Top 30 Contemporary Romance Books -
Voted by You
"It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there…"
At Cozy Book Cafe, we have a passion for new books! Discover the top selections perfect for your book clubs.
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Contemporary romance novels are stories set in the present day that center around romantic connections between characters. They often dive into themes like love, personal development, and emotional struggles. These tales usually take place in familiar, everyday environments and tackle challenges that resonate with modern life, including work stress, family relationships, and how technology impacts romance.
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★ BOOK CLUB TOP PICK ★
1 - If You Don't Love Me We Both Die by C.M. Stunich
Megastar Tam Eyre has no idea what to do with the crumpled note thrown at his head: "If you don't love me, we both die."
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Bubble-tea-obsessed college girl Lakelynn Frost has 365 days to make the world's most famous pop star fall in love with her. If she can't do it, an old family curse will kill them both.
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It might be a problem since she can't get tickets to any of his sold-out concerts.
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Should Lake chase after him with only her grumbly brother Joules for company? Check items off her bucket list like Uncle Jack? Plan her own funeral like Aunt Clara?
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But Lake's a fighter. And this curse? It comes with magical meet-cutes.
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Our Review -
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This book takes you on an amazing journey from start to finish. The story of Lake and Tam, along with their family and friends, completely draws you in. Right from the first page, we were hooked and found ourselves rooting for their triumphs throughout the tale. It stirs up a mix of emotions, leading readers through both joyful highs and touching lows. The narrative beautifully reflects on life, reminding us that even amidst struggles and flaws, life is still wonderful, especially when shared with those we care about. This standalone contemporary romance wraps up with a satisfying happily ever after. As big fans of this author, we highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a captivating read.
2 - First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
Aiden Valentine has a secret: he’s fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore’s romance hotline, that’s a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.
Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life—or lack thereof—she begins to question if she’s as happy as she believed. Maybe a little more romance wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending…even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final decision between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.
3 - The Fault in Forever by Claudia Y. Burgoa
I fell in love with a boy who became my everything. Keane Stone was my first love. I thought I’d grow old with him. We had a future filled with promises, until one fateful night. One tragic accident, and just like that, he slipped into a coma.
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For years, I clung to hope; holding on to every 'what if.' But life doesn’t stand still. Eventually, I had to learn how to live again. Grief clung to me like a second skin when Haydn Wesford came into my life.
He’s a professional hockey goalie with a natural instinct to protect. He showed up just when I needed someone the most. Loving Haydn was like taking my first real breath in years. He made me laugh when I thought I’d forgotten how and made me believe in second chances.
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Just as Haydn and I were about to build a life of our own, everything came crashing down. Keane woke up. I can’t abandon him. Haydn, being the man he is, agrees to help bring Keane home and get him back on his feet. But as days turn into weeks, feelings I thought were buried begin to stir. I remember the promises Keane and I made, the future we dreamed up together. Now I’m standing at a crossroads—caught between the man who is my past and the one who would be my future. I’m torn in two. Two hearts. Two futures. And only one choice.
How do you let go of your first love when he’s standing right in front of you? How do you choose the man you need… without breaking the heart of the one you can’t seem to let go of?
The fault in forever is that sometimes love isn’t enough. And now, I have to decide who I am—and who I can’t live without—before I lose them both.
4 - A Yes or No Question by Lauren Monica
A story of love, found family, and self-discovery.
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With graduation looming, Susan’s next steps are all laid out: go to an Ivy League school, follow in her parents' footsteps, and continue living the life that’s expected of her, even if it isn’t what she wants.
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But her carefully planned future takes an unexpected turn when she meets three friends from the wrong side of town: a boy who grew up too quickly, a broken girl in need of saving, and a lonely boy who hides behind a sweet smile that Susan can’t get out of her head.
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A shocking event sets them on a path Susan never could have imagined, and she finds herself at a crossroads, having to answer a question that will change everything.
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Heartfelt, gripping, and brimming with raw emotion, A Yes or No Question is a poignant tale about the people who change us, the courage it takes to follow your heart, and the messy, beautiful ways we find ourselves along the way.
