Books like 'The Ex-it Strategy'
Readers who enjoyed The Ex-it Strategy by L.V. Oaks also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary funny forced proximity second chances slow burn cheerful heroine sweet-hero
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Worth It by S.M. Shade, C.M. Owens
What's the recipe to the ultimate disaster week? Three unruly friends. A wedding we shouldn't have been invited to. Two unexpected romances. A scoop of sexy. And a double scoop of chaos. Lydia is a good girl who is above revenge. Good thing she has us. No one cheats on our best friend and rides off into the sunset with his new bride... -
My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 5 by Shinichi Fukuda
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA loner boy and a flashy girl find common ground via cosplay in this sweet and spicy romcom!Wakana has spent every summer vacation on his own.. -
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn her twenties, Rachel Walsh was a mess. Since her spell in rehab, though, she's come a long way on the road to recovery - and now, she's ready to go back to where it all began. But this time, the student has become the teacher. She used to hate the staff in charge of treating her addiction. Now, she's one of them.Rachel's finally got herself on track - but life never stops being messay... -
My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 4 by Shinichi Fukuda
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsA loner boy and a flashy girl find common ground via cosplay in this sweet and spicy romcom!The preparations for Marin and JuJu's group cosplay steadily advance...until at long last, the costumes are complete!!That should just leave the photo shoot..Categorized as:
cheerful heroine sweet-hero humor contemporary length-short m-f high-school strong heroine -
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Hopelessly Bromantic by Lauren Blakely
A sexy, passionate, utterly addictive, roomies-to-lovers MM romance from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely!Look, when I met the sexy, witty Brit on the streets of London last night, I had no idea who he was. He was just that hot guy I wanted to have a drink with so I asked him out for my first evening in town. One thing almost led to another... -
Here Comes My Man by Lauren Blakely, Teddy Hamilton
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsListening Length 9 hours and 57 minutesA 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...Categorized as:
second chances forced proximity m-m contemporary queer from hate to love angst friends to lovers -
Hawaii Can Suck It by MéLisa Ryun
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsI’m supposed to film him. Not fall for him.I’m Camila Morales—cargo pants-wearing, scrunchie-collecting, videographer to Reece Dare—a growly, tattooed YouTube adrenaline junkie. He’s hot, sure, when he’s not judging me for smiling (calls it a sign of weakness)... -
Spoke Too Soon by Dulcie Dameron
It’s every girl’s dream to move in with the hot guy who ghosted her...NOT.I’m about to be homeless at almost twenty-five.Cue the pathetic wah, wah, wah sound effect.And to make matters worse, I’m nowhere near having enough money to fund the clothing line startup I’ve dreamt about for years.But bemoaning my current situation won’t move the needle and it certainly won’t find me a place to live... -
Nothing But It All by Adriana Locke
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke comes a warm and romantic novel about a marriage in trouble, two conspiring kids, and the meaning of long-lasting love. After twenty years, the cracks in Lauren Reed’s marriage are showing. She and her husband, Jack, feel more like roommates than a loving couple...Categorized as:
forced proximity second chances humor small town mature couple contemporary length-medium audiobook -
Seatmate by Cara Bastone
I have exactly 5 hours and 10 minutes to get from Boston to New York City or the professional opportunity of a lifetime disappears. My only travel option? The second to last seat on a discount bus. Across from the bathroom. Wearing last night’s clothes (don’t ask). All worth it if I can make it in time.My nerves almost get the best of me, but then there he is, sitting down in the seat next to me...Categorized as:
forced proximity sweet-hero cheerful heroine slow burn contemporary humor independent heroine m-f -
Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe
Dear Internet: Am I a horrible person for wanting to sabotage my work assignment—completely wreck a dating contest—because I hate the idea of love?I know it sounds bad, but just hear me out, okay?I (33F) work at a local paper, and two months ago, my editor assigned me a huge project—run the upcoming, highly anticipated Bachelor Anonymous contest...Categorized as:
slow burn forced proximity cheerful heroine sweet-hero military humor super rich hero contemporary -
The Quit List by Katie Bailey
He quit believing in love a long time ago. She won't quit until she finds The One... and he's everything she's NOT looking for. Holly Greene is on a mission to find her happily ever after. And her journey to love does not include a detour to Bad Boy Bartenderville, population Jax Grainger... -
Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
