Book picks similar to
Claiming His Own by Olivia Gates


harlequin
contemporary-romance
harlequin-desire
romance

The Sweet Gum Tree


Katherine Allred - 2005
    But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone.Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

Running on Empty


L.B. Simmons - 2013
     Beautiful and loving husband.Three gorgeous little girls. Successful career. The only thing missing was the white picket fence. I really wanted that fence. Three years ago, I lost that life. I lost my husband. And I lost myself. But, eventually, I found my way through the darkness. I’ve made peace with my new life. I have my girls, and that’s all that matters. They are my world. I have no illusions of ever falling in love again or getting whisked away on a white horse. But then he came back into my life. On a freakin’ motorcycle.There’s no way I’ll let him turn my life completely upside down. Absolutely no way. The question is…How long can I keep pretending that I’m happy with my life being right-side up?

Touching Down


Nicole Williams - 2016
    But all he’s ever loved is her.Grant Turner’s name is synonymous with football. The fans and media can’t get enough of the player known as The Invincible Man, a nickname he earned while growing up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country and the nickname he’s kept by being one of the best players in professional football today. No one can take him down. He’s unstoppable.But even a suit of armor has its weak point, and Grant’s has always been Ryan Hale.They were a couple of kids when they fell in love, and just when it looked like the happy ending neither expected was within reach, Ryan disappeared. No explanations. No good-byes.Grant coped by throwing himself into the game for seven years, and he’s finally moved on. Or so he thinks.When she walks back into his life, all of those feelings come crashing back, despite the warnings in his head that tell him she’ll leave him again. Grant can withstand the league’s toughest defensive line, but he’s always been weak where she’s concerned.No man can take Grant Turner down.But one woman certainly can.One woman will.

For Lila, Forever


Winter Renshaw - 2019
    But it didn’t matter what it said. I didn’t have the heart to open it. We couldn’t be together. Not after everything ... Leaving Rose Crossing, Maine was one of the most painful moments of my life—or at least it was until the day I came face-to-face with Thayer Ainsworth again. After a decade of searching, he’s found me, and he wants to know why I quit my housemaid job and left his family’s island estate without so much as a goodbye. But I’m bound by a devastating secret much bigger than the two of us, and telling him the truth has consequences. Looking into the eyes of the only man I’ve ever loved, I tell him the only thing I’m allowed to: never contact me again. And when he’s gone, I sit down and finally open his letter. Only it isn’t a letter at all. And it changes everything.

Ghost


Daphne Loveling - 2017
    Silent and in the shadows, I don't make my move until I am absolutely sure of everything.Four years ago I was sure about Jenna. My best friend's kid sister had grown up into a spitfire I couldn't resist. One night we stopped resisting...We promised we'd keep it a secret. It was a one-time mistake, but we'd put it behind us. Jenna left but I kept my word. Jenna tried to get out of our corrupt town, but it pulled her back in again. Now she needs help. She needs protection. I'll do all of that for her, if she'll just shut the hell up and let me. She can even keep all of her secrets, except for one...JENNAThe Lords of Carnage MC has haunted me from the moment I was born. No matter how much I try to get away, they are there -- waiting to pull me back into the life that stole my father, my mother and then my brother from me. The ghosts of my past keep rising from the dead. Now the past is stirring again and all I want to do is run away. I'm back in the world I fled, and the secrets and lies of my whole family are about to be laid bare. But it's not just me anymore. I've got my little boy to look out for, too. I’m his only family. And his father has no idea he exists. I swore I would never go back to the MC. I swore I would never make the same mistakes again. But making mistakes with Casper Watkins is too hard to resist…

Wild Card


Lora Leigh - 2008
    All Navy SEAL Nathan Malone had to do was rescue three young girls from a Colombia drug cartel, then allow himself to be captured just long enough to draw out a government spy. That was before his mission went disastrously wrong…and before his wife, Bella, was told that Nathan was never coming home.Bella’s mourned her husband’s death for three long years. But she has no idea he’s still alive. Forced to assume a new identity, the man Nathan was is now dead. If he can get back to his wife, can he keep the secret of who he really is…even as desire threatens to consume them? And as danger threatens to tear Bella from Nathan’s arms once more?

Come Back for Me


Corinne Michaels - 2020
    I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania.When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget.And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen.Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right. Because when long-ago secrets are exposed, rocking us both to the core, I have no choice but to watch her walk away again....

The Trouble with Tomboys


Linda Kage - 2010
    Gilmore is Tommy Creek, Texas’s tough tomboy who loves to fly planes and gamble and doesn’t give a whip what anyone thinks or says about her…until Grady Rawlings steps into her life. PLUS THE WIDOWER Heir to an oil dynasty, Grady has inner demons to battle. Ever since his wife and unborn child died two and a half years ago, he’s developed a deep-seated hatred for sympathy and can’t handle anyone feeling sorry for him or treating him like some pitiful widower. EQUALS TROUBLE IN TEXAS Grady hires B.J,'s plane service to fly him to Houston for an overnight business trip. While there, she coaxes him into accompanying her to a late dinner, where she decides it’s time for him to move on with his life. A month later, she turns up pregnant with his baby, and neither of them is prepared for the chaos that follows.

