Book picks similar to
Guarded Heart by C.A. Harms


romance
cheating
single-parent
new-adult

The Truth about Porn Star Boyfriends


Sunniva Dee - 2017
    To ask him what he did for a living, I mean. By the time I did, I was in—deep. He was the perfect boyfriend. Attentive, gorgeous, guessing my every wish and fulfilling them. The sex was earth-shattering. He even dealt with my crazy mom the way no one else could. He popped the question, God, such a perfect guy. There was just one issue: He slept with other girls on camera for a living. How the heck do you deal with that?

Fighting Envy


Jennifer Miller - 2015
    Other people, like me, are branded by something - actions or words. "No one will ever love you, Rowan, you're not worthy." Those are the words that created my blemish, my scar, my mark upon my soul. They were words whispered by the woman who should have loved me most. But in the darkest moment of my life, one where I stood abandoned and alone, one man proved to me that she was wrong. When I desperately needed someone, MMA fighter Jackson Stone crashed into my life. He wasn't the one who should have been there, but he was exactly the person I needed He believed that only fools live in the past. He showed me that a real relationship is full of dreams, faith, trust and passion. He taught me that love is worth fighting for - even when it's unexpected and more of a collision of hearts and souls. He proved that the wrong man at the right moment can heal everything.

Knotted Roots


Ruthi Kight - 2013
    Just adding him to the picture, her stay starts to get better, even if she knows it has to end with the summer holidays.That is until Betty drops a life-shattering bomb.Roxie must make a choice that will change her life forever. What happens when a spoiled brat from New York learns the true meaning of love, loss, and forgiveness? Can Chase and Roxie find a way to be together or is this just another summer romance?

Covered in Coal


Silla Webb - 2014
    Just like any little girl would, she assumed her daddy would always be by her side. Unbelievably, he turned his back on her when she needed him most, leaving her with no one in her life to turn to for support. Without options, Carly runs away from the only home she's ever known, leaving behind her heartache and the betrayal of the two men she loved most.Seven years later, Carly reluctantly returns to Kentucky. Her daddy is dying of cancer and Colton is nothing like the boy she once loved and left. After her daddy passes, Carly must uproot her life in South Carolina and take control of Simon Coal Company, where she has no choice but face the pain of her past.Can Carly keep her secrets buried deep beneath the black Kentucky coal and her heart safe from the fiery Colton Weston?

Living Again


L.L. Collins - 2013
    Then one day, her life changes forever when she loses her husband in a tragic accident. No longer sure how to navigate life after her enormous loss, Kayley clings to her newborn baby, her family, and her friends to keep herself living.When she meets someone that challenges her belief that she's better off alone, she has to decide if she is capable of letting him in after swearing she was never going to love anyone the same way again.She's not the only one with a painful past. He is struggling with trust issues after a previous relationship went horribly wrong. After a terrible misunderstanding brings out both of their insecurities, will the painful memories of the past keep them both from living again?

End of Eternity


Loretta Lost - 2014
    until it's too late. Pregnant heiress Carmen Winters goes into shock when she comes home to find her husband hanging from a chandelier. Her immediate thoughts concern whether she should snap a photo for social media.As she gathers her wits, she begins to question the events surrounding her husband's death. Carmen's quest to understand the suicide is complicated by her difficult pregnancy and aggressive advances from her late husband's best friend. When Carmen discovers information about her husband that makes her realize her entire life was a lie, she finds herself drowning and needing desperately to lean on someone for support. Feeling vulnerable and lost, she gets entangled in a dangerous relationship and is unprepared for the consequences...One man may hold the key to her salvation, while another seems bent on her destruction.

The Blame Game


Tracie Delaney - 2019
    Especially when you fall for the one you set out to destroy.Indie Monroe was supposed to ruin Jax. Not fall for him. But his family has to pay for their sins, regardless of her heart.Jax Brook lost everything—his parents, his place at Juilliard, and his identity. For twelve years, he set aside his own happiness for the sake of his family. Finally, his time has arrived, except the gorgeous, seductive Indie Monroe isn't what she seems.Beneath the professional façade, Indie is hiding a secret that will forever change the course of Jax’s life. Possibly even end it.But as she and Jax grow closer, Indie begins to have second thoughts about the path she is destined to walk.Which course will she choose? And will Jax’s love be strong enough to forgive her?The Blame Game is a complete standalone and part of a series. Buy your copy today, and step into the world of the Brook Brothers.The Brook Brothers SeriesThe Blame Game – Jax and IndieAgainst All Odds – Calum and LaurellaHis To Protect – Cole and MillieWeb of Lies – Nate and Dex

Breaching His Defenses


Allyson Lindt - 2014
    A chance encounter in a karaoke bar should have been just a fling for Jared Tippins and Mikki Elford. A smoking hot, memories last forever fling, but still just a fling. Except she works for the competition, and the competition has been up to no good. This fun contemporary romance is book one in Allyson Lindt's sexy new Love Hack series. Years ago, heartbreak corrupted Jared Tippins’s outlook on love. He spun the betrayal into a rapid climb up the corporate ladder, and swore off any relationship with a morning after. Luckily, the playful siren who rescues him from singing a duet alone in a karaoke bar doesn’t want anything long term. If only he could stop fantasizing about ways to make her moan. Sure, she could’ve mentioned he works for the competition. At least she’s not behind the security concerns that have plagued his company for almost six months.If she were, he’d be screwed on a whole new level.Mikki Elford is determined to have the fun she missed out on when she fast-tracked her way through college. But school had its upside, too. She’s qualified to legally hack corporate networks. Best job ever. She also gained an appreciation for the legends in computing — Gates, Jobs, and Tippins. When she meets Jared Tippins and realizes he’s sexy and fluent in programming languages older than she is, no consequence will dissuade her from an impromptu fling. Fortunately, he doesn’t mind that six months ago she compromised his network to land her job.Oh, crap! He doesn't know.

