Patrick O’Neil to keep her safe might become an even bigger problem. Pat is a haunted man with a kind smile and sad eyes. Aelissm knows he will leave, but there is something irresistible about him. He could be the best thing to ever happen to her… if she can convince him to stay.

Wild Ride


Octavia Wildwood - 2014
    Sheltered. Curious.Small town girl Maggie is bored...that is, until she meets Angel. His tattoos intrigue her, as does his life story. He's in a notorious biker gang, but his bark is far worse than his bite. Though Maggie and Angel come from very different worlds, it feels like they've known each other forever. Is this what love feels like? Maybe Prince Charming rides a Harley Davidson... Criminal. Corrupt. Broken.Angel lives on the edge, but he doesn't give a shit. He doesn't have anything to live for anyway...that is, until he meets Maggie. She's too good for him. He knows it, but he wants her. Taking Maggie on the road with the biker gang is dangerous, but Angel vows to keep her safe...even if it kills him.*This is a full-length, standalone romance novel that contains explicit adult situations.

Redeeming Ryker


Kelly Collins - 2017
    He’s haunted by his mistakes. Can their love survive the painful truth behind a shared tragedy?After years in jail, Ryker Savage is still guilt-ridden over the bloody crime that traumatized his small town and tore his family apart. So when a stranger moves into a beloved victim’s house, old emotions come bubbling to the surface. But he can’t afford to turn down the alluring owner’s odd jobs: it’s the only way he can bankroll the search for his long-lost brother. Working alongside the beautiful woman, Ryker starts to feel her kindness melt his hardened heart to make room for love.After her grandma’s death, Ana Barrett lost her only family in the world. So when the down-on-her-luck artist unexpectedly inherits property in Colorado, she hopes the move could be her chance at a new beginning. After hiring an ex-con to help whip the house in shape, she wonders if she should trust the small-town gossip… or what her heart is telling her.When shocking revelations intertwine their half-forgotten pasts, will the painful truth strengthen their love or tear them apart?

A Change of Plans


Donna K. Weaver - 2013
    And the shipwreck. And the falling in love.Lyn North just wants to move past the anniversary of her heartbreak. Swearing off any romance, she embarks on a South Pacific cruise. But the handsome surgeon in the cabin next door revives emotions she's tried to forget.Braedon Randolph desperately needs this vacation to escape his workaholic life. He finds himself captivated by the beautiful schoolteacher next door. Unaware of the sensitive waters he navigates, he moves to take their relationship beyond friendship and is surprised when Lyn ghosts him-hard to do on a small ship. Yet the haunted look in her eyes draws him closer and awakens a need in him to protect her.Then they're thrown together on a snorkeling excursion where paradise turns to piracy. With the man she rejected, Lyn must fight for survival through storms, sharks, and shipwreck-while her heart whispers she may have been wrong.It was a relaxing vacation-until the pirates. And the shipwreck. And the falling in love.Lyn North just wants to move past the anniversary of her heartbreak. Swearing off any romance, she embarks on a South Pacific cruise. But the handsome surgeon in the cabin next door revives emotions she's tried to forget.Braedon Randolph desperately needs this vacation to escape his workaholic life. He finds himself captivated by the beautiful schoolteacher next door. Unaware of the sensitive waters he navigates, he moves to take their relationship beyond friendship and is surprised when Lyn ghosts him-hard to do on a small ship. Yet the haunted look in her eyes draws him closer and awakens a need in him to protect her.Then they're thrown together on a snorkeling excursion where paradise turns to piracy. With the man she rejected, Lyn must fight for survival through storms, sharks, and shipwreck-while her heart whispers she may have been wrong.***This is an updated and expanded edition***Other Books in the Safe Harbors SeriesA Change of Plans (#1)Hope's Watch (#1.5)Torn Canvas (#2)A Season of Change (#2.5)Swing Vote (#3)Kings Crossed Lovers (#4)

A Love Story


Jean C. Joachim - 2010
    Barely eking out an existence working part-time, she meets Mac Caldwell, the handsome dean. As she and Mac draw closer, a deadly campus drug ring sets their sights on her with heart-breaking results. The blend of tears, laughter, and unexpected twists grips you all the way to the astonishing conclusion. A unique mix of contemporary romance and suspense, this first book in the Caldwell Saga keeps you guessing. No cookie-cutter tale, the riveting story of Callie and Mac will melt your heart.

