Book picks similar to
Playing for Keeps by Cherry Adair


romance
adair-cherry
cherry-adair
contemporary-romance

Breath of Scandal


Sandra BrownSandra Brown - 1991
    Robbed of her youthful ideals and at the center of scandal and tragedy, Jade ran as far and as fast as she could. But she never forgot the sleepy "company town" where every man, woman, and child was dependent on one wealthy family. And she never forgot their spoiled son, who, with his two friends, changed her life forever. Someday, somehow, she'd return, exact a just revenge -- and free herself from fear, and the powerful family that could destroy her.

HOT Pursuit


Lynn Raye Harris - 2013
    He broke her heart. He's the only one who can save her life...Evie Baker hasn’t seen Matt Girard in ten years. Not since the night she gave him her virginity. Now the Black Ops soldier is back in town and looking to make things right. Too bad she doesn’t believe a word he says. But when her sister goes missing and Evie’s suddenly a suspect in a murder, Matt’s the only man she can trust to keep her safe.Matt knew Evie wanted forever ten years ago, but all he wanted was escape. He’s older and wiser now, and he knows what matters. He’ll do whatever it takes—break any rules necessary—to protect Evie and find her sister. And then he’ll do everything he can to win his best friend’s heart and prove he’s the man she needs him to be.

The Alibi


Sandra Brown - 1999
    After they spend the night together, she mysteriously disappears. Later, while prosecuting the biggest murder case of his career, Hammond discovers that Dr. Alex Ladd, the prime suspect, is also his mystery woman. Now, he faces a moral dilemma and a haunting question. Is she innocent of the crime or was he used as her perfect alibi? And if she isn't the killer, is she the next victim?

The Guy Next Door


Lori Foster - 2011
    That's what Natalie Alexander needs to get her head—and heart—together. But her solo trip south turns into a disaster when gorgeous Jett Sutter turns up with another challenge.Gail's Gone Wild by Susan DonovanSingle mom Gail Chapman insists on chaperoning her teenage daughter's spring-break trip to Key West. But she never expects to face temptation—in the hunky form of Jesse Batista, the mysterious man in the cottage next door.Just One Taste by Victoria DahlAll-work-and-no-play businessman Eric Donovan won't be distracted by a "businesswoman" who's all wrong for him. Beth Cantrell owns a women's erotica shop! And she has a juicy little secret. Can she tempt him to put pleasure before business for once?

Caught


Jami Alden - 2008
    Tall. Chiselled. Intelligent and arrogant. And so hot he's on fire. That's Ethan Taggart. Male to the max. Toni Crawford, computer genius turned PI, can't stop looking at him and Ethan's returning the favour. Nice and slow. Those piercing blue eyes of his are about to melt her down but...nothing doing. Toni has to stay cool. Focus on the assignment: the teenage daughter of a multimillionaire just vanished in plain sight. Chasing down leads, investigating every freaky angle, pushing past the boundaries of a hellish underworld of sex and drugs, Ethan and Toni are forced to work closely to stalk an unseen enemy with a taste for cruel games. Risking their lives to save the missing girl is only half the battle. Their blazingly sensual attraction grows every second, until there's no turning back. Their passion is about to explode...and Ethan and Toni soon find that danger breeds the hottest desire of all...

Deeper Than Need


Shiloh Walker - 2014
    The last thing on her mind is finding someone new…but the contractor she’s hired is an irresistible distraction—and Trinity can’t help but fantasize about all the business they could be doing behind closed doors. So does one man’s touch Noah Benningfield thought he’d put his demons behind him. But the moment he lays eyes on Trinity, the temptation he feels is too powerful to deny. Soon the attraction between them explodes into something neither of them could have imagined. But their desire will be put to the test when a shocking local murder has them dodging danger at every turn. Can the beautiful and damaged Trinity trust someone like Noah, whose own past is as haunted as her own? The only thing she knows for sure is that she can’t live without a man who makes her feel this good—over and over again…

Prey


Linda Howard - 2011
    After all, why give Dare the satisfaction of knowing he can push her buttons and push her to the edge?Three years ago, Dare returned home to rural western Montana and opened a hunting business to rival Angie’s. Complicating matters is the fact that Dare has asked Angie out (not once but twice) and has given her a gift of butterflies in the process. Angie has no patience for butterflies. They only lead to foolish decisions. And now the infuriatingly handsome Iraq war vet has siphoned away Angie’s livelihood, forcing her to close up shop. Before Angie is to leave town, she organizes one last trip into the wilderness with a client and his guest, who wants to bag a black bear. But the adrenaline-fueled adventure turns deadly when Angie witnesses a cold-blooded murder and finds herself on the wrong side of a loaded gun. Before the killer can tie up this attractive loose end, a bear comes crashing through the woods—changing the dark game completely.Luckily, Dare is camping nearby and hears the shots. Forced together for their very survival, Angie and Dare must confront hard feelings, a blinding storm, and a growing attraction—while being stalked by a desperate killer and a ferocious five-hundred-pound beast. And neither will stop until they reach their prey.From the Hardcover edition.

