Book picks similar to
Smoke and Mirrors by Norma Marie


single-parent
contemporary
contemporary-romance
freebie

A Cowboy Billionaire Best Friend's Secret


Hanna Hart - 2019
    Will a secret get in the way of long lost feelings?After miscarrying her first child, Rachel Piers is a wreck. She found out her country star fiancé was cheating on her and decided to leave the ranch they ran together to seek comfort at her best friend’s ranch in Wyoming. The only problem is, her best friend is her ex-fiancé’s brother..When Rachel shows up on cowboy billionaire Hunter Brooks’ doorstep asking for a place to stay, he is more then happy to oblige. The last thing he knew, Rachel was still pregnant and happily engaged to his brother. But as they spend time together, he realizes that family secrets run deeper than a river.Rachel and Hunter have known each other since they were kids, and soon the childhood crushes that were always off-limits start to reignite. With her relationship with Hunter’s brother up in the air, the pair know their feelings for each other are forbidden.Can their best friends to lovers romance survive the secret they’re keeping? Or will they risk everything they’ve ever known for a chance at finally getting their happily ever after?

Kissing the Counsel: A Second Chance Romance


Jillian Riley - 2019
    I earned my successful career as an attorney and I’ve never had a problem with either money or honestly, women. The only thing making this stint in Falls Ranch bearable is her. In high school, she wouldn’t give me the time of day. Let’s see what she thinks of me now... Angel: I have always tried to live up to my name and be good. It is hard in the world as a single mother. Falls Ranch was our only hope. I got a job waiting tables. Then Evan walks into the diner. He awakens things in me that I had forgotten a long time ago. How can I avoid his questions, or his steely, smoldering stare? It is harder and harder to say no to him. This could be our second chance at love.

Not So Fake (The Billionaire's Secret #7)


R.S. Elliot - 2021
    

One Little Heartbreak


Avery Maxwell - 2021
    They’re a family that grows every time a wayward soul crosses their path, and now I’m an honorary member. A former spy, I was married at twenty-two—a father at twenty-six and a widow by thirty. To say my life is in transition would be an understatement. Winding up in small-town Vermont was a curveball I didn’t see coming, but I’m learning that the Westbrooks take their motto of Welcome to the Chaos seriously, and I’m in over my head. Having taken down one of the most notorious crime families of our generation, I thought it prepared me for anything. Then I met Ari, and Ari met the Westbrooks, and their chaos consumed us. My daughter will always come first, but when Ari gets under my skin, will I find the courage to love again? Or will the lure and danger of my old profession prove to be the only commitment I’m able to make?

Promise Maker


Symone West - 2021
    DOMENICO MARTELLIThe bringer of death.That is what they call me.So it is understandable why Solari shouldn’t be with a man like me.Though difficult, I was willing to stay away and continue watching her from afar.Then tragedy hits, and the first one she calls is me.In my world, power and brutality intertwine.The kind of violence Solari never imagined.When she learns what happened two years ago, will she accept me despite my dark side?

Claimed (Armstrong Lovers, #1)


Chelsea McDonald - 2019
    It was my time to serve our country, just like my father and my grandfather before me. The pain that throbbed in my chest every night I was away was the stone cold fact that I’d left her behind, not ever having told her how I felt. After twelve years and only a few short visits in-between, I’m finally back for good. I’ve waited long enough and I’m ready to take back the girl I let get away all those years ago.Finding out he was back in town isn’t too shocking, but finding out he’s back permanently - that’s a whole different story. He’s been my unicorn for as long as I can remember and the more I think about seeing him, the more I want to run and hide. Twelve years is a long time to live without someone in your life, we’ve both grown up and I doubt he’ll remember the little girl his brother dumped in middle school. Now that he’s back how do I hide the feelings of desire and heartbreak that he left me with all those years ago.

Heartless Boy


Jenna Rose - 2021
    She’s rich, I’m poor. We come from two different worlds and her parents would never let a princess like her get with a bad boy like me. Which is probably best, seeing as how I lost my ability to love a long time ago. Good girls stay away from me. They know better than to get close.But Maddie wants out of her life. She thinks I can save her from the path that’s been chosen from her. But I’ve seen this plenty of times before. Rich girls like her aren’t serious about guys like me. If she wants to me mine, she’s going to have to prove she can live in my world. But if she’s smart, she’ll stay as far away from me as she can, because this heartless boy will be her ruin…

Love & Other Chaos


Jackie Walker - 2020
    Brody’s my friend - just a friend. He’s also my autistic son’s favorite teacher.He’s as off limits as they come, no matter how drop dead gorgeous he is. Falling for him would be wrong. Resisting him though, is becoming pure torture. After being burned by men who can’t handle dating a single-mom of a special-needs child, I refuse to date anymore. Not until my son is grown. My plan is working fine until my trouble-making bestie presents me with a dare that I can’t resist. I’m a sucker for a good dare - especially when margaritas have been consumed. And she’s just dared me to plant a surprise kiss on Brody’s sexy lips, while she records it for a trending TikTok challenge video. But if I do this, it could change everything. My life is already pure chaos and maybe now is not the best time to shake things up even more. Is it worth risking our friendship and his important role in my son’s life for one kiss? What if he wants more? What if I do? Love & Other Chaos is a hilarious, steamy, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy featuring a drop dead gorgeous and seriously buff teacher with the hots for a single-mom of an autistic pre-teen son... who happens to be one of his students. This story also includes wise-cracking grandparents with zero respect for personal boundaries, swoon-worthy beach scenes, a jerky boss with no concept of personal space, nosey siblings and a foul-mouthed best friend who loves to instigate trouble. If you don't like sarcasm, steam, sexy-times, heroines who drink copious amounts of margaritas and laugh-a-minute dialogue, then this might not be the book for you. It’s a stand-alone novel with a happy ending, because cliffhangers will kill your margarita buzz.

