Book picks similar to
Natural Beauty by Leslie DuBois


interracial-romance
interracial
chick-lit
romance

Not Quite Darcy


Terri Meeker - 2015
    Tasked with mending a tear in the timeline, she’s trying desperately to fit into 1873 London. But dang it, mucking out a fireplace while looking like the lunch lady from hell is hard.If she can just keep from setting the floor on fire and somehow resist her growing attraction to the master of the house, she’ll be fine. All she has to do is repeat her mantra: “He’s nothing like Darcy. He’s nothing like Darcy.”William Brown has always taken pride in his mastery of English decorum, but his new maid is a complete disaster, has thrown his household into chaos…and he finds her utterly captivating.Though he’s willing to endure extreme physical discomfort to keep their relationship in proper perspective, her arrival has brought out a side of him he never knew existed. And Eliza has an innocently erotic knack for coaxing that decidedly ungentlemanly facet of himself out to play…Warning: A modern girl who knows bupkis about nursing and maiding in the 19th century, a gentleman poet with a repressed wild side, and inappropriate use of a pair of pantaloons.

The Detective's Lover


Aliyah Burke - 2011
    She has no idea that coming home will be the beginning of an adventure she may not survive and even if she does, her life will never be the same.Ian Cavanaugh is a homicide detective who is wrapped up in a case that may not be as simple as it first appears. The deceased is the father of a group of foster children who had made quite a reputation for themselves when he was growing up. He knew it was in his best interest to get the case solved ... and fast.His priorities begin to waver as he is reunited with the only daughter in the family. Her never-wavering calm makes him want to shatter it and expose the passion he knows lies beneath it. No matter how hot blooded their unions are, it was becoming clear that he may have to choose between love and his brotherhood in blue, for their families seemed to always be at increasing odds.Will he have time to make the decision or will it be made for him?

Grand Theft N.Y.E.


Katrina Jackson - 2019
    She's not expecting to meet another rich man who makes her want to use her nimble fingers for other, not thieving, things. But Robert Shimizu is just that man. The two share a night of fast cars, expensive champagne and the best sex of her life. But Cleo is who she is and when Robert wakes up the next morning, she's long gone... with his car and a few other very expensive possessions. It takes him months to track down the woman who stole his favorite watch and his heart, but when he does, there's fireworks. Content Warnings: Mentions of parental illness and death

Fragile


Shara Azod - 2009
    A quiet waitress, she was brutally gunned down coming out of the neighborhood corner store. There was nothing taken, there was no motive, just a fragile, broken woman lying on the cold, broken sidewalk.Kale was not the easiest cop to get along with. Biting and sarcastic, he worked alone caring for little but the job. There was something about this case that Kale just couldn’t let go. There was something about this victim that called him unlike any other.Can they heal each other or will it just be a banage on their wounds and they still fester?

Close Encounters


Sandra Kitt - 2000
    Carol Taggart is a newly single professor. Their lives collide one night when Carol is caught in the crossfire of an undercover drug sting gone south. Shot and seriously wounded, she finds an unexpected friend in Lee . . . unaware that the man she’s falling for could be the shooter.Twenty years on the street do nothing to prepare Lee for the night that changes his life. Determined to make amends, the special-operations lieutenant finds himself irresistibly drawn to Carol. But Lee soon faces a new threat. With his career and heart on the line, he races to prevent Carol from becoming a victim once again.Passionate and bold, Close Encounters shatters myths about race, gender, and love.

Crush


Crystal Hubbard - 2007
    But Miranda is no stranger to the pitfalls of dating a celebrity, and Lucas will have to overcome all her doubts and teach her to believe in him.The daughter of an African-American baseball player who frequently cheated on her beautiful, accomplished Brazilian mother, Miranda also bears the woulds of having been cheated on by the ballplayer she herself dated. Although she can't deny here attraction to Lucas, Miranda can't force herself to accept the love the handsome Welshman wants to give her. Their careers keep them surrounded by gorgeous, wealthy men and women of every color and description, but for Lucas and Miranda, when it comes to love, race doesn't matter. . . But fidelity and trust do, and those are the two things Lucas is determined to teach Miranda to believe in.