5 - All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles
Ridley Sawyer knows what it's like to miss someone, to feel like a piece of her vanished―because it happened to her the night her twin sister disappeared.
Now, Ridley channels that loss into hope, traveling the country covering cold cases for her true crime podcast. She might not have found justice for her sister but that doesn't stop her from finding it for others.
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Until Sheriff Colter Brooks gets in her way.
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Colt knows what it's like to have reporters descend on his town in the wake of a tragedy, and he's not about to let a fiery podcaster stir up trouble. It doesn't matter that her haunting blue eyes tell him there's more to Ridley's story or that he can't stop imagining what it would be like to touch her.
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But when Ridley's cold case turns hot and she's thrust into the crosshairs, Colt has no choice but to step in. Suddenly, Ridley's living at his house, drinking his whiskey, and stealing his dog's affections. But she's also proving that she's so much more than his first impression.
And as they get closer to the truth, the game they've been playing might just turn deadly…
6 - Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.
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The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.
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The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.
7 - Alone with You by Aly Martinez
Death had been chasing me my entire life. I survived the horrors of war, but it was the aftermath that truly destroyed me. People called me a recluse, but the only time I didn’t feel like I was suffocating was inside that house.
For my daughter, I kept some semblance of normalcy by implementing a rigid routine. Once a week, I forced myself to walk to the diner at the end of the block—a ritual I despised but relied on as my last anchor to the real world.
Until the day a “Closed” sign on the door shattered my fragile existence. Worse, the new owner was the most haunting ghost from my past.
It had been years since I’d laid eyes on Gwendolyn Pierce. She hated me—and rightly so. But when a film crew arrived in town to dig into my past, she became my only ally. With my secrets threatened, I leaned on Gwen, forging a connection neither of us could deny. But with a past as dark as ours, I feared it would eclipse any hope for a future.
I always said that when Death finally came for me, I would be ready, eager, and alone.
Always alone.
But for Gwen, maybe I could face the world again as long as it meant I could be alone—with her.
8 - From Air by Jewel E. Ann
When Jamie Andrews moves in with a house full of firefighters, things start heating up fast. Battling the wilderness of rural Montana, these guys are always charging into danger―for a living, for duty, for the rush―and since Jamie is a psychiatric nurse, they fascinate her analytic mind. She can’t help but fixate on Calvin, a grumpy, enigmatic smoke jumper ten years her senior. She makes playfully tormenting him her pet project, trying to get him to open up. It turns out he gives as good as he gets.
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When something smoldering between them sparks, they’ll have to keep it quiet, which makes Jamie start to wonder about Calvin’s secret, the one he won’t explain. She’ll learn more after life pulls them apart. But as she follows the truth like a trail of flame into the dark, will it lead her to hearth and home with Calvin…or will it all go up in a blaze?
9 - Catch the Sun by Jennifer Hartmann
At seven years old, Ella Sunbury and Max Manning were inseparable―until life scattered them in different directions, forcing Ella to abruptly leave town. A decade later, she returns for their senior year of high school, moving in across the street from her childhood best friend.
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But she's not the same girl Max once knew.
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She now lives in the shadow of her brother: a notorious felon on death row, convicted of a crime that shook the nation. Reeling from the fallout and shunned by her peers, all Ella wants is to fade into the background.
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Max has little room for distractions, juggling responsibilities for a disabled father and a distant twin brother. But Ella's return reignites something within him. He wants to be close to her again, to understand her…and to turn their friendship into more.
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But as their relationship blossoms, new tragedy strikes, and darkness threatens to tip their delicate balance. In order to find the light, they'll have to navigate the shadows.
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And to catch the sun…they must first endure the flames.
10 - Making Faces by Amy Harmon
Ambrose Young was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore
Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl.
This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.
11 - The Will by Kristen Ashley
Early in her life, Josephine Malone learned the hard way that there was only one person she could love and trust: her grandmother, Lydia Malone. Out of necessity, unconsciously and very successfully, Josephine donned a disguise to keep all others at bay. She led a globetrotting lifestyle on the fringes of the fashion and music elite, but she kept herself distant.
While Josephine was trotting the globe, retired boxer Jake Spear was living in the same small town as Lydia. There was nothing disguised about Jake. Including the fact he made a habit of making very bad decisions about who to give his love.
