Book picks similar to
My Journey to the Ocean by Lena Mikado
chick-lit
romance
contemporary
first-reads
Home Sweet Home
Lilly Mirren - 2020
Grief and loss force her to re-evaluate her life. The only thing she can think to do is to return to her hometown where she has to deal with all of the things she left behind; a hometown she hasn't visited since high school graduation.When the police officer who lives next door comes knocking with questions about a tragedy from the past, Trina finds herself exploring the trauma of her childhood and facing the pain and stigma she's run from for so long.As she faces a new season of life, Trina must learn how to navigate complex family relationships, new friendships and a return to the career she left behind to raise a family years earlier. In the process, she'll finally confront the ghosts of her past and upend a mystery that's haunted her adult life.
Texas Twosome
Debbie White - 2018
Love kept her there...When Rebecca Parsons's new assignment brings her to Steam, Texas to cover the anniversary of an unsolved missing person's story, she's more than up to the task. Then she meets Kyle, a striking man with charisma who takes a hold of her in ways she'd never imagine.Kyle is carrying on the family tradition of law enforcement. When he's asked to show the out-of-town reporter around, he's happy to do it. There's not much excitement in Steam and they don't get many out of town visitors. Something about this big-city girl intrigues him so he asks her to stay a while. Soon Becca and Kyle find themselves enthralled in a slow-burning love connection neither of them saw coming.Book 1 - Texas TwosomeBook 2 - Kansas KissedBook 3 - California CrushBook 4 - Oregon ObsessionBook 5 - Florida Fling (Coming Soon)
Payback and a Bottle of Merlot
Bria Marche - 2014
The only things missing were a husband and a brood of kids. Love happens when you least expect it, her mom always said. An appointment to show her photography portfolio brought her front and center with Jack Barnes, a gorgeous, successful Manhattan businessman. Mia was smitten, and they married less than a year later. Unfortunately, the marital bliss she craved never showed up. Jack, the controlling absentee husband, had a secret: someone else was occupying his mind and bed. Mia had no idea until a chance sighting revealed the real Jack with his mystery woman. Payback was definitely in order and way overdue. With a little help from her friends and a lot of Merlot, Mia was on a mission to take Jack down. With hilarious speed bumps, hiccups, and crazy calamities along the way, Mia’s ridiculous plot for payback turned into a chance for unexpected friendships and real love.Payback and a Bottle of Merlot, Book One, in the Like Sisters series, is a romantic comedy novel that will appeal to fans of chick lit, women's fiction and humorous books. Like Sisters is a laugh out loud series of best friends, hot guys and the right amount of steam to have you anxiously waiting for the next book.Note: There are no cliffhangers in this series, but since the characters carry over, the books are best read in sequence.Like Sisters Romantic Comedy Series:#1 Payback and a Bottle of Merlot#2 Insecurity and a Bottle of Merlot#3 Destiny and a Bottle of Merlot#4 Intrigue and a Bottle of Merlot #5 Desire and a Bottle of Merlot Like Sisters Categories:Chick Lit NovelsChick Lit SeriesChick Lit ComedyRomantic Comedy NovelsRomantic Comedy SeriesWomen's Fiction Comedy Novels
A Date with Fate
Tracy Ellen - 2012
She’s twenty eight, owns a bookstore, and is one determined, control freak of a woman. She’s decided to take the entire weekend off to have some fun. Except Anabel’s unapologetically single and perfectly uncomplicated life is suddenly upside down with problems! The cheating love of her life is back in town. Her family is meddling in her personal business. An adulterous wife of a good friend has gone missing. She’s been targeted for death by a homicidal serial rapist. An evil aunt has gone fanatic. Her sociopathic cousin has stolen her gun. The macho police chief is driving her nuts. And one not-too-tall, deliciously dark, and definitely not handsome stranger is enticing her to break all her ironclad rules on dating in the most intriguing of ways. Strange things are happening in Northfield, Minnesota. But Anabel’s never met the challenge she won’t stare in the eye while daintily spitting sideways in the dirt. Will Anabel begin to believe that life is never simple, some rules are meant to be broken, and a certain mesmerizing complication may be worth the trouble--even if it kills her? (Adult Content)
The Shop on Main
Kay Correll - 2014
As she scrambles to maintain her fragile financial security and independence, she fears she may lose more than just The Shop on Main and her home.Nothing is working out like Bella planned--she finds out the man she is falling for, Owen Campbell, is the businessman at the center of all her problems.Owen has secretly longed to belong--somewhere--anywhere--his whole life. When he decides to give his long-lost brother, Jake, back his birthright, he unknowingly thwarts his briefly held hope of a place where he can put down roots and a family he longs for.Nothing is working out like Owen planned--neither Bella nor Jake wants anything to do with him.How can a man who is used to being in control and a woman determined to make it all on her own find a way to happiness?The Shop on Main is Book One of the Comfort Crossing series. Bella and her best friends, Jenny and Becky Lee, navigate the heartaches and triumphs of love and life in the small southern town of Comfort Crossing, Mississippi.
