Book picks similar to
Sand in My Eyes by Christine Lemmon


fiction
romance
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Her Eyes Underwater: A True-Crime Inspired Romantic Thriller


Romona Simon - 2020
    One evening, restless university student Julia Strauss meets the captivating Alex Bowman and finds him irresistible. He is handsome, polite, and mysterious. If someone seems too good to be true ... This is a romantic suspense novel inspired by true events. The hero is Mr. Perfect when he is with the heroine. However, this cultivated persona melts away to reveal something frightening and unforgiving when they’re apart. Will Julia be able to see beyond the haze of her infatuation before it's too late?

The Arrangement


Sarah Dunn - 2017
    They've got a two hundred year-old house, an autistic son obsessed with the Titanic, and 17 chickens, at last count. It's the kind of paradise where stay-at-home moms team up to cook the school's "hot lunch," dads grill grass-fed burgers, and, as Lucy observes, "chopping kale has become a certain kind of American housewife's version of chopping wood."When friends at a wine-soaked dinner party reveal they've made their marriage open, sensible Lucy balks. There's a part of her, though – the part that worries she's become too comfortable being invisible-that's intrigued. Why not try a short marital experiment? Six months, clear ground rules, zero questions asked. When an affair with a man in the city begins to seem more enticing than the happily-ever-after she's known for the past nine years, Lucy must decide what truly makes her happy – "real life," or the "experiment?"

The Wideness of the Sea


Katie Curtis - 2017
    When she returns home to mid-coast Maine for his funeral, she faces all that she left behind when she left seven years earlier. The pain of her own mother’s death, the fractured relationships with her father, and her first love. The life she had built for herself in New York - the art world, her boyfriend, her roommate who is also her best friend - allowed her to forget the grief and hurt she had left behind in Maine. But when her uncle leaves her a surprising inheritance, if forces her to face them, and the parts of her self she’s buried. As she searches for answers about herself, and where she belongs, she discovers how people and places shape us, and how understanding, forgiveness and grace have the power to transform us and the people we love.

The Summer That Made Us


Robyn Carr - 2017
    The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again.That was then…For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. The women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything.This is now…After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best to hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.

Operation Foreplay


Christine Hughes - 2015
    . .Melody Ashford hates waiting for anything-especially sex. But after a disastrous affair and a one-nighter with Mr. Micropenis, Mel realizes she's suffering from some bad bedroom juju. And no amount of hot, casual, or friends-with-benefits hookups is going to fix it. Instead, Mel's decided to resist the demands of her ladyparts.Saying no might have been no problem . . . except that her temporary roommate, Jared Myers, is all kinds of hot male sex on a stick. Now Mel is consumed by all manner of dirty thoughts, and remembering why she decided to "go slow" is getting harder and harder . . . (70,000 words)

The Two Farms


Mary E. Pearce - 1986
    Set in mid-nineteenth century Gloucestershire, a saga focusing on two farms and families who own them.

Babes and Billionaires: Free Romance Box Set


Serena Grey - 2018
     DRAWN TO YOU A one-night stand leaves two strangers craving for more. On the night she discovers her ex’s engagement, Rachel meets Landon, the sexiest man she’s ever seen, who, for some reason, mistakes her for a hooker. The thing is, he’s so sexy, and it’s just one night. What harm can there be in giving in to the desire to lose herself in his touch? 

Landon prefers his women beautiful and sophisticated, with no desire for romance or commitment, so when his brother ignores his protests and sends him a hooker on his birthday, he’s surprised by how willing he is to continue paying for her services. It should be easy, except she’s no hooker, and she has no intention of letting him into her life.

