Book picks similar to
Make Me Whole (Oil Barrons, #1) by Marie Johnston
contemporary
single-parent
reviewed
dnf
Mourning Wood
Heather M. Orgeron - 2021
Keeping my growing feelings tucked away should be a piece of cake. Except, seeing him every day definitely throws a wrench in that plan.Before I know it, we’re trading favors for dates, and as much I don’t want to admit it, the feelings for him I thought were dead and buried are taking root and growing into something that looks a lot like love.
Daigle Family Funeral Services… don’t be caught dead any place else.
Wild With You
J.H. Croix - 2021
Croix!✔️ Single father with axe-swinging hotness✔️ Polar opposites attract✔️ Barn burner chemistry with a serious slow burn✔️ Meet cute, corgi includedWhen a grumpy hotshot firefighter meets a homecoming queen from the city, all bets are off.I don’t have time for romance, much less for prissy Madison Glen. The first time I meet her, I kiss her. The second time I meet her, she's breaking into my neighbor's house. She swears up and down she’s not a criminal. Maybe not, but she is definitely a distraction I don’t need. I’ve got my hands full with my mouthy daughter and an insanely busy life as a hotshot firefighter. It doesn’t surprise me at all to learn Madison was homecoming queen in high school. She’s stubborn, impractical, and she’d win the contest for least-likely to survive in small town Alaska. She’s also sultry and sassy. She’s everything I don’t need. It doesn’t matter what I tell myself though. I can’t keep my hands to myself when she’s around, and she kisses like a dream.Graham & Madison’s story is perfect for readers who love small town romance, hotshot firefighters, single father romance, alpha heroes, smart sassy heroines, frenemies to lovers, hate to love, opposites attract, slow burn, emotional romance with a dash of angst, plenty of steam and swoon, and a deeply protective grumpy hero.*A full-length, standalone romance.
Not What I Expected
Jewel E. Ann - 2020
He also doesn’t believe in marriage and all that goes with it. And … He’s just opened a new business that threatens the livelihood of Elsie’s family’s store—just in time for the holidays. The problem? There’s an undeniable attraction that leads to out of control situations, a loss of inhibitions, and a lot of small town gossip. As Elsie tries to redefine herself and convince her family she isn’t having a midlife crisis, she’s forced to answer the biggest question of all … Can she love an enemy who will never surrender?
Game Changer
Stacey Lynn - 2021
Through distance, career changes, and other relationships, we’ve always found our way back to each other.Including one wild weekend this winter, when he finally told me he wanted more… wanted everything from me.Too afraid to admit I felt the same, I told him I needed time.Twelve weeks later, here I am, pregnant with his baby, alone, and terrified.He’s my best friend. He deserves to know the truth.So I swallow my fear, my pride, and I shoot my shot. I just hope he’s still willing to have me—and our baby.
Weight Expectations
M.E. Carter - 2019
Little did she know she was about to add hundred and ninety pounds of swoonworthy abdominal muscles and arrogance to her life.Every day in Rians’s life follows a predictable pattern, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s got a nice job, a nice place to live, and a nice family – even if they are a little wedding-zilla-ish at the moment.She doesn’t need anything spectacular to be happy. She just needs to get healthy – mentally, physically. . . and maybe spiritually if that happens. But she’ll settle for two out of three until her sister finally gets hitched.Carlos Davies thought his life was perfect. Little did he know it was about to be turned upside down by a woman who is not his type.In Carlos’s mind, his life is damn near perfect. He’s got a great job, a great place to live, and a great stash of pick up lines that always work. It has occurred to him that maybe no one actually takes him all that seriously. But with these bulging biceps and thick, dark hair, does that even matter since he’s never sleeping alone?Welcome to Weight Expectations, where great—and unexpected—things happen.
