Book picks similar to
The Beast's Baby by N. Alleman
romance
sports
contemporary
secret-baby
Punched
Jacob Chance - 2017
Seeing her everyday is a distraction I can’t afford. I’m so close to achieving the big payoff I’ve been working for. Nothing’s going to keep me from winning this belt - not even her. This is a second chance MMA romance standalone.
Just This Once
Rosalind James - 2012
She just needs a vacation. Three weeks in New Zealand to sort out her life, figure out what she wants, seems just right. Oh, and to relax. She should definitely put that on the agenda. She certainly isn’t looking for a sexy fling with a professional rugby player, no matter how attractive he is. Hannah doesn’t do casual. But maybe just this once ...As much as he’s shared with Hannah, Drew Callahan has kept one very big secret. And learning the truth, now that she’s back home again, has made Hannah warier than ever. Drew knows that she’s right for him. But how can he convince her to let down her guard enough to explore what they could have together?Note: This romance, like New Zealand, contains some steam. If that isn't your cuppa, you may want to visit another country ... er, book.
Heartbreaker
Julie Kriss - 2020
What kind of guy stands up his prom date and leaves her hanging, waiting for him to show up? A total jerk, that’s who.Never mind. I left my tiny nowhere town and moved to New York to follow my dream of becoming an actress.Ten years later, my dream hasn’t happened, and I’m working as the office supply girl at Morgan Financial Holdings, doing my best to keep my paycheck and not get fired by the world’s most terrifying boss. Life couldn’t get much worse, until I get stuck in an elevator and guess who comes to rescue me? In a city of eight million people, it’s Holden.Turns out he’s moved to New York, too, to be an EMT. I don’t want to see my teenage nemesis as one of the good guys, but he’s out saving lives every day, and he’s still gorgeous and cocky. I could fall for him all over again, and that’s a problem. Because it’s only a matter of time before Holden crushes me again.My hometown heartbreaker isn’t the guy I left behind anymore. If I could stop hating him, I might belong with him. The question is, which one of us will get hurt first?
Change of Hart
M.E. Carter - 2014
As the best defensive lineman in the country, I eat, sleep and breathe football. And I like it that way. I’ve only got a few more years before I’ll have to retire, so expending energy on anything other than football seems like a waste of time.That is, until I have a random meeting with a little boy who just lost his father. We have more in common than you might think and it creates an unlikely bond. As our friendship grows, so do my feelings for his mother.I know Addison, as a recent widow, isn’t ready to date again. But I want to get to know her better, in spite of all her rejections.Is it possible that I, a self-proclaimed bachelor, could be having a Change of Hart?
More Than Anything
Natasha Anders - 2019
It’s the perfect night, but when she overhears crude, hurtful comments the next morning, she can’t get away fast enough.Ten years later, Tina’s life is a mess. That night with Harris didn’t just hurt her feelings; it started a cascade of disappointment and heartbreak. Every time she bumps into Harris, her heart twists inside out. She still wants him, but she’s harboring a painful secret from their night together that she’s not ready to reveal.Crossed signals, high-society whispers, and shame have kept Tina and Harris apart for years, but deep down, they’re hungry for each other and eager to write their own rules. Can they let go of the past and find their way back to each other, or are the barriers between them too high and too strong?
Against the Ropes
Sarah Castille - 2013
He thrilled me. And after one touch, all I could think about was getting more… Makayla never thought she’d set foot in an underground mixed-martial arts club. But if anyone needs a medic on hand, it’s these guys. Trouble is, at her first sight of the club’s owner she’s the one feeling breathless. All sleek muscle and restrained power, the man they call Torment plays to win at any cost. Whether it’s in the ring or in the bedroom, he knows exactly when to use a soft touch and when to launch a full-on assault. He always knows just how far he can push. And he’s about to tempt Makayla in ways she never imagined…
Falling for Bentley
Shawnte Borris - 2014
Just when he reaches his limit of complications, in walks a beautiful blond angel, endangering the delicate balance he’s finally found in his new life. When mistakes of his past threaten to derail his future, will Bentley be man enough to win the heart of the girl he once ridiculed in high school, who just happens to be the woman of his dreams?
Second Draft
C.M. Seabrook - 2017
More than just the washed up hockey player, turned sports journalist whose body is almost as scarred as his soul. Layla Harper made me hope again. But life has a warped sense of humor, and I wasn't the only Bennett brother that fell for the girl with the caramel colored eyes. The night I saw Travis with her I knew I'd lost, even before I had the chance to fight. Because one thing I never compete with my brother over is women. Even if the woman stole my breath, and my heart with one single kiss. And damn, what a kiss it had been. Now, she's pregnant with my brother's baby. A baby he wants nothing to do with. And he's asked me to clean up his mess. What he doesn't know is that I'm in love with her, and I have no intention of offering her the deal he's laid out. I have a deal of my own. One that will finally make her mine.
The Memory of You
Jamie Beck - 2018
Recovering from an assault, she returns to her coastal Connecticut hometown to rebuild her life the best way she knows how: with her hands. But starting a remodeling business with one longtime friend puts her in the middle of a rift with another. Worse, being hired by her ex-boyfriend’s mother forces her to confront old regrets.Public defender Ryan Quinn wasn’t shocked when his wife left him, but he was floored when she abandoned their daughter. With his finances up in the air, the newly single dad returns to his childhood home in Sanctuary Sound. The last person he expects, or wants, to see working on his family house is Steffi Lockwood—his first love who shattered his heart.Although Steffi and Ryan are different people now, dormant feelings rekindle. But when Steffi’s secrets begins to surface, will it bring them together…or tear them apart for good?
