Book picks similar to
The Season for Love by M.W. Arnold


contemporary-romance
family-issues
hoilday
loss

My Very Italian Holiday


Sue Roberts - 2018
    Does it sound too good to be true? When Gina arrives in Lake Como, thousands of miles away from her life in the Lake District, she wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Working for Fabio, running his lakeside hotel, seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After her world was tragically turned upside down, breaking her heart in the process, she was in desperate need of a fresh start. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Fabio was easy on the eyes… But it’s not all picturesque mountains, pizza and prosecco. The crumbling guesthouse that Fabio has inherited from his family needs some serious TLC. Is she up to the challenge? As Gina and Fabio work in close quarters, sparks start to fly. But Fabio has a secret he is scared to share, and Gina has her past to come to terms with. Does her heart belong back home or is a life in the sun – with a very handsome Italian – just the change of scenery she needs? Escape to the gorgeous mountains and glittering Lake Como in Northern Italy! This laugh-out-loud funny and feel-good story of starting over and living life to the max is perfect for fans of Kat French, Jenny Oliver and Carole Matthews. Why readers love Sue Roberts: 'A fantastic story… laugh-out-loud… I literally flew through the pages. I loved every minute.' The Cosiest Corner ‘Fabulous! Stayed up late to finish it. Great summer read.’ Consumer Review, 5 stars ‘A fun read… I loved it!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘A fun, feel-good read, with wonderful characters, a fantastic plot…Will have you smiling and laughing all the way through.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘I found myself reading this with a huge smile on my face and wasn't able to put it down… everything you could want from a summer read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘A wonderful read I devoured.’ Mum Reinvented, 5 stars ‘A wonderful debut novel about growing up, moving on, and finding yourself. Definitely recommend… A great beach read!’ Owl You Need Are Books ‘Simply brilliant… has you hooked from the first page… Amazing read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘One of the best beach reads I have read.’ Consumer Review, 5 stars ‘A lovely, cheerful book!… Recommended!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars

Finding Charlie


Katie O'Rourke - 2015
    When Charlie vanishes without warning, the people who love her are worried sick. Even if the law considers her an adult at nineteen, Charlie's still the baby of her already broken family. Older sister Olivia is determined to figure out what's happened. She finds a lost cell phone, an abandoned car and a shady boyfriend she's never met before. And he's not the only secret Charlie's been keeping.This disappearance feels uncomfortably familiar, reminding Olivia and her father of another loss years before. But this will be different, Olivia swears. Charlie's coming back.

Battle of the Bulbs


Shannyn Leah - 2016
    Again. She runs to the sanctuary of her grandmother’s home in Willow Valley in the hopes of spending the Christmas holiday in a quiet, safe place. What she doesn’t expect is for her ex, Booker Banks, to also be in town. Right next door, in fact, visiting his grandfather.Instead of the quiet, peaceful holiday Cheyenne envisioned, she must deal with cranky, bickering neighbors, an instigating niece, the emotions she feels for Booker and her past. As her and Booker began to repair their relationship, she fears he will run again, too.Will she be able to make him stay this time despite the secrets she is hiding in her past? And when her abusive mother shows up on the scene, will Cheyenne finally take a stand or will she be the one to run?

