Book picks similar to
What Love Looks Like by Nikki Ash
single-parent
age-gap
sports
arc
Too Good to Be Real
Melonie Johnson - 2021
Swiping right has replaced getting swept off your feet and good old-fashioned romance has become, well, old-fashioned.A writer for a popular website, love becomes the last thing on her mind when impending layoffs threaten her job. As Julia searches for the ultimate pitch to impress her boss, she stumbles upon a resort offering guests a chance to live out their romantic comedy dreams. Real life dating is so bleak, who wouldn't want to spend a week in a fantasy rom-com world with your best friends?At the resort, Julia literally falls into a not-quite-meet-cute involving an aggressive seagull and an adorably awkward guy named Luke who is also participating in the rom-com experience. Julia hides the fact she is there to do a story, but Luke harbors a few secrets of his own. Among further encounters with thieving seagulls, a gaggle of corgis, kisses in the rain, and even a karaoke serenade, their feelings deepen quickly. But could their love be real when they haven't been honest about their true identities? Once the fantasy is over, can they have a relationship in the real world?
Trick
Laramie Briscoe - 2017
When the divorce papers came, it killed me. When we had to sell our house, it broke me. But then he moved in with his new flavor of the month and told our daughter his new woman wasn’t into children. That pissed me off.Now Riley feels abandoned, and I can’t make it better; no matter how hard I try. I’m desperate to help her adjust to the loss of a male figure in her life. The companion program that matches adults up with children who have loneliness and abandonment issues is my last hope. The counselors tell me he’s doing community service hours, and I ask to sit in on his meetings with Riley. The minute I see him astride the matte black Harley, I know neither my nor Riley’s life will ever be the same again.TrickCommunity Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. The two previous kids I'd been paired up with didn’t work out because their mothers were more interested in getting in my bed. This next match with a little girl is my last hope. Unless this kid works out, I’m destined to serve time.When they push her into the room wearing pink converse with a black dress, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared - of new people, of change, of being pushed aside. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again.What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for.Community service becomes more than a chore, more than time I resent for being taken away from me. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them.Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives - we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.
Not Pretending Anymore
Penelope Ward - 2021
I was starting to lose hope. Until a knock at my door came and God answered my prayers. Except…uh…wrong prayer, God. I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate. Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway. While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined. Then cupcakes showed up at my door—freshly baked by Declan and just as sinfully delicious as he was. You could say he was persistent. I eventually folded. It wasn’t like I had another viable candidate anyway. Plus, I was interested in someone else. And Declan was into another woman. So it wasn’t like anything would happen romantically. After he moved in, the two of us became the best of friends. We even started to give each other advice on getting our crushes to notice us. Eventually, Declan concocted an idea: we should pretend to be a couple to make our love interests jealous. I was hesitant, but went along with it anyway. To my utter shock, his crazy plan worked. Now I was dating the supposed man of my dreams, and my best friend had the woman of his. But there was one problem. I couldn’t stop thinking about Declan. Those feelings we were trying to fake? Yeah…I wasn’t pretending anymore.
Burnout
Coralee June - 2019
Maybe if I were older. Maybe if he wasn’t my brother’s best friend. Maybe if he wasn’t my teacher. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Having my dirty little secret living down the hall had me obsessing over alternate endings and happily ever afters. I’d never wanted someone so badly, but his hot and cold behavior was giving me emotional whiplash. In the classroom, he practically ignored me. But here? In my brother’s loft? It felt like we were a thick rubber band, pulled so tight we’d snap. Falling for Decker Harris made me realize that life wasn’t as serendipitous as everyone liked to think. We weren’t just a collection of maybes thrust into the world with hope and good intentions. Everything started with a choice, and somewhere between grief and redemption, I chose to make him mine.
Fling
Jana Aston - 2016
At least it’s not my brother’s best friend. Or my best friend’s brother. Or… never mind. It’s all pretty cliche. And worse? My boss’ best friend is his business partner. Which sort of makes him my boss too. Okay - it’s not sort of. It’s definite. Gabe Laurent is off limits. Totally off limits. Which is fine. I make do with my imagination. He’ll never know. Ever. Unless my work bestie passes me an eighties-style teen movie sex quiz during a meeting and I fill it out. And it ends up in Gabe’s hands… *** Please Note *** Wrong - Sophie's Story Right - Everly's Story Fling - Sandra's Story Trust - Chloe's Story - November 8, 2016 Each book can be read on it's own, but TRUST takes place 6 months after the first three books. Characters from those first three books appear in TRUST, living their happily ever afters.
The Perfect First
Maya Hughes - 2019
Math genius. Lover of blazers. The only girl I know who can make Heidi braids look sexy as hell. And she’s on a mission. Lose her virginity by the end of the semester. I walked in on her interview session for potential candidates (who even does that?) and saw straight through her brave front. She’s got a list of Firsts to accomplish like she’s only got months to live. I’ve decided to be her guide for all her firsts except one. Someone’s got to keep her out of trouble. I have one rule, no sex. We even shook on it.I’ll help her find the right guy for the job. Someone like her doesn’t need someone like me and my massive...baggage for her first time. Drinking at a bar. Check. Partying all night. Double check. Skinny dipping. Triple check. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The walls I’d put up around my heart are slowly crumbling with each touch that sets fire to my soul. I’m the first to bend the rules. One electrifying kiss changes everything and suddenly I don’t want to be her first, I want to be her only. But her plan was written before I came onto the scene and now I’m determined to get her to re-write her future with me.
Dare You to Hate Me
B. Celeste - 2021
Lindon U’s star tight end.Still as attractive. Still as dedicated.With rumors of him being drafted to the NFL coming to fruition, I know it’s only a matter of time before we have to say goodbye again.But he can’t seem to let me go no matter what I say, and I don’t think I want him to.
