Book picks similar to
All I Want Is You by Candace Havens
romance
contemporary
alpha-male
arcs
You Can Have Manhattan
P. Dangelico - 2019
Sydney Evans is no stranger to hard work. It’s the one constant in her life. And with no family or friends to speak of it’s been easy to pour everything she has into her career as general counsel for Blackstone Holdings. She wants for nothing. Until her boss offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All she has to do in return is marry his good-for-nothing son. Scott Blackstone used be a party whore. Pardon, party animal. He hasn’t been that guy in a long time though. Not since he moved to Wyoming, bought a failing cattle ranch, and turned it into a profitable business. All is good. Until a phone call from his father threatens the quiet, simple life he’s built. Marry or lose everything. And to a woman who can’t stand him, no less. Well, Scott is not going down without a fight. He’s never going back to Manhattan. Not if he can help it.
Downfall
Jay Crownover - 2019
Until a stunning, skittish, single mother forces him to pause and recognize just how empty and hollow his busy life has become.
From the start, it’s been ingrained in Solo’s DNA to fight.Fight for what he believes is right.Fight for the people he loves.Fight for the traces of good in a place which tends to be filled with a variety of bad.Fight for survival, so at some point, his life will quiet down and find a normal pace.He wasn’t ready for the impact his secretive, shy, obviously out of place new neighbor was going to have on him. And never in a million years was he prepared to fall head over heels for her and her young daughter.Now, he’s facing the most important, and the hardest fight he’s ever fought… the battle to win Orley’s damaged heart.
Orley Vincent’s heart is full of fear, leaving no space for love. Until a big, brash, brawler of a man forces his way in and makes her realize facing her fears is the only way she can ever be free.
From the start, Orley was groomed to believe she wasn’t good enough.She wasn’t the perfect daughter. Or student. Or girlfriend.But, she has always been the best mother she could be to her daughter, Noble.Keeping Noble safe has always been the one thing she was determined to do, which ironically, is how she ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, living next door to an unlikely hero. Orley’s a woman on the run. She had no idea her frantic sprint was going to land her in the tattooed arms of a man ready to teach her how to fight for herself… and for love.
When August Ends
Penelope Ward - 2019
Things didn’t exactly get off on the right foot with Noah Cavallari. Our first encounter was embarrassing, to say the least.But despite that, I found myself waking up every day with a newfound energy. Nothing exciting ever happened on the lake—not until Noah moved into the small boathouse on our property. He’d booked it for the entire summer…and I was still trying to figure out why.When my mother became ill, I inherited the responsibility of making sure our guests were well taken care of. I should have been in college. Instead, I was living my best life…as a maid.Dark, handsome, and mysterious, everything about Noah screamed forbidden. I knew he was just passing through town for the summer.I knew he was probably too old for me.Yet, I was drawn to him.Not to mention, he tried to save my life when he mistakenly thought I was drowning.I wanted him and made no secret of it.His own attempts to warn me away soon gave way to late-night moonlight chats by the lake. We were slowly easing into a friendship that was gearing up to explode into something I might not recover from. Because he’s leaving at the end of the summer.And I have no idea what I’ll do when August ends.
Never Loved
Charlotte Stein - 2015
Beatrix Becker spent most of her life under the thumb of her controlling, abusive father. And now that she’s free and attending her dream college, she has no idea how to act like the normal crowd: partying, going on dates, even having a conversation. Then she meets Serge Sorensen. Big and surly with a whole host of riotous tattoos, Serge is supposed to scare the hell out of her. But beneath his harsh exterior, Beatrix discovers a kindred spirit who knows what it’s like to be a misfit. Most exhilarating—and terrifying—is what he does for a living: illegal street fighting. There’s nothing like the rush Serge gets from the intense athleticism and brutal glory of combat—though his chemistry with Beatrix comes close. Slowly at first, he introduces her to his world, where he lives by instinct, passion, and desire. He even helps her out with her equally traumatized brother. But when Serge gets in too deep with the wrong people, he ends up paying in blood. And suddenly, just as Beatrix has been drawn into Serge’s perfectly sculpted arms, she’s thrown once and for all into the fight of his life.
Mad Love
Colet Abedi - 2014
With her two best friends along for the ride and to help her find herself again, Sophie is not prepared for the enigmatic Clayton Sinclair. Clayton comes from another world of privilege that seems like a fantasy to Sophie. Can this man introduce her to the passion & seduction she never realized she was desperately searching for? Sophie quickly becomes ensnared in Clayton's seductive web until a shocking treachery makes her question her judgment and actions...
