Books like 'Next Exit Home'
Readers who enjoyed Next Exit Home by Dena Blake also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance lgbtq angst wlw enemies-to-lovers second-chances animals
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Young & Beautiful by Velvetoscar
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLouis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes... -
The Clinch by Nicole Disney
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEden Bauer grew up in a rough part of New York with an unsafe home life and took refuge in the neighborhood Taekwondo dojang. When the master of the dojang offered to train Eden as a live-in student, he started her on a journey that would eventually lead her to become the UFC featherweight champion of the world... -
James—Uncontrollable by Felice Stevens
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's time to travel with James and Malcolm through their twenty year history as they battle each other and struggle to hold on to a lifetime of secrets. James Never good enough. Not the real son. I will prove him wrong—prove everyone wrong. I am someone. I will succeed. I don’t need my brother to help me. I don't need anyone. My enemy holds my secret. He teases me. Taunts me... -
Night Tide by Anna Burke
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTides change, but some feelings can’t be washed away.Lillian Lee doesn’t believe in love at first sight. Hate is a different story—and one she is intimately familiar with. Luckily, she hasn’t seen her arch-nemesis, Ivy Holden, since graduating from veterinary school five years ago. Since then, while her life isn’t going exactly according to plan, she’s happy... -
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Chemistry by Rachael Sommers
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsAn opposites-attract, ice queen lesbian romance about finding the softest of hearts behind the highest walls.Newly minted high school teacher Lily Cross is young, bubbly, and can’t wait to put her fresh ideas into practice in the classroom. Her excitement is derailed after a disastrous run-in with a colleague... -
Fighting for Control by J.J. Arias
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen sparks fly between a tenacious talent agent and a sharp-witted lawyer, a heated rivalry transforms into an irresistible attraction in this sizzling enemies-to-lovers sapphic romance.Lola Barros is a rising talent agent burning with ambition in Miami's glitzy entertainment world. Carmen Vargas is a dedicated lawyer poised to conquer the legal field, anchored by her family's prestigious firm... -
Behind Her Eyes by Melissa Tereze
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA STEAMY AGE-GAP ROMANCEAll it takes is one cold lie to ruin the recipe for a perfect love…Five years ago, Abi was in culinary school and dreaming of working at Adley’s, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and for its equally delectable owner. Instead, she’s alone, broke, and out of friendly couches to sleep on. Her only direction…rock bottom.Abi’s in a mess, but it’s her mess, and she plans to fix it... -
Then & Now by Monica McCallan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLily Connor has focused all her energy into becoming a successful wedding planner, and after five years, she’s on the precipice of taking on more responsibility at Southerland Wedding Company. When the chance finally presents itself, it comes with a complication she couldn’t have dreamt up in her worst nightmares... -
The Art of Us by K.L. Hughes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEighteen-year-old Charlee Parker met the love of her life in a parking lot—a leggy brunette with a valedictorian medal hanging from her rear-view mirror and an attitude as biting as a Boston winter. Alexandra Woodson was guarded, a nineteen-year-old orphan set on a bright future in hospitality administration... -
Twice Upon A Time by Erica Lee
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsKari Adelberg is happy. She has her friends, family, and a dog. What else could she need? At least that’s what she keeps telling herself, unwilling to think about what she lost until it ends up next door to her. Kacey Caldwell was the one that got away. They were college sweethearts and had plans for the future until Kacey ripped those plans apart with no explanation... -
The Life Coach by Sienna Waters
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsIt's time to let a little sunshine into your life...Meet Vivien Curtis, a divorced, depressed, reclusive true crime addict. All she wants is to be left alone, and for the kids to stay off her lawn.Until Alice Knowles appears. A young life coach hired by Viv's best friend Evie to get Viv back on her feet again, Alice wants nothing more than to meet Ms. Right, get married, and start adopting cats...Categorized as:
enemies-to-lovers lgbtq wlw grumpy-sunshine cheerful-mc grumpy-mc contemporary fiction -
The Planck Paradox by T.J. Dallas
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCole Maclean is a philosophy teacher who also fosters service dogs through puppyhood. While she trains cute little Paradox to help a paraplegic friend, she can’t help but notice the pretty new professor with whom she finds herself sharing a supply closet.Kenzie Philips teaches physics and likes her world to be grounded in the hard sciences... -
