Book picks similar to
Arnco by Ben Muse


fiction
romance
contemporary
drama

The Illegal Gardener


Sara Alexi - 2012
    Her boys have grown and she has finally divorced her bullying husband. This is her time now.Whilst making her new home habitable, Juliet discovers she needs a sturdy helping hand with the unruly and neglected garden. Unwilling to share her newfound independence with anyone, but unable to do all the work by herself, she reluctantly enlists casual labour.Aaman has travelled to Greece from Pakistan illegally. Desperate to find a way out of poverty, his challenge is to find work and raise money for the harvester his village urgently need to survive.What he imagined would be a heroic journey in reality is fraught with danger and corruption. Aaman finds himself in Greece, and with each passing day loses a little more of himself as he survives his new life as an immigrant worker; illegal, displaced, unwanted and with no value. Hungry and stranded, how will he ever make it back home to Pakistan?In what begins as an uncomfortable exchange, Juliet hires Aaman to be her gardener, but resents the intrusion even though she needs the help. Aaman needs the work and money but resents the humiliation.In spite of themselves, as the summer progresses, they get to know one another and discover they have something in common. Pieces of their lives they have kept hidden even from themselves are exposed, with each helping the other to face their painful past.Will Juliet and Amaan finally let each other in? And what will be the outcome of this improbable conjoining of two lost souls?

Time and Forever


Susan B. James - 2014
    Lorena doesn't believe that's possible. But when a glitch in a virtual reality adventure sends them back to the real 1969, anything can happen.

Opening Hearts


Iona Findley - 2015
    She knows how it happened -- three sex-filled nights with a smokin' hot guy, known only as Sam -- but she has no way to get in touch with him. When smokejumper Sam Ricci returns to his hometown after the annual firefighting season ends, he has no plans for fatherhood. His lifestyle is too risky, and he loves his job -- almost as much as he loves women. Everything changes when he runs into Jessalyn again and discovers her plans for single parenthood. Sam doesn’t want to be tied down. Jessalyn would rather go it alone than deal with an absent husband. So why, when a twist of fate brings them together again, does it feel so right? No Cliffhanger. Book 1 is a complete story in the Hero’s Heart Series Do you like firefighters, secret babies and second chances? If so, this contemporary romance is for you. Do you enjoy light, easy reads? OPENING HEARTS is perfect for a quick reading "getaway." MORE IN THE HERO'S HEART SERIES: Opening Hearts (Book #1) Sam and Jessalyn Risking Hearts (Book #2) Jake and Hope Joining Hearts (Book #3) Zoe and Marcus

American Wife


Curtis Sittenfeld - 2008
    But a tragic accident when she was seventeen shattered her identity and made her understand the fragility of life and the tenuousness of luck. So more than a decade later, when she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look: She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Comfortable in her quiet and unassuming life, she felt inured to his charms. And then, much to her surprise, Alice fell for Charlie. As Alice learns to make her way amid the clannish energy and smug confidence of the Blackwell family, navigating the strange rituals of their country club and summer estate, she remains uneasy with her newfound good fortune. And when Charlie eventually becomes President, Alice is thrust into a position she did not seek–one of power and influence, privilege and responsibility. As Charlie’s tumultuous and controversial second term in the White House wears on, Alice must face contradictions years in the making: How can she both love and fundamentally disagree with her husband? How complicit has she been in the trajectory of her own life? What should she do when her private beliefs run against her public persona? In Alice Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is a gorgeously written novel that weaves class, wealth, race, and the exigencies of fate into a brilliant tapestry–a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Curtis Sittenfeld's Sisterland. Praise for American Wife “Curtis Sittenfeld is an amazing writer, and American Wife is a brave and moving novel about the intersection of private and public life in America. Ambitious and humble at the same time, Sittenfeld refuses to trivialize or simplify people, whether real or imagined.” –Richard Russo “What a remarkable (and brave) thing: a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered portrait of a fictional Republican first lady with a life and husband very much like our actual Republican first lady’s. Curtis Sittenfeld has written a novel as impressive as it is improbable.” –Kurt Andersen

What If


Rebecca Donovan - 2014
    After all, no one has seen or heard from her since they graduated over a year ago.Except this girl isn't Nicole.She looks exactly like Cal's shy childhood crush, but her name is Nyelle Preston and she has no idea who he is. This girl is impulsive and daring, her passion for life infectious. The complete opposite of Nicole. Cal finds himself utterly fascinated-and falling hard. But Nyelle is also extremely secretive. And the closer he comes to finding out what she's hiding, the less he wants to know.When the secrets from the past and present collide, one thing becomes clear: Nothing is what it seems.

South of Superior


Ellen Airgood - 2011
     When Madeline Stone walks away from Chicago and moves five hundred miles north to the coast of Lake Superior, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, she isn't prepared for how much her life will change. Charged with caring for an aging family friend, Madeline finds herself in the middle of beautiful nowhere with Gladys and Arbutus, two octogenarian sisters-one sharp and stubborn, the other sweeter than sunshine. As Madeline begins to experience the ways of the small, tight-knit town, she is drawn into the lives and dramas of its residents. It's a place where times are tough and debts run deep, but friendship, community, and compassion run deeper. As the story hurtles along-featuring a lost child, a dashed love, a car accident, a wedding, a fire, and a romantic reunion-Gladys, Arbutus, and the rest of the town teach Madeline more about life, love, and goodwill than she's learned in a lifetime. A heartwarming novel, "South of Superior" explores the deep reward in caring for others, and shows how one who is poor in pocket can be rich in so many other ways, and how little it often takes to make someone happy.

