Book picks similar to
Saving Alyssa by Loree Lough


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romance
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Seabreeze Inn


Jan Moran - 2019
    An old crush. One summer to get her life back.Ivy Bay’s life implodes after discovering that her late husband had spent their life savings on a beach house. Strapped for cash as an art teacher and with nowhere to go, Ivy and her recently jilted sister head to Summer Beach to recreate their lives. If only renovating a historical home didn’t unveil a host of hidden secrets in the beachside community—and the mayor wasn’t her former high school crush.Bennett Dylan led a campaign against Ivy’s late husband to block the rezoning of the beach house land for a high-rise resort. Although it’s been ten years since his wife’s death, Bennett is avoiding the pain of loving—and possibly losing—another woman. And then the FBI shows up… Ivy’s demands for a zoning variance for a bed-and-breakfast couldn’t come at a worse time for him. Despite distractions, Ivy has one summer to sway the town to salvage her livelihood and the new life in Summer Beach she’s come to love.With spellbinding intrigue and poignant self-discovery, the Seabreeze Inn is a sweet summer beach read. If you like sun-soaked beach sagas you can lose yourself in, the Seabreeze Inn and Summer Beach’s fascinating characters are for you. Get it now and start your vacation in Summer Beach.

It Had To Be You


Irene Hannon - 1999
    When the girls go off to college, she is finally free. Then Jake West returns to town. Jake and Maggie were teenage sweethearts, who planned on marrying. But when Maggie took on the responsibility of her nieces, Jake felt overwhelmed by the idea of a ready-made family and left town to join the Navy. Now, he wants to marry Maggie and start a family, but can Maggie trust the man who once broke her heart?

Fall Flip


Denise Weimer - 2019
    What happens when he flips her heart? The tragic death of Shelby Dodson’s husband—her partner in a successful Home Network house flipping business—stole love, status, and career. Now a bungalow redesign thrusts Shelby into the company of a new contractor. Scott Matthews remembers high-and-mighty Shelby from high school, and her prissy, contemporary style goes against his down-to-earth grain. When the house reveals a mystery, will its dark secrets—and their own mistakes—cost them a second chance at love?

Tempting Fate


Jane Green - 2014
    They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can't relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet, she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away. She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her--until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive--something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be. Intoxicated, Gabby has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything--and find out what really matters most.A heartfelt and complex story, Tempting Fate will have readers gripped until they reach the very last page, and thinking about the characters long after they put the book down.

That Dog Won't Hunt


Brandilyn Collins - 2013
    There's mom and dad, three daughters and their families, and the youngest-twenty-five-year-old Ben. Oh, and the family dog, a Yorkie who thinks she's royalty."This one's perfect," Ben says about his new fianc�e, Christina, when he brings her home for a family reunion. Ben is just sure everyone will love Christina, and she'll fit right in.He always did tend to wear rose-colored glasses.Christina loves Ben but secretly fears their relationship will never work. They've only known each other ten weeks. She hasn't told him about her horrific past as an only child-the beatings, the neglect, and verbal abuse. Christina doesn't know how to trust or be honest about her feelings. Being thrust into the middle of a tight-knit family like the Dearings is sure to send her over the edge.With poignancy and humor, That Dog Won't Hunt explores the complexities of relationships and the inner strength needed to overcome a difficult childhood. The Dearings are no perfect family, but they know how to love-if only Christina will accept it.

The House by the Cypress Trees


Elena Mikalsen - 2019
    Not a perfect trip.Daniel Stafford wants to visit his family in Tuscany—after his girlfriend dumps him for their Italian driver, he botches a work presentation in Rome, and an assertive American falls in front of his car.When their two disastrous lives collide, they end up sleeping on the side of the road. Falling in love with Italy—and each other—is the least of their concerns.

Four Times the Trouble


Tara Taylor Quinn - 1995
    Allie is organizing her teacher to death. Jessie is crying in class. Meggie is becoming almost reclusive. Jacob is told what the triplets need is a woman in their lives. But the last thing Jacob needs is to exchange girl trouble for woman trouble. Jacob's gone that route before. All it did was get his daughters' hopes up - his hopes up - only to end in disappointment. Maybe the answer is to enlist the help of a friend, someone like his partner, Michelle.Unfortunately, what Jacob begins to feel for Michelle is more than just friendship. And while Michelle's willing to be a surrogate mother to Jacob's children, it's going to take a lot of convincing for her to consider the idea of being a wife to him.