Deep Down


Brenda Rothert - 2015
    My closest companions now are shame and loss. But a sliver of hope lies in the only person I have left in this world – the one who’s growing inside me.Survival becomes living again because of my child, and the town where I begin anew. That’s where I meet the man who starts to melt the ice inside my heart.As we get closer, reminders of my past become sharper. Clearer. To confront the pain, I have to discover what’s deep down inside me. Is there enough left there to become whole again, or am I too wounded to heal? A portion of sales from this book will benefit the Keith Milano Memorial Fund at AFSP

Broken Pretty Things


Amber Faye - 2021
    Heir to the biggest financial empire in the state. Smart, handsome, charismatic.And my best friend.Or he was.My most powerful ally has become my most devastating enemy.Devious, manipulative, cunning — it figures that the only thing in this world he can’t stand is a liar as good as him.Without our friendship, nothing is off limits anymore…Nothing.

The Music Box


Heather Meyer - 2013
    In hopes of finding it, she escapes the city and settles in a small South Carolina town to write his story. There, she meets Matt, a young man struggling to come to grips with his own father’s legacy.Despite a growing attraction, she keeps him at arm’s length until the tune from a tiny music box reveals a common bond that pulls them together and sets them on a journey of discovery that will challenge everything she believes about herself and about the man she thought couldn’t possibly exist.

Southern Chance


Natasha Madison - 2020
     Kallie I fell in love with him when I was seven. I scraped my knee, and he helped carry me inside. Our love story was the talk of the town until a woman told everyone she was pregnant with his baby. The only rational solution was to high tail it out of town and never come back. My best friend needed a place to hide, and you can’t get much more covert than my family farm, so I came back. For her. It was supposed to be temporary, and I wasn’t supposed to see him, but that’s what happens when you live in a small town where everyone knows each other. Jacob Being the sheriff in a small town was never my dream. My father died and my older brother took off, so I had to be the one to look after my mother. I stayed. I fulfilled my duties as a son and I protected my hometown. My life wasn’t perfect, but I was content. Until I locked eyes with a ghost from my past, Kallie. I thought it was my imagination, it couldn’t be. I loved her most of my life, but now I hated her. The town gossip mill was going into overdrive. I kept my head down and my mind off of the woman who shattered my heart when she ran away. She didn’t give me a chance to explain, it didn’t matter to her then. I didn’t matter. A second chance is never promised, but now that mine is right under my nose, I’m not sure I can take it.

Sweetened With a Kiss


Lexxi Callahan - 2013
    Especially when his own parents raised her after her brother and parents died. Tell that to his heart. Though she accepts his proposal, she breaks it off and escapes to Paris, leaving him devastated. But she’s finally back in New Orleans and Stefan will do anything to get her back. Jen has always loved Stefan but she’s sick of being treated like a little girl. Attending pastry school in Paris was the best decision she’s ever made. She’s a woman now, and she knows what she wants—passion not pity. Stefan needs to man up if she’s going to agree to marry him. But soon she learns the best way to get Stephan to agree to her demands is to sweeten them with a kiss.Sweetened with a Kiss is a slightly steamy somewhat angsty contemporary romance set in New Orleans. Intended for mature audiences.

Perfectly Played


Holly Kerr - 2019
    No flowers, no patient groom… no perfect love story waiting for her. And so she pulled up her wedding dress and ran out of the chapel—straight into the sweetest, saddest, tallest guy she’d ever seen.Ex-ball player Dean thought a wedding was expected until an icy cold text to his best man let him know it wasn’t going to happen. Ever. Now there’s nothing to do but spend a few hours commiserating with the cute bride who ran out of her own wedding.It is Las Vegas, after all.One perfect night later, with strippers and syrup and drag queens, Flora and Dean go home alone, forgetting about last names and usernames and even old-school addresses. Maybe they can find love again, but not if they can’t find each other.But love plays its own game, and the best happily ever afters always have a bit of serendipity involved. Will Flora and Dean’s love story be perfectly played?

Use Me


Kimberly Knight - 2018
     Rhys Cole’s life has always revolved around hockey. Growing up, he knew he’d play in the National Hockey League, but when his dream of being drafted didn’t happen, he chose the next best thing: becoming a hockey sportscaster for a local sports station. But just like in sports, you win some, you lose some. When Rhys discovers his girlfriend cheating with a stranger in his bed, he walks to the local bar down the street to let off some steam. After moving her way up the journalism field by covering stories in extreme weather conditions and working late hours, Ashtyn Valor is now the lead anchor for the nightly news. Finally settled into her career, Ashtyn is ready to take the next step in life with her boyfriend. But when he unexpectedly breaks up with her, Ashtyn decides to numb the pain with alcohol at the closest bar. Rhys and Ashtyn both expected an evening of alcohol to mask the pain of that October night. What they didn’t expect was meeting someone who could shield them from the darkness of their heartaches. Or that their pasts would dangerously intertwine … When obsession becomes dangerous, Ashtyn turns to Rhys for safety. But how safe are they really? The game of love always goes on. And their game was just beginning.