Friends With Benedicts


Staci Hart - 2021
    Their high school summers were spent wrapped up in each other until she would inevitably go home to California. One season after college, Sebastian finally escaped the little Texas town to travel the world, and they said goodbye for what they thought might be the last time.Sebastian went one way. Presley went the other. For the first time in five years, they’re both in town, but the timing is no better than ever. So the only thing to do is what they do best. Keep it casual. Friends with benefits. They’ve done it before—doing it again will be easy.But their hearts don’t get the memo.When the lines of their arrangement blur, Presley and Sebastian are faced with decisions they’ve avoided for years. And that’s not even their biggest problem.A small town in danger of failing.A secret that could tear them apart.And two hearts that can’t hide anymore.They’ve shared so many summers, but none compare to what they’ll face.Timing is everything.And their time is almost up.

Unexpected Reality


Kaylee Ryan - 2016
    That's what they say, but it's easier said than done.How do you expect a change so huge it rocks you to your core?How do you prepare yourself for an event that will alter your life forever?One breathOne secondOne minuteOne hourOne day at a time, you learn to live with your unexpected reality.

This Christmas


Jeannie Moon - 2014
    Having Charlie meant putting some of her own dreams on hold, but Sabrina is content to surround herself with family and friends, safe from the realities of the outside world. She had enough of that when the man she loved broke her heart. Jake Killen’s career in professional hockey has brought him many rewards on and off the ice, but returning to New York brings back a flood of memories. When he sees Sabrina again, he discovers that he didn’t just walk away from her ten years ago, but also from their unborn child. Struggling with anger, guilt, and chemistry that’s off the chart, Sabrina and Jake wonder if they can find love again and, this Christmas, make all their wishes come true. Christmas in New York Book 1: This Christmas by Jeannie Moon Book 2: All I Want for Christmas by Jennifer Gracen Book 3: A Light in the Window by Jolyse Barnett Book 4: Goodness and Light by Patty Blount

Three Wishes


Kristen Ashley - 2011
    Her family had three wishes and they’d only ever used one so Fazire was stuck in the human world. This worked since he’d become a member of the family anyway. Even with a genie, Lily's young life wasn’t perfect. To escape the kids making her miserable at school, Lily buried herself in romance novels. One day, when the teasing was just too much, she used one of her wishes. She told Fazire she wanted to find a man like in her books and she made the most complicated wish Fazire had ever heard. Her wished-for man had to be impossibly handsome, virile, fierce, rugged and ruthless (amongst a dozen other things). He also had to think she was beautiful and he had to love her more than anything in the world. Nathaniel McAllister wasn’t born to a life where there were such things as genies granting wishes. His life was filled with drugs, crime and neglect. He was running errands for a gangster before he was in his teens and, even though life and hard work led him to wealth and respectability, he always knew, deep down, he was dirty. When Nate met Lily he knew he was no good for her but as virile, fierce, rugged and ruthless as he was, Nate was no match for the pull of sweet, innocent Lily. Unfortunately, Lily’s wish included that she and her hero go through trials and tribulations to test their love. And Fazire wasn’t only a good genie, he loved Lily – so he gave her exactly what she wanted.

Not Forgiven, Never Forgotten


Elizabeth Power - 2010
    Now the former boatyard hand is a multimillionaire, and he's out to settle a long-overdue score. He'll take Grace's business and her body.A seduction! Except Seth hasn't reckoned on the desire between them burning him every bit as fiercely as it consumes Grace!A redemption?He's come back to prove Grace's guilt—but now it's Seth who needs to be redeemed. For Grace is more inexperienced than he expected…and she's expecting his baby!

The Divorce Party


Jennifer Hayward - 2013
    Forced back into Riccardo's glittering, gossip-fueled world, the price of perfection is still too high and Lilly's old insecurities resurface. An unexpected consequence of their reunion raises the stakes even higher, and the media's golden couple must finally confront the truth behind the headlines. Congratulations to Jennifer Hayward, winner of Harlequin's 2012 So You Think You Can Write competition!

Have My Baby


Taryn Quinn - 2017
    But Seth is a workaholic millionaire and doesn't have time to meet someone. Someone who won't screw him over, like his kid's mother.  Only problem is this someone has secretly been in love with him since high school. I've been hiding it forever, not wanting to risk our friendship. Sleeping with him is my biggest fantasy. And I've fantasized plenty, being a virgin. Another thing he doesn't know.Now I have to make the biggest decision of my life.Is having a no strings attached affair just to make a baby better than never having him at all?Author’s note: this case of insta-love and insta-naked-time has been brewing for over a decade. Babymaking has never been so hot…or so funny…or so complicated.Author’s Note part deux: Have My Baby is a standalone rom com with a romantic HEA ending and no cliffhanger.