Recommendations based on "Buttons and Pain"

All three of Maya Banks's sexy novellas combined into one volume! UNDERSTOOD Jake Turner committed the ultimate mistake of falling in love with his best friend’s wife. The distance he puts between them costs both him and Ellie Matthews dearly. Jake will never forgive himself for not seeing what a bastard his friend was. Now that Ellie is free from her nightmare, Jake waits, needing and wanting. He’ll be there when Ellie is ready to spread her wings. OVERHEARD Gracie Evans is a woman tired of the men in her life not satisfying her in bed. She’s had a string of boyfriends, but none of them have come close to satisfying the vivid fantasies she has. Two weeks before Valentine’s Day, she breaks up with her latest boyfriend after a night of lackluster sex. When her best friend, Luke Forsythe, overhears her talking to their friend Michelle about what she really wants, he’s stunned. And very turned on. Gracie thinks there isn’t a man alive who can satisfy her in bed. Luke aims to prove her wrong. UNDENIED Wes Hoffman has a good life and good friends and firmly entrenched in his comfort zone. Until a blast from the past tilts his universe and gives him a healthy dose of something he isn't used to experiencing. Insecurity. Payton Ricci is surprised but not the least bit unhappy when she spies Wes Hoffman across the bar at a bachelorette party. He was her first many years before but the two have very different recollections of the act. When Wes dodges Payton like a man with the hounds of hell at his heels, Payton realizes it's going to take a whole lot more effort on her part to make him see the light. Better yet, see her. As a grown woman and not the teenage virgin he once made love to.

He’s my ex’s best friend. The man I love to hate. A total temptation who is totally off-limits.And he’s everywhere I turn.My life’s a disaster. My ex-boyfriend is getting married, my house is falling apart, and I haven’t slept with anyone in… Well, long enough that I’m not sure I remember where everything is supposed to go.The last person I’d ever ask for help is my childhood enemy, Logan Reeve. He’s smug. He’s infuriating. He’s gorgeous. And lately, he’s caught me in one too many weak moments. A cocky carpenter who knows how to work a sledgehammer, Logan promises he can renovate my house before my parents sell it out from under me.I can’t deny it. Logan’s got the skills I need to turn things around—in life and in the bedroom.I’m craving some old-fashioned action, and Logan is always—irritatingly—there. As the tension takes us dangerously close to a line we shouldn’t cross, we find ourselves flirting with forbidden territory. Flirting, flirting… until finally, we fall.Why does it feel so good when it’s so, so bad?It won’t last. Nobody can ever know. There’s nothing real between us, right? Logan Reeve was never meant for me.But one thing I know for sure. The man I can’t have loves nothing more than proving me wrong.Meant For You is a first-person, dual POV contemporary romance with lots of steam and a satisfying happily ever after.

As a member of the Bourbon Street Boys private security firm, Antoinette ‘Toni’ Delacourte is one strong woman, but despite her reputation for being tough as nails, she is haunted by her past mistakes. Now they’re catching up to her, and throwing her for a loop.Ten years ago, Toni kissed Lucky, her brother’s best friend. Worried it would break apart the group she’d come to see as family, she walked away―straight into the arms of Charlie, and an abusive relationship.For the past decade she’s tried to keep her feelings for Lucky platonic―he’s her friend, her colleague, and he’s got his own past to deal with. Free of Charlie but unable to shake his memory, Toni finds herself feeling vulnerable and unable to deny her attraction to Lucky any longer.She’s always thought that kiss was her first mistake, but now she’s wondering whether the real mistake was running away.

Sometimes you can’t change—and sometimes you just don’t want to. Read Ben’s side of the Ten Tiny Breaths story in this romantic coming of age novel by the beloved, top-selling indie author praised for her “likeable characters, steamy liaisons, and surprising plot twists” (Kirkus Reviews). Purple-haired, sharp-tongued Reese MacKay knows all about making the wrong choice; she’s made plenty of them in her twenty-odd-years. So when her impulsive, short-lived marriage ends in heartbreak, she decides it’s time for a change. She moves to Miami with the intention of hitting reset on her irresponsible life, and she does quite well…aside from an epically humiliating one-night stand in Cancun with a hot blond bouncer named Ben. Thank God she can get on a plane and leave that mistake behind her. Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris’s plan. Blown knee that kills any hope of a professional football career? So not part of the plan. Luckily Ben has brains to go with his knockout looks and magnetism. After three long years of balancing law school with his job as a bouncer at Penny’s Palace, he’s ready to lead a more mature life—until his first day of work, when he finds himself in the office of that crazy, hot chick he met in Cancun. The one he hasn’t stopped thinking about. If Ben truly were a smart guy, he’d stay clear of Reese. She’s the boss’s stepdaughter and it’s been made very clear that office romances are grounds for dismissal. Plus, rumor has it she’s trouble. The only problem is, he likes trouble, especially when it’s so good-looking…