Arizona Forever: A love story


Jaclyn M. Hawkes - 2017
    Jessie Benn has everything—except Mr. Right. There’s only one problem. The one guy who intrigues her is completely wrong. She’s a veterinarian specializing in horses with a thriving practice nestled between her family’s Arizona ranches, looking for a nice, dependable guy who can take her to the eternities. He’s a visiting Australian business tycoon who’s just a touch bitter, a touch wild, and way more than a touch fascinating. What’s a girl to do? Jaclyn M Hawkes ROCKS! I love all of her books! Each is equally great. I can't think of anything negative to say about anything I have read of hers. This was another great story that had it all; great characters, fun, happiness, love, suspense, sadness, triumph, family, and joy. I'm not worried about letting my teenage daughters read anything Jaclyn writes. Thanks for another great read and please keep them coming! Couldn't put it down.... Jacklyn has a gift for giving her characters a fullness of personality, spirit and intellect that make them come to life. Her dialogue is quick, real and witty. I can only imagine what her life is like to have spawned the ideas, wisdom and humor she brings to her books This the fourth book of Jacklyn's I've read this week... I had read her first two books and then lost track of this author, not knowing she had four new books out. Found out - downloaded them, and have not quit reading since. Her emotional intelligence and wisdom come through in every chapter. This woman obviously has an amazing array of experience from which to pull her stories. She crafts characters anyone can relate to; they are thoroughly human yet their ideals are lofty. And who cannot relate to that? Each book was an engrossing read. I was transported into the lives of each character. Now I am sad there are none of her books left on my bookshelf that have yet to be read. I cannot wait for her next book! Fantastic as always! Fantastic, magnificent and beautifully written. Amazing! I have never read a book before that had me captive from the beginning. I cried, have laughed and felt her deep grief and confusion. What a wonderful book and a wonderfully exceptional writer. I can't wait to read more of Jaclyn Hawkes books! I'm becoming a really big fan of Jaclyn Hawkes, I love the way she writes! I enjoyed this book a lot. She touches on real things that we face and how we can overcome with the help of others who are put here to help us on our journey through life! I highly recommend this book and all her books! I always get the feel that it’s like a modern day western. I love it! And am always reading her books as soon as they come out. This book was great. It is a fun read that warms your heart and makes you feel just as awesome as the characters. A love story with depth and characters you want to meet This new book from Jaclyn Hawkes was delightful!

My Favorite Band: The Complete Series Boxed Set


Lisa Suzanne - 2021
    Meet My Favorite Band and join the steamy ride as six rock stars navigate fame and love in over 2,000 pages of laughter, angst, and emotions.Included in this collection:BOOK 1: TAKE MY HEART (a rock star rom com)The last thing lead singer Dax Hunter wants when his manager signs him up for a celebrity reality dating show is to find love. It looks like he's about to find it anyway...but with who?BOOK 2: THE BENEFITS OF BAD DECISIONS (a forbidden rock star romance)Drummer Brody Jensen falls for back-up dancer Zoey, but mistakes from the past come back to haunt them. Can they overcome it?BOOK 3: WAKING UP MARRIED (a rock star rom com)Lead guitarist Adam Wilson finds himself married the morning after a pretty crazy night in Vegas...to his little sister's best friend. And now his manager wants them to stay married for publicity. It'll only last six months, though...right?BOOK 4: DRIVING ME CRAZY (a rock star rom com)Keyboardist Will "Rascal" Rascowicz finds himself falling for his best friend's little sister until they get into a massive fight and break up. But now they're obligated to take a road trip together...and they have to pretend to be in love. Can they pull it off for the cameras capturing their every move?BOOK 5: IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY (a rock star love triangle)Bassist Kane Keller finds himself in the middle of a love triangle. Does he stay with the woman who has been by his side through his entire rise to fame, or does he take a risk on the songstress who can't stop flirting with him?BOOK 6: THE REPLACEMENT WAR (a rock star rom com)When Gage and Lexi meet at the hotel bar, fireworks explode. They spend a hot weekend together, and then they part ways...only to meet up again a few hours later in the biggest competition of their lives. Who will win the open spot in one of the biggest bands in the world?Plus bonus material including a brand-new epilogue!

Chasing Rainbows


Kathleen Long - 2011
    Her husband leaves her for another woman, and her best friend announces an unplanned pregnancy at the age of forty-one. Bernie's behavior goes from acting out to out-of-hand, and she finds herself in trouble at home, out of work and banned from the mall after a confrontation at the cosmetic counter.When her mother discovers her father's book of cryptograms, Bernie realizes his encoded lessons in living might be exactly what she needs to survive. From dealing with her family's grief and bonding with her best friend's thirteen-year-old daughter, to dieting, dating and mindless almost-sex with the landscaper, Bernie discovers what her father always knew.In life, you either choose to sing a rainbow, or you don't.For Bernie, the singing is about to begin.

