Book picks similar to
Love & Ruin by J.A. Owenby
romance
dnf
new-adult
contemporary
When the Stars Align
Isabel Jolie - 2019
I can’t stand the place. But when an offer to move to NYC includes a fast track to partner at a well-respected law firm, there’s no way I can decline. My move to the city goes exactly according to plan, everything falling perfectly into place…until the elevator door in my new apartment building opens, and I come face to face with my past. Four years ago we parted ways, neither of us willing to change our future career plans. We were too stubborn, too ambitious, and refused to make sacrifices. To add salt to the wound, she ended the year dating my roommate. But right now, staring at her beautiful face after all this time, I can still feel it. The attraction, the desire—it’s palpable. Four years ago, I wanted forever with Anna. Now, I’m a different man. A relationship isn’t in the cards. She threw that chance away. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun…right?
Collide
K. Walker - 2019
I'm just the new girl. I'm trying to get through senior year at a new school in a new damn city. So I tell myself, Keep your head down. Check Don't bring attention to yourself. Check Stay the hell off everyone's radar. Whoops It looks like the gorgeous rich boy that rules the halls of Madison Falls High has his eyes set on me and worst of it is I want nothing to do with him. I don't want the attention. Now I have a damn bullseye on my back and his ex, Queen B is out for blood. How much worse can my damn life really get? FML! Authors Note: Madison Falls High is a high school bully romance, teen and young adult series. This is book 1 and does end with a cliffhanger. It's recommended for mature readers 18+ because of cursing and 'certain scenes.' If you're cool with that, then dive in and enjoy the ride!
Muse: A dark romance
Julia Gabriel - 2015
This book is about Alaric White—my best friend, college roommate, partner in literary crime. Alaric writes kissing books. And by “kissing,” I mean … well, you know what I mean.He writes each book with a muse. (If the IRS asks, tell them she’s a “research assistant.”) Yeah, I’ve told him this reflects a certain lack of imagination on his part. But I help out with his books so far be it from me to complain too much.Usually it doesn’t take him long to find a “research assistant” for a new book. Women send him their “resumes.” Call. Email. Turn up at every stop on his book tours. (I know, it’s a rough life but someone has to live it.)But his current work-in-progress? Well, it’s different. So he needs a different muse. Someone innocent and untouched … but also brave enough to embark on a journey into her deepest, darkest desires.After a year, he’s still searching. His agent is getting antsy. (Okay, she’s on the verge of full-blown panic that he won’t finish the book on time.)Then he sees her, looking like an angel just arisen from a leisurely afternoon of amour. (His exact words.) She’s sitting in a suburban coffee shop … and being threatened by a goon with a pistol in his waistband.(Dear reader, he rescues her.)Then a plot twist no one saw coming.He knows he should let her go. But he’s a selfish bastard. (I am too, but that’s a different story.) He just needs to keep her long enough to finish the book …Muse is a melt-your-clothes-off scorching hot standalone billionaire (well, Alaric's not technically a billionaire but he acts like one half the time) boss romance with a sweet happy ever after. (If I might say so myself.) Find out why readers are saying, “Holy hotness!” … “the sexiest thing I have ever read” … “5 stars are not enough!” (Well, I’m one of the reasons why they say that.) Of course, everyone wants my story now, too. We’ll see. My story makes Alaric’s look like a damn fairy tale. A twisted sort of fairy tale, but … well, just read it. (Trust me, it’s worth it.)
Entice
S. Layne - 2015
When the most difficult decision of Laurie Baker’s life needed to be made, she took off for a weekend alone to weigh her pros and cons and consider all her options.What she didn’t expect was to run face first into one more complication her life didn’t need.Distracting, sexy, and British, Liam Parker offered Laurie exactly what she needed when she was desperate for attention.One night of pleasure.She wanted it.She craved it.She took it.And when the sunlight dawned and the lusty haze of one night of passion disappeared and reality revealed itself…Laurie returned home knowing that everything she had once believed, everything she had once loved and desired, was about to be tossed upside down and shaken in a way she could never imagine.
