Book picks similar to
The Real Thing by Diana Fraser


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Unforgettable


Linda Barrett - 2021
    A rocking career in finance, a great group of friends and singing with the community chorus fill her calendar and provide her with total satisfaction. Until the phone rings. Until an upbeat familiar voice from the past reawakens her heart and reminds her of what she’s been missing.Playwright Doug Collins has never forgotten the girl he left behind. Even though it was Jennifer who’d made that final decision. “Go to New York and have a wonderful life,” she’d said before running back to her family, a family that still needed her. But that was five years ago. Five years of Jen in the back of his mind, nestled in his heart. Now memories are not enough! Doug packs up his car and heads to Boston in search of that “wonderful life.”Most reunions have bumpy beginnings and not all end well. Jennifer and Doug have a lot to figure out. But they’re smart, honest, and were once madly in love. Do they have a chance at finding the ending they so richly deserve?

7 Miles High


Leslie Pike - 2020
    Trust issues from ex-husband? Check.Meeting my soulmate on a plane to Cancun? Not what I expected. This bachelorette weekend was all about letting loose and having fun, not finding the man of my dreams. Guess you can’t pick when you find your soulmate. Oops. I’m not ready for another commitment, but Parker drives me crazy. One wild weekend in the tropics later, and I’ve found Parker’s the man that stands out from all the boys I’ve had before.But can we really last once this trip is over? I have my doubts, but Parker wants to take our relationship sky-high...ParkerI’m not a guy that likes to get serious. Flings are more my thing, and I know exactly how to satisfy any lady that crawls into my bed. But Natalie offers something more, and with one look at her, I know this bachelor’s getaway just became a romantic quest to chase down the girl of my dreams. We’ve got a strong connection, but Natalie’s trust issues have forced us to remain distant. I could never break her heart like her ex did. And I’m about to prove it.In all the right ways. The party’s just gotten started, but what Natalie and I have… it’s forever.I just have to convince her of that. ***The first novel in the Easy Street series, 7 Miles High is a contemporary romance of finding your true love on a plane, then never letting them go. Adventurous, funny, and full of heart, this love story by author Leslie Pike will have readers flying into an emotional rollercoaster of passion and new beginnings.

Escape to Starling Bay


Sienna Carr - 2019
    Winter's Kiss2. Maid for Him3. Love LettersWinter's KissShe's the city girl from Boston. He's the gift shop owner from the bay. Their worlds were never meant to collide.Maid for HimHe's from one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the bay.She's a maid.It was never meant to be.Love LettersHe's a ladies man. A charmer and a flirt.The chaser, not the chased. Until the arrival of anonymous love notes upsets the status quo.All the books in this series are sweet romances with a happy-ever-after, and each book can be read as a standalone.

Grill Me, Baby


Sophia Knightly - 2012
    The tastiest tidbit on the island, though, is cool, elegant Michaela Willoughby. The redhead's slender curves are as enticing as her rabbit-food menus are maddening. And she's his main competition for the chance of a lifetime.Michaela overcame her own weight issues to become Flamingo Island's premiere spa chef. Now she has a chance to share her innovative recipes for healthy living on a new cooking show--if she can somehow outshine Paolo. His sizzling Latin-lover looks are more heart stopping than his decadent cooking. And she'd love nothing more than to stick a fork in his outsized ego.When the stage lights ignite, so does the sexual chemistry no one--least of all Paolo and Michaela--saw coming. Suddenly, separating business from pleasure is as impossible as separating a scrambled egg. And the big question isn't whose knife cuts fastest...it's whose heart can take the most heat.Warning: Contains two hot chefs duking it out in a lively showdown of sexy rivalry. Mix in family drama, luscious recipes and spicy mischief, and there's more than just steam rising out of the kitchen. May cause lusty cravings for midnight indulgences.

The Vintner's Vixen


Rebecca Norinne - 2018
    She’s got plans and power tools ready, but an inconvenient attraction to her grumpy new neighbor is not on the agenda. Neither is kissing him practically all over town.Vintner Noah Blackstone’s main goal in life is to win awards for his wine. Everything is going according to plan too, until construction on the B&B bordering his property threatens his prize-winning vines. When Noah storms next door to demand an explanation, he doesn’t expect to meet the sexiest woman he’s ever seen. Everything about Angelica is both infuriating and exhilarating—from her pink tool belt to her quick retorts. And even though she drives him absolutely insane, he can’t help wanting her. Somehow, between long hikes through the forest and lovely picnics on the bay, Angelica and Noah manage to resolve their differences. But when Noah’s secrets are revealed and Angelica gets another shot at stardom, they’re forced to ask themselves some very hard questions. Can their love survive the truth? Better yet ... can they survive each other?

