Book picks similar to
The Winter Before by Karen Crompton


romance
contemporary-romance
virgin-hero
fiction

Confessions of a Bookaholic


Joslyn Westbrook - 2020
    What happens when a book blogger accidentally publishes her digital diary online?A viral shitstorm, that's what. No way did I want thousands of subscribers to read my confessions--yet, that's precisely what went down last night after four too many Cosmos with my girls. Now, Damage Control is my new middle name because my diary confessional has my roommate, Lucas Stone, written all over it. Literally. I've been in love with him forever--well, ever since I saw him sprint across campus naked during our first year of college. And now that Lucas knows how I feel about him? Well, things are destined to get awkward.Because Lucas Stone, my BFF--the man who sleeps only one room over--just got engaged. And his fiancée isn't me.

Bet The Farm


Staci Hart - 2021
    And it’s effective—if his dark eyes and rare smiles aren’t enough to sidetrack her, the sweaty, rolling topography of the manbeast’s body would do the trick.What they don’t know: they’ll have to weather more than each other.Mysterious circumstances throw the farm into disarray, and with the dairy farm in danger, Olivia and Jake have to work together. But when they do, there’s more to fear than either of them imagined.Because now their hearts are on the line, and the farm won’t be the only casualty if they fail.

The Bourbon Thief


Tiffany Reisz - 2016
    The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it's property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris. In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.

Sugar and Ice


Aven Ellis - 2016
    Cheesecake never breaks your heart. Unless it cracks on the top, but still, it tastes amazing if you bake it just right. She knows what to do in the kitchen as far as making luscious desserts. Men? Apparently she's not so good at figuring them out, so she refuses to bother. Josephine knows it is safer to stay in the kitchen than to take another chance with her heart.Denver Mountain Lions forward Cade Callahan is passionate about hockey, but is also about finding love. He thought he had it once, but a disastrous romance last holiday season has him keeping his heart in check. While he’s fearless on the ice, he’s guarded with his heart. Cade is determined history won’t repeat itself again. He won’t let his guard down until he’s certain he’s met The One.However, Cupid's arrow might just strike when these two least expect it. When an oven goes out, and a cheesecake for testing has to be baked, and Cade just happens to live in the same building with a working oven...Well, things other than cheesecake might just heat up in the kitchen. Can these two passionate people learn to trust their hearts again? Can love override fear for Josephine and Cade? And will they find the combination of sugar and ice is the sweetest one of all?

Master of Salt & Bones


Keri Lake - 2020
    He'd ride up on his white steed and break the curse I've been fated to carry since the day I was born.Funny how things changed over time. How the fairy tale twisted into something far more crooked, darker than I ever imagined.In reality, my knight is scarred and broken, living alone in a castle of bones that overlooks the sea. He isn’t searching for me. He never was.Lucian Blackthorne is as cursed as I am, and equally shunned by the locals, the fishers of men, who believe him to be the devil in the flesh.Perhaps he is, with the way his amber eyes draw me in, ignite me like an infernal blaze. And the sins he whispers in my ear are as wickedly intoxicating as the man himself.Yet, his touch is heaven and his will is my weakness.He calls us forbidden, an unsalvageable tragedy, with no happy end. Maybe we are. But in this story, he’s the one who needs saving.

Right Where I Want You


Jessica Hawkins - 2018
    . . and it cuts right through the middle of their office. Bad boys? They run right over good girls like Georgina Keller. But after a confidence-shattering breakup, she’s determined not to let anyone at her new workplace push her around—least of all the brooding creative director, a “bad boy of publishing” who’s made it clear she’s enemy #1.Sebastian Quinn's taste for fast cars, late nights, and beautiful women may have gotten him to the top of a leading New York magazine, but the reputation that made him is suddenly threatening to end his career.Georgina can help Modern Man shed its bad reputation, but in order to do that, she’ll have to start at the top—and no amount of rakish charm or inconvenient attraction will distract her.Because if Sebastian gets her right where he wants her, it means she’s going down.

The Legacy


Dylan Allen - 2018
    I craved every touch, every filthy promise that fell from his beautiful mouth, knowing he could break me. My past had left me battered and bruised, with scars he was determined to heal. Loving him was like drowning—he consumed me, body and soul.But Hayes has secrets of his own. And nothing could prepare me for the shocking pieces of our pasts that threaten to rip us apart. When the truth is revealed will our love be enough to shelter the storm?