Devious Lies
Parker S. Huntington - 2019
Huntington comes an enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance full of revenge and a dash of fate. “She could enjoy her pretty, perfect world a little longer. Soon enough, everything she owned would be mine.” I had a plan to escape the friend zone. Step one: sneak into Reed’s room. Step two: sleep with him. But when the lights turned on, it wasn’t familiar blue eyes I saw. These were dark, angry, and full of demons. And they belonged to Reed’s much older brother. Four years later, Nash Prescott is no longer the help’s angry son. I’m no longer the town’s prized princess. At twenty-two, I’m broke, in need of a job. At thirty-two, he’s a billionaire, in need of revenge. Who cares if my family ruined his? Who cares if he looks at me with pure loathing? Who cares if every task he assigns me is designed to torture? I need the money. Simple as that. I’ll suffer his cruelty in silence, knowing there’s one thing he wants more than revenge… Me. Note: Devious Lies is a 145,000-word standalone in the Cruel Crown series. If you love banter and angst, this book is for you! Welcome to Eastridge. Enter if you dare.
The Substitute
Mickey Miller - 2019
When the NFL goes on strike, Super Bowl champion Peyton O’Rourke ends up back in his hometown as a substitute teacher and high school football coach. The one thing he didn’t count on? Maddy Cooper being newly single. She’s the hot girl next door type. Literally. She’s literally the cute girl next door and his best friend’s (now ex) girl. And even though he knows he should be with anyone other than Maddy Cooper — Well you know the drill. Things are going to get hot. Heavy. Does Facebook still have an ‘It’s complicated’ button? Because it’s about to go down.
Something So Right
Natasha Madison - 2016
I caught my husband, my high-school sweetheart, the father of my children, balls deep in a sordid affair. That was when I gave up on men and love. I didn’t count on the NHL’s golden boy, the beautiful, arrogant Cooper Stone turning my life and my hockey rink upside down. My kids are why I wake up in the morning. Hockey is what Cooper breathes for. We’re from different worlds and places in our lives but when our hearts collided something so wrong and different turned into something so right.
Because You're Mine
Claire Contreras - 2018
They're the ones with experience. The ones with secrets. The ones that exude sex just by saying your name.From the minute I laid eyes on Lorenzo, I knew he wasn't just bad news. He was the headline.My opinion didn't change on our second meeting. Or our third. But my head and my heart are at war. He’s too mysterious, too gorgeous, too wild, and now, he wants me. I should run far away. So why am I racing toward him? I’m totally going to get burned. I know it. A man like Lorenzo won’t leave me unscathed.He'll make ashes of me.
Sunshine and the Stalker
Dani René - 2018
I call it clever research.It gets me what I want and when I want it.When I get bored, I move on.My system works like a charm…Until a little ray of SUNSHINE shows up.***Dating is nonexistent for me.I’m quirky, silly, and inexperienced.This means my romantic life is certainly lacking.I don’t date because no one’s interested.Some say I’m an independent woman who doesn’t need a man.But I know I’m on the fast track to becoming a lonely cat lady.How many cats are too many cats anyway?My boring world stays that way…Until my future stepmother’s STALKER shows up.
Her Debt
Rebel Rose - 2018
And a cheat. A damn good one… but not good enough. And now she owes a debt to me. A debt that only her body can repay.I’m restless with lust and need and desire for this thing of beauty not in my possession. My mind and cock are obsessed with her.When I spank her for the first time, I know that I’m right.She is the one.The woman that I’m going to break. The woman that I’m going to train for only my particular tastes. I’m going to shatter her into a million pieces and then rebuild her into everything that I want and need and desire in…My next submissive.
Royal Player
Katie McCoy - 2017
He's a beast on the courts, and a wild animal in bed (according to all the tabloids). Girls are lining up for chance at his crown jewels, and when I stumble into the wrong Wimbledon dressing room and catch a glimpse of his game, set, AND match, I can see why.So what's a little good luck kiss between f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ strangers?I know better than to get involved with a bad boy like Charlie. But now he's on a winning streak, he thinks I'm his lucky charm - and you know what's luckier than a kiss?Everything.Suddenly, I've got paparazzi on my trail, exes coming out of the woodwork -- and you don't know 'cutthroat' until you've seen a pack of hungry socialites set loose near the Royal Family.I'm in way over my head, and even worse - I'm falling in love. Can this American girl win her Prince Charming? Or will we both crash out of the championships in flames?
Wimbledon-meets-The Prince and Me in this hilarious, sexy new rom-com from Katie McCoy!
Beauty and the Blitz
Sosie Frost - 2016
Spit out the apple. Fall for The Beast. All-star linebacker Cole Hawthorne is a beast on the field, destroying offenses one broken quarterback at a time. Though he’s a gifted athlete, his violent reputation makes him a liability to his team and a villain in the league. As Cole’s agent, it’s my responsibility to convince the brooding loner that being traded is better than getting banished from the game. If he loses his contract, this single mom is out of a job. So, it’s up to me to tame the beast. But the closer I get to the ferocious monster, the harder I fall for the passionate man underneath. He’s crude and charming. Tough and sweet. Dangerous…but even he can’t resist my baby’s giggle. Denying my feelings might protect my heart, but the trading deadline is closing in. When Cole reveals the dirty truth about the trade, I can’t let the league rip us apart. Do I save my career…or do I protect a man who deserves a happily ever after? Maybe no one can love a beast… But they haven’t met Cole Hawthorne. Beauty and the Blitz is a flirty, standalone romantic comedy with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. As a special release celebration and a thank you to my readers, Sweetest Sin and Bad Boy's Baby are included as FREE bonus books with this file! All three books are full-length, 350+ paperback pages of deliciously sexy romance.