But for Josephine and Jake, there was one person who adored them. One person who knew how to lead them to happiness. And one person who was intent on doing it.
Even if she had to do it as her final wish on this earth.
12 - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .
Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.
Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.
13 - Whiskey Chaser by Lucy Score & Claire Kingsley
Raised by her three overbearing brothers, Scarlett is a hell-raising tomboy with a tool belt. A tornado stirring up trouble everywhere she goes. Her favorite pastimes? Drinking any man under the table and two-stepping. But she has zero interest in love. Scarlett's only being neighborly when she claims her sexy next-door neighbor as her new pet project.
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Devlin is a man at rock bottom. Marriage, political career, five-year plan to Washington, D.C. All destroyed with one well-placed jab. The golden boy is now the black sheep relegated to Bootleg Springs, a tiny West Virginia town with two claims to fame: 1. Moonshine and 2. The cold case disappearance of a teen girl.
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Devlin just wants to lick his wounds. But Scarlett has other ideas for his tongue... and the rest of him. She's determined to bring him back to life, even if getting him back on his feet means never seeing him again. But when an old mystery becomes new news, she'll need his help to survive the scandal.
14 - Fragile Sanctuary by Catherine Cowles
The scowl should've been my first clue to stay far away from Anson Hunt. The sexy smirk and the fact that he's my brother's best friend? Reasons two and three. Not to mention, he's the new contractor working on my house.
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He's everything I'm not: grumpy, rude, and more than a little attached to his solitude. It doesn't matter how many times I try to kill him with kindness; the man simply won't crack.
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Until he sees me shatter.
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Because when my world comes crashing down around me, Anson is the one catching me as I fall. And as so-called accidents start plaguing every part of my life, it's Anson who steps in to keep me safe.
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As he does, I can't help but feel a flicker of heat. And it only takes a single moment for that spark to ignite into flames, engulfing us both.
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But Anson's a man with secrets, and they have a price. When they're revealed, neither of us will make it out unscathed...
15 - Shattered Dreams by Natasha Madison
Montgavin Township will never be the same when one night changes the lives of six people. The course of their lives and the trajectory of the town sets them on a collision course for disaster.
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Charlie
It was supposed to be a regular day out. Three couples celebrating the last days of summer. When tragedy struck. I thought I was going to marry her. Instead, I was burying her. I blamed the world for my pain. I buried it all. I became a man I didn’t even recognize.
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Autumn
In a blink of an eye, everything changed. My best friend was gone, and I was responsible for it. I may not have been driving the truck, but I didn’t stop it. Escaping the town was the only thing I could do to survive the guilt. I thought I was strong enough to go back. I was wrong. One look from him and I knew I wasn’t welcome. But this is my home, and I wanted to come back.
One night turned into more. But at the end of the day, I know he’ll never love me.
Besides, we all have shattered dreams.
16 - Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score
Luke Garrison is a hometown hero, a member of the National Guard ready to deploy again. He's strong, sexy, broody. The last thing he's looking for is a woman to ruin his solitude. When the wildly beautiful Harper stumbles into his life, though, he realizes that she's the perfect decoy. A fake girlfriend to keep his family off his back until he's deployed.
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So what if kissing her sends his mind to wicked places? He can control himself. Can't he?
Harper was on her way to starting a new life… again. But something about Luke makes her want to settle down in this small town and make his house a home. When she's in his arms, she finally knows what it's like to feel safe. Protected.
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One night of sharing a bed turns into something much, much more… and soon Luke can't keep his mind off Harper's wide gray eyes or his hands off her luscious curves. He never thought he'd feel this way about a woman again. But he knows that he can't tell her the truth about his dark past. And she can't reveal what she's running from.
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At least this isn't a real relationship. It's only for a month. It's only pretend. Until it isn't…
17 - All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Aurora De La Torre, or Ora to her friends, knows moving back to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a place that was once home and is now full of bittersweet memories of her late mother, isn’t going to be easy. Starting your whole life over probably isn’t supposed to be.
