Book picks similar to
Her Secret, His Surprise by Paula Altenburg


romance
contemporary
contemporary-romance
secret-baby

Worth the Scandal


Karen Erickson - 2012
    His unwavering sense of responsibility to the family business requires him to always be in complete and utter control. Until it comes to Tessa Crawford. She's quietly professional, shy, voluptuous...and she works for him. Which means she is the one woman he must never touch, no matter how hard his gut twists with need for her. After rising above her disadvantaged childhood, Tessa knows the last thing she should do is risk throwing it all away by falling into bed with her sexy boss. But on an extended European business trip, all self-imposed barriers burn away in the heat of their sizzling chemistry. Once back home, though, whispers of corporate espionage turn into full-blown scandal—and Tessa finds out the hard way where Alex's loyalties lie. Determined to soldier on, she picks herself up and carries on with a secret, yet welcomed burden. Never guessing that Alex will make a reappearance in her life, ready to show her once and for all that family does, indeed, come first. Warning: Contains a sweet-yet-strong woman, and a bossy alpha male brought to his knees by the woman he desperately loves. Involves enough begging and groveling that the reader may be tempted to "accidentally" leave it for her significant other to "find." For instructional purposes only, of course

Nameless


Claire Kent - 2013
    That includes Seth, the father of her baby—a man who was supposed to be only a one-night-stand, a man who’s used to always getting his way.There’s a reason that Seth Thomas, a successful defense attorney, is often referred to as the Bulldozer. If something needs to happen, he makes it happen. That includes being part of his baby’s life—even if he never expected to be a father, even if Erin doesn’t really trust him.They’ll work out an arrangement in the best interest of their baby—and if they occasionally have sex, well, that’s just an added perk—but they both agree on one thing.What they have will never be love.

Roman Crazy


Alice Clayton - 2016
    She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?A celebration of great friendship, passionate romance, and wonderful food, Roman Crazy is a lighthearted story of second chances and living life to the fullest.

Too Good to Be Real


Melonie Johnson - 2021
    Swiping right has replaced getting swept off your feet and good old-fashioned romance has become, well, old-fashioned.A writer for a popular website, love becomes the last thing on her mind when impending layoffs threaten her job. As Julia searches for the ultimate pitch to impress her boss, she stumbles upon a resort offering guests a chance to live out their romantic comedy dreams. Real life dating is so bleak, who wouldn't want to spend a week in a fantasy rom-com world with your best friends?At the resort, Julia literally falls into a not-quite-meet-cute involving an aggressive seagull and an adorably awkward guy named Luke who is also participating in the rom-com experience. Julia hides the fact she is there to do a story, but Luke harbors a few secrets of his own. Among further encounters with thieving seagulls, a gaggle of corgis, kisses in the rain, and even a karaoke serenade, their feelings deepen quickly. But could their love be real when they haven't been honest about their true identities? Once the fantasy is over, can they have a relationship in the real world?

Shuttergirl


C.D. Reiss - 2015
    A girl paparazzi. What could go wrong?I never forgot her. Not for one minute. Not from the last time I saw her, at seventeen, to today. I measured all women against her and all women came up short.But being with her was unfeasible in high school, and it’s taboo now.I see her sometimes, but I’ve never spoken to her. She runs, or I run. We’re in the same town, on the same block, in the same building, and the gulf between us is just too wide to cross.Until tonight.He was my high school crush, back when I lived in a world that didn’t want me. He was the perfect boy, and I was the outcast kid from the other side of town. And when he held my hand I thought I could fit in, just a little. I thought I could be his and he could be mine.Then he left, and my life fell apart.Now we are the king and queen of opposite sides of Hollywood. And we haven’t spoken a word to each other.Until tonight.

Into the Fire


Amanda Usen - 2013
    He beat Lila Grant in the Culinary Academy competition using her recipes. Now, he’s opening a restaurant and wants her help? Fine, she'll fix his menu, but it's going to cost him. Heir to the Calabrese restaurant empire, Jackson can buy anything he wants, except creativity, so he buys Lila's instead. He can craft perfect paella, but to take New York by storm he needs her innovative spark. Skillets aren't the only things hot in the kitchen, and an uneasy truce ignites into passion. They’re great in bed, but Jackson doesn't trust her, and Lila is contemplating revenge. The restaurant opening approaches, the menu is completed, and the tables are set for one final act of betrayal. How can love bloom in the midst of such a hot mess?

Have My Baby


Taryn Quinn - 2017
    But Seth is a workaholic millionaire and doesn't have time to meet someone. Someone who won't screw him over, like his kid's mother.  Only problem is this someone has secretly been in love with him since high school. I've been hiding it forever, not wanting to risk our friendship. Sleeping with him is my biggest fantasy. And I've fantasized plenty, being a virgin. Another thing he doesn't know.Now I have to make the biggest decision of my life.Is having a no strings attached affair just to make a baby better than never having him at all?Author’s note: this case of insta-love and insta-naked-time has been brewing for over a decade. Babymaking has never been so hot…or so funny…or so complicated.Author’s Note part deux: Have My Baby is a standalone rom com with a romantic HEA ending and no cliffhanger.

On My Knees


Meredith Wild - 2014
    Years later, entrenched in a soulless professional routine, she distracts herself from the lingering regret of her decision with a “work hard, play hard” lifestyle that guarantees no man will ever find his way into her heart again.Cameron Bridge has spent the past five years married to the military, trying to escape the painful memory of losing Maya. After fighting his own war in the desert, he starts a new life in New York City, with his siblings, Olivia and Darren, by his side. When fate brings Maya back to him in the heart of a city filled with its own hopes and shadows, can Cameron find the girl he once loved in the woman she’s become?This is an alternate cover edition for B00J1WF59E

Until There Was You


Kristan Higgins - 2011
    She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she's surrounded by her lovable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend - sort of. Still, something's missing. Something tall, brooding and criminally good-looking; something like Liam Murphy.When Posey was sixteen, the bad boy of Bellsford, New Hampshire, broke her heart. But now he's back, sending Posey's traitorous schoolgirl heart into overdrive once again. She should be giving him a wide berth, but it seems fate has other ideas ...