Lessons in Sin


Pam Godwin - 2021
    As the headteacher of a Catholic boarding school, I’m never tempted by a student.Until Tinsley Constantine.The bratty princess challenges my rules and awakens my dark nature. With each punishment I lash upon her, I want more. In my classroom, private rectory, and bent over my altar, I want all of her.One touch risks everything I stand for. My faith. My redemption. And even my life.As if that could stop me. I need her pain, and her heart, and she needs my lessons in sin.

A Girl Like Lilac


Victoria L. James - 2018
    With a desperate need to protect her from a distance, one arrest turned to two, two soon turning into three, and before Toby knew what was happening, the sleepy village of Southwold was turning against him for daring to stand up for a girl like Lilac. Beautiful Lilac with her flowers in her hair, her camera in her hands, and her sweet, pink, sugary-lipped kisses. They could hate him for loving her all they wanted. Toby was a boy who did what was right, not what was easy, and he was always going to grow to be the man willing to give her what she deserved. Even if that meant losing Lilac forever.

How Sweet It Is


Dylan Newton - 2021
    (Kirkus, starred review)Event planner Kate Sweet is famous for creating the perfect happily-ever-after moment for her clients’ dream weddings. So how is it that her best friend has roped her into planning a bestselling horror writer’s book launch extravaganza? But the second Kate meets—or rather, accidentally maims—the drop-dead-hot Drake Matthews, her well-ordered life quickly transforms into an absolute nightmare.Drake Matthews is tired of the spotlight and tired of his reputation as the Knight of Nightmares. He's really a nice guy! But he’s not prepared for Kate, a fearless agent of chaos in steel-tipped stilettos, or for that sweet sting of attraction he feels for her. She’s inspiring him to take his writing in a whole new direction—one that no one expects. Because now Kate and Drake are changing up the rules, and this plot twist might just surprise everyone . . . including themselves."Fans of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, and Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur will adore How Sweet It Is!" --The Nerd DailyAs featured in:PopSugar: Must-Read July BooksPopSugar: 12 Swoonworthy Romances to Read in One Sitting

After I Do


Taylor Jenkins Reid - 2014
    They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?

Love By Design


Liz Matis - 2011
    In this Sex in the City meets Trading Spaces romp Design Intervention’s second season starts with its own surprise makeover. Interior designer Victoria Bryce must break in her temporary co-host, Aussie Russ Rowland.Victoria, former socialite wild child hopes the reality show will give her the clout to launch her own design line without her family connections. Russ, former bad boy Australian TV star, is using the show to launch his acting career in the StatesSparks fly on camera and passion ignite behind the scenes as they argue over design plans and measurement mishaps.But when the past collides with the present will the foundation they built withstand the final reveal?

Breaking Him


Sherilee Gray - 2016
    But I know him simply as Elijah Hays, the quiet, gentle giant who works with the horses on my ranch. I can feel him watching me, that steady intense gaze making me crave things I don’t quite understand, burn in a way that frightens me. He’s always kept his distance… until that night.I remember him coming to my rescue, me following him into the barn, giving him his first taste of a woman, and his inexperienced yet barely reined touch turning me to ash.Now all I can think about is exposing the dark desire I see deep inside him — having him turn those dark desires on me. That low, gritty voice rasping orders in my ear. Those huge, rough hands holding me down when a storm blows in.I want his surrender. His control. I want to break him… and have him break me…

Heart of Marley


T.K. Leigh - 2014
    Having trouble coping with the loss of her soul mate, their mother tries to find comfort in drugs and alcohol… And an abusive man with a penchant for underage girls.No longer able to stand listening to his sister’s screams and cries every night for nearly three years, Cam takes matters into his own hands and they’re finally able to escape the nightmare.They’re finally able to start over…But the nightmare still haunts Marley. The years go on and she is forced to put on a smile, making everyone think that she is the perfect, well-adjusted teenager that she is supposed to be… Until she is faced with a painful reminder of her past during her senior year of high school and she’s no longer able to keep on the mask that she has been compelled to wear.Heart Of Marley is a prequel novel to T.K. Leigh’s Heart of Light.

My Savior Forever


Vicki Green - 2013
    At a young age she was placed in Foster care that moved her around from one place to the other. Finally being freed at 18, she was left with no money and nowhere to go until she finds a small town in Kansas where she can start over.Little did she know her life was going to be uprooted again when she is kidnapped and brutally raped.Jesse is considered HOT in most women’s eyes, but has little time for Romance. While searching for his Mother’s killers, he witnesses a young girl being kidnapped. He now faces decisions that he must make quickly.Will Jesse rescue Cassie? Will Cassie ever find the happiness she longs for?*Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.