Book picks similar to
Defective by Susan Sofayov


fiction
mental-health
giveaways
contemporary

The Beauty of the Fall


Rich Marcello - 2016
    When Dan’s longtime friend and boss, Olivia Whitmore, fires Dan from RadioRadio, the company that he helped create, he crashes and isolates himself.Willow, a poet and domestic violence survivor, helps Dan regain his footing. With her support, Dan ventures on a pilgrimage of sorts, visiting Fortune 500 companies to flesh out a software start-up idea. When Dan returns home with a fully formed vision, he recruits the help of three former RadioRadio colleagues and starts Conversationworks, a company he believes will be at the vanguard of social change.Guided by Dan’s generative leadership, Conversationworks enjoys some early successes, but its existence is soon threatened on multiple fronts. Will Dan survive the ensuing corporate battles and realize the potential of his company? Or will he be defeated by his enemies and consumed by his grief?

A Boy and his Dog


Chloe Holiday - 2021
    Hope Hernandez were any more exhausted, she'd be the one on the gurney. Her drive for perfection leaves her scrambling to juggle an insane ER schedule, studying for boards, and her boyfriend—whoops! Ex-boyfriend.Fine. One less thing demanding her attention. Hope buries her pain in work. The truth is she’d get more affection from a dog, with less risk to her heart. Safe and uncomplicated. The second she sees the forlorn, retired military K9, Hope falls hard: he's sad and alone, just like her. They head to Colorado, aiming for a fresh start—if she can score the coveted ER job. Yet when a scorching hot veteran shows up to lay claim to her dog, he disrupts her careful plan. He's anything but safe—he’s dynamite. And he's oh, so wrong if he thinks he can charm Hope into giving up her loyal companion.Bomb disposal technician Grant Calloway's whole life blows up after an IED detonates at a Kosovo parade. He and his working dog, Mojo, save hundreds with their off-duty heroism, but reality bites hard: Mired in red tape, then bounced out of the Army for hearing loss, Grant's blindsided when Mojo's adopted out by a civilian who won't understand the needs of a military-trained dog. Grant's best friend deserves better. Grant turns his back on a lucrative job and instead hits the road for Colorado to track down his dog.He thought finding Mojo would be the hardest part, but the woman who took him won't listen to reason, and Grant's charm has no effect. Refusing to be diverted by her big brown eyes and gorgeous smile, Grant lays siege to reacquire Mojo—by whatever means necessary.A Boy and his Dog is a steamy, enemies-to-lovers medical / military romance. It contains profanity and sex scenes.

Love for Two Lifetimes


Martina Boone - 2018
    Following a trail of clues to Halford Hall in England, Izzy steps into a world of royalty in search of her father and meets a young aristocrat who's as troubled as he is fascinating. Recognizing the brokenness in each other, the two become inseparable--only to discover too late that they may be brother and sister.Thrown together on a journey of discovery that spans two lifetimes and takes them from a grand estate in the Cotswolds to a hospital bedside in India and ultimately to the Taj Mahal, Malcolm and Izzy try not to fall in love. But some things are impossible.And some sacrifices are inevitable.Uplifting, funny, tragic, and unforgettably romantic, Love for Two Lifetimes is a tale of two generations of love, a lifetime of friendship, a history of sacrifice, and one last, heartbreaking and hopeful choice revealed in prose, texts, and love letters. If you enjoy the romance of the royal weddings or any story by Nicholas Sparks, Love for Two Lifetimes will have you turning pages late into the night."Heartwarming, lyrical, soulful, and with just the right amount of humor: this book sparkles with authentic, layered characters and beautiful, thoughtful prose." -- Jodi Meadows, NYT bestselling co-author of My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane★★★★★ PRAISE FOR COMPULSION ★★★★★"Skillfully blends rich magic and folklore with adventure, sweeping romance, and hidden treasure . . . Impressive." -- Publisher's Weekly"So swoon-worthy that it's ridiculous." RT Book Reviews, RT Editors Best Books of the Year"Darkly romantic and steeped in Southern Gothic charm, you ll be compelled to get lost in the Heirs of Watson Island series." -- #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout"Charming and steamy on the surface, with cold-blooded secrets buried down deep." -- Kendare Blake, New York Times bestselling author"Haunting, atmospheric, and absorbing." -- Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author"Beautifully written, with vivid characters, a generations-old feud, and romance that leaps off the page...Not to be missed." -- Megan Shepherd, New York Times bestselling author★★★★★ PRAISE FOR LAKE OF DESTINY ★★★★★"Delightful, charming, and heartwarming!" -- New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins"I loved this!!! It reminds me of a Nora Roberts series, The Gallaghers of Ardmore . . . but a Scottish version with men in kilts!" -- Two Chicks on Books"Outlander-Lite Meets Gilmore Girls in Scotland. Sucked me in from the start and didn't let go until I'd laughed, shed a few tears and worked up an appetite. Fast. Fun. Romantic. Read it!" -- Jenuine Cupcakes"Endearing and alluring! Modern day mixed with history, truth, folklore, and just the right touch of the blarney! -- Thoughts on Your Words"AMAZING" "WOW!" "I honestly can't rave about this book enough" "An enchanted trip to the Scottish Highlands" "Found myself getting lost in the words and not wanting to return home" "Stole my heart" "Loved every page, every chapter" "Couldn't put it down" "Didn't want the story to end" "Makes me wish I could magic myself into this story" -- Amazon Customers

