Book picks similar to
Charm School After Dark by Lynn Garcia Carmer


romance
contemporary-romance
ebook
contemporary

Scarlet Toys


S.M. Shade - 2017
    After you’ve seen a woman strip down at the laundry room to wash the clothes she’s wearing, then saunter across the street naked, you’ve seen it all, right? How naïve I was. After the factory closed, leaving me and a good portion of the town unemployed, I took a job managing Scarlet Toys. I knew it wouldn’t be a typical work environment, selling adult toys in a town more uptight than a constipated nun, but some things you just never see coming. Like the protesters covered in poison ivy, screaming about smut peddlers. Or a dancing dinosaur named Fappy. Or the allure of the man standing in the center of all the chaos. Wyatt Lawson, a six foot, four inch heap of muscle with a quick smile, ignited my interest in more than the available manager position. Like the missionary one. Or the rodeo. Maybe the side rider. What can I say? I’m an overachiever. Let’s just hope he doesn’t scare easily. This is the first book in a series of standalone novels.

Charmed by the Bartender


Piper Rayne - 2017
    Probably not in retrospect. In my defense I had just moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead. So when the guy behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it! Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way. I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.

Come Away with Me


Ruth Cardello - 2014
    A man who thinks he has everything...until he meets Julia.Julia Bennett:Sweet, spontaneous, and desperate to sell her jewelry line in New York City. She takes a job as a night security guard to pay the rent.Sparks fly when she mistakes her boss for an intruder.He can’t get her out of his head. She can’t find the strength to deny him.Will lies bring them together or tear them apart forever?

Wicked


Ashlyn Mathews - 2020
    She will always be mine. You want her, you fight for her.”Nail and bail, that’s me, Ryker Conway. A relationship is a complication I don’t need, the last thing on my radar. I’m too close to making my dream of playing ball professionally come true. When a bet is thrown down—nail and bail on a girl I wouldn’t look at once, much less twice, and I’ll get my chance with the coed of my wet dreams—I readily agree.What I’m not expecting is to get tangled in Harper Garrix’s messed-up life. Or for her to get under my skin in this hot and dangerous way no girl’s done before.But the bet and my football dreams are the least of my worries. Something wicked from Harper’s past is coming for her, threatening my place at her side. I’m not having it. To get to her, the wicked of the world will have to go through me.

He's Going Down


Kelly Siskind - 2017
    Was there wine? Of course. Did I let loose with my best friends? Absolutely. Did I have one glass too many and follow a tattooed bad boy into a bar? Cue mortification.I don’t do reckless, or wild nights of hot sex.Correction: I didn’t used to. I also didn’t plan to drunk-email my boss and quit my soul-sucking job, leaving me in a financial mess.But I'm churning those lemons into lemonade! I’m chasing my dream job handling wine at San Francisco’s hottest restaurant. But guess who shows up as my competition? None other than my tattooed bad decision. Even worse, the mother-F-er smolders at me and says, “Six.”Jimmy claims he gave me six orgasms, but I don’t remember our wild night, and I don't climax from oral. Pretty sure I’d recall if my body did the impossible and unraveled under his tongue. I call him a liar. He calls me a challenge. I tell him this job is mine and he better watch out because he’s going down.Which is exactly what he offers with that dirty mouth of his…

Fresh Temptation


Reeni Austin - 2012
    Victor pursues Cara, but Cara is not sure of his intentions: Is he using her to make Alexis jealous? Does he just want her for sex? Or is love Victor's true aim?

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)

Temporary Bliss


B.J. Harvey - 2013
    Temporary feelings. Until a late-night encounter creates a permanent longing for bliss of another kind… Makenna Lewis cringes at any mention of the word commitment. Her past experience with the L-word did little more than teach her that anything involving feelings is a dangerous path indeed. She no longer wants or needs a relationship, but she still enjoys men. Even if her attachment to them is only temporary.That is, until a late night encounter with the delicious Daniel Winters turns her preconceived notion of commitment completely on its head. He makes her feel things she vowed to never feel again, and when Daniel pushes for more than she’s willing to give, she falters.What do you do when something that you’ve known to be so wrong in the past feels so damn right in the present?If you’re Mac, you run and hide.Lucky for Mac, Daniel isn’t the type of man who takes no for an answer.

The Rancher's Mail-Order Bride


Mindy Neff - 2000
    The old matchmakers had gone too far this time and now it was up to Wyatt to tell Hannah Richmond and her adorable son that they’d been had by four well-meaning old cowpokes. Except that when Hannah looked at him like he was the best thing since sliced bread and made him feel like a complete man, Wyatt began to think that maybe the old fellas were right — and that could be dangerous for the whole town!

Epiphany


Gemma James - 2013
    And those mahogany eyes that are as familiar as my own?They’re haunted.Rife with tragedy.Dark with an agenda.It can’t be a coincidence he appeared when the killings started. Now my nights are full of visions I’d rather not see.Death and despair.Victims and headlines.A reality I can’t escape.My dream lover is determined to protect me, and I’m determined to save him from the demons of his past. Together, we might just heal each other…if fate and a serial killer don’t get to us first.Epiphany is a full-length standalone novel.

