Book picks similar to
Hearts In Winter by Carrie Elks


romance
second-chance
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In the Grasp


Cadence Keys - 2020
    She's the newest reporter for the LA Chronicle.Paige O'Malley has worked her ass off for her career, and now she's just landed her dream job with the biggest paper on the west coast. They broke each other's hearts nine years ago. Now fate is giving them another chance to get it right.When Paige gets assigned to write an exposé on Jack, she must decide where her loyalties lie: with the career of a lifetime or the love of her life. In the Grasp is the first contemporary sports romance in the LA Wolves series. Jack and Paige's story begins in Intentional Grounding.

Relatively Normal


Whitney Dineen - 2018
    He purchases life insurance, luggage insurance, and always opts for the extended warranty. He's responsible, reliable, and would make any woman a wonderful life partner.In other words, he's the exact opposite of the Masterton clan.Cat's mother has a kitchen gadget fetish, a father whose best friends are taxidermied field mice, and a super stoner man-child brother who lives--where else?--in the basement. Then there's Nan, her proud Scottish grandmother with a proclivity for profanity and mischief.What on earth will Catriona's Normal fiancé think when he comes home with her to meet her parents? What will he think when he discovers his soon-to-be in-laws invited Cat's ex to join them for a holiday dinner?

Today Tonight Tomorrow


Rachel Lynn Solomon - 2020
    It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time. Tonight, she puts up with him. When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other. As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams. Tomorrow … maybe she’s already fallen for him.

Lost Boy


M. Robinson - 2018
    Robinson comes this standalone contemporary romance full of feels and angst... In a world where I had no say, violence became my refuge, and nothing else mattered. Not even my own life. Until her. Skyler Bell. It all started the first time I heard that voice. Giving me hope for tomorrow. My first love was everything all at once. Consuming. Maddening. Forever. Mine. Except, I never imagined there were secrets that needed to be shared. Lies that needed to be confessed. Truths that needed to be told. Demons that needed to be buried. Once I realized the depth, the longing, the sadness and sorrow in her eyes mirrored mine, it was too late. Love didn't come to me as heartbreak, it came as everything I've ever wanted. Walking away wasn't an option, but it was the only choice I had. I finally found the price of love and it cost me... My soul.

Never Fall in Love with a Rockstar


Rachel Higginson - 2019
     The first, I like to call “my past.” I never talk about it. I try not to think about it. My rockstar days of playing in one of the hottest bands on the planet are over. Along with the most volatile, beautiful, tragic love story of all time. Over the past five years, I’ve settled into my second life. My “normal life.” The one where I work a normal job, hang out with normal people and fall in love with a normal, but wonderful guy. The life where I’m admittedly a little bored, but also safe. My past wasn’t boring. But my past broke my heart into a million, unfixable pieces. So, I’m determined to keep it where it belongs—behind me. And the man responsible for the shattering of me? Malachi Porter, lead singer and mastermind of Bright Tragedy, should stay there too. Far away from me and this idyllic life I’ve carved out for myself. But what happens when my two lives collide? When Malachi comes crashing into my perfectly normal world, he threatens to destroy it, promises to annihilate everything I’ve replaced him with. He upends everything I thought I wanted and forces me to question the reasons I left Bright Tragedy all those years ago. But I didn’t walk away five years ago, I ran. As fast as I could go. And while my heart is whispering that it’s different this time—that he’s different—my brain is screaming for me to run again. Malachi Porter isn’t a normal guy. And he doesn’t belong in my “normal life.” But, nevertheless, he’s bound and determined to make a place for himself here. I just hope my heart can survive him, that we don’t burn into another bright tragedy.

Come Back for Me


Corinne Michaels - 2020
    I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania.When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget.And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen.Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right. Because when long-ago secrets are exposed, rocking us both to the core, I have no choice but to watch her walk away again....

Lust to Love


Mia Ford - 2018
    But, do they have a choice?Child abuse from her dad brought Prudence Evans to the child help center. But now she's all grown up and it's time for her to leave. But, deep inside her heart, she doesn't want to say goodbye to the one and only man in the world she trusts.Logan Bankers works for the child help center and is seen as a playboy but he prefers to keep his work and personal life separate. His strenuous job hardly gives him time for anything more than a fling. That is only until Prudence walks under his care.When this connection starts to develop deep feelings, they both know they would end up losing everything. But, it might be just worth it as long as they can have each other! 60,000+ words in this steamy, standalone second chance romance. HEA guaranteed. Kindle edition includes exclusive bonus content for your reading pleasure (including a never before published forbidden romance - Breaking the Rules).

