Book picks similar to
Pressure by Lillian Bryant


romance
contemporary
short-story
dnf

Playing for Keeps


J.C. Grant - 2015
    I found out the hard way many had a lifestyle I wanted no part of. Then David Taylor forced his way into my life. A sledge hammer breaking down my well crafted walls. He was gorgeous and sexy and intimidating. I was drawn to him in a way I had never been to anyone or anything. And I knew I couldn't have him, I was too damaged, too flawed to really connect. David saw what I was from the beginning. A broken scared girl locked away inside an aloof woman. And he was determined to free me. To make me his. WARNING: THIS IS AN EROTIC NOVEL. If you do NOT like dominant, possessive, very Alpha-males, Playing for Keeps is not for you.

The SEAL's Little Virgin


Blythe Reid - 2017
    Most of the men in the f*cking place old enough to be her daddy. Hell, I’m no different. Except she doesn’t give any of them ‘f*ck-me eyes.” Only me. The sweet little thing better watch herself, or she’s going to find her knees sore, her lips swollen, and her body owned by a big mother f*cker like me. She thinks she can handle herself in the bar, but I wonder how quickly she’d cry out in the bedroom. After a long couple of years overseas, I want two things. Time with my son and a long week of being f*cked nice and hard by the pretty little virgin down at the base bar that’s finally legal. I don’t want her to cry Uncle. I want her to cry Daddy. And she will. Over and over and over again. A single father navy SEAL and a virgin romance. He’s 16 years older, and she’s dying for a chance to experience a night with him. She has been for most of her life. Poor thing. One night will never be enough.

Beauty from Pain


Georgia Cates - 2013
    His success and wealth make him no stranger to the complications of romantic relationships and that’s why he goes to extreme measures to avoid the hassle. He prefers simplicity in the form of a beautiful female companion with no strings attached. He arranges relationships like business deals and they’re always the same. No long term relationships. No real names.It’s his game and his rules. He’s content to play as usual, but when Laurelyn Prescott enters his life, his strategy must change because this player is like none he's ever encountered. His world is turned on its head after he begins a three month affair with the beautiful American musician. Nothing goes according to plan and as he breaks more and more of his own rules for her, she’s exceptionally close to becoming something he never thought possible. His ultimate game changer.Not recommended for younger readers due to sexual content and language.

Mistletoed


M. Andrews - 2016
    Focusing on work and incasing his heart in a protective shell of ice. Friends and family have begged him to put himself back out in the dating world, to find someone who can unfreeze his troubled heart. But Derek is content to live alone. He had and lost the great love of his life and to him no one can make him as happy as his late wife Sonia had. That is until he gets snowed in for Christmas with the vibrant and charismatic Eliza Edwards. An American Christmas in the mountains sounded like a dream to Eliza Edwards. After four months of living in the Big Apple she was ready to get back to the small town vibe she had been missing since moving from her childhood home of Surrey, England. She was prepared for a weekend of watching cheesy Christmas movies, baking cookies and sitting by the fire drinking hot cocoa. The only thing she wasn’t expecting was to meet the charming and extremely handsome Derek Erickson. One innocent kiss under the mistletoe sparks a fire so intense that not even the coldest of hearts could survive. Snow, a small cabin in the woods and the romance of Christmas is a recipe for one hot steamy holiday.

Lost in Between


K.L. Kreig - 2017
    A price. That magic number that will get us to agree to do anything, be anything. Don’t sit on your gold-plated high horse and say you don’t because you do. Everyone does. Each of us has something we covet enough that we’d sell ourselves to have it.What’s my tipping point, you ask? Apparently a cool quarter mil will do the trick.What does one do for 250 large, you wonder? Anything the infamous, gorgeous playboy of Seattle wants. For the next four months I’ll be Shaw Mercer’s arm candy, his beck and call girl, his faux girlfriend. I’ll be his to command, mold, push and pull in any direction he sees fit. I’ll fight falling into bed with him. I’ll fight falling in love with him even harder. I’ll fail at both. And when my past and present collide in the most unexpected of ways, I’ll learn that while one man’s love for me has never died, the only man’s love I really want will never be mine.*If dirty-talking, dominant alphas are not your thing, move along. Mature, 18+ only. Book 1 in a 2-part duet.

The Rhythm of my Heart


Velvet Reed - 2014
    She could have the world at her feet, but instead chooses to help run the family business. After experiencing great loss early in her life, Grace values what's most important: her family and friends. But she aches to find that certain someone—that one great, passionate love who values family as much as she does.Cole Tierney loves his life. He has a wonderful family, a loyal best friend and a successful career as an ER doctor. The only downside is he wants someone to share it with. After being used and left heartbroken, he wants to find someone who will love him for him and not his or his family's status. "Every beat my heart makes is for you. Every time it beats faster it's because of you—because you're near me, because of your smile—because you take my breath away." Their two hearts collide by chance and an undeniable connection is quickly made.But when others are plotting against their happiness, will their love flatline, or will the rhythm of their hearts continue to beat as one?

Scorned


S.L. Scott - 2014
    It was all encompassing. I thought our love could withstand time and anything thrown our way. I was wrong. So wrong.I used to be happy. I used to be Juliette Weston when Dylan Somers filled my life with promises of love and a happy ever after. But when he took my heart and broke it into a million pieces, I became someone else entirely. In one afternoon, I lost my soul mate. I lost everything I knew myself to be. Three years later, the man who destroyed me is back. To assuage his guilt? To finish the job? It doesn’t matter… I won’t let him this time. I’m stronger. I’ve moved on. He won’t affect me. This is a story of love and betrayal. Pain and loss. Happiness and fate. It’s about finding your true destiny.This is our story.And it’s not for the faint of heart.