The Tattoo Artist With A Heart Of Gold. The Playboy With His Own Hidden Scars. The International Rockstar Who Longs For A Home. The Mechanic With A Dark Past. These Are The Heroes Of Second Circle Tattoos. Trent, Cujo, Dred, Reid. And Now All Four Books Are Together For The First Time In A Fabulous, Low Priced Ebook Box Set Featuring An Exclusive Epilogue. Why Pick One Book Boyfriend When You Can Have All Four? The Strongest Steel Harper Connelly Never Expected To Find Herself Outside Of A Tattoo Parlor At One In The Morning. The Scars That Decorate Her Back Are Just One More Reminder Of Things She'd Rather Forget, The Past She Wants To Leave Far Behind Her, But Before She Can Move On, She Needs Him. Trent Andrews Has His Own Reasons For Specializing In Inking Over Scars. And There's No Way In Hell He's Going To Turn Harper Away. Being With Harper Is Like Going Ten Rounds In The Ring—exhilarating, Powerful, And Dangerous. She Stirs Feelings In Him He Thought Were Long Gone... If He Can Only Get Past Her Carefully Constructed Defenses. The Fractured Heart Tattoo Artist Brody Cujo Matthews Knows How To Keep Things Simple. In Life And In Love.that All Changes When He Meets Drea Caron, The Definition Of High Maintenance And Sizzling Curves. And The One Woman He Doesn’t Want To Walk Away From. Andrea Drea Caron Is Broke And Tired. After Years Of Caring For Her Ailing Mom, She's At The End Of Her Rope Trying To Manage The Piling Medical Bills, Two Jobs, And A Life Placed On Hold. She Certainly Doesn’t Need The Added Frustration Of A Sexy Playboy Tattoo Artist Messing Up Her Carefully Balanced Life. Too Bad The Universe Has Other Ideas. The Purest Hook Rugged, Hot, And Rock Hard, Dred Zander Is Exactly The Type Of Man That Normally Sends Pixie Running. Not Dreaming About Running Her Hands Down His Washboard Abs...and Lower. The Lead Singer And Guitarist For The Band Preload Embodies Trouble Behind His Quick Smile And Guarded Eyes, And Pixie Left Trouble Behind Her Years Ago Along With The Name Sarah Jane Travers And The Pathetic Trailer Her Mom Called Home. But Dred Has Other Ideas. Pixie's Sweet Hazel Eyes, Purple Hair And Kaleidoscopic Tattoo Of Exotic Flowers That Swirl Up Her Arm Haunt His Dreams, And He's Ready To Fight Like Hell To Keep That Feeling. The Darkest Link When Her Car Breaks Down Off The Side Of A Lonely Highway Far From Her Sunny Miami Home, Tattoo Artist Lia Never Expected Her Very Own White Knight To Ride Up On The Back Of A Barely Street-legal Motorcycle...and She Never Expected To Fall For Her Dark Savior. A Bruised Heart Lia Is Not Looking For Forever, And The Hot Mechanic, With His Sexy Scruff And Shaggy Hair, Is Simply Impossible To Resist. He's The Perfect Candidate For A Mind-blowingly-perfect, No-strings-attached One-night Stand. But When Their Fling Becomes Something More And Reid Surprises Her At Her Tattoo Studio, Second Circle Tattoos, He's In For A Shock—and A Fist To The Face—when His Past And Present Collide.

Can friendship lead to forever?Claire Wells just helped the only man she’s ever loved choose an engagement ring…for another woman. With her heart in pieces and her professional life in shambles, she turns to the one man she can always count on: her best friend. Ethan is more than just a shoulder to cry on—he’s sweet, and funny, and okay, easy on the eye. In many ways, he’s the perfect guy…aside from the fact that she’s looking for forever, and he’s just looking for fun.Ethan Parker is all too aware of his reputation as a ladies man. Inviting Claire to pose as his date for his cousin’s wedding seems like the perfect solution for them both—she needs a break from the city and he needs to show his family that he’s fully capable of committing to one woman. The trouble is, the more he pretends that Claire is his girlfriend, the more impossible it becomes to view her as just a friend…

