Book picks similar to
The Cowboy's Gamble by Mia Porter
romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
western
Running on Empty
L.B. Simmons - 2013
Beautiful and loving husband.Three gorgeous little girls. Successful career. The only thing missing was the white picket fence. I really wanted that fence. Three years ago, I lost that life. I lost my husband. And I lost myself. But, eventually, I found my way through the darkness. I’ve made peace with my new life. I have my girls, and that’s all that matters. They are my world. I have no illusions of ever falling in love again or getting whisked away on a white horse. But then he came back into my life. On a freakin’ motorcycle.There’s no way I’ll let him turn my life completely upside down. Absolutely no way. The question is…How long can I keep pretending that I’m happy with my life being right-side up?
Now and Then
Brenda Rothert - 2013
But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma.Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then.
Her Billionaire Rancher Boss
Genevieve Turner - 2015
The secretarial job Benedict Merrill gave her five years ago has allowed her to support her younger brother and she’s indebted to the wealthy rancher. But soon her brother will be on his own and she’ll leave the tempting Benedict—and her powerful attraction to him—behind forever. When she hands in her resignation, Benedict reveals plans of his own—ones that involve Pilar in his bed. She can handle a three month affair, no sweat. But when she starts to fall for Benedict, will she be able to handle loving him for always?
My Kind of Trouble
Becky McGraw - 2012
All of the books in the Texas Trouble series can be read standalone. MY KIND OF TROUBLE When she left her hometown ten years prior, Cassie Bellamy had no intention of ever going back. Phoenix is where she built her life and it was a good one. But when her father is injured, she has no choice but to return. The question in her mind was could ten years be enough time to forgive and forget about the dark-haired devil who sent her running to Arizona? On a nostalgic whim, Cassie drives her old pickup back to town and her question is quickly answered when it breaks down and Luke Matthews stops to help her. Although he's no longer the nineteen year old badboy from her girlhood fantasies, the sex-on-a-stick, fully grown man is even more of a force to be reckoned with by her heart. Cassie decides her best plan of action is hiding out at the Double B Ranch until her father recovers and she can go back to Phoenix, but Luke Matthews isn't letting her run. He is on her two-yard line and won't be satisfied until he scores. Her fiance's appearance proved to be a buffer, but not when she starts to have doubts about him as her business partner too. When those doubts turn into dangerous facts, Cassie realizes the only one she can turn to is Luke. But could she convince the jaded playboy lawmen to help her? And could she protect her heart while he protected her? **NOTICE** The cover on this book is new, but the content and story have not changed.
Love Handles
Gretchen Galway - 2011
She hates the gym, is nice to everybody, and shops at Ross Dress for Less. When she's not teaching preschool, she's wearing yoga pants... to nap in. So when she inherits her estranged grandfather's fitnesswear company in San Francisco, nobody expects her to keep it. Fite Fitness needs a heartless suit to save it from bankruptcy, not a thirty-year-old woman who cries when her students leave for kindergarten.Someone like Liam Johnson. A former Olympic swimmer, Liam is Fite's executive vice president. Unlike Bev, he's devoted his life to Fite's success. Managing one little preschool teacher — and his attraction to her — shouldn't be an issue. Right?But Bev's tired of being underpaid and underrated, and refuses to step aside as an obedient figurehead. To everyone's shock and horror, she moves up to San Francisco, sets up an office, and dives into the business. Nothing — not mockery, not exercise, not sabotage, not a disastrously hot night with her aggravating VP — is going to scare her away.As Liam realizes she's tougher than she looks, he discovers that losing Fite might not be nearly as bad as losing her...A story about the pursuit of love, happiness, and the perfect yoga pants, Love Handles will speak to anyone who's ever had to face the thing that scares her most.Warning: contains at least two loves scenes and a happy ending.
