Book picks similar to
Before I Knew Him by Anna Ralph
romance
fiction
tbr
adult
Finding Hope's Ridge
Silver McKenzie - 2020
However, he’s stunned to discover he still has feelings he can’t ignore for his sister’s best friend, the one woman in Hope’s Ridge who’s hated him since high school.When her business plans crumble overnight, Asha Jones is wrong to assume life can’t get any worse. She’s made an enemy of an influential local property developer, and the man who crushed her heart ten years earlier has returned to town. Sure, she can do her best to ignore Zane’s existence, but what will she do when her feelings resurface for him? She can’t go there again…can she?Zane needs to redeem himself and fight for a second chance. But is working with the man who wants to destroy Asha’s business a guaranteed way to reignite her hate - or could it be an opportunity to change her opinion of him?Finding Hope’s Ridge is the first story in the Hope’s Ridge small town series.
The Letter
Kathryn Hughes - 2013
The novel explores two historical strands, bringing together an abused housewife from the 1970s and a young girl from the early 1940s in a story of love, loss and unexpected consequences.The Letter follows the life of Tina in the 1970s who seeks respite from her abusive marriage by volunteering at a charity shop. One day, while sorting through the pockets of a second-hand suit, she comes across an old letter. It is still firmly sealed and un-franked. Unable to resist the pull of curiosity, Tina opens the letter. It was written on 4th September 1939. She is so moved by the contents and bemused as to why the letter was never delivered, she embarks on a quest to find out what became of the writer and his intended recipient.The mystery of how this love letter ended up in Tina’s hands is also uncovered through Billy’s story from the early 1940s. He writes a letter that will change his life forever, unaware that it will not be read for another 34 years, and then by a complete stranger.With a swift pace, memorable characters and a wonderful conceptual depth, Hughes’ novel is one that simply can’t be put down.
Road to Deer Run
Elaine Marie Cooper - 2010
Her brother, Asa is dead — killed by the King’s army, so when she stumbles across a wounded British soldier, her sense of right and wrong is challenged. Should she help a soldier of the enemy who took her brother’s life, or let him die, cold and alone?The war has also broken British soldier Daniel Lowe’s spirit. A severely wounded prisoner of war, he escaped his rebel captors while on a death march to Boston. As the pain in his injured leg worsens, he wonders if the young woman looking down at him is an angel or the enemy.Need and compassion bring these two young lives together, but will the bitterness of war keep them apart? Or can they find their way to love and forgiveness on the Road to Deer Run?
Goodbye for Now
Laurie Frankel - 2012
Sometimes the end is just the beginning . . . Sam Elling works for an internet dating company, but he still can't get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right.When Meredith's grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence—email, Facebook, Skype, texts—Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It's not supernatural, it's computer science.Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can't let go. In the meantime, Sam and Meredith's affection for one another deepens into the kind of love that once tasted, you can't live without. But what if one of them suddenly had to? This entertaining novel, delivers a charming and bittersweet romance as well as a lump in the throat exploration of the nature of love, loss, and life (both real and computer simulated). Maybe nothing was meant to last forever, but then again, sometimes love takes on a life of its own.
First Comes Love
Emily Giffin - 2016
Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing; Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes their family, their different responses to the event splinter their delicate bond. Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter ends up in her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands. On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately, Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired. As the anniversary of their tragedy looms and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them, but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover they need each other more than they knew . . . and that in the recipe for true happiness, love always comes first. Emotionally honest and utterly enthralling, First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Bryn Greenwood - 2016
Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible "adult" around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking love story between two unlikely people that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer.
A Paris Secret
Caroline Montague - 2019
A terrible sacrifice. A second chance... 1952. In the fragile atmosphere of post-war Paris, Sophie Bernot is training as a heart surgeon. A young woman in a man's world, Sophie is determined to bury her past and forge her medical career, whatever the costs.Across the channel, Sebastian Ogilvie is burning with ambition for his first architectural project. As his schemes lead him to France, and to a chance encounter with Sophie, his future seems full of promise.But when Sophie and Sebastian find themselves entangled in a brief, passionate affair, they each face a choice that will change their lives irrevocably, and a secret that will take years to be uncovered...
