Book picks similar to
The Marker (The Bridge, #1) by Ann Howes
romance
first-reads
mafia
dnf
Shattered
Heather Dahlgren - 2020
Both of them could easily destroy me if I let my guard down. I’m the daughter of the president of the Vegas Kings MC. I was born and raised with the club. Zane’s a member of Shattered Souls MC and nephew to their president. We grew up together, leaned on each other, loved one another. Enemies and lovers. But, we knew even back then that it was life or death. Walking away was one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do. Years later he comes crashing back into my life, refusing to stay away. He’s not the boy I remember, he’s a man full of anger and pain hidden in his dark eyes. I try to keep my distance, but when it comes to that wicked smile that means nothing but trouble, it’s impossible. The risks are higher, the wounds are deeper, but the want is stronger. It’s a deadly situation for us both. Love should stand the test of time, but I let my guard down. Now the devil will do whatever is necessary to make one of us suffer - forever.
The Romeo Arrangement
Nicole Snow - 2020
Stinking rich. Fed up owner of one angry rooster. Eyes set to permanent storm.Of course, it doesn't end there.My unexpected Romeo doubles down on this ridiculous “fake fiancée” rescue scheme.One blazing kiss shatters worlds.I'm swept up in a small-town fairy tale, wishing I hadn't lost my faith in wishes years ago.He's saving my life. Hero and done. Nothing more.Prince Charmings don't really marry pumpkin farmers from Wisconsin.Give me strength.Tell me his gaze doesn't scream obsession.Save me from his oh-so-believable growls.Help me believe our little arrangement never, ever ends in “I do.”Full-length romance novel with a Happily Ever After sure to blow some socks off. Two shattered hearts from opposite worlds find their forever. A damaged heartthrob takes control, lays claim, and protects his sassy stray.
Wisteria Island
Rachel Hanna - 2021
When she takes a job as the nurse for Wisteria Island, she has no clue what she's agreeing to.The brainchild of a wealthy entrepreneur, Wisteria Island is home to a cast of quirky, and often difficult, characters. When Danielle finds out why the previous eight nurses have all quit within days, she has to decide whether to stick it out or go back to a life she no longer recognizes.Wisteria Island is a standalone novel by USA Today bestselling author, Rachel Hanna. If you love southern women's fiction and lots of laughs, you'll enjoy this one!
Turning Back Time: Sweet and Wholesome with a Fun Matchmaking Twist (Crestfield Inn, #1)
Elsie Davis - 2020
He’s intent on filling in the missing links on his family tree. When they both end up researching the early 1800s, will history get in the way of the future?All Sarah’s life, stories had been told—handed down from generation to generation. Captain Tremont had gone to his watery grave committing a crime…bootlegging. But a message discovered in her grandmother’s trunk addressed to her great-grandfather six times removed, leads Sarah to believe there is another explanation.Blake is delivering a load of antiques to the local B&B when a gorgeous woman just about knocks him off his feet—literally and figuratively. An antique lamp gets broken and the air is rife with tension, but when they meet again at the library, Blake offers to team up in their research efforts by way of apology. Strictly business of course.But as they wind their way through history, it would seem there are some strange things happening when the resident spirit gets involved. Will the truth bring them happiness or drive them apart forever?
His to Hold
S.L. Sterling - 2019
But that was about to change. Getting dumped at the start of my much overdue vacation was not how I planned to spend my time off. Neither was running into someone from my past. It was the last thing I expected.... but just what I needed.My brother’s best friend was headed home when our paths collided at the airport during a massive storm. Twenty years of chemistry crackles around us like lightning, and we give in to what’s been a long time coming. From stranded old friends to insatiable lovers, spending a week together at his lake house, I'm reminded what it’s like to live in the moment. When I realize I didn’t really know him at all, I can’t help but think... I might have been his to hold, but could I be his to keep? Bryce I guess there are worse things than being forced into taking a vacation. I can think of a few. But being fresh out of a bad relationship, and in the middle of a huge merger, is not the ideal time to be jetting off for two weeks. One week in, I decide to cut my trip short, only to end up stranded at the airport. Just my luck. Everything changes when I run into my best friend’s little sister. Twenty years later, she’s all grown up and very much available. One thing leads to another, and we find ourselves back at my place riding out the storm and reconnecting in ways I never imagined. Feelings that had been delayed are finally able to take flight. The girl who held my attention all those years ago is now the woman holding my heart. I’m falling fast, but when we end up face to face in the boardroom, will our vacation romance go from pleasure to business?
