Book picks similar to
Run by Janice M. Whiteaker


freebie
ebook
fiction
contemporary-romance

Running on Empty


L.B. Simmons - 2013
     Beautiful and loving husband.Three gorgeous little girls. Successful career. The only thing missing was the white picket fence. I really wanted that fence. Three years ago, I lost that life. I lost my husband. And I lost myself. But, eventually, I found my way through the darkness. I’ve made peace with my new life. I have my girls, and that’s all that matters. They are my world. I have no illusions of ever falling in love again or getting whisked away on a white horse. But then he came back into my life. On a freakin’ motorcycle.There’s no way I’ll let him turn my life completely upside down. Absolutely no way. The question is…How long can I keep pretending that I’m happy with my life being right-side up?

A Change of Plans


Donna K. Weaver - 2013
    And the shipwreck. And the falling in love.Lyn North just wants to move past the anniversary of her heartbreak. Swearing off any romance, she embarks on a South Pacific cruise. But the handsome surgeon in the cabin next door revives emotions she's tried to forget.Braedon Randolph desperately needs this vacation to escape his workaholic life. He finds himself captivated by the beautiful schoolteacher next door. Unaware of the sensitive waters he navigates, he moves to take their relationship beyond friendship and is surprised when Lyn ghosts him-hard to do on a small ship. Yet the haunted look in her eyes draws him closer and awakens a need in him to protect her.Then they're thrown together on a snorkeling excursion where paradise turns to piracy. With the man she rejected, Lyn must fight for survival through storms, sharks, and shipwreck-while her heart whispers she may have been wrong.It was a relaxing vacation-until the pirates. And the shipwreck. And the falling in love.Lyn North just wants to move past the anniversary of her heartbreak. Swearing off any romance, she embarks on a South Pacific cruise. But the handsome surgeon in the cabin next door revives emotions she's tried to forget.Braedon Randolph desperately needs this vacation to escape his workaholic life. He finds himself captivated by the beautiful schoolteacher next door. Unaware of the sensitive waters he navigates, he moves to take their relationship beyond friendship and is surprised when Lyn ghosts him-hard to do on a small ship. Yet the haunted look in her eyes draws him closer and awakens a need in him to protect her.Then they're thrown together on a snorkeling excursion where paradise turns to piracy. With the man she rejected, Lyn must fight for survival through storms, sharks, and shipwreck-while her heart whispers she may have been wrong.***This is an updated and expanded edition***Other Books in the Safe Harbors SeriesA Change of Plans (#1)Hope's Watch (#1.5)Torn Canvas (#2)A Season of Change (#2.5)Swing Vote (#3)Kings Crossed Lovers (#4)

Not Today, But Someday


Lori L. Otto - 2012
    Forced to transfer schools mid-year, she wasn't trying to make new friends. In that same month, sophomore Nate Wilson's girlfriend broke up with him. Searching for someone to fill the void left by his first love, he meets Emi in his art class. Nate knows he wants Emi from the moment he sees her. Emi knows she needs Nate after one night together. A life-long friendship is born, and a pact is made to ensure that nothing will come between them. This novella is the prequel to the Emi Lost & Found series. After the 3-volume series was published, readers wanted more. This is for them – the story of how Nate and Emi met – and although it’s a prequel, it can be enjoyed before or after the series.

From the Wreckage


Michele G. Miller - 2014
    When disaster strikes, their labels become irrelevant.“In a matter of minutes on a Friday night, I lost my school, my identity, the security of my first love, the personality of my sweet fearless brother, my best friend, my town, everything as I knew it. Everything changed.”"Minutes—that’s all it takes to change your entire life. How do you deal with that?”For high school senior Jules Blacklin surviving the storm is only the beginning. Faced with her life's new reality, she must find a way to rise from the wreckage and answer the question—how do you get back to normal when everything normal is gone?The From The Wreckage series is a Young Adult to New Adult series with one trilogy and multiple character spin-offs. Please see the reading order below:Jules and West's trilogy1. From the Wreckage2. Out of Ruins3. All that RemainsSpin-offs best read in order but CAN be read alone4. West: A male POV novel of From The Wreckage5. Into the Fire: Dani's story6. After the Fall: Austin's story7. Until We Crash: Jess and Carter's story