Falling for Mr. Wrong Series: Books 1 - 3
Jenny Gardiner - 2019
WrongIf lusting after him is wrong, she doesn’t want to be right…Harper Landry sometimes feels like she’s turned into a professional dater. Which might not be such a bad job if it didn’t involve having to spend so much time with a succession of truly undesirable men who were obviously still single for good reason. So she’s elated when she ends up on a blind date with the charming and handsome Danny Greevy, a man who seems too good to be true. But Harper’s starting to think that too good to be true might be downright perfect for her. Particularly when the man who launched her man-drought shows up unexpectedly to throw a wrench in her life yet again.Noah Gunderson is back in town after traveling the world for the past several years. Forced to return home after promising his mother on her deathbed to save the beloved inn that she’d nearly run into the ground, he’s planning to get far away from Verity Beach just as soon as he’s got the inn back in the black. And he’s determined not to let the distraction of Harper Landry, the one that got away, keep him here a moment longer.Falling for Mr. MaybeIf it swells, ride it…Georgie Childress moved to Verity Beach to lick her wounds after her controlling fiancé pulled a runner mere weeks before the wedding. Jobless and desperate to flee his turf, she sought solace in the quietude of the ocean, happily escaping into her own thoughts while surrounded by diving dolphins and cacophonous seagulls. Only when she accidentally runs over some random—and super sexy—surfer dude’s surfboard does she start to wonder if she needs to bring her head out of the clouds and start paying attention to life again.Spencer Willoughby long ago fled his rigid upbringing, shunning the familial expectations of an Ivy League education and Wall Street career in favor of the sun, sand and surf along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Give him a surfboard and he’s a happy man. That is until some nutty lady with a penchant for fender-benders backs into his beloved hand-crafted wooden surfboard, snapping it in half. It’s enough to make a man crazy—crazier still because the kooky blond is making his blood run hot.Just when he finally gets the woman out of his head, Spencer is unwittingly paired off with her at a wedding as a favor to a friend, forcing him to make nice with his board-murdering nemesis who he might just want to ride off into the sunset.Falling for Mr. No Way in HellTaking the plunge…Lacy Caldwell’s mermaid gig at a cheesy roadside beach bar provided much-needed income while she pursues her graduate degree. That is until the beloved owner dies and her greedy nephew announces he’s cashing out by closing the bar and selling the property to a developer who’s going to replace the kitschy charm of the Mermaid’s Purse with ocean-view condos.Cameron Sanders can’t believe his good luck. Struggling financially, he’s thrilled to find out some random, ancient aunt he hardly knew died and left him an inheritance that’ll help take the money monkey off his back. He’s ready to go to the mat in battle when some annoying mermaid from the bar tries to throw a wrench in his plans. But things get complicated when he realizes that she’s a woman he’s started to have feelings for.
Spurs and Lace
Bonnie R. Paulson - 2014
Not all plots are resolved in this book and there is a "cliffhanger" type ending. All of the plot points will be resolved by the final book in the series. It is a sweet-style romance.*** Feuding with his houseguest’s brother and torn between worry and frustration over his twin, Slate MacCallister brings the rural doctor to his ranch in a record-breaking snow storm to save the boy Slate loves like a son. Dr. Becky O’Donald is a city girl stuck in Nowhereville, Montana trying to hack down her massive student loan debt. Thrown into a medical nightmare by MacCallister and certain there is more going on with the lonely, melancholy Amelia, Becky is taken aback by the boy mirroring her host down to the dimple in his cheek. Closeted on the sprawling ranch, surrounded by white, Becky fights the pull of the country life and the man exuding it. Certain he’s with Amelia, the boy is his, and he’s lying about having a brother, Becky denies her heart. But how long can she hold out against the man who rides to her rescue and kisses her knees weak?
Blue Collar Bad Boys: Books 1-4
Brill Harper - 2018
But when these hunky, strapping heroes fall for the loves of their lives, we discover they have ooey gooey marshmallow hearts. It's the best combination, right? The bigger they are, the harder they fall...and the Blue Collar Bad Boys in this bundle are a testament to that. Get four books in one for a delicious price and watch as the bouncer, the carpenter, the oil rigger, and the tow truck driver find a forever kind of love with women who are quirky, a little nerdy, and a lot adorable. Women just like you and me. You won't miss billionaire heroes once you spend some time with these real men. Your book boyfriend is in here. Go get him. Included in this Box Set are: Bounced Nailed Drilled Wrecked
Kissed by a Cowboy
Lacy Williams - 2014
She thinks she’s ready for this homecoming. She’s spent years escaping her perpetual shyness and being Katie Michaels’ tag-along friend, but being back in her hometown brings back a lot of old memories, especially when she is faced with the cowboy she never forgot — Katie’s older brother, Maddox. Twelve years ago, Maddox Michaels was supposed to be somebody. He had everything. A football scholarship. A Division I team scouting him. Maybe even a chance at the pros. Now, he’s a burned-out cowboy working day and night to stay ahead of his brother’s medical bills and keep their family farm from going bankrupt. And trying to be a father-figure for his niece, Olivia. When Haley and Olivia start spending time together, Maddox can’t help remembering those dreams that died alongside his sister. Will being with Haley open his heart to new dreams?