Stranger on the Shore by Claire Highton-Stevenson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsQuinn Harper is living the life she always wanted. She’s well-liked and respected by everyone and has been a success in life with awards to prove it. She spends her free time running along the shore, returning to her quiet home on the beach.It was almost the perfect life, but there was one thing missing: Love... -
The Promise: A second chance romance. by Claire Highton-Stevenson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings*A heartwrenching, yet heartwarming, book that will have you reconsidering what matters most!* Ali and Susan Jenkins have it all. Their life together is mapped out on a one-way path to happiness, that is until Susan is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Ali refuses to accept it - her world is shattered... -
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You're Still The One by Claire Highton-Stevenson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA twenty-five-year-old heartbreak. A surprising reunion. Their lives are completely different now, but what about their hearts?Natalie Shultz is a success in business but not in love. Although she’s built an empire of female-empowering sex toy stores, she’s never been able to find a deep, passionate connection of her own since running away from the girl of her dreams twenty-five years ago... -
Love Walked into The Lantern by Nicole Pyland
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSummer Taft is a twenty-seven-year-old billionaire, who founded a tech startup with her brother while she was still in college. As that company’s CEO, she feels stuck and underappreciated. She also has to take care of the company while her brother goes off exploring the world, leaving her holding the bag. The company recently opened an office in Chicago, where Summer has met some new friends... -
Someday, Maybe by Addison Clarke
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWalker Forsyth is two years sober and back in her hometown of Moonflower Cove after two years away. She’s made her amends with her sisters and friends and is ready to start a new chapter in her life. More than anything though, she’s hoping to have a second chance with the love of her life.Maddie Carlson has spent two years wondering what it would be like when Walker came back to the Cove... -
Pas de deux by E.J. Noyes
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCaitlyn Lloyd has the world at her feet. Or more accurately—under her horse’s hooves. With the 2016 Rio Olympics just around the corner, nothing is going to derail her long-held dream of winning a medal or two in Olympic dressage. Not even the reappearance of a childhood so-not-a-friend throwing her perfectly balanced life into disarray... -
Let Go by Nicole Pyland
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is book #1 in the Boston Series.Gretchen Carpenter didn’t come from money. She didn’t have a lot growing up in her small town. As the black sheep of her family, instead of staying home and taking over the family business, she moved to Boston, got into Harvard Law School, and is about to graduate when she gets an internship at a personal injury law firm... -
Vesting Period by Monica McCallan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsApp designer Carter Montgomery has thrown herself into being a successful co-founder of LadyLuck for the last half decade. Until now, she’s been content to focus on work mixed with a little light fun. It takes a horrible date with an infuriating woman to make her realize that maybe she isn’t so satisfied with things and that it’s time she got serious about investing in her love life... -
Don't Cry for Me by Rachel Lacey
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA frosty television host, a bubbly bar owner, and a litter of abandoned kittens. The recipe for ratings gold...or heartbreak?Eve Marlow has her eyes on the prize: a third season of her popular business makeover show, Do Over. But when her ratings take an unexpected dive, Eve needs a blockbuster new client, or she can kiss season three goodbye... -
Back to the Start by Monica McCallan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Remy’s grandmother dies, it means leaving her life in San Francisco and returning to a town she swore she'd never revisit, forced to confront a world she'd worked hard to put behind her over the last twelve years... -
Beautiful Dreamer by Melissa Brayden
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWho says you can’t go home again? Philadelphia real estate broker Devyn Winters is at the peak of her career, closing multimillion-dollar deals and relishing it. She’s pretty much blocked out her formative years in Dreamer’s Bay, where the most exciting thing to happen was the twice a year bake sale. Unfortunately, a distress call hauls her back home and away from the life she’s constructed... -
Sawyer by JJ Harper, Jay Aheer
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTake one bartender. Add an unwelcome engagement party With a dash of hot, sexy stranger For a spicy and sweet new beginning. Sawyer can’t believe his cheating ex has chosen Bar 28 to hold his engagement party. The grin on his smug face proves he has done it on purpose... -
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Holding Space by Michele L Rivera
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter thirty-seven years of heartache, Hannah Bradshaw has every reason to be cynical about love—except she’s not, which turns out to be a real problem when she meets Charlie on an alleged blind date... -
