Book picks similar to
Smoke and Mirrors by Norma Marie


single-parent
contemporary-romance
contemporary
freebie

Adam


Anna Castor - 2021
    And the former snowboard star has his eyes set on her.As an Olympic gold medalist on the half-pipe, Adam Mills has seen and done it all before. He's finally ready to give his heart to a woman and settle down. But can Adam win over Caitlin's heart? All Winter Peaks books can be enjoyed as stand-alone novels or as part of the larger series.Although the heroine, Caitlin, comes from the Lucky Irish series, it's not required to read those books first.

Mr. Fake Fiance


Aubrey Wright - 2019
    Did McHottie just ask me to fake an engagement? You would think I would say no. You would think I wouldn't move in with a complete stranger. You would think I wouldn't give that stranger my virginity. Most days I'm a pillar of restraint.But some gravitational pull made both of us complete idiots for each other.Now we're knee deep in scandal.And this arrangement is getting more dangerous by the minute.60 days to convince myself it's only fake.Two months before I never feel his touch again.One chance to tell him about my secret.

Mr. Principal


Summer Cooper - 2018
    “Is it wrong to be with the person you love?” My heart skipped a beat and I could no longer meet his eyes. I wasn’t ready yet to accept what I saw there. I wasn’t ready to accept his love. Dana Duran has no idea what she’s doing with her life. Divorced, bitter, and trying to raise a precocious little girl on her own, the last thing Dana needs is another complication in her already hectic existence. But then Carter Knight comes back into town and just like that, Dana’s reality is shaken yet again. Torn between protecting her heart and harboring a secret she wishes she could forget, Dana has mixed feelings about Carter’s return. But the heart knows what it wants and for Dana and Carter, their hearts want each other. But will they let their past mistakes dictate their present or will Dana and Carter let go of the past and make room for love?

Saving Ariel


Ellie Masters - 2021
    His focus is on raising his daughter as a single dad, and keeping his offshore oil rig crew safe. As his crew evacuates in advance of Hurricane Julian, a category five monster barreling down on the gulf, disaster strikes. Two of his crewmen are critically injured. He needs to get them to safety before the hurricane hits. When the aeromedical rescue helicopter pilot turns out to be a woman, he’s surprised. When she falls into his arms, his entire body takes notice. The tough, gorgeous, pilot is everything Aiden thought he’d never have—or want—again. Can Ariel be the one? His second chance at love?Too bad the storm seems to have other plans for them…Ariel Black doesn’t believe in love.With a category five hurricane barreling down on the Gulf, helicopter pilot, Ariel Black, is on a mission to evacuate wounded men from an oil rig. When the massive storm arrives ahead of schedule, it grounds Ariel’s helicopter, trapping them on the oil rig. She and her men, along with Aiden and his wounded, must ride out the storm. It’s the worst possible time to fall in love, but she does. Ariel falls hard…right into the installation manager’s arms. Aiden Cole makes her heart race, her pulse pound, and the butterflies in her stomach soar. Could he be the one?Will the storm of the century destroy Aiden and Ariel’s chance at happily ever after? Or does fate have something else in store?Saving Ariel, a steamy, second chance, contemporary romantic suspense, about love at first sight. It features a protective hero and the smart, feisty heroine who steals his heart.Get your copy today and let the binge-reading begin.(Saving Ariel was previously published as 'Aiden.')

Run with It


M.L. Nystrom - 2020
     Then Connor moves in next door. Connor is healing from a hard break from his family and is working to find his own identity.  He has no interest in joining another one. Then he meets his neighbor. Two people building new lives. Two people with no time or energy for love. Bev and Connor are determined to stick to their plans, but life has other ideas—now they just have to run with it. "Run With It" is a Dragon Runners motorcycle romance spin-off., featuring Connor from "Stud."

Montana Cowboy Romance


Jane Porter - 2020
     After the only woman Joe Wyatt ever loved marries another, the Montana rancher swears off romance. He's done playing the game. Only problem? He needs a wife, and kids he can pass the Paradise Valley cattle ranch to. So Joe takes the same no-nonsense approach to marriage as he does to running his family’s business...he places an online ad for a mail-order bride. The ad is a lot like Joe, straight-forward and to-the-point: Wife Wanted. When Sophie Correia is left at the altar after her groom runs off with her maid of honor, she wants to get as far away from California and her dairy farming family as possible. Sophie doesn't need hearts and flowers, but she's fed up with men who can't commit. And at thirty, she's more than ready to start a family. When she comes across Joe's ad, she thinks she's found the perfect solution — head to Montana, get married, and move forward. Can a contract for marriage lead to love, or will the arrangement cost them their hearts?

This Is It: A Second Chance Romance: San Diego Social Scene Novella


Tess Summers - 2020
    Thinking back to the prior evening’s events, I decided it was definitely the naughty one. There had to be a mistake —I was always on the nice list. But the gorgeous, naked man snuggled next to me seemed to suggest I had a lump of… something waiting for me. Maybe the nice list was overrated. Or maybe naughty girls really did end up with coal in their stockings.GrantI was now on the ‘every-other-weekend and alternating holiday schedule' with my kids —one more thing about divorce that I detested. Attending my law partner’s Christmas Eve party seemed like a better alternative to drinking alone in my boring beige condo, staring at my new pipe-cleaner tree with its new, shiny ornaments. The last thing I expected was to be propositioned by a former PTA President. Or to wake up Christmas morning not wanting to leave her bed. But you don’t get to be our age without plenty of baggage. The question was, did ours match?This sexy, feel-good second chance romance will have you cheering for Paige and Grant to finally find their happily ever after together. But not before they discover that dating —at any age —isn’t so easy.

