Book picks similar to
Cupcakes & Chardonnay by Julia Gabriel
romance
contemporary
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Good Girl Gone Plaid
Shelli Stevens - 2013
In high school Sarah fell for her best friend’s older brother—one of the sexy, Scottish McLaughlin boys. But a painful betrayal showed her she’d been a fool to give her heart to a bad boy. At least it made it easier to leave him and move halfway around the world when her Navy dad got stationed in Japan. Eleven years later, the death of her grandmother has forced Sarah back to Whidbey Island for a month. It’s the length of time she must stay in her inherited house before she’s allowed to sell it, take the money and run. But when she sees Ian, bad as ever and still looking like sin on a stick, she can’t keep her mouth from watering. One look at Sarah stirs up the regret lingering in Ian’s heart—and never-forgotten desire lingering in his body. He should walk away, especially since divorced single mothers aren’t his style. But when she starts showing up at his family’s pub, he can’t resist a little casual seduction for old time’s sake. One thing quickly becomes clear, though. The heat between them is causing an avalanche of secrets and betrayal and nothing will ever be the same.Product Warnings: A bad-boy hero who’s good with his hands, a heroine who’s trying to be good. Contains liberal consumption of Scotch whisky, a Highland Games competition, men in kilts wielding large poles, and a potential Sarah McLaughlin of the non-musical kind.
True North
Marie Force - 2010
He doesn't immediately recognize the world-famous super model who is attending her cousin Enid's wedding at the country club he owns.Thanks to Enid's shameless matchmaking, Travis and Liana become acquainted and later embark on a two-week fling intended to be free of emotion and entanglement. As Liana's return to work gets closer, however, Travis wonders how he'll ever let her go when the time comes while Liana considers whether he might be her true north.Two high-powered careers, two amazing weeks and a love that comes along just once in a lifetime. Is she ready to give up her career for a different kind of life? Does he want the same things she does? After insisting on an emotionless affair, she can't very well ask him. Or can she?
Charmed by the Bartender
Piper Rayne - 2017
Probably not in retrospect. In my defense I had just moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead. So when the guy behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it! Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way. I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.
Tucker
Juliana Stone - 2014
After a tragedy, it’s just not in the cards for him, and he wishes his family would get off his back. He’s fine—or at least he thought he was–until a family wedding forces him to address a few things, namely his date, Abby Mathews. She’s been put in the ‘friend’ category, mostly because she deserves so much more than what he can give. But the more time that he spends with her, Tucker begins to think that maybe there is a chance for love after all…Abby Mathews has been in love with Tucker Simon since he walked into her family’s bar nearly a year ago. But he’s got baggage and heartache a plenty. His one-night-stands aren't going to lessen that no matter what he thinks. Tucker needs a friend, but Abby wants to give him more, and as they navigate their way through a weekend in Florida, their attraction can’t be ignored. Abby has to make a choice. Does she cherish their friendship and take what she can get? Or does she go after what she really wants, which is Tucker’s heart…
His Princess
Abigail Graham - 2016
The Crown Prince took me prisoner. You read that right. Crown Prince. Castle, throne, the whole nine yards. The monarch of a totalitarian regime has locked me up in his fortress, and he demands that I marry him... and provide him with an heir!Me. The girl from Jersey. Trust me, I'm no princess. He's the last man I'd choose for my prince.He's an arrogant jerk and has a stick up his...you know where. But that dark hair, those deep blue eyes, those strong arms, those perfect abs, that humongous... sword. I can't stand him, but I can't take my eyes off him.I'm not marrying him and I'm definitely not his subject. If he wants me to be his princess, he better treat me like one or he can take his crown and shove it.
Dane
Liliana Hart - 2011
It's been ten years since he left the woman he loved behind to make a name for himself, and now he's bound and determined to claim her once and for all.But Charlotte Munroe has no desire to welcome home the Prodigal Son with a fatted calf. The bitterness of Dane's betrayal runs deep, and she has no plans of letting him back into her life.Especially since she's trying to protect the son Dane isn't aware exists from heartbreak, since she's sure he's only going to walk out of their lives again.
Strong Enough to Love
Victoria Dahl - 2013
Get a taste with this novella, Strong Enough to Love....Photographer Eve Hill was completely comfortable being single. Or at the very least, she was completely resigned to it. There was only one man who made every nerve in her body and brain light up when he walked into a room. But Brian Stewart had always been off limits. Hell, she'd never even kissed him!For Brian, returning to Jackson Hole feels like coming home. But that has nothing to do with the town. It's Eve drawing him back. Eve and the chance to finally see if they have something or if it's all been in his imagination.Eve doesn't think she can open her heart to Brian again after getting hurt so badly before, though her body still wants him. She offers Brian one night to fulfill their long-denied fantasies, and that's it. No love or promises, just a chance to get their attraction out of their systems. But can one night really be enough?Return to Jackson Hole for more steamy romance by Victoria Dahl in Close Enough to Touch, Too Hot to Handle and So Tough to Tame.
