good contemporary romance books Audiobooks

Justice will be swirled by amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes in the first in Meri Allen's brand-new mystery series, The Rocky Road to Ruin ! Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut – land of dairy farms and covered bridges - for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley’s trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father’s cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother’s death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it’s always good to be home. But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they’ve inherited – the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on – and they’ve never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop’s mascot, Caroline’s snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?

When you grow up in Home, WA, the road always leads you to… well, home. I’m Bartlett Rough, and I’ve never left the mountain where I was raised with my six brothers and sisters. Cheesy as it may sound, Home really is where the heart is. But we’re all growing up, building cabins of our own, taking claim of our land. Things are changing. I feel that more than ever, when the winter winds sweep Abby into town. This wild, fierce beauty is everything I’m not. I own the hardware store, know everyone in this town by name, and am expected to settle down with someone local. Abby tumbled into town on a train, with nothing to her name, clutching her dog Hijinx, and holding onto her memory of Home from when she came through here years ago. I’ve played it safe my whole damn life. After one night with Abby, I have someone to fight for. A reason to risk it all. But falling for her has no guarantees -- she could leave as fast as she came, taking my heart along with her. Coming Home to the Mountain is a new filthy-sweet, high heat series by Frankie Love featuring rugged mountain men who fall hard, fast and forever. And with the women they love at their side, they choose to put family first. In this series, Dad shows up. Sister’s remember to call, big brother’s always look out for you, and Mom knows to keep an extra seat at the table for Sunday dinner. Not every family is perfect -- and the Rough family has its own set of problems -- but at the end of the day, they know what matters: Coming Home.

"What I want you to do, Isabella, is find out what his real name is..." Those were the words spoken to me when I sat down to learn about my final grade in college. They not only shocked me, but changed the trajectory of my life. Shadows Sampson has always been bigger than life on the campus of our college. Most of the time it seems as if he's older than the rest of us. Like he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. When I get close? I find out there's more to it than I ever bargained for. And when the truth comes out; against my will - I hope I can get the forgiveness I so desperately want. "You've gotta win this fight. We can't push rent back again..." Those words from my sister's mouth put an exclamation point on how bad our situation is. Especially after I lost the fight of my life. The one that was going to get us out of this apartment building, the one that was going to put us on a path we'd only dreamed about. But me? I'd lost the fight, my confidence, and the motivation for the life I'd always wanted. Until a baby I'd fathered was left at my doorstep, and a seriously hot girl from my college started paying attention to me. With that girl? I fall hard, only to find out I'm the subject of a story for her final grade. Turns out, that's my motivation. Quitting isn't an option. Not until my knuckles are bloody and not one person stands in the way of what I want.

Everyone has a secret. Mine is ruining my life … making me bitter, callous, cold. I’m Rye Rough -- the oldest of seven kids, with a family tree that built this town. I understand more than most that reputations matter. Which is why I keep my mouth shut -- and that secret? I’m not telling a soul. It’s clear it’s causing problems. Working as my dad’s right-hand man, I’m angrier than ever -- and hell, it’s messing with the family construction company. My father forces a deal: Go to the rural family cabin and don’t come back until I get my head on straight or I lose my place in the business. As if spending more time alone is going to solve anything. One day into my retreat – I find Prairie, a beautifully fragile woman who is lost, alone and in need of my tender loving care. Her life has been one of confinement and abuse. She needs me like I’ve never been needed before. My family doesn’t understand my love for her. My secret keeps me up at night. Something must give before it all breaks. One thing is sure – rough hands have been dealt for both Prairie and me … and for our love to survive we can’t fold. Coming Home to the Mountain is a new filthy-sweet, high heat series by Frankie Love featuring rugged mountain men who fall hard, fast and forever. And with the women they love at their side, they choose to put family first. In this series, Dad shows up, sisters remember to call, big brothers always look out for you, and Mom knows to keep an extra seat at the table for Sunday dinner. Not every family is perfect -- and the Rough family has its own set of problems -- but at the end of the day, they know what matters: Coming Home.