The Tycoon's Twin Trouble (Southern Beaus)


Layla Valentine - 2021
    

Happy Truth About Love


Karice Bolton - 2017
    Instead of overthinking what’s right in front of her, she embraces the freedom of the unknown and the thrill of leaving everything behind and moves to the small mountain town of Silver Ridge. It isn’t until she arrives at her late uncle’s Bed and Breakfast that she begins to doubt her newfound ability to throw caution to the wind. From the moment she opens the barely hanging front door and steps inside to see peeling wallpaper and a broken banister, she realizes this inheritance might not have been a gift at all. Her uncle had to be using the term Bed and Breakfast loosely in his will because it was more of a deathtrap than anything. But she does love her new town. And the overly helpful Joel North, who is exactly everything she’s told herself to stay away from. He’s gorgeous, somewhat mysterious, and he’s sprinkled with the power to make Autumn blush off just one look, which is completely unacceptable in the real world, but she just can’t help herself. What Autumn doesn’t expect to uncover are secrets that change everything she’s known about her family and the life she’s led. It doesn’t help that Joel seems to hold the answers to some of her darkest questions and there’s one he just won’t answer. As she rebuilds the old mansion, she realizes her uncle’s real gift wasn’t the B&B, but the truth that rested behind its walls.

Ruff House


Mellie Callahan - 2019
    She was the reason he stayed. Therapist Katie Mitchell’s dream to buy the property she’s leasing is finally within her reach. After losing her husband and high school sweetheart, the safe haven she intends to build will honor his memory – and ease the guilt she’s felt for years – in their hometown of Tradition, Texas. With funds in hand, the expansion of her animal-centered non-profit seems like a sure thing until a sexy stranger steps foot on her land, right in the way of her plans – and her life in a way that she isn’t ready for.Ex-Marine businessman Troy Montgomery is searching for an answer to the question left by his brother’s journal when he finds the perfect property for his foundation’s equine retreat. He wants it instantly – just like he wants the feisty woman who lives there. She speaks to the damaged cowboy beneath his polished exterior. But the more he pursues, the more he realizes she might hold the key to answers he doesn’t want – and a change he may not be ready to make.This means war. Or cohabitation. Or maybe healing for them both.

Floating


Michelle Dare - 2015
    It was something she felt every day of her life. The night she almost drowned was seared into her memory, marking the beginning of her problem with anxiety. Her oceanfront home and the crashing of waves against the shoreline served as an ever-present reminder of her past. Until the day she saw someone on the beach whose very presence calmed her. Ellis Sullivan was a recent law school graduate, spending the summer with his best friends at his family’s beach house in Ray Point. It was their last chance to have fun together before they entered the workforce. Summer was supposed to be full of days on the sand and parties at night, but that changed the day he first saw Lucy. She walked into his life and rendered him speechless. He knew he’d never be the same. A relationship between the two was unexpected, but their connection was strong. Not everyone thought they should be together, though. Lucy’s ex-boyfriend, Gabe, wasn’t ready to give up on a future with her. After all, he was the one who saved her life. Love and trust came together to help Lucy find the peace within that she had searched for since that terrible night. Only with the right person by her side was she able to move on, beyond the fear that had ruled her life for far too long. The person who made her feel like she was floating. *This book contains explicit language and sexual content. It is meant for readers 18 and over.

Billionaire Cowboy's Runaway Bride


Hope Moore - 2020
    He’s a confirmed bachelor, she’s a runaway bride who needs his help.After confirmed bachelor, Cole Tanner catches the garter at his friend’s wedding he finds a dazed and confused runaway bride limping along the back roads of his hometown of True Love, Texas and stops to help.Tulip Jones obviously can’t say no to public marriage proposals—this is her second time to be a runaway bride! She needs help in more ways than one—can Cole teach her how to become a confirmed bachelorette and learn to say no?They’re a perfect match until love gets in the way!The billionaire bachelors of True Love, Texas are about to meet their matches...

Refuge


A.J. Alexander - 2020
    Now, her life revolves around Love and she’s happy. Content, even.Until she meets Connor Bennet.From their first meeting, he’s turning her life upside-down and making her want things she thought she no longer needed.So, she does what she thinks is best and pushes him away. Putting trust in that useless organ in her chest has led to nothing but heartbreak, and she won’t make that mistake again.There’s just one problem: he might just be the man of her dreams.

The Tillman Crush


Kelly Gendron - 2021
    His hold was firm.The next day, he vanished. After seven years, he’s back with a sexy smile, flirty eyes, and jacked muscles.Not that I care.Let him slather on the charm.I won’t give in to The Tillman Crush. Not this time. BRITT Sadie Holland. Beautiful. Smart.The untouchable girl next door.Growing up, I wanted her.To keep her at a safe distance, I was mean to her.Then, the accident happened.With my mom gone, my father turned to the bottle.So I left town the first chance I got.Now, I’m back and not just for Sadie.The other thing I want.Well, the girl I came back for might not like it.Still, I won’t stop until I get what I want.Not this time.

Mr. Arrogant


Elyse Kelly - 2021
    I can handle his holier-than-thou attitude for a few weeks.I refuse to let his sinful body distract me from my ultimate goal.Who cares if he has the most deliciously intoxicating scent? Not me.And his stupidly gorgeous, good looks?Pffft, he’s just another pretty face I won’t be falling for.And right about the time I almost give in to the hottest, cockiest CEO in town, he does just what I expect him to do… proving he really does deserve to be called nothing less than Mr. Arrogant. Mr. Arrogant is a standalone enemies-to-lovers, light angst, romantic comedy with a HEA. More Than Money series will have you swooning over these sexy billionaires with big wallets and even bigger hearts this July! Grab a fan and a cool drink, it's about to get hot in here!