You Deserve Each Other


Sarah Hogle - 2020
    They never fight. They're preparing for their lavish wedding that's three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.Naomi wants out, but there's a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they're finally being themselves--and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.

Boyfriend


Sarina Bowen - 2021
    For $25, I will be your Thanksgiving date. I will talk hockey with your dad. I will bring your mother flowers. I will be polite, and wear a nicely ironed shirt…Everyone knows it’s a bad idea to introduce your long-time crush to your messed-up family. But I really do need a date for Thanksgiving, even if I’m not willing to say why. So I tear his phone number off of that flyer… and accidentally entangle our star defenseman in a ruse that neither of us can easily unwind.Who knew that Weston's family was even nuttier than mine? He needs a date, too, for the most uncomfortable holiday engagement party ever thrown.There will be hors d'oeuvre. There will be faked PDA. And there will be pro-level awkwardness…Boyfriend is a full-length book for Weston and Abbi!

Only a Breath Apart


Katie McGarry - 2019
    But some destinies are meant to be broken.The only curse Jesse Lachlin believes in is his grandmother’s will: in order to inherit his family farm he must win the approval of his childhood best friend, the girl he froze out his freshman year.A fortuneteller tells Scarlett she's psychic, but what is real is Scarlett’s father’s controlling attitude and the dark secrets at home. She may be able to escape, but only if she can rely on the one boy who broke her heart.Each midnight meeting pushes Jesse and Scarlett to confront their secrets and their feelings, but as love blooms, the curse rears its ugly head…

Now and Then


Brenda Rothert - 2013
    But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma.Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then.

All I Want For Christmas is the Girl Next Door


Chelsea Bobulski - 2021
    Unfortunately, she's been dating his best friend for the past two years. Out of sheer desperation, Graham makes a wish on a shooting star—all he wants for Christmas is Sarah Clarke.When Graham wakes up the next morning, everything has changed, and he's the one who's been dating Sarah for the past two years, not his best friend. Graham assumes the wish would have only come true if he and Sarah were meant to be together, but as it becomes clear that he and Sarah bring out the worst in each other, not the best, and as he starts to fall for the new girl in town, Graham wonders if some wishes come true in order to show us what's not meant to be.

Begin Again


Jennifer Probst - 2020
    As the daughter of the Governor, she’s consistently in the spotlight, and after being dubbed the Most Eligible Bachelorette of NYC, both her career and personal life has exploded. Fortunately, her work as an advocate for animal welfare requires constant publicity and funding, so she embraces her role and plays for the camera—anything for the sake of her beloved rescues.But when a big case is on the line, she’s faced with the one obstacle she never counted on: the boy who broke her heart is back, and in order to gain justice, they need to work together.Chloe swears she can handle it until old feelings resurface, and she’s faced with a heartbreaking choice.Will this time end differently—or are they destined to be only each other’s first love—instead of forever?Owen Salt fell hard for Chloe when he was a screwed-up kid in college, and spent the next years changing himself into the man his grandfather believed he was capable of. But when his career led him across the country, he knew he needed to leave the woman he loved behind. He’s never forgotten her, but as the new darling of the press, now, she’s way out of his league. When work brings him back to fight for justice by her side, he swears he can handle it.But he’s never really gotten over his first love—and he wants one more opportunity to prove he’s a man who’s worthy.Can Owen convince the woman who holds his heart to take a second chance on forever—or is it too late for them both?Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series.

Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys)


Amy Spalding - 2015
    And so a pact is formed: they'll both try to make something happen with their respective crushes and document the experiences in a shared notebook.While Reid struggles with the moral dilemma of adopting a dog to win over someone's heart, Riley tries to make progress with Ted Callahan, who she's been obsessed with forever-His floppy hair! His undeniable intelligence! But suddenly cute guys are popping up everywhere. How did she never notice them before?! With their love lives going from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye, Riley and Reid realize the results of their pact may be more than they bargained for.

One & Only


Viv Daniels - 2013
    Tess McMann lives her life according to the secrets she's sworn to keep: the father who won't acknowledge her, the sister who doesn't know she exists, and the mother who's content playing mistress to a prominent businessman. When she meets the distractingly cute Dylan Kingsley at a prestigious summer program and falls in love, Tess allows herself to imagine a life beyond these secrets. But when summer ends, so does their relationship -- Dylan heads off to Canton College while Tess enrolls at the state university. One love they can't ignore... Two years later, a scholarship brings Tess to Canton and back into Dylan's life. Their attraction is as strong as ever, but Dylan has a girlfriend…who also happens to be Tess's legitimate half-sister. Tess refuses to follow in her mother's footsteps, which leaves her only one choice: break the rules she’s always followed, or allow Dylan to slip away for a second time. ...And only one chance to get things right.