I'll stop at nothing to own her. I'm a collector of dolls. All kinds of dolls. So beautiful and sexy, they become my art. So perfect and flawless, my art galleries are flooded by the wealthy to gaze upon my possessions with envy. So fragile and delicate, I keep them tucked away for safety. The dark and torrid tales of Drayton's Dolls run rampant through the rich and famous, and all but a few are true. Normally I share my dolls for others to play with or watch on display. But not my special doll. No, not her. Ivy is the most precious doll of all. She's mine. All mine. *Scoundrels & Scotch is a dark billionaire romance. If you don't like a splash of shock, a dash of taboo, and a heavy dose of sex, then don't take a sip of this TOP SHELF cocktail.

Living in the small town of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, Claire Weatherly has come to admire the Amish for their wholesome, honest way of life. But she also knows that nothing is as simple as it seems—especially when murder disturbs the peace. Claire has always been game for a good puzzle, so when she hears that Mose Fisher has made one of his famous corn mazes, she can’t wait to walk the paths and test her skill. But she’ll have a much more serious puzzle to solve when, deep inside the maze, she discovers the body of Amish dairy farmer Harley Zook. It won’t be easy for Detective Jakob Fisher to investigate a murder on his own father’s farm—not after being shunned by the man for leaving the Amish community and becoming a cop. With Mose himself as a suspect, and old family secrets cropping up, it’s up to Claire to help catch the killer before she finds herself at a dead end.

At a party on a rival college campus, I drunkenly stumble into a bathroom just as a tall, muscular man steps out of the shower...naked. Instead of fleeing, I stay put and end up having the hottest bathroom hookup with someone whose name I don’t know. Because I’m still in the closet, I don’t talk about what happened that night, glad that it was with a guy who doesn’t live in the same town. But come Monday morning, the naked man from the bathroom strolls into the locker room and locks eyes with me. Dominic is new to campus and threatening my spot on the team, which makes me hate him. It’s too bad I loved everything he said and did to me the night we met, but I can’t let him get to me with his cocky smirks and filthy words. I have to focus on keeping my position and making sure nobody finds out about us. He’s arrogant where I’m modest. I’m docile where he’s domineering. We’re complete opposites, so it could never work, but being with him makes me want to break free from the chains that have kept me in the closet, because he’s also the firm hand to my wavering confidence and I’m the moth drawn to his flame.

“The grand master of the contemporary thriller.” —Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author When Kirk McGarvey investigates the mysterious death of his parents so many years ago, he uncovers long-buried secrets that put him head to head and mano a mano with . . . Vladimir Putin. After Mac calls Putin out, the Russian dictator decides he wants him dead. Battling Russian hit squads as well as enemies at home, McGarvey must fight like the devil to save the himself, his friends, and the US of A in this engrossing international thriller from David Hagberg.

Books saved my life after losing my parents as a teenager. Now as a librarian, sharing books with teens to get them through hard times is a privilege and joy. So imagine my surprise when I meet Prescott, a man who values the same things as me. He runs the teen outreach center and is giving his life to make the world a better a place. It’s like we’re a match made in heaven. After a whirlwind night where love is at the tip of both our tongues, I learn that maybe we aren’t the same after all… I wanted him to check me out on a long-term loan, but maybe it’s too good to be true. Maybe we better shelve this romance before both our hearts get broken. His Curvy Librarian is a new filthy-sweet series brought to you by Frankie Love and Kaylin Evans. It’s full of heat, heart, and literary innuendo. What’s sexier than a man who loves to read? How about a naked man who loves to read?

Lady Alice Chivers is done being controlled by her family. On the run from an arranged marriage, she needs a strong Highlander to escape. Only Philip MacGregor insists on sending her back to her pampered life, so she’ll just have to blackmail him instead. But now they find themselves in an accidental marriage, and soon they’re both playing a role that feels like it was meant to be real. Philip is cautious, in control, and in way over his head with his unexpected wife. She’s intense, spontaneous, and can’t follow an order to save her life. And he might be falling completely in love with her. However, her distractions endanger the lives of those he loves. Now he must somehow undo the damage that has been done, before his friends pay with their lives. Each book in the MacGregor Lairds series is STANDALONE: * How to Lose a Highlander * How to Ensnare a Highlander * How to Blackmail a Highlander * How to Forgive a Highlander