Book picks similar to
Breathe Again by J. Chary


romance
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short-stories-novellas
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Quarantined: A Collection of Shorts


Sabrina B. Scales - 2020
    

Compassionate Heart


Vivian Rose Lee - 2017
    How she wished at that moment she could blend into the leather seating of the booth. She had watched him over the years as he juggled women like a world-class juggler. She didn’t know when she had fallen in love with the junkie whore, but she had. So, she had to endure his escapades whenever they found themselves thrown together at the same venue. Lauren was now an A-list designer with her life pretty much mapped out. So why should she care what Semiyon James did and who he did it with? Semiyon James, former NBA basketball player and current coach of the Philadelphia Razors was on top of the world. He was rid of his philandering wife and could pull any woman he wanted with just a crook of his finger. Until he met the beautiful and shy Lauren Caldwell. She was totally immune to his handsome face and suave charm. He wanted her. For her he would give up his wicked ways if only she’d give him the time of day. Once the couple decided to give a relationship a try, evil steps in in the form of his ex-wife and Lauren’s man-loving cousin. Could Semi and Lauren endure the trouble that was in store for them or would they let it destroy the man with the compassionate heart?

Chance Taken (Chance Series Book 2)


Diana W. - 2017
    As their friendship strengthens, Kelise’s resistance to relationships—thanks to her past— starts to lower. The possibility of something more with Mike enters her mind but not before he sets his eyes on a new distraction named Danielle Kingston. As Mike and Danielle’s relationship attempts to bloom, Kelise learns some unsettling information about Mike’s new lady, but also finds herself caught up in a distraction of her own with a sexy blast from her past. Mike realizes he may have made a mistake in his choice and now has to deal with the consequences of watching Kelise’s happiness be sparked by another guy. In a series of missed opportunities and misunderstandings, can Mike and Kelise get their minds and hearts on the same page or will they have to deal with a chance not taken? >>>Note: This book is a standalone and can be read as such. However, it is advised and recommended that you check out By Chance as well, which is the first story in the series and connected to the main characters of Chance Taken, to get the complete reading experience <<<

After Everything I've Done For You: A Chi-Town Soap Opera


Nicety - 2015
    Despite his past infidelities, she pushes hard to make it work. A night of snooping brings out a few secrets that could destroy their love forever. But someone in her corner might be willing to take Bianca's pain away if she let's them. Damita Paxton had been dealt a bad hand. After losing her job and being forced to move in with her cousin, Bianca, she tries to start her life over and begin a new. But a secret that she left back in Atlanta not only threatens her happiness but her life as well. Sunset Richmond is in love with a man who may never love her the way she loves him. With two kids on her hip, all she desires is to be a real family. Is she doomed to being the side chick forever? Will anyone be able to find the happiness they so desperately seek or is this a setup for failure?

Fell For The Plug Next Door


Candi B. - 2019
    For years, she stayed in a marriage that held no value or substance. She dedicated four years of her life to a man who lied, cheated, and walked all over her heart. At the age of twenty-four years old, she should have been wild and living her best life. After Xavier delivers another powerful blow to her heart, Ivy has no interest in sticking around to save her sunken marriage. The moment Ivy signs the divorce papers, she feels alive and free. She's on a mission to get her life back, and put the past behind her. When she parks her U-Haul in her neighbor's assigned spot, she comes face to face with the sexiest man on God’s green Earth. Since his junior year in high school, Zane worked the streets of Detroit, and now he was leaving his ruthless ways behind him and focusing on his upholstery shop. Zane was now just a regular guy, who was trying to make a way for his eight-year-old daughter. He had been with a few women here and there, but not anyone who could potentially capture his heart. Falling in love wasn't on his agenda, and if it was, his nagging baby mama, Timeka, wouldn't make it easy. After a frustrating day at work, all Zane wanted to do was go home, turn on his TV, and relax. He notices his new neighbor, and instantly, he is mesmerized by her good looks and perfect body. After a run in that leaves both Ivy and Zane wanting to do more than just borrow a cup of sugar, they avoid each other as much as possible. The inevitable occurs, and Ivy and Zane are forced to face the elephant in the room. Being in Zane's presence did something to Ivy, and she could no longer resist what her body and heart desired. Zane is falling hard for Ivy, but where there is happiness, evil lurks. When the past can't let you go, secrets are put to the forefront, and enemies are watching your every move, can Ivy and Zane survive the madness?

Leaving A Thug For A Savage


Khadijah J. - 2017
    If a person loved you they would hurt you. She believed that and after experiencing that kind of love in a abusive home Sa'dai knew she had to get out unlike the girls around her she didn't use her body to escape the pain she used her brains.  When her dreams of becoming a nurse and securing a better future are coming true. She finds after a chance encounter that there is love in Hip-Hop and falls for a local rapper who promised her love in exchange for lies and deceit. With a heart full of hurt will she be able to feel her heart with love again? Savage Johnson was living up to the name his daddy gave him. He carried himself in the streets and in the sheets with many different women like a Savage should. Being proud of it until he ran into Sa’dai. Those eyes instantly drew him in. No woman had ever captured his heart just from a glance. Sa'dai was everything he wanted his future to look like. He hadn't spoken a word to her but he knew he had to make her his. Seeing she wasn't being treated right he was determined to turn from being a savage to her savior. He was going to love the hurt from her heart. ​In this urban tale of love and redemption we will uncover the story of two lovers battling the world as well as mending broken hearts.