Megan is dreading going home for the holidays. She’s the village pariah, the she-devil who left local golden boy Isaac at the altar four years ago and ran away to the big city. She could really do without the drama. Particularly as he’s engaged again, and she’s just been dumped for the fourth time this year.Christian’s fed up of being on his own every Christmas... -
The Consequence of Rejection by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsA standalone second chance romance by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Rachel Van Dyken. You know the universe is trying to tell you something when you get struck by lightning, but only after getting hit on by the elderly, almost getting run over by a semi, and running into the one who got away... -
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The Wedding Menu by Letizia Lorini
How many weddings does it take to fall in love?One year ago, Amelie had it all.Almost engaged to her high school sweetheart, close to her childhood best friend, and cooking at her dad's restaurant: her life was exactly what she’d ordered.Until Ian, an opinionated wedding-hater, popped up out of nowhere and proved she might like something off menu.***One year later, Amelie has lost it all...Categorized as:
forced proximity sweet-hero second chances contemporary humor new adult friends to lovers m-f -
Tangled Up In You by Barbara Freethy
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDetective Adam Cole has been a loner for as long as he can remember. He's very good at protecting people. He's great at being a friend, but relationships that go beyond that—not so much. A darkness in his past prevents him from making himself open and vulnerable... -
Almost a Bride by Jo Watson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThat awkward moment you catch your boyfriend in bed with another woman and then mistakenly get arrested #chargesdroppedAnnie knows life isn't always fair. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you get mistaken for a crazed intruder when you come home early and find your boyfriend wearing nipple clamps with a coworker on the night you thought he was going to propose to you...Categorized as:
slow burn sweet-hero humor contemporary new adult vengeance fake relationship cheating -
Stay With Me by Kelly Elliott
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLife moves on. Only people who have never lost anyone they loved with all their heart can blindly believe those words. What if I didn’t want to move on? What if I wanted to wake up every morning with that familiar ache in my chest, knowing I’d never see her again? But, life can change in a moment... -
Without You by Lacey Black
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTuckerI spend my days brewing beer for the popular Brew Crüe Beer Company and my nights devoted to being a dad. Raising a young child with special needs can be tough and stressful, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. He’s everything to me, and the reason I keep going. It’s him and me against the world, and I have no intention of changing that.Then, Kinsley McGregor walks back into my life... -
Beachside Kisses With My Enemy: A Sweet Romantic Comedy by Kristin Canary
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the charming town of Hallmark Beach, love’s a food fight when old flames ignite and rivalries simmer.Things were sailing smoothly in my little slice of paradise until Blake “the Flake” Moffitt waltzed back into town, looking far too handsome for his own good—and mine. Once upon a time, I was hopelessly in love with my best friend's brother, but that fairytale is history... -
Stars Shine In Your Eyes by Bella Andre
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"Loved it, Loved it, Loved it! Long live the London Sullivans!" 5 starsAccording to the British gossip columns, billionaire Malcolm Sullivan is one of the most eligible bachelors in England. His siblings love to tease him about that, and since he also thinks the whole thing is ridiculous, he takes no offense. The irony is that while he is great at his job, he's terrible at dating.. -
Italy Can Bite Me by MéLisa Ryun
Note To Don’t Fall For Your Tour Guide's "Rock Solid" Tower of Pisa.There are two types of planners and chaos-makers. I, Katie Crawford, am the former—color-coded, laminated, and ready for anything. So when my fiancé dumps me for being too Type A, I do the logical fly to Italy with my cougar aunt’s senior-swingers’-bus-tour to prove I can be spontaneous.The Loosen up. Be fun. Win my fiancé back... -
Making Room For You by M.A. Clarke Scott, MaryAnn Clarke
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the award-winning author of The Art of Enchantment, comes Making Room for You, an inspiring, heart-warming enemies-to-lovers romantic women’s fiction tale... -
Let's Make a Scene by Laura Wood
The companion novel to Laura Wood’s Under Your Spell follows Theo Eliott’s best friend Cynthie Taylor as she’s pulled back into a fake PR relationship with Jack Turner-Jones, the one costar she swore she’d never work with again.When Cynthie Taylor gets her first real acting job, starring in a small British movie, she is over the moon...Categorized as:
forced proximity slow burn from hate to love contemporary humor length-medium actors famous heroine -