 As the billionaire owner of Swanson Court Hotels, Landon is accustomed to getting what he wants, and Rachel is not going to be an exception.
 WILD SEXY THING Daphne doesn’t want love, or romance, or sex, or even a relationship. She wants some time alone without casual sex with guys whose names she can’t be bothered to remember in the morning–a temporary period of celibacy. Too bad her new roommate’s brother is hot, insanely hot, like melt your panties and spread your legs kind of hot. From the moment she sets eyes on Jason Wild, Daphne can’t stop craving the sensual delight she knows she will find in his arms. Her self-imposed celibacy is no match for his blatant sexuality and all the naughty things he promises to do to her. Jason is not interested in commitment, and Daphne is done with hookups, but it’s only a matter of time before they indulge in their naughty fantasies about each other. Only, what happens after, when it’s time to walk away? AWAKENING (A DANGEROUS MAN #1) His voice is hoarse. “I am going to make love to you now,” he says. “So if you want me to stop, tell me.” 
I shake my head frantically. If he stops at this point, I’ll probably die.
 Sophie Bennett has virtually no experience with men. Orphaned from birth, she’s been sheltered all her life. So nothing prepares her for David Preston. The intensely attractive businessman is entirely out of her league and dangerous for her heart. Can she handle him, or is she in over her head? UNDENIABLE Her passion for him ruined her life once already, but he still has the power to make her crave him with just one touch. Olivia Wilder fell in love with Jackson Lockewood the first time she laid her eyes on him. She gave him her heart and her love, and she ended up alone, heartbroken, and with scars that were almost too much for her to bear.
 Seven years later, they cross paths again. Jackson is everything she remembers, only more irresistible. Underneath his disdain, his desire to possess her lights a response within her, but she has no desire to rekindle their past or face the pain of all those years ago.
 However, Jackson has no intention of making it easy for her. This time, he’s determined to make her pay for the past, and for the future they should have had, even if it means destroying her in the process. "Serena Grey drew me in and held my attention through the Awakening series. Knocked me out with her stand-alone "Undeniable" and most recently has body slammed me with "Drawn to You." - Epic Book Addict.

Sneaking Candy


Lisa Burstein - 2013
    Of course, secretly I already have made a name for myself: as Candy Sloane, self-published erotic romance writer. Though thrilled that my books are selling and I have actual fans, if anyone at UM found out, I could lose my scholarship…and the respect of my faculty advisor, grade-A-asshole Professor Dylan.Enter James Walker, super-hot local barista and—surprise!—my student. Even though I know a relationship is totally off-limits, I can’t stop myself from sneaking around with James, taking a few cues from my own erotic writing…if you catch my drift. Candy’s showing her stripes for the first time in my real life, and I’ve never had so much fun. But when the sugar high fades, can my secrets stay under wraps?

Who Do You Love


Jennifer Weiner - 2015
    Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she's intrigued by the boy who shows up all alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy's taken back to the emergency room and Rachel's sent back to her bed, they think they'll never see each other again.Rachel, the beloved, popular, and protected daughter of two doting parents, grows up wanting for nothing in a fancy Florida suburb. Andy grows up poor in Philadelphia with a single mom and a rare talent that will let him become one of the best runners of his generation.Over the course of three decades, through high school and college, marriages and divorces, from the pinnacles of victory and the heartbreak of defeat, Andy and Rachel will find each other again and again, until they are finally given a chance to decide whether love can surmount difference and distance and if they've been running toward each other all along.With honesty, wit, and clear-eyed observations about men and women, love and fate, and the truth about happy endings, Jennifer Weiner delivers two of her most memorable characters, and a love story you'll never forget.

A Charmed Place


Antoinette Stockenberg - 1998
    She settled down and raised a family; he roamed the planet as a war correspondent. But a near death experience brings Dan in search of the only woman he has ever loved. His plan to win Maddie is simple: take up residence in a lighthouse just a stone's throw from her family's summer home, and then make her fall back in love with him. He knows her family will object and suspects that her daughter might; but he refuses to believe that Maddie herself -- the woman who has haunted his dreams for two decades -- can be any less in love with him than he is with her. It's not that simple for Maddie. She has a jealous ex-husband to deal with ... a feisty, resentful teenager ... a widowed mother unable to emerge from mourning ... and the ongoing heartbreak of her father's unsolved murder. Is it possible to throw all of that aside for the chance to be happy?

The Way Life Should Be


Christina Baker Kline - 2007
    She is single in New York City, stuck in a job she doesn’t want and a life that seems to have, somehow, just happened.  She inherited a flair for Italian cooking from her grandmother, but she never seems to have the time for it—these days, her oven holds only sweaters. Tacked to her office bulletin board is a photo from a magazine of a tidy cottage on the coast of Maine—a charming reminder of a life that could be hers, if she could only muster the courage to go after it.On a hope and a chance, Angela decides to pack it all up and move to Maine, finding the nudge she needs in the dating profile of a handsome sailor who loves dogs and Italian food.  But her new home isn’t quite matching up with the fantasy. Far from everything familiar, Angela begins to rebuild her life from the ground up. Working at a local coffeehouse, she begins to discover the pleasures and secrets of her new small-town community and, in the process, realizes there’s really no such thing as the way life should be.