Penthouse Prince
Kendall Ryan - 2020
We did everything together. He taught me how to throw a punch, how to change a tire…and he taught me how to kiss. I fell hard and fast, and gave him all my firsts. I promised I’d wait for him… But I’m done waiting, because he went off to college and never came back. He took his fancy business degree and moved to New York City, where he promptly became a real estate mogul—turning every penthouse and apartment project he touched into gold. It’s been ten years, and now he’s back and needs a favor…someone to watch his little girl. That’s right, the cocky penthouse prince and heartbreaker extraordinaire Lexington is back with an adorable two-year-old daughter. Guess who he wants to watch her? I’ve never been able to say no to him. I might agree to be the nanny for his precious little angel, but there’s no way in hell I’m falling for her hot-as-sin daddy.
We Don't Talk Anymore
Julie Johnson - 2020
Well... we used to be." For as long as I can remember, Archer Reyes has been by my side. My closest confidant. My truest ally. My best friend. That is, until the summer we turned eighteen, when I started picturing him as something else entirely. The love of my life. I knew confessing my feelings wasn’t going to be easy; I had no idea he’d reject me so cruelly… or that he was only breaking my heart to save my life...FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR JULIE JOHNSON.... a heart-stopping new story of first love, second chances, and the lengths we go to hold onto each other when everything else falls apart... It is the first part of THE ANYMORE DUET.
Hate You (Not)
Ella James - 2020
You know—the one who gets the kids. But that’s what the will said. June Lawler: Legal Guardian. My niece and nephew are 6 and 9, and all they’ve ever known is San Francisco. I arrive the day after the wreck, pack up my sister’s mansion, and fly them back to Georgia. The small-town farm where their mom and I grew up isn’t what it once was, but it’s home. That’s all they really need.*I was courting an investor when it happened. Tromped all up and down the Himalayas, and he didn’t even buy in. It was a week before I found out what I’d lost. My little brother meant the world to me. Now even his kids are gone. Spirited away to Heat Springs, Georgia—population 298. They’re living on a farm that’s half a breath from bank foreclosure with a 26-year-old who didn’t finish high school. Nowhereville is not the place for little Mastersons. But I’ll get them back. It’s the money she must want, and I’ve got lots of that. “June Bug” Lawler is poorer than that red dirt she comes from. I can make her dreams come true—and do one last thing for my brother. I hate him.She makes me crazy.He thinks he can buy me off! I’ve never met a man so arrogant. There’s no woman anywhere more stubborn. I wish I had never met him.But that’s not the story.
Something So Sweet
Joy Avery - 2022
Its mayor, Lunden Pierce, will stop at nothing to protect the town’s historical landmarks and distinctive character. She’s Honey Hill’s greatest champion.But everything changes when Lunden’s childhood sweetheart, Quade Cannon, returns to town. Though Quade has fond memories of his summers in Honey Hill, he has no use for the historic inn he’s inherited—or the honeybees living in its yard. His plan is to sell the inn and reap the rewards.For Lunden, though, the threat to Honey Hill’s history means war. Determined to change Quade’s mind, she immerses him in the town’s charm and its honeybee culture. But while he’s falling for Honey Hill, he falls for Lunden, too—and the feeling is mutual. As their summer romance heats up, Lunden has a choice to make: the town she loves or the man who threatens to change it.
Gray Hair Don't Care
Karen Booth - 2021
And then she went gray.
At 47, newly divorced makeup artist Lela Bennett is dreading her next steps. Dating. Meeting people. Not letting herself go. But then she runs into Donovan James and tries something different-sleeping with her sexy crush from college. Unfortunately, in a post-orgasm stupor, Lela confesses she was in love with Donovan all those years ago. He responds by leaving while she sleeps. The next morning, her gray hairs are practically taunting her. She knows she has to get it together. Forget men. Embrace her age. Own her gray.Donovan James is a marketing genius, but his ex-wives will tell you-nothing freaks him out like feelings. Three years after his one-night stand with Lela, he's focused on his daughter's lifestyle company, but unprepared to meet the face of their new beauty brand. It's Lela. With stunning silver locks and new confidence, she's no longer swayed by his charms. When business starts booming, the universe seems intent on throwing them together time and again. And suddenly, two people convinced that romance was behind them are wondering if love could be what's next.
