Book picks similar to
Desire by Design by Paula Altenburg


romance
contemporary-romance
entangled
ebook

The Three Kiss Clause


Christopher Harlan - 2019
    Oh, and he happened to be a partner at the publishing company I was trying to get signed to. My book—“Fu*#$@Boys”—about how men are selfish, sex-crazed pigs—was one vote away from being published—his vote. But not only did he hate my book, he asked me a question that would change things between us forever:“How can you be an expert on men when you’ve never been in a real relationship?”He had a point, but I wasn’t about to let him know. Instead I did what any self-respecting academic would do—I proposed a radical social experiment. Cormac and I would live together for one month as boyfriend and girlfriend. If he could change my mind about men I’d withdraw my book. If not, he’d agree to publish it.My only condition? No sex, or anything physical, whatsoever.I never thought he’d go for it, but I guess I was wrong about him, in more ways than one. Don’t get me wrong, I hate Cormac Delaney, even if he is easy on the eyes. . .fine, he’s good looking. . .alright, he’s hot as hell, but still! To do this I’m going to have to remind myself of a few things: we’re only an experiment, nothing more. He’s not the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life, he absolutely does not have a body that makes me tingle in all the right places, and I’m never, under any circumstances, going to let myself fall for him. . .Right?

The Boys of Summer


C.J. Duggan - 2012
    She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.How did she let her friends talk her into working?After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.It will be a summer she will always remember.

Hidden Hollywood


Kylie Gilmore - 2016
    Get your happy ending!HIDDEN HOLLYWOOD (Book #1, Happy Endings Book Club)She’s on top…When superstar actress Claire Jordan researched her role for the Fierce Trilogy movies, she never expected the bond she feels with the author and her romance book club aka The Happy Endings Book Club. Soon Claire finds herself confessing her secret longing for a regular guy—no more egocentric wealthy players—and the book club is all too ready to help. In disguise as a regular girl, she’s all set for a date with book-club-approved Josh Campbell.He’s on top…Billionaire tech CEO Jake Campbell is weary of gold-digging women, especially the glamorous superficial types. So when his identical twin Josh calls in a favor asking Jake to step in as him on a date, Jake figures one of Josh’s cute girl-next-door types might be just what he needs. One night of passion with the sweet girl-next-door leaves Jake wanting more, except she seems to have vanished.Sometimes a Happy Ending is just the beginning.

Breaking Free


Juliana Haygert - 2013
    To others, her family and her relationship with Eric is perfect. But she knows the truth. She lives it.After a fire takes her grandma's life and kills her horse, Hannah's immaculate life spirals out of control. Her father disapproves of her decision to run her grandma’s ranch instead of focusing solely on learning the family business; Animal Control brings her Argus, a mistreated horse that she can't turn away even though she's not ready for another horse; and her boyfriend, Eric Bennett, a world famous polo player, becomes possessive and authoritarian. Despite her best efforts to disguise it, Hannah grows wary of him.Then, Leonardo Fernandes struts onto the polo scene. A cocky rookie with a messy life of his own, he’s drawn to Hannah and isn’t afraid of showing it, even when Eric makes it clear she is his and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Hannah suffers for Eric’s jealousy. The abuse only gets worse when Leo steals the title of best polo player in the world from Eric.But the title isn’t enough for Leo. He wants Hannah too, and she can’t deny her attraction to him either. Somehow, she must find a way to break free from abusive Eric before he breaks every bone in her body.Author's note: this book contains scenes of domestic violence, mentions of animal cruelty, strong language, sex scenes (no rape!), and a HEA.The Breaking Series:Breaking Free (Book 1)Breaking Away (Book 2)Breaking Through (Book 3)Breaking Down (Book 4)*All books are standalone and can be read out of order.

A Kiss for Luck


Grace Burrowes - 2014
    Sadie plans to focus on her business and her family, until handsome neighbor Gideon Granville turns his focus on Sadie. When Sadie learns where Gideon has been aiming his snooping skills, she’s ready to delete him from her plans entirely—though Gideon is all that stands between her and the trouble she thought she’d left behind her.

Wait for Me / Trust in Me


Samantha Chase - 2015
    Highly recommended.”

Hitched


Alex Lux - 2014
    Or it changes your life forever. He called me "wife." This man standing naked in front of me. Tall. Dark. Sexy as sin... He's my husband? Disjointed images from the night before, the night I can’t entirely remember, float into my mind. Meeting him in the bar. Sharing tidbits of our lives. I own a company that plans bachelor parties. He’s a pediatric heart surgeon. We both live in Las Vegas, but we come from very different worlds. And then I remember that kiss. The way his lips brushed against mine, gentle at first, then harder, deeper, with more urgency. Sex in the elevator. Hot, forbidden, delicious. I remember the way he made me feel. The way our bodies fit perfectly together. But I don’t remember marrying him. And now, he won’t let me go. Dr. Sexy who saves children for a living. He wants the summer to prove we are meant to be. I can give him a summer. But can I give him a lifetime? *This is a contemporary romance novel with a happily ever after. It does NOT have a cliff-hanger ending. WARNING: This book contains a lot of sex and a lot of swearing.

