Book picks similar to
On a Hot August Afternoon by Bridget Straub


cheating
romance
trust-issues-in-review
marriage-and-family

All We Have Lost


Aimee Alexander - 2003
    In private, Kim dreams of writing 'the great novel' and spending more time with her young family. Then, one day, she does it. She folds her business to follow her dream. Only to discover that the 'great novel' is, in fact, a great struggle. Life as a domestic goddess has (many) hidden challenges. And her relationship with her husband, Ian, is losing equilibrium. As the perfect life Kim has built for herself starts to crumble comes the revelation that will make her doubt everything she had taken for granted...

To The Woman He Loves


Theresa Hodge - 2017
    I’m talking wavy, chestnut brown hair, strong chiseled jawline, prominent shoulders and rugged ivory skin kissed by the sun. His silver eyes are enough to make any woman swoon. All the women wanted him, but he chose me… “his rarest, precious Ruby of them all.” Our wedding day was like a classic fairytale. Ronan, my gallant knight, made me feel like an African Queen. He made me feel beautiful, sexy and oh so desirable. His silver gaze held me captive from the beginning. Even now, when it feels like the end, I remember gazing into his eyes filled with promise as he vowed his love and devotion to me for a lifetime. I believed him. Secrets and lies have a way of destroying lives and marriages, and making what was once a happy home miserable and unbearable. My secrets…my lies cost me a price I wasn’t willing to pay. Who would’ve ever thought our happiness and love for each other would end up at this point? Not me, Ronan’s sweet Ruby. I never would’ve guessed my best days were behind me and I have only myself to blame. I’m in for the fight of my life… win, lose or draw. This is a re-release of Billionaire Wives Club.

At This Moment


Karen Cimms - 2016
    Kate Daniels wants it all—a big, crazy life, lots of kids, and an adoring husband. Someday. For now, she’ll be happy just to survive her first semester of college. Billy McDonald wants it all, too. Since the day he got his first guitar, he’s had one goal—to prove he’s worth something. His dream is so close, he can almost touch it.Thrown together during a freak snowstorm, Kate and Billy’s lives become permanently entwined. On the outside, they have nothing in common, but scars aren’t always visible and abuse doesn’t always leave a mark. Kate keeps the pain of her past buried, while Billy carries his like a weapon.In spite of finding love, Billy continues to be haunted by his childhood and tempted by the excesses of the music industry. He struggles to keep his career on track and his inner demons at bay, until one night, he makes a mistake that could cost him everything. Kate may have found her happily ever after, but for Billy, the nightmare has just begun.Set against a backdrop of heavy metal and emerging grunge, At This Moment is the first book in the Of Love and Madness trilogy. A love story that unfolds over twenty-five years, it’s the tale of two damaged people trying to make their way in the world without destroying themselves or each other in the process.

Rags to Bitches


Pamela Burford - 1999
    Everyone assumed Gabe’s devotion to girlfriend Dena Devlin was mere puppy love, a rebellious stroll on the wrong side of the tracks. Dena was, after all, the janitor’s daughter. Unfortunately, even a love as strong as theirs couldn’t withstand Gabe’s act of betrayal.At their 15th high school reunion, Dena comes face-to-face with the cheating boyfriend who broke her fragile young heart. The good news is, Dena is now a self-made millionaire, thanks to the pet-resort empire she built, inspired by her love of dogs—a true Cinderella story! The bad news is, Gabe is sexier than ever. Well, no worries. She’s no longer the shy, self-conscious girl she was back then. She can handle one awkward evening.What she doesn’t count on is a full week at a Long Island B&B with Gabe and a quirky cast of characters from the old days. One of their housemates is the girl Gabe cheated with all those years ago, the “appropriate” girl his parents always intended for him to settle down with. Well, so what? Dena is over him. Really. All she wants is to get through the week and never lay eyes on the infuriating man again.If only there weren’t all those unanswered questions, all the doubts and longing she’s repressed for so long. If only she could ignore the magnetic attraction that still hummed between them. Forgiveness and second chances were far from her mind when she signed up for her high school reunion. How is she supposed to get through a whole week under the same roof with Gabe?A feel-good romantic comedy! Originally published as A Class Act.

Stoned


Mandi Beck - 2016
    For as long as Stone can remember, Willow has been his music – the notes that weave his soul together. His rhythm. Until he threw her away. All he has left is a handful of pills and a few lines of powder to make him forget her. And he tries, over and over. Clean and ready to make things right, he’s faced with the fact that Willow’s moved on. She’s not the same girl he cast aside. Willow’s a woman sure about her purpose in life. Sure about who she’s meant to love. Stone may be lost without his rhythm, but Willow has found so much more.

