Books like 'Crushed But Not Defeated'

Readers who enjoyed Crushed But Not Defeated by Nicole Dykes also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  romance  mlm  family  lgbtq  enemies-to-lovers  friends-to-lovers  forced-proximity  found-family  second-chances 

  • Exiled by Jessie Walker

    Exiled by Jessie Walker

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Welcome to Black Diamond Resort and Spa… …paradise for the banished, and my newest prison.Growing up, I was the problem child teachers didn’t know what to do with.The troubled teen whose parents wished was never born.The system’s made of cracks, and I fell through each and every one, all in a futile effort to protect the family legacy.They tried to fix me...
  • Free from Falling by E.L. Massey

    Free from Falling by E.L. Massey

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Justin “Matts” Matthews is good at a lot of things: Rubik’s Cubes, playing guitar, herding cattle, and most importantly for his career in the NHL, hockey. He’s not good at human interactions or social cues, especially when it comes to women. This deficiency is an annoyance rather than a problem, right up until he meets Sydney Warren. If it’s not love at first sight, it’s sure something close...
  • How to Say I Do by Tal Bauer

    How to Say I Do by Tal Bauer

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Opposites attract, sure. But when Manhattan glitz collides with Texas grit, will love be enough?Noël:Manhattan is my heart and soul. In the cutthroat world of elite public relations, I’m one of the princes. I manage global superstars, predict the up-and-coming trends, easy. And social media? That’s my specialty. I can make you, hon, and launch you straight to the stratosphere...
  • James—Uncontrollable by Felice Stevens

    James—Uncontrollable by Felice Stevens

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    It'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...
  • Still Beating by Jessie Walker

    Still Beating by Jessie Walker

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    THE END WAS JUST THE BEGINNING... I thought I was strong enough to say goodbye.I thought I was ready to leave him.It doesn't matter that I'll be seeing him in three days.I just have to get through three more nights.I'm dying now. Shattering. Breaking.I'm determined to show him I can manage on my own.What if he needs me?I need him...What if he doesn't?...but I want to be better for him...
  • Hand Picked by May Archer

    Hand Picked by May Archer

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Once upon a time, I moved to Vermont… and wound up accidentally sort of married.Webb Sunday is the straight single dad next door.He’s lumberjack-gorgeous,Strong and steady as the trees in his family orchard,A grumpy fairytale prince...And entirely off-limits.Or so I thought.Until the drunken night the two of us walked into a bar…And landed ourselves in the middle of small-town history...
  • Drilled by K.M. Neuhold

    Drilled by K.M. Neuhold

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    A month in a remote cabin with the last man I ever expected to see again? I can’t decide if I should punch him or drill him. It might end up being both.After more than a decade, the last person I expected to see walk into the Four Bears Construction offices as a new hire was Ridge.He was my first crush, and my first heartbreak when he started dating my sister...
  • I've Got You by Becca Seymour

    I've Got You by Becca Seymour

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    When a single dad and a newly outed veterinarian meet by chance, it takes red-cheeked conversations, a tentative friendship, and the willingness to put their hearts on the line to show these men they’re made for each other.  Single dad Davis Jackson is busy balancing his coffee shop and being the best dad he can be. That doesn’t mean he’s not lonely...
  • Loving the Legend by Kit Grey

    Loving the Legend by Kit Grey

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Since Pro basketball player Ty “Pretty Boy” Washington picked up a basketball, he’s only ever wanted one to make it to the pro league and win championships. As the number one pick in the draft, he defies the odds in his rookie year by beating the record of one of the greatest players in the league, Sid “The Wonder Kid” King...
  • The Cowboy Contract by B.A. Tortuga

    The Cowboy Contract by B.A. Tortuga

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Ryder Vittor has almost everything he could ever want. He was a successful bull rider, he runs a rodeo company and a ranch for his family, and he's right where he wants to be. Until his grandmother issues him an ultimatum...
  • Goodbye Note by J.R. Gray

