Book picks similar to
A Hero Lies Within by Patrice Wilton


contemporary-romance
contemporary
doormat-heroine
cheater

Restoring Us: Complete Series


Fabiola Francisco - 2015
    All, except for her broken heart. Once upon a time Ava and Ethan were in love. Their relationship was perfect, and they both planned a future together, filled with promise and hope. It wasn’t until an unwelcomed event storms into their lives, tearing their plans and dreams away; leaving Ethan broken and Ava unable to recover. Two years later, fate crosses their paths once again but the shadow of their haunted past lingers. Ava has slowly rebuilt her life, finally finding some normalcy in it. On the other hand, Ethan has sorted to releasing his guilt and remorse in questionable ways, but his thoughts never strayed from the memories of Ava. Will they get a second chance to rewrite their story, or will the pain and rejection be too much for Ava to bear and furthermore forgive?

Have Mercy


N.E. Henderson - 2019
     It's hard to get over that kind of betrayal. It leaves a mark on the heart. A slow bleed that never goes away. She was my girl. We were supposed to be partners. She was going to be the mother of my children down the road. The only girl to warm my bed. She was my forever girl. Until she ran away. I thought she felt the same. But if she did she wouldn't have ditched me like I didn't matter. All the plans we made meant nothing to her. She disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Those cuts are the deepest. A gaping hole that can't be sealed. I could've stomached anything else—a meaningless one-night stand, drifting apart, vanishing love. But abandonment is a deadly strike that can't be forgotten. It sticks with you forever. Three months later she showed up, expecting me to welcome her back with open arms. Excuses, lies, not even her crying eyes could make me believe the manipulative bullshit coming out of her mouth. For months I felt like I was burning alive. She shattered my heart and stole my soul.  I moved on. Now, eighteen years later, a nightmare unfolds. Every detail makes my stomach churn. Lies come to the light. The truth is uncovered. And the people I thought I knew become strangers. The heartbreak I felt was only a scratch compared to the sliced open heart in my chest.  Winning her back seems like an impossible feat. She may never forgive me, because the thing about mercy—you have to give to receive. ***Have Mercy is a 107K word standalone, second chance love story.***

Why Not Me?


Ashley Erin - 2018
    All of her boxes are checked off.Sweet boyfriend? Check.Awesome job? Check.Great friends? Check.Life is going according to plan. That is until the man who broke her heart seven years ago comes crashing back into her life.Suddenly those checked boxes no longer seem important.Her once neat life is now in turmoil as she’s caught between a past love and a current one.A choice between two men. One is her best friend and partner for the past six years. The other makes her heart race, but he left her shattered.One is safe, secure.The other is a risk she doesn’t know if she’s willing to take . . . again.

Only Work, No Play


Cora Reilly - 2019
    Leaving the States and following her sister to Australia to work as the personal assistant of rugby star Xavier – The Beast – Stevens seems like the right kind of distraction. Tall, muscled and devilishly handsome, Xavier is the lov’ em and leav’ em kind of guy. He never forgets a girl’s name because he never bothers to remember it in the first place. Evie soon realizes that being Xavier’s assistant is a 24/7 job; the man seems unwilling to even set an alarm for himself. As she watches him move from one woman to the next, Evie is glad that her heart is safe from his attention. After all, she’s a far cry from the size zero models he usually takes to his bed. But soon being around Xavier doesn’t feel like a job, and seeing him walk around his apartment half naked all the time isn’t helping either. Evie knows that giving in to her attraction will lead to heartbreak, but when Xavier starts treating her as more than just his assistant, resisting his charms seems like an impossible task.

Hotshot


Ahren Sanders - 2016
    I don’t remember a time I didn’t love Crenshaw Bennett.I tried to deny it, but my feelings grew deeper.I thought he could never love me the way I love him.I was wrong—outrageously, deliriously, and beautifully wrong.One innocent kiss changes my life forever.Suddenly, Shaw is mine.Loyal, devoted, and the most loving man on this Earth.Together, we create an explosion of fiery passion, devotion, and chemistry I never knew was possible.All of my dreams are within reach, but I should have known it was too good to be true.The past always catches up to you, and I’m left staring at my worst nightmare.Faced with the unthinkable, I am forced to choose between the man I love and a past I cannot change.Shaw’s fighting like hell to prove we can have it all, but can I find the strength to be the woman he needs?

What Happens After


Portia Moore - 2015
     'We' never should have happened. Him and me... Our constantly crossing paths changed the unthinkable to the inevitable. It was magical, exhilarating, and life defining... despicable, and it ruined everything. It destroyed me. It destroyed us. He and I are what happened before. And everything else is what happened after… ~If you are turned off from themes dealing with infidelity this book is not for you. This book features flawed people that make imperfect decisions.~ ~This is a Stand Alone full-length novel that does not contain a cliffhanger.~

400 First Kisses


E.L. Todd - 2017
     He must have just moved in, even though I never saw the moving truck. He's just as arrogant as I remember, mowing the lawn without a shirt and grinning like an idiot. When he catches me staring at him through the window, he winks. So cocky. He flirts with me like he never broke my heart. And then he tells me something that I just can't believe. We're married.

