Book picks similar to
Simply The Best by Shirley Jump


contemporary
contemporary-romance
romance-contemporary
romance

Christmas Wishes


Krista Lakes - 2019
    Candy canes, egg nog, mistletoe, the works. She can’t get enough of it. And so it’s only natural that she works at the local Christmas store, Christmas Wishes. But when the Scrooge-like Nicholas comes to town, looking to sell his father’s business out from under him, it looks like Molly’s dream job is disappearing. Worse yet, she’s starting to fall for Nicholas, despite everything telling her not to. With one last chance to save the store, Molly appeals to the power of Christmas itself, attempting to convert Nicholas to seeing the beauty of the holiday. Can Christmas magic really make Christmas Wishes come true? Fans of Hallmark Christmas movies will be swept away by Christmas Wishes, a small-town standalone holiday romance with mistletoe and magic. Grab a glass of eggnog, sit by a warm fire, and enjoy!

Make Your Move (Harlequin Blaze, #542)


Samantha Hunter - 2010
    Her signature aphrodisiac cookies have been flying off the shelves...and giving Jodie some delicious ideas of her own.Behind his owlish glasses, Jodie's business partner, Dr. Dan Ellison, is the male equivalent of the Naughty Professor. Jodie is more than ready to indulge her fantasies with this wolf-in-geek's-clothing as long as they set some ground rules: sex is sex, business is business and nothing will change. Yeah, right! After that first addictive kiss, it's time to see if they can really satisfy each other's appetites....

To the Moon and Back


Jill Mansell - 2011
    But eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She doesn’t need a new man when she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. If only she’d pay him the same attention she lavishes on his dog.Moving to North London, Ellie meets neighbour Roo who has a secret of her own. Can the girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion, but a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...

About That Fling


Tawna Fenske - 2015
    But when her adorable Aunt Gertie—a secret romance writer—urges Jenna to embrace her wild side, Jenna tumbles into bed with Adam Thomas, a guy she’s just met, for a fun and fantastic one-night stand. Too bad Adam is the one guy who’s totally off-limits. There aren’t enough clever words in the world to spin the story in a way that won’t wreck Jenna’s closest friendship or destroy her job.With the irresistible Adam always around her at work, wearing an aura of temptation like a fabulous cologne, Jenna has to hold tight to her senses to avoid falling for him. Will he take her to the heights of pleasure again—or will their attraction destroy everything she’s worked for?

One Pink Line


Dina Silver - 2011
    With heart, humor and compassion, this debut work of women's fiction is certain to stir anyone who relishes a good laugh, can stand a good cry, and, above all believes in the redemptive power of love.This unique, contemporary story gives readers a dual perspective. Sydney Shephard, a sweet-tempered, strong-natured college senior is young, in love with an exceptional man, and unexpectedly pregnant. Faced with a child she never planned for, she is forced to relay this news to her neurotic mother, relinquish her youth, and risk losing the love of her life. Then there's Grace, a daughter, who believed she was a product of this great love, grows to realize her existence is not what she assumed, and is left with profound and puzzling questions about who she really is.Spanning generations and every imaginable emotion, One Pink Line reveals how two points of view can be dramatically at odds, and perhaps ultimately reconciled. Simultaneously deeply felt and lighthearted, One Pink Line deftly mines how the choices we make are able to alter so many lives, and how doing the right thing and living honestly can bring unexpected, hard-won happiness. It's a must-read for anyone who craves a great love story, absorbing characters, and plenty of laughs along the way.

Dear Heart, I Hate You


J. Sterling - 2016
    Or for him. Or anything that had to do with Cal Donovan from Boston. Meeting him had been a complete and utter surprise, taking me one hundred percent off guard. I met new people every single day in my line of work and none of them affected me. Wasn’t that the way of things though? You could meet a thousand people and they’d all mean nothing to you. But then you’d meet that one and they suddenly meant everything.

Arranged


Catherine McKenzie - 2010
    When it comes to finding someone to share it with, however, she just can't seem to get it right.After yet another relationship ends, Anne comes across a business card for what she thinks is a dating service, and she pockets it just in case. When her best friend, Sarah, announces she's engaged, Anne can't help feeling envious. On an impulse, she decides to give the service a try because maybe she could use a little assistance in finding the right man. But Anne soon discovers the company isn't a dating service; it's an exclusive, and pricey, arranged marriage service. She initially rejects the idea, but the more she thinks about it -- and the company's success rate -- the more it appeals to her. After all, arranged marriages are the norm for millions of women around the world, so why wouldn't it work for her?A few months later, Anne is travelling to a Mexican resort, where in one short weekend she will meet and marry Jack. And against all odds, it seems to be working out -- until Anne learns that Jack, and the company that arranged their marriage, are not what they seem at all.

Can't Buy Me Love


Elizabeth Powers - 2013
    After realizing that his last three serious girlfriends all dated him for his money, he’s determined to meet a woman who has no idea how rich he really is. In the meantime, though, he’ll keep dating Charlene Magill, a woman who comes from a wealthy family herself, but is about as sharp as a bowling ball.Lena Magill is the director of the local homeless shelter. Born to wealth, she turned her back on the life her father expected her to lead (i.e., marry rich man, have babies, join committees, drink self into oblivion out of boredom), and chose her own path, which includes her own job, her own apartment, and her neurotic dog, Winston. Lena still keeps one foot in the world of high society to appease her father, but it’s not out of any love for the company, the expectations, or the scintillating conversation. And for now, she’ll keep dating Chase, even though he’s as cold as stone, and thinks that she has the brains of a mouse. It keeps her father out of her hair, and prevents him from setting her up with yet another man who has a thick wallet, but no personality.When Chase hatches the idea of volunteering at a local charity to meet women, and when he shows up at a local homeless shelter, the last person he expects to run into is Charlene. Especially a feisty, dusty, and very dedicated Charlene, who is equally shocked to find the icy and formal Chase Hamilton standing in her shelter’s basement. And wearing jeans, no less.Enter two meddling grandfathers, Lena’s controlling father and frequently inebriated stepmother, an attempt at a blackmailed marriage, Chase’s gold-digger-dating baggage out the wazoo, and a doozy of a misunderstanding, and it’s a wonder that the shelter is still standing, that Winston doesn’t have a doggy stroke, or that these two crazy people finally have a chance at love.