Adam & Eve: A Tale of Obsession


Shantel Davis - 2019
    The intensity of it scared even me, and nothing ever scared me. She made me feel for the first time in my life. For a man like me, that was terrifying, but it was also fucking exhilarating. Soon, my want turned into need, and then obsession. From there, it developed into full-blown addiction. She became all that I thought of. If I was a better, less selfish man, I would have forced myself to stay away from her. We were from two different worlds; one light, one dark. I knew the darkness of my world would inevitably swallow her whole. But I couldn’t let her go. I wouldn’t even lie and say I’d tried. I hadn’t. Every fiber of my being screamed that Eve was mine. She was meant for me. I could live without her, but I didn’t want to. I was rational enough to know that she wasn’t ready for me, though. She was too naive, too innocent, too young. I’d break her. So, in silence I’d suffered. Watching, wanting, waiting, needing only her. She was always right within my reach but never close enough to touch. Until… I took her.

Don't Bite the Messenger


Regan Summers - 2012
    They rely on hard-living--and short-lived--couriers to get business done...couriers like Sydney Kildare.Sydney has survived to the ripe old age of twenty-six by being careful. She's careful when navigating her tempestuous clients, outrunning hijackers and avoiding anyone who might distract her from her plan of retiring young to a tropical, vampire-free island.Her attitude--and immunity to vampires' allure--have made her the target of a faction of vampires trying to reclaim their territory. Her only ally is Malcolm Kelly, a secretive charmer with the uncanny habit of showing up whenever she's in trouble. Caught in the middle of a vampire turf war, Sydney has to count on Malcolm to help her survive, or the only place she'll retire is her grave...32,000 words

Blake


Victoria H. Smith - 2018
    I never forgot our conversation or her... taste when I'd been fortunate enough to have it.She had me in a world where she was mine and, even though the experience of her had only been for a short while, I took that memory into the rest of my life, Anita... the girl who spoke of dreams.She reminded me of my dreams and that it was okay to have them. I made those desires into reality years later, after a fallen marriage and a lifetime of hesitance, but never once did Ann leave me.I never thought I needed anyone when the girl with talks of dreaming finally made it back into my life over three decades later, my family and the strong boys I raised into men all I needed. Anita sure proved me wrong, because not only did I need that woman, I lived for her once I had her back in my life.My sudden heart attack may have brought us back to each other, but our history...It gave us both a second chance.Blake by Victoria H. Smith is a 20,000-word story created just for those who demanded to see and read more about Griffin's pop, the head of the Chandler brood who has a love story all of his own. Set in the 1980s with flashes to the present, this contemporary romance will steam up your Kindle and possibly make you shed a few tears along the way! An origin story between Blake and Griffin's stepmom Ann, this short read acts as book six in the Found by You series and is best enjoyed after reading the full-length novel Brody.

Lyon on a Leash


Erosa Knowles - 2013
    The only thing she doesn’t have is a man - and not just any man will do. She needs a submissive who will let her be as successful in the bedroom as she is in the courtroom.Innovative graphic artist Marcus Lyon is on the hunt for the right woman to serve. Pleasing a Dominate and keeping her happy rocks his world. But a former D/s relationship has left him with emotional scars and a new attitude. The next woman he pleases will need to follow a few rules…When Vera and Marcus meet at a fund raising slave auction in New York City, sparks fly, and she corners her man. Vera is sure she’s found the Alpha Submissive she’s been looking for, but will Marcus agree to give her the key to his heart as well as his collar?****This romantic story is a fictional account of a couple who have chosen to have a Female Led Relationship or FLR. In the BDSM community she is called his Domme, Dominant or Mistress and he is her submissive. He is no doormat. This story is not about pain, or whips and chains, rather it deals with the challenges a couple faces with the day to day grind of living and loving together.