Manchester Christmas: A Novel


John Gray - 2020
    Soon, she encounters kindness, romance, and is pulled into a mystery centered on an old, abandoned church and the death of a special girl. Are the images that only she can see in the church's stained-glass windows a warning, or is someone trying to reach her, to help heal this broken community? Manchester Christmas illustrates how God often uses the most unlikely among us to spread grace and healing in a wounded world. Full of love, hope, and forgiveness, this debut novel from an Emmy-winning writer will touch your heart and have you longing for Christmas in Manchester.

Crashed


Danielle A. Elwood - 2013
    After a series of losses, betrayals, and a few crap-tastic dating experiences, she has settled into a simple life which includes little more than her cat, work, and a foul-mouthed best friend. Then, she meets Avery...Avery Martin is a simple man, a country boy at heart who is working at his dream job as a fireman. When he responds to a nasty car accident, he is immediately taken with the petite blonde he finds pinned in the wreckage. Crossing professional lines, he strikes up a friendship with her. But can they settle for friendship when their forever is staring them in the face?Or will an ex with a vendetta drive them apart?**Contains: Adult Content and Some Explicit Scenes

The Misremembered Man


Christina McKenna - 2008
    This vivid portrayal of the universal search for love brings with it a darker tale, heartbreaking in its poignancy.

The First Word


Isley Robson - 2017
    Her job as a pediatric occupational therapist is the perfect distraction from the unspeakable tragedy she experienced as a child. But when she meets alternative-energy magnate Rhys Griffiths and his autistic toddler, Will, she quickly realizes her heart will never be the same. Especially when her name becomes Will’s first word.After accepting a position as a live-in therapist for Will, Andie steels herself against the appeal of the disconcertingly attractive—and attracted—Rhys. But their chemistry can no longer be denied, and their heated affair seems destined for happily ever after. A destiny Andie’s terrified to embrace.When Andie’s guilt, Rhys’s awkwardness, and the abrupt appearance of an erratic ex threaten to dismantle their delicately blooming relationship, they must decide if love is worth the challenge. Can Andie and Rhys find their way back to each other? Or will the demons of the past simply prove too strong?

A Perfect Fit


Heather Tullis - 2012
    Learning her father picked him out to be her future husband, she is not amused, but neither can she back off the path they’ve begun together. But can two people miles apart in so many ways really make things work?

Firstborn


Robin Lee Hatcher - 2002
    As she reaches out to the daughter she gave up for adoption 21 years ago, her husband pulls away, leaving Erika with an impossible choice. This emotionally gripping story will touch and challenge readers.

The Birthday Girls


Pauline Lawless - 2013
    Their friendship has now lasted thirty-five years. As their birthdays all fall in the same week they long ago made a pact to spend each big decade birthday together. So far they'd managed it. Now as their thirty-ninth birthday looms, Angel, a famous Hollywood actress, announces that this will be her last birthday. Terrified of aging, she absolutely refuses to turn forty. So Lexi, the mother hen of the group and an artist, invites them to Florida for a week-long celebration of this, their last birthday together. Brenda, mother to five grown-up children, flies in from Dublin, eagerly looking forward to her first foreign holiday ever. Mel, however, has to be prised away from New York where she is a successful partner in a law firm - she is a workaholic with no other friends or love in her life. The four come together for the celebration but soon things start to unravel and the week ends disastrously. Lexi is distraught. Can their friendship endure? Only time will tell.

What's Up Doctor


Lacy Embers - 2018
    I have the deft fingers of a surgeon. And a loaded bank account to match. I can have any woman, in any room, at any time. I have them coming at me (and on me) in droves. When I see her across the room, red hair curling around her open, honest face, I know that I need her in my bed. What I never expected is that she’d find her way into my heart. Sharon I don’t do flings. Or at least I thought I didn’t until Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome corners me at the first charity gala that I host for Hearts in Hands. I find myself saying yes and following him home. His eyes. His body. His hands. All light me on fire. He says it’ll only be one night. But, for better or worse, Dr. Ross Hardwick is about to get to know me particularly well. How long is he here to stay? This is a full length standalone romance novel with a happily ever after (HEA), no cliffhanger and no cheating.

One Perfect Night


Bella Andre - 2012
    One kissThe first time Noah Bryant meets Colbie Michaels they collide at the top of a snowy mountain in California and sparks fly. Swamped by sudden emotion – and a desire she can't control – Colbie panics. Before he can get her phone number or last name, she's gone. When they serendipitously meet again in Seattle one week later, Noah is certain Colbie is his destiny, and he can't make the mistake of losing her again.One night... One forever loveColbie wants to believe in a happily-ever-after, but experience tells her falling for Noah is more likely to lead to a broken heart. But how can she resist him as he sets out to prove that they're destined to be together? Especially when he's intent on fulfilling every last one of her secret desires and he’s willing to keep proving it to her every day...and every sweet and sinful night.