Book picks similar to
McKenzie's Turn to Fall by Harlow James
age-gap
holiday
arc
romance
Overdue
Miranda Elaine - 2020
I told myself I wanted nothing to do with him, but no matter how much I tried to hate him, that crazy boy somehow became my best friend.As teenagers, we were inseparable. Despite the high school rumors, we never crossed any lines. Friends forever. That was our motto. Griffin grew up to become a smoking hot firefighter and I got my dream job as the town librarian. Life was perfect. However, when tragedy strikes and we’re forced to move in together, our friendship is put to the biggest test yet. Do I risk everything for the chance at an epic love? If I follow my heart, I could lose my best friend. But if it works, we could finally get our very own Happily Ever After.
Winner
Belle Brooks - 2019
Miss Prim and Proper. Arm candy for one of the richest men in Hoffman. Fate had her saving my life. Now I'm indebted to repay the favour. Rose has the biggest stick up her arse. It’s surprising she can even put one foot in front of the other. She has no clue what it means to be living, or who she really is. To the outside world Rose has everything, but to those who pay close attention, it’s nothing short of a well-constructed facade. I’m Finlay Crossley and I’m a simple misfit from the wrong side of the tracks. Until three days ago, I didn't have two cents to rub together. Rose is my opposite in every way, but as the saying goes—‘opposites attract.’ How in the world does a socialite notice a nobody like me? It all happens when a loser becomes a winner.
The Bribe
Willa Nash - 2020
He also didn’t expect to see her again after rescuing her from the surly beast. As the sheriff in Calamity, Montana, he’s had his fair share of surprises but none as pleasant as pulling over a shiny black car and finding his mysterious hiking companion behind the wheel.Only, she lied to Duke. She gave him a name as fake as her hair color. According to her driver’s license, her real name is Lucy Ross, the famous country music singer whose sudden disappearance has been a hot topic in the media over the past two weeks.He’s not sure why Lucy lied about her identity or why she’s in Calamity. And she’s not talking. Instead, she offers him a bribe to keep her secret. But Duke doesn’t want her money. He wants to know why this woman is on the run. And as long as the star shines on his badge, he’s going to find out.
Never Fall for Your Fiancée
Virginia Heath - 2021
Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So, Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns his interfering mother is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his complicated, convoluted but convenient ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman, who might just be the miracle he needs.Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. Work as a woodcut engraver is few and far between, and the Merriwell sisters are nearly penniless. So, when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that while the scheme sounds ludicrous, the offer is too good to pass up.Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh's estate, of course, nothing goes according to his meticulous plan. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue, while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other, when their relationship started with a lie?
Stuck at Christmas
Georgia Coffman - 2021
It's the furthest thing in my mind.Until her.To my surprise, one night is all it takes for me to fall for her, even though I know next to nothing about her.I never thought I'd see my mystery woman again, but like a holiday miracle, she shows up at my clinic one night with her young daughter.Every minute I’m with them only makes me fall harder, but our situation isn’t so simple.Getting stuck in a closet with Isabel just days before Christmas might be the gift we didn’t know we needed.
Everything After
Jill Santopolo - 2021
Two choices. One chance to follow her dreams.Emily has come a long way since she lost her two passions fifteen years ago: music, and Rob. She's a psychologist at NYU who helps troubled college students like the one she once was. Together with her caring doctor husband, Ezra, she has a beautiful life. They're happy. They hope to start a family. But when a tragic event in Emily's present too closely echoes her past, and parts of her story that she'd hoped never to share come to light, her perfect life is suddenly upturned. Then Emily hears a song on the radio about the woman who got away. The melody and voice are hauntingly familiar. Could it be? As Emily's past passions come roaring back into her life, she'll find herself asking: Who is she meant to be? Who is she meant to love?
The Road Trip
Beth O'Leary - 2021
The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they've totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship...Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly... is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?
When Heroes Fall
Giana Darling - 2021
A disappointment to my family. Haunted by my childhood traumas. I felt so much all my life that I resolved to feeling nothing at all. Until I met my match. As the most infamous mafioso of the 21st century, Dante Salvatore was madly passionate, unequivocally bad, and entirely too dangerous to know. He was everything I abhorred, yet I found myself representing him in the biggest criminal trial of the decade. I was so focused on winning and achieving the success I deserved that I didn't notice the gorgeous black-eyed man's effect on me until it was too late. My icy heart had been held too close to his flame and now I wouldn't let Dante go down without fighting with everything I had in me. Even if the cost of a new life with him meant the loss of my old life and everything I thought I held dear.
Wanted: Big Bad Brother: A Billionaire Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance
Natalie Knight - 2018
Beautiful. Perfection. Everything that's good in this world.Too good for me.When she comes to me for help,I can't resist any longer. I'll make her mine. Even if it means risking everything. I'll risk it all. Go all in on the two of us.
If I win, then it'll soon be three.