    Goodbye Note by J.R. Gray

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    I’m living the dream, playing summer festivals to massive crowds.My band is on fire, my best friend by my side and we’re on top of the world.I fell for him in the heat of the summer. I fell for the stars in his eyes.The way he said my name. I’ll never love anyone the same.But our story ended when it was just beginning.Fame gave me more than I could ever imagine, but I’ll forever suffer the cost...
  • Off Key (Whispering Key) by May Archer

    Off Key (Whispering Key) by May Archer

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    I’m about to sing you the saddest song in the universe, and it’s called “The Man of My Dreams Married My Sister.” It’s kinda my theme song. And trust me when I tell you, it’s heavy on the violins.Because the man in question? He’s not just any guy, he’s Rafe freakin’ Goodman. My former best friend. The boy who made my summers on Whispering Key magical...
  • Second Wind by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Second Wind by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Second wind: a new strength or energy to continue something that is an effort. After an amicable divorce, Lincoln Huxley is ready to embrace the sexuality he repressed for more than two decades. Rush Holden is no longer willing to settle for closeted men or those who don’t share his dreams of marriage and fatherhood. A chance encounter on a lakeside pier is the second wind they both need...
  • The Home Game by Brigham Vaughn

    The Home Game by Brigham Vaughn

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Matty Carlson Playing House with Local Schoolteacher?Toronto Fisher Cats enforcer, Matt Carlson, was recently spotted in the park with a hot mystery man and four children ranging in age from pre-teen to infant.A close source indicates that the man is prep school English teacher, Antoni Bianchi, who has been spotted with Carlson in public recently...
  • Here Comes My Man by Lauren Blakely

    Here Comes My Man by Lauren Blakely

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    A red-hot, enemies-to-lovers, fake boyfriend, second chance romance, and the conclusion to the Hopelessly Bromantic Duet!Let me just say this -- fake dating the cocky movie star was not my idea. Especially since he’s my former roomie and, gulp, my secret ex.But my agent tells me I have no choice since I’m ridiculously overdue with turning in the next big blockbuster love story to my publisher...
  • Caldwell Brothers: The Complete Series Bundle by Aiden Bates, Ali Lyda

    Caldwell Brothers: The Complete Series Bundle by Aiden Bates, Ali Lyda

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Nico is it for me...too bad he’s my brother’s best friend. Friends and brothers are off limits. That’s always been the rule in our house. In a big family it’s the only way to keep the peace. That doesn’t stop my heart from belonging to Nico, my older brother’s best friend...
  • Christmas at Mistletoe Lodge: New Holiday Romances to Benefit St. Jude Hospital by Sabrina York, Tamara Ferguson

    Christmas at Mistletoe Lodge: New Holiday Romances to Benefit St. Jude Hospital by Sabrina York, Tamara Ferguson

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    USA TODAY BESTSELLER! 10 NEW HOLIDAY ROMANCES From NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Authors To Warm Your Heart And Curl Your Toes! Each Sweet and/or Steamy Story takes place at a unique magical Mistletoe Lodge. Curl up in your favorite chair and treat yourself to a Christmassy-Happily-Ever-After Experience full of jingle bells, mistletoe and JOY, celebrating the spirit of the season...
  • Life after Love by J.J. Harper

    Life after Love by J.J. Harper

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    All he wanted was a new life, not a new love.MerrickMerrick has the perfect life: a husband, a baby, and a great future ahead of him. Until all that is ripped away, and he’s left alone with his daughter. After two years, he knows it’s time to move on. To find a new life for him and Willow. It comes in the shape of a derelict mill house nestled in the hills above a Devon seaside town...
  • Broken Bridges by Tania Joyce

    Broken Bridges by Tania Joyce

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    He's lost his band, his lover and his grandfather - the friends and family who'd accepted his lifestyle choices.She's lost her career, the love of her life and after a freak accident has to accept she'll never be the same.A chance audition for The Flintlocks could change his life.A move across the country could be the fresh start he needs.She needs to find her way in the world again...
  • Wheels Down by Beth Bolden

