Book picks similar to
A Holiday Homecoming by Jessa York
second-chance
christmas
holiday
arc
Hate to Want You
Alisha Rai - 2017
No one will know. That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies. Until the night she didn’t show up. Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed? Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families. Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.
Out of the Blue
Kathryn Nolan - 2021
Until a security job goes bad, and he suddenly finds his career on thin ice. Cope’s newest assignment comes with serious consequences - he’ll keep his job as long as he makes no mistakes.Cope isn’t worried…until his new client turns out to be a beautiful blast from his past.Big wave surfer Serena Swift loves the adrenaline of her sport. And the elite athlete hates being told what to do. That goes double when the orders are coming from the sexy bodyguard-in-a-suit who broke her heart.But she doesn’t have a choice when a mysterious threat materializes and Serena’s sponsor saddles her with the last man she’d want guarding her body. She’d rather focus on her next surf competition, not on some shadowy danger or the arrogant ex who dared to get even hotter since their breakup.Cope can’t stop butting heads with his new client. Just like old times, Serena refuses to play it safe, even when it’s clear she’s in peril. Now the intimacy of spending every second of the day by her side is wearing away at his self-control. He can’t afford to lose focus, but everything about the woman is a constant distraction. Including the fact that their divorce was never finalized…Author’s Note: One-click this scorching-hot bodyguard romance if you’re a fan of second-chance angst, sizzling sexual tension, thrilling action and mysterious danger set on the warm, sunny beaches of San Diego.
A Christmas to Remember
Jenny Hale - 2014
Fans of Carole Matthews, Susan Wiggs and Scarlett Bailey – and anyone who loves the sound of Christmas songs and the sparkle of decorations on the tree – will adore this festive holiday treat! Everyone loves Christmas – don’t they? Carrie Blake loves her job as a nanny but, while her friends are settling down, all of Carrie’s spare time is spent with other people’s families. Though it breaks her heart, her New Year’s resolution is to embark on a new career and fix her love life. As Carrie starts her last job, she’s sure she’ll be going out on a high – the house is
amazing
, the kids are adorable, and she’s in charge of decorating the tree! The only problem could be her boss… single-dad, Adam Fletcher might be both handsome and successful, but he’s always working. Doesn’t he realise he’s missing out on precious moments with his son and daughter? As Adam’s family arrive for Christmas including his sensitive sister, Sharon, and his fun-loving elderly Grandpa, Walter, Carrie realises that she might just have found the perfect allies in her quest to persuade Adam to loosen up. There’s still time for Carrie to make this the best Christmas ever… after all, Christmas is the time for miracles, isn’t it? Let the festivities begin!
Fluffy
Julia Kent - 2019
Of course it did. I’m a professional fluffer. It’s NOT what you think. I stage homes for a living. Real estate agents love me, and my work stands on its own merits. Sigh. Get your mind out of the gutter. Go ahead. Laugh. I’ll wait. See? That’s the problem. My career has used the term “fluffer” for decades. I didn’t even know there was a more… lascivious definition of the term. Until it was too late. The ad for a “professional fluffer” on Craigslist seemed like divine intervention. My last unemployment check was in the bank. I was desperate. Rent was due. The ad said cash paid at the end of the day. The perfect job! Staging homes means showing your best angle. The same principle applies in making a certain kind of movie. Turns out a “fluffer” doesn’t arrange decorative pillows on a couch. They arrange other soft, round-ish objects. The job isn’t hard. Er, I mean, it is — it’s about being hard. Or, well… helping other people to be hard. Oh, man… And that’s the other problem. A man. No, not one of the stars on the movie set. Will Lotham – my high school crush. The owner of the house where we’re filming. Illegally. In a vacation rental. By the time the cops show up, what I thought was just a great house staging gig turned into a nightmare involving pictures of me with an undressed star, Will rescuing me from an arrest, and a humiliating lesson in my own naivete. My job turned out to be so much harder than I expected. But you know what’s easier than I ever imagined? Having all my dreams come true.
A Princess for Christmas
Jenny Holiday - 2020
But when Gabby spots a "princess" in a gown outside of the UN trying to hail a cab, she begs her brother to stop and help. Before he knows it, he's got a real-life damsel in distress in the backseat of his car. Princess Marie of Eldovia shouldn't be hailing a cab, or even be out and about. But after her mother’s death, her father has plunged into a devastating depression and the fate of her small Alpine country has fallen on Marie’s shoulders. She’s taken aback by the gruff but devastatingly handsome driver who shows her more kindness than she’s seen in a long time. When Marie asks Leo to be her driver for the rest of her trip, he agrees, thinking he’ll squire a rich miss around for a while and make more money than he has in months. He doesn’t expect to like and start longing for the unpredictable Marie. And when he and Gabby end up in Eldovia for Christmas, he discovers the princess who is all wrong for him is also the woman who is his perfect match.
