Book picks similar to
Looking Past by Katharine E. Smith


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Carolina Sunshower


Kat Spencer - 2012
    A girl from a small, rural North Carolina mountain community faces the challenges of growing up in a severely dysfunctional family.

With No Regrets


Julie N. Ford - 2015
    She suspects the transformation started long before she caught her husband and fellow garden club member doing the white-trash-two-step on her new Bernhardt sofa. Now free from the shackles of a loveless marriage, and with her children off to college, she’s finally able to go searching for the missing pieces of her heart.Finley’s best friend, Cathyanne, is already working hard to ensure that Finley finds true love this time around. But when Finley is unwittingly tossed into the arms of two men—their sexy trainer and her neighbor, a popular country star—Cathyanne fears finding the right guy will be more complicated than she ever could have imagined.For Finley, building a new life feels as impossible as flying a paper airplane to the moon. But maybe, just maybe, with the right help, she will find her whole heart—even if it’s in the very last place she thinks to look.

Duet in September


Gina Ardito - 2013
    Every day for thirty days, they intend to do one thing differently from their normal routine—with unique results. Nia, still bitter years after her mother left the family for a wealthy tourist, finds herself falling for vineyard owner, Aidan Coffield, the son of a wealthy Manhattan real estate tycoon. Meanwhile, Paige keeps knocking heads with her high school nemesis and now town police chief, Sam Dillon. Each day of this special September will provide Paige and Nia with new adventures, new self-awareness, and of course, enough love to last two lifetimes.

Going Once...


Deborah Raney - 2016
    An amicable deal is struck between the two young opposing bidders, but it will take time to pay off a loan. And as the months go by, the two discover they have secrets in common—secrets that just might change everythingOriginally published as "Going Once, Going Twice..." in A Kiss is Still a Kiss

Wind Chime Café


Sophie Moss - 2014
    Hearing rumors that a developer is about to build a five-star resort on the sleepy Chesapeake Bay island, she plans to transform the café into a premier upscale bistro. But Annie’s life is about to get a lot more complicated.Back on Heron Island for the first time in ten years, Navy SEAL Will Dozier has no intention of selling his grandparents’ property to a developer. As he works on renovating the house and trying to find another buyer, he’s forced to face a painful reality—that he’s secretly struggling with PTSD. Determined to hide his troubles from the rest of the islanders, Will decides that a fling with the new girl is the perfect way to help him “get his head straight.” The last thing Will expects is to fall in love…with his hometown and with Annie. But Will’s life and career are in San Diego with the SEALs. Can Annie’s love and the healing magic of the island be enough to convince him to stay?

Seven Days of Friday


Alex A. King - 2014
    They’re picking apart her sanity, one stitch at a time. She’s crawling along rock bottom when the arrival of a mysterious package opens a new door to a new country. A desperate Vivi dives headfirst into the quicksand that is Greece—her parents’ birthplace.But it’s a paradise far from perfect, and instead of the new beginning she covets, Vivi discovers trouble is determined to keep her in its pocket. Soon she’s fighting for her daughter’s life in a Greek hospital, clashing with her Greek relatives, and cobbling together an inadequate cage around her heart, lest she fall for an unavailable man.Before this story ends, somebody will be dead. And if some people are to be believed, this particular death is a good thing. A blessing, of sorts . . . .

Unexpected (Bittersweet Book 2)


Karen Lenfestey - 2017
    Sure, she loves fostering shelter dogs, but she never imagined herself as a mother. Anxious to be an aunt, her sister starts pressuring her to be someone she’s not. Her new friend wants her to stay fun and unencumbered. When Hope’s ex says he wants back in her life, she feels like it might be what’s best for her baby. Pulling away from her sister, Hope spends more time with her new friend and risks letting her ex break her heart all over again.

The Flower Seller


Ellie Holmes - 2016
    Jessie is a pearl diver. She had thought her husband William was a pearl diver too. But when William leaves her for a much younger woman, it’s not just Jessie’s heart that is broken, her ability to trust is shattered too. All Jessie wanted was a love she could believe in. Was that so much to ask? Loyalty it seems has gone out of fashion.Refusing to retire from the battlefield of life, Jessie resolves to put her heartache behind her. She doesn’t want to be that woman who was too scared to love again. There has to be another pearl diver out there; all she has to do is find him. When fate brings handsome flower seller Owen Phillips into her life, Jessie believes he may be the one but is her fragile trust about to be shattered all over again?

Full Circle


Mona Ingram - 2011
    Give up her child for adoption or leave town.New Cover April 2019Single and pregnant, Bella is given a choice. Give up her child for adoption or leave town.The choice was never in doubt. Bella moves across the country, settling in Santa Monica. Determined to make a life for herself and her child, she and her new friend Sophia sell children’s clothing at the Venice Beach market. When their creative designs are featured on television, their business takes off and they accept an offer from Rafael Vargas to expand their business. Bella fights her attraction to the handsome entrepreneur, but deep in her heart all she really wants is love.