Intentions by Susan X. Meagher
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNew Book - Intentions is the ninth installment of the twenty-six book serial novel I Found My Heart in San Francisco. In this book, Jamie tries to acclimate to her changing relationship with her father, Jim. Despite his promise to honor and respect her and Ryan's relationship, she has her doubts-both about his sincerity and his ability to follow through... -
High Rise: The Complete Collection by Harper Bliss
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFour women. One building. A million complications. High Rise is a series of lesbian erotic romance novellas focusing on four women who live in The Ivy, the ‘sexiest building in Hong Kong’. Alex, a local gym instructor. Her room mate Nat, a celebrated American writer who moved to Hong Kong for love. Their upstairs neighbour Maddie, a workaholic investment banker... -
Ariana: Love always finds a way home by Emma Nichols
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the back of an unhappy marriage and bitter divorce, stressed out Ariana Carter-Cruz, returns to the remote Greek island of Sakros, to claim the estate of her late grandmother, Sophia. A straightforward affair - go there, sell the house, get out - and start a new life with her daughter... -
Humbug's Holiday Homecoming by J.A. Armstrong
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt’s Christmastime, and Dr. Mick Mulligan has just arrived back at her childhood home after a five-year absence. She’s determined to help her mother, Leona, care for the house she grew up in and resolved to adjust to life back in Connecticut. After the childhood loss of her father, Mick proclaimed herself a “humbug.” Mick is happier in an operating room that gathering around a Christmas tree... -
Snowed Inn with Madelyn by Chelsea M. Cameron
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNothing says “Merry Christmas” more than arriving at the adorable inn your mom has booked for your family and seeing your former babysitter, and first crush, sitting behind the desk. Turns out Madelyn Hawthorne is the owner, and after a massive snowstorm traps us, we’re all going to be getting pretty cozy for the next week... -
Karma by Susan X. Meagher
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKarma is the eleventh book in the I Found My Heart in San Francisco series. Love can be a dangerous game. When to risk, when to run, when to submit. Jordan and Mia have been playing the game as nonchalantly as they can manage, but their feelings are harder and harder to dismiss. Jim and Catherine have had so many ups and downs that they’ve lost track... -
Puppy Love by Cara Malone
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMarley wants nothing more than a wife. Blaire has already had one not-so-happily ever after. Newly divorced and having lost her social circle to her ex, the only thing on Blaire’s mind is having a little fun. But when she brings her dog to Marley’s vet clinic, sparks fly and their connection is undeniable... -
Time of Day by Nicole Pyland
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis is book #2 in the Tahoe Series. Kinsley James has a nice life in South Lake Tahoe. She has a great career in real estate and a great group of friends she’s known for a long time. She also has a crush. Things had been easy when the object of that crush lived on the other side of the lake. Kinsley had been able to push her attraction aside. She’d dated other women... -
The No Kiss Contract by Nan Campbell
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDespite being the youngest partner at her firm, corporate attorney Davy Dugan is gunning for a recently vacant name partnership—it would mean finally having the power to make a real change in her conservative workplace. But eighty-hour workweeks don’t allow any time with her much younger half-sister, Tally, who doesn’t seem to need Davy in her life anyway... -
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Elite Connections: an LGBTQ Romance Charity Anthology by Ana Ashley, B.A. Tortuga
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEvery need met. Every desire fulfilled.Welcome to Elite Connections, the secret, exclusive service where money is no object and your every wish is guaranteed to come true.Fake dates, arranged marriages, or just some company for the night, whatever it is, with Elite you are covered... -
Saving Grace by H.P. Munro
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Charlotte Grace left Grace Falls at the age of seventeen, she swore she’d never return. More than twenty years on she still regrets breaking the heart of her first love. Reaching a crossroads in her life, Charlotte has started to merely drift along. Erin Hunter has spent a lifetime recovering from having her heart shattered by the person she trusted most... -
The Red Carpet by J.A. Armstrong
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's been six months since that fateful Saturday afternoon when Emma Bronson collided with Addison Blake. There have been more than a few changes. Addison has sold her first screenplay and Emma has moved onto some new projects as well. But, there are realities in Tinseltown. The love affair between Addy and Emma has heated up, and the two are nearly inseparable behind closed doors... -
Dim All The Lights by J.A. Armstrong