The Lakeside Inn


Leeanna Morgan - 2021
    When tragedy strikes, she returns to Sapphire Bay to say goodbye to her grandmother and comfort her parents.The last thing Penny or her sisters expect is to inherit the house her grandma called home. But there's a catch, and it could change their lives forever.Wyatt Johnson didn't move to Sapphire Bay to be harassed by four females and a dog of unknown pedigree. But when the Terry sisters become his neighbors, any chance of completing his latest collection of paintings disappears under a blast of plaster dust and never-ending banging.When Penny needs his help to solve an old family mystery, they're drawn into a web of secrets unlike anything Sapphire Bay has ever seen.This novel can easily be read as a standalone. Each of Leeanna's series are linked so you can find out what happens to your favourite characters in other books. Happy reading!

Cowboy Creed


Rhonda Lee Carver - 2020
    For Mindy and Creed the flame remains.Newly divorced and empty nester, Mindy Sage, decided that her hometown might be the perfect place to reinvent herself, or at least find the wild and carefree girl she used to be before she moved away.She’s craving small town comfort, but the problem is, in Cooper’s Hawk, everyone knows everyone. Secrets can feel as tall and wide as the Montana mountains that backdrop the friendly, picturesque town where she’d left her heart in the hands of a handsome cowboy nineteen years ago.Search and Rescue team member, Creed Hawke, understood more than anyone what saving a life meant, but who would save him from the one woman he’d never gotten over? He’d moved on—or at least he thought he had until those old emotions come tumbling back with the vengeance of a forest fire. He’s reminded of how much he’d loved Mindy, wanted her, swore to marry her. Why couldn’t he forget her? Resist her? Deny her his heart?Because he’d fallen for her at ten and never came back up for air.How can he forgive her for stealing his daughter from him? Is love stronger than the mistakes they’ve made? Or are they doomed before they find forever?

Long Road Home


Mary Jane Morgan - 2015
    Leaving college, she returns home to find her younger sister mute with shock, her mother too depressed to function, and their beloved Thoroughbred horse ranch on the verge of going under. She’s barely arrived when she’s forced to accept help from Brett Dawson—the man who once broke her heart—when a marauding mountain lion threatens one of the prized horses they depend on for survival. Brett would rather be anywhere but the Swearingen ranch. Caught between his feelings for Megan and the powder keg of the ongoing feud between their families, he feels his only choice is to help Megan, regardless of the consequences. If it weren’t for Brett’s father, Megan’s dad might still be alive, and she wouldn’t be here now sacrificing her future to save her family’s ranch. As the long-simmering attraction between Megan and Brett resurfaces, it is threatened almost before it begins by dark family secrets swirling around them—secrets that turn to danger and could very well destroy not only their new beginning, but the lives of everyone they both love.

Ava- Brewing Chemistry: Rosalind Brewery Series Book 1


Palmer Jones - 2020
    Deploying without having one night, one kiss, would be a major regret.”Ava Sanderson doesn’t “do” casual dating.She wants to date one man, not a dozen. Sleep with one man, not a dozen.And after switching from her decade long career in chemistry to co-owning Rosalind Brewery with her two best friends, swearing off all forms of dating is easier than taking the risk. Because when Ava falls for a guy…she falls hard.Jake Rossi needs a distraction for the next two months before he deploys back to the dessert or to wherever the Army wants to send him. A couple of months as a maintenance man at the Rosalind Brewery seems like an easy job.Until he meets Ava.The woman is wicked smart, doesn’t have a clue about construction, and fights him at every turn. Jake can help- if she lets him.But that’s not all Jake wants. He wants a date.One date before he deploys.Before he leaves Asheville and never returns.Brewing Chemistry: Ava, Book One in the Rosalind Brewery Series, is a full-length romance novel full of laughter, sexy bits with a hunky soldier, and a satisfying happily ever after.Rosalind Brewery Series:1) Ava2) Reese (release date 8/14/2020)3) Frankie (release date 9/4/2020)Other Series by Palmer JonesA Southern Kind of LoveO'Keeley's Irish Pub

Bluestone Homecoming


M.J. Fredrick - 2012
    Leo doesn’t know how to be a single parent since the death of his wife, and he certainly has no desire to return to Bluestone. But he needs a place for his son, a place where he’ll be with family, while Leo does his job. He’ll stay long enough to get Max settled, then go back to work.School counselor Trinity Madison watches Leo struggle with his son, trying to overcome the mental barricade she’s erected against the man who sent his son away when he’s perfectly capable of caring for the child. The situation brings about her own unsettled feelings about giving her child up for adoption when she was young. But as she observes Leo’s difficulties, his sacrifices, she softens toward the man.While he’s in town, he ends up working with some old friends and Trinity on a committee to revitalize Bluestone. The former resort town is struggling and looking for ways to bring tourists back. Leo finds himself charmed, then smitten with the feisty counselor, but will he still love her when he learns her secret?

