Book picks similar to
Kiss in the Dark by Marcia Lynn McClure


romance
clean-romance
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contemporary

Let It Go


Brooklyn James - 2013
    Savannah Bondurant, a marriage and relationship columnist for the Savannah Sun Times, just signed her divorce papers. Brody McAlister, the elusive and smoking hot gym boy, has finally recovered from his divorce three years ago. Be it spurred by loneliness or sheer attraction, the two slip into the sheets for a memorable one-night stand. Savannah's pesky ex-husband continues to try and worm his way back into her life, insisting they remain friends, even though he is living with his jealous new girlfriend. An up-and-coming woodworker artist, Brody has every socialite cougar in town promising him success and riches, for a price, of course. With two advice-giving older sisters, one fiercely single and one seemingly happily married, Savannah learns her parents' long and successful relationship does not come without its own secrets. Why should she believe in happily ever after? Her constant overanalyzing and skepticism bodes well in her profession as a journalist, but proves counterproductive in her personal life. Divorce, guilt, suspicion, holding on to the past—can Savannah trust in Brody to help her Let It Go...

You Belong with Me


Shannon Guymon - 2013
    She's a burned out social worker one step away from a major depression and she needs a fresh start. When she and her sisters Kit and Jane inherit their grandmother's bakery, she doesn't know if she can trust her good fortune or not. Life has taught her that happiness is just an illusion. But the chance to be with her sisters and get away from the heart ache and pain she's faced day in and day out is a chance she's going to take. The fact that they don't know anything about running a bakery won't stop them. With Layla's new life, come new connections and friendships including Michael Bender, a single dad and someone who wouldn't mind getting to know Layla better. She doesn't trust men and she doesn't want to change her mind but Michael's little girl Stella grabs her by the heart and won't let go. When Layla and her sisters realize that there are people who want to see them fail, it will take a lot of heart and courage to keep going. Layla will have to let go of the past in order to grab onto the future if she'll ever find the love she needs.

The Space Between


Victoria H. Smith - 2013
    Losing high-stakes poker has its consequences, but he’d repeatedly face them just to hear Lacey Douglas sing. Drake sees Lacey light up the stage, and he has to have her. But his intentions for being on her side of town turn out to be the reason he can’t. Chicago native Lacey has dreams of the opera, but life has its obstacles. Lacey has come to know her hardships as part of living in the real world and accepts them fully. When Lacey meets the intense and invigorating Drake, a fire is lit inside her, unleashing those dreams again.Two paths that should have never crossed prove to create the exact pairing the other needs. But when their worlds take time to catch up, everything they have is tested. Finding the space between the two sides that challenge them will be hard, but it’s the only place that will keep them together.The Space Between is a new adult contemporary romance.

Changes


Judith Arnold - 2014
    No one knows what classic rock songs will come out of the jukebox when a coin is inserted, but every now and then, the jukebox will play a song that casts a spell on two bar patrons—a song that will change their lives and open their hearts to love. Antiques dealer Diana Simms is engaged to her longtime boyfriend when she finds herself inside the Faulk Street Tavern. The song “Changes” emerges from the jukebox and enchants her. It also captivates Nick Fiore, a local guy who’s arrived at adulthood the hard way, after a tour through the juvenile justice system. Now he’s dedicated his life to helping other troubled kids. He has no business even looking at a beautiful, well-bred woman wearing a diamond engagement ring. But once they’re bewitched by the jukebox, he and Diana must change their lives, their goals, their dreams…and their hearts.

Notes to Self


Avery Sawyer - 2011
    Two fell down. One woke up.Robin Saunders is a high school sophomore with an awesome best friend, a hard-working single mom, and a complicated relationship with a sweet guy named Reno. She's coasting along, trying to get through yet another tedious year of high school, when Em suggests something daring. They live in Florida-- tourist central--and Emily wants to sneak into a theme park after midnight and see what they're made of.When things get out of control, Robin wakes up in a hospital bed and Emily doesn't wake up at all. Just getting dressed becomes an ordeal as Robin tries to heal and piece together the details of that terrible night. Racing to remember everything in the hopes of saving Emily, Robin writes a series of notes to herself to discover the truth.

The Cinderella Princess


Melissa McClone - 2015
    Relying on a man only leads to heartache. She takes care of herself, and work defines her life. But Emily soon finds herself in the hands of a real-life prince who defines the words charming and sexy. Not to mention reckless. If Prince Lucas doesn’t find a royal bride, Emily’s dream of being named a partner at the advertising firm will die.Luc’s fun-loving ways have made him a magnet for scandal. His father gives Luc an ultimatum—find a wife on a reality TV show or be disowned. Rules require him to marry nobility, but after he meets the uptight American sent to find him find a princess bride, his search for Cinderella might be over. Too bad Emily wants nothing to do with him. Perhaps he can show her that fairytale endings can happen in real life…

We Were Here


Daisy Prescott - 2016
    
This is the story of seven friends. We met in college, completely free for the first time in our lives and determined to enjoy every minute of it. For four years, we gossiped and flirted, partied and road-tripped. We were inseparable. Each of us has our own story of falling in or out of love. Of finding out who we are. Of growing up. We thought we knew everything. We knew nothing. We Were Here is where the Modern Love Stories begins, in a standalone that perfectly captures the humor, angst, and sheer chaos of college.

