Book picks similar to
Taking Charge by Bridgitte Lesley


not-interested
romance
standalone
contemporary-romance

What You Leave Behind


Jessica Katoff - 2013
    He's lost and he thinks leaving her and all of Oregon in his rear-view is what he needs to find himself, dragging her heart right along with him as he goes. Blindsided and devastated by the loss, Harper's life crumbles around her, but she's not the only one rocked by the news of Liam's departure. Austin Hayward, Liam's best friend and her long-time admirer, handles it about as well as Harper—not well at all. He is the only other person who understands the abandonment and helplessness she feels, and she finds comfort in their common sorrow and, unexpectedly, in his arms. It's where he's always wanted her and where neither of them predicted she would end up. But is it where she'll stay? Is a new spark enough, when compared to an old flame, like the one Austin can see still flickering in her eyes? Toward the end of a downward spiral lie the answers. What You Leave Behind is a story of anxious hearts, the deceitful self, and what it means to be lost and found again.

Clickbait


Lisa Suzanne - 2017
    People think I’ll spill their secrets all over social media—and that’s probably true. One mention from me can make you the hottest commodity in town or sink your social life. I protect my friends, but others sometimes end up as clickbait.My newest column is all about the most undateable men in San Diego. Between my own experiences and those of my friends, I have plenty to choose from. Want to know if Carter King, the heir to King Communications with gorgeous abs and a persistent personality, makes the list or ends up in my bed? Read on to find out…COURTING SANDY EGGOposted by Courtney SandersFAST FIVE: WHY MY STORY IS WORTH READING5. You could use a laugh. 4. There’s a guy named Axel.3. Abs and beaches.2. Sex. Lots of sex.1. Carter King. Period.

Land of My Dreams


Norma Gail - 2014
    She accepts a position at a small Christian college in Fort William, Scotland, craving escape from her painful past. The passionate love which develops when she meets fellow professor and sheep farmer, Kieran MacDonell, is something she never anticipated. Kieran harbors a deep anger toward God in the face of his own devastating grief. When Bonny returns to New Mexico for her best friend’s wedding, her former fiancé reenters her life. Four thousand miles away, Kieran’s loneliness draws him to an attractive former student.How will Bonny decide between her two rivals? Can they set aside the past to make way for a future?Land of My Dreams spans the distance between New Mexico’s high desert mountains and the misty Scottish Highlands with a timeless story of overwhelming grief, undying love, and compelling faith.

Vegas Baby


Winter Renshaw - 2016
     He's never played a card game he couldn’t beat and never met a showgirl he couldn’t bed. He plays by his own rules, and he plays to win. At twenty-four, he's on top of the world, basking in his bachelorhood one debaucherous night at a time, when an early morning knock on his door changes everything. He's a daddy. He has a daughter. And he's never changed a diaper in his life. But just when he's getting a grip on this whole fatherhood thing, he meets Calypso, the intriguing lavender-and-patchouli-scented hippie in the apartment next door. She refuses to discuss her past, but Crew didn't win a dozen high stakes poker tournaments without learning a thing or two about reading people. She’s hiding something. But Calypso’s not just a mystery, she’s the ultimate jackpot. And Crew's bet money before but never happiness. If he wants her, he'll have to take the biggest gamble of his life. But having her for his own would be the ultimate win. AUTHOR'S NOTES 1. This is a standalone, full-length romance (~70k words) with a HEA. Ends around 60%. For a *limited* time, this eBook includes a bonus copy of DARK PARADISE and a generous preview of my upcoming book, ROYAL, releasing late February! 2. $0.99 is the sale price. Regular price will be $3.99!

Butterfly Sisters


Jenny Hale - 2022
    So essentially, without the struggle, it never flies.”From the USA Today bestselling author of The Beach House comes a story about family bonds, second chances, and finding out who we really are. Butterfly Sisters is the perfect escape for fans of Susan Wiggs, RaeAnne Thayne, and Susan Mallery.About to land her biggest deal yet, Leigh Henderson is on her game. She’s prepared for this, and nothing can get in her way. Except Rebecca Mayer, who’d sashayed in a few weeks ago with a former client list that would fill the entire hallway to Leigh’s office if she laid it out end to end. When her boss unexpectedly offers the deal to Rebecca and tells Leigh he’s letting her go, Leigh finds herself without a job.But that’s the least of her worries. Her mother has some news that will change everything. She’s asked Leigh and her sister Meredith to meet her at the family cabin on Old Hickory Lake. Not only has Leigh been unable to pin her sister down in years, but going back to the cabin would mean dealing with the loss of her beloved grandmother and also chance running into her old flame Colton Harris, the one love she’s never been able to completely let go of.Will confronting her grief, speaking to her estranged sister, and being forced to face the love she’d left behind help Leigh to learn who she really is? A heartwarming story that will have you laughing, crying, and rushing to those you hold dear. If you loved the Christmas movies based on Jenny’s books and are looking for more feel-good, small-town romance, look no further!