If You Must Know


Jamie Beck - 2020
    Amanda follows the rules—at the school where she works; in her community; and as a picture-perfect daughter, wife, and mother-to-be. Erin follows her heart—in love and otherwise—living a bohemian lifestyle on a shoestring budget and honoring her late father’s memory with a passion for music and her fledgling bath-products business.The sisters are content leading separate but happy lives in their hometown of Potomac Point until everything is upended by lies that force them to confront unsettling truths about their family, themselves, and each other. For sisters as different as these two, building trust doesn’t come easily—especially with one secret still between them—but it may be the only way to save their family.

The Cottage in a Cornish Cove


Cass Grafton - 2020
    When Aunt Meg passes away, Anna decides to end her stagnant relationship and heads to Cornwall seeking a fresh start, with plans to make her home there and perhaps open a B&B—and perhaps cross paths with Alex Tremayne again, a local boy she used to have a major crush on and who only had to walk past Anna to make her heart flutter. Settling into her new life, and enjoying her work for the older, reclusive and, to be honest, sometimes exasperating Oliver Seymour, Anna is delighted when Alex appears in Polkerran and seems to have finally noticed her. But just as Anna thinks everything she’s always wanted is within reach, her new life comes under threat, and she is in danger of losing everything she’s only recently gained. How can Anna hold onto the home and life she loves so much, and which of the two men in her life will come to her aid in her time of need?

The Wedding Season


Su Dharmapala - 2012
    And she likes her life just the way it is, thank you! So why do her family and friends insist on trying to convince her that the only way to the perfect life is meeting the perfect man?When Shani's horoscope miraculously reveals that now is the best time of her life for marriage, her mother decides to take control. As the Sri Lankan wedding season opens she turns a deaf ear to Shani's protests and arranges a parade of 101 potential grooms, in the hope that her shamefully unmarried daughter will salvage the family honour by finally finding Mr Right. But true life, like true love, can get very complicated. Amidst a riot of hilarious dates with would-be husbands, Shani has to cope with a minor Machiavelli at work, a house that is literally falling down around her ears, and a neurotic mother with serious cultural baggage. Worst of all, her best friend, who seems to have it all, is sliding into depression, and Shani seems powerless to help. Through a flurry of curry, cricket, sarees, and sumptuous ceremonies, Shani comes to learn that love comes in many disguises - and degrees of satisfaction - and that life is a one-shot game, even if you do believe in reincarnation.

The Summer List


Amy Mason Doan - 2018
    Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…“This is a lovely debut by Doan, exploring themes of motherhood, daughterhood, and first love with tenderness and humor. The writing is fresh and charming, a perfect read for anyone who spent her teenage years reading the racy bits of cheap paperbacks out loud to their best friends.”-Booklist, STARRED* review“Doan’s characters leap off the page…[An] accomplished debut novel…Will please readers who grew up with the novels of Judy Blume.”-Publishers Weekly“With a vivid sense of place and characters as real as your high school besties, this debut novel is sure to please fans of Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand.”-Library Journal“A poignant tale of mothers and daughters finding their ways home to each other.”-Kirkus Reviews“Summer Reads: Coolest Books of the Season”-Globe and Mail“Best New Books to Put in Your Beach Bag”-PopSugar “Best Books of Summer 2018”-Family Circle“Best New Books for Summer 2018”-Coastal Living“A trip down memory lane becomes a hunt for long-buried secrets in Amy Mason Doan’s gripping and poignant debut. An evocative tale of family, first love, and the unique and lasting gift of a friendship formed in girlhood.”-Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author“There is not a word or a plot line out of place in The Summer List, Amy Mason Doan’s fabulous debut. These characters and their stories are going to stick with you for a long, long time.”-Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Admissions and The Captain’s Daughter“An ideal summer read…a compelling blend of love, betrayal, secrets and reconciliation…”-The Oregonian“An amazing debut.”-Authorlink“Read this one on the beach with your BFF.”-HelloGiggles"The perfect summer read. Beautifully drawn characters creating a page-turning mystery. I stayed up way too late to find out what happened! Impossible to put down!”-Bestselling author M. O’Keefe“In her mesmerizing debut, Amy Mason Doan challenges everything we think we know about family and forgiveness. Readers will be swept up in this haunting story of buried secrets and lost love.”-Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House“With its exquisite detail, The Summer List wouldn’t let me go, and the unexpected ending gave me chills…Irresistible.”-Jennifer S. Brown, author of Modern Girls“A tender novel about friendship lost and rekindled, and uncovering the truth of the past.”-Polly Dugan, author of So Much a Part of You and The Sweetheart Deal“Moving…compelling…beautifully written characters.”-The Girly Book Club