Temptation
K.M. Scott - 2014
Scott. Cassian March, the public face of Tampa's most exclusive nightspot, Club X, has a great life. Women, sex, and money are his for the taking, and no man indulges his desires more. Life is short, and he plays hard. He lives by only one rule—never let a woman get close. Olivia Lucas needs a job, and if that means working at a club that specializes in making members' wildest fantasies come true, then that's what she'll do. A girl's got to pay the rent, right? She never expected to fall for the gorgeous owner of Club X, though, but a man like him would never go for someone like her. Or would he?
An Indecent Proposition
Stephanie Julian - 2013
Two men. One night. Half a million dollars.Julianne is in debt up to her eyeballs due to her mother's illness and her job as a catering waitress will never be enough to make ends meet. But a mysterious offer could solve all her problems. The only catch: She has to have sex with a stranger.Erik and Keegan are business partners whose friendship nearly ended when an explosion in their lab nearly killed Erik and left him with physical and psychological scars. Work is his only refuge and he uses it as a shield against the world. Keegan has watched his best friend retreat from the world for too long. He'll do whatever it takes to bring Erik out of the darkness.Their perfect plan is perfectly indecent.Erik proposes that Keegan make love to Julianne so he can watch. Keegan is shocked...and secretly thrilled. He wants Julianne just as much as Erik does.Julianne takes the money, but she never expected to be so excited by the illicit arrangement or to fall for the quiet Keegan and the scarred Erik. And when one night becomes an ongoing affair, will Julianne be able to draw the men out of the shadows and into the light?
Love's Second Chance
L.P. Dover - 2013
She had the perfect job, the perfect house, and the perfect husband. When tragedy strikes, her world takes a devastating turn. Six months After losing her husband to a car accident, Korinne vows it to herself never to love again. If she doesn’t allow another man in her heart, then there’s no reason for her to feel the pain of loss. This plan seems to work, but is put to the test when Korinne’s best friend can’t stand to see her suffering any longer.Korinne’s long-time friend, Jenna Perry, has an idea and it involves helping her friend find the spark of life in her soul no matter what it takes. Korinne didn’t know that Jenna’s plan meant bringing back a past love, a second chance with the man that Korinne had to leave in college, but always kept a place for in her heart.When Galen Matthews learns of Korinne’s loss and that she’s finally moved back home, he wants nothing more than to be there for her. The love he felt for Korinne years ago has never left him, and now he’s given a second chance to not only mend her heart of her loss, but to also continue the love they shared in the past. Will his love and determination make her strong enough to give fate a second chance, or will her fear of losing another love make her run away? What will Korinne do when she’s faced with a love so powerful that no matter what she does there’s nowhere to run from it?
Wicked Beautiful
J.T. Geissinger - 2015
What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again. Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago. Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?
Alpha
Jasinda Wilder - 2014
Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just "VRI Inc.," and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: "You." Just those three letters.If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?I did.The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: "belong."A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. "To me."The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't.And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: "It's time to pay your debt."Would you have gotten in?I did.It turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.
Always
Carol Rose - 1998
But the beautiful old house is a near-ruin and she can't afford to restore it. Elinor hopes to find a buyer who will cherish the home as she does. But she has one rule - she won't sell to handsome, self-made millionaire Cole Whittier.Cole has the locals upset over his plans to build a factory nearby and Elinor's leading the opposition. He's got a fight on his hands to convince the stubborn beauty of the merits of his plans - and of everything else he discovers he wants to offer her.It's up to Cole to persuade Elinor to see things from his perspective. The sexy industrialist is convinced that Elinor is well worth winning over.
The Party
Katie Ashley - 2013
But after standing up as godfather for his great-nephew, Mason, that’s just what he gets at the Christening Party. Escaping the wrath of his father and sisters, he wants nothing more than to get to the company Christmas party. There he knows he can knock back a few stiff drinks and find some new no-strings-attached girl to take home for the night.The last thing Emma Harrison wants is to attend another party—least of all one at work. After throwing the annual life celebration (for the anniversary of her fiancée’s death) with close friends, she’s finally gotten the courage to take matters into her own hands and become a mother. Convincing her slightly inebriated best-friend, Connor, to be her sperm donor was a lot easier than she thought, and all that’s left now is to start the process. But at her best friend and work colleague, Casey’s, insistence, she decides to make an appearance at the company Christmas party for her new boss’s sake.Neither Aidan nor Emma could imagine what fate had in store for them at the party.