Book picks similar to
Once Upon a Bride by Jenny Holiday


romance
contemporary
novella
contemporary-romance

Queen of Klutz


Samantha Garman - 2015
    I ended my day with a bottle of tequila. I'll let you connect the dots.Somehow, I wound up working as a waitress at an Italian restaurant. I have no idea what I'm doing. And I'm not just talkin' about life.This should be interesting.Previously published as Tales of a New York Waitress

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea


Amelia Wilde - 2021
    An heiress lost at sea. And the treasure of a lifetime.He’s beautiful. Calculating. Cruel. And he’s taken me hostage.When pirates board my boyfriend’s yacht, I jump overboard to save myself. Drifting asea. Until one man rescues me from the endless ocean.Except he has plans of his own. I’m worth too much money for ransom. He’ll keep me on his ship and in his bed. The real danger lies in his dark-depth eyes. He wants more from me than money. Than passion. He wants everything.He rescued me, but I’m far from safe. There’s an entire sea of danger threatening to drag me under.The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by USA Today bestselling author Amelia Wilde is a dangerously sexy contemporary romance that will blow you out of the water.

Seared


Suleikha Snyder - 2017
    In that time, he’s become a famous chef, complete with his own hip and trendy Manhattan restaurant…and she’s become the woman who can give him everything — especially her body and soul. But the past doesn’t always stay dead, and you can’t escape it, no matter how far you fly or how hot you burn. Naya’s determined to win Lachlan and secure them a happily ever after, no matter what it takes — but is love enough to save her master chef?In the first book in the Master Chefs series, the forbidden meets the possible — and passion cooks up a storm.

Real Men Love Curves


Kat Baxter - 2020
    No idea that her luscious curves drive me crazy, or that she stars in my every fantasy. No idea that I’m aching to get out of the friend zone. I’m smart enough to keep that shit under wraps.There’s only one secret I guard more closely: I may want Erin’s body, but I also want her heart and soul. And I want them forever. But it turns out, I’m not the only one who has a secret...ErinEveryone has a secret right? Mine is just more embarrassing than most. I must be the only twenty-three-year in the world who’s never had an “O.” I’ve never taken the train to O-ville … not with any of my boyfriends. Not even by myself. So when Luke, aka my best friend, aka sex-on-a-stick, aka I wanna-climb-him-like-a-koala, offers to teach me how to get there, who am I argue? I’d be a fool to turn him down. I’d be even more of a fool to fall for him.Dear Reader, Real Men Love Curves is a steamy romantic short with a plus size heroine and her super-hot best friend with a guaranteed HEA.

Otherwise Alone


Shay Savage - 2012
    Other than his loyal Great Pyrenees, there's no one around to break up the monotony. The tedium is excruciating, but it is suddenly interrupted when a young woman stumbles up his path. He has two choices - pick her off from a distance with his trusty sniper-rifle, or dare let her approach his cabin and enter his life.Why not? It's been ages, and he is otherwise alone...

A Kiss for Luck


Grace Burrowes - 2014
    Sadie plans to focus on her business and her family, until handsome neighbor Gideon Granville turns his focus on Sadie. When Sadie learns where Gideon has been aiming his snooping skills, she’s ready to delete him from her plans entirely—though Gideon is all that stands between her and the trouble she thought she’d left behind her.

In the Clear


Tamara Morgan - 2013
    Even fewer know he’s in love with his best friend’s sister. And since he’s not willing to give up their friendship for a chance at something more, that’s exactly how things will stay.Lexie Sinclair has nothing to hide.The zany daughter, the wacky sister, the quirky fundraiser for a children’s charity — Lexie couldn’t hide her true self even if she wanted to. So when her brother’s best friend is revealed to be a local hero, she’s determined to stand up and prove she’s ready to be more than just friends.(37,000 words)

The Billionaire's Secret Heart


Ivy Layne - 2016
    Are you kidding? Holden Winters? A scion of the notorious Winters family, Holden is gorgeous, wealthy, and brilliant. He dates socialites and pop stars, not computer science grad students more comfortable in a hoodie than couture. Our night together was a fantasy…and a huge mistake. Holden: I don't usually steal other guy's dates. I don't have to. A look is all it takes, and the women fall over themselves to get to me. Then I saw Josephine, sitting with her dweeb of a date, just waiting for a man who could appreciate her lush curves and sharp brain. When she ghosted on me, I shouldn't have been so shocked, but women never walk away from me. Josephine thought she could call the shots - she didn't realize that a Winters man always gets what he wants. And I wanted her. The Billionaire’s Secret Heart is a standalone romance with a happy ending. It’s the first in the Scandals of the Bad Boy Billionaires series, and introduces the notorious men of the Winters family. You can read it on its own, but you might want to read the others once you get a taste of the Winters men.