Forgotten


Catherine McKenzie - 2012
    But when she takes a month-long leave of absence to go on an African vacation, she ends up facing unexpected consequences. After she falls ill and spends six months trapped in a remote village thanks to a devastating earthquake, Emma returns home to discover that her friends, boyfriend, and colleagues thought she was dead--and that her life has moved on without her.As she struggles to re-create her old life, throwing herself into solving a big case for a client and trying to reclaim her beloved apartment from the handsome photographer who assumed her lease, everyone around her thinks she should take the opportunity to change. But is she willing to sacrifice her job, her relationships, and everything else she worked so hard to build?In "Forgotten," Catherine McKenzie tweaks a classic tale of discovering who we really are when everything that brings meaning to our lives is lost.

The Bright Side Of Disaster


Katherine Center - 2006
    Now, very pregnant and not quite married, she actually doesn’t mind that she and her live-in fiancé, Dean, accidentally started their family a little earlier than planned; she’s happy to have so much to look forward to. But Dean–whom Jenny loves enough to overlook his bad facial hair, his smoking habit, and his total commitment to a cheesy cover band–is acting distant, and not in a pre-wedding-jitters kind of way. The night he runs out for cigarettes and just doesn’t come back, he demotes himself from future husband to sperm donor.And the very next day, Jenny goes into labor.In the months that follow, Jenny plunges into a life she never anticipated: single motherhood. At least with the sleep deprivation, sore boobs, and fits of crying (both hers and the baby’s), there’s not much time to dwell on her broken heart. And things start looking up. She learns how to do everything one-handed, makes friends in a mommy group, and even manages to give dating tips to her sweet, clueless father–who’s trying to court her sassy mother again, fifteen years after their divorce. She also gets to know a handsome, helpful neighbor–with a knack for soothing babies–who invites her out dancing. But Dean is never far from Jenny’s thoughts or, it turns out, her doorstep, and in the end Jenny must choose between the old life she thought she wanted and the new life she’s been lucky to find.A spirited debut novel with a terrifically appealing voice, a fantastic sense of humor, and a lot of heart, The Bright Side of Disaster reminds us that sometimes it takes the worst-case scenario to show us the best in everything.From the Hardcover edition.

Foreign Fruit


Jojo Moyes - 2003
    That is, in the eyes of young Lottie and Celia, members of the respectable Holden family who like nothing more than escaping the family home to explore.So when a group of Bohemians move into Arcadia, a grand Art Deco house on the seafront, Lottie and Celia are tempted into their alternative way of living . What ensues at the house has tragic and long-lasting consequences for all.Now almost fifty years on, Arcadia is being renovated, once again arousing strong feelings for the town's veterans. And as the house returns to life, so do the secrets buried within it from all those years ago, prompting the question: can you ever leave your past behind?

Love Will Find a Way


Barbara Freethy - 2002
     Rachel fell in love at nineteen with a man who came into her life on a whirlwind of sunlight and romance. She married Gary Tanner, had his son, and thought she would live happily ever after. But fate had other plans. Gary died in a tragic accident … at least she thought it was an accident. Now, there are questions that need to be answered, and only one man she can turn to, Gary's best friend, Dylan. Rachel was everything Dylan Prescott wanted in a woman. But Gary met her first, so she became untouchable. For years he stayed away from her. Now Rachel is a widow, her marriage is over, and she turns to him for help. The passion he feels for her is no longer out of his reach. The life he always wanted is beckoning to him, but when the secrets come out, will their love find a way to survive? Reviews: "Freethy has once again penned an exceptional piece of fiction." - Library Journal "Freethy deftly weaves the evocative tapestry of family life, love and pain with a delightful splash of whimsy in this intense story of evolving emotions, of relationships taking form against the ultimate loom of resiliency and triumph. And triumph this story surely does." BookPage LOVE WILL FIND A WAY is a captivating, heart-tugging story of love and family, of dreams and second chances. Barbara Freethy is a master storyteller with a gift for spinning tales about ordinary people in extraordinary situations and drawing readers into their lives." Romance Reviews Today "Heartwarming and life affirming, LOVE WILL FIND A WAY ranks right up there with the other deep love stories that go beyond the traditional. Let it find a way onto your shelf." Romance Readers Connection IF YOU LIKE CONNECTED SERIES, don't miss Barbara's new family series, The Callaways, filled with love, romance and adventure! ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS (#1) SO THIS IS LOVE (#2) FALLING FOR A STRANGER (#3) BETWEEN NOW AND FOREVER (#4) NOBODY BUT YOU (A Callaway Wedding Novella) ALL A HEART NEEDS (#5) THAT SUMMER NIGHT (#6) WHEN SHADOWS FALL (#7) Coming September 2014

