Book picks similar to
Ruffles & Beaus by Carina Adams


arc
contemporary-romance
romance
standalone

The Friend Zone


Abby Jimenez - 2019
    She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children. Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length. The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

Forever Right Now


Emma Scott - 2017
    After a stint in jail for drug possession, she is finally clean and ready to start over. Yet another failed relationship is just the motivation she needs to move from New York to San Francisco with the hopes of resurrecting her dance career and discovering that she is more than the sum of her rap sheet. As Darlene struggles in her new city, the last thing she wants is to become entangled with her handsome—but cranky—neighbor and his adorable little girl... Sawyer Haas is weeks away from finishing law school, but exhaustion, dwindling finances, and the pressure to provide for himself and his daughter, Olivia, are wearing him down. A federal clerkship--a job he desperately needs--awaits him after graduation, but only if he passes the Bar Exam. Sawyer doesn’t have the time or patience for the capricious—if beautiful—dancer who moves into the apartment above his. But Darlene’s easy laugh and cheerful spirit seep into the cracks of his hardened heart, and slowly break down the walls he’s resurrected to keep from being betrayed ever again. When the parents of Olivia’s absentee mother come to fight for custody, Sawyer could lose everything. To have any chance at happiness, he must trust Darlene, the woman who has somehow found her way past his brittle barbs, and Darlene must decide how much of her own bruised heart she is willing to give to Sawyer and Olivia, especially when the ghosts of her troubled past refuse to stay buried.

Caught


Erika Ashby - 2015
    He kinda owns my heart.Who am I kidding?He owns all of me--but he's completely oblivious to it.And I can't tell him.Because there's this girl.And even though he's my best friend, she is too.Then there's me...CAUGHT between what feels so right, yet is so wrong.

Say the Word


Julie Johnson - 2014
    When their paths cross again unexpectedly in New York City, Lux does her best to feign indifference toward her first love. But the harder she tries to hold Sebastian at arm’s length, the more determined he becomes to uncover the secrets she’s been keeping about their past… and the true reason she broke his heart seven years earlier.She’s as much in love with him as ever; he’s just as furious at her for leaving. But beneath the anger, forbidden attraction still simmers… and it’s only a matter of time before it boils over. When the past is finally unearthed, the monsters Lux spent seven years running from will finally catch up to her. And nothing – not even her love for Sebastian – will be enough to save her… **SAY THE WORD is a steamy, suspenseful standalone contemporary romance for fans of action and angst. Due to sexual situations, adult language, violence, and thematic elements, it is intended for readers ages 16 and up.**

I Dare You


Shantel Tessier - 2018
     Austin Lowes is new to town. She's running from a mom who hates her to her dad who cares nothing about her. Only a few months and she will be free, or at least, that's what she hopes ... until she meets him. Cole Reynolds is the devil disguised as a man. He wants her fear, he wants her blood, and he wants her soul. Just a little game, he says, I dare you. Will Austin survive him, or will she lose herself and the game? Secrets are revealed and justice will be served, but at what cost? Who survives and who doesn't?

It's Complicated


Missy Johnson - 2017
     Nick Jenson is my neighbor. My hot, oh-so-sexy, very-well-equipped neighbor that I’d spend hours watching from the safety of my bedroom window. I saw lots of things I probably shouldn’t have. Sometimes I’d touch myself, imagining it were his hands roaming over my body instead of my own. I had just one mission—to find out if the rumors were true. Then one day, he caught me watching him. I was mortified. I was prepared to quit college, move to another country, and live the rest of my life saying, “Nick who?” But, apparently, life had other ideas. Because Nick? Well, he isn’t just my neighbor … He’s also my father’s best friend. If I thought things were difficult before, they were about to get a whole lot more complicated. Oh, and those rumors? Holy fuck, were they true … **Awkward Love is a series of short, sexy, fun novels that can be read in ANY order. Each book is COMPLETELY seperate from the next, so you can read one, or you can read them all.**

Trust


Kylie Scott - 2017
    Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.

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.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand


Christina Lauren - 2018
    A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.

The Revenge Plan


Linda Kage - 2019
    But he took his retaliation too far, and I have officially had enough. No more Miss Nice Haven. No one is allowed to lie to me, betray, embarrass, and devastate me, fill me with self-doubt, or put my future at risk, and expect to get away with it. He is going to feel my wrath.Enter Wick Webster, his archenemy. Nothing would provoke my ex more than to see me moving on with the one guy he hates most, so that’s exactly what I plan to do. The only hitch in my brilliant scheme is Wick himself. He’s just gotta be all love-not-war and peace-is-the-only-way. He’s more concerned about helping me heal than seeking my sweet revenge. And what the hell is it about his soothing presence and yummy looks that calls to me until I forget how much pain I’m in? He’s making it awfully hard to use and abuse him for my malicious means. The damn guy is making me fall for him.

