Book picks similar to
The S Before Ex by Mira Lyn Kelly


romance
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second-chance

Commitment


T.K. Leigh - 2018
    After all, she's my sister's best friend. Not to mention, she buried any animosity she held toward me and helped raise my two little girls when my ex split without a single glance back.But when I learn the man she's been dating has proposed, I'm faced with a decision.Do I finally tell Brooklyn the reason I betrayed her trust all those years ago?Or do I watch her marry another man to protect her from suffering any more heartache?
Commitment is the first book in the Redemption Duet. Binge-read this angst-filled second chance, best friend's brother romance today!

Unbroken


Melody Grace - 2013
    Emerson Ray was my hurricane...." Juliet McKenzie was an innocent eighteen-year old when she spent the summer in Beachwood Bay—and fell head over heels in love with Emerson. Complicated, intense Emerson, the local bad boy. His blue eyes hid dark secrets, and just one touch could set Juliet ablaze. Their love was demanding and all-consuming, but when summer ended, tragedy tore them apart. Juliet swore she’d never go back, and she’s kept that promise… Until now. Four years later, Juliet’s done her best to rebuild the wreckage of her shattered life. She’s got a great boyfriend, and a steady job planned after she graduates. Returning to Beachwood to pack up her family’s beach house to prepare it for sale, Juliet is determined that nothing will stand in the way of her future. But one look from Emerson, and all her old desire comes flooding back. He let her go once, but this time, he’s not giving up without a fight. And Emerson fights dirty.A heartbreaking history. An unstoppable passion. Torn between her past and future, Juliet struggles to separate love from desire. But will they find a way to overcome their tragic secrets—together? And after so much damage has been done, can a love remain unbroken? *This book contains adult situations and explicit content.*

Wrecking Ball


B.N. Toler - 2014
    A guy who didn’t believe in love at first sight, suddenly believed. A girl who believed a bad boy would always be bad, changed her mind. With Sophia by Brandon’s side, he knew he could conquer the world, and Sophia had never felt more loved or wanted in her life. They were good together.But even the strongest of foundations can be crumbled. Sometimes all it takes is one moment, fleeting as it may be, to crush what was once strong and indestructible, like a wrecking ball. Now Sophia has left and as she rediscovers herself, Brandon is left holding the shattered pieces of their lives, trying to figure out how to put them back together. He loves her.She loves him.All he needs now is to make her remember that.

Rags to Bitches


Pamela Burford - 1999
    Everyone assumed Gabe’s devotion to girlfriend Dena Devlin was mere puppy love, a rebellious stroll on the wrong side of the tracks. Dena was, after all, the janitor’s daughter. Unfortunately, even a love as strong as theirs couldn’t withstand Gabe’s act of betrayal.At their 15th high school reunion, Dena comes face-to-face with the cheating boyfriend who broke her fragile young heart. The good news is, Dena is now a self-made millionaire, thanks to the pet-resort empire she built, inspired by her love of dogs—a true Cinderella story! The bad news is, Gabe is sexier than ever. Well, no worries. She’s no longer the shy, self-conscious girl she was back then. She can handle one awkward evening.What she doesn’t count on is a full week at a Long Island B&B with Gabe and a quirky cast of characters from the old days. One of their housemates is the girl Gabe cheated with all those years ago, the “appropriate” girl his parents always intended for him to settle down with. Well, so what? Dena is over him. Really. All she wants is to get through the week and never lay eyes on the infuriating man again.If only there weren’t all those unanswered questions, all the doubts and longing she’s repressed for so long. If only she could ignore the magnetic attraction that still hummed between them. Forgiveness and second chances were far from her mind when she signed up for her high school reunion. How is she supposed to get through a whole week under the same roof with Gabe?A feel-good romantic comedy! Originally published as A Class Act.

What Once Was Perfect


Zoe York - 2013
     Heading home always stirs up mixed emotions for Laney Calhoun. Twelve years ago she left for graduate school, broken-hearted. She's found professional success, but positive personal relationships have proved elusive. Running into her ex-boyfriend fans flames she thought long extinguished, and causes a renewed interest in love. Not with Kyle, of course. Never again. But as sparks fly and items of clothing disappear, she scrambles to keep her emotions in check. ...Now he has a second chance to get it right. Kyle Nixon let Laney slip away once. Their chemistry together is undeniable, but steamy sex is not enough to convince her to let him back into her heart. Even if she did trust him again, her career as a paediatric surgeon is five hundred kilometers away from the hometown that he loves, and the life he once chose over her. Come home to Wardham. Come home to love.

Mad About Matt


Theresa Paolo - 2017
    Life is good until someone breaks into her shop,making her question if the life she left behind in New York followed her.As the local sheriff, Matt is keeping a close eye on the place and an even closer eye on the beautiful owner who refuses to take the break in seriously. Two conflicting personalities that burn bright on their own become down right explosive when thrown together. But in order to move toward a future together, they will have to let go of their past and accept the mistakes they made.***Welcome to Red Maple Falls, a small town filled with big personalities. Nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire it is home to the Hayes siblings, three brothers and three sisters, all awaiting their happily ever after.Book 1: Mad About Matt (Matt and Shay) Book 2: Crushing on Kate (Kate and Caleb) Book 3: Moments with Mason (Mason and Cassie)Book 4: Catching Cooper (Cooper and Sarah) Book 5: Hung Up on Hadley (Hadley and Sam)Book 5.5 A Bride for Sam (Hadley and Sam) Book 6: Dreaming of Daisy (Daisy and Nick) (Coming 2/19/18)

Time Served


Julianna Keyes - 2015
    I was sixteen and gloriously alive for the first time. When I felt his hand cover my leg and move upward, it was over. I was his. Forever.Until I left. Him, my mom, and the trailer park. Without so much as a goodbye.Now Dean's back, crashing uninvited into my carefully cultivated, neat little lawyerly life. Eight years behind bars have turned him rougher and bigger—and more sexually demanding than any man I've ever met. I can't deny him anything…and that just might end up costing me everything.