If You Must Know


Jamie Beck - 2020
    Amanda follows the rules—at the school where she works; in her community; and as a picture-perfect daughter, wife, and mother-to-be. Erin follows her heart—in love and otherwise—living a bohemian lifestyle on a shoestring budget and honoring her late father’s memory with a passion for music and her fledgling bath-products business.The sisters are content leading separate but happy lives in their hometown of Potomac Point until everything is upended by lies that force them to confront unsettling truths about their family, themselves, and each other. For sisters as different as these two, building trust doesn’t come easily—especially with one secret still between them—but it may be the only way to save their family.

Christmas at the Red Door Inn


Liz Johnson - 2018
    Two friends. Three days to fall in love. Lifelong islander Brooke Kane doesn’t know what to do with her college degree, her dreams, or her future, but she knows better than to venture far from home when there’s a storm brewing. But a promise to check on Rose’s Red Door Inn prompts Brooke to venture out. By the time she arrives at the inn, the snow is knee-deep and visibility almost non-existent. She settles in to spend a few days alone at the inn until a familiar figure appears at the door. Father Chuck O’Flannigan has never felt like a bigger fool. So focused on his recent decision to leave Prince Edward Island, he’s caught unaware by the blizzard while on a walk. He can only see the inn’s red door, a promise of safety. But when he discovers that Brooke—the only woman who could tempt him to stay on the island—is also taking refuge there, he knows he’s in trouble. With Christmas only three days away, Brooke is determined that they’ll celebrate—even if it’s just the two of them. Happy to play Scrooge to her Tiny Tim, Chuck wiles away his hours dreaming of a return to Ireland—praying that God may have plans for him there. After all, God seems to have forgotten him in North Rustico. But as Brooke brings Christmas to life, her joy makes him wonder if God may not have forgotten him. In fact, God may have big plans for both of them—if they can only survive Christmas at the Red Door Inn.

The Secret Hour


Luanne Rice - 2003
    Since the death of his wife, he has been juggling the rigors of a controversial capital murder case and the demands of raising two children. Eleven-year-old Maggie’s crooked bangs and rumpled clothes eloquently reproach John’s earnest but haphazard attempts at mothering. Teddy, John’s stalwart fourteen-year-old, has quietly assumed responsibilities far too weighty for his young shoulders, as he longs for the way things used to be and tries to ignore the hostility that has swirled around his family since his father took on the defense of a killer whose crimes have rocked Connecticut.A brick through the window one autumn morning signals a dangerous new level of hatred. But a quieter event also takes place that day. A woman arrives on the O’Rourke doorstep to find a household on the brink of chaos but brimming with love--and, she hopes, answers. Kate Harris is searching for the key to her own mystery. Six months ago her younger sister fled far from their beloved home following a devastating confrontation. After mailing a single postcard from the New England shore, Willa Harris vanished. With only a postmark to go on, Kate takes a leave of absence from her job as a marine biologist to come to the seaside Willa adored--and discovers the one man who may be able to help her.Compelling and evocative, at once suspenseful, heartbreaking, and triumphant, The Secret Hour is an unforgettable novel that explores the power of sisterly love, the gift of second chances--and the way magic can sometimes be the most real thing in the whole world.From the Hardcover edition.

While My Sister Sleeps


Barbara Delinsky - 2009
    Their careers are flourishing—Molly is a horticulturist and Robin is a world-class runner—and they are in the prime of their lives. So when Molly receives the news that Robin has suffered a massive heart attack, she couldn’t be more shocked. At the hospital, the Snow family receives a grim prognosis: Robin may never regain consciousness.As Robin’s parents and siblings struggle to cope, the complex nature of their relationship is put to the ultimate test. Molly has always lived in Robin’s shadow and her feelings for her have run the gamut, from love to resentment and back. The last time they spoke, they argued. But now there is so much more at stake. Molly’s parents fold under the devastating circumstances, and her brother retreats into the cool reserve that is shattering his own family. It’s up to Molly to make the tough decisions, and she soon makes discoveries that destroy some of her most cherished beliefs about the sister she thought she knew. Once again New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinsky brings us a masterful family portrait, filled with thought-provoking ideas about the nature of life itself, how emotions affect the decisions we make, and how letting go can be the hardest thing to do and the greatest expression of love all at the same time.