More of You
A.L. Jackson - 2018
. . The second I saw him walk through the door, I knew he was trouble. A gorgeous rebel with a bad attitude and a huge chip on his shoulder.My heart warned me. I didn’t listen. I fell hard and fast. He promised we’d be together forever, and then left me with a broken heart. Now, ten years later, Jace Jacobs is standing at my door.Sexier than he’s ever been. Provocative and commanding.Successful and powerful. The man I always knew he would become. But I promised myself I’d never lose my heart to him again.Even time couldn’t dim our chemistry. One glance of his intense eyes, and I become weak. One brush of his hand, and he brings me to my knees. Little do I know, Jace holds the key to everything I’ve lost and everything that threatens my future.Now he will either save me, or he will break me all over again . . . More of You – a Confessions of the Heart second-chance, stand-alone romance
The Holiday Swap
Maggie Knox - 2021
All they want for Christmas is a different life. When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell--both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over. With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician's assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins' identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?
I Want You Back
Lorelei James - 2019
Despite the signs she'd like to leave him in the penalty box, the attraction burning between them reinforces his determination to prove that he deserves a second chance...Lucy Quade is in a good place with a steady job, a nice apartment, and a well-adjusted daughter, which is why she's hesitant when Jax insists on co-parenting. It's not that Lucy doesn't trust Jax...she's just unconvinced he can handle multiple responsibilities when he's been singularly focused on playing hockey. But when issues arise with Mimi, Lucy's shocked at how levelheaded and paternal he acts, giving her a glimpse of the Jax she used to know, the sexy, sweet man she fell for years ago.Once Lucy lets her guard down, Jax goes all in to show her how good they are together, but will their past remain too large an obstacle to ever overcome?
Embracing Her Heart
Melissa Foster - 2018
Buckle up for a wild ride. Like any Southern girls worth their salt, the sweet-talking, sharp-tongued Montgomery sisters can take men to their knees with one seductive glance or a single sugarcoated sentence.A second chance at their first love…Leaving New York City and returning to her hometown to teach a screenplay writing class seems like just the break Grace Montgomery needs. Until her sisters wake her at four thirty in the morning to watch the hottest guys in town train wild horses and she realizes that escaping her sisters’ drama-filled lives was a lot easier from hundreds of miles away. To make matters worse, she spots the one man she never wanted to see again—ruggedly handsome Reed Cross.Reed was one of Michigan’s leading historical preservation experts, but on the heels of catching his girlfriend in bed with his business partner, his uncle suffers a heart attack. Reed cuts all ties and returns home to Oak Falls to run his uncle’s business. A chance encounter with Grace, his first love, brings back memories he’s spent years trying to escape. Grace is bound and determined not to fall under Reed’s spell again—and Reed wants more than another taste of the woman he’s never forgotten. When a midnight party brings them together, passion ignites and old wounds are opened. Grace sets down the ground rules for the next three weeks. No touching, no kissing, and if she has it her way, no breathing, because every breath he takes steals her ability to think. But Reed has other ideas…~The Bradens & Montgomerys are part of Melissa's Love in Bloom big-family romance collection. All Love in Bloom novels are written to stand alone and may also be enjoyed as part of the larger series, so dive right into this fun, sexy romance.THE BRADENS & MONTGOMERYS (Pleasant Hill - Oak Falls). Order of future books is subject to change Embracing Her HeartAnything For LoveTrails of LoveWild Crazy HeartsMaking You MineSearching for LoveHot for LoveSweet Sexy HeartOur Wicked HeartsClaiming Her HeartRocked by Love**Please note that future books in the original Montgomery series are crossing over to the Bradens at Pleasant Hill, and for this reason I have combined the series into THE BRADENS & MONTGOMERYS (Pleasant Hill - Oak Falls).~Love in Bloom features alpha male heroes and sexy, empowered women. They're flawed, funny, passionate, and relatable to readers who enjoy contemporary romance and women's fiction. Characters from each sub-series appear in future books. All Love in Bloom novels are written to stand alone without any unresolved issues or cliffhangers.
The Mistletoe Motive
Chloe Liese - 2021
She loves them. She’s full of festive cheer. He’s brimming with Bah, Humbugs. Besides unreasonably seasonable names, the only thing Jonathan Frost and Gabriella Di Natale have in common is a healthy dose of mutual contempt. Well, that and the same place of employment at the city’s most beloved independent bookstore, Bailey’s Bookshop. But when the store’s owners confess its dire financial state, Jonathan and Gabby discover another unfortunate commonality: the imminent threat of unemployment.With the Baileys’ requests to minimize expenses, win new customers, and make record sales dancing in their heads, Jonathan and Gabby conclude—barring a financial Christmas miracle—one of them will soon be cut from the payroll. Neither are willing to step down from their position, so they strike a bargain: whoever has more sales in December gets to stay on in the new year; the loser will resign. With a lifetime's worth of festive tricks up her sleeve, Gabby should easily outsell her nemesis, except the unreadable Mr. Frost’s every move seems purely designed to throw her off her game.As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabby's deceptive ex won't quit pursuing her, and her anonymous online friend suggests they take a break. Worst of all, as the pressure mounts to save the bookshop and her job, Gabby meets a new, tender side of Jonathan. Is this the same man she's called her cold-hearted enemy?Maybe he’s got a motive she just can’t figure out—or maybe Jonathan Frost isn’t as chilly as she once thought. Maybe Jonathan and Gabby already know—and love—each other in ways they never thought possible.This is an #OwnVoices story for its portrayal of autism by an autistic author.
