There are so many books I love, I just don’t know where to begin! The books I mention here a just a few of the books I truly adore. Whenever I’m in a bookfunk, I just re-read anyone of these books and I’m good to go. Are all of these books 5 star reads? No, they’re not.. But for some reason I just keep re-reading them.
The Will ~ 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.
Athica Lane ~ Brynne Asher
Cam Montgomery is a single full time dad who knows his priorities: his kids, his job, his team, his side business. Dealing with his disaster of an ex-wife is bad enough, not to mention delinquent football players and a meddlesome mother. Cam doesn’t have the luxury of time for anything more, especially a relationship. Even if it is sassy-wiseass Paige Carpino, who can still be sweet, but at every turn knocks him on his ass with the unexpected.
That’s figuratively speaking of course. Paige might come in a small package, but she makes up for it in spirit. An energetic spit-fire who has some heat to her sauce, she’s dedicated to her new business ventures, her family and a select group of friends. She’s never put herself out there, but then again, there’s never been anyone worthy of putting herself out there for.
Until one day in a burger joint, an asshole practically enters her into a wet t-shirt contest with his drink. Who knew a wet t-shirt could be the beginning of your life. Or more importantly, that asshole would be your reason for being. But anything and all of the above can happen when you finally put yourself out there for a single-dad-ex-football-player-smarty-pants-hot-man. When you throw the Carpino’s, the Montgomery’s and an eighty-five year old bossy woman in the mix, it’s a recipe for…well…something big.
Warning: This book contains a hot dad, a sassy heroine, steamy parts and naughty words. If you’re under the age of 18, this author is frowning at you with her mama eyes telling you to walk away.
Archer’s Voice ~ Mia Sheridan
When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.
Archer’s Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.
Until Lilly ~ Aurora Rose Reynolds
When Cash Mayson was forced to choose between the love of his life and his unborn child, he knew exactly what he had to do. No matter how broken it left him.
When Lilly Donovan was forced to accept that the guy she loved wasn’t who she thought he was and became a single mother, she knew exactly what she had to do. Proving just how strong she was.
What happens when years later you find out that everything you thought you knew was a lie?
Can two people who once loved each other overcome the obstacles that are thrown at them and fall in love all over again?
Cash Mayson had forgotten how it felt to be loved Until Lilly came back into his life. And now that he remembers, he will do everything within his power to keep not only the woman that he loves, but also his children.
The power of love is a beautiful thing.
One ~ E.S. Carter
One click.
One perfect frame.
That’s all it takes to capture an eternal moment; although most people let them pass by without acknowledgement.
I don’t waste any.
Not a single one.
If I see something of beauty, I want to experience it, feel it and immortalise it.
If I see someone of beauty, I want to taste them, worship them and memorise them.
I don’t have a type, if I like you, I like you.
I don’t have a preference.
My bisexuality is a gift, not a defect.
It’s the freedom to see beyond gender.
One blink.
One touch.
One night.
Life is filled with so many ones.
One chance to get things right.
One life to live as you choose.
One decision that gives you acceptance.
One person to fill the emptiness.
Just one?
Nah, like I said, life is full of ones.
My camera lets me focus on the good times; I develop from life’s negatives, and if things don’t work out, I just take another shot.
Who needs just one?
Undeniable ~ Madeline Sheehan![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000448_00034]](https://www.mariekesbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/16112098-193x300.jpg)
Warning: This is not a “typical love story”. This is an all-consuming, soul-crushing, tear-your-heart-into-pieces story. It’s intense, gritty and raw, dark and disturbing, and it doesn’t happen overnight. This is an epic love story that knows no boundaries and has no time limits. It grows and develops—with hurt, sacrifice, and heartache—over the span of a lifetime.
Eva Fox is the princess of the Silver Demons Motorcycle Club. Growing up with bikers in the club lifestyle is all that she knows. When she’s a young girl, Eva meets the reason for her existence. Deuce West is the sexy, biker bad-ass of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. Like Eva, he was born and raised in the club—but that’s where the similarities end. Their first meeting is innocent, but as Eva matures into a woman, their chance reunions evolve into a fit of lust and love. Fate continues to bring them together time and time again, but their twisted journey is filled with pain, betrayal, and bloodshed that could tear them apart. Eva sees in Deuce what he cannot see in himself—a man worthy of love—and Eva spends her lifetime proving to him that her undeniable love is the one thing he can’t live without.
This is Eva and Deuce’s story.
It wasn’t easy.
Nothing worth doing ever is.
And love is worth everything.