No Place Like Home


Maxine Morrey - 2011
    One home? Ellie Laing has a very good reason to want to stay single: her last relationship put her in danger. And she’s worried that while the physical scars will heal, the emotional ones never can. So, travelling to Kansas for her best friend Sandy’s wedding, Ellie’s in need of some time alone. And Sandy’s brother Ben’s rural and idyllic ranch seems like the perfect place for it. Ben comes with his own baggage – a failed marriage in his past, and a big question mark over his future – and he knows the feelings he had for Ellie belong firmly in the history books. But, sitting on his porch with her, he’s never felt more at home. Both of them swore they were better off alone… yet is it possible that two broken hearts could come together to heal?Readers LOVE Maxine Morrey:‘'I’ve fallen head over heels for Maxine's writing style’‘I'm a big fan of Maxine's writing and I love how she is able to write lighthearted romantic comedies that have serious issues at their centre’‘I love Maxine Morrey's books’‘Hand on heart, I could read a Maxine Morrey novel every day of the week without getting bored.’‘I'm a big fan of Morrey's books’‘Maxine has this way of captivating her readers with charismatic and memorable characters’

Portrait of Stella


Susan Wüthrich - 2014
    Jemima Ashton is desperate to discover her real identity. With scant information and the burning question 'who am I?', she embarks on an incredible journey of detection. On learning of her late mother Stella's disappearance during WWII, she retraces her footsteps across the globe and at a distant vineyard, unearths a family she had no idea existed. While treading a path of narrow-minded bigotry, scandalous revelations emerge of two families inextricably linked by one woman and the drastic steps they took to hide the truth. ‘A powerful story of love and loss spanning two generations’ Frances di Plino - author of the Paolo Storey Crime Series

A Morning Glory Wedding: A Morning Glory short


Liz Talley - 2020
    He’s the new priest in town. When Brandy Robbins moved back to Morning Glory, Mississippi, she never expected to fall in love with another woman’s husband. And even though she was lied to and left as broken as the marriage she helped end, Brandy’s still a pariah, struggling with a failing floral shop and a beloved grandmother who can’t remember her. Father Geoff Harper knows about being different, and he’s come to Morning Glory to shake things up for his congregation. And nothing gets the town talking like a sexy priest taking up with a scorned woman. When Brandy steps in to save the wedding of the woman she wronged, not only is there an opportunity to mend fences, but she finds hope for a new beginning with a man who couldn’t possibly want a woman like her. Or could he? Return to Morning Glory for this story of grace, forgiveness, and second chances. *Previously printed in "Once Upon a Wedding: A Fiction From the Heart Second-Chances Anthology"

The Senator's Wife


Julia Gabriel - 2019
    Scandal. Ooh la la. Marie Witherspoon is having a terrible year. Her boss (aka her mother) fires her so she can concentrate on having babies. Her husband (aka a United States Senator) dumps her for his mistress—who regularly humiliates Marie in her “style” (aka gossip) blog. Marie has gone from being one half of the young It Couple in Washington, DC to being … well, she’s not sure what anymore. But Marie does have one very powerful weapon on her side: her best friend Nishi Bhat, a ball-breaking public relations maven who was never a big fan of Marie’s senator husband to begin with. It was her idea to burn Marie’s wedding dress and dump the ashes in the Potomac River. And her idea for Marie to rekindle an old hobby with one sexy-as-hell French artist who claims that (a) he can teach Marie how to draw and (b) “not all seeing is done with the eyes.” A young wife cast aside. A dark and brooding French artist. An ambitious politician up for re-election—and his equally ambitious mistress. Throw in an artistic collaboration involving (ahem) risqué paintings and not even Nishi can anticipate what will happen next ... Perfect for fans of Lauren Weisberger and Sophie Kinsella, The Senator’s Wife is a sexy, on-the-edge-of-your-seat romp that will have readers turning the pages late into the night. “White hot”—Kirkus Reviews (The Senator's Wife was previously published in two volumes as Drawing Lessons and Chiaroscuro.)