Some fairytales begin with a kiss...LaneyI finally get it. And to think, it only took my heart being pried out of my chest and stomped on five separate times by men who claimed they loved me. That's got to be a record, right?Let me put it as simply as I can: Fairy tales aren't real. Love is a lie. And, at least in my experience, sex never comes with a happy ending.Fortunately, I still have B.O.B, and he'll never fall out of love with me. I won't walk in on him in bed with another woman either. Nope. As long as I keep supplying him with fresh batteries, B.O.B's only purpose in life is to make me happy.And, damn it, I deserve to be happy. I'm a nice person. I work hard. And, most importantly, I've learned my lesson:I will never, ever let a man near my heart again.CarsonMy secret to happiness is to be completely upfront with what I want and, trust me, it has nothing to do with Laney's heart. Her lips? Hell yeah. A few other parts of her body? You better f*cking believe it. But her heart? Nope. Not even a little.Until it does...a lot.Forget I said that. I don't have feelings for anyone. They were all ripped out of me when I was a kid.This thing between Laney and me could be great. But we have to follow certain rules. We have a good time--no dates, no sleepovers, no expectations. When one of us is ready for something new or if she starts getting too attached, we move on with no hard feelings. Win-win, and everybody's happy.I came into this thinking it would be the same thing as it had always been and that she was like any other beautiful woman.It isn't. She isn't.But how do I tell her she deserves someone better, someone who can love her, someone who's not broken, if I can't seem to let her go?***standalone contemporary romance/romantic comedy without a cliffhanger or cheating***Now AvailableVirtually Impossible (Once and Forever #2)Deeper Water (Once and Forever #3) Carson and Laney's after happily-ever-afterDarker Water is a friends with benefits story inspired by The Frog Prince, and this is how Carson and Laney's fairy tale begins:Once upon a time there was a young woman who lived in a tall glass tower in the middle of a city. She wasn't incredibly beautiful but she was attractive, probably somewhere around the eighty-fifth percentile. She was smart, kind, honest, and good with animals.But the most beautiful thing about her was her heart, for it was made of the purest of golds. Unfortunately, she wasn't very good at taking care of it, and over the years, it lost its shine. Because every time she met a prince, she believed him to be perfect--strong but gentle, brave, and caring. So, she would show him her heart and give it to him to hold, thinking he would take care of it.What she hadn't yet realized was that there was a curse put on her...at some time...by someone. And the curse was this: The moment the woman gave her heart away and kissed the prince--believing it to be true love--the prince would begin to change. Sometimes slowly, other times quickly. But he always turned into a frog. And although the frog would give her heart back to her, each time it was a little more worn, a little less brilliant.But the woman didn't give up trying to find a prince who would remain a prince, knowing that somewhere out there was someone who could heal her heart and break the curse by remaining a prince after she kissed him.Then one day, she finally understood the curse's power. No one could heal her, she would never find a prince, and the curse would never be broken.And so, clutching what was left of her heart, she gave up her search.

These Are New Year's Resolutions Worth Keeping! Take A Risk. At The Inaugural New Year's Eve Party At Jack's Bar, Two Lonely Revelers Decide The Best Balm For Their Broken Hearts Might Just Be Each Other. Find The Perfect Work-life Balance. When A Flinty Lawyer With A Bad-boy Addiction Meets The Quintessential Nice Guy, Sparks Fly That Consume Their Expectations Of Life And Love. Get Those Finances In Order. Working Over The Holidays On A Messy Bank Takeover Is Made Worse For Two Federal Specialists By An Ill-advised Kiss That Will Never Happen Again…right?

Jay Crownover’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling Marked Men series continues with the much anticipated story of southern charmer and certified criminal Asa Cross. Starting over in Denver with a whole new circle of friends and family, Asa Cross struggles with being the man he knows everyone wants him to be and the man he knows he really is. A leopard doesn’t it change its spots and Asa has always been a predator. He doesn’t want to hurt those who love and rely on him, especially one luscious arresting cop who suddenly seems to be interested in him for far more than his penchant for breaking the law. But letting go of old habits is hard, and it’s easy to hit bottom when it’s the place you know best. Royal Hastings is quickly learning what the bottom looks like after a tragic situation at work threatens not only her career but her partner’s life. As a woman who has only ever had a few real friends she’s trying to muddle through her confusion and devastation all alone. Except she can’t stop thinking about the sexy southern bartender she locked up. Crushing on Asa is the last thing she needs but his allure is too strong to resist. His long criminal record can only hurt her already shaky career and chasing after a guy who has no respect for the law or himself can only end in heartbreak. A longtime criminal and a cop together just seems so wrong . . . but for Asa and Royal, being wrong together is the only right choice to make.

My honeymoon was almost everything I dreamed it would be, a tropical paradise, turquoise water, romantic walks on the beach, and loads and loads of mind shattering sex. The only thing missing was the groom. After seven years of coasting through a relationship with Michael, my senses were numb. A week of passion with a stranger was just what I needed to clear my head and take back control of my life. But how do you move on when the man that was only supposed to be a fling somehow seeps into your soul and steals your heart?