The Misadventures of Catie Bloom
Brooke Stanton - 2016
He's a player ready to settle down. Can they fake it till they make it into each other's arms? Catie Bloom dreads being found out as a hot mess. So when the high-profile domestic goddess’s supposedly perfect life is scheduled for a TV special, she’s desperate to hide the slovenly reality while she scrambles to learn to cook and find a studly pretend hubby. And with her future on the line, she reluctantly accepts the office playboy’s lifeline to help her cover up the cracks and look the part… Sportswriter Sam Harding buries authenticity behind his breezy charm. And though he knows Catie’s less-than-tidy secret, he’s frustrated when his lady’s man reputation gets in the way of intriguing the one woman who holds his heart. So when he discovers her goose could be cooked, he jumps at the chance to stand in as her handsome prince. As Catie struggles with burned offerings, her growing attraction to Sam is a grease fire waiting to happen. While Sam worries if he keeps his desires hidden for much longer, he’ll lose his opportunity to move from bogus husband to the real deal. Is their passion about to be roasted, or can they whip up a gourmet romance?The Misadventures of Catie Bloom is the hilarious first book in the Bloom Sisters romantic comedy series. It’s a dash of Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret, with a helping of Christmas in Connecticut, and a recipe all its own, mixed into a delicious and romantic romp.
Buy The Misadventures of Catie Bloom to set a table for two today!
Love at Sunset Lake
Sally Bayless - 2018
An artist who's withdrawn from the world. A property battle that just might heal them both.When struggling caterer Tess Palmer inherits her great-aunt's home at Sunset Lake, Missouri, she thinks she's found the way to save her business. Selling the property can provide just the infusion of capital she needs to pay off her debts and move to a larger commercial kitchen.Wildlife painter Jack Hamlin, who lives across Sunset Lake, wants the area kept exactly as it is--a place where waterfowl can thrive and where he can find peace and solitude to ease his troubled heart. Although he's drawn to Tess's honesty and beauty, he's appalled to learn she would welcome a deal with a developer, and he vows to stop her.As Tess discovers the reasons why Jack is so passionate about protecting the lake, she finds him more and more attractive. She takes a tentative step past her own emotional pain to risk her heart again. But there seems to be no solution to the impasse over the property. As a sale becomes imminent, can Jack and Tess trust God--and each other--and finally find a love that will last?
Mountain Angel
Suzie O'Connell - 2012
When a call from her stalker makes it clear he wasn’t deterred, Aelissm asks her overprotective uncle for advice. His decision to send Patrick O’Neil to keep her safe might become an even bigger problem. Pat is a haunted man with a kind smile and sad eyes. Aelissm knows he will leave, but there is something irresistible about him. He could be the best thing to ever happen to her… if she can convince him to stay.
The Monsoon Series: Two Book Bundle
Anya Wylde - 2020
She decides that the best way to deal with such a situation is to pack her bags and move to a new country. Luck is on her side, and she quickly gets a job as a runner on a documentary being filmed in India. Thus, begins her roller-coaster ride filled with mad decisions and forbidden romance.