The Misadventures of Catie Bloom
Brooke Stanton - 2016
He's a player ready to settle down. Can they fake it till they make it into each other's arms? Catie Bloom dreads being found out as a hot mess. So when the high-profile domestic goddess’s supposedly perfect life is scheduled for a TV special, she’s desperate to hide the slovenly reality while she scrambles to learn to cook and find a studly pretend hubby. And with her future on the line, she reluctantly accepts the office playboy’s lifeline to help her cover up the cracks and look the part… Sportswriter Sam Harding buries authenticity behind his breezy charm. And though he knows Catie’s less-than-tidy secret, he’s frustrated when his lady’s man reputation gets in the way of intriguing the one woman who holds his heart. So when he discovers her goose could be cooked, he jumps at the chance to stand in as her handsome prince. As Catie struggles with burned offerings, her growing attraction to Sam is a grease fire waiting to happen. While Sam worries if he keeps his desires hidden for much longer, he’ll lose his opportunity to move from bogus husband to the real deal. Is their passion about to be roasted, or can they whip up a gourmet romance?The Misadventures of Catie Bloom is the hilarious first book in the Bloom Sisters romantic comedy series. It’s a dash of Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret, with a helping of Christmas in Connecticut, and a recipe all its own, mixed into a delicious and romantic romp.
Buy The Misadventures of Catie Bloom to set a table for two today!
All About You
Joanna Mazurkiewicz - 2014
I drag him down a road of humiliation and pain to try to cope with what his brother did to me. A few months after Christian’s passing, Oliver leaves town, and for the next two years, he is absent from my life. The demons claw their way back in, and I must learn to live with the secret that has destroyed me. Now I’m starting a new life, away from Gargle and away from my past, but everything crashes when I see Oliver the first day at university. It’s clear that many things have changed since we’ve been apart. Now he is captain of the rugby team and the most popular bloke on campus. Then he makes a bet and gives me an ultimatum: I leave Braxton forever and start somewhere else, or I stay and play his game… because he’s never forgotten that it was me who ruined his life two years ago.
The Single Wife
Ella King - 2021
but you can never really know anyone - can you?A group of college friends on the verge of summer graduation wonder about what the future holds - marriage and motherhood, world domination, or a better life elsewhere?One thing they do know is that they'll always be friends, but before life takes them in different directions, they make a pact to reunite in five years to see how their predictions turned out.But over time, it's pretty clear that life hasn't gone according to plan.And all too soon the women find themselves forced into a very different kind of reunion. Realising that sometimes, it's better not to tempt fate ...
Fight For You
Charisse Spiers - 2014
The blood spattered everywhere was no longer mine. I wore crimson on my fists. I liked it. I finally tore out of the useless adolescent I was and took control—something I should have done a long time ago. But I wasn’t broken alone, and probably why it took so long. So much was stolen from her too, and once I set the beast inside me free, I couldn’t stop until I righted every wrong.Then we ran like hell.All she ever wanted was for me to love her. And in ways I did, every time he took what wasn’t his to take. I sent her away, forcing her to make a life for herself, never to come after me, to breathe a word of what happened, or to go back. I left her crying and pleading to go with me. I never looked back.I promised I’d make something of myself for both of us, and I did. For her I fight. I win. I make my opponent pay in blood. I will never again be at the losing end of a swinging fist. All it takes is unleashing memories in that cage and I can’t be beaten. I reward myself with a night of fun that never turns into morning. Then came Alyvia—the girl that proved she was better than that. The girl that became my best friend. The girl that changed my life in more ways than one.She gave me her. Piper Morgan—a real life dream catcher. I wasn’t supposed to touch her. I’ve never been a rule follower. She was too appetizing to pass up. I broke a promise. The first time I wanted a woman to stay, she walked away. The control I fought so hard for is gone. In the middle of my spiraling addiction, secrets are uncovered, my past returns, and unexpected circumstances hunt me down. The motto a fighter lives by—fight or get the fuck out of the cage.
A Tablespoon of Temptation
Kelly Collins - 2022
He’s a man telling a lie. Will the truth bring them together or tear them apart?Danielle Morgan doesn’t need a recipe for love, she needs one for life. Hounded by her best friend to find a man or a hobby, she chooses the latter. After all, a hobby won’t break her heart. Perusing the aisles of a flea market, she purchases a box of books with one that promises to unlock what her heart desires. Right now, all she wants is to keep her job and stay ahead of her mounting debt. That is until she meets James, the hot new construction lead at Luxe resorts. Dating a coworker is against her rules, but James is a temptation she can’t resist.After a failed attempt at marriage, James Parks is happily wedded to his career as CEO of Luxe Resorts. His job doesn’t complain when he gets home late, and it’ll never take half of everything. Working undercover as the construction lead is his only passion until he meets Danielle Morgan. The last person he should date is a woman who works for his company. But like a decadent dessert, the more he tries to resist, the more he wants her. Will finding out his true identity sweeten the deal or leave a bad taste in her mouth? Do they have the right ingredients to create something magical or are they a recipe for disaster?Find out in A Tablespoon of Temptation…
Cruel and Beautiful
A.M. Hargrove - 2015
(Rated R)
Cate Forbes
, a dedicated college student with a carefully plotted future, doesn’t know the first thing about love. When she accepts a blind date with a rumored tasty piece of eye candy, she thinks she can get by with a night of fun. Cate’s plans quickly unravel when she gets one look at the sexy…
Drew McKnight.