Adventures with Max and Louise
Ellyn Oaksmith - 2011
As the mysterious Diner X, her pseudonym for a restaurant review column, she thrives on blending in. But before you can say "medical malpractice," she wakes up from a routine procedure to find that her chart got switched with someone else's, and now her A cup runneth over.Suddenly, unassuming Molly is turning heads wherever she goes. The man she's been pining for since high school is sitting up and taking notice, a very handsome stranger has captured her attention, and her lifelong dream of publishing a cookbook is about to come true. But Molly feels like an imposter. Will some advice from a very strange place help her figure out how to navigate her new, full-figured world?Molly realizes her revamped shape might change her life. She just doesn't anticipate quite how much . . .
A Perfect Lie
Lisa Renee Jones - 2019
Lies. A man. There's always a man. And there's always a truth to be told. I'm Hailey Anne Monroe. I’m twenty-eight years old. An artist, who found her muse on the canvas because I wasn’t allowed to have friends or even keep a journal. And yes, if you haven’t guessed by now, I’m that Hailey Anne Monroe, daughter to Thomas Frank Monroe, the man who was a half-percentage point from becoming President of the United States. If you were able to ask him, he’d probably tell you that I was the half point. But you can’t ask him, and he can’t tell you. He’s dead. They’re all dead and now I can speak.
Wild Raspberries
Connie Chappell - 2015
She simply wants to fulfill her promise to Jack to visit their cabin in the West Virginia mountains, where their long love affair was safely hidden. Instead, her emotionally reminiscent trip becomes crowded with the two Sebring women, a grief counselor, and the massive role Callie assumes. She must speak for Jack in order to protect his four-year old grandson Chad from his stubbornly manipulative and blame-passing grandmother and his recently widowed and power-usurping mother. Callie understands both women grieve the loss of Chad’s father. He died when a raging storm split the tree that crushed him. Grief isn’t the only common thread running between the four women. One by one, their secrets are revealed on the West Virginia mountaintop.
What You Don't Know
JoAnn Chaney - 2017
A series of murders brings Denver to its knees in this wonderfully voice driven, dark, wry, and wholly original page-turning debut.The last victims of an infamous serial killer on death row may be the ones he didn't kill. Seven years ago, Detective Paul Hoskins and his larger-than-life partner solved one of the biggest serial murder cases of the decade. They dug up 33 bodies in a crawl space belonging to the beloved Jacky Seever, a pillar of the community and a successful businessman. Sammie Peterson was the lead reporter on the case. Her byline was on the front page of the newspaper every day. Seever’s wife, Gloria, claimed to be as surprised as everyone else.Today, Hoskins has been banished to cold cases, Sammie is selling make-up at the mall, and Gloria is trying to navigate a world where she can’t escape condemnation. And Seever? He’s watching the show.But when a series of new murders occur, and the victims are all somehow connected to Seever, Gloria is once again thrust into the spotlight, while Hoskins and Sammie realize this may be their chance to get their lives back, even if it means forfeiting their humanity in the process.
A Rebel's Beacon (Alaskan Rebels #1)
Sara Blackard - 2021
A dog trainer establishing her mark. Can they rely on each other when a rescue mission turns deadly?Bjørn Rebel has achieved his lifelong dreams: a helicopter of his own and a business showing-off his beloved Alaska.When the local search and rescue team asks for air support, he jumps at the chance to volunteer. Not only will his experience flying evac missions for an elite division of the army give search and rescue a big advantage, it will give Bjørn a chance to redeem himself after a botched mission left rumors clinging to him he can’t shake.Sadie Wilde is flying high on the success of the K9 breeding and training program she started with her family.Since childhood, Sadie, her sister, and her cousins planned to have a kennel dedicated to breeding superior dogs for search and rescue and law enforcement. With her father and uncle heading up the local SAR, she’s seen first hand how a well-trained dog can mean the difference between life and death. Sadie’s determined to do whatever she can to ensure her dogs are the best. Bjørn, Search and Rescue’s newest recruit, just might be the ticket to taking her training program to new heights.When a routine rescue mission takes a sinister turn, will Bjørn and Sadie be able to uncover the truth in time or will they be the ones needing to be saved?If you like high-soaring action, toe-curling romance that keeps it clean, and a family of captivating characters, you’ll love Sara Blackard’s riveting romantic Alaskan adventure series.A Sweet Adventure Romance
Don't Get Caught
Kurt Dinan - 2016
Tell no one. -Chaos ClubWhen Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust...Yeah, not so much. Max and four fellow students-who also received invites-are standing on the newly defaced water tower when campus security "catches" them. Definitely a setup. And this time, Max has had enough. It's time for Rule #7: Always get payback.Let the prank war begin.