Cupids Anonymous


Lila Monroe - 2019
    Now fall in love with her brand new sizzling standalone - perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Christina Lauren!Poppy Hathaway is a professional Cyrano - minus the honking great nose. Need a love note, raunchy sext, or apology letter so epic that your other half will forget you hesitated a beat too long when you asked, 'does this make me look fat?'? She's got you covered. But when her most frequent client, the annoyingly charming (or is that charmingly annoying?) Dylan Griffin comes to her with an unconventional new job, Poppy discovers that three little words can add up to one big complication. Because Dylan doesn't want help seducing another swimsuit model (for once in his life). He wants Poppy's help winning over her his high-school crush (aka, his one true love) - and he's prepared to make it worth her while. Throw in a summer Catskills trip that's equal parts 'Dirty Dancing' and dirty-talking, and this Cupid is soon out of her depth - and head over heels with the last man she expected. But can she find the right words when it comes to her own heart? Or will this happily ever end in disaster?

Holding Out for You


Anna Paige - 2020
    He was my friend, my ally, my protector all my life. Everyone loved him, looked up to him almost as much as me.My big brother’s best friend, though?He was my nemesis, my tormentor, my least favorite person on earth. Ashton Hunter was a complete jerk.And yet, like my brother, everyone loved him. Not me, though. No way. Not after a lifetime of his snide comments and not-so-subtle jabs. Years of treating me like the bratty little sister he barely tolerated. But I refused to let him deter me from seeing my brother.I’d just have to ignore him. Like I always had. Or—more accurately—like I always pretended to. I was used to pretending when it came to Ash.But some feelings refuse to stay hidden forever. ***My best friend was better than all the other friends on earth. Hands down. My partner in crime, my ride or die, my brother in every way that counted. His little sister, though?She was an entirely different story.Blair Martell was…complicated. Where her brother acted like she was made of glass, I tried to make her shatter. When others bowed to her wishes, I challenged every word out of her pouty little mouth. She wasn’t meant to be on some pedestal. And I made sure she knew it. Maybe she hated me for the way I treated her, But I knew exactly what she needed.Even when she didn’t know.And after so many years of biding my time, I was finally going to be the man to give it to her.

Be My December


Rachel Brookes - 2014
    December 16th, a cold winter’s night, four years ago. The night my innocence was stolen, the night I made the mistake of saying no—a mistake I’d never make again. The dream of a ‘happily ever after' was now a locked away myth. I promised myself that I’d never return to the place of my worst nightmare, that I’d never let anyone get close, but then again, I never thought I’d meet someone like him. The intense, confident and beautiful Ky Crawford.I had no plans to become someone’s Prince Charming. I couldn’t be. I refused to be. My plan was simple—do whatever it takes to correct my biggest mistake, my one regret that now controlled my life. I was on track. I had plans, but then everything changed when I saw her—the girl in the red jacket, the girl who I was told couldn’t say no. The reserved yet stunning Eden Rivers.A girl who can’t say no.A guy who craves redemption.A chance encounter? It all comes down to this.One question.One month.Be My December?

Mr. Man Candy


Alessandra Hart - 2018
    Visit a tropical island, meet a rich, handsome player and root for the bad boy in Alessandra Hart's newest standalone romance novel. Going to a destination wedding should be fun, right? Not when there's a +1 on the invite, and you're painfully single. I don't want to face my family without a date, so I've told them all about my gorgeous, charming, all-around-amazing boyfriend. The only problem? He doesn't exist. In walks Nate Scott. Playboy. Loaded. Handsome. Bad news. He's also my only option, and surprisingly, he agrees to be my fake boyfriend during the wedding festivities. Neither of us know what we're really getting into with this game of pretend, though. We started off as enemies, but suddenly, I don't hate his guts. Suddenly, his smirk is more dangerous than annoying... and suddenly, my fake feelings have turned very real. So maybe he's not just man candy after all. The island weather isn't the only thing heating up, because I might just be falling for my very fake, very handsome and very off-limits boyfriend...

Speak From The Heart


L.B. Dunbar - 2013
    Back at her grandmother’s summer home, she’s only in Elk Lake City for a visit which can’t end soon enough. Especially when she can’t seem to get away from one grumpy repairman who shows up everywhere. Fortunately for him, his daughter is sweet even if she refuses to speak.Jess Carter is a hometown favorite and a hot single father. Sworn off love for several reasons, foremost is the silence of his daughter. His little one has a secret and he doesn’t know the why behind it. Unfortunately for him, his six-year-old has taken a liking to the beautiful new woman in town visiting her nana. And everywhere he goes, there she is, invading his space and his heart.While silence might be golden, the voice in lonely hearts refuses to remain quiet.** PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED in 2014 as Sound Advice, Sensations Collection 1.