Book picks similar to
A Summer's Tale by Jen Carter


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Beyond the Lens


Hannah Ellis - 2016
    Before she knows it she’s jetting off to a piece of paradise on a beautiful Spanish island. Much to her surprise, Lucy makes new friends and has the time of her life, even indulging in a behind-the-scenes romance with a hunky cameraman.Convinced the production will never make it to the screen, Lucy returns home on cloud nine, but soon finds that things are not always as they seem.

Twist of Truth


Diane M. Dickson - 2016
    Why he has been away, and where he has been will soon become apparent, as well as why his heart is set on bloody revenge. Simon is soon recognized by figures from the past when he enters a pub and the locals make it known they don't want him around. But when Gloria Bartlett, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast in which he is staying, treats him compassionately, Simon quickly draws her into his plans. What follows is an exciting search for the truth about Simon’s past and a terrible murder of a family member. Yet when the couple get to the bottom of the mystery, they find that both of their lives are in jeopardy. TWIST OF TRUTH is set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramstone based in the heart of the moors. It explores the difficult emotional connections between people whose lives have been affected by crime. And as the protagonists get closer and closer to the truth, and the terrible secret that is revealed, it exposes the difference between revenge and justice.

After Home


Carrie Crafton - 2013
    But now, five years after her husband's death, she's managed to make a simple life for herself, despite problems with her teenage daughter. However, things in the small-town community Beth thought would be a sleepy haven for her are about to get a lot more interesting.

Only More So


Dixie Burns - 2016
    Leigh Blackburn, the main character of Deliberate, finally has the life she’s dreamed of and fought for. Happily divorced and living on a shabby chic farm with her sixteen-year-old son, she owns an upscale consignment store and has been building a new life free of tension. Free that is until her mother gets herself thrown out of her assisted living facility and moves in with Leigh. Abba Gee, Leigh's mother, will be familiar to those who have read, Spit of a Minute. Last seen at age fifteen, Abba Gee is seventy-years-old and still herself... Only More So!

Happily Ever Summer


Carly Morgan - 2017
    James is a librarian in the tourist town of Bandon, Oregon. She’s poor by the world’s standards, but she loves what she does and what she has is sufficient for her needs. She doesn’t want glass slippers, a grand ball, or Prince Charming. What she needs is a miracle, and she doesn’t know it yet, but she needs him. Last summer, Catherine fell in love with Samuel Merrick. She believed what they had together was beyond marriage, beyond “till death do us part”. She thought it was the forever kind of love, and for eight perfect weeks, it was. Because of that, she made a mistake, one she can’t take back, and wouldn’t even if she could. Now she has her daughter and she loves her more than she ever thought possible. She also believes despite her mistake, God loves her and her child. Billionaire oil tycoon Samuel Merrick has no idea he has a daughter. Thirteen months ago, when he came to Bandon, he fell in love with Catherine almost instantly. And that was a real surprise. After his wife died, he didn’t believe he would ever find love again. And when he realized what was happening, he knew he needed to make sure he was falling in love with Catherine for the right reasons. So he left. It was a mistake, a terrible one. He got scared, and didn’t handle the situation as he should have. Now he wants to change that. He wants Catherine in his life. He wants to marry her, if she’ll have him. He knows it’s going to take work on his part and forgiveness on hers, but God willing, he believes they might be able to find their happily ever after.

Fierce-Devin


Natalie Ann - 2021
    Secretly...of course. Devin Andrews loves his job at Fierce-The Brewery and working for his cousin Mason. What he doesn’t love is that his Aunt Jolene has set her sights on making him the next target of her matchmaking scheme. But he’s onto her and has no plans on falling prey like her unsuspecting children did. Besides, he’s not sure he has what it takes to fall in love since he never has before, even being the oldest of the family. Hope Hall picked up her life and moved to Charlotte for a man. She should have listened to her family when they cautioned her against it, reminding her that she was too spontaneous with everything in life...even men. After being blind, stupid, and naive once again, she doesn’t want to go home and listen to them say they were right. Instead she is trying to make a life for herself—one without a man in it—and prove she can do it on her own.

Like


Bart Hopkins - 2014
    His tweets are re-tweeted a hundred times and thousands follow his blog.Then there’s Paul, who stumbles on an old crush while Facebooking. Through research of her online habits, he arranges a “chance” meeting so they can fall in Like with each other.Martin is a cancer survivor with renewed purpose in life thanks to a supportive social media family.It’s a tapestry of people and events woven together with this era’s most abundant thread: social media.“With one Like I can say hi to a friend, support them during a crisis, share in a joke, make someone happy, or reinforce a person’s self esteem. I make myself part of their world. It’s like I stopped by for coffee. But, by Liking, I can also avoid talking to all the people I don’t want to waste time on. Or I can check to see what my ex girlfriend is doing seven or eight times an hour. It’s a double-edged mouse click.”- Anonymous

The Billionaire Fake Fiancé: Escape to Sun Valley (Grant Brothers Billionaire Boss Romance Book 7)


Sarah Gay - 2021
    

A Family Affair


Mary Campisi - 2006
    Her father has another family which includes a mistress and a daughter. Determined to uncover the truth behind her father's secret life, Christine heads to Magdalena, prepared to hate the people who have caused her to question everything she thought she knew about her father. But what she finds is a woman who understands her, a half sister who cherishes her, and a man who could love her if she'll let him. The longer she's around them, the more she questions which family is the real one. . . Attention Book Clubs! Included on my website is a Book Club Discussion Guide for A Family Affair. This story is filled with moral ambiguity, difficult choices, and second chances--all great topics for conversation and contemplation. Truth in Lies Series: Book One: A Family Affair Book Two: A Family Affair: Spring Book Three: A Family Affair: Summer Book Four: A Family Affair: Fall Book Five: A Family Affair: Christmas Book Six: A Family Affair: Winter (TBA) Book Seven: A Family Affair: The Promise (TBA)

In the Line of Ire


Edwin Dasso - 2014
    Blaming Jack for his own failings, he sets his sights on Jack as a scapegoat. Fighting for his life, and new found love with Lori Darden, the pair learn how dangerous it can be to raise the ire of a psychopathic boss.When the chain of command breaks down, Jack Bass fights back and attempts to prevent his world from turning to ash right before his very eyes.Jack Bass is…In the Line of Ire.