Another Five Patients
Melissa Crickard - 2019
When one of the resident physicians, Dr. Kip Paiva, becomes a critically ill patient herself, the team is forever changed. This suspenseful story of medical fiction traces foreign medical graduate Dr. Kip Paiva, an emigrant and survivor of human trafficking in post-apartheid South Africa. Her refuge from a Zulu militant captor comes to an end, as his brutal violence has finally tracked her across the ocean. While her past catches up to her, Dr. Paiva also becomes the scapegoat of a malpractice suit. Frightened for her and her son’s lives, Dr. Paiva begins a journey fueled by bottomless resiliency and a mother’s love. Her story intertwines through five others, all riveting, and all taking place in the busy Spectrum General Hospital in New York. Debut author Melissa Crickard uses this microcosm to illustrate larger aspects of modern medicine. Another Five Patients combines international intrigue and hospital politics with individual human stories involving hospital staff, patients, and their families. The result is a captivating, at times satirical, experience that reminds us that, whether doctor, mother, or child, we are all people, with flaws and emotions in a world of uncertainty.
Movie Game
Michael Ebner - 2015
Now seventeen, he is unaware that government agents are watching him in case his dad makes contact. Joe is too distracted by his secret girlfriend, midnight swims in the pools of strangers, free drinks from his buddies at the movie game and the glamorous college student, Felicity. But his movie-esque existence and addiction to fiction is set to collide with a heavy dose of reality this summer when he discovers everything is not what it seems: his secret girlfriend wants to be the real thing. His college fling may have ulterior motives. And the government agents want co-operation to catch his missing father. All this and the three year old death of Joe’s first girlfriend Alice are going to cause him to face some dark truths. It’s no longer a movie game. This is his life and he wants to win.
Jesse's Girl
Tara September - 2019
After all, he has been secretly and painfully enamored with Jesse’s girl, Gwen, for nearly a decade. It was love at first sight for him, but sadly she’s not his girl. She belongs to the one man who betrayed him and knows Reade’s hidden family secret. Yet Reade can’t seem to love anyone except the one woman he can't have. Or can he make her mine? When Gwen Clark’s senator husband runs off with his intern and all their money, the ensuing scandal turns her life upside down. Deserted, penniless and desperate to provide for her six-year-old daughter, Gwen has no one to turn to but Reade Walker. The one man her heart desperately wants, but her pride dreads having to ask for help. Despite welcoming them into his home, it seems like Reade can barely stand being in the same room with her anymore, let alone under the same roof—in the same bedroom. But Gwen is determined to get her life back on track. It is past time to rediscover her own dreams…if only she can keep her aching heart from breaking all over again. *Song lyrics by Rick Springfield Jessie’s Girl, 1981 ABOUT: -HEA (Happily Ever After) ENDING -STANDALONE (not part of a series, no cliffhanger, fully wrapped-up novella) -"FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS" CONTEMPORARY ADULT ROMANCE -INSTA-LOVE with a MEET CUTE -CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE based on the pop song of the same title. -HEAT LEVEL: HOT AWARD WINNING NOVELLA: - 2018 Orange Rose First Place Winner for Best Romance Novella by OCCRWA.org - 2018 Cleveland Rocks Romance Contest 1st Place Winner for Contemporary Short - The Catherine 2018 2nd Place Winner from Toronto Romance Writers - 2018 Unpublished Maggie Awards Finalist - 2018 Golden Rose Contest Finalist – 2nd Place - 2018 Unpublished Maggie Awards Finalist - Maine Romance Writers 2017 Strut Your Stuff Finalist - Pages from the Heart 2017 Finalist – Third Place
Let's Be Just Friends
Camilla Isley - 2016
Being Tyler’s best friend is becoming more difficult with every passing year and every new woman in his life—especially Georgiana Smithson, a snotty, beautiful girl who’s in Law School with them.When Rose, dumped by her long-term boyfriend, moves temporarily into Tyler’s apartment, tension spikes. Georgiana wants Rose out of the house. Rose wants Georgiana out of Tyler’s life. And Tyler … well, he doesn’t really know what he wants.As an unexpected argument brings Rose and Tyler closer than they’ve ever been, they must decide if there’s more to their relationship than being just friends. And they must do it quickly, as Georgiana is determined to do everything in her power to keep Tyler and Rose apart. After all, all is fair in love and war.Will Rose make a leap of faith and trust Tyler with her heart?Will Tyler make the right choice, or will he be too late?
***Bonus Scenes Added***