Salamanca Cottage


Mary Fitzgerald - 2014
    But Salamanca Cottage is not all that it seems and soon she finds that she is not alone. Then she has decide if the being she talks to and finds herself becoming fond of is real or merely a manifestation of her grief and longing.

When Love Takes Over: The Moods of Love


Kimberly Brown - 2022
    Eden is a reserved workaholic who has an obsession with music. Little does she know, Maverick was about to sing her a tune that only her heart could hear.Join this couple’s journey of love at first sight. No drama… just love.

Impulsive Emotion: Love Come Down


Aubreé Pynn - 2019
    With her parents traveling around the world, her break up from her long-time boyfriend along with her failing business, escaping from reality seemed impossible... until her best friend offered to take her home for Thanksgiving. Hesitant at first, Kendra eventually realizes that getting away from Virginia was something she desperately needed... until she locks eyes with a handsome beast that makes her world stop spinning and her honey instantly drip. DeAndre Yates is a southern gentleman with the beastly power to bend Kendra into submission. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that she was going to be his. Whether for one night or an eternity. Only having access to her for seven days, he makes sure to leave an imprint on her that's hard to be forgotten. So what will happen when impulse mixed with rare emotions causes the lines of lust and love to become blurry? Will Kendra and DeAndre be more than spine-tingling pleasure? Or will impulsive emotions morph into intentional love?

Locked Away With You


Cherish Amore - 2021
    

Doctor's Remedy


Amanda Martinez - 2018
    Pushing it to the side for a time, she ignores it, but she finally goes to the doctor. She is referred to a specialist and everything changes when he walks in. Elle was there about a headache, but soon there is something else that she needs more. The kind doctor is handsome, and he doesn’t even know how he affects her. She decides that she needs a special kind of treatment that only he can give her. Elle wants him to take a hands-on approach with her. She’s practically begging for it.

She Gave Her All to the Hood’s Finest 2


Shvonne Latrice - 2019
    Feeling like she is unable to trust him with anyone anymore, she decides it's time to cut her losses as much as she can, and press on. Only hiccup is that Camarih must've forgotten that her newfound and now ex love isn't quite right up top. Packing up and starting anew won't be as easy as it was with her past relationships, because once the unhinged hood boy sets his sights on something, he never lets it go. And with Camarih being the first woman he's ever loved, her finding solace in another person, place, or thing, is highly unlikely and even more dangerous. In the second installment, more skeletons will be revealed, truths will be faced, and hard decisions will be made. The love of off-kilter Tony and passionate Camarih is surely being tampered with, but a test or two is nothing to a certified gangsta that has no problem slanging a few bullets and exhausting all extremes to keep his girl. The other couples also return, one seeing the detriment their ill-fated affair has caused, and the other going from simple admiration to a whirlwind romance.

Make Me Buckle


Mandy Morgan - 2018
     Luckily for Emma, she's rescued by a screaming hot cowboy named Clint, who offers her a job on his ranch, and before she knows it, the air is thick with desire around them, leaving her longing to be claimed by her sexy cowboy hero. But when Clint reveals his secret reason for not making a move on his cute and curvy new employee, Emma is shocked, and can't help wondering where things will go from here... Will Emma get a second chance at the powerful love that she's always craved? This steamy story about insta-love between an older man and a younger BBW is perfect for fans of Alexa Riley, Hope Ford, and Flora Ferrari. Go ahead and grab a glass of wine, get comfy, and let the Happily Ever After begin!

If Only for a Little While


S. Rêver - 2019
    She loves hard and fights harder when she finds her boyfriend of two years in a compromising position. Blair doesn’t know what to do to pick up the pieces of her now shattered love life. With a girls’ trip on the horizon, her best friend Blake makes her promise to not focus on the past but to embrace the present. Little did Blake know, but she would be forced to take her own advice when she encounters the crazy yet charming Langston. On a trip to take his mind off his failed relationship and unfortunate reality, Kofi had no intentions of getting close to someone new. That was until he met the beauty in the yellow dress. Little did he know she was the key he needed to heal and be set free from his past. Take this journey with these four strangers as they take a chance on each other and gain a sense of peace and freedom that they’ve never had.

She From The Gutta 2


BriAnn Danae - 2018
    For so long, he had his mind set on gaining Harlem's trust back, yet she became the one thing he despises the most; a liar. With both of their lives on the line and a new love interest on the scene, Enzo must now be the one to make a choice. Hoping that it can right all his wrongs from the past. From pen pals to secret lovers, Lucci and Yaz find themselves at odds. While locked up, he found solace in their intimate phone conversations and letters. Their bond formed a solid friendship, but now lines are blurred. Though Yaz swore their first sexual encounter would be the last, Lucci proves, unwaveringly, how much pull he has in Yaz' life and her makeshift relationship. While sacrifices are made, are they worth pushing the love Harlem yearned for to the side? The finale of She From The Gutta is a tale of overcoming unfortunate circumstances, burying your past demons, and taking losses because, in the end, they're really a lesson learned. The type of lessons that can only be taught by life's never-ending struggle to survive.