Book picks similar to
Vengeful Bastard by Nicole Dykes


cocky-hero-club
contemporary
romance
second-chance

Hold You Close


Melanie Harlow - 2018
    Every time I see him climbing out of his pool, practically naked and unreasonably sexy, my blood boils.I’ve always loved to loathe him. I never planned to need him.*** London Parish is my little sister’s best friend, not that it stopped me from falling for her.Our history is complicated. The only thing we have in common is being godparents to my sister’s three adorable kids—until our lives are changed in one tragic moment. Now we’re trying to raise the children we love, mourn an unthinkable loss, and fight an undeniable attraction.My life is already upside-down, and the last thing I need is for old feelings to resurface. Because I’ll never be able to keep her, no matter how hard I try to hold her close.

Tell Me


Abigail Strom - 2017
    She’s made peace with it, unlike Sam’s business partner, Caleb, who’s always nudging Jane to go after what she really wants. Why should she care what blunt, brash Caleb thinks? They’ve never had much in common, except for Sam.After tragedy strikes, they don’t even have that.Caleb can’t quite remember when Sam’s little sister stopped being like a surrogate sibling to him and became just… Jane. She’s the most intriguing woman he’s ever met, and so much sexier and stronger than she thinks. On the emotional journey to honor Sam’s memory, the spark they’ve tried to deny becomes an inferno. This journey was meant to be an ending, but will they discover an unexpected new beginning?

Seduce Me


Kelly Elliott - 2018
    I walked out of Tucker Middleton’s bedroom seven years ago, leaving him hurt and angry. Now I need his help; the only way I can get it, is to make him think I want him back. The only problem is we have silently vowed to hate one another for the rest of our lives. In order to get Tucker to help me—I have to seduce him. Easy right? Hell yes! I’m the CEO of CMI Consulting. If I set my mind to something, I make it happen. Charleston Monroe is playing me for a fool. If she believes for one second I’m going to let her walk into my life to help her save the very job that ripped her away from me, she’s got another thing coming. She thinks she can seduce me, and I let her believe she can. After all, I’m getting what I’ve always wanted. Her. Caution: This story contains crazy hot sex, and one shaved pussy.

Wild Card


Karina Halle - 2017
    Rough, raw & rugged.As the man in charge at Ravenswood Ranch, Shane Nelson has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. His sculpted physique isn't the product of a gym, but of years of hard labor under a relentless sun. His straightforward, alpha tendencies come from a man who knows what he wants and goes after it.And what he wants is Rachel Waters.He's never stopped wanting her.They were childhood best friends, then teenage lovers who evolved into soulmates. But on one fateful night, Shane made a grave mistake, breaking both their hearts in the process.Now, after six years, Rachel is back in the small, wild mountain town of North Ridge, BC.Ready to face her past.Ready to face Shane.Ready to face his dark secret.But is a second-chance at a one true love in the cards? Or will their wild hearts be broken once again?WILD CARD is a complete standalone novel and the first book about the Nelson brothers of North Ridge.

Black Swan Affair


K.L. Kreig - 2016
    He wears scruff like he invented it and ambles with a swagger that makes panties drop. Killian Shepard. Shep. We grew up together. We played Ghost in the Graveyard. Had our own rock band. It didn’t matter that he was five years older than me. It didn’t matter that he looked at me as a kid sister even as I grew into woman. It didn’t even matter when he left me behind to go to college and start his adult life. He’d be back. He was always meant to be mine.He came back, all right. But instead of smelling of promises, he stunk of betrayal. And he destroyed me—us—the day he married my sister instead of me.So I did the only thing a girl like me in my position could do. I got my revenge. I married his brother, Kael. Now we’re one big happy f*cking family.***mature content appropriate for 18+

Remembering You


Sandi Lynn - 2014
    It’s only our bodies full of raging hormones, and our minds filled with lust that make us think we are in love. I can tell them that they’re wrong. Young love is real. It can, and it does exist, at least in my seventeen year old life.My name is Claire Montgomery, and I come from a family of snobs. Born into wealth, against my will, my family will do just about anything to uphold the perfect Montgomery name. I ruined that for them the day my car broke down on the side of the road and I met the love of my life, Sam Snow.Sam is from Santa Ana and I’m from Newport Beach. Even though, I come from a family of wealth, I want nothing to do with any of it. I like the simple things in life, like Sam. My family doesn’t approve of him and they try to keep us apart. The last thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with no memory of my life.This is my journey after my accident to figure out who I am and who I was. The road to recovery isn’t easy but the one thing that stayed with me after the accident was the soft voice and words that I’d never forget.“If your love was true and eternal, you will find your way to each other again.”

Next to Never


Penelope Douglas - 2017
    And when a family friend—several years older—from her childhood captures her heart, she knows they’re going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man—experienced, sophisticated, and important. And knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden.But Lucas left town years ago and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn’t wait for him anymore.But then a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn Quinn’s world upside down. She’s never asked about the tumultuous path of her parents’ romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start.As she begins to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she’ll keep waiting…or finally go after what she really wants.*Next to Never is a 60,000 word novella from Quinn's point-of-view. It is not her love story. That will be a full-length novel eventually. This story covers some family history, introduces the new generation, and catches up with the original couples.