The Redeemed Groom


Taylor Hart - 2018
    Since his mother passed away and his girlfriend left him, his inspiration is shot. While on a run, he witnesses what appears to be a young woman who needs help and he finds himself hopping on a Greyhound Bus headed for Las Vegas. Hope Jones is in danger, but she does not need a celebrity super star around. When Sloane tells her a completely untrue story about running from a stalker, her nurturing side nags at her to help. Too bad he made the whole thing up! Offended, she tells him to take a long walk in the desert and leave her alone. After, reluctantly, sharing dinner with him at a bus stop, breaking down in Rawlin’s, Wyoming, and hypothesizing about having thirteen children and living in a broken down fire station together, she finds herself more intrigued with the famous Country Music Star. When her ex-fiance tracks her down and puts both of their lives in jeopardy, Hope has to make a choice—trust in Sloane or lose everything.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street


Yara Zgheib - 2019
    The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting, intimate journey of a young woman's struggle to reclaim her life. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.

A-List Kiss


Brenda Lowder - 2020
    Eden Perry, television news reporter and superfan of the world’s biggest movie star, has the chance of a lifetime—an interview with the man of her dreams, the future father of her children, the world’s pinnacle of male perfection: action star Gavin Braddock.Her entire future happiness will be secured if only she can get there.But when she accidentally interrupts an FBI sting operation, she’ll have to make it past sexy, scowling Special Agent Matthew Decker first.When Eden’s movie-star dreams start playing out in high-def reality, and her involvement with the prickly law man grows, will she choose the action star she's loved all her life or fall for the real-life man of action?

The Second Life of Mirielle West


Amanda Skenandore - 2021
    Based on little-known history, this timely book will strike a chord with readers of Fiona Davis, Tracey Lange, and Marie Benedict.Based on the true story of America’s only leper colony, The Second Life of Mirielle West brings vividly to life the Louisiana institution known as Carville, where thousands of people were stripped of their civil rights, branded as lepers, and forcibly quarantined throughout the entire 20th century. For Mirielle West, a 1920’s socialite married to a silent film star, the isolation and powerlessness of the Louisiana Leper Home is an unimaginable fall from her intoxicatingly chic life of bootlegged champagne and the star-studded parties of Hollywood’s Golden Age. When a doctor notices a pale patch of skin on her hand, she’s immediately branded a leper and carted hundreds of miles from home to Carville, taking a new name to spare her family and famous husband the shame that accompanies the disease.At first she hopes her exile will be brief, but those sent to Carville are more prisoners than patients and their disease has no cure. Instead she must find community and purpose within its walls, struggling to redefine her self-worth while fighting an unchosen fate.As a registered nurse, Amanda Skenandore’s medical background adds layers of detail and authenticity to the experiences of patients and medical professionals at Carville – the isolation, stigma, experimental treatments, and disparate community. A tale of repulsion, resilience, and the Roaring ‘20s, The Second Life of Mirielle West is also the story of a health crisis in America’s past, made all the more poignant by the author’s experiences during another, all-too-recent crisis.