    Wheels Down by Beth Bolden

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Shaw isn’t his friend—until Ross discovers he’s so much more. Ross Stanton is having a bad week—a bad month—really, a bad year. But the last thing he wants, after the betrayal of his friend and business partner, is for anyone else to know just how much he’s fighting for survival...
  • Forbidden Ink by Ali Lyda

    Forbidden Ink by Ali Lyda

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    I’m not a deadbeat.I didn’t know my kid existed before Milo showed up, but now that I do, I’m determined to keep my beautiful little Sofie in my life. Even if it means I need to spend time around her irritable uncle, Milo. The man pushes all of my buttons.He riles me up until I can’t think of anything except kissing him. Definitely not the reaction he expects...
  • Navigating Noah by Jaclyn Quinn

    Navigating Noah by Jaclyn Quinn

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Noah HathawayThe saying 'livin' the dream' is usually said with sarcasm, but I truly am living my dream in Coral Pointe Inlet with my four best friends. Still, as I watch three of them fall in love, my heart aches a little with longing. It doesn't help when Hunter, a man I spent an incredible weekend with, comes back to Coral Pointe--not alone, I might add...
  • Levi's Love by K.C. Wells

    Levi's Love by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Unrequited love hurts like hell Levi Brown has loved Noah White since he was a teenager, but Noah isn’t looking for a relationship. Every time Levi sees him, his heart aches for what it cannot have. Because dear Lord, he wants Noah, in his life, in his bed.Especially in his bed. The only reason Levi is still a virgin is because he was waiting for Noah. Except Noah doesn’t want him...
  • Teddy by Emmy Sanders

    Teddy by Emmy Sanders

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Waking up married is bad enough. Having feelings for my husband? Pure disaster. TeddyI wasn’t looking for attachments. I certainly wasn’t looking to get drunkenly hitched to my coworker’s best friend, the very man I’ve been denying an attraction to for over a year...
  • Family Rules by Jacki James

    Family Rules by Jacki James

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Justin had three simple rules for dating: No co-workers, no repeats, and absolutely no men with kids. He was happy with those rules. And no one had ever tempted him to break them. Until a night on the prowl had him crossing paths with an adorably geeky accountant. Mark spent the last year being the best dad possible to his little girl while enjoying life as an openly gay man for the first time...
  • Lost And Found by Aiden Bates

    Lost And Found by Aiden Bates

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    I’m going to die on this cliff with only a bobcat kitten for company. I’m sure of it until the hottest man I’ve ever seen swoops in and makes me leap.Eli’s made for danger, and he dedicates his life to finding desperately stranded hikers like me.He’s too perfect to be true.I’ve fallen hard before and ended up bruised and battered.I have to resist him...
  • Wanted: Understanding Daddy by Sammi Cee

    Wanted: Understanding Daddy by Sammi Cee

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Is it possible for a renewed friendship to lead to more? Dylan’s life changed for the worse back in middle school. Because of that, he ghosted his best friend, Brett, out of fear and embarrassment. Now, as things finally come together for him, he’s more concerned with earning a place back in Brett’s life than he is about finding the Daddy his friends think he needs...
  • Perfect Day by Sally Malcolm

    Perfect Day by Sally Malcolm

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    First love conquers all in Perfect Day, a captivating contemporary male/male retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Love doesn’t burn out just because the timing’s wrong. It grows. It never leaves. When Joshua Newton, prodigal son of one of New Milton’s elite, fell in love with ambitious young actor Finn Callaghan, his world finally made sense...
  • Drawn to You by Jaclyn Quinn

    Drawn to You by Jaclyn Quinn

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Leaving his enormous family behind, native New Yorker, Elijah, decides to move to Brighton Pier for a fresh start. Being part of a large LGBTQ community and landing his dream job at Inkubus, a local tattoo shop, is too big of a draw for him to turn down...
  • Meet Me in the Blue by A.M. Johnson

    Meet Me in the Blue by A.M. Johnson

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Meet me… in the place where the sun kisses the horizon and sinks into blue shades of you and me.Meet me there… where everything was always perfect. You and me and the damp grass at dawn and the gray dirt in the late evening rain.Meet me where we were ourselves and not these two people who can’t even say I love you...
  • The Charmer by Riley Hart