Fire at Twilight
Lila Ashe - 2013
She's good at it, too. In her acupuncture practice, she fixes the community of Darling Bay, and in her personal life, she's rescued her sister too many times to count. Her love life, though... Grace doesn't think she needs help, especially not from a man whose very nickname is unhealthy.Tox Ellis is the hazmat expert at the Darling Bay Fire Department, and he knows about harmful substances. He knows what gases to keep apart to prevent explosions. Why, then, can't he seem to stay away from Grace, the woman who seems to think he needs fixing?Is Darling Bay ready for the chemical reaction Grace and Tox generate whenever they're in the same place at the same time? And who will be standing by to put out the flames?The Firefighters of Darling Bay seriesBook 1: Fire at TwilightBook 2: Fire at DawnBook 3: Everyday Hero (A Darling Bay Short Story)
The Apple of My Eye
Mary Ellen Bramwell - 2014
When she finally emerges from the fog of her life, it dawns on her that something is amiss in the way her husband died. As Brea searches for answers, she discovers things she never knew... and things she's not sure she wants to know. Delving into unsolved mysteries brings several questions to the forefront of Brea's thoughts, and she must decide if moving forward can erase the heartache and mistakes.
Unforgettable
Linda Barrett - 2021
A rocking career in finance, a great group of friends and singing with the community chorus fill her calendar and provide her with total satisfaction. Until the phone rings. Until an upbeat familiar voice from the past reawakens her heart and reminds her of what she’s been missing.Playwright Doug Collins has never forgotten the girl he left behind. Even though it was Jennifer who’d made that final decision. “Go to New York and have a wonderful life,” she’d said before running back to her family, a family that still needed her. But that was five years ago. Five years of Jen in the back of his mind, nestled in his heart. Now memories are not enough! Doug packs up his car and heads to Boston in search of that “wonderful life.”Most reunions have bumpy beginnings and not all end well. Jennifer and Doug have a lot to figure out. But they’re smart, honest, and were once madly in love. Do they have a chance at finding the ending they so richly deserve?
Love at Coco Bay
Kirsty McManus - 2021
With a recent promotion from receptionist to co-assistant manager—not to mention the ongoing opportunity to live and work with her best friends—everything is perfect.Well, except for one tiny thing. Sasha has never had much luck in the boyfriend department, and the only guy she’s ever been interested in is event planner Dash, a Channing Tatum lookalike who is oblivious to her affections.But when a resort guest insists that Sasha work with Dash on an upcoming wedding, they are suddenly thrust into a three-month-long high-pressure environment. Sasha can no longer hide from Dash, and Dash has no option but to get to know Sasha.As expected, things get off to a rocky start, and when a mystery investor arrives at the island, the situation only gets worse. Sudden changes in the corporate hierarchy and bizarre managerial decisions mean that not only the wedding, but the entire resort’s future is in jeopardy.Can Sasha survive the chaos, make the wedding a success, and end up with her dream guy?She’s going to try.
Winter Interlude
Sandy Loyd - 2012
Right if you were spending all your time and energy with Mr. Wrong? And what about the book out a few years ago that created such a hoopla with the single crowd – He’s Just Not That Into You? The two main characters in Winter Interlude either didn’t heed their mother’s advice or haven’t read the book. Now, add into the plot that the two in question are enemies who regularly run into each other, given their current relationships. Paul Morrison, a hunky, blond, financial planner, has been putting time and energy into winning the heart of Kate Winter’s best friend for almost as long as Kate, a strong willed antiques dealer, has been dating James Morrison, Paul’s brother.The sparks start to fly when the two get stuck together for a three-hour drive to the mountains and years of misconceptions about each other are slowly being wiped out. It is in the confines of the BMW that the two begin their journey, taking them from being mortal enemies to lovers.Winter Interlude tells the story of their adventure – of how they finally find love. Kate and Paul’s story is the first one in a series of four friends caught in a time warp. They can’t move on because they are stuck on their idea of their perfect dreams. But sometimes life works in mysterious ways and they are all forced by circumstances to change.
Summer at Sea
Beth Labonte - 2015
Have you ever helped your parents pack for a weeklong cruise? No? I didn't think so. So shut it. So begins vacation for Summer Hartwell - twenty-six years old, living with her anxiety-ridden parents, and unwillingly booked by her brother on a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. Despite the nightmare of being trapped aboard a cruise ship with Mom and Dad, Summer sees a rare opportunity to fulfill The Prophecy – her mother’s declaration that she will live at home until she gets married. With two thousand passengers onboard, at least one of them must be husband material, right? The only problem is Graham Blenderman – her brother’s best friend who is joining them for the week, in all of his tall, blonde, extroverted glory. Graham doesn’t believe Summer needs a husband in order to break free from her parents. He thinks she just needs a little bit of nerve. And to Summer’s introverted horror, he’s willing to spend the entire week proving that he’s right.