Here are 46 books that First Time Lucky fans have personally recommended if you like
First Time Lucky.
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There is something about a 'happily ever after' that, no matter how hard it is to get there, it is so satisfying when you do. If there is a little humor mixed in with mystery that can take your emotions on a rollercoaster, that’s all the better. I decided to write romance because I do believe in fairy tales. I believe love is a choice. You make it what you want. I am a romantic suspense author because I love the thrill of solving the crime. In many cases, truth is stranger than fiction. Many times I use real-life issues and moments in time in my writing to pique the readers' curiosity.
I am an avid romance reader. I love all different tropes and I constantly have a book in my hand. Reckless Miles is my favorite of all the books I’ve read and out of all the characters, Cooper Miles is my favorite character. The entire Miles series, about a family vineyard, is worth checking out because not only are they fantastic stories that will leave your sides hurting from laughter, and swooning from the happily ever after, but there is also a mystery woven in.
Cooper Miles is unique. He’s very comfortable in his skin. Whatever he thinks comes straight out of his mouth and it is drop-dead hilarious. He takes life as it comes and doesn’t stress, something I wish I could learn to do. When he latches onto someone, he loves them deeply, whether it’s a family member, best friend, or a girl who is dropped into his…
“I love being naked. Naked is awesome.” For Cooper Miles, life used to be an endless party. He worked hard and played harder—as often as possible. But things change—people change—and lately the party life isn’t doing it for him. Enter Amelia Hale. Cooper doesn’t see her coming. But it isn’t every day you meet a girl in a wedding dress in a bar. A girl whose life just took a sharp left turn she wasn’t expecting. Kissing her is totally no big deal. She’s had one hell of a day and a little kissing lesson by Cooper is bound to…
I’ve been reading sapphic or lesbian romances ever since I got my hands on Touchwood and Curious Wine decades ago. When not writing contemporary sapphic romances, I’m always reading them. Happily ever afters haven’t always been the case for two women in love, least of all in fiction. I write sapphic romances to provide for other women like me what I hoped to find in bookstores when I was younger. It wasn’t easy to find a romantic story between two women, let alone have choices. Representation matters, and writing–and reading–books about two women in love is important to me and women like me, especially as states ban such books.
Levig’s characters in Embracing the Dawn leap from the page. They’re fully realized, three-dimensional women with interesting backstories. It’s an unusual pairing, but that doesn’t decrease the swoon-worthy component any.
I’ve heard readers are fascinated with either E.J. or Jinx, myself no exception. Like in my last recommendation, I adore when a character can’t help herself from showing up time and time again, and this romance provides.
Levig supplements her love interests with intriguing and complex side characters who are just as loveable as the main characters. Levig doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, and how E.J. and Jinx support and strengthen each other makes their romance even more swoon worthy.
You’ll be ordering the second book in the series before you’re done with the first.
Does love have a chance when no one knows she wants it?
Jinx Tanner is an ex-con trying to piece together a life on the outside and heal her relationship with her half-sister who hasn’t spoken to her in over twenty-five years. Romantic love is now here on her radar. E. J. Bastien is a business executive with her life and heart under control. She has a successful career, a woman in her bed whenever she wants one, and a healthy relationship with her grown children—as long as they don’t find out she’s gay. She has no desire for romantic…
Having spent most of my life in the Midwest, I know a little (or a lot) about growing up in a small-town environment. When I was younger, I was annoyed by all the things I now find charming about this genre of romance books. The nosy neighbor, the know-it-all jock, the downtrodden wallflower? Stereotypical but oh-so-real. I have written several series set in small towns and have come to love them all. It’s now my go-to genre when I want to sit and relax.
I write romance with Latinas on top. Strong, confident, and successful women (or women on their path to success) who are also sex-positive and know what they want are featured in all my work. I’m passionate about this type of representation of my community because until recently, it has been incredibly difficult to find. While the stories of our struggles are important stories to tell and read, I want to read more stories of our triumphs. Latina women have among the lowest reading for fun rates of any group, but why would we read for fun when we are not seeing our reflection anywhere on the page? This is why representation is so important.
Whenever I need a low-angst, light-hearted rom-com, Carla Luna is my go-to. White Wedding is my favorite of hers, featuring hot, Mexican-American chef, Rafael Sanchez.