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThere is a new television show that is receiving a great deal of interest and attention, and it is changing the face of Addison Blake and Emma Bronson's world. Off Screen began as Addison's way of coping with her burgeoning feelings for the beautiful actress that now shares her life. She never anticipated it would become her ticket to success... -
Water Under Bridges by Harper Bliss
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCan you build a future if you don't let go of the past? Louise Hamilton has returned to Sydney after her long term relationship broke down in Brisbane and she's loving her new job at Glow, Darlinghurst's freshly opened yoga studio. She's found new friends in her boss Amber and the gang at the Pink Bean and feels like her life is finally back on track... -
Every Slow Song by Erica Lee
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSkylar Davis and Kennedy Moore thought they found their happily ever after when they met in their mid-twenties. Unfortunately, five years into their marriage, happily ever after didn't seem so happy anymore. Reaching the end of her rope, Kennedy asked for a divorce and the two separated.After six months of being separated, Skylar still hasn't told her family about the impending divorce... -
Finding Grey by Rebecca Raine
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen being seduced by a rock star, only a fool falls in love. Sean The night Dante Sinclair lured me into his dressing room and gave me my first kiss, I was oblivious to one important fact: all rock stars are spoiled narcissists. I learned my lesson when our failed attempt at a reunion left me humiliated and heartbroken. Now, Dante is booked into the music retreat I run... -
Broken by Ami Spencer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCallie Montgomery should feel happy with her life. A rising career, a business inherited from her father and a loving family surrounding her. Besides, she’s in a much better place than a decade ago, so she should be grateful, right?But everything's not always as it seems. Appearances can be deceptive. Unless that is, you’re faced with the return of the woman who can read you better than anyone... -
Performance in a Leading Role by MadLori
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSherlock/Watson FanficSherlock Holmes is an Oscar winner in the midst of a career slump. John Watson is an Everyman actor trapped in the rom-com ghetto... -
Begin Again… Again by Addison Clarke
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHayden Forrester has decided to live like she was dying. After all, her doctor told her she was. She quit her job, moved out of her hometown, and confessed her love to her best friend.Molly Jaymes has everything planned out. That is until Hayden shows up on her doorstep in the middle of the night... -
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Love To Hate You by Olivia Lucas
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsChatty, down to earth, Chelsea Roberts is cruising through life – successful career, great circle of friends, cute dog. Sure, her love life could use an intervention, but everything else is kind of perfect. That is, until a new roommate blows in unexpectedly on New Year’s Day and turns everything upside down.Doctor-to-be Lucy Walker.Moody.Conversation-killer.Jerkette... -
None So Blind by L.J. Maas
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTorrey Gray hasn't seen the woman she fell in love with in college for 15 years. Taylor Kent, now a celebrated artist, has spent the years trying to forget, albeit unsuccessfully, the young woman who walked out of Taylor's life. Best friends forever, neither woman ever had the courage to speak of the passion they felt for one another... -
Flight SQA016 by A.E. Radley
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSpurred on by overwhelming and ever-increasing debts, Emily White takes a job working in the first-class cabin on the prestigious commuter route from her home of New York to London with Crown Airlines. A gruelling transatlantic schedule means she is in the air nearly as much as she is on the ground and desperately misses her five-year-old son... -
Something Far Away and Happy by Bryce Oakley
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan you ever truly get over your first love?Julia Evans has never had anything handed to her: She's worked hard to get where she is — just one high-profile interior design client away from landing her dream job of designing a brand new boutique hotel... -
Unadulterated Something by M.J. Duncan
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsEmma Beauchamp and Campbell Jordan’s rivalry on the ice was legendary. Retirement should have closed that chapter of their lives, but when Campbell joins the faculty at Stonebridge—the prestigious Berkshires boarding school where Emma now teaches—it takes on a brand new life... -
Separate Like Stars by Diana Kane
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsOn paper, Jordan Cohen has it all. With numerous bestsellers under her belt, a number of blockbuster movie adaptations to her credit, and a high profile relationship with one of Hollywood’s most prominent stars, what more could she possibly ask for? Maybe for Olivia Bradley, the only woman to ever break her heart, to exit her life as quickly as she’d re-entered it...
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