Savage: A Second Chance at Love


Jordan Silver - 2016
    When he was seventeen, he lost the love of his life. More than twelve years later his family was murdered. Now Nick has grown tired of life and all the curve balls it's thrown his way. There's a madman on the loose eliminating drug dealers, the same dealers who murdered Nick's family, and the brass wants him to take him down. As a lieutenant, he's sworn to uphold the law but Nick no longer cares. There're only two things he gives a damn about, vengeance and reclaiming the love he'd lost, and nothing and no one is going to stand in his way. Not even the girl whose heart he'd broken those many years ago.

5 Years Later


Jaxson Kidman - 2017
    and there's a knock at the door. He's back, again. And this time he's not alone. * Full length standalone romance with guaranteed HEA and no cheating *

Positively Pricked


Sabrina Stark - 2018
    He was a prick. A jerk. A stone-cold ruthless bastard with no redeeming qualities whatsoever – well, except for his face. And his body. And yeah, maybe his massive fortune. But other than that, the guy had zero going for him. The only upside? He hated me as much as I hated him. Or so I thought… ***This new adult contemporary romance is a fun, full-length, complete standalone novel with a guaranteed happily ever after!***

Saving Grace


A.D. Justice - 2017
    Keeping those promises would be a challenge, no doubt. But all I had to do was uphold my end of the deal then walk away without a backward glance. Somewhere along the way, our charade became my reality. With each day that passes, I realize time is once again my enemy. I can’t lose her a second time. I’ll never walk away—she healed my soul. Saving Grace is now my only hope.

A Scandal, a Secret, a Baby


Sharon Kendrick - 2013
    One sinful night… Dante D’Arezzo is the last person famous songwriter Justina Perry wants to see at her best friend’s wedding. The wickedly sexy Italian is ruthless to the core. He broke her heart once; she won’t surrender to his insatiable desire again. But what Dante wants… One very big scandal! Justina’s pregnancy hits the front page and Dante knows he’s the father. He’ll make her pay for trying to keep his child from him. His Miss Independent is about to become completely dependent…on him! This Italian will claim his heir and – if he wants her – a wife!

Kissed by Reality


Carrie Aarons - 2016
    Falling in love on national television is impossible. Right?Leighton Aldridge did not sign up to meet her soulmate; she signed up for the lights, camera and action. So when the Hollywood-native ends up with the wounded war veteran and a ring on her finger, it's a surprise to everyone.What isn't a surprise is the way she breaks Finn Wyatt's heart, or the massively public breakup that follows.But a year later she's back, ready for another round on the reality TV show that brought them together. Her ex-fiance has no idea why she left, and the dark secrets she’s bringing as baggage might make him change his mind about her.She knows what they had was the real thing, and she's ready to fight for him, even if it means ultimate embarrassment and heartbreak.Finn is the new Mr. Right, the country's favorite single guy, and the object of 25 women's affections. But when his ex-fiance steps onto set and back into the limelight, he wishes he never agreed to another season.Leighton shattered his heart for the world to see, and he's not ready to face that reality. Or the fact that he can’t focus on anyone else when she’s in the room.Can Leighton convince him, and America, that she's the one? Or will her future with Finn only consist of fifteen more minutes of fame?

Rookie Mistake


Alice Ward - 2016
     I thought I'd achieved everything I ever wanted. Then I lost her... Standing on the pitcher’s mound for a professional baseball team has been my dream since I was a small boy. Now I’m here, pitching for the newest team in the league — the New York Beasts — with the woman I’ve loved since high school by my side. Calvin and Whitney forever! Wow, we made it. But there’s a downside to instant fame and fortune, a trap that unleashes self-control and morals. A gilded cage that separates us from the real world. This is the big city, the major leagues — the big time. And temptation is around every corner. People change. We changed. Neither for the better. I don't even recognize us anymore. Calvin and Whitney forever? I used to think so, but the beasts that had been hibernating in both of us have taken control, and now I’m not so sure. The dream has become a nightmare. Can we wake and find our way back to each other? NOTE: Although this is the first book in the series, it has an emotionally charged HEA you won’t soon forget, and No Cliffhanger. *** For a limited time only, to celebrate the new release week, this copy also includes The Billionaire Prisoner - The Complete Series Box Set as a FREE BONUS + More Exclusive FREE BONUSES ***

Beautiful Storm


Megan Isaacs - 2015
    Interviewing the notorious owner of ‘Ignition’ should have been simple. When asked to go home with him, I should’ve said ‘no.’ But Noah Hamilton’s tattooed, hard body and rugged features were impossible to resist. I wanted him to touch me. And I longed to be loved again. I craved the escape and was desperate to know him. Much like his lifestyle, our heated affair took off at warp speed, proving to be stronger than either of us anticipated. Trapped between my past and future, there was only one decision to make. So I ran… She was my downfall. From the moment Lizzie Ryder stepped into my shop, I wanted her. Had to have her. A reserved journalist with a body of sin and mesmerising eyes was all it took for me to fall. Hard. The night she let me touch her, taste her, I knew I was done for. I never deserved her, but needed to make her mine. She found the heart I never knew I had, brought it to life, and then crushed it to dust. And just like her storm-filled eyes, I drowned in the flood of her desertion. Reaching my breaking point, I struggled to forget the only woman I ever foolishly fell for and dove headfirst into my dark past, barely surviving her. And now she’s back. What happens when our weaknesses become our strengths? Do we reveal and fight…or keep our secrets and run? And can we withstand the devastation left after the Beautiful Storm?Due to sexual content, possible triggers, and excessive bad language reader discretion is advised. 18+