Caught Up in Us


Lauren Blakely - 2013
    It was a mad, crazy love full of kisses all through the night—but he broke her heart and she had to move on. Five years later, Kat is finishing her graduate degree and building her business as a jewelry designer, when Bryan, head of his own successful company, walks back into her life. Bryan has been assigned to Kat as her new business mentor and the rules are clear. No hanky panky permitted. Kat can handle that because she's totally over him... right? Except, he still makes her laugh, and he remembers all the things she likes. Not to mention that he's even more handsome now than he was then. Then there's the spark between them—the simply undeniable chemistry, and the tender ways he shows he still cares for her. Can they resist each other the second time around or will first love trump all?

Dirty Thoughts


Megan Erickson - 2015
    Cal Payton has gruff and grumbly down to an art...all the better for keeping people away. And it usually works. Until Jenna MacMillan-his biggest mistake---walks into Payton and Sons mechanic shop all grown up, looking like sunshine, and inspiring more than a few dirty thoughts. Jenna was sure she was long over the boy she'd once loved with reckless abandon, but one look at the steel-eyed Cal Payton has her falling apart all over again. Ten years may have passed, but the pull is stronger than ever... and this Cal is all man. Cal may have no intention of letting Jenna in, but she's always been his light, and it's getting harder to stay all alone in the dark. When a surprise from the past changes everything, Cal and Jenna must decide if their connection should be left alone or if it's exactly what they need for the future of their dreams.

Saving Grace


A.D. Justice - 2017
    Keeping those promises would be a challenge, no doubt. But all I had to do was uphold my end of the deal then walk away without a backward glance. Somewhere along the way, our charade became my reality. With each day that passes, I realize time is once again my enemy. I can’t lose her a second time. I’ll never walk away—she healed my soul. Saving Grace is now my only hope.

Back to You


Priscilla Glenn - 2012
    But Lauren saw something in him that caused her to question his bad-boy persona, and against her better judgment, she took a chance. She had no way of knowing that the unlikely friendship they formed would become so important to her.Or that it would end so painfully.Eight years later, when Lauren begins her new job at Learn and Grow Day Care, Michael is the last person she expects to see. Refusing to revisit the hurt and confusion of their past, Lauren vows to keep her distance from him. But staying away from Michael proves to be more difficult than she thought, despite her lingering grief and her instincts for self-preservation.As Lauren and Michael recall the friendship that changed them forever and the events that tore them apart, will they finally be able to heal? Or will the ghosts of Michael’s past prove to be too much to overcome?

The Woman He Married (A Magic City Duo, # 1)


Julie N. Ford - 2011
     Once an aspiring young attorney, Josie looked forward to taking on the injustices of the world—one case at a time. Eleven years later, she’s a stay-at-home mom and battling demons that don’t require a law degree. Only keeping up pretenses proves more than she can bear when a bracelet that should have been hers shows up on the wrist of another woman. Her marriage slowly begins to unravel as an ex-lover comes back into her life. When he offers her the dreams she thought she’d lost, Josie must chose between the man she married and the one she let get away. John has always known exactly what he wanted. A career as a high-powered attorney, followed by the perfect family of six, and then elected public service. So it was no surprise that the first time he laid his eyes on Josie, he knew she was the one he’d share his dreams with. More than a decade, and one tragic miscalculation later, all he has worked for is slipping through his fingers. Powerless to stem the flow, the one thing he remains certain of: he can’t lose the woman he married.

The Affair


Colette Freedman - 2013
    Then one day, Kathy discovers a suspicious number on her husband’s phone. Six years before, Kathy accused Robert of infidelity—a charge he vehemently denied—and almost destroyed their marriage in the process.Now Kathy must decide whether to follow her suspicions at the risk of losing everything, or trust the man with whom she’s entwined her past, present, and future. As she grapples with that choice, she is confronted with surprising truths not just about her relationship, but about her friends, family, and her own motivations.

Rookie Move


Sarina Bowen - 2016
    But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast....

When You Got a Good Thing


Kait Nolan - 2017
    It  has everything I love in a small-town romance!  ~USA Today Best-Selling Author Tawna FenskeA moment. A mistake. That's all it took for Kennedy Reynolds to lose her first love and her family. She's spent a decade traveling the world, building a life, hiding the truth, never looking back at the past--until her adopted mother's unexpected death pulls her back to the small town--and the secret--she left behind.A chance to apologize. That's all Xander Kincaid wants from the woman who ran away with his heart all those years ago. At least that's what he tells himself until he sees her again and that old flame flares bright. As she struggles to mend fences with her sisters and find a way to save the legacy and the foster child her mother left behind, Kennedy finds an expected ally in Xander. Falling back into his arms is beyond tempting,  but accepting his support is dangerous. He can never know the truth about why she really left. Will Kennedy be able to bury the past or will secrets revealed destroy her second chance?