Catching Caroline


Megan Nugen Isbell - 2017
    The small town is quiet and safe and the only home Caroline has ever known. Nothing ever changes in Silver Falls. At least that’s what Caroline thinks until it does. What she expected to be a typical summer, turns out to be one she will never forget when Adam DeLain suddenly returns to Silver Falls. Since they were kids, Adam and Caroline’s brother have been best friends, but it’s been years since Caroline has seen him, not since he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and embarked on a career in baseball, leaving his hometown behind. Caroline doesn’t know why Adam has suddenly come home, but she knows neither of them is the same person they were all those years ago when Adam disappeared from their lives. He’s no longer just her brother’s best friend and she’s no longer a little girl. What will happen when the worlds of a baseball player and a girl from the small town he left behind come together, truly seeing each other for the first time? Find out in Catching Caroline, the first book in the Silver Falls Series.

Love, Cass


Stephanie St. Klaire - 2019
    Loosely based on true life events of Author Stephanie St. Klaire, Cass is a relatable story guaranteed to make you look at life through a different lens. In this emotionally charged roller coaster of events, Cass represents life in fiction as she achieves triumph over tragedy, even in death. Stephanie shares her inspirational tale of victory with symbolic representation as she says goodbye to the girl she once was...through Cass. As requested by Brother’s Keeper fans, here is the companion novel for Liam... There’s something they don’t tell you about fairy tales. Happily ever after isn’t promised. Happy forever? Now, that’s a thing… I met my Prince Charming right out of pigtails and just before that point where boys stop being icky, and they just smell bad. Before I knew it, we went from best friends growing up to a whirlwind romance full of dream come trues. We were planning a forever that every love-soaked romance novel tries to recreate. I was living the ultimate romantic love story – skipped the frog phase and went straight to full blown prince. My life was perfect - until it wasn’t... I’m dying. The fairy tale just changed a bit, didn’t it? I can’t leave until those left behind know how to live their happy forever…without me. I won’t get the forever with them, but they’ll get a forever with me. I’m Cassidy O’Reilly…and this is my story.

Seeking Single Male: For the Holidays


Stephanie Bond - 2018
     “Stephanie Bond never fails to entertain me and deserves to be an auto-buy.” Romance Reviews Today “Need a lift, feeling down? Pick up Stephanie Bond’s latest and your mood cannot help but improve.” CataRomance.com For a feel-good sexy holiday romance, cuddle up with SEEKING SINGLE MALE!

I Like Me Better


Susan Renee - 2021
    Stabilize the family bakery business following the death of my father, and then get back to the city. It would have gone flawlessly had I not run smack dab into Hadley Hutton on my first night back. That spit-fire competitive girl was my college nemesis, always one-upping me, until she mysteriously didn’t return for our senior year.So, imagine my surprise when I’m introduced to the bakery’s newest manager and it’s her! Now I have to work closely with her nearly everyday. Words fly and tempers flare between us, just like they did in college, except something is different about her now. There’s more to Hadley Hutton than her sweet looks and salty attitude.Maybe if I can figure her out, she’ll see I’m not the jerk she thinks I am.Or maybe I’m just creating a recipe for disaster.This book is a full-length interconnected standalone! The books in the Bardstown series can be read in any order as each one features a different brother in the Fox family. These books are adult in nature and should only be read by those 18+ years old.

High Heels and Cowboy Boots: A Small Town, Second Chance Romance (Lone Tree Ranch Book 1)


Dawn Luedecke - 2020
    

Meet Jon, the Billionaire: From Enemies to Lovers


Laura Olsen - 2021
    HEA guaranteed!

Trust


Mignon Mykel - 2020
    Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Worlds project.Trust. Verb. To rely upon someone or something.Six weeks ago, Crew Dawson lost the partner who he knew without a doubt would always have his back. Losing K9 Ammo was the hardest day of his police career, and finding a new K9 partner isn’t working out too well for him. He’s ready to give up his role in the K9 unit when Sunnyville Police Department teams up with a high-risk dog shelter. Instead of finding a K9 that the department is looking for, though, he chooses rescues that unlikeliest of dogs.Trust. Verb. To have confidence; hope.The last fifteen years haven’t been too kind to Shawn Ypma. A teenaged mother, she fought hard to land on her own two feet. While she had the support of her parents, she stopped believing in love and happily ever after. Why should she trust a man when they’ve all failed her time and again? Her first and only priority right now is getting her daughter Austin through school, and hope Austin doesn’t make the same mistakes she did.When Career Day comes to Sunnyville Middle School, Shawn doesn’t know how to take the smiles and kind words from the new School Resource Officer. Little does she know, he and that massive dog of his are about to teach her a lesson in trust...