The Song


Chris Fabry - 2014
    He wants to sing his own song, but the words and melody are elusive. Haunted by the scars inflicted by his broken family, Jed's dreams of a successful music career seem out of reach . . . until he meets Rose.As romance quickly blooms, Jed pens a new song and suddenly finds himself catapulted into stardom. But with this life of fame comes temptation, the same temptation that lured his father so many years ago.Set in the fertile mid-South, this quest for success leads Jed and Rose on a journey that will force them to deal with the pain of loss, failure, and the desire to be who God created them to be.Lyrical and deeply honest, "The Song" asks the hard questions of love and forgiveness. When even the wisest of men are fools in love, can true love persevere?

Bent


H.B. Heinzer - 2013
    Newly divorced, Julia returns to the small hometown she swore she?d left forever. She plans on enjoying the cheap rental a friend offers and staying there just long enough to figure out her next steps in life. But before long, Julia realizes she's made a big mistake. A decade ago, Micah Anderson promised Julia forever but broke her heart right before she left for college. Now, Julia's back in town, and he's going to have to tell her the truth about why he left her ? it's impossible to hide a twelve-year-old child when you live in such a small town. Can Julia forgive Micah and start anew? Should she try to make a relationship work if Micah's past becomes a threat to her safety? Should she follow her dreams if it means giving up on a second chance with her first love?

Groupie


Ginger Voight - 2013
    At first it is easy to use her freelance writing career as an excuse to indulge the steamy flirtation from city to city. As she gets ever closer to making her lascivious fantasies a reality, however, she finds herself trapped in the fake and sometimes dangerous world of celebrity where nothing is as it seems, including the celebrities themselves. She hangs on to find something real amidst the illusion, while Giovanni balances what he wants against what he fears most. Over three years they come together and blow apart with the same kind of combustible passion. This keeps them orbiting in the others' stratosphere despite new relationships and bitter betrayals. They are bound together by something they can't fight, something that draws the ire of another fan determined to claim Vanni all to herself. Unknowingly they all race toward a dramatic moment of truth that will leave two people injured, and one dead, with a twist of an ending you may never see coming. Author of Love Plus One and My Immortal, Ginger Voight once again brings Rubenesque romance to life through a curvy heroine and the sexy rock god who wants her. It is the ultimate fantasy for anyone who has ever indulged a celebrity crush, and wondered "what if" you ever got that one chance to be with your idol. More than a romance, Groupie is a sizzling contemporary read that throws back the curtain on the lives of celebrities and the fans who love them. Adult content intended for readers 18+.

The Billion-Dollar Marriage Contract


Alyssa Urbano - 2015
    Nikos isn’t ready to give up his playboy lifestyle, and Cassia is far from the glitzy socialite their elite circle expects. Events force them to live separate lives. Ten years later, Nikos is ready to make it work with his wife, whom he only sees once a year. Cassia is also ready to settle down… just not with Nikos. Will Cassia once again surrender herself to the man who scarred her forever? Or will she give up her inheritance and never look back? Will they still be able to fulfill the terms of their billion-dollar marriage contract, even when death and danger stalk them at every turn?

Trouble Makers


Emme Rollins - 2014
    If you can’t beat them, join them, isn’t that what they say? While Bree—my best friend since forever—couldn’t get enough of “Trouble” and their lead singer, Rob Burns, I set my sights a little lower – and to the left. Rob’s immediate left, that is, at least on stage. Tyler Cook was Trouble’s lead guitarist, a tall, glorious, dark blonde, beautiful specimen of a man who could make ovaries explode and panties drop with just one twist of that smirky smile of his. Of course, it was all just in good fun, two girls going to Trouble concerts and screaming ourselves hoarse along with the rest of the fans. Bree’s fascination with Rob, and mine with Tyler, was a fun little fantasy, a distraction from our boring everyday lives, mine as a dental hygienist and Bree’s as an elementary school music teacher, until one day the “what-if” game Bree liked to play—and in, “what if we met Trouble some day?” and “What if they asked us to go on tour with them?”—actually happened. Actually. Happened. One minute we were going to see Trouble in concert, and the next, we were backstage, face-to-face with the real-live, sexy thing. I never expected to meet rock god Tyler Cook. I never expected to end up on a tour bus with sex god Tyler Cook. I certainly never expected to fall in love with the man, that beautiful, broken, wild man, or become so hooked I simply couldn’t give him up—no matter what it cost, or who I hurt, even myself. Because sometimes you have to stop asking yourself, “What if?” Sometimes you have to find out what happens next.