Monster


Julia Sykes - 2013
    The night I was taken. I saved a man's life, but at what cost to myself? Can I convince him to save me in return?I hate him for what he's done to me. But the longer I'm trapped with him, the harder it is to cling to that hatred. He is an enigma of a man, one who is shockingly arrogant, sweetly contrite, and frighteningly aggressive by turns. And the pain in his eyes is a mirror for my own.The longer I remain in his grip, the more confused I become.Is my freedom worth betraying him?Warning: This series contains strong language and scorching sex scenes involving light BDSM.

That Man 1


Nelle L'Amour - 2014
    Until he meets Jennifer McCoy, his outspoken new assistant and development executive.Newly engaged Jennifer has no idea that her devastating new boss is the man she kissed, blindfolded, in a game of Truth or Dare. That kiss, that man, that beautiful stranger she cannot forget.Blake hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss either…and he’ll do anything to win Jennifer —even if it means being a beautiful bastard and breaking all the rules.

The Arrangement: The Ferro Family


H.M. Ward - 2013
    Just when she doesn't think things could get any worse, they do. When her car stalls out at a busy intersection and she gets out to check under the hood, a guy steals her car. Armed with a dress and a pair of Chucks, Avery runs after the thief. When a hot stranger offers to help, she can't say no. That's how Avery meets Sean Ferro, the totally sexy, totally damaged guy with more secrets than she has time for.Avery doesn't have time for anything anymore. Her is life falling apart and it's not just the car. It's everything, and it doesn't matter how tightly she tries to hold on, there's nothing left to hold on to. With the sudden death of her parents, it's only a matter of months until Avery's shot at college is gone, and she's living in a cardboard box. Other students have their families to rely on when things get bad. Avery has no one. But there's one option, one incredibly sexy, morally devoid, option. If Avery takes a job as a call girl, one guy could save her. One client. One time. She just has to say yes.

Freight Trained


Sarah Curtis - 2016
    Years of dedication and an I don't give a f*ck attitude turned him into a champion. Then tragedy changed the course of his life once more.Buying a ranch on the outskirts of a small town, he planned to spend the rest of his days training horses, removed from society and the temptation of letting anyone close.And then he saw her. Tired of substitute teaching and unable to afford to move from her parents home, Abigail O'Neal jumped at the chance to start a new life away from the big city in the small town of Jasper Falls.Shy and socially awkward, she wanted the chance to be a different version of herself. But breaking out of her shell turned out to be harder than she thought.Until she met him. Who knew Abby's resemblance to a dead woman would make her the target of someone's sinister deeds.Can a hardened cowboy and a shy little mouse beat the odds, preventing tragedy from striking again? ***This is a full-length, standalone, steamy contemporary romance with a HEA. Due to sex and language, it is recommended for persons over 18.***

The Kingmaker


Kennedy Ryan - 2019
    In a world of haves and have nots, my family has it all, and I want nothing to do with it.My path takes me far from home and paints me as the black sheep. At odds with my father, I’m determined to build my own empire. I have rules, but Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of them. From the moment we meet, something sparks between us. But my family stole from hers and my father is the man she hates most. I lied to have her, and would do anything to keep her. Though she tries to hate me, too, the inexorable pull between us will not be denied.And neither will I.

Frisky Business


Staci Hart - 2016
    Not the drama of working in a tattoo parlor, which seems to be around every corner. When things get him down, he smiles and cracks a joke. But he’s not the kind of man you cross, or you’ll find yourself at the wrong end of his fists.Annika Belousov takes everything seriously.Like her job as a reality television producer, given that she typically has something to prove. Or her love life, which is defined by a series of requirements — affluent, ambitious, accomplished, to name a few. Definitely her family, who worked their whole lives to afford her every opportunity, a sacrifice she doesn’t take lightly. When she’s tapped to produce a reality show at Joel’s shop, she doesn’t think twice, just goes in for the kill, as if there were any other way.The second Annika walks into Joel’s shop, he makes it his mission to crack her open, but she’s not having it. He’s all wrong — too crass, too hairy, too un-serious. But it doesn’t take her long to find out there’s more to him than smirks and tattoos. And what she finds could put her career and his heart on the line.Not that Joel cares. Because for the first time in a long time, he’s found his tonic.

Saving Forever - Part 1


Lexy Timms - 2013
    Instead of finishing med school to become a doctor, she chooses a different path and raises money for hospitals – new wings, equipment, whatever they need. Except there is one hospital she would be happy to never set foot in again--her fathers. So of course he hires her to create a gala for his sixty-fifth birthday. Charity can’t say no. Now she is working in the one place she doesn’t want to be. Except she’s attracted to Dr. Elijah Bennet, the handsome playboy chief. Will she ever prove to her father that’s she’s more than a med school dropout? Or will her attraction to Elijah keep her from repairing the one thing she desperately wants to fix? ** This is NOT erotica. It's Romance and a love story. ** * This is a two book series: Part 1 and Part 2 * )

First Night


Lauren Blakely - 2013
    That escape comes in the form of sexy, confident and commanding Clay Nichols, who captivates her mind AND turns her inside out with pleasure. The attraction is electric and they share one scorchingly hot night together, but they also discover there is more than just off-the-charts chemistry; the connection between them runs deep. Clay never thought he’d return to New York with this woman still on his mind. But he can’t get her out of his system, and he needs more of her…He wants more than just the first night…*This is a prequel novella to the erotic romance NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.*