Book picks similar to
A Life Worth Living by Lorrie Kruse


contemporary-romance
romance
disabled-hero
disability

A Heart of Little Faith


Jennifer Wilck - 2011
    Devastated by her husband’s death three years ago, she’s in no hurry to fall in love again. Besides, trying to balance her career with motherhood leaves her little time for romance.With a wheelchair instead of a white horse, and a vow against falling in love again as his armor, Gideon Stone is the last person Lily expects to sweep her off her feet. But when a business agreement forces the two of them together, that is exactly what happens.As they navigate the minefield that fast represents their relationship, can either of them overcome the obstacles to find true happiness in each other’s arms? The answer is yes, but the bumps along the way demonstrate that neither of them can go it alone.

Cross Country Chaos


Lesli Richardson - 2009
    Her younger son, Denny, who uses a wheelchair because of spina bifida, wants to participate in sports like his big brother. Then Kelly learns about the Junior National Disability Games but they’re being held in Spokane, Washington, literally on the other end of the continent from their Florida home. She’s clueless about her next steps to help him fulfill his dreams to compete.Enter Mart Rawlings. The handsome, single athlete and coach also happens to use a wheelchair. He volunteers to help Denny qualify for Nationals, falling hard for Kelly in the process. Winning over Denny and his brother–and Kelly’s mom–is the easy part. Kelly’s past heartache because of her cheating ex left deep scars in her soul and fuels her reluctance to get romantically involved. She fears Denny will lose his coach should things head south between her and Mart.Besides, getting Denny qualified is only half the battle. Now Kelly must survive a grueling cross country drive with her sons and mother to get Denny to Spokane. But, more importantly, can she overcome her fears and take a chance on love with Mart?(This book was originally published through BookStrand. It has been heavily revised and expanded for re-release.)

The Boy Next Door


Annabelle Costa - 2012
    Since the day he moved in next door, he’s gone from the weird kid in a wheelchair to Tasha’s most trusted friend. But lives change and the friends are going in different directions. When Jason and Tasha rekindle their friendship, sparks fly. After years of being a wild soul, now the ex-lead of a band turned music teacher is just looking for a relationship to last.When none other than Jason introduces her to a man who can give her what she wants, Tasha is on the verge of throwing passion and love away just so she can forget her troubled past and settle down. But Jason isn’t ready to give her up just yet.

Cowboy Down


Vanessa Gray Bartal - 2011
    A former foster child with no job, no family, no home, and no prospects, her future couldn't be bleaker. And then she witnesses a murder. Now hunted by an assassin, she must enter witness protection, leave Chicago, and head to a location so remote it's not even on the map.Cade King has everything. Living on his family’s Montana ranch with three brothers, life is just about perfect until an accident alters the course of his life. Now, trapped in anger and helplessness, he resents his new situation almost as much as he resents the newcomer who can't seem to let him wallow in his misery. Why won't Layla take the hint and leave him alone? And more importantly, why doesn't she pity him like everyone else does? Thrown together by circumstance and bound by a connection they can’t comprehend, Layla and Cade begin to let down their defenses and learn to trust each other. As they lower their guards, they realize what they want most may be right in front of them. But the clock is ticking because somewhere a murderer won't stop until Layla is dead.

The Write Man for Her


Christie Walker Bos - 2007
    That's how Jessica Anne Singer has dealt with the loneliness since her divorce. Except for her squawky cockatiel, Merlin, Jessica hasn't had a date in years, but all that's about to end. Jessica's best friend, Cath, has decided that Jessica needs to meet her dreamy online professor, Brant Wilson. Creative writing professor Brant Wilson is intrigued by one of his online students, Jessica Singer. She seems more worldly than most of his students and has a penchant for arguing with him over just about everything, which he finds oddly enjoyable. But when she asks to meet with him in person to discuss her grades he immediately refuses. He never meets with his students face-to-face. Never. Undeterred, Cath hatches a harebrained plan to find the reclusive professor. When the plan actually works, Jessica uncovers the real reason the professor doesn't meet with his students. Stunned by her discovery, Jessica must decide if she'll listen to her head or her heart when it comes to determining if Professor Brant Wilson is the right man for her.

The Key


Victoria Darkins - 2014
    Jack is an eminent university lecturer in English Literature who suffers from quadriplegia after a spinal cord injury in his late teens. Having convinced himself that he was better off on his own he has closed the door on any romantic entanglements and instead directed all his energy into his work. Carrie is trying to unchain herself from a cruel, neglectful and guilt ridden childhood. She has earned a place on a degree course of her dreams but it comes at a costly price. Both are thrown together by Mary, a mutual friend and past social worker, who has hatched a plan to help Jack and Carrie with their predicaments. Carrie becomes Jack's live-in carer securing her with an income and unexpected benefits. Will it be too late from them to find out that they both hold the key to unleash each other from the chains that hold them to their past? A key that will unlock their hearts.

To Each Her Own


Molly Mirren - 2015
    But Jay feels disgusted by devotees—“freaks” who are attracted to people with disabilities—until he meets the enigmatic and beautiful devotee Erin Silver. Unfortunately, after Erin overhears Jay expressing his contempt for people like her, the disgust is mutual: She can't stand to be in the same room with him. Things get even more complicated when her brother, unaware of their brief but hostile acquaintance, installs Jay as Erin’s new housemate. Erin has long struggled with the guilt and self-loathing caused by her strange attraction to disabled men and just wants to be normal. The last thing she needs is a disabled (and, God help her, hot) roommate reminding her she’s defective. Once she gets to know him better, though, she begins to see Jay in a different light. Maybe he's not a complete jerk after all. But what will happen when, against her better judgment, she finally lets herself trust him—even love him—and finds out he's been deceiving her all along?