Crime Scene At Cardwell Ranch
B.J. Daniels - 2004
Until a bunch of old bones showed up on her family ranch. Suddenly her former lover was back in her life in a big way-to investigate a decades-old crime.Five years ago, Hud left town with a heart load of regrets. But now, as acting interim marshal, he had a job to do. And this time he wasn't walking away. Because now Dana's life was on the line-as the unsuspecting target of a killer who still walked the canyon. Hud would do whatever it took to keep Dana close. Even if it meant risking his own heart for a second chance for both of them....
Swipe Right for a Cowboy
Karen Foley - 2020
She needs the kind of man who can make her lying, cheating, no-good ex-boyfriend insane with jealousy. The same ex-boyfriend who is now engaged to her sister, and whose extravagant wedding she must suffer through in just three weeks’ time.She selects the perfect candidate through an online dating app, but instead of the smooth, sophisticated software magnate she expects, a rugged cowboy shows up instead. He’s the complete opposite of everything Emma is looking for. In fact, he’s exactly the kind of man she swore to her Texas ranching family she would never fall for.Which makes Cort Channing kinda perfect. Only before the weekend is over, Emma finds herself wishing she could keep her fake boyfriend, spurs, chaps, and all. Can this committed city girl take the biggest chance of her life, and swipe right for a cowboy?
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?
To Have
Alessandra Torre - 2013
I combined all of the Dumont Diaries novellas into a standalone novel, which was rewritten, expanded, and retitled as Trophy Wife.
I step on the dark stage, the cheap plastic of my platforms cutting into the top of my toes, every step bringing a pinch of pain. I keep my eyes down, following the flecks of silver on the unforgiving stage, waiting, exhaling a breath in controlled anticipation, my abs tightening. Then, the lights come on and I have almost three minutes to forget. Welcome to my life, a drained bank account and six nights a week spinning around a greasy strip club pole. When salvation comes in the form of six feet of drop-dead-gorgeous, complete with a limo and a thick wad of cash, my stilettos run happily out the door to freedom. They say that money doesn’t buy happiness. But it does buy escape. Happiness is an overrated fairytale. *To Have is a novella, 15,000 words in length, and was part 1 of a 4-part series. Their titles are: To Have To Hold Till Death Do Us Part
An Impossible Attraction
Elsa Winckler - 2019
Wrong until he did everything right. When Interior Decorator Zoe Sutherland is offered the career-building opportunity of a life time – working on super star architect Dale Cavallo’s glamorous new hotel – she’s thrilled...until she meets Dale. He may be the most handsome and sexy man she’s ever met, but he’s also the most arrogant and mysterious. He denies her access to the hotel’s floor plans, interfering with her ability to work. And when she stands her ground and challenges him, his smoldering looks threaten to derail her focus and remind her that there is more to life than work. Dale’s life is his career. He enjoys women, but has a love 'em and leave 'em attitude, which has worked until Zoe. She fires up more than his libido and one night of loving is not nearly enough. He wants more. That she might be out to steal the plans of his more daring project to date, has him thinking that perhaps he should keep this potential enemy even closer…in his bed.
Holmes Crossing Series: Books 1, 2, 3
Carolyne Aarsen - 2019
When the loss of her husband’s business forces them to move temporarily back to his family’s farm, Leslie is terrified that once Dan is back in the fold of family and the community of Holmes Crossing, her needs will be smothered. Then a near tragedy tests everything they both hold dear.Start your journey to Holmes Crossing with Dan and Leslie’s story and get pulled into Terra’s, a girl with sass, spunk and a haunting secret. Terra has spent the last few years outrunning the darkness of her past. But when she is forced to stay in Holmes Crossing past and present clash in a way that has chilling repercussions for any future she hopes to create.After that you’ll meet Miriam who has a second chance at motherhood when she unexpectedly becomes a joint guardian of the baby she gave up. But can her rekindled relationship with Duncan, co-guardian of her daughter, withstand the accusing secrets of her past?What readers have to say:
The Only Best Place
“If you cry easily, you may want tissues nearby."
“ Keep reading the book. It has an ending we could all live with.”
All In One Place
“This book, while difficult in subject, has great hope and promise for its subjects as well as it’s readers. Holmes Crossing is a place to get comfy for awhile.”
“Thank you, Carolyne, for writing a tough and yet beautiful story of healing and redemption!”
This Place
“I fell in love with this series and the people are so down to earth!
“You really must give this book your attention because it is great!"
“The healing and forgiveness and hope were like a warm blanket on a cool night.”
Read the rest of the series as well:
A Silence in the Heart
Any Man of Mine
A Place in Her Heart