Love Unscripted ~ Tina Reber 
An A-List Movie Star. . .
Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine a life where fans would chase him, paparazzi would stalk him, and Hollywood studios would want to own him. While filming in Seaport, Rhode Island, Ryan ducks into a neighborhood bar for a quick escape from legions of screaming fans . . . and finds much more than he expected.
A Small-Town Girl. . .
Nursing a recent heartbreak, Taryn Mitchell believes men are best kept at a safe distance. But when Ryan Christensen unexpectedly bursts through the front door of her pub, she can’t help but be drawn in by his humor, charm, and undeniable good looks. At six foot two, with dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and an incredible body, Ryan has every girl in Seaport swooning. But Taryn isn’t every other girl.
A Relationship That Doesn’t Follow the Script. . .
Despite her better judgment, Taryn soon finds herself falling hard for Ryan. But is their bond strong enough to survive the tabloid headlines, the relentless paparazzi, and the jealous fans who seem determined to tear them apart?
A Thousand Boy Kisses ~ Tillie Cole
One kiss lasts a moment.
But a thousand kisses can last a lifetime.
One boy.
One girl.
A bond that is forged in an instant and cherished for a decade.
A bond that neither time nor distance can break.
A bond that will last forever.
Or so they believe.
When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation?
Rune’s heart was broken three years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come.
Standalone Young Adult Tearjerker Romance.
Three Wishes ~ Kristen Ashley
When Lily Jacobs was born, she inherited Fazire – a genie. Her family had three wishes and they’d only ever used one so Fazire was stuck in the human world. This worked since he’d become a member of the family anyway.
Even with a genie, Lily’s young life wasn’t perfect. To escape the kids making her miserable at school, Lily buried herself in romance novels. One day, when the teasing was just too much, she used one of her wishes. She told Fazire she wanted to find a man like in her books and she made the most complicated wish Fazire had ever heard. Her wished-for man had to be impossibly handsome, virile, fierce, rugged and ruthless (amongst a dozen other things).
He also had to think she was beautiful and he had to love her more than anything in the world.
Nathaniel McAllister wasn’t born to a life where there were such things as genies granting wishes. His life was filled with drugs, crime and neglect. He was running errands for a gangster before he was in his teens and, even though life and hard work led him to wealth and respectability, he always knew, deep down, he was dirty. When Nate met Lily he knew he was no good for her but as virile, fierce, rugged and ruthless as he was, Nate was no match for the pull of sweet, innocent Lily.
Unfortunately, Lily’s wish included that she and her hero go through trials and tribulations to test their love. And Fazire wasn’t only a good genie, he loved Lily – so he gave her exactly what she wanted.
Juggernaut ~ K.S. Adkins
jug·ger·naut
ˈjəɡərˌnôt/
noun;
1. A literal or metaphorical force regarded as mercilessly destructive and unstoppable
2. Any terrible force, especially one that destroys or that demands complete self-sacrifice
In other words, me.
I truly was a dancing, singing, man-plowing, alcohol-guzzling, human wrecking ball of fun.
With a reputation for chaos so legendary, I made a career out of it.
Men came (pun intended), men went, but as long as I had my girls and Sunday brunches, I was solid.
I didn’t need a man to complete me. Hell no, I was in total control of my destiny.
But see, that’s where I went wrong.
I challenged the universe.
It accepted by sending a man who knew my weaknesses.
All it took was lemon drops, one kiss and a wish.
By granting it, I doomed us both.
No mortal man could handle my kind of destruction forever.
Even if he begged for it.
I was called Juggernaut for a reason.
In my case, be careful what you wish for was very, very, literal.
He really should have listened…
Rise ~ Dylan Allen
As a little girl, I saw my father destroy the family he claimed to love. I watched my mother waste her life dreaming of a man who left her without a second glance.
As a woman, I don’t dream, I work. I don’t fall in love, I focus. I would never let anything as frivolous as love distract me.
Until I meet Simon. A gorgeous, brilliant young architect with dark eyes, a sweet smile, and a dirty, dirty mouth. He sets me on fire, and suddenly all I can do is dream…of his hands, his lips, his body. Of a heart good enough and a love strong enough to make me believe in happily ever after.
But Simon has secrets that are even deeper than mine. Will our pasts destroy everything we’ve worked for? Or will we find the courage to rise to the challenge and fight for the love we share?
Ten Thousand Truths ~ Kelli Jean
Horror is Odessa “Opie” Powys’s truth.
One with muddied memories and haunted dreams.
Finding and putting the pieces of her shattered life together is impossible.
Hiding herself and her truth is the only option.