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Forever Entangled by Kathleen Brooks
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsRyan Parker had always loved Sienna Ashton, but gave up on his fantasy years ago. After working as an undercover FBI Agent in Los Angeles, Ryan gets a phone call telling him to come home to the small town of Keeneston, Kentucky. The woman he thought he was over is now in serious trouble. Sienna Ashton fell in love with Ryan Parker too late... -
Fore-Ever Yours by Bella Greene
A viral photo, a fake relationship, and one big problem.MatthewAll I wanted was a quiet few days.Instead, I get coffee poured on me, a gossip scandal, and a fake girlfriend.My agent insists this PR stunt will boost my career.Fake dating her for a few months? Fine. No problem.Except it’s definitely a problem.The more we fake this, the more I forget it’s not real...Categorized as:
slow burn forced proximity cheerful heroine sweet-hero insta-love sports humor length-novella -
When Our Stars Aligned by Tracy McJames
Sometimes fate takes fifteen years… and thousands of miles to finally bring twopeople together. JaxI’ve been doing just fine on my own, living life on autopilot after my time in the Navy…When my gram told me in her last hours that she’d always known the girl I was supposed tobe with, I figured it was the meds talking... -
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends... -
It's Always Sonny by Kate Watson
Sunshine always melts ice eventually. And I’m starting to feel the burn.People may call me an “overachieving ice queen,” but I would do anything for the people I love.So when my friends ask me to host an event at their famous farm, I’m more than happy to help…until I discover I’ve been set up.The “event” is actually a reunion for my ex’s family...Categorized as:
forced proximity second chances contemporary sports grumpy sunshine m-f found-family football -
That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss by Julie Christianson
My dream job just got snapped up by the one man who rejected me…That’s right. I’m an unemployed twenty-something stuck sleeping on my grandmother’s old futon while Hudson Blaine, the guy who shot me down, gets to manage The Beachfront Inn.Talk about life being unfair.I’m about to flee town with what’s left of my pride when Mr. Rejection begs me to stay... -
A Real Goode Time by Jasinda Wilder
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRhys Frost—he’s literally too good to be true. Tall, dark, and so handsome, with big strong grease-stained and work-roughed hands, a brilliant smile, and a heart of gold. He’s patient. He’s funny. And he wants me. He wants to do things to me that I’ve never even dared fantasize about.The problem is, I’m a virgin, and I haven’t told him... -
The Christmas List by Maren Moore
From bestselling author of The Mistletoe Bet, Maren Moore comes a second chance, single dad, holiday novella full of Christmas sugar and spice. I love Christmas. So much so that in my smalltown I’m known as The Queen of Christmas. And no one knows holiday festivities quite like Strawberry Hollow. Only this Christmas season delivers an unexpected twist in the form of Wyatt Owens... -
Once Upon a Grump by Penelope Bloom
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAll I wanted was a fresh start.Instead, I got him.Mr. Mysterious Millionaire in His Tower.Mr. Don't Dare Question Me.Mr. Grumpy With a Side of Fine.Well, he’s about to get introduced to his newest employee,Ms. Doesn’t Give A Flying Toot.All right, all right. I’m exaggerating a bit. I give one or two toots, but I just got finished fleeing the ruins of my former life... -
Goode Vibrations by Jasinda Wilder
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI’m no stranger to beautiful places and beautiful women; the life I’ve led has left me jaded to both…or so I thought. Then a working holiday photographing the wild, lonely places of America leads me to a goddess. She’s all long black hair and dangerous curves, fiercely independent, with art in her soul... -
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How to Kiss Your Enemy by Jenny Proctor
How is it possible for the chemistry between two chefs to be hotter than a ghost pepper yet colder than liquid nitrogen?When THE Tatum Elliott shows up to run the catering kitchen at my family’s farm and event center, I don’t trust her anymore than I did back in culinary school.But like it or not, she’s here. On my territory. My turf...Categorized as:
forced proximity second chances contemporary humor office from hate to love length-medium m-f -
Third Party by Danika Bloom
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsTurns out that old saying is true, that money can’t buy happiness. But it sure can ruin it.Josh Rhodes was the love of my life. We were all set to do the ‘til death do us part’ thing. But when the video game he’d been working on for years sold for millions, I realized I wasn't prepared for the 'for richer or poorer' part. All I needed to do was prove that I could still support myself—if I had to...Categorized as:
second chances sweet-hero contemporary new adult humor tearjerkers christmas working class hero -
Thinking 'Bout You by Claire Hastings