First Visions


Heather Topham Wood - 2012
    While unconscious, she crept into the mind of a missing boy and awoke with the knowledge of his location. Friends and family were skeptical and wary of her new ability to see into the minds of others. Their fears prompted Kate to keep her psychic powers a secret. Feeling alienated, she dropped out of college and spent most of her days holed up at her mother's home. Now another child has been abducted. Police detective Jared Corbett seeks out Kate for her help in solving the case. Reluctantly, Kate agrees and they must work together to bring 8-year-old Cori Preston home to her family. Although attracted to one another, Jared has a girlfriend with ties to the abduction case and Kate is sarcastic and guarded since her coma. With visions she can't control and an uncontrollable attraction to the detective, she wonders if she can leave the past behind and finally stop hiding from the world. Otherwise, Cori may be lost forever.

Fighting Irish


Katy Regnery - 2018
     ...but it's been a long time since their childhood summers at Summerhaven. The Havens weren't the children who attended exclusive Summerhaven Camp in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire. They were the children of the owners, expected to “pull their weight” and absolutely forbidden to fraternize with the paying guests. But that didn't keep Rory from having a quiet, unrequited crush on gorgeous, popular, insanely-rich, Brittany Manion for three tortuous summers. When all-grown-up, recently-engaged Brittany books the off-season summer camp for her upcoming spring wedding, she immediately recognizes Rory as the scorching-hot boy who wouldn’t give her the time of day. Meanwhile, Rory, who senses that Brittany’s nuptials are less about Mr. Right and more about Mr. Right Now, launches the fight of his life to win the heart of the girl he’s always wanted.

A New Chapter


Susan Coventry - 2016
    Five years later, they meet again, both newly divorced, and in the process of rebuilding their lives. Emma finds comfort in the bookstore that she owns, while Zack is busy caring for his four-year-old daughter Gracie.Despite their attraction, Emma and Zack decide to be “just friends,” but soon discover that staying in the friend zone is easier said than done! Sometimes love comes along when you least expect it, but when will Emma be ready to trust her heart again? How will she know when the time is right to begin…A New Chapter?

After They Go


J. Mercer - 2018
    The second stunted by her sister's shadow. The youngest propelled by desperation. Gwen is the oldest of four children in the Aaldenberg family, and the one who seems to have it all. She's also most desperate to escape. Betta, having nursed their dying grandpa for the past three years, is anxious for Gwen to go, so she can finally have reins to the family business. And Esmerelda, viciously determined to follow in Gwen's footsteps, vies for popularity as a freshman in high school, only to learn she must sell her soul, reputation, and most prized possession for acceptance. When Gwen's fiancé moves to town, Gwen does her best to resign herself to a local life, while Betta struggles for meaning without the store. In order to carve out a place for herself, Betta must decide to what lengths she'll go in order to become her own person, and Gwen must decide what's more important: her sister or her future. Can this family pull through their disappointment, jealousy, and regret? Or will they cling so tightly to their desires that it ruins them?

Conklin's Blueprints


Brooke Page - 2013
    Following college, Becca attempts to bury the pain by retreating into a dangerous lifestyle with her best friend, Jamie Rae. She decides it's time to grow up after being irresponsible, broken, and out of control. To Becca's horror, her only option is to return to her hometown of Grand Rapids. Worried she will forever live in the shadow of her prominent family's notability, Becca decides moving is her only opportunity to get her feet back on the ground. With her best friend in tow, Becca reluctantly heads home to attempt to live her ideal life. Little does Becca know the owner of the architecture firm she lands a job with has an intriguingly mysterious son. Tyler Conklin is infatuated with Becca, yet is apprehensive about a public relationship because of his hidden baggage. Not wanting anyone to know about his slight obsession with her, their potential relationship must be kept a secret. Will Becca put up with Tyler's untold story for long? Will she tolerate being his secret?

Loving Lauren


Jill Sanders - 2013
    Now she’s not only in charge of her two younger sisters, but she’s running a full-blown Texas ranch. Caring for a thousand‑acre ranch has its ups and downs, physically, mentally, and financially. All she is looking for is a little break. What she doesn't have time for is someone who will only complicate her life further.Chase is back in his hometown. Helping his dad with his veterinary practice is high on his list. So is being with the lovely Lauren West. Years ago, he found a unique way to bind them together. Now all he has to do is prove to her that he’s the right man to spend the rest of her life with.