A Tropical Frontier: The Cow Hunters


Tim Robinson - 2014
    Smith Award, 2015. [Rating: R] The Fourth novel in the "Tropical Frontier" series, The Cow Hunters is the sequel to The Good Dog. The Florida Prairie, 1860, cattle country. War looms, but to the settlers living along a jungled, tropical creek, it all seems very far away. For Becky Hackensaw, there are much more pressing matters, such as providing an education for her six children, but where to find someone willing to brave an uninhabited wilderness overrun with wild animals, alligators, poisonous snakes, and bloodthirsty mosquitoes?

Such a Pretty Girl


Laura Wiess - 2007
    Her father was supposed to be locked up until Meredith turned eighteen. She thought she had time to grow up, get out, and start a new life. But Meredith is only fifteen, and today her father is coming home from prison. Today her time has run out.

Honed: Finding Your Edge as a Man Over 40


Mike Simpson - 2021
    Special Forces. He was forty-eight years old.How did he keep up? By combining three decades of Special Forces training, the ancient wisdom of martial arts, and his own specialized knowledge as a doctor of emergency medicine assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command.Now, in Honed: Finding Your Edge as a Man Over 40, Mike makes his unique formula available to the general public, teaching you how to reach peak physical condition in your forties, fifties, and beyond so you can compete with men half your age.Learn how to maintain and build muscle through longevity optimization. Train step by step for long-term performance through these proven, science-backed programs of exercise, nutrition, recovery, and natural supplementation.If you think you’re past your prime, think again. In Honed, Mike Simpson proves that it’s not too late to find your edge and live the lifestyle of a warrior-athlete.

Perfect


Rachel Joyce - 2013
    It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knew this because James Lowe had told him and James was the cleverest boy at school. But how could time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock was as certain as their golden futures.Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right?

The Christmas Cookie Shop


Ginny Baird - 2016
    When Hannah inherits a defunct bakery in East Tennessee, her first thought is to sell it and settle her substantial debt. Then the townsfolk welcome her warmly and she's taken with the joyful spirit of the place, where stores employ holiday themes and residents have surnames like Christmas and Claus. After a handsome lawman comes to her aid dressed as Santa, Hannah learns he's more than a hot guy in a red suit and shiny black boots. Sheriff Carter Livingston has joined in the cause of rejuvenating the town, and he's encouraging her to do her part. Hannah's great-grandmother, Lena, sold special holiday cookies that brought hope and renewal to the people of Christmas Town. Yet Hannah has plans elsewhere and isn't looking to stay. Can she possibly reopen the shop known for kindling romance--without sacrificing her heart?

He Loves Me, She Loves Me Not


Emersyn ParkEmersyn Park - 2021
    Thankfully Lily has a devoted father, Ben, who loves and adores her up until his sudden death, leaving Lily the sole caregiver for her ill mother, Daisy.The latest family tragedies have forced Lily to question the history her parents claimed to be true. With the discovery of disturbing diaries kept by her mother, Lily will uncover dark twists that her curiosity will not let stay buried in the past. Lily has always struggled to understand what made her mother so callous and unloving. Within the contents of the secret diaries, the sinister truth will finally come to light.

Reckless Beginnings


Tina Hogan Grant - 2018
    But with no leads and faced with turmoil in her own life, there wasn't much Tammy could do.After a forbidden secret love affair and a catastrophic dispute with her father, Tammy eventually meets Steven, settles down and has his child, only to discover he is a heroin addict. Thrown into a life of drugs and violence, Tammy lives in fear of what Steven might be capable of and struggles alone to provide for her young son.What consequences might she face if she leaves Steven? Is she ever going to find her sister alive? Will she have enough courage to conquer the impossible challenges of her twisted world and still come out on top?Reckless Beginnings is a story of fiction based on true events.

This Bright Beauty


Emily Maine Cavanagh - 2018
    Franci has always been the stable one, while Lottie has bipolar disorder, constantly battling depression and mania. After years of taking care of her sister, Franci moves across the country to build a life for herself. Now, all the two share is distance.But when Lottie gets in an accident, Franci reluctantly steps back into her familiar role as protector. She returns to find her sister’s life in complete disarray and makes a shocking discovery: Lottie has an infant daughter she never told Franci about. Although Franci swore she wouldn’t get sucked back in, she can’t leave the baby alone in Lottie’s care.As Lottie further unravels, a secret is revealed that she has kept since childhood—one that has the power to reframe the sisters’ entire relationship, forcing Franci to ask herself if the secret was too much for Lottie to bear. Was the accident really an accident, and who has been protecting whom all these years?