Book picks similar to
His to Keep by Serena Akeroyd
contemporary
second-chance
contemporary-romance
royals
The Marriage Pact
Winter Renshaw - 2019
We shook on it. Pinky swore. Even put it in writing and all but signed our names in blood. It was the one and only thing we ever agreed on. To the world, he’s Prince Julian, Duke of Montcroix, second in line to the Chamont throne. Panty-melting accent. Royal charm. Hypnotic presence. Blindingly gorgeous. Laundry list of women all over the world who would give their first born for the chance to marry him. Most eligible bachelor in the free world … But to me, he’s nothing more than the son of my father’s best friend—the pesky blue-eyed boy who made it his mission to annoy the ever-loving hell out of me summer after summer as our families vacationed together, our parents oblivious to our mutual disdain as they joked about our “betrothal.” He was also my first kiss. And my first taste of heartbreak so cataclysmic it almost broke me. I meant it with every fiber of my soul when I swore I’d never marry him. But on the eve of my 24th birthday, His Royal Highness has the audacity to show up at my door after years of silence and make a demand that will forever change the trajectory of our lives: “We have to break our pact.”
A Lie for a Lie
Helena Hunting - 2019
I just want to be a normal guy for a few weeks. So when I leave Chicago for some peace and quiet, the last thing I expect is for a gorgeous woman to literally fall into my lap on a flight to Alaska. Even better, she has absolutely no idea who I am.Lainey is the perfect escape from my life. My plan for seclusion becomes a monthlong sex fest punctuated with domestic bliss. But it ends just as abruptly as it began. When I’m called away on a family emergency, I realize too late that I have no way to contact Lainey.A year later, a chance encounter throws Lainey and me together again. But I still have a lie hanging over my head, and Lainey’s keeping secrets of her own. With more than lust at stake, the truth may be our game changer.
Nothing Personal
Karina Halle - 2018
Her latest relationship ended while on her much-needed vacation, then upon her first day back at work, she learns that her beloved boss has quit – and despite having worked so hard for it, she’s not being considered for his position. Who is being considered for the position is none other than Kessler Rocha. Her ex-coworker and ex-lover, Kessler’s the man who broke her heart five years earlier and the reason she moved thousands of miles away, switched jobs, and created numerous voodoo dolls in Kessler’s (very burly, very handsome) liking. Yup. Worst week ever. New in town and on her turf, Kessler promises he’s not the same man he was – and considering he’s now a single father to a precocious toddler, he’s telling the truth. But he’s still an arrogant and devilishly charming man who’s taking over the position Nova feels she deserves. The fact that he’s gotten even more sexy over the years doesn’t help either. Now Nova and Kessler have the choice to let bygones be bygones, or fight with each other every chance they get, with unresolved sexual tension only adding fuel to the flames, creating a fire that might just burn down the whole office. In the corporate world they say it’s just business, nothing personal. Nova and Kessler are about to show just how personal things can get.
One & Only
Viv Daniels - 2013
Tess McMann lives her life according to the secrets she's sworn to keep: the father who won't acknowledge her, the sister who doesn't know she exists, and the mother who's content playing mistress to a prominent businessman. When she meets the distractingly cute Dylan Kingsley at a prestigious summer program and falls in love, Tess allows herself to imagine a life beyond these secrets. But when summer ends, so does their relationship -- Dylan heads off to Canton College while Tess enrolls at the state university. One love they can't ignore... Two years later, a scholarship brings Tess to Canton and back into Dylan's life. Their attraction is as strong as ever, but Dylan has a girlfriend…who also happens to be Tess's legitimate half-sister. Tess refuses to follow in her mother's footsteps, which leaves her only one choice: break the rules she’s always followed, or allow Dylan to slip away for a second time. ...And only one chance to get things right.
Rise of the King
Bella Matthews - 2021
It’s an excuse. And Sam never makes excuses.Until his future walks into his life and blows it up with one single bullet.When the lost princess stumbles into this mafia prince’s city, all bets are off.And Amelia is all he sees.To keep her safe, it’s time for Sam to take control.To take the throne.To wear the crown.It’s time for the Rise of the King.
