Book picks similar to
when Time stood still by K.S. Adkins


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romance
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Don't Be Afraid


C.A. Harms - 2018
     That one day when a few little words changed our entire lives forever… Don’t be Afraid, he said. Life can change so quickly. One moment you can be smiling and feeling as if you're walking on clouds and the next, everything you love, everything you treasure crumbles at your feet. I told him to fight, I told him I needed him. We needed him. But there are just some fights that can't be won… He was my angel then, and he’s still my angel now. In a way, I believe he’s still looking out for us, giving us a future. Sometimes it’s as if I can still feel his presence, guiding us and keeping us safe. So, I won’t be Afraid. I'll live. I’ll fight. It’s what he would have wanted. I’ll do it for him…

The Hard Truth About Sunshine


Sawyer Bennett - 2017
    Provocatively heart-breaking, audaciously irreverent and romantically fulfilling, The Hard Truth About Sunshine exposes just how very thin the line is between a full life and an empty existence. An angry, bitter amputee. An optimist losing her eyesight. A dying kid. A suicidal thief. Four people with nothing in common but their destination. Despite having narrowly escaped death’s clutches, Christopher Barlow is grateful for nothing. His capacity to love has been crushed. He hates everyone and everything, completely unable to see past the gray stain of misery that coats his perception of the world. It’s only after he involuntarily joins a band of depressed misfits who are struggling to overcome their own problems, does Christopher start to re-evaluate his lot in life. What could they possibly learn from one another? How could they possibly help each other to heal? And the question that Christopher asks himself over and over again… can he learn to love again? He’s about to find out as he embarks upon a cross country trip with a beautiful woman who is going blind, a boy with terminal cancer, and an abuse victim who can’t decide whether she wants to live or die. They will encounter adventure, thrills, loss and love. And within their travels they will learn the greatest lesson of all. The hard truth about sunshine… Warning: This book deals with some tough issues including suicide and sexual abuse.

Show Me the Way


A.L. Jackson - 2017
    Jackson . . . Rex Gunner. As bitter as he is beautiful. The owner of the largest construction company in Gingham Lakes has been burned one too many times.His wife leaving him to raise their daughter was the last blow this single dad could take.The only woman he'll let into his heart is his little girl. Rynna Dayne. As vulnerable as she is tempting.She ran from Gingham Lakes when she was seventeen. She swore to herself she would never return.Then her grandmother passed away and left her the deed to the diner that she once loved.When Rex meets his new neighbor, he knows he's in trouble.She's gorgeous and sweet and everything he can't trust.Until she becomes the one thing he can't resist. One kiss sends them tumbling toward ecstasy.But in a town this size, pasts are bound to collide.Caught in a web of lies, betrayal, and disloyalty, Rex must make a choice. Will he hide behind his walls or will he take the chance . . .

Taking Tessa


Aria Cole - 2016
    As a detective with the local PD, he fills his hours investigating criminals with little time left for much else. When a tip comes into the office about a possible kidnapping at a suspiciously familiar address, Cage is prepared to do whatever it takes to rescue the girl, but when he lays eyes on sweet, innocent Tessa, a firestorm knocks him off his feet. She needs him, and he damn sure wants her–for now, for life, forever. Nineteen-year-old Tessa Talbot hasn't seen the outside world in two years. Her stepfather keeps her under his thumb after the tragic death of her mother, convinced she'll only succumb to all the sins the world has to offer. He's kept her wildly untouched, and after years of sheltered homeschooling, she's doubtful her life will ever look any different. That is until one tall, dark, and devilishly handsome detective knocks on her door. Scared to let him in, even more afraid to turn him away, Tessa makes the decision of her life and decides to trust the man she's only just met and leave the only world she's ever known behind. She's just praying the past won't return to haunt her, he's just praying he can save her when it does. Warning: Cage is a rough and growly alpha male with a fierce loyalty for the woman he loves. This story is a wild, twisty ride coated in sugary, Aria Cole sweetness with a sinfully delicious dollop of sexy times drizzled on top. Snuggle in and get swept away with Cage while he's taking Tessa!

Blackburn


Brynne Asher - 2018
     I’m her boss’s boss. Hell, I own the company. Pursuing Lillian Burkette was a line I shouldn’t cross. Until a work trip from hell changed everything. I didn’t just step over the line. I annihilated the damn thing.   When it comes to her, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do.  I’d even kill for her. When they say the corporate world is a jungle … they have no idea.

The Wrong Heart


Jennifer Hartmann - 2021
    I shouldn't be contacting the recipient of my husband's heart. I don't even expect him to reply...But there's a desperate, twisted part of me that hopes he will.No names.No personal details.Just a conversation.The only thing I have left of my husband is inside him.***'The Wrong Heart' is an angst-filled contemporary romance standalone. This book deals with heavy themes, such as loss of a loved one and self-harm/suicide.

Grudge Match


Jessica Gadziala - 2017
    And for the first time, he couldn’t convince himself to walk away, to mind his own business.Even after she was getting the care she needed, he couldn’t seem to make himself stay away. But keeping her close meant he would eventually have to let her in, would have to offer over the horrors of his past, and hope she could accept them.But even if she would embrace his past, could she accept his plan to exact brutal, bloody vengeance against the man who hurt her?