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But after breaking up with her longtime, famous musician boyfriend, hiding out in a small town in the mountains might be the perfect remedy for a broken heart. And checking out her landlord who lives across the driveway just might cure it, too.
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Only Tobias Rhodes didn’t rent out the apartment to her, rather it was his teenage son, Amos. Fiercely protective of his family and distrusting of strangers, gruff and grumpy Rhodes initially keeps little miss sunshine Ora at a distance. But over days and weeks, long hikes and fireside chats, Aurora breaks down his walls and soon an unbreakable friendship blossoms into a once-in-a-lifetime love.
18 - Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...
19 - Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs.
But Sarah has begun to wonder . . . who is she without her other half?
When she decides to take on a project of her own, a fundraising gala in memory of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove to herself—and to everyone else—that she doesn’t need Caleb’s help to succeed. She’s still her mother’s daughter after all, independent and capable.
That is, until the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly steps in to save the day.
The rift that follows unearths a decade of grievances and doubts. Are they truly the same people they were when they got married at nineteen? Are they supposed to be?
In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.
What follows is a life-affirming comedy of errors as two nature-averse people fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots.
20 - The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski
Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone-including herself-when she decides to leave the only life she's ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish.
Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together -- or destroy them forever?
21 - Variation by Rebecca Yarros
Elite ballerina Allie Rousseau is no stranger to pressure. With her mother’s eyes always watching, perfection was expected, no matter the cost. But when an injury jeopardizes all she’s sacrificed for, Allie returns to her summer home to heal and recover. But the memories she’s tried to forget rush in and threaten to take her under.
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As a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Hudson Ellis knows that hesitation can mean the difference between life and death. He’s always prided himself on being in the right place at the right time, especially when it came to Allie Rousseau…until the night he left for basic. After the biggest regret of his life, the secrets he keeps mean he can never be with the one woman he wants more than his next breath.
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When Hudson’s niece shows up on Allie’s doorstep, desperate to find her birth mother, Allie finds herself in an unimaginable position. Allie and Hudson’s past and present might be endlessly complicated. The thread that tied them to each other all those years ago may have unraveled, but the truth could pull them back together, or drive them apart forever.
22 - The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy
Gigi Graham has exactly three goals: qualify for the women's national hockey team, win Olympic gold, and step out of her famous father's shadow. So far, so good, except for two little things. Fine–a little thing and a big, grumpy thing. She needs to improve her game behind the net, and she needs help from Luke Ryder.
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Ryder is six-foot five, built, opinionated, rude…and sexy as hell. But he's still the enemy.
Briar's new hockey co-captain has his reasons, though. The men's team just merged with a rival program, leaving Ryder with an angry roster where everyone hates one another's guts. To make matters worse, the summer coaching spot he's angling for with the legendary Garrett Graham is out of reach after he makes the worst possible first impression on his hero. So, really, this compromise with Gigi is win-win. He helps her make the national team, she puts in a good word with her dad.
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The only potential snag? This bone-deep, body-numbing, mind-spinning chemistry they're trying to ignore. It's a dangerous game they're playing, but the risks just might be worth it.
23 - On Dublin Street by Samantha Young
Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare . . .
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Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well - until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street, where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.
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Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he's determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.
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But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won't be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her . . . down to the very soul.
24 - Falling Like Stars by Emma Scott
In the dazzling world of Hollywood where fame and glamour reign supreme, award-winning megastar Zachary Butler longs for something more than red carpet events and paparazzi flashes. As he navigates fame and tries to extricate himself from his celebrity ex-fiancée, he discovers an unexpected spark with Rowan Walsh, a production assistant on his latest project.
Rowan, haunted by a devastating moment in her past, shields her heart behind walls of guilt, letting no one in. But Zachary's genuine affection and desire for a meaningful life begin to chip away at her defenses. As their connection deepens, Rowan must battle the self-destructive patterns that have held her back from embracing her passions and finding true love, while Zachary must reveal his own hidden scars—wounds he’s borne in silence for years—if he hopes to heal.
Can Zachary and Rowan confront their pasts to build a future together, or will the storms of scandal, tangled relationships, and the scrutiny of stardom ruin their hopes for a perfect Hollywood ending?