Wait for It


Jenn McKinlay - 2021
     Stuck in a dreary Boston winter, Annabelle Martin would like nothing more than to run away from her current life. She's not even thirty years old, twice-divorced, and has just dodged a marriage proposal... from her ex-husband. When she's offered her dream job as creative director at a cutting-edge graphic design studio in Phoenix, she jumps at the opportunity to start over.When she arrives in the Valley of the Sun, Annabelle is instantly intrigued by her anonymous landlord. Based on the cranky, handwritten notes Nick Daire leaves her, she assumes he is an old, rich curmudgeon. Annabelle is shocked when she finally meets Nick and discovers that he's her age and uses a wheelchair. Nick suffered from a stroke a year ago, and while there's no physical reason for him not to recover, he is struggling to overcome the paralyzing fear that has kept him a prisoner in his own home.Despite her promise to herself not to get involved, Annabelle finds herself irresistibly drawn to Nick. And soon she wonders if she and Nick might help each other find the courage to embrace life, happiness, and true love.

Lockdown on London Lane


Beth Reekles - 2022
    The result transforms the harsh realities of quarantine into rom-com enchantment." -- Publishers Weekly For the inhabitants of London Lane, a simple slip of paper underneath each of their doors is about to change their lives in a hundred different ways.URGENT!!! Due to the current situation, building management has decided to impose a seven-day quarantine on all apartment buildings on London Lane.With nowhere else to go . . .Ethan and Charlotte wonder whether absence really does make the heart grow fonder when they end up on either side of a locked door.A fierce debate over pineapple on pizza ignites a series of revelations about Zach and Serena’s four-year relationship.Liv realizes rolling with the punches is sometimes much harder than it looks after her bridesmaids’ party goes off the rails, leaving the group at each other’s throats.Isla and Danny’s new romance is put to the test as they jump ten steps ahead on the relationship timeline.And Imogen and Nate’s one-night stand is about to get six do-overs they never really asked for—not awkward at all.Through make ups, breakups, love-ins, and blowouts, friendships are tested as everyone scrambles to make it through the week unscathed. Amidst all the drama, one thing remains constant: life is full of surprises.

How to Resist Prince Charming


Linda Kage - 2010
    Step 2: Never smile at him. Step 3: Never agree to anything he suggests. Or better yet, just follow Lenna Davenport's example and give in to temptation, sparking a whole tangle of passion, forbidden romance, mounting secrets and deceit. She meets her prince charming at her father's company Christmas party. Problem is he happens to be her dad's new boss. Worse problem is, her dad totally hates him. But what Daddy doesn't know... Braxton Farris takes over Farris Industries out of family obligation and expects his new employees might resent his youth and inexperience. What he doesn't anticipate is the level of contempt Tom Davenport carries for him. Nor does he count on falling for Tom's daughter. When he and Lenna start a secret affair, a disaster of corporate proportions is bound to follow. But to be together, they must decide if the fallout is worth it.(Revised and republished from the 2010 version)

Stripped


Brooklyn Skye - 2013
    I look away, down the rutted parking lot.“Don’t... waste those words on me.”He touches my cheek. “You just need someone to show you.”“No.” I ease back again. “I don’t. So please, Torrin, stop trying to swoop in and save me. I don’t need saving.” College freshman, Quinn Montgomery, will do anything to avoid the mistake her sister made — killing herself over a boy. But when she is forced into nude modeling at a local college to support her family after a bankruptcy, she begins to crack, just enough to let Torrin, the university’s top varsity oarsman, see that the real Quinn is not as feisty and unapproachable as she wants everyone to think. But letting someone in comes at a steep cost and, it turns out, Torrin is connected to Quinn’s family in more ways than she could ever imagine.

Risky Play


Rachel Van Dyken - 2019
    Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.

It Was Always You


Cardeno C. - 2016
     Featuring seven brand new novellas, each answering the question—what happens when the one meant for you was right there all along?

A Cowboy to Remember


Barbara Ankrum - 2014
    But that was before they grew up and went their separate ways. Now, after a disastrous divorce and a career-changing accident, Olivia limps home, minus her mojo, her courage and her faith in love. She retreats to her parents’ ranch, determined to play it safe, but when ex-Army helicopter pilot Jake Lassen arrives to make good on their promise, he reignites passion and hope, two things Olivia had forgotten existed. Olivia resolves to keep Jake at arm’s length, even though the memory of his kisses keeps her up at night. She knows better than to let her heart get involved, but Jake is planning for the future. Their future. Can Jake convince her to risk it all one more time and really make this a fair to remember? *Previously titled A Fair to Remember

A Risk Worth Taking


Heather Hildenbrand - 2013
    Everything she thought she knew—heck, everything she thought she wanted for her own life—feels like a lie. The truth is love is a risk. And the true kind, the kind that lasts, might even be a fairy tale. Reeling from the divorce, Summer derails her own future by breaking up with her parent-approved boyfriend and giving up her lifelong plans for a big-city career. She moves back home, business degree in hand. Dad needs her to fill the gaps her mother left behind; Summer needs to find who she is outside of the cookie-cutter life that failed so miserably for her parents.Ford O’Neal’s future involves one person: himself. He doesn’t have a permanent address and he definitely doesn’t commit. To a place or a person. Raised by hippies, he plans just far enough ahead to secure his next stop, this one landing him at a work-study program at Heritage Plantation where he can grow his own herbal and medicinal creations. Summer is gorgeous and smart and fun to be with, the perfect way to pass five months. It won’t be love—Ford’s got too many things to accomplish, too many places to go, before he settles down. Yet Summer pulls him in, challenging him to rethink his own philosophy. When Ford’s five months are up, each of them must decide if love is really worth the risk.