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsTo the world, he’s Dustin Wild, country star with a megawatt smile and a voice smooth as whiskey. To me, he’ll always be Dustin Wilder, the small-town boy who stole my heart…then broke it.It’s been seven years since Dustin rolled out of our rural Georgia town, chasing his dream, promising he’d be back. Except that never happened... -
Never Fall for the Bride's Father by Julia Kent
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsPower outages. Runaway brides. Collapsed wedding cakes. Tainted caviar. Handsy grooms. And the always jealous MILs who wear white.No wedding catastrophe can faze Katie Gallagher, because when you plan for the worst, you deliver the best.The best wedding ever.Her company, Wedding Protectors, Inc., promises happily ever afters. Guaranteed. Whatever it takes... -
That Time We Kissed Under the Mistletoe: A Sweet Romantic Comedy by Julie Christianson
My holly jolly Christmas just went up in smoke. Literally …Playing nursemaid to Bradford “Three” Fuller is the last thing I need for Christmas.But for the next few days, I’m stuck in charge of my ex’s sparkling eyes, his ridiculous abs, and his (mostly) accidental kisses.I don’t have a choice.You see, Three’s only hurt because of me. And not like he hurt me a decade ago... -
Cowboy Up by Jordan Marie
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThey say old wounds will heal with time—but that's a damn lie. Blue Lucas knew the moment Meadow moved back to Mason she was going to rip him apart.Seeing her every single day is hell on earth, but he survives it--probably because losing her destroyed the most important parts of him years ago.Meadow has spent her life running away from Blue because who she is will never be enough for what he is... -
Men or Paws by Rich Amooi
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWatch a dog for three weeks, get fifteen thousand dollars. Piece of cake, right?Wrong.First, I have to stay in my client’s guesthouse while he’s in the main house working on an important project. That may not sound so bad, but HE is Hollywood’s Bad Boy, Rocco Romano, voted “Sexiest Man Alive.”The guy could charm the pants off a mannequin.Luckily he’s not my type.Seriously... -
Deja Brew All Over Again by Sylvie Stewart
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTrouble has always had a way of finding me, but I never expected to be carjacked by a hot girl in a wedding dress.As the official family screw-up, not many people count on me for anything but a good time. But Maisy Romero and her little brother need a knight in shining armor, and they need him yesterday... -
Save the Drama for Your Mama by Rich Amooi
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsForget meet-cute. This is a meet-disaster.MelodyCooper Galloway was my bookstore crush for all of five minutes. Then he opened his mouth and ruined my fantasy. Things go from bad to worse when I arrive for my new job and HE greets me at the door... -
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Summer Hate by Melissa Ivers
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsHe was the last person I wanted to see on my girls trip, let alone share a room with.Donovan Fitzroy is grumpy. Irritable. Annoyingly perfect. And as handsome as he is uptight. He’s also my best friend’s older brother.My bestie promised me a relaxing week at her family owned resort, but when I got there all I got was an apologetic phone call and a promise that her brother would take care of me... -
The Barista's Guide to the Perfect Steam by Valerie Pepper
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJodi Bristol knows three things for bad things happen to good people; college girls order the most complicated coffee drinks; and Price Joseph will never see her as anything other than the barista who makes his vanilla oat-milk lattes... -
Christmas With a Crank by Courtney Walsh
A second chance with your first crush.Doesn’t happen often.For Liam Fisher, that first crush was his next door neighbor, Olive Witherby.Childhood was lazy summers, treehouse stargazing, and endless games of hide and seek at Pine Creek, the Christmas tree farm that’s been in Liam’s family for generations... -
Catch Yourself a Snowmance by Savannah Scott
Getting stuck in an old cabin is not my idea of a great winter vacation.Getting stuck with Carson makes me wonder what I did do end up on Santa’s naughty list.My friend Noelle talked me into going on a group vacation with our friends. Then she sprung the news that her boyfriend is joinig us ... with his friends.I’ve met these guys... -
Wandering Closer by Etta Lane
Lily:After leaving everything behind, I thought the quiet of a small mountain town would be the perfect place to start over. As an author, solitude is all I’ve known, and I’m finally starting to feel at home. But then I meet Thoren James—a rugged park ranger with a protective nature and a heart of gold. Along with his loyal dog, Shadow, he offers me a sense of security I didn’t know I needed... -
Falling in Vermont by Elise Kennedy
Sophia Bertone books a six week stay at a quintessential Vermont pumpkin farm planning to perfect her rustic fall recipes for her upcoming cookbook. But after raccoons take up residence in her rental cottage pantry and the thatched roof caves in at the height of leaf-peeping season, she has no other option than to move in with her landlord, a quiet flannel-clad pumpkin farmer...
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