Book picks similar to
Taking Heart by Wilette Youkey
romance
contemporary-romance
chick-lit
contemporary
Love Handles
Gretchen Galway - 2011
She hates the gym, is nice to everybody, and shops at Ross Dress for Less. When she's not teaching preschool, she's wearing yoga pants... to nap in. So when she inherits her estranged grandfather's fitnesswear company in San Francisco, nobody expects her to keep it. Fite Fitness needs a heartless suit to save it from bankruptcy, not a thirty-year-old woman who cries when her students leave for kindergarten.Someone like Liam Johnson. A former Olympic swimmer, Liam is Fite's executive vice president. Unlike Bev, he's devoted his life to Fite's success. Managing one little preschool teacher — and his attraction to her — shouldn't be an issue. Right?But Bev's tired of being underpaid and underrated, and refuses to step aside as an obedient figurehead. To everyone's shock and horror, she moves up to San Francisco, sets up an office, and dives into the business. Nothing — not mockery, not exercise, not sabotage, not a disastrously hot night with her aggravating VP — is going to scare her away.As Liam realizes she's tougher than she looks, he discovers that losing Fite might not be nearly as bad as losing her...A story about the pursuit of love, happiness, and the perfect yoga pants, Love Handles will speak to anyone who's ever had to face the thing that scares her most.Warning: contains at least two loves scenes and a happy ending.
Surrender
Melody Anne - 2013
Arianna (Ari) Lynn Harlow has led a charmed life until tragedy strikes her family. He’s looking for a no-emotions attached mistress, she’s looking for redemption.They are not a pair that should ever work, but undeniable attraction and devastating tragedies bring them together in the city by the bay where he fights to keep their relationship nothing more than an enjoyable way to meet his needs, and she battles to not lose herself in him. Spending time with Ari starts cracking the hard shell that Rafe has built around his heart, but he denies the affect she has on him until it’s too late to stop the inevitable conclusion that their relationship is headed for.Rafe once believed in happily ever after, coming from a large Italian family. He’s got the Midas touch, since every endeavor he tries turns to gold. That all ends when his wife walks out the door and leaves him blindsided. His devastation quickly turns to steel when he decides no woman will fool him again. From that point on he treats relationships as nothing more than business transactions where both party’s come out mutually benefited.Just when Ari has sunk to the lowest she’s ever been she finds an ad in the paper announcing a job that’s too good to be true. It turns out she’s right. She makes it through the intense rounds of interviews only to find out the job is for a mistress to the powerful Rafe Palazzo, owner of Palazzo Enterprises. Rafe gives her a day to think about whether she wants the position or not, and she’s sent on her way, only to find out her mother’s near-terminal position has taken a turn for the worse. Her mom’s only in the hospital because Ari messed up, and her mother’s the one who paid the price. Is Rafe her savior, or will he take her with him straight to the depths of hell?
Treading Water
Marie Force - 2011
Recently back to work after spending more than a year tending to his comatose wife, Jack is focused on getting through each day and caring for his three daughters. However, the moment he sets eyes on Andrea Walsh, the interior designer who has come to decorate the hotel his company is building in Newport, Rhode Island, Jack begins to wonder if Andi might be his second chance. After a disastrous marriage, Andi, single mom to a hearing-impaired son, isn’t exactly looking for love, either, but that’s what she finds with Jack. The two embark on a long-distance relationship fraught with challenges as they balance the needs of their children and dueling careers while Jack continues to care for his wife, Clare. Just when Jack thinks his life is once again settled, he is confronted with a new challenge that tests him in ways he never could've imagined, leaving him to wonder if "happily ever after" is in the cards for him.
Happily Ever Afton
Kelly Curry - 2011
On the run from a persistent suitor of his own, wealthy investment banker in disguise, Cooper, agrees to the nutty plan Afton proposes to pretend to be "lovers" to throw off their exes. Their 'Strangers on a Train' deal leads to hilarity and hijinks as Afton and Cooper attend a series of events around Seattle with their former partners in hot pursuit and discover along the way if two perfect strangers can ever... criss-cross ... into perfect lovers.
Almost Matched
A.O. Peart - 2013
SECOND EDITION released in Sept 2016Would you take another shot at love? Or just settle on a friend with benefits?THEIR HEARTBREAKING PAST WILL MOVE YOU. THEIR PASSION WILL MAKE YOU BLUSH. THEIR ANTICS WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD. Twenty-five-year-old Natalie Davenport lugs substantial baggage. One boyfriend after the next has been a total disaster, leaving Natalie distrustful toward the male population in general. So when Colin Hampton crosses her path, she’s cautious. Her heart (and some other body parts!) nudges her to go for it, while her head wants her to run for the hills.Colin is one of those gorgeous guys who attract women, no matter the age or marital status. With a successful career at a popular Seattle radio station, hard body, and charming personality, he is the complete package. But something dark lurks in the corners of his soul; some murky experience that has changed him—maybe for the better, but maybe for the worse.Will he steal her heart and stomp over it like other guys did? Will she let him into her heavily fortified world despite herself?Or will they settle somewhere in the middle—establishing the emotional boundaries to protect them from falling in love?***********************************This dark romantic comedy blends humor, sensuality, and angst, with zany characters and witty dialogue. ***Warning: contains sexual situations (some quite vivid!), profanity, and a high dose of sarcasm. Oh, and there is a lot of appletini and beer drinking. May not be appropriate for readers under 18 years old. Not intended for prudes and killjoys with no sense of humor***THE SERIES:The Almost Bad Boys series are the stories of four feisty twenty-something women who refuse to let their past drag them down.***The books in the Almost Bad Boys series are best read in order. They are not stand-alone books, although these are three different stories/no cliffhangers:Almost Matched (book 1)Almost Broken Up (book 2)Almost Too Far (book 3)***
The Perfect Distraction
Melissa Rolka - 2013
She pushes away the ghosts of her past, determined to start her college life single, carefree and distracted. Throughout high school Kate was reserved and shy, with little experience. Now, on her own, with little holding her back, Kate is ready to branch out. She bonds with a tight knit group of friends and even starts casually dating. What starts out as innocent flirting on the tennis courts slowly turns into a friendship and eventually something more complex. Reed comes into her life giving her the distraction she craves more than anything; but is she ready to give her heart away so easily?Things get complicated when Kate’s ex-boyfriend and first love continues to pursue her. Kyle deeply regrets breaking her heart when he left for college the year before and is now on a mission to reclaim her. Kyle’s persistence and relentlessness is nothing short of obsessive. He will stop at nothing to win her back and prove his love.Kate finds herself torn between her past and the unknown of the future. Her determination to stay distracted may just be her downfall or the beginning of something new and wonderful. ***For Mature Readers 18+***