Book picks similar to
Happily Ever Afters by Mila Nicks


romance
black-authors
fake-dating
interracial-romance

After the Rain


Renee Carlino - 2014
    After a whirlwind courtship, she happily moves away from her family in northern California and settles into married life with her cowboy on a seven-thousand-acre cattle ranch in Montana. One freak accident later, Avelina’s hopes for the future come to an end.Nate Myers graduated from UCLA medical school at the top of his class, ready to follow in the footsteps of his father, a superstar cardiothoracic surgeon. Six years later, Nate’s career is being ruined by a malpractice suit. Questioning himself for the first time, he retreats to a Montana cattle ranch to visit his uncle and gain perspective. There, he meets a beautiful young woman named Avelina who teaches him more than he ever knew about matters of the heart.

The Shaadi Set-Up


Lillie Vale - 2021
    Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency. While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….

Hey, Whiskey


Kaylee Ryan - 2018
    I’ve learned that the only person you can count on in life is yourself. Moving forward, I’m living for me. Working toward standing on my own two feet, that’s my goal. Funny how meeting him changed my path. It’s been years since I’ve been back in this small town of West Virginia for more than a day or two. Spending time here brings back a lot of fond memories. When I stopped by an old friend’s bar, I was expecting to grab a drink and catch up. What I didn’t expect was her.We share an undeniable attraction, but we continue to fight it.Until one night in Vegas changes everything.

Who’s Loving You


Sareeta DomingoAmna Saleem - 2021
    A seed of hope begins to grow out of the ashes of grief, heartbreak and loss. Romance sparks in the most unexpected of places. And an unbreakable bond is formed that transcends countries, continents and even the boundaries of time...In this extraordinary collection, ten writers explore the full spectrum of love in all its messy, joyful, agonising and exhilarating forms. Celebrating and centring the romance, passion and desire of women of colour, these stories burn with an intensity and longing that lingers long after the final page.

Rise to the Sun


Leah Johnson - 2021
    Two girls. One life-changing music festival. Olivia is an expert at falling in love . . . and at being dumped. But after the fallout from her last breakup has left her an outcast at school and at home, she’s determined to turn over a new leaf. A crush-free weekend at Farmland Music and Arts Festival with her best friend is just what she needs to get her mind off the senior year that awaits her.Toni is one week away from starting college, and it’s the last place she wants to be. Unsure about who she wants to become and still reeling in the wake of the loss of her musician-turned-roadie father, she’s heading back to the music festival that changed his life in hopes that following in his footsteps will help her find her own way forward.When the two arrive at Farmland, the last thing they expect is to realize that they’ll need to join forces in order to get what they’re searching for out of the weekend. As they work together, the festival becomes so much more complicated than they bargained for, and Olivia and Toni will find that they need each other, and music, more than they ever could have imagined.Packed with irresistible romance and irrepressible heart, bestselling author Leah Johnson delivers a stunning and cinematic story about grief, love, and the remarkable power of music to heal and connect us all.

Lovewrecked


Karina Halle - 2020
    A surprise shipwreck. Stuck on a deserted island together? Worst maid-of-honor gig ever.Daisy Lewis is experiencing a relentless string of bad luck.Fortunately, Daisy has her sister’s destination wedding coming up. A week of sand, sea, and sun in the South Pacific as the maid-of-honor is exactly what Daisy needs to forget her upturned life and focus on the positive.That is until Daisy meets the best man.If you take tall, dark, and handsome, and add a dash of rugged, a pinch of brooding, and a whole lot of sexy, you’ve got Tai Wakefield. Unfortunately he’s also a major grump, total alpha, and seemingly out to antagonize Daisy at every turn.As if being part of the wedding party with Tai wasn’t bad enough, Daisy’s bad luck soon resurfaces when she ends up on a cramped sailboat with Tai and the newlyweds.Which then shipwrecks on a deserted island near Fiji. Okay, so they aren’t completely alone. There’s an oddball research scientist who has been isolated for far too long, they have rundown bungalows as shelter, stores of water and canned food, plus a feral goat named Wilson. It’s Lost…without the smoke monster.But with rescue weeks away, Tai and Daisy realize the only way they’re going to get through this mess is to stop fighting and start working together.And with their guards down, they get closer.A lot closer.Soon, Daisy realizes that the only thing worse than being stuck on a deserted island, is being stuck on a deserted island with a man she hates to love and loves to hate.A man that can break her heart.

This Close to Okay


Leesa Cross-Smith - 2021
    On a rainy October night in Kentucky, recently divorced therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man precariously standing on the side of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and jumps out of the car into the pouring rain. She convinces the man to join her for a cup of coffee, and he eventually agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett. Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett, though she hesitates to confess that this is also her day job. But what she doesn't realize is that he's not the only one who needs healing -- and she's not the only one with secrets.Alternating between Tallie and Emmett's perspectives as they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge's edge -- as well as the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with in her own life -- This Close to Okay is a vibrant, powerful story of two strangers brought together by wild chance at the moment they needed each other most.

Everything Girl


Emily Mayer - 2019
    She lives and breathes the plan. The plan and coffee. Go to law school. Check. Make Law Review. Check. Get competitive internship. Check. Land dream job. Double Check. That dream job? Yeah, it’s a nightmare, and Evelyn is miserable with a capital M. When she reaches her misery threshold, Evelyn does the unthinkable and deviates from her plan. Her unexpected new job takes her to Pinehaven Ranch in the middle of nowhere Montana where Evelyn is faced with her biggest obstacle yet. No coffee shops within a 30-mile radius and her new boss’ brother, former rodeo champion Jack Danvers. The three words that best describe Jack are stink, stank, stunning. He is perfection and he inexplicably seems to hate her on sight. But if there is one thing life has taught her, it’s that she still has a lot to learn and Montana is full of surprises.

