Book picks similar to
Josh & Anna and Gabe & Claire by Eliza Freed


contemporary-romance
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Play of Light


Debra Doxer - 2014
    At fourteen, my life was perfect. The beach was my playground, and the boy who stole my heart lived just around the corner. But perfect never lasts. In one horrifying moment, I lost it all. My family was destroyed, and the boy I believed in turned his back on me. Paradise became a nightmare. That was five years ago. Everything changed when we moved from our home by the sea. I've changed, and I don't like who I've become. I miss the smiling, carefree beach girl who disappeared that terrible night. I want to find her again. I want to face the people we ran from so long ago. Most of all, I have to face Spencer. So I can prove that when he broke my heart, he didn't break me. But when I see him again, Spencer Pierce is no longer the boy from my memories. He's now a man who could devastate me if I let him. He watches me when he thinks I'm not looking. There's regret written on his face when he's near. Each time I see him, my heart aches for what might have been, and I think his does too. How can I convince myself I'm over him when I suspect he never got over me?

Unleashed: An Ogg's Point Novel


L.A. Fiore - 2018
    Native Rutledge Raines left home with no plans of returning, but years later he is drawn back to sell his late grandmother’s house. He never imagined the mundane task would drop the annoying but sexy Peyton Morgan into his life. Being home forces him to remember why he left in the first place because even small towns have secrets lurking in the shadows. When those demons are unleashed, Rut, Peyton and Ogg’s Point will never be the same.

Come Back to Me


Mila Gray - 2014
    Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for.Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.

Drowning Instinct


Ilsa J. Bick - 2012
    (This is not one of those stories.)Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire. There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain... magnetism. And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

Long Shot


Kennedy Ryan - 2018
    One of the NBA's brightest stars.Fine. Forbidden. He wants me. I want him.But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won't let me go.*Some aspects of this story may be sensitive for some readers.

Anointed


Charity B. - 2018
    Excommunicated. Now she’s returned, along with my temptation. Our touch is blasphemous. Perverse. They say she’s tainted, but they will not speak against me. His holy blood is in my veins and my word is truth. I’m the f*cking Prophet. -Laurel Ann- For twelve years, I fought for my soul in this evil world. Until my God sent him. My oldest friend. The only boy I ever loved. What we’re doing risks everything, yet we can’t stop. When I sin with him, it’s the purest I’ve ever felt. I lived half my life with the Philistines and I know what they call us. Cult. Freaks. Fanatics. But they’re wrong. We aren’t any of those things. For we are the Anointed. ***This is a full length standalone novel containing disturbing scenes and sensitive subject matter that may be triggering to some readers.

Honey Bee


Heather Shere - 2017
    No hassles, no complications, and no heartache. As the handsome high school athletics coach, he would be the pick of the small town he grew up in... if he was into commitment, or dating...or even calling back. But he has sworn off anything resembling a future and his mind isn't going to change. Then his eyes lock on the new girl in town...She’s beautiful, intelligent, and full of surprises. Just the kind of complication he has been avoiding.Sophia Brown is looking for the sweet simple life. She has it all planned out. Getting used to life alone isn't easy, but she has her garden, her bees, and her dog Triton to tend to. It's the fresh start she's been dreaming of, surrounded by nothing but open fields to stare at all day.  Nothing at all...unless you count the high school football team and their distractingly handsome coach, practicing right across the street.When sparks fly, Bo must choose between the sting of his past or the sweetness of the future. He may just find that honey tastes good on everything.

Kiss the Stars


A.L. Jackson - 2020
    Jackson . . . A single mother.An up-and-coming drummer with a sordid past. Their paths never should have crossed. But when a senseless crime rocks Mia West’s entire world, she agrees to spend the summer hiding out at her rock-star brother’s mansion in Savannah until the storm blows over. What she never expected was the gorgeous, brooding drummer living in the guest house. His darkness a lure. His gaze a trap. She knows better than to go after what will hurt her most. Leif Godwin has two focuses in his life: his band, Carolina George, and seeking retribution for what was stolen from him.Mia was never supposed to be a part of the equation.Her eyes an appeal.Her body a temptation.Touching her is nothing but a sin. But will loving her destroy them all . . .