    The Charmer by Riley Hart

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    If you listen to The Vers, a queer podcast I host with my three best friends, you know me as The Charmer. I’m always happy, flirting, and trying to win everyone over. I think most people would be surprised to learn I have a lot more going on beneath the surface...
  • Himbo by Emmy Sanders

    Himbo by Emmy Sanders

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Surely I can’t fail at falling in love? CasNo one ever told me I might meet the love of my life on my knees in a coffee shop.I’m not one of those people who has everything figured out. I work at my dad’s company because it’s expected, not because I enjoy it...
  • Flare by Posy Roberts

    Flare by Posy Roberts

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    All he hopes for are moments of calm and a happily ever after.Hugo and Kevin have lived in chaos for months. As they put their lives back together after tragedy, stability is Hugo’s goal.Hugo is acting again. Kevin hires a nanny to help with the kids as they discover their new normal, and Hugo practically lives full time with Kevin, Brooke, and Finn...
    Categorized as:
    angst  children  family  friends-to-lovers  lgbtq  mlm  abuse  adult
  • Austin by Con Riley

    Austin by Con Riley

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Austin Russell doesn’t belong at a small school like Glynn Harber. He's meant to be a high flyer in finance not a book-keeping bursar. Now there's only one renovation project left to budget, it’s time he toughened his soft heart and got back to climbing the corporate ladder.The truth is he’d rather climb Maisie Dymond’s father...
    Categorized as:
    angst  children  lgbtq  mlm  slow-burn  adult  bisexuality  book
  • Kade & Cameron by A.D. Ellis

    Kade & Cameron by A.D. Ellis

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Cameron Lewis is left reeling when his perfect life—two beautiful children, an adoring husband, and a house on the lake—is ripped apart by loss. Kade Ramsey is living the American dream with a wife, two amazing children, and a comfortable job. But dreams are often only illusions, and Kade discovers his life isn’t all he thought it to be. Kade and Cam have been friends for years...
  • Only Love You by J.D. Chambers

    Only Love You by J.D. Chambers

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    "It has recently come to my attention that I have turned into something of an oblivious asshole. In my defense, I didn't do it on purpose." Ben Harrison is not having the best year. It starts out with his sister announcing her engagement to his ex-boyfriend. The revolving door of roommates leaving as they find their happily ever afters doesn't help...
  • When the Storm Comes by M.A. Innes

    When the Storm Comes by M.A. Innes

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Donovan’s day just keeps getting worse. It might not have been the zombie apocalypse, but a tsunami and hurricane hitting the East Coast at the same time was definitely the start to a bad B-movie. Alone and doing his best to run from the impending wall of water that was only hours away, Donovan thought his day couldn’t get any worse. It could...
  • Finding Mr. Fabulous by Con Riley

    Finding Mr. Fabulous by Con Riley

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Featuring a duke-to-be with a problem and a thief who could be his solution. Expect fake dates and fiery first-time love in this standalone contemporary MM romance set in London and Cornwall.Rex Heligan might be known as Mr. Fabulous in the bedroom, but he doesn’t want a boyfriend. In truth, he doesn't have time between his London banker lifestyle and the Cornish dukedom he’ll inherit...
  • Meant To Be: A Prequel Daddy Novella by Sammi Cee

    Meant To Be: A Prequel Daddy Novella by Sammi Cee

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    PJ couldn't be more surprised that he needs a Daddy in the bedroom...Joel and PJ met as pre-teens at Takoda Outreach Center. They’ve shared every secret, first as best friends, then roommates. But now that they’ve graduated from college, adulting presents circumstances and unforeseen problems that they never saw coming...
  • The No Kiss Contract by Nan Campbell

    The No Kiss Contract by Nan Campbell

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Despite 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...
  • To Catch a Fallen Leaf by Fearne Hill