Rafael breaks every common stereotype of the Mexican man. Incredibly patient, gentle, and loving, he is the perfect cinnamon-roll hero for Victoria Blackwood.
The premise of this book is everything. Our heroine, Victoria, is stuck planning a wedding. It just so happens the groom is her ex. Enter Rafael to cater the wedding. Oh, did I forget to mention he was her one-night stand she ran out on? Yes, this book is as delicious as it sounds.
This book made me laugh out loud, embarrassingly, in public places. Perfect for a weekend escape into a happy world.
Take one lavish holiday wedding. Add one evil ex and his bridezilla. And toss in a smoking-hot chef from the past. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Victoria Blackwood has spent years trying to redeem herself after falling victim to a blackmail scheme that cost her father thousands. So, when he insists she coordinate a big Christmas wedding at her family’s winery, she can’t say no. Even if the groom is her ex, and the caterer just quit.
For Rafael Sanchez, a last-minute call to cater a huge society wedding is a golden opportunity. If he can prove he’s up to…
Passionate military members are my jam, and I feel pretty confident writing about them. First, I write erotic romance myself, giving me something of an inside view of what makes a good erotic romance with a military vibe. Second, I read a lot of them. Even if the story is a mite slow, you’ve got that alpha military guy who’s going to pull the story out. Or at least, that’s the way it’s worked in every military erotic romance I’ve read. Last, as I mentioned earlier, I was raised in the Navy. I’ve seen lots of men in uniform and the sight never fails to give me a thrill. I think I recognize that passion when I see it.
Another SEAL. Are you detecting a pattern here? What can I say? They’re strong in mind and body. True alpha men. This is an action novel when Jon Rudnick comes home to the woman he had a one-night stand with just before shipping off for Afghanistan. She’s in danger and who’s better to ride into the rescue. This book portrays the Navy a little more realistically by showing the government red tape to screw things up. As a Navy brat, I can vouch for the fact that the military is not always the easiest to deal with. Still, who doesn’t love it, and the steamy romances inspired by it?
A Navy SEAL. A one-night stand. The woman he can't get off his mind... Ten years of dedication to the Navy taught SEAL Jon Rudnick one thing—he’s not afraid to risk life and limb for his country. But when navigating military red tape begins to present more challenges than the enemy it makes Jon question his future. So does Alison Cressly, the woman who doesn’t do one-night stands or SEALs but who broke both rules with Jon the eve of his deployment to Afghanistan. He can’t get her out of his head—not while away and not now that he’s back.…
It’s often been said of musical theatre that the point when the characters begin to sing is the point their emotions become too much to express in words alone. I think that’s one reason I’m so obsessed with books about people connecting over music, art, and performance—it allows for so much passion and intensity. Having sung and played instruments over the years, I know how powerful it can feel to make music with other people, even when you’re not in love! These days, though, I spend more time reading and writing about music than I do playing it.
I love fantasy stories where music and magic intertwine, and this novel combines that with one of my other favourite tropes—characters going on a shared journey. It’s the perfect way to throw characters together, force them to get close, and make them jointly deal with all kinds of situations. Annice is a bard whose flute playing has magical powers. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand, she ends up on the run with the baby’s father, a man she never expected to see again. They’re drawn together initially by Annice’s music, and I love the way music helps them come to understand each other better.
The Bards of Shkoder hold the country together. They, and the elemental spirits they Sing – earth, air, fire, and water - bring the news of the sea to the mountains, news of the mountains to the plains. They give their people, from peasant to king, a song in common.
Annice is a rare talent, able to Sing all four quarters, but her brother, the newly enthroned King Theron, sees her request to study at the Bardic Hall as a betrayal. To his surprise, Annice accepts his conditions, renouncing her royal blood and swearing to remain childless so as not…
We have always loved to read about the bad boy with a secret soft side and when we started writing together, we decided to jump on this genre as well. Writing in dual POVs gives us an opportunity to explore how the bad boy is perceived by others as well as show exactly what the bad boy is thinking…and we love it! There's nothing better than a misunderstood alpha who hides his true feelings because he doesn’t feel worthy. And when he finds that amazing woman who just gets him…magic! We hope you enjoy our very own bad boy with a secret soft side in our book Complicate Me.