Shut Up and Kiss Me


Carolyn Hughey - 2011
    With the help of the two meddling mamas, she's determined to show him she's "The One"—not that scrawny redhead who's rapidly becoming more than his casual "flavor of the month." Convincing Nick to stop thinking of her like his sister won't be easy, but Ellana's canoodling with the Italian Stallion, chef Giovanni Cavallini, to make Nick jealous. Of course, Giovanni's only too happy to oblige—he's got his own agenda—but now that she has Nick's attention, is it too late?With the matchmaking mamas doing their best to interfere, Ellana's stuck in a quandary: Which one of these tempting chefs will she choose?

Molly's Misadventures


D.E. Haggerty - 2016
    First, my father, aka Mr. Grumpy Pants, calls to say his nurse just walked out on him. Likely story. I rush home to pack, only to walk in on my husband getting it on with his younger, skanky secretary. Unfortunately, my quick weekend trip home to fix Dad’s problems turns into a stay of a few weeks. Luckily, I’ve got Danny, the neighbor boy I’ve had a crush on since I was a dorky, braces-wearing, nose-buried-in-a-book teenager, and a brand-spanking new blog to keep my mind off things. Before I know it, I’m writing product reviews of vibrators and getting questioned by a store rent-a-cop at the world’s worst date ever. All while trying to figure out how to take things with Danny to the next level. Not to complicate things or anything, but my boss decides to give me an ultimatum—come back in four weeks or don’t come back at all. How in the world did my life get so complicated?

Love and Houses


Marti Leimbach - 1998
    After ten years of marriage, Andy and Meg have just bought their dream house and are expecting their first child. But the picture-perfect bliss is shattered when, nine weeks away from the birth, Andy walks away from it all.

The House at Magpie Cove


Kennedy Kerr - 2020
    It was silly to think that her mother's spirit was still with her, but Mara felt as if there was something keeping her here. A secret that needed to be told...When Mara Hughes inherits her late mother’s tumbledown beach house overlooking the bright, sandy sweep of Magpie Cove, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. With her marriage on the rocks and her husband threatening to take the family home, the beach house – with all the bittersweet memories it holds – might be the thing that finally sends Mara’s world crashing down around her. She tells herself she’ll only spend a few days there: sell it and move on to rebuilding her life.When Mara arrives, the house is in a worse state than she feared – holes in the bedroom ceiling, birds’ nests in the attic and the beautiful, wrap-around porch on the brink of collapse… but she loves it anyway. With all its history it feels like the last link to her late mother and, determined to do whatever it takes to keep it in the family, Mara strikes a deal with local handyman – and town heartthrob – Brian Oakley to save the crumbling cottage from ruin.But when a box of unopened old letters arrives on her new doorstep – a bequest from her mother’s will – Mara’s resolve to save the beach house will be tested to the limit. Because Mara’s mother’s perfect childhood in Magpie Cove was forever spoiled by one haunting day in July, and the letters contain a secret about her family that Mara can scarcely believe to be true…

In Need of Therapy


Tracie Banister - 2012
    She listens, she cares, and she has all the answers, but how’s the woman everyone turns to in their hour of need supposed to cope when her own life starts to fall apart? While working hard to make a success of her recently-opened practice in trendy South Beach, Pilar must also find time to cater to the demands of her boisterous Cuban family, which includes younger sister Izzy, an unemployed, navel-pierced wild child who can't stay out of trouble, and their mother, a beauty queen turned drama queen who’s equally obsessed with her fading looks and getting Pilar married before it’s “too late.” Although she’d like to oblige her mother and make a permanent love connection, Pilar’s romantic prospects look grim. Her cheating ex, who swears that he’s reformed, is stalking her. A hunky, but strictly off-limits, patient with bad-boy appeal and intimacy issues is making passes. And the sexy shrink in the suite across the hall has a gold band on his left ring finger. When a series of personal and professional disasters lead Pilar into the arms of one of her unsuitable suitors, she's left shaken, confused, and full of self-doubt. With time running out, she must make sense of her feelings and learn to trust herself again so that she can save her business, her family, and most importantly, her heart.