    To Catch a Fallen Leaf by Fearne Hill

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Take one shy French gardener, mix in a naughty aristocrat, add a splash of water, a dash of sunshine, and wait for love to grow.If only it were that easy.Reuben Costaud counts his blessings daily. His run-in with crime is firmly behind him. He has a wonderful job gardening on the Rossingley estate, a tiny cottage all to himself, an orphaned cat named Obélix, and a friendly bunch of workmates...
  • Miracle by R.J. Scott

    Miracle by R.J. Scott

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    An abandoned baby, a poignant note from his long-lost twin, and unexpectedly, Jax’s world is turned upside down.Despite being adopted by a loving family when he was a child, Jax feels part of his life is missing, and driven by dreams of his brother being in danger, Jax is consumed by his search for his biological twin...
  • Jaxon by Ruby Raynes

    Jaxon by Ruby Raynes

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    ***Jaxon - Love in Ink - Book 2***AlexMy life is going fine. Okay, it was going fine until I found myself both homeless—my trusty car Trixie on her last leg—and in need of a fake fiancé. What I don't expect is for Jaxon, my long-time crush and the owner of Ink Me, to come swooping in like a knight in shining armor...
  • Breaking Away by Sookh Kaur

    Breaking Away by Sookh Kaur

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Dmitri Lokhov is the rival team’s hot, tattooed, grumpy defenseman. When he loses his calm, knocking my fiancé out on the ice, I’m shocked. Until I learn that he lost his cool over a nasty comment about me… made by my fiancé! I break my wedding off, but the best way to get revenge? Fake date the grumpy rival...
  • Worth the Risk by Carly Marie

    Worth the Risk by Carly Marie

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Two single dads in a small town. Is their connection a recipe for love…or for disaster?Mark Murray is used to chaos. Between his job as an emergency room doctor and being a single father to two boys, he’s the definition of exhausted. Yet he always makes it work. When a new job finds him moving to a small town, he’s faced with a different set of challenges...
  • Loving Logan by Sammi Cee

    Loving Logan by Sammi Cee

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Logan’s life changed forever six months ago when he lost his best friends and support system. Now it’s up to him to raise the two-year-old son they left behind.Creed’s family teases him for being a serial dater, but that’s because he refuses to settle. He’s searching for the right person to fall in love with, but no one fits—until he meets the tattooed giant behind the bar...
    Categorized as:
    angst  children  friends-to-lovers  lgbtq  mlm  slow-burn  adult  book
  • Angel Ink by Ali Lyda

    Angel Ink by Ali Lyda

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    No one's ever caught me thinking with my manhood.Being demisexual means attraction doesn't always come easy. And it has a way of knocking me off my feet. I can't want Joel. I'm pretty sure he's scared of me, and we're working together.It's a recipe for disaster.Too bad my emotions say otherwise. And once they start talking, my body starts listening. I've been screwed by love before...
  • Fancy Free by Mia Monroe

    Fancy Free by Mia Monroe

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The last thing I need is a curious straight guy sniffing around me. So why is he so hard to resist?My life is everything I ever wanted - by design. Being one of the nation’s most sought after wedding planners has led to a life of traveling to glamorous locations, bumping elbows with the rich and famous, and sampling every handsome hunk the world has to offer...
  • Illegal Motion: An MM Enemies To Lovers Sports Romance by Rheland Richmond, Emerson Beckett

    Illegal Motion: An MM Enemies To Lovers Sports Romance by Rheland Richmond, Emerson Beckett

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Callum KennedyI should have known behind that deep sexy southern drawl, and beautiful face lived the world’s biggest asshole.I’ve tried my damnedest to put him behind me. But it was hard to do when I saw his face every night in my dreams and couldn’t forget how he worked my body over.It was okay. I had my work as a vet, my equine rescue to manage, and my friends...
  • Cloud Nine by Fearne Hill

    Cloud Nine by Fearne Hill

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Bedroom eyes, that’s the name my mom gave them.Before I travelled to the UK, she issued me plenty of warnings: don’t look the wrong way when crossing the road, the first floor was the second floor, and no one would know what I meant if I asked for ranch dressing at a restaurant...
Crushed But Not Defeated by Nicole Dykes
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