Downfall


Jay Crownover - 2019
    Until a stunning, skittish, single mother forces him to pause and recognize just how empty and hollow his busy life has become. From the start, it’s been ingrained in Solo’s DNA to fight.Fight for what he believes is right.Fight for the people he loves.Fight for the traces of good in a place which tends to be filled with a variety of bad.Fight for survival, so at some point, his life will quiet down and find a normal pace.He wasn’t ready for the impact his secretive, shy, obviously out of place new neighbor was going to have on him. And never in a million years was he prepared to fall head over heels for her and her young daughter.Now, he’s facing the most important, and the hardest fight he’s ever fought… the battle to win Orley’s damaged heart. Orley Vincent’s heart is full of fear, leaving no space for love. Until a big, brash, brawler of a man forces his way in and makes her realize facing her fears is the only way she can ever be free. From the start, Orley was groomed to believe she wasn’t good enough.She wasn’t the perfect daughter. Or student. Or girlfriend.But, she has always been the best mother she could be to her daughter, Noble.Keeping Noble safe has always been the one thing she was determined to do, which ironically, is how she ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, living next door to an unlikely hero. Orley’s a woman on the run. She had no idea her frantic sprint was going to land her in the tattooed arms of a man ready to teach her how to fight for herself… and for love.

Beyond Eden


Catherine Coulter - 1992
    The product of old San Francisco wealth, the daughter of a man who despises her, her life is forever changed when she is brutally assaulted by her sister's husband, and then rejected by her family.Lindsay is finally forced to face up to her past when she meets S.C. Taylor, a tough ex-cop, turned private investigator and computer troubleshooter. He is hired to protect her; but can he both win her trust and discover who is trying to kill her and why? Is it her family? A supposed friend or colleague? A faceless sicko or perhaps a mad psychiatrist? Ah, it's a mystery to savor.

Married in Seattle (First Comes Marriage & Wanted: Perfect Partner)


Debbie Macomber - 2008
    But Gramps insisted we'd be "a perfect match." First comes marriage, according to him.Meg: My teenage daughter, Lindsey, had the nerve to place a personal ad on my behalf.Wanted: Perfect Partner.Worse, Steve Conlan, who answered the ad, was perfect, according to her.Does Grandfather know best? Did a teenage matchmaker get it right? You decide!

The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams


Fiona Harper - 2014
    Too bad its not her own…Nicole, a born organiser and true romantic, has created her dream job when she sets up the Hopes & Dreams proposal agency – staging YouTube worthy proposals…until she’s hired to plan a proposal by gorgeous photographer Alex Black’s girlfriend.Alex is the New Year’s kiss that Nicole hasn’t been able to forget – and now she’s planning his wedding to someone else! But if she lets herself fall for Alex’s charms, her reputation and business will be ruined before it’s even got off the ground! Suddenly the girl whose always prepared is at a loss…and falling head over heels.

Call Her Mine


Melissa Foster - 2019
    He’s been in love with his best friend—saucy, smart-mouthed Aurelia Stark—forever. But Ben’s a planner, and timing has never been on his side. When he finally decides to make his move, Aurelia beats him to the punch with a move of her own—to a different town.Aurelia loves her new life in the charming town of Harmony Pointe. She has a great apartment and her very own bookstore, and best of all, the sinfully hot, commitment-phobic friend she’s crushed on for years is no longer just around the corner. Maybe she’ll finally be able to leave her unrequited love behind and move on.But when a baby is left on Ben’s front porch—a baby that is presumably his—Aurelia is there for him. Neither one knows the first thing about babies, but how hard can it be? Ben and Aurelia are catapulted into a world of love, laughter, and tracking down the baby mama, and it might even add up to a very happily ever after… just not one either of them expects.

The One We Fell in Love With


Paige Toon - 2016
    Settle down and get married, or return to the French Alps to pursue her passion? Eliza is in love with someone who is no longer hers. In fact, he probably never was… And her dream of becoming a musician seems to be spiralling down the drain. Rose is out of a job and out of a boyfriend. To make matters worse, she’s been forced to move back in with her mother… But these very different girls have one thing in common. Angus. The one they fell in love with…

The Billionaire's Secret


Jeannette Winters - 2015
    His friends decide to shake him up by entering him as a prize at a charity event.Accountant Lizette Burke is dressed to the nines and covering for her boss at a charity event. She’s hoping to land a donor for the struggling non-profit agency that employs her.She never expected to win a date with a billionaire.He never thought one night could turn his life upside down.One lie stands between them and their happily ever after. Too bad it’s a big one!Betting on You Series:Book One: The Billionaire’s Secret (Free!)Book Two: The Billionaire’s Masquerade (Coming April 2015!)Book Three: The Billionaire’s Longshot (Coming May 2015!)Book Four: The Billionaire’s Jackpot (Coming July 2015!)