Say You'll Stay
Corinne Michaels - 2016
Instead, he got on that bus and took my heart with him.That was seventeen years ago.I moved on. Marriage. Kids. White picket fence. Everything I ever wanted, but my husband betrayed me and I was left once again.Alone, penniless, and with two boys, I had no choice but to return to Tennessee. He wasn’t supposed to be there. I should’ve been safe. However, fate has a way of stepping in.This time around, the tables are turned. It’s my decision. Second chances do exist, but I don’t know if we can repair what’s already been broken . . .
Forged by Fire (Forged by Fire)
Eddie Cleveland - 2018
The only reason I said all that crap is because I was trying to get laid.” I can see the last glimmers of hope dying out in her eyes like the fading streaks of rosy sunlight across the sunset. I want to shut my mouth. I want to tell her I’m lying. That I love her with my entire body, mind, and soul. But if I do that, if I tell her the truth, she may never get out of here. She deserves more than that. She deserves more than me. I’m the bad guy. The one who destroyed Karen Baker’s heart and sent her packing. I’ve had to live with that decision everyday for the past four years. I had to sacrifice my happiness for hers. I gave up our future together for a chance to live her dream. Somehow life kept going. Years passed in a blur. I never expected to be voted in as the deputy fire chief of our department tonight and I definitely didn’t expect to see Karen walk in here. She looks like an angel. She’s so perfect, I wonder if I’m hallucinating. But it’s not a dream. It’s real. She’s really back and she really hates me. I don’t have much time to try to explain how wrong I was, to get her back, to make her mine. Because when she leaves this time, it'll be forever. **Forged by Fire is the first book in a small town, firefighter series. It can be read as a standalone. This novel has no cheating and a guaranteed HEA.**
Finding Home
Emilia Finn - 2017
Her pain was my pain. I felt her swoon. I felt everything and then some. Finding Home isn't about just love, it's about family, it's about finding your own and surviving life.” “I loved every single minute finding new nuances of each character. Every single soul in the book left their foot print in my heart. Thank you, Emilia Finn for writing this beautiful story. I am your fan forever.” ********************* Kit Reilly is just an average woman; strong, hardworking and fiercely independent, but when her best friend dies young and Kit inherits a belligerent teenage dependent, she just wants life to be a little less dramatic. She lives day to day, doing her best to keep her head above water, and she tries to encourage her new house mate to be a decent human being. Bobby Kincaid is a local gym owner and professional UFC fighter. He is a family man, through and through, but he’s not looking to settle down. He has a big fight this year, and no time or desire for distractions. Will he win the title? Will he make room in his life for a few extras? It's a life or death race to the end. Will Kit be able to find home again, before it's too late? ********************* This is a full length novel with no cliffhanger.
FarmBoy
Kayt Miller - 2020
Literally. After landing her first teaching gig, Izzy has found herself sleeping in her old room on an ancient twin bed that squeaks whenever she moves. Sure, she loves Honeywell, Iowa but part of her wanted to move to civilization rather than return to her old life after graduating from college. Farm life is in her blood but so is the man who lives next door. It’s too bad he never saw her as more than his best friend’s little sister. It’s true what they say… distance makes the heart grow fonder and four years away did nothing to quell the way Izzy’s heart rate doubles whenever he's nearby. She hoped to get over it, but things don't always work out the way we hope. Nashville "Nash" Watson never left. His goal of playing baseball in the majors flew out the window the second he found out he was going to be a father. No regrets, though, because Nash figured he'd return to Honeywell, Iowa to farm his family's land. It was the only thing he knew for sure. Well, that and he's never falling for another woman again. Ever. Never say never, Nash. Due to sexual content and adult themes, this book is suitable for readers 18+.
Fighting Silence
Aly Martinez - 2015
We spend our lives blocking out the static in order to focus on what we believe is important. But what if, when the clarity fades into silence, it's the obscure background noise that you would give anything to hold on to? I've always been a fighter. With parents who barely managed to stay out of jail and two little brothers who narrowly avoided foster care, I became skilled at dodging the punches life threw at me. Growing up, I didn’t have anything I could call my own, but from the moment I met Eliza Reynolds, she was always mine. I became utterly addicted to her and the escape from reality we provided each other. Throughout the years, she had boyfriends and I had girlfriends, but there wasn't a single night that I didn’t hear her voice. You see, meeting the love of my life at age thirteen was never part of my plan. However, neither was gradually going deaf at the age of twenty-one. They both happened anyway. Now, I'm on the ropes during the toughest battles of my life. Fighting for my career. Fighting the impending silence. Fighting for her. Every night, just before falling asleep, she sighs as a final conscious breath leaves her. I think that's the sound I'll miss the most.
Each book in this series can be read as a standalone.
Roman Crazy
Alice Clayton - 2016
She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?A celebration of great friendship, passionate romance, and wonderful food, Roman Crazy is a lighthearted story of second chances and living life to the fullest.