Bittersweet
Sarina Bowen - 2016
True North is populated by the tough, outdoorsy mountain men that populate the Green Mountain State. They raise cows and they grow apples. They chop a lot of wood, especially when they need to blow off steam. (Beards are optional but encouraged.)If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the orchard.The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago. At twenty-seven, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings and a dotty grandfather. He doesn’t have time for the sorority girl who’s shown up expecting to buy his harvest at half price.Vermont was never in Audrey Kidder’s travel plans. Neither was Griff Shipley. But she needs a second chance with the restaurant conglomerate employing her. Okay—a fifth chance. And no self-righteous lumbersexual farmer will stand in her way.They’re adversaries. They want entirely different things from life. Too bad their sexual chemistry is as hot as Audrey’s top secret enchilada sauce, and then some.
Holiday Rescue
Rebecca Zanetti - 2021
He has his dog, his friends, and his freedom. He’s had it with women who can’t commit or who want him to change, and now all he has to do is dodge the family match-makers so he can live his peaceful life when he’s not leaping head first into danger.
Payback
Amy Daws - 2019
Her cheating ex deserves to see her living her best life; a one-night-stand with a hot South African soccer player would be the perfect revenge. Right? Wrong. Allie is so, so wrong. ROAN DEWALT HAS ALL THE MOVES. On and off the field he’s at the top of his game. Roan respects hard-work, dedication—and follow through. He’s not a one and done kind of man, and he’s far from being done with Allie Harris. One sexy night and two years later, Allie’s job brings her back to town. An opportunity for the perfect replay Roan has been fantasizing about since they slept together. THE PROBLEM? Allie Harris has a secret; one she’s been keeping from Roan all this time. Video proof of their one night together—taken without his consent. Will Allie’s payback plan come back to bite them both? Or can she erase her past mistake and embrace a new future with Roan?
All Wrapped Up for the Holidays
Vi Keeland - 2019
When I accidentally mistook a gorgeous man resting outside my building for a homeless person in need of lunch, we got into it. I’d only been trying to do a good deed around the holidays, but he called me righteous. I called him something far worse. If only I didn’t have to see him again. But fate had other plans.Finding Perfect by Colleen HooverA short story that brings back several of Colleen’s most beloved characters. Told from the point of view of Daniel from Finding Cinderella, readers will finally get the story they’ve been begging for more of. For the best reading experience, make sure you’ve read all three books that come together to make up this heartwarming and fun holiday short story; Finding Cinderella, Hopeless and All Your Perfects.A Rock Chick Christmas by Kristen AshleyWhat's Christmas with the Starks like? Get a peek into the Rock Chick world and how Luke copes with Ava going Christmas gaga and just what he will, and won't, do for his girls during the holidays.Just Say When by Jill ShalvisWhen the one you want …Is the one you can’t seem to have…Can love conquer all?The Pact by Elle KennedyThanks to my hectic schedule as a pro hockey player, my girl and I are spending more time apart than together. Luckily, I have a solution—a romantic New Year’s Eve getaway in the mountains, just me and Grace and plenty of sexytimes. Except this blizzard has other ideas...The Package by K. BrombergChristmas week can’t get any worse for Jules Jilliland. Dumped by her boyfriend, rear-ended on the freeway, and fired from her job, she finds herself stuck in an elevator with a handsome stranger. When their packages are accidentally swapped, will it end up being a misfortunate accident that suddenly brightens her holidays?
King of the Court
R.S. Grey - 2021
That’s why everyone is all in a tizzy over the fact that the USA men’s Olympic basketball team will be training here of all places before this year’s Summer Games. With little else to talk about, rumors about the players have been spreading like wildfire, and there’s one man in the middle of it all holding a match.Ben Castillo.NBA champion.Olympic gold medalist.Widely hailed ‘King of the Court’.The morning he walks into my dingy diner, I have enough sense to keep my head down and go right on wiping tables, pouring coffee, and serving up short stacks. A man who looks like that—superstar or not—has only ever meant trouble, and more trouble is the last thing I need, what with taking care of Nan and scraping by on tips from truckers.If anything, he seems drawn to my indifference. His steely gaze pierces me behind the counter. My knees nearly buckle under the weight of his attention. But while Mr. Pretty Boy is probably used to snagging city girls with a smile, this gal is country strong.I won’t be some clichéd convenience for him on his way through town.So look over your choices carefully, Benny-boy. We serve up sides of hash browns here, not heartbreak.