Bury the Hatchet


Catherine Gayle - 2015
    Now he needs to prove to the watchful eyes that he’s changed for the better. But cozying up to Little-Miss-Perfect-Gone-Bad isn’t his idea of making amends.Agreeing to marry a hockey star to clear her “bad girl” reputation is the worst idea Oklahoma’s former sweetheart, Tallulah Belle Roth, has ever heard. With cameras constantly in their faces, Hunter and Tallie need to prove their sickeningly-sweet, do-good lives are the real deal—just to Bury the Hatchet once and for all.But when the cameras are off, desire burns hot. Can fake and just for show turn into something real and forever?

Angels & Whiskey


Kimberly Knight - 2015
    Serving his country was his destiny. Until he fell in love…When Gabe’s love affair is cut short, he turns to whiskey for comfort and swears he will never fall in love again.Until he bumps into an unexpected angel…By all appearances, Autumn Jones has the perfect life. Her husband, Richard, is a loving man who wants to be a father to her unborn children. But Autumn knows the truth. Richard has a controlling, dark side that leaves nothing to chance, especially Autumn. He’ll stop at nothing to make her the trophy wife he wants her to be.When Autumn bumps into Gabe, he consumes her every thought, but she can’t act on her feelings. She’s married to a dark man she can never leave. When he learns who Autumn’s husband really is, Gabe knows he will stop at nothing to protect her. Or is it too late for him to save his angel?

When the Right One Comes Along


Livia Quinn
     A former Army Ranger and CEO finds himself drawn to the woman of his dreams but an impulsive fling puts his mission and their relationship in danger. Former international model and photographer Lana Calloway is finally headed home, after attending the DC romance convention to find the perfect model, the “one” whose face and body could make her new business venture a success. She finds “Alex”, an unwilling and unlikely candidate. Turns out his appearance was a fluke, but the Calloways have a history of getting their man, or woman, and she doesn't intend to be the exception. Her prospect is in DC to meet with Congress about a huge veterans project; in other words, he’s got higher priorities. It will take creative measures to convince him that her goals could benefit his mission of making life better for wounded veterans and oh, by the way, that they are meant to be. From the author: Livia Quinn is the author of the Calloways of Rainbow Bayou, a contemporary small town romance series centered around the Calloways and their cousins, the Larues, in the Rainbow Bayou area of Louisiana. About Rainbow Bayou The bayou that surrounds the town was named by the Native Americans for its reflection of the colorful sky as it flowed from the river to the lake. Rainbows bring to mind hope, renewal, second chances, and the promise of new beginnings. In their legends double rainbows represented serendipity. The Calloway series is a contemporary small town romance with stories of love, community and family—of hope and second chances, reminding us that love can happen out of the blue, when you least expect it. More about the series, If you love emotional heartfelt stories with a little suspense built in, this is one for you. The first four books in the series were previously published but have been revised and rebranded with new content to reflect its true romance genre, that of a contemporary small town family romance series. Are the books standalones? Yes, the books can be read as standalones but secondary characters’ stories progress throughout the series so some readers may wish to read them in order. Books in the series: When the Right One Comes Along 9/11 Too Good to Be True. 9/11 Only the Heart Remembers 9/18 Christmas Wishes. 10/2 At Long Last Love 10/15 It Had to Be You 11/2 Christmas Vows 11/30 Love will Find You. 2/4/2019

Claiming Her SEAL


Kat Cantrell - 2016
    He hides the darkness in his past, content to run an island adventure company in the Caribbean with members of his former SEAL team—until resort guest Emma Richardson targets him for a vacation fling. Her fresh innocence and insistence on seeing hero material in Dex where none exists makes him yearn to be the man she deserves. And that terrifies Dex more than any war zone he's ever faced, until he discovers Emma has demons of her own…

Glass Hearts


Autumn Doughton - 2013
    No matter how much she studies, Ellie Glass can't prepare for every aspect of life. A fact she realizes after a chance encounter with a young musician leaves her scrambling to speak in coherent sentences. Scruffy, long-haired, and undeniably sexy, Ben is the exact opposite of her type. So why is it that Ellie can’t stop thinking about him?When fate intervenes and the two are thrown together for a second time, Ellie gets more than she bargained for. With the help of her friends and a newfound romance, she begins to redefine herself and slowly realizes that happiness isn't something you can plan for. This is the captivating story of an undeniable attraction, the choices that we make, and ultimately, the unexpected power of love.**Formerly published under the title On an Edge of Glass**