Almost Never


Amy Lamont - 2018
     Son of an aging rock star, Declan Cooper is considered royalty on the Warren College campus. When he meets petite freshman Harper Warden, he dismisses her as just another groupie. He realizes his mistake pretty quickly, but despite his near-obsession with the premed student, he keeps his distance. The last thing she needs is the notoriety that comes along with being connected to his infamous family. Getting blown off by the sexy and popular King of Campus is the kiss of death for the new life Harper hoped to make for herself at college. Her only goal now is to get into medical school so she can leave her past, and Declan Cooper, far behind. But when the plans Harper made are threatened, Declan might be the only person who can help. All she has to do is trust him with a few small things—like her heart and her future.

Riptide


Amber Lea Easton - 2012
    As an anchorwoman, she's accustomed to reporting the news rather than being the lead story. She escapes the spotlight by fleeing to her brother's home in the Cayman Islands. Haunted by nightmares, all she wants is a distraction from reality.Distraction arrives via sexy screenwriter, Noah Reynolds. His take-me-to-bed looks mask a past ripe with scandal. He knows he should stay away from Lauren, especially when the worst night of her life unlocks his writer's block and while he's dealing with a stalker of his own, but ethics are his weakness.Attraction sizzles beneath Caribbean sunshine. As their relationship grows, Noah's stalker intensifies her torment. Lauren wonders if her paranoia is justified or a carryover from her past. What's real? What's imagined? Tentative trust is tested as their love is swept up against a riptide of deceit, murder, and revenge.Available in all ebook formats via Bookstrand.com, Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com (in September 2012).

Bittersweet Catastrophe


Maureen Mayer - 2014
    But what if forever wasn’t truly in the stars for them?What should be one of the happiest times in their lives as newlyweds quickly turns into a race against time. Liberty must choose between accepting her fate and protecting her family, and taking a risk that could ultimately end in more heartache.Liberty’s decision will test the strength of their trust, but is it enough to keep Shayne from breaking down altogether and losing the woman he loves?

Moving to Love


P.J. Fiala - 2014
    Despite raising her son on her own and building a successful business she still can’t bring herself to believe in love. Even after meeting the sexy bike builder who turns her head.After losing his best friend in Iraq, Jeremiah Sheppard spent his life making sure his friend’s family was taken care of, usually at his own detriment. Despite that, he’s managed quite well.A chance meeting with a beautiful graphic designer has him taking stock in his past decisions and has her threatening to run for the hills as the family he’s protected his entire life works to keep them apart. Just when it looks like they might make it, a terrible accident threatens to destroy it all.Moving to Love is the first book in the exciting Rolling Thunder series. If you like sizzling sex scenes, adventure and triumph, you’ll love PJ Fiala’s page turning series.

Homewrecker Incorporated


S. Simone Chavous - 2016
    At least that’s what Claudia Mason tells the women who seek her firm’s unique services. With wealthy husbands who see their wedding rings as meaningless pieces of jewelry, they trust Claudia to do whatever is necessary to gather the hard evidence needed to shatter an ironclad prenup.  She is the best in the business and has yet to meet a mark she couldn’t get the goods on— solidifying her belief that no man can be trusted. After landing a client who is her ticket to retirement, she is on top of the world. Until a chance encounter with Greyston Michaels turns her carefully controlled world upside down. Greyston shows Claudia a part of herself she thinks she’s lost, making her question everything she believes about men—and love. But in Claudia's world, following her heart is bad for business. And business is everything.