The relentless hockey-playing medical resident knows what he wants— a career in Oncology and Cate. Although he’s heard the gorgeous brunette is a little relationship skittish, a single night out isn’t what he has in mind. Determined to have her — in every way possible— he shows her just what a future with him would hold. Only life has other plans. The unthinkable happens and everything begins to shatter. Both in too deep, they will have to fight the cruel and hang onto the beautiful.
Finding You
T.M. Cromer - 2020
Due to adult themes, this book is not recommended for anyone under the age of 18.Heat level: 3.5Tissue consumption level: 1 boxShe didn’t see this one coming.Samantha Holt had the perfect relationship—until one day, she didn’t. For a woman with psychic abilities, she definitely missed the important signs leading to her boyfriend’s tragic accident. One moment she’s blissfully happy; the next, her world is turned upside down.It takes Samantha two interminable years to rebuild her life, and despite a new love interest, she can’t rest until she learns the truth. Her persistent inner voice won’t stop until she takes a trip to the city where all her romantic dreams were so ruthlessly crushed.A stranger could be the key to discovering the answers she needs.A chance encounter makes Samantha question what really happened that day so long ago. Forced to delve into the mystery of her soulmate's disappearance or accept the new love that life has offered her, Samantha faces a difficult decision.
Bossy
Kim Linwood - 2015
No promises, no regrets. He was rich, ripped, inked up, and gone in the morning. I didn't even know his name. Not until I read it off the door on my first day at work.See, I don't do bad boys, I don't do troublemakers and I sure as heck didn't graduate college with a 3.9 GPA by screwing around.I was never supposed to see him again, but now he's my new boss, as sexy in a suit as he was between my sheets.And my new stepbrother.Having him was a slice of Heaven. Working for him could mean selling my soul. But if the devil looks like Declan Riordan, Hell might be worth the burn.
Wildcard
Emilia Finn - 2020
I’m a pro fighter, the son of a murderous wifebeater, overprotective big brother, and Evelyn Kincaid’s best friend.I’ve known Evie since we were kids. I loathed her on first sight, and picked on her as often as she picked on me, but somewhere around my fifteenth birthday, my dislike was replaced with something else. It was foreign and new, potent and exciting.Now Evie is the woman I’d die for. The friend I would kill for. The girl I will love for eternity.Evie may be a pro fighter too, capable enough to fight her own battles, but she’s wild, and too spontaneous for her own safety, so I’m going to be right here, protecting her six, cleaning up her crazy, and praying she gets on board when I tell her I’ve loved her for years.My five-year plan has been put in place, my claim has been made, but I could lose more than a round in the octagon when another fighter enters a competition he was never invited to.What I feel for Evie was never up for negotiation, but she’s always been my wildcard.From the author of the best selling Rollin On series, comes this beautiful coming of age story that will make you sigh, scream, melt, and giggle; all on the same page.
The Future of Our Past
Kahlen Aymes - 2012
Each of them fight an internal battle unwilling to risk their incredible friendship but unable to quell their deep longing for the other. On the verge of his departure to medical school and to her new job on the opposite coast, Ryan and Julia are forced to face the undeniable truth of their deeper feelings.*For readers 17+ due to explicit language and sexual situations.*
The Novel Approach
Heather Guimond - 2019
He's romance's reigning sex god. When the two accidentally collide at a book conference, sparks - and their luggage - fly. Stacy Sanders had never heard of Gage Blackstone before. If she'd known he was the man everyone called the "king of one-handed reads," she would have run away as fast as her Prada heels would take her. Every woman who'd ever read a romance novel had at least one erotic book penned by him, hidden in her underwear drawer. From the moment Stacy caught Gage's eye, he only thought about messing up her perfect hair and kissing her senseless. Stacy never imagined she'd find herself waking up next to him. But as soon as he finds out what she writes, it will be him running in the other direction. Who would have thought the most novel approach to love would be sweet, spicy, and steaming hot?