Sweeping from Paris to London, to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, this is an unforgettable story of passion, heartache and forgiveness. Perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Lucinda Riley
I, Gracie
Sharon Sala - 2020
. .When Mama announced to our family that she had dementia, my brother and sisters insisted they couldn't help. They had their own lives elsewhere, after all. So, I gave up my dreams and spent the next nine years caring for Mama alone, losing her bit by bit, and nearly losing myself in the process.I, Gracie, started over . . .After Mama finally let go of this world, I let go of that world, too. I left the nightmare of my life with Mama, my family, and West Texas to start over in a new place, far away. It took some doing, but I have a new job, a safe place to live, and even new friends and a man who loves me, broken as I am. But . . .I, Gracie, am scarred . . .Until my past is buried like Mama, I keep my man waiting--struggling with what was and not trusting what is or could be.I, Gracie . . .Am on hold . . .still trying to let go.Praise for New York Times and USA Today-bestselling author Sharon Sala "Sharon Sala is a consummate storyteller." --Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author"Sala hooks you from the first page." --Fresh Fiction
Celia's Puppies
Claudia Hall Christian - 2009
Over the course of her life, she gathered those who needed her special brand of love. Nine years after her death, Celia's puppies are facing themselves and their lives. Exciting, heart-warming, and always fun, Celia's Puppies is the second installment of the Denver Cereal. An Internet sensation, Denver Cereal is a serial fiction grounded in Uptown Denver, Colorado. "I am completely addicted to this series." - P. Cooper "Claudia Hall Christian brings life to each of these characters, a life that you long to be a part of, that you just can't get enough of." - C. Sund "I love Denver Cereal." - L. Richards Crunchy, sweet and always addicting - you deserve a little Denver Cereal in your life. DenverCereal.com
The Book Club
Mary Alice Monroe - 1999
The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe released on Apr 24, 2003 is available now for purchase.
Betrothed
Elsa Holland - 2019
Fourteen years later the Petroski brothers arrived in London setting it alight with their breathtaking presence, bone melting accents and heart fluttering masculinity; eligible women were all interested in their availability. And yet the Prince’s betrothed, Miss Georgina Franklin, was yet to receive a visit.
The Other Half of Augusta Hope
Joanna Glen - 2019
At seven, she’s correcting her teachers. At eight, she spins the globe and picks her favourite country on the sound of its name: Burundi. And now that she's an adult, Augusta has no interest in the goings-on of the small town where she lives with her parents and her beloved twin sister, Julia.When an unspeakable tragedy upends everything in Augusta's life, she's propelled headfirst into the unknown. She's determined to find where she belongs – but what if her true home, and heart, are half a world away?
Who's Your Daddy: Pleasure Palace Series: A BDSM/BWWM Romance Novel
Rose Marie - 2021
Sydney Rain is one of those people you'd definitely consider spoiled, bratty, and immature. She has little to ask for in life, with two loving and caring parents, one a prestigious doctor and the other a devoted wife and stay-at-home mom. Money? Her dad gave it freely. Love, advice, and support, her mother offered it in droves. Friends? Easy to come by. Popularity and smarts, it was all there. So when Sydney goes gaga over the rude and demeaning Dustin Homes, no one, especially her best friend Jayla, has the slightest clue as to why.They wouldn't know that he and his best friend Rafael Deluca are the two most sought-after Doms at playhouse Pleasure Palace or that she, the very self-centered Sydney is one of the "pets" seeking to be owned by them. On hands and knees with a collar around her neck, she wants to crawl for then, and when she's naughty, she will happily welcome any punishment they gave. Sydney wants it all, and she gets it, but when insecurity, jealousy, and secrets surface. Sydney has to grapple with her self-discovery and maturity as she questions if she can take the heat that comes with being owned by the two hottest Doms around.
The Promise of Stardust
Priscille Sibley - 2013
Now in their late 30s, the deeply devoted couple has everything-except the baby they've always wanted.When an accident leaves Elle brain dead, Matt is devastated. Though he cannot bear the thought of life without her, he knows Elle was afraid of only one thing-a slow death. And so, Matt resolves to take her off life support.But Matt changes his mind when they discover Elle's pregnant. While there are no certainties, the baby might survive if Elle remains on life support. Matt's mother, Linney, disagrees with his decision. She loves Elle, too, and insists that Elle would never want to be kept alive on machines. Linney is prepared to fight her son in court-armed with Elle's living will.Divided by the love they share, Matt and Linney will be pitted against each other, fighting for what they believe is right, and what they think Elle would have wanted resulting in a controversial legal battle that will ultimately go beyond one family . . . and one single life.
The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes
Ruth Hogan - 2018
Once a spirited, independent woman with a rebellious streak, her life has been forever changed by a tragic event twelve years ago. Unable to let go of her grief, she finds solace in the silent company of the souls of her local Victorian cemetery and at the town's lido, where she seeks refuge underwater - safe from the noise and the pain. But a chance encounter with two extraordinary women - the fabulous and wise Kitty Muriel, a convent girl-turned-magician's wife-turned-seventy-something-roller-disco-fanatic, and the mysterious Sally Red Shoes, a bag lady with a prodigious voice - opens up a new world of possibilities, and the chance to start living again.Until the fateful day when the past comes roaring back...