Come Lie with Me


Linda Howard - 1984
    So when a terrible accident robs him of his ability to walk, it also takes away all of his desire to live. Dione Kelly, a physical therapist, takes on his case and begins to heal this broken man and help him realize there is so much more to gain from living. While forcing Blake to face his inner demons, Dione begins to face her own fears. Together, the two of them gain a new respect for life—and a love that could last a lifetime!

Winning Ruby Heart


Jennifer Lohmann - 2014
    Falling in love with her now could end it. Yet watching her determination to return to the top, he can't resist the woman she has become. Working with Ruby to tell America her story, Micah falls deeper under her spell. But at a crucial moment, his feelings for her conflict with his job—the very thing that once saved him. Now he must choose between his skyrocketing career and the unlikely love of a good woman….

His Lady Godiva


L.C. Giroux - 2011
    Michael Dennison put broken bodies back together so no one would have to live like he did. As many obstacles as he had overcome, he never wanted to burden a woman with his disability. He was safer never to risk hisheart.His hands made her body whole. His touch woke her heart.Violet Bellows lived a guarded life. The crash had taken so much from her but she still had something to give. For her surgeon she would risk everything to make him hers, body and soul.Together they will discover facets of themselves they never dreamed of.This contemporary romance series travels across the US with stops in Boston, Las Vegas and the Southwest, Seattle, Chicago, and New York. With each new book you'll find characters that feel like friends and catch up with favorite characters lives.

Steal His Heart


Diane Darcy - 2013
    Not once in that entire time has she been caught by security personnel. Until today.Kent Whitaker is disgusted by the beautiful thief he’s caught red-handed, and even more disgusted by his attraction to her. While he won’t allow himself to become romantically involved with a thief, he can certainly help out a friend by curing his daughter of bad habits. They both fight their growing attraction, Kent because dishonesty is the one trait he cannot tolerate, and Daisy because Kent is directly interfering with her long-range career goals. But when an unskilled matchmaker tries his hand at getting them together, the unexpected happens to them both as Kent gets distracted and Daisy steals his heart!

100 Days of Sunlight


Abbie Emmons - 2019
    Terrified that her vision might never return, Tessa feels like she has nothing left to be happy about. But when her grandparents place an ad in the local newspaper looking for a typist to help Tessa continue writing and blogging, an unlikely answer knocks at their door: Weston Ludovico, a boy her age with bright eyes, an optimistic smile…and no legs.Knowing how angry and afraid Tessa is feeling, Weston thinks he can help her. But he has one condition — no one can tell Tessa about his disability. And because she can’t see him, she treats him with contempt: screaming at him to get out of her house and never come back. But for Weston, it’s the most amazing feeling: to be treated like a normal person, not just a sob story. So he comes back. Again and again and again.Tessa spurns Weston’s “obnoxious optimism”, convinced that he has no idea what she’s going through. But Weston knows exactly how she feels and reaches into her darkness to show her that there is more than one way to experience the world. As Tessa grows closer to Weston, she finds it harder and harder to imagine life without him — and Weston can’t imagine life without her. But he still hasn’t told her the truth, and when Tessa’s sight returns he’ll have to make the hardest decision of his life: vanish from Tessa’s world…or overcome his fear of being seen.100 Days of Sunlight is a poignant and heartfelt novel by author Abbie Emmons. If you like sweet contemporary romance and strong family themes then you’ll love this touching story of hope, healing, and getting back up when life knocks you down.

Community Service


Dakota Madison - 2013
    Her new lab partner, Sawyer Reed, is still the overconfident and sexy jock that made fun of her in high school. The only thing that has changed is that he now uses a wheelchair, the result of a skiing accident. Jude Marino is a hot actor, who all the girls want and would do anything to get. He works at a local theater where Maggie has been assigned to complete community services hours after rear-ending a police car. Both Sawyer and Jude want Maggie but only one of them will be able to capture her heart. This new adult romance contains mature language and content indented for adult readers (18+).

True Confessions


Rachel Gibson - 2001
    First, God did His best work when He created the Sawtooth Wilderness Area. Second, every sin known to heaven and earth -- from the hole in the ozone to alien abductions -- is all California's fault. This is the story of what happened when a Californian came to visit...L.A. based tabloid reporter Hope Spencer has come to Gospel hoping for inspiration. Well, she gets inspiration...Hope has never met anyone quite like the residents of Gospel. From the Dean sisters with their color-coordinated hair to the toilet-tossing sportsmen...to the murder victim whose body had been found in her house years before. She discovers that reality is stranger than fiction -- even tabloid fiction!And then there is local sheriff Dylan Taber. He is no made-up character from one of her stories. Dylan is all too real...and soon Hope is forced to face the awful truth -- she's been too long without a man. But once she gets wind of a Hollywood actress somehow mixed up Dylan's life, Hope realizes that if they are to have a future together, he has some true confessing to do.

The Last Single Girl


Bria Quinlan - 2012
    Last minute. Who doesn't already have plans on the busiest date night of the year.But, so far the best part of the search for a great date has been the cute café I found and the geeky-hot owner who keeps rescuing me from these crazy eLove.com dates. This should be easy-peasy. The internet is the home of all your hopes and needs, right?Spoiler Alert: it isn't.Between the bromance date and the crazed single dad who needs to hire a nanny and housekeeper, not get a date, I'm running out of options. If only a certain cutey didn't have a phone call with "sweetheart" every day.The weirder things get, the more I think just going solo is very I Am Woman, blah blah blah. Forget about the fact that my heart keeps bringing me back to a certain café even when I don't need to be there...I mean, my heart doesn't always get what it wants, does it?