Happily Ever Afters


Mila Nicks - 2020
    But there's a problem. A family secret is revealed that threatens to ruin everything. With the help of a good friend, Juliette is determined to make the wedding happen, slowly arriving at an ending she's never expected: a happily ever after of her own.

The Girl with the Hazel Eyes


Callie Browning - 2019
    ‘The Girl with the Hazel Eyes’ is well-written and compelling. I give this novel 5/5 stars.” - Bekah’s Bookshelves.A beautifully written coming-of-age tale that examines the bonds of womanhood, feminism and pre-independence life on a small island. Almost fifty years after Susan Taylor was exiled from Barbados for her famous whistle-blowing novel, ‘The Unspeakable Truth’, she contacts a young writer to pen her biography. Susan is crotchety and unpleasant but Lia Davis is broke so she has no choice but to stay and write Susan's biography. As Lia starts to unravel the reclusive author's life, she realizes that some things just don't add up. Susan has been hiding a massive secret for decades and Lia is determined to find out what it is. The Girl with the Hazel Eyes is an endearing novel that tugs at your heart with its examination of love, lies, and loyalty.

His Forbidden Love


Mallory Monroe - 2018
    While in Apple Valley, Florida on business, he meets a woman who manages to capture his attention, and could very well capture his heart. Karena “Kari” Grant is the young, African-American owner of a struggling cleaning service, and the single parent of a precocious fourteen-year-old son. Her world turns upside down when her ex, mob fixer Vito Visconni, returns from a long prison stint vowing to get his family back, and when her son falls prey to an unspeakable horror. Kari turns to Alex for help, and Alex discovers, for the first time in his life, what to love unselfishly looks and feels like. In the first book of the Alex Drakos interracial romance series, Alex and Kari must face down demons that threaten their budding romance, and mobsters and enemies that threaten their very lives.

Bound Through Time: Past


Twyla Turner - 2019
    Becoming an orphan twice over, she has no one and fills her lonely days living vicariously through the adventurous stories of love in the historical romance novels she adores. Little does she know that a trip to visit the Scandinavian lands once occupied by Vikings would catapult her back nearly one-thousand years in the past like a heroine in one of her favorite books. Thorin is the newest chieftain of his clan after the unexpected death of his eldest brother. Used to life as the baby brother, he's done nothing but chase skirts and glory in battle. Is he really ready to lead an entire village? And would anyone try to challenge his seat as the leader of the richest clan on Iceland? Just as Thorin attempts to find his way as the chieftain, a mysterious woman with skin of bronze and hair as dark as night is dragged before him. Now as his captive, her beauty sets his blood on fire. Her spirit challenges him at every turn. And his weakness for her threatens his precarious place as chieftain. Ellie's fear of losing those she loves, jealousy and danger lurking around every corner, and being from two different worlds could rip them apart. Will Ellie stay? Or will she be forced to return to her own time?  Find out in the sweeping time travel romance, Bound Through Time: Past. Warning: This novel contains adult content. 18+ only

Alfonzo


S.W. Frank - 2011
    The only male role-model in Alfonzo's life is his beloved Uncle Al but even he can not curb the youth's rebellion or alter the course of Alfonzo's destiny. Alfonzo's fate was written the moment he emerged from the protection of his mother's womb. The blood of a faceless father runs deep in a son's veins and blue eyes are only part of a deadly legacy.When Uncle Al and his wife are brutally murdered the door to the past is sprung open. Lies, greed and a quest for power began on the shores of Italy reaches its bloody hand to New York's inner city to strike at a young man perched to inherit a mafia empire! A pulsating, adult drama packed with heat!Look for Volume II entitled: ASCENSION in this riveting series.