The Sharp Hook of Love: A Novel of Heloise and Abelard
Sherry JonesSherry Jones - 2014
Extraordinarily educated and quick-witted, she is being groomed by her uncle to become an abbess in the service of God. But with one encounter, her destiny changes forever. Pierre Abelard, headmaster at the Nôtre Dame Cloister School, is acclaimed as one of the greatest philosophers in France. His controversial reputation only adds to his allure, yet despite the legions of women swooning over his poetry and dashing looks, he is captivated by the brilliant Heloise alone. As their relationship blossoms from a meeting of the minds to a forbidden love affair, both Heloise and Abelard must choose between love, duty, and ambition.Sherry Jones weaves the lovers’ own words into an evocative account of desire and sacrifice. As intimate as it is erotic, as devastating as it is beautiful, The Sharp Hook of Love is a poignant, tender tribute to one of history’s greatest romances, and to love’s power to transform and endure.
Instinct: A Novel
Jason M. Hough - 2021
Welcome to Silvertown. Population: 602 (for now). Officer Mary Whittaker has yet to be fully welcomed by the residents of this tiny, quirky mountain town which seems to be home to more conspiracy theories than any other place in America. But with the chief of police on leave, she is left alone to confront a series of abnormal incidents—strange even by Silvertown standards. A teenager dies tragically after eating obviously poisonous mushrooms from his lawn. A hiker found dead on a trail, smiling serenely after being mauled by a bear. A normally doting mother leaving her toddler twins behind without noticing. Other residents seem to have lost all sense of self-preservation as they walk out in front of Mary’s moving cruiser or sit placidly in the middle of a sharp bend in a mountain road. It’s almost as if the townsfolk are losing their survival instincts, one by one. As she digs deeper into her investigation and uncovers a larger conspiracy lurking below the surface of Silvertown, Officer Whittaker finds herself on the brink of falling prey to whatever has possessed the town and she must distinguish the truth from paranoia-fueled lies before she ends up losing her own instincts…and her life.
Single Dad Seeks Juliet
Max Monroe - 2020
Generally, the person in charge of these things shouldn’t fantasize about lighting the whole three-ring dating circus on fire.Anyway, men from all over Southern California, vying for the coveted bachelor role, submitted their personal ads to my paper. The readers voted, and Single Dad Seeks Juliet won by a landslide.Enter Mr. Bachelor Anonymous (40M), the single dad Romeo seeking his Juliet.Blah, blah, blah, right? Wrong.You guys—and I cannot stress this enough—this guy is the ultimate man in a six-foot-three, chiseled-muscle, freaking Adonis package with aquamarine eyes that would haunt the dreams of an insomniac.He’s a former Navy SEAL, successful business owner, motocross-riding, charming, supportive, funny-as-heck single dad, and the more time I spend with him, the more I want to bring this contest thing crumbling to the ground for an entirely different reason.Real talk: I think I’m falling for him.Me, the woman who despises love, might be falling for the completely off-limits Bachelor who I’m ironically assigned to help find love, while five other women think they’re the only contestants competing for his heart.So, Internet. Am I scum? Or is all fair in love and war?
Saving Silver
Xavier NealXavier Neal - 2021
From best-selling author Xavier Neal comes a brand-new, laugh-out-loud, paranormal romance you don't want to miss...
I swear, one minute I'm dozing off during the night shift - don't judge me - and the next I'm being told I'm Fate Mated to an ancient dragon.An ancient dragon I couldn't help but save when he woke me up out of the aforementioned slumber - again, don't judge me.Now this same ancient dragon - that I'm apparently destined to be with - is doing everything he can to win me over, because it's up to me whether or not he'll live the rest of his life in absolute agony or absolute bliss.Oh, and let's not forget the fact we're being chased by elves, working with a grumpy Griffin, and have to rescue some poor kidnapped dragon before an evil corporation kills it.Ugh.Any chance this is all some crazy dream that I can't wake up from?No?Well, can't blame this human for asking.
The Heights
Louise Candlish - 2021
Its roof terrace is so discreet, you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there—a man you’d recognize anywhere. He may be older now, but it’s definitely him. But that can’t be because he’s been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact. Because you’re the one who killed him.