We’ve been long-time fans of KA Tucker, who can pretty much write anything and make it amazing and this book, the last in her Ten Tiny Breaths series is no different. We’ve followed Ben for the whole series and while he’s always appeared to be the typical alpha bad boy just looking to get laid, his story shows a whole new side of him. Underneath that cocky exterior is a total mama’s boy who will do anything for his family and, when he finally admits it, the girl he falls for. Watching him and Reese fight their attraction, then try to deny their feelings, before ultimately giving in, was great. And even though Ben turns into an adorable marshmallow, he keeps enough of his cheekiness to make him even more adorable.
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 thatmistake behind her.
Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris's plan. Blown knee that kills…
I’ve published more than 30 books in this genre, and more are on the way. I am passionate about it because I started writing Sapphic romance myself after reading a few really great books in the genre for the first time and the books that made me want to write myself were the ones that made me laugh and had great character development to go along with the laughter. The books I write today are often funny, some are sarcastic, and they’re focused on characters. These books also fit that bill.
This was my first Haley Cass novel, and what I liked about it is that because it’s a longer book, which some authors shy away from writing to hit that reader attention sweet spot, Haley uses the length to tell the whole story of a friends with benefits relationship between two women that if often lighthearted and funny with one of them having no clue how to be with a woman romantically and the other who’s sort of an expert. You’ll also find heart in this story of them growing together and realizing their perfect for one another. The side characters help bring the funny to this book. So, come for the main character and stay for the side characters too.
Sutton Spencer’s ideas for her life were fairly simple: finish graduate school and fall in love. It would be a lot simpler if she could pinpoint exactly what she should do when she graduates in less than a year. Oh, and if she could figure out how to talk to a woman without feeling like a total mess, that would be great too.
Charlotte Thompson is very much the opposite. She's always had clear steps outlining her path to success with no time or inclination for romance. Her burgeoning career in politics means everything to her and she’s not willing…
I’ve been reading and writing romance for most of my life, and I found the stories I was truly drawn to were the ones where I got to know the characters deeply and personally before they got their hard-earned happily ever after. I want to feel like not only the main characters are my new best friends, but also their friends and families. I want to live beside them as they go through this wild ride called life. So, those are the books I set out to write...stories telling about life’s ups and downs, dreams cast aside and remade, and families found along the way. Achingly heartfelt romance with resilient characters readers will adore.
I love Emma Scott stories not only because they are amazeballs, but also because she’s a pretty incredible human being with her own incredible story. But be warned, her words don’t hold back any punches. I often want to scream and tear my hair out as I’m reading, but in the end, I have the largest smile on my face. Emma Scott knows how to find the perfect ending to her stunning stories.
At Santa Cruz Central High School, they called them the misfits, the outcasts, the weirdos. But most of us knew them as the Lost Boys...Miller Stratton is a survivor. After a harrowing childhood of poverty, he will do anything it takes to find security for himself and his mom. He’s putting all his hopes and dreams in the fragile frame of his guitar and the beauty he creates with its strings and his soulful voice.Until Violet.No one expects to meet the love of their life at age thirteen. But the spunky rich girl steals Miller’s heart and refuses to give…
As an avid trail-runner and mountain-biker who’s done a ton of outdoorsy things, from sailboat racing on the Chesapeake Bay to rockclimbing to backpacking in the Pacific Northwest, I’m convinced that nothing gets you closer to someone’s experience than a well-told first-person account. The best personal narratives make you feel the cold, glow with the exhilaration, and burn with ambition to go, to do, to see for yourself — and can even make you look at the world, and yourself, in a new way. These books, different as they are, have all done those things for me.
Building your own sailboat from scratch, then sailing it from California down to Baja, camping, and surfing along the way: how can that not be a cool story? Christian Beamish manages the perfect blend of introspection and backstory with descriptions of sea, sky, land, and the people he meets along the way.
Christian Beamish, a former editor at The Surfer's Journal, envisioned a low-tech, self-reliant exploration for surf along the coast of North America, using primarily clothes and instruments available to his ancestors, and the 18-foot boat he would build by hand in his garage. How the vision met reality and how the two came to shape each other places The Voyage of the Cormorant in the great American tradition of tales of life at sea, and what it has to teach us.