Dr. Stanton


T.L. Swan - 2017
    Then Cameron Stanton is my Santa Claus. I can’t tell you the exact moment I fell in love with him. Only that I did. With every glance, every touch, every minute…. he stole a little more of me. They say that all men are created equal. Well that’s a blatant lie! I know because I met Gods gift to women in Vegas, I pretended he was my husband to get rid of another man. He took our fake marriage seriously and it became his personal goal to consummate. He spoke to me in French and I lied to him in German. His laughter was addictive. But I thought what happens in Vegas would stay in Vegas. Until it didn't. Dr. Stanton turned up where I least expected and my lies came back to haunt me. The attraction is palpable. The secrets unchangeable. I need him more than air. This is a stand alone, contemporary romance.

Sneaking Candy


Lisa Burstein - 2013
    Of course, secretly I already have made a name for myself: as Candy Sloane, self-published erotic romance writer. Though thrilled that my books are selling and I have actual fans, if anyone at UM found out, I could lose my scholarship…and the respect of my faculty advisor, grade-A-asshole Professor Dylan.Enter James Walker, super-hot local barista and—surprise!—my student. Even though I know a relationship is totally off-limits, I can’t stop myself from sneaking around with James, taking a few cues from my own erotic writing…if you catch my drift. Candy’s showing her stripes for the first time in my real life, and I’ve never had so much fun. But when the sugar high fades, can my secrets stay under wraps?

Love At Last


Claudia Connor - 2018
     With her ex-fiance's words, I'm in love with someone else, still ringing in her ears, Clare Franklin flies off on her would-be honeymoon alone. Resigned to the fact that not everyone gets a happily ever after, she's sworn off men. Until she gets tangled up, quite literally, with one very sexy veterinarian.The only thing Dr. Deacon Montgomery is looking to share is his surgical expertise, but his instant attraction to Clare makes him wonder if he could be more than just a doctor, and daddy to his twin two-year old daughters. Sun-filled days and hot, steamy nights only deepens the connection, causing them each to hope for something more. Until one phone call from home changes everything. But a love like theirs is hard to find, and definitely too hard to forget.

Seducing Simon


Maya Banks - 2006
    Two problems-he doesn't remember a thing that happened and now she's pregnant. Toni Langston has been in love with Simon, her best friend, for years. The night Simon breaks up with his long time girlfriend, he and Toni make love. Toni is devastated and humiliated when, in the heat of the moment, he calls her by his girlfriend's name. The next morning, Simon remembers nothing of the previous night and Toni is only too relieved not to remind him. Two months later, she discovers she's pregnant. She wants Simon to love her, apart from any obligation he might feel because of the baby. So she embarks on a quest to seduce her best friend, to make him see her as more than a little sister, to make him love her as much as she loves him. It works. Maybe too well. Now when things are perfect, she faces telling him of the secret she's kept.

Take Two


Laurelin Paige - 2014
    On the night of her graduation from film school, straight-laced Maddie Bauers fell completely out of character for an oh-my-god make-out session with a perfect stranger. Complete with the big O.Seven years later, that romantic interlude is still fresh in her mind. That stranger is now a rich and famous actor. And she’s one very distracted camera assistant working on his latest production. She might consider another tryst…if he even remembers her.Micah Preston does indeed remember Maddie. Too bad he’s sworn off Hollywood relationships. He allows himself as much sex as he likes—and oh, he does like—but anything more is asking for trouble. For the woman, not for him. Yet knowing Maddie could want more than a movie-set fling doesn’t stop him from pursuing her like a moth drawn to hot stage lights. But as the shoot nears its end, it’s decision time. Is it time to call, “Cut!” on their affair, or is there enough material for a sequel?Warning: Contains a dreamy movie star hero, a focus-pulling heroine, off-the-charts instant chemistry, steamy sex in near-public locations, and a new use for lip gloss.

Bang Gang


Jade West - 2016
    That would be far too regular for Darren Trent. Darren Trent – my teenage sweetheart and father to my two young girls – is not just whoring himself out. Oh no. Darren Trent pimps himself out alongside four of his mechanic friends – all of them at the same time. Five hot, sweaty mechanics at your service.They call themselves the Bang Gang… you can imagine. In a village our size I should keep my head down and hope the scandal blows over before the girls or my poor old Nanna catch wind of it. Only it’s not blowing over. Far from it. It seems every woman in the village wants themselves a five-mechanic sandwich.They make no qualms about it, either. Just rock on up to my café counter and ask how they can book themselves in for a Bang Gang special. Like I would know. I definitely wouldn’t know. I hardly even know Darren Trent anymore. We split up a lifetime ago.I definitely don’t think about him late at night. Don’t think about five mechanics and me as much as every other woman in this village. And even if I did, I wouldn’t act on it. I wouldn’t draw the money from my savings account and have a go for myself.And even if I did that, I definitely, definitely wouldn’t fall for him. Not again. Not after everything we went through. Not after splitting up the first time nearly brought me to my knees.Not after settling into a decent routine, the girls and me, with no drama, no heartbreak, no crazy passions to rock the calm little boat we’re sailing on. I mean, who would be stupid enough to risk all that over a hot, sweaty, oily bit of rough like Darren Trent?