Her Unexpected Roommate


Laura Ann - 2021
    The situation leaves her alone in the world, but offers something she's always dreamed of. The opportunity to open a bed and breakfast, turning her broken down inheritance into a place of light and laughter. Her dreams crash, however, when a handsome stranger shows up claiming he owns half of the seaside mansion and he's not willing to sell.Cooper James couldn't believe his luck when his estranged grandfather left him a half ownership in home in Oregon. It was the perfect opportunity for Cooper to start fresh in a place where no one knew the mistakes of his past. His patience is tested when the other owner, a beautiful but angry woman, demands to open a bed and breakfast, a situation that would be in direct contrast to his hopes for a refuge in which to build a new life.Can these two set aside their differences long enough to test the attraction simmering between them? Or will their fighting cost them everything?

Love at Sunset Lake


Sally Bayless - 2018
    An artist who's withdrawn from the world. A property battle that just might heal them both.When struggling caterer Tess Palmer inherits her great-aunt's home at Sunset Lake, Missouri, she thinks she's found the way to save her business. Selling the property can provide just the infusion of capital she needs to pay off her debts and move to a larger commercial kitchen.Wildlife painter Jack Hamlin, who lives across Sunset Lake, wants the area kept exactly as it is--a place where waterfowl can thrive and where he can find peace and solitude to ease his troubled heart. Although he's drawn to Tess's honesty and beauty, he's appalled to learn she would welcome a deal with a developer, and he vows to stop her.As Tess discovers the reasons why Jack is so passionate about protecting the lake, she finds him more and more attractive. She takes a tentative step past her own emotional pain to risk her heart again. But there seems to be no solution to the impasse over the property. As a sale becomes imminent, can Jack and Tess trust God--and each other--and finally find a love that will last?

The Surprise Wedding


Jean Oram - 2017
    Come fall in love... Sometimes exes come in handy. Devon Mattson’s week couldn’t get much worse. Not only is he fake engaged to the sexy woman who broke his heart (then stomped on it for good measure) a decade ago, but his goal of saving his hometown of Blueberry Springs has become dependent on the two of them playing nicely. Olivia Carrington isn’t happy to have her ex back in her life. She’s spent ten long years regretting how they ended things back in college and she’s worked hard to move on. She should be focusing on saving her family’s company, not on the handsome, helpful, fun-loving Devon who has just offered her a lifeline she can’t resist… Tied together by mutual need, will they ruin each other’s chance of success or will a fake engagement help them overcome their painful past and lead them back to love once again? This is the first book in the Veils and Vows series and it can be read out of series order and as a standalone. The couple, Olivia and Devon, also have a prequel novella, The Promise, which can be read before or after this book for readers who want more about Olivia and Devon’s past. Read the entire Veils and Vows series! The Promise (Devon and Olivia--prequel) The Surprise Wedding (Devon and Olivia) A Pinch of Commitment (Ethan and Lily) The Wedding Plan (Luke and Emma) Accidentally Married (Burke and Jill) The Marriage Pledge (Moe and Amy) Mail Order Soulmate (Zach and Catherine) And a bonus spinoff book in the Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series: Sweet Matchmaker (Logan and Ginger) All books in this series can be read out of series order so jump in anywhere and fall in love with the unexpected.

Strangers Like Us


Mary Campisi - 2017
    Readers who loved Mary Campisi

Red Wine and Roses


S.J. McCoy - 2017
    He’s the CEO of Hamilton-Groves, one of the largest wine producers and distributors in the country. He lives a charmed life. Admired for his skills in the boardroom – and the bedroom—he works hard and plays harder. He’s not looking for a wife, he’s too busy living to want to settle down. Piper Reynolds is at a crossroads in her life. She’s just moved to California to take a job flying a private jet. After years flying cargo and believing that was as far as her career would go, her new job and new life are a dream come true. It couldn’t get any better – or could it? She isn’t looking for a man, but as Maid of Honor for her old friend Laura, she’s paired with best man Cameron Hamilton. He’s irresistible, but she’s trying to resist – at least at first.