Tales From The Crib


Jennifer Coburn - 2006
    She and her husband Jack have been trying to get pregnant for years throughout their rocky marriage. But before she can tell him the big news, Jack has something he needs to announce – he wants a divorce!Rather than split up, Lucy and Jack decide to live together as friends. This way, they can share expenses and parenting responsibilities. Co-parenting is a fine deal for Jack who is back in the dating scene by Lucy’s third trimester of pregnancy, but is a frustrating one for Lucy who has unfulfilled sexual fantasies about every man from restaurant delivery boys to puppeteers. Meanwhile, Lucy’s mother is taking over her life. The grand dame of Planet Earth, Anjoli frequently visits her daughter to share her own brand of maternal wisdom. As Anjoli leaves her Drama Queen bookstore to “help” Lucy with baby Adam, the new grandmother has an affair with baby’s pediatrician, hosts two weddings (including cousin Kimmy’s wedding to herself), and constantly frets about which kind of pie to serve guests. With a cast of family and friends from Lucy’s Jewish aunts to Junior League neighbor, Candace, Tales From the Crib is the story of how one baby can bring people together – so they can drive each other nuts!

Snow Kissed


Lisa Swallow - 2015
    Or the groom's brother and best man, Jamie. The wealthy, charming Jamie is everything Sadie tries to avoid. But the best man has a secret that will change everybody's Christmas.In the snow-kissed Cotswolds, will Sadie have a happy holiday after all?

For Always


Danielle Sibarium - 2011
    Such is the case for fourteen-year-old Stephanie Barrano, self-proclaimed misfit and death magnet. A freshman in high school, Stephanie is befriended by Jordan Brewer, a hot, in-demand senior, who pulls her from the outer circle of obscurity into the realm of acceptance. Jordan quickly works his way into Stephanie’s heart. He’s her everything. And the only person she trusts with the truth about her father’s death. But he won’t act on the strong feelings he has for her. Stephanie vows to wait for him, knowing in time she’ll win his heart. Two months before her eighteenth birthday, Jordan serves as an impromptu prom date. After sharing a magical evening, Jordan leaves Stephanie with the promise of a future together. Then tragedy strikes. Jordan not only shuts Stephanie out, he also blames her for what happened. Feeling broken and beaten, will she try one last time to get through to Jordan or will she lose him forever?

On the Winds of Change


Misty Griffin - 2015
    Life in post civil war Iowa was harsh, especially if you were Amish, but this was the only life Hannah Troyer had ever known. Not long after Hannah marries Benjamin Stoltz she and her husband agree to move to the untamed open plains of Kansas to help start a new community. In Kansas, Hannah is faced with dangers and hardships that are foreign to her. When she and one of her brothers are kidnapped by marauding Indians, Hannah is thrust into a nightmare that tests her strength and brings into question the love of those at the very core of her family circle. In the midst of this crisis, Hannah and her little brother discover an unlikely heroine. This heroine's acts of bravery and kindness will forever challenge everything Hannah has ever been taught.Books in this Series1. On the Winds of Change2. Forbidden Heritage

Diary of a Wildflower


Ruth White - 2013
    Emerging from a heartbreaking childhood, Lorelei leaves Starr Mountain. As a teenager in the roaring twenties, she is dazzled by the carefree world of flappers and bobbed hair, the Charleston and the IT girl, Prohibition, and the notorious speakeasies. Most important she finds men who are handsome, well-bred, well-educated, and reek of old money. As a mere wildflower, she doubts she can ever compete with the exotic orchids in this new world. But after a sad visit back home she comes to realize her own power, which will help her break the cycle of hopelessness among the women of her family.As a kid you loved Belle Prater's Boy. As a teen you loved Weeping Willow. Now, as an adult, you will love Diary of a Wildflower.

The Buggy List


Courtney Rice Gager - 2013
    They have a beautiful home, flourishing careers, and they’re finally ready to take the plunge into parenthood. Well, almost. Despite the endless prodding from family, friends, and even strangers, there still seems to be something holding the couple back from starting a family. Perhaps that’s why they decide to take the advice of Libby’s older sister and make a list of everything they want to do before they have a baby. Making their baby bucket list, or as they call it, “The Buggy List”, buys them just a little more time to be Drew and Libby, who sleep in until noon on Saturdays and eat Chinese takeout for dinner on the couch. Besides, it gives Libby the opportunity to pull straight-laced Drew out of his comfort zone and do something fun for once; like go undercover as singles to a speed dating event with their friend, Tom; or finally take the honeymoon they never had. Drew and Libby each write down five items that they must complete before having a baby. But what starts out as a little harmless fun quickly becomes more than this couple bargained for. When secrets, little white lies, and competing desires threaten to pull them apart for good, Libby and Drew must rediscover why they fell in love in the first place.