Behind the Curtain


Beth Kery - 2017
    There’s something about this woman… On a break between overseas jobs, journalist Asher Gaites returns to his hometown of Chicago—and allows his friends to persuade him to check out a hot new singer. At a downtown jazz club, he’s soon transfixed by the lyrical voice and sensuous body of a woman who performs behind a thin, shimmering veil... …That could bring a man to his knees. The veil gives Moroccan American Laila Barek the anonymity she needs since she has never been able to reconcile her family’s values with her passion for music. But one man is inexplicably drawn to her. And when Asher confronts her on a subway platform after a gig, he’s shocked to recognize the woman who walked away from him nine years ago... Laila has never been able to forget the touch, the feel, the taste of Asher. And despite the doubt and fear that wind their way into their lives, they must trust the heat of their desire to burn down the walls the world has placed between them…

Sins of Sevin


Penelope Ward - 2015
     What happens when the one you want is the only one you can’t have? My name is Sevin. Homeschooled and sheltered by my ultra-religious family, I was always taught that lust was a sin. Elle was the girl who’d been carefully chosen for me. After a long-distance courtship, I’d be moving into her family’s guesthouse so that we could get to know each other in the months before the wedding. Boundaries were set: no inappropriate touching, no kissing, no sex before marriage. I’d accepted those rules and my fate. Until I met the one I wanted to sin with. That was when restraint became a problem…especially since THE ONE wasn’t Elle. It was her sister, Evangeline. You know what they say about best laid plans. My name is Sevin, and I have sinned. **Told in alternating points of view, Sins of Sevin is a full-length standalone novel. Contains graphic sexual content and harsh language. Only appropriate for adult readers age 18+.

The Beau & the Belle


R.S. Grey - 2018
    A 24-year-old law student at Tulane, Beau was as mysterious to me as second base (both in baseball and in the bedroom). He was older. Intimidating. Hot. Boys my age had chicken legs and chubby cheeks. Beau had calloused hands and a jaw cut from steel. Our interactions were scarce—mostly involving slight stalking on my end—and yet deep down, I desperately hoped he saw me as more of a potential lover than a lovesick loser.Turns out, I was fooling myself. My fragile ego learned that lesson the hard way.Now, ten years later, we’re both back in New Orleans, and guess who suddenly can’t take his eyes off little ol’ me.My old friend, Mr. Fortier.But things have changed. I’m older now—poised and confident. My ego wears a bulletproof vest. The butterflies that once filled my stomach have all perished.When I was a teenager, Beau warned me to guard my heart.Let’s hope he knows how to guard his.

Whispers and the Roars


K. Webster - 2016
    Can’t. Ever. Touch. Me.

Best Man


Katy Evans - 2019
    When the wedding of your dreams is just around the corner, everything needs to go as planned. Only problem is, the groom didn’t get the memo.Aaron forgot the rings, and Lia is determined to make the long drive home to get them in time for their “I do’s.”But there’s a catch. There always is with Aaron, isn’t there?Aaron is too hungover to come, and sends a replacement.The best man.Miles Foster. The cocky, arrogant, sexy best man…and the last person Lia wants to be trapped in a car with for hours.But Aaron insists, and Lia wonders if there’s another reason Aaron wants Miles tagging along—aside from sticking her with a hot, surly babysitter.Yet how bad can it be? It’ll be over before she knows it, and she’ll never see him again. Just like in college.But when secrets are revealed, and Lia’s whole world is turned upside down, she realizes she’s been living a lie—and so has her groom.Miles is supposed to be the best man at her wedding.But what if he is simply the best man she has ever known? The best man for her?

Marry Me


Samantha Lind - 2018
    She captured my heart from the moment I first saw her dancing through the sprinkler. I always kept my feelings hidden though, standing back as she dated other guys, afraid to cross that line and risk losing her. I even went out with a few girls myself, but no one ever measured up. Then that dreaded day arrived, and I knew I’d lost her forever. Lauren- Sam was always my constant. My rock. My best friend. That feeling, the one I only got around him, had never been matched by another man. But Sam never showed me he felt anything more for me than friendship, so I moved on... Now, standing at the end of the aisle, ready to walk to my forever, my mind spins with what-ifs. Do I keep moving forward, knowing a man who loves me is at the end? Or do I risk it all, for the one man I’ve always wanted, and hope he wants me in return.

Fragile Bonds


Sloan Johnson - 2014
    When she walked out of the house Xavier Ross bought as their forever home, she thought she was closing that door permanently, but fate had other plans. Xavier Ross tried to keep everyone at a distance until Melanie came into his life. The more he tried to fight his feelings for her, the more he fell in love. One rash decision fractured the trust that was essential to their relationship. Six years later, she is the last person he expects to see walk through his front door. Will Xavier and Mel be able to learn to trust one another again so they can fulfill a dying woman’s wish?