The Wingman


Natasha Anders - 2017
    But their attraction is undeniable. Introverted Daisy McGregor is used to being a wallflower, but what she lacks in style, she makes up for with an acerbic wit, a passion for life, and a deep devotion to her family. So she’ll suffer through her sister Dahlia’s bachelorette party and accept the cloud of pity for going stag to the wedding.Out at the pub, sexy bad boy Mason Carlisle is a reluctant wingman tasked with entertaining Daisy while his brother flirts with her oldest sister, Daffodil. When the plan fails and Mason’s true intent is revealed, he feels intense guilt—and a sensual spark of desire for the unlikeliest of women.Daisy decides to use this unfortunate encounter to her advantage: to make it up to her, Mason will be another kind of wingman, playing the role of her boyfriend and wedding date. Will their ruse unravel completely—or will Mason and Daisy’s undeniable attraction ignite a scorching love affair that knows no rules?

Playboy Pitcher


Cora Kenborn - 2021
    It’s the one thing I despised more than him. I’m just here to sell, sign on the dotted line, and get out.Until I’m hit with Dad’s final parting gift—a buyer’s clause.Enter Satan—otherwise known as my ex.I should swallow my pride and just accept his offer. Instead, I tell him where to shove it. It can’t be that hard to turn the major league’s biggest joke into a winning team. Right? With only four weeks to do the impossible, I’ll need more than a miracle. I’ll need a secret weapon. Someone ruthless enough to marry me for my money.Like a playboy pitcher with a wicked curveball.Two quickie vows and one hostile truce later, and it’s game on.Ben and I can do this.I just have to keep my eye on his balls.I mean the ball. The prize.Oh hell. We’re in trouble.

Stuck-Up Big Shot


Sierra Hill - 2020
    Things go from chaotic to scorching hot when I run into my old crush, Miles Thatcher, on my way out of the building.Talk about disastrous timing. I haven’t seen him in years – five to be exact.Since the day we buried his sister – my best friend.That was both the best and worst day of my life.It was also the day Miles kissed me – and promptly forgot about me.Some things never change. He still has no clue who I am. Miles is no longer the boy I fell in love with. Now he’s just a stuck-up big shot with a big bank account and bigger ego.I wish I didn’t still have feelings for him but seeing him again only makes me want him more. If only Miles would finally ‘see’ me. A lot can happen over five years, but time hasn’t erased the guilt he carries. Underneath his fancy façade is a man who can’t get over the grief of losing his baby sister... or the regret of not being able to prevent it.And I’m just the girl who can’t get over him.

Waiting for the One


L.A. Fiore - 2012
    Yet it’s not just her dating dry spell that draws her to recent arrival Logan MacGowan. Tall, dark, and handsome, with emerald-green eyes and an impossibly hot body, Logan is a gorgeous enigma whose silence she takes for indifference… until one unforgettable chance meeting, when pent-up attraction ignites into the most intense encounter of her life.In this quiet, quirky town, no one knows that Logan’s alter ego is famous sculptor and tabloid darling David Cambre. In New York, he had all the wrong kind of attention, but in Harrington, he’s found peace, privacy… and Saffron. She’s witty, forthright, and so much sexier and stronger than she knows. But how do you protect the love you’ve been waiting for when your own lifestyle could be destined to rip it apart?

Love and Other Words


Christina Lauren - 2018
    Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother...only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

The Boyfriend Blog


K.L. Grayson - 2019
    2) A myth. A legend. Impossible to find. According to her eighty-year-old neighbor, Lizzie Donovan is looking for Mr. Right in all the wrong places. Though it’s made great fodder for her blog, Lizzie is finally tired of swiping left and awful blind dates, and she’s ready to take Mrs. Skinner’s advice and find love the old-fashioned way. Goodbye dating app, hello grocery store, book store, dog park, and wherever else she might be able to meet a good man. And she really has nothing to lose. Not only will she be entertained along the way, but even if she ends up alone, she’ll always have her longtime best friend, Aiden, by her side. Friend zone (n.) 1) A situation in which a friendship exists between two people, one of whom has an unreciprocated romantic or sexual interest in the other. 2) Location of Aiden Wallace. According to his eighty-year-old neighbor, Aiden Wallace has been friend zoned. And that’s mostly his fault because instead of opening his eyes and seeing what was right in front of him, Aiden has spent the last several years enjoying the single life. But things have changed—he has changed—and now he needs his best friend, Lizzie, to stop shoving him into the friend zone so he can work at winning her heart. Until then, he’s stuck watching her string of dating disasters and wishing she’d believe him when he tells her he’s the one.

A Beautiful Kind of Love


Ellie Wade - 2015
    Why? Because I have one and his name is Jax Porter.I have known Jax my whole life and I have loved him with every breath I’ve ever taken. The fact that we were born a mere month apart to mothers that are best friends has made us inseparable since birth.What we have is so rare, one would think our story would be written, our fate sealed. But, unfortunately that’s not how life works. Life offers us many choices that can turn destiny into chance.I now find myself heading toward a destination that I could have never imagined and I have to figure out where to go from here. Will the choices that have been made change our path forever or will fate find its way?

Choosing Us


M. Robinson - 2019
    Forever. To have and to hold. Until you hear the words, “I just don’t love you anymore.”Putting an end to me. To you. To us. Contemporary Romance Duet: Book 1