It Had to Be Him
Tamra Baumann - 2015
But with another job lost and the gorgeous father of her daughter trying to make contact after disappearing three years ago, a break is definitely in order. Hopefully the little town filled with big, juicy secrets can help.After being off the grid for years, Josh Granger, a man with his own secrets, wants Meg and his daughter back. But first he has to get past townspeople as protective as a pack of rottweilers. He’s not the man Meg thinks he is, but he can’t tell her why…not yet.As Meg slowly warms to Josh, it’s clear the old spark is still there. But when his secret is exposed—along with Meg’s own shocking revelation—will it tear their family apart again, or bind them forever?
Hold on to Hope
A.L. Jackson - 2019
Jackson . . .
Evan Bryant wasn't your typical hero.But he was mine.Broken by the worlds' standards, he was still the strongest boy I would ever know.My best friend. The boy I'd given everything to. My heart, my body, and the promise of forever.The day I'd needed him most, he walked away.He left me shattered and questioning the love I'd thought we'd shared.Three years later, I wasn't prepared for him to return to Gingham Lakes.It wouldn't have mattered if he wasn't the most beautiful man I'd ever seen.My fingers still would have ached to caress his skin.My body still would have begged to get lost in his touch.And my heart . . . it would have always sung his name.But time changes things. With it, secrets that could ruin everything.Can we find a way to love again, or have the fears of our past stolen the hope of our forever . . .
That Second Chance
Meghan Quinn - 2019
Nothing was supposed to go wrong. We’d vowed to be on our best behavior after all . . .But it only took one rowdy night with my brothers to flip my world upside down. One unlucky encounter saddled us with a family curse and the promise of doomed relationships. I laughed it off immediately. “Yeah, right,” I thought. “A love curse. Ha!”Boy, was I wrong.Word spreads quickly in a town like mine; rumors about that night soon made us the most eligible yet untouchable bachelors in Port Snow, Maine. As a subject of endless gossip and speculation, I could kiss my dating life goodbye.It would have stayed that way if Ren Winters, the new girl in town, hadn’t crashed into my life. Brave, beautiful, and smart—her vivacious thirst for a fresh start has given me hope that maybe, just maybe, I can have one too.Everyone wishes for that second chance . . . but could this really be mine?
5,331 Miles
Willow Aster - 2019
Just a few things on that list:*Climb the Eiffel Tower.*Visit every zoo in the world.*Eat peanut butter every day.But all the promises he made dissolved into dust, so when he comes around years later wanting to go live out our list, I want no part of it...or him. The universe seems to agree with me because everything we try is a disaster.The heart though—it's a tricky beast; I'm just not sure mine is strong enough to survive Jaxson one more time.
Forsaking Gray
K.L. Kreig - 2015
Deception. Betrayal.Within less than twenty-four hours of proposing to the love of Gray's life, Liva disappeared. No note. No trace. No explanation. Nothing. Now, five years later, she’s resurfaced and Gray will stop at nothing to make Livia his again. But is love enough to forgive an unforgivable wrong?Livia had less than sixty seconds to make a decision that would change her life forever. She sacrificed. She suffered. She survived. Now that she's back, she's determined that no one ever discover her shameful secret - especially the only man she's ever loved. But will hiding the past destroy her future?
Drive Me Wild
Melanie Harlow - 2020
I’m a mechanic, not a hotel manager. I've got enough on my plate trying to keep my shop from going under, my overbearing mother off my back, and my baseball team in contention for the league championship. I don’t have time for a former debutante with zero street smarts and a cash flow problem, even if she is crazy beautiful. Problem is, she’s stranded in my small town, and I’m hiding a protective streak underneath my grumpy exterior that runs deep. So I offer her a place to stay and keep my hands to myself. For exactly one night. If only she weren't so gorgeous. So funny. So eager to please. She’s a disaster behind the wheel, but she drives me wild without even trying--at work, at home, in the back of my truck . . . I can’t get enough of the way she makes me feel. But I know better than to think it can last. She wants a fairy tale, and I’m no prince. So when it comes time for her to leave, there’s nothing I can do but let her go. No matter how much it hurts to say goodbye.