A Lover's Lament


K.L. Grayson - 2015
    I hoped in writing it I’d find some peace from the nightmare I was living, some solace in my anger.I didn’t expect him to write back. I wasn’t prepared for his words, and I certainly wasn’t ready for the impact this soldier would have on my life. A deep-rooted hate transformed into friendship, and then molded into a love like I’d never known before.Sergeant Devin Ulysses Clay did what I couldn’t: he put the shattered pieces of my heart back together, restoring my faith in humanity and teaching me how to live again.But now that I’m whole, I have a decision to make. Do I return to my life as I knew it and the fiancé I left behind, or do I walk away from it all for the only man to ever break my heart?***I’ve been living in hell, but you won’t hear me complain.These men depend on me, as I do them, and this brotherhood is the only family I’ve ever known.The Army saved me from a callous mother and a life on the wrong side of the tracks that was quickly spiraling out of control. So unlike most of the men in my platoon, going home wasn’t something I longed for.I was content overseas, spending my days defending this country that gave me my life back. Fighting became my new normal … until her.A letter from Katie Devora—a letter that I almost didn’t open. Her words put a fire back inside of me that I didn’t know I’d lost. She gave me hope during a time when I was fighting every day just to stay alive, and now it’s time I fight for her.

Bourbon Blues


Bijou Hunter - 2016
    My father is the president of the Serrated Brotherhood MC. My mother is a member of local royalty.More than my good name, I have the looks, money, and power to entice any woman to slide my Harley between her legs and take a ride. I expect the same response from Daisy when I make my move.Let's just say things didn't go well.For months, I assume Daisy will run back to me. Too bad she hates exercise and her ego refuses to let her grovel.Frustrated with waiting, my heart demands I claim the quirky virgin. Daisy can hem and haw, play cold with my heart, and even try reasoning with me, but nothing will prevent her from becoming my Bourbon Babe.Bourbon Blues is a standalone romance within the Serrated Brotherhood MC trilogy.***Warning: This novel contains scenes of a sexual nature, violent themes, and coarse language. It is intended for mature readers.***

The Hookup


Kristen Ashley - 2017
    She’s definitely not prepared to engage in her very first hookup with him.Then Izzy wakes up the next morning in Johnny Gamble’s bed and good girl Izzy finds she likes being bad for Johnny.Even so, Izzy feels Johnny holding her at arm’s length. But Johnny makes it clear he wants more and Izzy already knows she wants as much of hot-in-bed, sweet-out-of-it Johnny Gamble.Floating on air thinking this is going somewhere, Izzy quickly learns why Johnny holds distant.He’s in love with someone else. Someone who left him and did it leaving him broken. Whoever was up next would be runner up, second best. Knowing the stakes, Izzy will take what she can get from the gentleman that’s Johnny Gamble. And even knowing his heart might never mend, Johnny can’t seem to stay away from Izzy.Until out of nowhere, his lost love comes back to town. He’s not going back, but Johnny still knows the right thing to do is let Izzy go.And Izzy knew the stakes, so she makes it easy and slips through his fingers.But that’s before Johnny realizes Eliza moved to town to escape danger that’s been swirling around her.And that’s why Johnny decides to wade in.That and the fact Eliza Forrester makes breakfast with a canary singing on her shoulder and fills out tight dresses in a way Johnny Gamble cannot get out of his head.

Sugar Baby Beautiful


J.J. McAvoy - 2015
    Her present is detached and dull. And her future? Well, before meeting Theodore Darcy, the famed film director, writer, producer and CEO of Darcy Entertainment, she would have expected more of the same. Love is just a fantasy and she wants no part of it—even if she can’t deny the undeniable attraction between the two of them.So their arrangement is simple: sex with no strings attached.But as their intimacy becomes more powerful, so do Felicity’s demons. Can Theo really shoulder her past and his own? And could Felicity even let him?

More Than This


Jay McLean - 2013
    So when betrayal and tragedy come in quick succession, Mikayla is completely destroyed. Suddenly, everything she loved and everyone she relied on are tragically, irrevocably gone.Jake, a handsome boy she just met, happens to witness her loss. With no one to turn to, Mikayla is forced to depend on this near stranger and his family, and he in turn is determined to take care of her. But Mikayla—thrust into adulthood with no one to guide her—is desperate to contain her grief and hide what she considers to be her weakness. Mikayla and Jake both want more, but despite their growing closeness and intense chemistry, she tries to keep her distance and protect her heart. As he does everything in his power to win her trust, Mikayla must choose between remaining alone and safe or letting love in.

Broken


Elizabeth Kelly - 2016
    Rejected by both his family and strangers for the way he looks, he’s grown accustomed to his lonely life. His life is changed forever when Stella, the redheaded beauty he harbors a secret crush on, befriends him.Photographer, Stella Johnson, is fascinated by the quiet man with the unconventional looks. Her sweet nature and her ability to see Ford for who he really is slowly breaks down the walls he’s built around his heart. Their friendship soon blossoms into love.But when Ford’s insecurities and a dark secret from his past threaten their relationship, Stella must convince him that their love for each other is the only thing that matters.Author’s Note: This book contains explicit and steamy sex scenes that may not be your cup of tea. It is intended for mature readers only.

Mouth to Mouth


Erin McCarthy - 2005
    Police detective Russ Evans gets more than he had bargained for when he is assigned to watch gorgeous coffee shop owner Laurel Wilkins, supposedly the latest target of con man Trevor Dean, in a sensuous and witty novel of mistaken identity and romance.

A Different Blue


Amy Harmon - 2013
    She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing. This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.