Sparks Fly


Lucy Kevin - 2011
    Angelina Morgan is a beautiful consultant who practices an ancient art form called Feng Shui. Will Scott is an all-business CEO who doesn't believe anything he can't see and touch. With the help of a meddling ex-wife, a well-meaning best friend, and a matchmaking mother, Angelina and Will are about to find out what happens when opposites attract...and sparks fly.* * *

The Opposite of You


Rachel Higginson - 2017
    All men. Famous last words, right? You’re expecting some epic tale of reluctant love and my dramatic change of heart? Well, you’re not going to get it. I’m stubborn. And headstrong. And I’ve just survived the worst three years of my life. After escaping an abusive boyfriend to live in hostels and cheap hotels while I worked my way across Europe, I’ve come to two conclusions. The first? Now that I’m back home, I’m going to squander my expensive culinary degree on a food truck that caters to the late night drunk crowd. The second? I’m going to prove to the bastard across the plaza that my street food is better than his fussy five course monstrosities.Killian Quinn might be Food and Wine’s Chef to Watch Out For. He might have a Michelin Star. He might have every food critic in the city wrapped around his too-large fingers. But he’s also pretentious and unbearably arrogant and the very opposite of me. So he can keep his unsolicited advice and his late night visits and his cocky smiles. I want none of it. Or him. I want the opposite.

Macabre Magic


L.H. Cosway - 2014
    Horror films make her laugh rather than jump in terror. Jay begs to differ. With just the right magic trick, he thinks he can give his wife a scare for Halloween, so the two make a bet. Will Jay be able to frighten Matilda, or will Matilda’s immunity to scare tactics win out?Macabre Magic is a short, fun Halloween read for fans of L.H. Cosway’s Six of Hearts.

Breaking Him


Sherilee Gray - 2016
    But I know him simply as Elijah Hays, the quiet, gentle giant who works with the horses on my ranch. I can feel him watching me, that steady intense gaze making me crave things I don’t quite understand, burn in a way that frightens me. He’s always kept his distance… until that night.I remember him coming to my rescue, me following him into the barn, giving him his first taste of a woman, and his inexperienced yet barely reined touch turning me to ash.Now all I can think about is exposing the dark desire I see deep inside him — having him turn those dark desires on me. That low, gritty voice rasping orders in my ear. Those huge, rough hands holding me down when a storm blows in.I want his surrender. His control. I want to break him… and have him break me…

Halloween Boo


Sarah Spade - 2018
    Really.Spooky things have been happening to me ever since I moved in last year. At first, I ignored them. Later, I got used to the idea that I shared my place with a ghost. I even called him Casper. We got along just fine.Until a sexy hunk showed up the night before Halloween and told me that his name wasn’t Casper--it was Zack. And that, on All Hallow’s Eve, certain ghosts sometimes have the power to cross over into the human world. Which he did, because he loves me.Okay then.ZackI’m in love.The only problem?She’s alive. And me?I’m kinda not.At least, I’m not on every day except for October 31st. Because on Halloween? Anything goes.I want Dani. And even if it’s only for the one night when ghosts can cross over to the living world, I’ll take what I can get. Because I love a mortal, and it’s not just hocus pocus.***Dani Williams doesn’t believe in ghosts. But this Halloween, after a year of watching over and falling in love with his mortal houseguest, Zack Banks is ready to prove that this particular ghost might just believe in her.This sweet Halloween treat is chock full of insta-love, over-the-top Halloween magic, and enough Hocus Pocus nods to make you cackle like a sexy witch in between moaning for more. A Sarah Spade HEA guaranteed!

Thick


Alexa Riley - 2019
    When she meets her new neighbor she’s not prepared for how big or how hot he is. The gentle giant has her fantasies running wild and she’s learning what it means to love thy neighbor.Bull has always been the biggest in the room and it’s annoying. He’s a former security guard who now does online consulting to stay away from the stares. But when his young little neighbor wants to make friends he can’t help himself. He’s tearing down all his walls and breaking the rules just to have a shot at what he never thought was possible.Warning: Will Bull be too big to make Teeny his? Will it somehow work anyway? You betcha! Find out what happens when this bull meets his china shop...because it’s wild!

Impact


Tiffinie Helmer - 2012
    Flying back home for his sister’s wedding with only him and Wren in a chartered bush plane guarantees he’ll have her undivided attention. Ever since Skip arrested her five years earlier, Wren vowed never to lay eyes on him again. She’s gotten sober and made a life for herself that she’s proud of. Seeing Skip now throws her into a tailspin. When the plane crashes, forcing them to battle a violent arctic storm, outwit predators, and dispose of a dead body, they must find a way to get past their differences if they are to survive to have a future together. That is if they don’t kill each other first.