Confessed
Nicola Rendell - 2016
But when she runs a big, black pickup off the road, totaling it, she finds herself stuck in the middle of nowhere with the driver. He's got a body to die for and a hair-trigger temper. Vince Russo looks like a felon, but he's also pretty funny. He’s on the lam from the cops… and a psychopathic, Russian mob boss who wants to put his balls on a barbeque. Literally.After a night of ill-advised cocktails and bathroom-wrecking sex, Vince just can't get Lucy off his mind. But he's got plans to rob her. And Lucy’s life is about to get a little bit criminal too.But can a bad boy and a good girl really escape from their troubles together? Can they trust each other at all?In the steady march of disasters that follow them west, they fight and they laugh. They tease and they’re tender. They’re either oil and water, or chocolate and peanut butter.Except, they can’t run from the real world forever. And there’s a hell of a surprise in store for both of them…***To the reader: Confessed is a standalone featuring Lucy, who readers met as the best friend in Professed. Both are standalones and do not need to be read together. Be advised, things get super dirty in this book. The sex is explicit, and the language is rude. It’s an erotic love story with fury.
Caveman
Jo Raven - 2017
Hot single daddy. Arrogant. Rude. Older. My boss. Totally off limits... right? Matthew Hansen is the kind of handsome that has grown women whispering behind their hands and giggling like schoolgirls. Dark, tall and mysterious, he’s a newcomer to our little town. He’s a gritty, grease-covered mechanic, and a single daddy. Sweet, right? Plus, he’s looking for a nanny – and I am desperately looking for a job. Sounds like the perfect deal. Only he’s a jerk. An uncivilized, hulking brute. Zero manners. Zero interest in making me feel welcome in his home. Downright rude. But oh, so sexy. And I need the job. I can do this. One thing is for sure: I can’t fall for the Caveman. No matter how sexy he is. How mysterious. How tortured. That’s the only rule – and one I’m about to break. ***This is a standalone, full-length romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger or cheating. For a limited time, I have included ZANE, a standalone novel, and MICAH, a standalone long novella, as bonus. ***(Librarian Note: This story is loosely connected (as a sort of sequel) to Zane (Inked Brotherhood, #3).)
Fighting for Flight
J.B. Salsbury - 2013
Liberated from the neglectful home of her prostitute mother, she finds solace as a mechanic. With few friends, she’s content with the simple life. Flying under the radar is all she knows, and more than she expects.Until she catches the eye of local celebrity, UFL playboy Jonah Slade. Weeks away from his title fight, Jonah is determined to stay focused on everything he’s trained so hard to achieve. Undefeated in the octagon, he’s at the height of his career. But resisting Raven’s effortless allure and uncomplicated nature is a fight he can’t win. Jonah trades in his bad-boy reputation and puts his heart on the line. But when her father contacts her, setting in motion the ugly truth of her destiny, Jonah must choose. In a high-stakes gamble where love and freedom hang in the balance, a war is waged where the price of losing is a fate worse than death.Will the hotheaded Jonah be able to restrain his inner fighter to save the woman he loves? Or will Raven be forced into a life she’s been desperate to avoid?Word Count: 112,406
The Dark Light of Day
T.M. Frazier - 2013
Two broken souls that can't be healed, they can't be saved. Abby and Jake have to decide if they can accept the darkness not only within one another, but within themselves. If they can accept each other for who they really are they might learn that love isn't always found in the light...WARNING: This is NOT your typical romance. The story of Jake & Abby contains disturbing situations, graphic violence, sex, strong language, drug use, and all types of abuse.The Dark Light of Day is a King series prequel.
Foolproof Love
Katee Robert - 2016
Now he’s back—temporarily, if he has any say about it. Restless, he finds himself kissing the sexiest girl in town…and agreeing to be the fake boyfriend in her little revenge scheme.Jules Rodrigez isn’t interested in the role of town spinster. Being seen with a hell raiser like Adam is the perfect way to scandalize the residents, make her ex jealous, and prove she’s a sexy, desirable woman. And if their plan includes ridiculously hot sex—in public, of course—all the better.But this thing between them has an expiration date. Putting down roots isn’t in Adam’s blood, and Jules’s roots in Devil’s Falls are bedrock deep. He’ll leave, even if it rips out his heart. But this time, he’s not sure he’ll survive it…
The Strongest Steel
Scarlett Cole - 2015
She's determined to forget her old life and is looking for an artist who can tattoo over the scars on her back.Trent Andrews, local legend and owner of the Second Circle tattoo studio, has his own reasons for specializing in inking over scars. And in spite of her mysterious past and the difficult road ahead, he quickly realizes that Harper is funny, smart, and--under her ridiculously oversized clothing and SPF 100 sunscreen--totally hot. He's happy to take on the challenge of designing a meaningful and deadly full-back tattoo for her.But when cryptic messages start appearing on Harper's phone, strange deliveries arrive at her door, and Second Circle is vandalized, Harper is convinced that her ex-boyfriend has tracked her down, and worse, that he knows about Trent. Running was the only thing that saved her last time, but now that she's started to put down roots in Miami, she'll have to decide if she can finally fight back instead.