Until the force that is Deo Dahl notices her from across a crowded bar.
Not one to back down from a challenge, Deo pulls the seemingly shy Opie out of her comfort zone, arousing courage inside her to not only face her abhorrent demons, but to also hunt them down.
However, Deo has horrors of his own, evil he’s fought to conquer his whole life. Just as they begin to reveal their truths, Opie’s past returns, turning Deo’s nightmare into a reality he might not survive.
Three Sweet Nothings
Five years ago, we’d been together and on fire, but the flames burned us both. Now she’s back in my life and is all my wildest fantasies in the flesh.
I want her. The desire is too powerful to argue against, but I’m not interested in what we had. This is an arrangement about pleasure and finding out who we are behind closed doors. There won’t be talk of love or any sweet nothings whispered by either of us.
This time, I’ll control the heat and make sure neither of our hearts get too close to the flames.
Games of the Heart ~ Kristen Ashley
From the balcony of his house, Mike Haines can see the quiet, commonplace beauty of the Holliday farm. But what he remembers is the little sister of his high school girlfriend, Dusty who grew up there. As a teen, Dusty had gone off the rails but when she was a kid, she was sweet, she was funny and she had a special bond with Mike. But after high school, she took off and Mike never saw her again.
Then tragedy strikes Dusty’s family, she comes back into town and Mike thinks she hasn’t changed back to the sweet, funny girl he knew but instead continued to be selfish and thoughtless, leaving her family alone to deal with their mourning. So he seeks her out and confronts her in an effort to understand what went wrong and to force her to sort herself out.
He finds out quickly he’s wrong about Dusty Holliday. Very wrong. And right after Mike discovers that, the bond they had years before snaps back into place in ways he would never suspect.
But Mike Haines had a bad marriage then he played games of the heart for a good woman. And lost. In order to protect himself and his kids, he’s cautious, he’s careful to read the signs and he’s not interested in finding a woman he has to fix.
Then he learns what happened to Dusty and he thinks she needs to be fixed. He swings, he misses and in this new game of hearts, for Dusty, Mike just got strike three.
Luka ~ Jane Harvey-Berrick
I’m not a good man.
I’m not a bad man.
But I’ve made some bad mistakes, made the wrong choices.
Who hasn’t? But the consequences are tearing us apart.
I love two people.
I love them differently.
The world tells me I have to choose. Why? Why do I have to choose?
Loving hurts. Dancing heals.
Love makes you soar, makes you fly and sets you free—and then it lets you freefall until you’re smashed and bleeding on the ground. Ultimately, love is the worst thing that can happen to a human being.
Im my opinion.
I love two people.
I love them differently.
One is a man.
One is a woman.
And they are brother and sister.
Pride & Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
Love is in the air when five sisters discover that a wealthy and eligible bachelor is suddenly within reach. But it is his friend, the haughty Mr. Darcy, who becomes smitten. Unfortunately for him, the object of his affection is not so easily swayed.
One of the most popular characters in English literature, Elizabeth Bennet is intelligent, witty, well-spoken and ahead of her time. If the terrible rumors about Mr. Darcy are true, he doesn’t stand a chance. Yet not all gossip is to be believed when marriage, money, and reputations are on the line. Will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy circumvent her haste, his ego, and society’s expectations to find love?
Written more than two centuries ago, Jane Austen’s enduring story of manners, family, and love continues to delight new generations of readers.
Relic ~ Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum’s dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human…
But the museum’s directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.
Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who-or what-is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?
Making Faces ~ 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.
Not about Love~ Hilaria Alexander![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000037_00050]](https://www.mariekesbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/image-3-198x300.jpeg)
Strong and independent,
Wrong for each other in every way.
But the heat, the passion, the pull.
Undeniable.
Irresistible.
When we were together,
The chaos turned to desire,
Need.
Bliss.
I was his.
He was mine.
For the time-being.
Different countries.
Different worlds.
Just sex.
No strings attached.
That’s how Boyd Rivers wanted it.
And exactly how I liked it.
But sometimes, fate has other plans…
Can it really be not about love?
Not About Love is the second book in the “This Love” series, but can be read as a standalone.
Craving Constellations ~ Nicole Jacquelyn
“How is it, that someone can make decision after decision attempting to get away from their past and somehow end up right back where they started?”
When Brenna decided to leave the only life she’d ever known, she never thought she’d ever be back. Now, five years later she’s running from her clean cut husband straight back to the motorcycle club that raised her… and the man she left behind. She left with a secret, and as soon as she returns the truth will break her carefully constructed life wide open.