Changing the Rules
Catherine Bybee - 2021
Armed with an impressive set of covert skills, she’s more than prepared to tackle any job that comes her way…except one involving Cooper Lockman.Cooper and Claire used to work together before his feelings for her sent him packing to Europe for six long years. But now he’s back and determined to ignore the still-smoldering heat that lingers between them.Their current mission: go undercover together at a California high school to root out the mastermind behind a prostitution ring targeting young girls. The closer they get to the truth and the closer they get to each other, however, the deadlier their task becomes. As Claire and Cooper risk their lives to bring down their target, will their hearts be the final casualties?
Travis
Mia Sheridan - 2021
An important role as the chief of police in the idyllic town of Pelion, Maine. Looks that regularly and consistently make women fall at his feet. Two nephews and a niece he adores, and a family who’s mostly forgiven him after a series of unfortunate decisions years before. Perhaps his past is riddled with regrets and misguided choices, but his future looks bright and limitless.Until the new guy in town crosses him in a way both shocking and indefensible.A guy who, as it turns out, has a sister who may be equally as disastrous to Travis’s well-ordered plans, though in an altogether different manner. Not that there’s any real risk of him falling for the smoothie-making, birdseed-eating wild woman. She’s not even his type. A plant lady from California with a head of unruly curls and an equally messy past. More than that, she’s only in town for the summer, busy mooning over perfect-in-every-way Gage Buchanan.And if Travis knows anything, it’s that he refuses to be second best. Ever again.Haven Torres’s life fell apart. Or more to the point, it burned to the ground. At the time, it seemed like a solid idea to jump in her car, her brother a mostly-willing co-pilot, and embark on a cross-country adventure.When they land jobs at an exclusive tennis and golf club in a picturesque lake town in Maine, Haven’s hopeful it might prove a summer to remember. Especially if she can catch the attention of the most eligible bachelor in town and her current crush. Even the kindest, most upstanding, perfect of men aren’t opposed to summer flings, right?But when she meets the local police chief—all swagger and arrogance—and learns of her brother’s scandalous misdeed, she knows that Pelion is just another town where their stay is best... short-lived. Still, she and Travis strike up an unlikely friendship and Haven sees that the gorgeous lawman isn’t only easy on the eyes, but he has... layers. Not that she’s going to peel any of them. He’s only her friend. A friend willing to scratch her back, if she scratches his.It seems simple enough. She’ll help him make her brother sweat a little. And he’ll help her win over Gage. But before either Travis or Haven knows it, simple turns complicated, friendship gets flipped on its ear, passion faces down perfection, and they both discover that sometimes you have to lose it all to find exactly what you need.
Under His Ink
Maya Hughes - 2018
Now, I’m back because she’s the only person I can trust. And I couldn’t stay away for another day.Being near me means danger for the both of us because no one leaves the mob unscathed. She’s inking over my past one day at a time and it's strictly business for her, but the flames licking at our heels aren’t just from the heat between us.But the only thing harder than leaving the mob is leaving her. I’ll show her that what we have is forever as long as I’m still breathing…Under His Ink is a 55,000 word second chance mob romance.
Mountain Man's Accidental Baby Daughter
Lia Lee - 2018
Nature was my domain. Where I preferred to be. Hiking trails. Guiding people through the tangle of scrub. But then I got the rescue call – a chick with a twisted ankle stuck on a hill. Typical city girls. Clueless. Only, when I found Fiona, I didn’t anticipate that she’d be so… smoking hot. Fawn-like eyes. Redheaded bob. Curvy figure… Hmm, my carnal desire went into overload. I helped her back to my cabin. But that was a mistake. My “mountain man” urges couldn’t be resisted. And the way she looked at me was far from innocent. So, we made love... all night long. After that, I never expected to see her again... Until she showed up at my house and uttered two words that changed everything: “I’m pregnant.” Fiona wasn’t just a mere rescue anymore. She was the mother of my baby. And that meant she was mine. But neither of us were prepared for what happened next…
Things We Never Got Over
Lucy Score - 2022
Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon. Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.
The Clause in Christmas
Rachael Bloome - 2019
Especially this year. No job. Flat broke. And an ex most definitely on the naughty list.But the unexpected inheritance of a Victorian cottage in the idyllic town of Poppy Creek may be the miracle Cassie needs. Except for one problem: a clause in the will. Cassie must complete a series of festive tasks for each day in December leading up to Christmas. Overseen by the disarmingly handsome, Christmas-loving lawyer, Luke Davis. Luke is as strong and steady as the bespoke furniture he crafts as a hobby. He has to be. Stepping into his late father's shoes as the town lawyer comes with a sleigh full of responsibilities. Which means the alluring stranger collecting her inheritance is a distraction he can't afford.As the unlikely pair works together to complete the daily tasks, fighting their attraction becomes more futile than putting good ol' St. Nick on a diet. But when Cassie's ex reappears with the offer of a lifetime, she'll have to choose between love and the life she always wanted. Curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and visit a town that feels like home. This endearing, sweet romance will warm your heart and fill you will hope. A "must-read" year after year.