25 - Easy by Tammara Webber
When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a sophomore year breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.
Grief becomes nightmare when Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night.
But her attacker turns stalker, and Jacqueline has a choice to make: crumple in defeat or fight back. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to tell and who to trust is anything but easy.
26 - When We Had Forever by Shaylin Gandhi
Six months after her husband died in a car crash, Mina Drake is still mired in a haze of grief. Reminders of her years with Michael are everywhere, but beneath her heartache lies an even more painful emotion. It’s a guilty suspicion she can hardly admit to anyone, even herself—that her marriage was over long before Michael’s accident.
They were good together once, she’s sure of it, sharing a connection so deep that Mina can’t understand how it unraveled. That is, until a chance discovery in her husband’s office—and the reappearance of Michael’s estranged brother, Grayson, a notorious bad-boy photographer—awakens her to possible answers.
More shocking still is the pull Mina feels to tattooed, scarred Grayson, who’s nothing at all like the man she married. But as feelings stir to life again, so do secrets, changing everything she thought she knew about her marriage, and about the risks and rewards of loving with no limits…
27 - Wild for You by Kristen Proby
Remington Wild is a single dad of two adorable kids, and as the oldest son of the Wild family, has recently taken over the Wild River Ranch from his father. Life is crazy, and he’s finally willing to admit that he needs help, and the sooner the better. He has no idea that the beautiful woman he sees every day at Bitterroot Valley Coffee Co. is the woman who would show up for the job.
Erin Montgomery couldn’t get out of Seattle fast enough. It’s not that she doesn’t love her big, loud family, but living in the big city just wasn’t for her. The minute she stepped foot in Bitterroot Valley, she knew she was home. She loves the slower pace, the friendly people, and her job at the coffee shop. Even the smoking hot grumpy guy who stops in every afternoon can’t put a damper on how much she loves small town life!
Thanks to car trouble, and her stubbornness when it comes to using her trust fund, Erin needs a second job and applies for the position of a part-time nanny. She’s surprised to find that it’s Grumpy himself who answers the door at the ranch, but Erin quickly learns that she loves his kids and the ranch, and it’s a no-brainer to take the job. She just has to remind herself to resist the sexy rancher and keep it strictly professional.
Remington is attracted to his younger nanny, and finds himself falling headfirst in love with her. He and his kids have never been happier, and he knows she is the perfect addition to their family for as long as she’s willing to stay. Hopefully forever.
But when secrets are exposed, one of which endangers his children, will their love survive? Or will it tear them apart?
28 - Flawless by Elsie Silver
Rhett Eaton is the face of professional bull riding. The golden boy. Or at least he was until it all blew up in his face after a public brawl. Now his agent says he has to clean up his image, and sticks Rhett with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as "full-time supervision."
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But Rhett doesn't need a goddamn babysitter―especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk, and a mouth she can't stop running. A mouth he can't stop thinking about.
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And he quickly learns that Summer Hamilton isn't just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn't run―she pulls him closer, even when she shouldn't.
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She says this means nothing. Rhett says this means everything. She says there are boundaries they shouldn't cross. That Rhett's reputation can't take any more hits…and neither can her damaged heart.
Rhett says he's going to steal it anyway.
29 - I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill, but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!
Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.
What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents, she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.
30 - Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti
Daniella Daisy Maria wanted love. It’s all she hoped for when watching endless rom-coms every Friday night. What she hadn't hoped for was to find it in her childhood best friend Levi. It was the hand-trembling, heart-thumping kind of love that wasn't supposed to happen when you saw your best friend. But it all ended when he didn’t feel the same way and she vowed to never see him again.
Four years later and one night in a crowded bar in the West Village, there he was, just as perfect as ever. Maybe it was the lighting or the way his hair curled above his brow, but she couldn’t say no when he asked her to be his fake girlfriend for his sister’s wedding. Another chance at being his friend and mending her immature mistake? How was she supposed to say no?
The weight of possible rejection from her dream grad school quickly became the least of her problems. With old, resurfacing feelings at every staged, romantic interaction and stolen glance, she struggles to find confidence. She couldn't help but think that maybe she should’ve said no to protect her heart for a second time.