Elly in Bloom


Colleen Oakes - 2012
    Louis. It’s not bad for a woman who drove away from her entire life just two years ago when she found her husband entwined with a red-headed artist. Sure, Elly has an embarrassingly beautiful best friend, a terribly behaved sheepdog and a sarcastic assistant who she simply calls “Snarky Teenager”, but overall her days are pleasantly uneventful. As a bonus, her new next door neighbor just happens to be an unnervingly handsome musician who has an eye for curvy Elly. Just when she feels that she is finally moving on from her past, she discovers that an extravagant wedding contract, one that could change her financial future, is more than she bargained for. With the help of her friends, staff and the occasional well-made sandwich, Elly bravely agrees to take on the event that threatens to merge her painful history with her bright new life, and finds herself blooming in a direction she never imagined. Elly’s voice, both charming and hilarious, will appeal to those readers who have been looking for a new voice in chick-lit, and will give women of all sizes the realistic heroine they’ve been waiting for.

Where Love Finds You


Marilyn Grey - 2013
    She left her number, but he never called. Wondering if he somehow missed the note on the back of the receipt, she spent her twenties waiting for this man to walk into her life again. After all this time, will Ella finally discover “the one” she’s been waiting for? Or, after being sent on various blind dates, will she give her heart to someone else?Meanwhile, Matthew Ryan breaks up with his long-time girlfriend. Searching his heart he wonders if there is really a “one” for every person, or if there is simply a good, better, and best. Where does Lydia, the girl who would do anything for him, fit into the story of his life? Confused, Matthew sets out to explore his options and find the love he’s been looking for his entire life. Will he find love before it’s too late or will he lose everything?

The Morning After


Sally Clements - 2012
    No more bad-boys. No more getting arrested. Instead, hard work and good behaviour has earned her a job teaching at the local Boys Secondary School, and a proposal from a worthy man. So what if he doesn't exactly light her fire - surely passion is overrated?When her friend since childhood, Ethan Quinn, storms back into the small Irish village he left to pursue a career as a Hollywood action hero, she's stunned to discover she's as susceptible to his lethal charm as every woman in the world. And when a compromising photograph floods the media of them in a clinch, her almost fiancé reveals his true colours, CarEthan starts trending on twitter, and she loses her job, could anyone blame her if she accepts his invitation to hide out at his Malibu beach house?Ethan loves women, but never lets his girlfriends into his heart. He's failed at being there in the past, and won't put his heart on the line for anyone, ever again. But Cara's a different matter - and when passionate attraction is added to his friendship with the one person he's always confided in, he's thrown for a loop. Cara's lost everything, and like it or not, he's responsible. There's no fighting the attraction that blazes between them - but when the month long affair is over, will he ever be able to let her go?

Freefall


Tess Oliver - 2013
    A small inheritance from his grandfather has given him the funds to open up his tattoo shop, Freefall, and he has started to pull his life together. Aside from trying to keep his best friend, Dray, from killing himself in the fight ring, and his slight obsession with a pin-up model he's never met, Nix's life is going smoothly . . . until Scotlyn James, the object of his obsession, walks into his shop.Ever since a tragic accident killed her family and left her alone in the world, Scotlyn James hasn't spoken one word. Up until now she didn't care that she had no way of talking to people. Her awful aunt would never have listened, and Lincoln Hammond the arrogant, selfish man who pulled her from the streets of Los Angeles wouldn't hear her words if she could speak. But when Lincoln insists she get a tattoo to cover up a scar on her side, Scotlyn meets the artist, Nix Pierce. And now she longs for her voice. Now she has found someone who will hear her.

Mirror


Cassia Leo - 2012
    When Brina Kingston is hired by Luke’s competitor as a corporate spy, Brina successfully works her way into a position as Luke Maxwell’s new executive assistant. What Brina doesn’t expect is to find herself in a compromising position in his bed.Brina thinks she has the savvy to see past Luke’s cunning intellect and extract the trade secrets she was hired to acquire. But she soon finds herself falling for his charms and risking the most important assignment of her career and, possibly, the greatest relationship of her life.This is the first installment in the LUKE Series.

Three of Hearts


W. Ferraro - 2012
    She's fortunate enough to find a great opportunity to live in an exterior apartment of a beautiful lake house in a small town in Vermont. When she realizes the apartment and scenery are not the only gorgeous appeal but the home owner, Seth Finn, is as well, she puts it all on the line for the chance at love. When she becomes comfortable and confident in her own skin and sexuality, Mae realizes that this place and this man is exactly what she came looking for. Knowing Seth and his three children are as special as they come, Mae bets the house, and prays she and her gamble are enough.

Unexpected Gifts


Elena Aitken - 2011
    But he’s determined to show her everything the season has to offer…including love. For Andi Williams, Christmas represents everything she’s supposed to have—and doesn’t. Running away to a remote mountain lodge seems like the perfect way to escape the season. And it would have been if it weren’t for the snow storm and a booking mix-up that finds her stranded. That is, until a rough around the edges, green eyed stranger offers a solution.  There was no way in good conscious that Colin Hartford could leave the woman with nowhere to stay. Especially on Christmas. He knows all too well what it’s like to be alone for the holidays. It isn’t long before Colin’s determination to enjoy the festivities he’s missed for so long sweeps Andi into the season of joy that she’s not so sure she’s ready for.  If Andi can allow herself to open up—just a little—she might finally have the chance to experience everything the holidays can really offer…including love.

Plain Jayne


Laura Drewry - 2014
      Worn out from the long drive back home, Jayne Morgan can only smirk at the irony: Of course the first person she sees from her old life is Nick Scott. Once best friends, they lost touch when Jayne left town at eighteen, but nothing could keep them apart forever. Jayne has returned to take over her grandmother’s bookstore, determined to put all her bittersweet memories and secret disappointments strictly in the past — until, that is, Nick insists she bunk at his place.   Nick never did care what people thought about having a girl for a best friend — or the “scandal” she caused by showing up to his wife’s funeral four years earlier — so he’s got no problem with the gossips now. Jayne was always the one person he could count on in his life. Now Nick is starting to realize that he never wants her to leave again... and that being “just friends” isn’t going to be enough anymore.  Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.