Fatal Embrace


Aris Whittier - 2004
    Or at least it would be if her boss, ex-detective Michael Carven, stopped acting like he didn't want her there. Jessica has to prove herself to him on the ranch, and also try to penetrate his armor to get to the man inside. Michael Carven is a man who has left a difficult past behind him, and now works at his dream job raising horses under the Montana sky. But he knows that the past has a way of coming back to him, and soon enough, it does. A wave of violence hits the nearby small town of Riverside, nestled deep in the mountains, as a cunning serial killer preys on the population. Against his will, Michael finds himself both drawn into the case and coming to care for his independent new trainer. And if having a killer on the loose wasn't enough, his two worlds collide when Jessica becomes the only material witness in the case. Before it is over, Michael and Jessica will put everything they know and hold dear on the line to catch a vicious, cunning killer - and to protect each other as well.

Beyond Eden


Catherine Coulter - 1992
    The product of old San Francisco wealth, the daughter of a man who despises her, her life is forever changed when she is brutally assaulted by her sister's husband, and then rejected by her family.Lindsay is finally forced to face up to her past when she meets S.C. Taylor, a tough ex-cop, turned private investigator and computer troubleshooter. He is hired to protect her; but can he both win her trust and discover who is trying to kill her and why? Is it her family? A supposed friend or colleague? A faceless sicko or perhaps a mad psychiatrist? Ah, it's a mystery to savor.

Moving Target


Elizabeth Lowell - 2001
    Seeking answers, Serena turns to Erik North of Rarities Unlimited, a reclusive manuscript appraiser with a passion for the past. Without warning, they are thrust together into the center of a lethal firestorm that rages between two worlds -- one long dead, yet living on in an ancient text, the other chillingly alive and fraught with peril. In the blink of an eye, Serena and Erik have become targets of an unseen and determined stalker as they get closer to shocking revelations about Serena's legacy, the cold murder of an eccentric old woman in the heat of the Mojave Desert...and just how far a remorseless killer is willing to go. And now their only slim hope of survival is to keep moving.

Black Hills


Nora Roberts - 2009
    But things are a bit more bearable now that he's discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn't as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop's annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker's body.As the seasons change and the years roll, Lil stays steadfast to her aspiration of becoming a wildlife biologist and protecting her family land, while Coop struggles with his father's demand that he attend law school and join the family firm. Twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most.Coop recently left his fast-paced life as an investigator in New York to take care for his aging grandparents and the ranch he has come to call home. Though the memory of his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something ... or someone ... has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks and acts of destruction escalate into the heartless killing of Lil's beloved cougar, recollections of an unsolved murder in these very hills have Coop springing to action to keep Lil safe.Lil and Coop both know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. Now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

Tall, Dark and Deadly


Lorie O'Clare - 2009
    Having traded in her big-city badge for life in the slow lane in Rockville, South Dakota, Grace and her daughter were hoping to make a fresh, clean start. But crime is at-large in small towns, too…and young women keep turning up brutally murdered. Before she knows it, Grace has got a serial murder case on her hands—and the infuriatingly seductive FBI agent Justin Reece by her side.Grace did not come to Rockville looking for romance. But she can't deny the chemistry between her and Justin—no matter how much she might want to. Meanwhile, things keep heating up as more women turn up dead, and a disturbing new pattern points to a killer who seems to be sending a message for Grace alone. But how could he know such secret, scandalous details about her life? Unless he happens to be someone from the past she would kill to forget…

Twice Burned


Jan Coffey - 2002
    Lea leaves the small town of Stonybrook and the painful memories behind, But Ted can't seem to escape the past. Marrying the pampered daughter of Stonybrook's leading family, he starts a new life -- until he discovers secrets that lead to the death of his wife and daughters. And to accusations of murder. Now, convicted and facing execution, Ted has given up hope.Then Lea receives anonymous letters proclaiming Ted's innocence. Determined to save her brother, she must return to a town that harbors a fierce desire to see Ted die...taking long-buried secrets with him. Desperate, Lea turns to Mick Conklin, a man she is deeply attracted to but cannot fully trust. She needs an ally, now more than ever. Because the fuse has been lit, and the bright fires of truth are about to blow Stonybrook wide open.

Coming Home


Mariah Stewart - 2010
    But after years in seclusion, his sister’s wedding draws him to St. Dennis, a peaceful town on the Chesapeake Bay. Though he swears he isn’t interested in finding love again, Grady can’t ignore the mutual sparks that fly when he meets Vanessa Keaton.Although her past was marked by bad choices, Vanessa has found that coming to St. Dennis is the best decision she’s ever made. Bling, her trendy boutique, is a success with tourists as well as with the townspeople. She’s made friends, has a home she loves, and has established a life for herself far from the nightmare she left behind. The last thing she’s looking for is romance, but the hot new man in town is hard to resist. And when Vanessa’s past catches up with her, Grady finds that he’s unwilling to let her become a victim again. As together they fight her demons, Grady and Vanessa discover that life still holds some surprises and that love doesn’t always have to hurt.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Mariah Stewart's Long Way Home.

Lost In Italy


Stacey Joy Netzel - 2011
    Her itinerary did not include being stranded by her siblings, kidnapped by a sexy American movie star, dodging bullets, or fleeing criminals in a car chase around Lake Como.And that's just in the first three hours....often go awry.Trent Tomlin put his movie career on hold to investigate his brother's murder-ruled-suicide at his Italian villa. He's closing in on the suspects when an American tourist unwittingly films the murder of the retired cop helping him. The killers will stop at nothing to get the evidence-including holding Halli's family as collateral.Life's a little different unscripted. Thrust into the role of real-life hero, Trent finds himself falling for the Plain Jane whose beauty blossoms with every challenge they face. But how can he keep the evidence from falling into the wrong hands and get justice for his brother and friend without betraying Halli and her family?