Tumble
Adriana Locke - 2019
Her plan? Relax, reset, and head back up the corporate ladder. There’s just one unexpected step. Neely’s back in Dogwood Lane for barely a day when she sees the man she ran from nine years ago: the bad boy next door who was her first kiss, her first love, and her first heartbreak.Devoted single dad Dane Madden knows he hurt Neely in the worst way. He’s got a lot to make up for. And as passionate as their reconnection is, it’s a lot to hope for. Having her back in his arms feels so right. But falling in love all over again with a woman who wants to live a world away is bound to go so wrong.What’s it going to take for Neely to give him—and Dogwood Lane—just one more chance?
We Were Once
S.L. Scott - 2020
Scott, crafts her signature heartfelt style into a brand new emotional, second chance, standalone romance. I have three goals: graduate from an Ivy League university, get into medical school, and follow in my father’s well-established footsteps. Everything was going exactly as planned until the local bad boy was delivered to my doorstep. Literally.From the moment we meet, my old life becomes unrecognizable, but I have no regrets. I’m utterly captivated by him. His smirk. His heart. His sharp wit. He pushes me to live, to be wild, to pursue the dream I’ve always hidden inside.To the rest of the world, we make no sense.Me, the girl from the gilded New England coast.Joshua, from the small city of New Haven.To us, we’re destiny.Together, we had it all. Desperately. Madly. In love.Until we didn’t. One tragic night changed everything.
The Aristocrat
Penelope Ward - 2021
Every girl has one, right?Mine was a charming, British aristocrat who turned my world upside down one summer. From the moment I first spotted Leo in the distance through my binoculars, I’d been captivated. I certainly never expected to find a man showering outside of the property across the bay in his birthday suit.Then I noticed his housemate staring back at me with binoculars of his own—watching me watching Leo. That made for an interesting conversation starter when I inevitably ran into them. Turned out, the handsome Brits were only renting that house for the summer in my seaside town.Leo and I formed an instant connection, even though we were technically opposites by all appearances. I taught him how to dig for clams, and he taught me that not all wealthy and powerful guys are pretentious.Despite knowing he was totally wrong for me, I couldn’t seem to stay away.It was a wild and crazy few months. And before I knew it, we’d fallen in love. We both had one wish: more time together.But Leo had obligations back home. He lived a life I’d never fit into. And I was going to law school. So, we decided to end it and never look back. A part of me always felt like I’d let my soulmate walk away.I believed our story was over.Until five years later when he sent me a letter that shook me to my core. I’d thought my world was turned upside down that first summer?Well, I knew nothing yet.
Stay
Tia Louise - 2019
He’s arrogant. He’s smart as a whip and sexy AF. He has too much money. He’s bossy, and he’s usually right. All I saw were his clear blue eyes, tight butt, and ripped torso. I gladly handed him my V-card that night, ten years ago. I was so stupid. I swore I’d never be that stupid again… Emmy Barton works for a dry cleaner? Yes, that Emmy Barton—long, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, pretty smile… Sexy little body. Smart mouth. She was the only girl who interested me, but I was leaving to be an officer in the Navy. Now I’m home, running my business. My life is perfectly ordered until I bump into her, divorced and struggling to make ends meet. I hate seeing her like this. I hate that she married Burt “The Dick” Dickerson. What an a--hole. She says she hates me, but when we fight, it’s all heat and lust. I won’t leave her this way. She will let me help her and her son. She will stay… It’s a thin line between love and hate, and
this line is on fire.
(STAY is a STAND-ALONE enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, marriage of convenience romance. No cheating. No cliffhangers.)