Belong to You
Vi Keeland - 2013
The only thing missing was the groom. After seven years of coasting through a relationship with Michael, my senses were numb. A week of passion with a stranger was just what I needed to clear my head and take back control of my life. But how do you move on when the man that was only supposed to be a fling somehow seeps into your soul and steals your heart?
If You Stay
Courtney Cole - 1999
Seriously. He’s a tattooed, rock-hard bad-boy with a bad attitude to match. But he’s got his reasons. His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with guilt although he doesn’t understand why. What he does know is that he and his dad are left alone and with more issues than they can count. As Pax grew up, he tried to be the kid his father always wanted; the perfect golden boy, but it didn’t work. His dad couldn’t overcome his grief long enough to notice and Pax couldn’t keep up the impossible perfect façade. So he slipped far, far from it. Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the ugliness, the black void that he doesn’t want to deal with. If he pretends that the emptiness isn’t there, then it isn’t, right? Wrong. And it’s never more apparent than when he meets Mila. Sweet, beautiful Mila Hill is the fresh air to his hardened frown, the beauty to his ugly heart. He doesn’t know how to not hurt her, but he quickly realizes that he’s got to figure it out because he needs her to breathe.When memories of his mother’s death resurface from where he’s repressed them for so long, Mila is there to catch him when the guilt starts making sense. Mila is the one…the one who can save him from his broken troubled heart; from his issues, from the emptiness. But only if he can stop being an asshole long enough to allow it. He knows that. And he’s working on it. But is that enough to make her stay?
Royal Savage
Victoria Ashley - 2015
Every time I do, all I see is blood, death, and pain. I can feel it - almost taste it, bringing me back to that night. It doesn't matter that I'm still breathing; I no longer need it, I no longer want it. I despise it along with everything else around me. The only thing I long for is to fucking fade away. I've given up. Until her at least… AVALON. She comes into my world, knocking me on my ass. It turns me on to have her around me. Makes me want to wrap my hand around her tight little throat and fuck her until she feels my pain, feels the monster in me, but also makes me want to protect her from the very thing that she should be afraid of... me. Once she sees the damage that I’m capable of; she’ll look at me like everyone else around me does: with fear. AVALON KNIGHT HIS EYES... THE DARKNESS IN them draws me to him, making me want to taste him, feel him… and save him. I shouldn't have gotten on the back of his motorcycle that day. I know that now. Colton warned me. I was told it was dangerous. I was told that nothing would be the same. He was right. ROYAL is dangerous, dark, and seductive; the very thing that keeps me hanging on, willing to give my last breath just to touch him… breathe him in. He’s savage, inked, and highly captivating. So different from his brother… He's hazardous to my health, mind, and body, yet the only thing that I crave. I want to free him. I want to change his mind, but I'm afraid that he’s already too faded…
Timber
Frankie Love - 2016
Dirty. Untamed.I moved to the woods to get away from the bullsh*t of the city. People there don't understand a man like me.I work hard, and my hands are as calloused as my heart.And nothing's gonna change that.But now I've met Harper.And my whole f*cking world has changed.But this girl keeps running.I need to make her stay because she's having my baby.I'm gonna make sure I'm the only man she ever needs again.HarperI never expected my fiancé to break things off.I'd saved myself for my wedding night, and now I'm left wondering why.Needing to get away, I ran to my uncle's cabin in the woods.But a storm has left me stranded on Jax's doorstep, and soon enough he takes me in his arms.And on the floor. And on the table. And in the great outdoors.Our time together has left me with a big problem ... a problem a wild man like him can't fix.A problem that makes me run ... because I need a man who believes in true love and commitment.I need a man who is ready to be a father.*** *** *** *** *** ***NOTE: Originally published as a five-part serial titled TIMBER. This includes all five parts, plus 15,000 extra words of bonus material: ACE 1.WARNING: This story contains graphic language and an untamed man who takes a virgin. Please don't read if you're not ready for hot sex that will make you reach for that vibrator hidden under your pillow. If the batteries are out, your own hand will do. No shame, babycakes. Enjoy this steamy story! You deserve it.