If the Shoe Fits


Laurie LeClair - 2013
    All she wants is her late father's dream to come true by making his beloved King's Department Store thrive again. However, her stepmother has other ideas. Charlie agrees to help her stepmother find grooms for her sheltered stepsisters. In exchange, the stepmother will release her stronghold on the store's budget. After all, one good deed deserves another, right? But, Charlie has no idea what her heart's in for when... Alexander (Alex) Royale, dubbed by society newspapers as Prince Charming, arrives for dinner to meet the all-female King family. His ailing grandparents yearn for his marriage and then the baby carriage. Well, that and running the family company. Having unsuccessfully searched for months, Alex doesn't hold out any hope in finding his future bride among the King sisters. However, all his expectations, including his idea of a business-like marriage of convenience, vanish the moment Charlie crashes into him. When Alex sets out out to win over Charlotte, he has no idea he has to bargain with the stepmother, secretly buy the store, court Charlotte after the wedding, and, oh yeah, be featured in Charlie's new fairy tale ad campaign, The Charmings, based on them. Can a guy ever get a break? The couple never factored in falling in love with each other. Now, faced with losing all their families ever wanted, Charlie and Alex must choose: Do they live their families' dreams or do they finally live their own?

Dare to Surrender


Carly Phillips - 2014
    Being rescued by the most unlikely person possible, Gabriel Dare, makes it all worthwhile. After all, she's yearned for the sexy man for years—yet now is her chance to finally take the plunge and dare to become the independent woman she's always wanted to be. But can she be in control of her life if she surrenders to a man like him?The DARE TO LOVE books consist of Miami siblings/halfsiblings and NY cousins (hotter books) and the books ran in consecutiveorder. It makes more sense for the books to be divided by family and so I have split up the series as follows - The Dare to Love Series (Miamisiblings) and the NY Dares (NY cousins). Please note ALL BOOKS CAN BEREAD ALONE but if you enjoy your stories in order, below is the newseries order. I hope you enjoy!

Taste for Trouble


Susan Sey - 2013
    Off the field? He’s pure trouble. When his fondness for fast women and bar brawls lands him a suspension from the game, he’s prepared to take his punishment like a man. But since when does a suspension come with a live-in nanny?TV baking maven Belinda West is the epitome of home-made hospitality, on-screen and off. The personal is the professional when you’re selling the good life, after all. But when her wedding day implodes in front of a live studio audience, Bel’s career goes into a death spiral. She’ll do anything to save it, even take charge of soccer’s most famous bad boy. To hell with the morals clause in his contract; James isn’t about to shape up for some knock-off Mary Poppins. But since when does Mary Poppins laugh like a naughty angel and smell like sugar cookies? He’s not looking for love but that kiss of hers is practically perfect in every way. And James has a powerful taste for trouble.

Dating Games


T.K. Leigh - 2019
    No kissing. No fooling around. No falling in love. What can possibly go wrong? Note to self: When your boyfriend dumps you on your thirtieth birthday, it's probably not the smartest idea to drink so much that you wake up in the same bed as the mysterious hottie wearing the gorgeous suit who you noticed sitting across the bar.The only silver lining in my obvious lack of judgment is the promise of never seeing Mr. Suit again, not in a city the size of New York.Or so I thought, until a story I'm working on about the country's most sought-after and elusive escort lands me in the same café as Mr. Suit. So I do what any self-respecting woman of my age would do in my shoes... Try to ignore him. But he won't let me. Instead he makes a proposition that leaves me questioning whether I need to have my ears checked. Be his fake girlfriend for a summer of wealth and excess in the Hamptons. In return, he'll help me win back my boyfriend's heart.Juvenile? You bet.Effective? Could be.Bad idea? Most likely.But what do I have to lose?Apparently, a lot more than I originally bargained for. Let the games begin... Dating Games is a standalone modern retelling of Cinderella meeting her billionaire Prince Charming. If you like a sassy heroine, a sinful hero, and a whole lot of laughs, then you'll love this fake relationship romance.

Micah


Jo Raven - 2015
    There’s me: Micah Owens. Tattoo artist at Damage Control. No parents or siblings. A past that still gives me nightmares. And then there’s her: Evangeline, the girl who saved my life and haunts my more pleasant dreams. Only she doesn’t know who I really am, and telling her might well send her fleeing for the hills. She deserves better than a loser like me. She’s pretty. She’s clever. She’s goddamn sexy and has a heart of gold. Which is why I can’t tell her. A smile from her and I’ll do all I can to make her mine – including pretending to be someone I’m not, someone worth having. Isn’t love weird? Standalone novel. No cliffhanger. *Warning: this book contains graphic language, sex, and violence. Mature readers only. Not intended for young readers.* MICAH is book 1 in the series Damage Control - a series set in the same world as Inked Brotherhood. The boys of Damage Control were taken in by Zane Madden and Rafe Vestri and offered apprenticeship and work in the tattoo shop Damage Control. Next in the Damage Control series: Jesse, Seth, Shane and Ocean.