After Midnight


Sarah Grimm - 2011
    After an automobile accident took her mother's life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar...Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal — one that doesn't include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won't be easy, but he can't get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?

True Love Story


Willow Aster - 2013
    When she meets Ian Sterling, a musician who is rising in popularity, she instantly falls for his charm. The attraction is instant, but their relationship isn't so simple.At different places in their lives, Sparrow is off to college in New York, and Ian is traveling the country with the band. Over a five year span, Sparrow and Ian run into each other in unusual places. Each time, Sparrow has to decide if she can trust him, and if he feels the same for her. It’s hard to not get caught up in the magic they have together. Until something so devastating comes to light that threatens to shatter everything they’ve built with each other.True Love Story is a story about the real highs and lows that come with a relationship—happiness, pain, angst, and finding out if love really is enough.

Only Ever You


Siobhan Davis - 2019
     He’s the hot-as-sin rocker hiding a secret that would devastate his fans. She’s the only girl he’s ever loved, but keeping her safe means he had to walk away… RYDER My entire life is a lie, propelled by one wrong decision that altered my fate. If fans knew the truth, they’d run away screaming. But all they see is Ryder Stone, moody guitarist and lead singer of Torment, and a potential notch on their bedpost. Only two people know who I really am. My manager has a vested interest in keeping my secret, and the girl I was forced to leave behind doesn’t even know the true extent of my shame. Losing Zeta is both my biggest regret and my proudest moment. But she was the glue keeping me together, and I’m struggling to survive without her. Especially when demons from my past continue to haunt me and the threat of disclosure is ever present. When she reappears in my life, this time, I’m too weak to push her away. Her love has the power to save me. Mine has the power to destroy her. ZETA I’ve worked hard to forget my past. To rise above my messed-up childhood and make something of myself; however, there’s no forgetting him. Ryder’s gorgeous face and drool-worthy body are plastered over tabloids and TV screens, reminding me I’m still in love with the boy who captured my heart in juvie. When he failed me, I thought I’d never again experience such heart-crushing pain. But watching him fall out of clubs with a succession of different girls renews the agony, resurrecting countless unanswered questions. Now my boss has sent me to interview him. It’s a massive scoop for the magazine, and turning it down would kill my career. So, I delude myself into thinking I can handle this. Perhaps this is the closure I need to finally move on. Except I’m terrified nothing has changed and one look into those soulful eyes will suck me in again. Ryder almost destroyed me last time. This time, he could ruin me forever. Full-length standalone title. Due to sensitive content and possible triggers, this book is recommended to readers aged eighteen and older. Please refer to the note at the start of the book (Click Look Inside).

Conviction


Lesley Jones - 2015
    Our love unquestioned. Our futures planned. But she didn't show. All that we had, all that we meant, and after all that was said, she just didn't show. That one act by her changed everything, but it especially changed me and from that moment on, there was no going back. No words of love, no whispered promises, just sex and drugs and rock and roll. No one gets a piece of Reed, but what they will get is the night of their life, the chance to let go, break their own rules and enjoy the best, the dirtiest, filthiest sex ever... Along with the other four people in my bed.I thought he loved me, I believed everything he said, every promise that he made but then, when I needed him more than I'd needed anyone in my life, when I was at my most vulnerable, he let me down. He chose to take a different path and leave me to pick up the pieces of my now broken life. I was changed forever and chose the easy option, letting others take charge of my destiny, until once again, I'm let down in the cruelest of ways. Dirty filthy sex.Love.Heartbreak. Betrayal. High emotion. And a bit more sex.

Destination Wedding


Deanna Lynn Sletten - 2014
    She owns a successful clothing boutique, has a steady, dependable boyfriend, and a beautiful grown daughter who is about to be married. Sure, Claire's husband of twenty years left her for a younger woman four years ago, but that is all in the past. Now, Claire is looking forward to her daughter's Bahama wedding and spending a week in paradise. The only thing Claire dreads is her ex-husband and his wife will also be on the island. Claire is determined to make the best of it, though. What Claire doesn't realize is ignoring her ex-husband for the week is going to be impossible.James Martin's life is a mess. His wife of less than four years has made him the most miserable man on earth and now they are in the middle of a messy divorce. He's happy that he can forget her for a week as he goes off to the Bahamas to attend his lovely daughter's wedding. Jim is embarrassed to admit to his daughter and his ex-wife, Claire, that he made the biggest mistake of his life when he left her for another woman, so he makes up a story as to why his new wife didn't come along. When he and Claire are unexpectedly forced upon each other, Jim soon realizes what he's lost and he begins to wonder if he can find a way back into Claire's heart.