Next August


Kelly Moore
    He’s a public figure— a billionaire business genius and eligible bachelor—with no personal life, and he likes it that way. Tragedy has followed August throughout his life, and by the time he meets Nashville Jacoby, the secrets he’s harboring aren’t just sad, they’re dangerous.Nashville is a nurse from the Deep South—the consummate country girl. She works hard, takes care of her family, and dreams of a simple life. She’s drawn to August, despite his refusal to open up to her, his intimidating fortune, and his controlling tendencies. He’s not only mesmerized by her physical beauty, he’s enthralled by her kind heart and sassy honesty. Their intense sexual chemistry surprises them both, and soon they’re locked in a passionate love affair. When August’s secrets finally catch up with him, however, their relationship isn’t the only thing that’s at stake. Someone from the past wants revenge on August and isn’t afraid to destroy the one thing August’s money can’t buy—the woman he loves.

Rewrite the Stars


Christina Consolino - 2021
    Though her husband, Theo, initiated the divorce, he's now having a change of heart that's difficult to reconcile as he fights against PTSD demons within. When a chance encounter with a stranger resurrects emotions in Sadie she never expected to feel again, her world is turned upside down. Will Sadie find the courage to shape her own future? Will Theo resolve his internal struggles and win Sadie back? Rewrite the Stars is an honest, moving portrayal of life and love that reminds us how much of our happiness lies within our own grasp.

The Hysterics


Kristen Hope Mazzola - 2015
    Rock and roll, drugs, and bad decisions were the life I lived. I'd fallen so deep into the dark rabbit hole that I was certain I would never make it out alive. People like me didn't get second chance. People like me didn't get lifted from the darkness. So when the opportunity showed up, I had to take it. I walked away from everything I loved, everything that was killing me, and I became Fae Dunham. After that, I had behind makeup, long sleeves, and a closed-off heart. All was well until I met Dane Pearson. He wasn't convinced of the new me, and whenever he was near, I felt like the old me, the real me, filled with passion and a love for music. Every day was a fight to not fall back down the rabbit hole. And every day, somehow, I slowly began to discover what it meant to fin myself. It was a hysteric rise, but it was ours. And I wouldn't change a thing. From the Author **18+ for sexual situations, language, and adult content.** This book is a standalone! In the Crashing Series there are some character overlaps with The Hysterics, so after you fall in love with Dane and Fallon in The Hysterics, you can see what they're up to a few years in the future in Crashing Back Down

Where I End and You Begin


Andra Brynn - 2013
    It may tangle, it may knot, it may stretch or fray, but it will never break. It is a future as indelible as the past.I hope that isn't true. I pity anyone destined to meet me.----For Bianca Ray, the past is always catching up, one way or another. Now in her third semester at college, it's doing it again. Too much drinking has led to plummeting grades and rising absences, putting her scholarships in peril. When she makes it clear that she needs help—all over the floor of her history class—she’s given one last chance to shape up: seek therapy and bring her grades up by the end of the semester, or she’s out.Enter Catholic seminarian Daniel McGuire. The last thing Bianca wants is an aspiring priest to counsel her on how to live her life, but the handsome graduate student is different from the holy rollers she fled from at home. Gentle and unobtrusive, he helps her pick up the pieces and find a new way to live: not running from the past, but facing it head on. But opening up her heart to release the pain means that something else can come in. As Bianca and Daniel grow closer, their relationship moves onto dangerous ground and the fragile courage Bianca has built up threatens to fail her. Can she exorcise the ghosts of her past, or will they catch hold and drag her down where not even Daniel can reach her?

Angel Falls


Tess Thompson - 2019
    He walks straight into the life of Magdalena Morales, a proud, headstrong woman trying to keep her family’s centuries-old legacy out of the hands of a ruthless enemy. An enemy who isn’t afraid to kill to get what he wants. Magdalena was raised lovingly by her great-grandmother, Bella Morales, a psychic and tarot reader. When Bella invites the rugged, intense stranger into their lives, Magdalena reluctantly agrees. She decides to trust Bella’s judgment this time because ignoring Bella’s advice in the past came with a high price. Russell resists becoming involved in the lives of an old witch woman and a dark-haired Hispanic beauty. He prefers to be left alone and to get as far away from any reminders of his past as possible. Despite his best intentions, Magdalena and Bella draw him into a life he has never known, and he vows to protect these women at any cost. Trust develops between them, and with Russell’s help, Magdalena’s future looks bright. Then, an unimaginable truth from Russell’s past confronts her, and she is forced to choose between the man she loves and the cold hard facts.