Designer You


Sarahlyn Bruck - 2018
    
 
When Nate dies in a freak accident, Pam becomes a 44-year-old widow, at once too young and too old—too young to be thrust into widowhood and too old to rejoin the dating pool. 
 
Now the single mother of a headstrong and grief-stricken teenager, Pam’s life becomes a juggling act between dealing with her loss and learning how to parent by herself. On top of all that she also must reinvent herself or lose the empire that she and Nate had built so carefully.
 
It is time for Pam to seize the opportunity to step up as a mother, come out from behind Nate’s shadow, and rise as the sole face of the Designer You brand, and maybe, possibly, hopefully, find love again.

Tangled: A Southern Gothic Yarn


Phyllis H. Moore - 2016
    Twenty-one years old and Annette Roberta Randall is searching, looking for herself. The perception and sensitivity she relied on to bolster her through an isolated childhood have disappeared and with them her sense of self. Nettie also seeks the truth, information about her dysfunctional family and the mysteries that whisper to her in their eccentric family home. She receives glimpses in the alcohol induced monologues of her mother, Delores Cecelia, “DeCe”. However, DeCe lost herself long before Nettie was born, and she buried her secrets so deep, even the spirits haunting her cannot unlock her soul. Pup, Nettie’s peculiar uncle, may have witnessed the most recent chaos, but he cannot communicate what he knows for sure. Nettie’s struggles are apparent to her extended family and neighbors, but only she can resolve to overcome the pull of the notorius Kirkland family and Berclaire mansion. The secrets fester and DeCe clings to them like the neglected ivy tendrils on the shadowed side of the mansion. Slowly, the truth will unfold, but will it be enough to free Nettie, or the undoing of her mother, DeCe? Nettie believed it was possible her grandfather, Old Nate, was responsible for the hauntings at the Berclaire mansion, but the more she learns of her great grandmother, Roberta, she decides he might have been a victim, also. DeCe had been taking pills and drinking alcohol from before the time she was a teenager, attempting to numb herself to her dysfunctional family. Nettie could only guess at a history during her drunken orations about DeCe's childhood. Nettie knows she is the seventh child born to DeCe, the others gone before Nettie was born. Some would filter back into her life, but would they help her learn more about her identity, or bring more pain?

Taking the Lead


Di Jones - 2016
    Hollywood Heartbreak. Doggy Deliverance. What would you do if you were an aspiring actress offered a part in a TV series in Los Angeles…but had to give up everything else important to you to achieve that dream? Twenty-one-year-old Tessa Taylor drops out of college and leaves her home in Washington, DC, to pursue her lifelong ambition of becoming an actress, but her decision comes at a price. Tinseltown is tough, stardom elusive, and LA exorbitantly expensive. When her dreams crumble, Tessa struggles. Her heart bruised, she compromises to make ends meet and tries one disastrous job after another. When a fortunate coincidence leads her to a job she never thought she’d do—dog walking—her adventures begin, and a new life, and love, unfold. Taking the Lead: Adventures of a Hollywood Dog Walker is more than just a walk in the park. It’s a humorous and heart-warming romantic comedy, infused with a touch of adventure, which will appeal to dog lovers and chick-lit readers alike. If must love dogs is more than a catchphrase to you, you won’t want to miss this first book in the L.A. Lights series.

Stranded Poolside With The Billionaire's Son


Susanne Ash - 2019
    He doesn’t want to be hurt again. But their attraction to each other is undeniable. Caroline’s job as personal assistant to billionaire Evelyn Sutton takes her to the family beach house on Palmer Island. She’s looking forward to a few quiet days getting the house ready. She didn’t expect to find her boss’s youngest son swimming in the pool. Pete Sutton plays the spoiled rich guy well. It affords him the privacy to do the charity work that’s important to him. He likes his mother’s PA too much for a quick fling, but dating anyone is out of the question. He’s still licking his wounds from his one and only serious relationship. Neither one of them is looking for love, but can they ignore the chemistry between them when they are stuck together on beautiful Palmar Island? This is a 20,000 word sweet romance novella with no cliff hangers and a HEA. it's the first of the Clean Beach Billionaire series.

A Million Doorways


K. Martin Beckner - 2016
    Separated from his friends and mourning the tragic loss of his father, he feels isolated from all the things he has ever known and loved. But his outlook on life begins to change to one day when he takes a summer job working for the mysterious and eccentric Zelma Green. With nearly a century between them, he finds in her an unlikely kindred spirit. His new friend loves to tell stories about her life, taking him on a journey spanning over eighty years, from the happy days of her youth, a time of horse-drawn carriages, to the darkest moments of her life. But just as Ethan starts to settle and make peace with his new circumstances, he becomes shockingly aware of a soul-crushing deception in his life, a deception hidden away for years like the mummified body down in Zelma Green's cellar. As terrible secrets unfold, Ethan faces a decision: does he run, or does he stand and face the truth and his fears head on?