Scar of the Bamboo Leaf


Sieni A.M. - 2014
    But like the bamboo, if you plant and nurture it in the right soil, it has the potential to grow vibrant and strong."Walking with a pronounced limp all her life has never stopped fifteen-year-old Kiva Mau from doing what she loves. While most girls her age are playing sports and perfecting their traditional Samoan dance, Kiva finds serenity in her sketchbook and volunteering at the run-down art center her extended family owns, nestled amongst the bamboo. When seventeen-year-old Ryler Cade steps into the art center for the first time, Kiva is drawn to the angry and misguided student sent from abroad to reform his violent ways. Scarred and tattooed, a friendship is formed when the gentle Kiva shows him kindness and beauty through art, until circumstances occur beyond their control and they are pulled away. Immersed in the world of traditional art and culture, this is the story of self-sacrifice and discovery, of acceptance and forbearance, of overcoming adversity and finding one’s purpose. Spanning years, it is a story about an intuitive girl and a misunderstood boy and love that becomes real when tested.

The Checklist


Addie Woolridge - 2021
    Gorgeous boyfriend? Check. Ambitions derailed by an insecure boss? Sigh—check.Things were going a little too well for Dylan Delacroix. After upstaging her boss on a big account, she gets dispatched to the last place she wants to be: her hometown, Seattle. There, she must use her superstar corporate-consulting skills to curb the worst impulses of an impossibly eccentric tech CEO—if she doesn’t, she’s fired.The fun doesn’t stop there: Dylan must also negotiate a ceasefire in the endless war between her bohemian parents and the straitlaced neighbors. Adding to the chaos is a wilting relationship with her boyfriend and a blossoming attraction to the neighbors’ smoking-hot son.Suddenly Dylan has a million checklists, each a mile long. As personal and professional pressures mount, she finds it harder and harder to stay on track. Having always relied on her ability to manage the world around her, Dylan’s going to need a new plan. She may be down, but she’s definitely not out.

Love on the Cape


M.K. Meredith - 2017
    But when Van Buren Enterprises announces plans to develop historic Cape Van Buren into a gold-plated playground for the wealthy, Larkin refuses to watch one more beautiful thing in her life be destroyed, so she sets out to preserve the historic cape—and with it, the memory of her son. Only it isn’t the company she needs to fear, it’s the dangerously irresistible CEO who has the power to derail her plans. Annoyingly arrogant one minute and beautifully wounded the next, he awakens something in her heart that had died with her son even as his actions promise to break it once again.Ryker Van Buren needs closure from his dark childhood and the best way to do that is to level his family home. As the rightful owner of the estate, he plans on developing it into a master community—what better way to secure his future than by selling off his past? Until he locks eyes with the passionate conservationist who fights him at every turn for the rights to his legacy. He can’t keep his hands off her, but worse, he can’t get her off his land or out of his dreams.Attraction sparks and two broken souls recognize each other through the pain. Against all odds, love blooms on the cape. But when their pasts collide, will they choose love in the moment, or will they lose their chance at forever?

Boyfriend for Hire


Kendall Ryan - 2019
    Yeah, I’m a male escort, but not just any escort, I’m the escort. The one with a mile-long waiting list and a pristine reputation that’s very well-deserved. I’m the guy who’ll make you feel beautiful, desired, and worshipped... all for a steep price. I’m hired to make you shine, and I always deliver. I’ll be whatever you want me to be for one night — except my true self. This is just a job, a role I play to earn a paycheck. But I’m not the guy who falls for a client. Not once in six years. And then I meet Elle. Her friend has hired me to escort her to a wedding, but Elle doesn’t know we’re just pretending. There’s a fire between us I never expected. A connection I haven’t felt in so long. One kiss, and I’m losing all control. But what will happen when she finds out who I really am?

Found by You


Victoria H. Smith - 2014
    I swear to God I’ve already seen him in a Nike ad, and he’s one of the top picks when he goes pro following our spring graduation.His life is on display for the world. Both his accomplishments and demons there for judgment.I’m a girl who likes to play roller derby from, of all places, Wisconsin. My own demons better concealed. And one day…He notices me.Found by You is a new adult contemporary romance.

A Match Made in Mehendi


Nandini Bajpai - 2019
    When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the "gift."But Simi is an artist, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with relationships, helicopter parents, and family drama. That is, until she realizes this might be just the thing to improve her and her best friend Noah's social status. Armed with her family's ancient guide to finding love, Simi starts a matchmaking service-via an app, of course.But when she helps connect a wallflower of a girl with the star of the boys' soccer team, she turns the high school hierarchy topsy-turvy, soon making herself public enemy number one.

Forbidden by Faith


Negeen Papehn - 2018
    Until she meets Maziar.An instant electricity ignites between them, and their meeting seems like fate. Just as her mind begins to soar with the possibilities, he shatters her hopes.Sara is Muslim. Maziar is Jewish. Will faith tear them apart?Despite centuries of unrest behind them, Sara and Maziar embark on a forbidden love affair, attempting to navigate through cultural and religious prejudices.Deep within the trenches of their battle, Sara finds herself more empowered and careless than ever before, but will her love and newfound life be worth the ultimate cost—her family?