Surviving Brooklyn


Elizabeth York - 2015
    She needed to be closer to downtown because she landed her dream job of becoming an Assistant District Attorney. Little does she know that the reason for her new job is because a killer is raining down on New York City. The killer is taking out anyone who looks like her, including the last A.D.A., and covering their bodies with thousands of forget-me-nots. Is this a clue to catching the killer or does the killer want to lead Brooklyn to her demise? Mark Stone, Brooklyn’s childhood friend, is the lead detective in the city. He has been handed the case, but has a limited window until the FBI takes over. While he hunts to find the killer he guards Brooklyn with his life. He knows she has feelings for him, but can the past be overlooked so they can be together after they catch the killer? What happens if they can’t stop the killer in time? Will he catch the killer and capture her heart, or will the final victim be the one he wanted all along, Brooklyn?

Broken Hollywood


Lora Richardson - 2020
    Lucky for him, she has no idea who he is.Catherine Sparrow is obsessed with caves. She spends nearly every day at Alden Caverns with Otto, her eighty-year-old best friend. Known to most of the boys in town as Cave Girl, Cat long ago decided to leave dating to her sisters. But then Otto’s gorgeous grandson Jesse arrives.Jesse Relic, the hottest movie star in Hollywood, needs to get out of LA. Burdened by guilt and weighed down by sorrow, he runs to the only person who can possibly help him get his life in order, his grandfather Otto. Hoping to hide from the world in his grandfather’s caves, he does not expect to find a beautiful, intriguing woman working there. The best part? She doesn’t recognize him.While hiking a passage of the cave together, Jesse and Cat are trapped inside when she injures her knee. The intensity of their predicament ignites sparks in the tiny cavern. As they grow closer, Jesse knows he has to tell Cat he’s an actor. But she loves her simple, quiet life, and his life as a celebrity is louder than most. If he tells her the truth, will he lose her forever?Broken Hollywood is the first book in the Sparrow Sisters Series. If you want an intense slow-burn romance that will make your heart race, you’ll enjoy this celebrity meets ordinary girl love story!

Escape to Starling Bay


Sienna Carr - 2019
    Winter's Kiss2. Maid for Him3. Love LettersWinter's KissShe's the city girl from Boston. He's the gift shop owner from the bay. Their worlds were never meant to collide.Maid for HimHe's from one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the bay.She's a maid.It was never meant to be.Love LettersHe's a ladies man. A charmer and a flirt.The chaser, not the chased. Until the arrival of anonymous love notes upsets the status quo.All the books in this series are sweet romances with a happy-ever-after, and each book can be read as a standalone.

Repo Girl


Jane Fenton - 2018
    Even though she swore off men years ago, Andi finds herself drawn to handsome rockstar, Cooper Barnett, as he continually pops up in her life when she least expects it.Their budding relationship becomes even more complicated when Cooper talks Andi into letting him ride-along on one of her repos, and they come across a very naked, very dead body. Being charged with murder and spending a night in jail is bad enough, but when the police don’t seem to be making any headway on finding the real killer, Andi begins to do her own investigation – much to the frustration of the homicide detective in charge.The closer she gets to discovering the killer, the more her own life is in danger. Time is running out. Andi must figure out who the killer is before she goes to prison for a crime she didn’t commit or, worse, becomes the next dead body.

Adeline, Getting Even


Danielle Norman - 2018
    Now they had a deeper meaning, they were the sacred code of a whisper network of women.Women who'd been helped by The Iron Ladies. The wives of controlling husbands. The partners of cheating men. The lovers of playboys leading secret lives. As an Iron Lady, Adeline helped them all. And she loved every minute of it. And with each case Adeline grew jaded.Every man had the potential to break hearts and destroy lives. Until she met the one determined to prove her wrong. He didn’t want to break her heart…he wanted to steal it.

Let Me In


Jordan Bates - 2020
    Something that I longed to have in my life every day, and when I found it at a young age, I clung to it. I snatched up the boy as fast as I could, intending to make him mine forever. Commitment I never expected my marriage to turn out the way it did. I never expected for my husband to let me go. For that love that I had invested in to come crumbling down around me. Something that once gave me such great joy. Him After the pieces of myself broke, I was surprised to find a man who was willing to pick them up, to catch me as I fell. What he wanted from me though, I didn’t know if I could give him. All he wanted was for me to let him in.