Book picks similar to
Just Breathe by Célia Pereira


romance
single-parent
tattoo
contemporary-romance

The Truth About Lies


Aly Martinez - 2018
    And I was helpless to save her. Consumed by hate and rage, I spent four years running from my memories. Until a shattered woman gave me a reason to stop. Cora lived in a nightmare, but through sheer force of will, she’d turned it into something beautiful. She had a smile that could pierce the darkest soul. And with one glance, she shredded mine. Lie: I was only there for a fresh start. Lie: I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Lie: There was nothing I could do to save her, either. But that’s the thing about lies—you never know who to believe.

Worth the Fall


Claudia Connor - 2014
    . . . Abby Davis isn’t wearing a skimpy bikini or sipping umbrella drinks, not when she’s busy chasing around four little ones. And Matt McKinney isn’t looking for fun—he’s a Navy SEAL, a grown man with a long list of missions . . . and fallen brothers.   They only have a week. . . . Abby has brought her children to this beach to start over, to give them the enjoyable memories they deserve. Matt’s been sidelined by a combat injury, and haunted by the best friend he lost and the promise he made: to remain a SEAL—focused and dedicated. This leaves no time for what he’s always wanted: a family.   But a week is all it takes. . . . Matt opens her heart while Abby soothes his soul. And though they plan to say good-bye when the week is over, something magical happens on that beach, something neither can forget. Something utterly, completely worth falling for.

Bang


E.K. Blair - 2014
    But I’m not innocent. I haven’t been for a very long time. My innocence was stolen from me. Taken was the life I was supposed to have. The soul I was born with. The ruby heart embedded in a life full of hopes and dreams.Gone.Vanished.I never even had a choice. I mourn that life. Mourn the what-ifs. Until now. I’m ready to take back what was always meant to be mine.But every plan has a fatal flaw. Sometimes it’s the heart.**Due to the dark and explicit nature of this book, it is recommended for mature audiences only as some scenes may be particularly disturbing.**

Cocky Cage Fighter Box Set


Lane Hart - 2016
    Known for his viciousness in the cage, and his playboy ways out of it, Jax is arrested and charged with a brutal rape. The thought of spending decades in prison is one of the few things that actually scares the shit out of this cocky fighter. Newly admitted attorney Page Davenport is willing to do anything it takes to get out from under her father's thumb and finally prove herself in his law firm. Anything except represent the infamous miscreant, Jackson "The Mauler" Malone. Despite her protests, Page is powerless to avoid becoming the sacrificial lamb, the token female, who will be the face of the violent, angry Neanderthal's defense team. Jax is a bad boy with a temper, doing whatever the hell he wants in life while flipping the bird at all his haters. Page is the prim and proper rich debutante her parents want her to be. They've been pulling her strings, telling her what to do, where to go to school, what to wear, and even who she should marry. Page and Jax struggle to work together, engaging in a knockdown drag-out fight for dominance. When they finally stop taking swings at each other, they're both surprised to realize that sometimes first impressions are completely wrong. In fact, opposites really do seem to attract. However, there are lines that attorneys and their clients can never cross, if Page wants to keep her license to practice law. Will Page risk it all and submit to the cocky fighter? Or will Jax's temper and jealousy prove too much for her to take on outside of the courtroom? Either way, one thing is for sure - neither Page nor Jax are going down without a fight. In the end, the secret for them to find heaven may be to battle their way through hell first. ~ Jude ~ MMA cage fighter Jude Malone leads a simple life - eat, sleep and train. His older brother Jax is a legend in the octagon, and while Jude's had his fair share of recent losses, he's better than his record. He just needs a chance to prove it. When Jude is suddenly offered the fight of a lifetime by his head coach, there is only one tiny string attached. He decides to go for it, but that little string just might turn out to be the one that unravels him completely. Sadie Briggs is a quiet, introverted tomboy. She was raised by a single father and grew up in his MMA training gym with dozens of sweaty, aggressive men. They only think of her as their sweet little sister, not as a woman who is getting ready to go off to college. That all changes when her longtime crush, Jude Malone, becomes her knight in shining armor after her boyfriend dumps her the week before her senior prom. Jude feels like he's been sucker punched when Sadie's unexpected Cinderella transformation forces him to actually see her as a woman for the very first time. Overwhelming lust, jealousy and passion turn out to be the right combination to finally unlock Jude's cocky alpha fighter inside and out of the cage. Only one thing stands in the way of him winning the world championship welterweight title and a gorgeous girl. The truth. ~ Linc ~ Linc is in love with a porn star. Okay, so maybe he’s not in love with Eve Kelly, but he’s completely freaking obsessed with her, addicted even. For years he’s been using Eve as an escape from reality. Why? Because Linc’s heart was not only ripped out of his chest by his high school sweetheart, she crushed it into so many pieces that he still hasn’t found them all. But now he’s ready to stop letting the past haunt him and a porn star own him.

The Best Thing


Mariana Zapata - 2019
    Other things… not so much. Lenny DeMaio made herself a promise: she was done. Done thinking about him. Done worrying about him. Done reaching out to a man who clearly didn’t want to be found. Too bad no one gave Jonah Collins the memo.

The Weight of Life


Whitney Barbetti - 2017
    The words I would soon say again, in a moment that didn’t involve bridges, but something much more fragile: my heart.He held onto me for three weeks, in a time when I needed to be held. Needed to connect to someone who understood how loss tunneled unrepentantly through the fabric of your soul.Although he said he'd stay, we both knew he wouldn't. I had already survived one loss—I didn't know if I'd survive another.-Ames-She spun into my life like a tornado of smiles and chatter and everything else I'd long avoided, with a persistence that I admired, albeit begrudgingly. She broke down each neat wall I’d constructed without even trying. Her presence alone caused me to remember what it felt like to smile, to look forward to what the day would bring.But it was only supposed to last three weeks.“Don’t let go,” she’d pleaded.I’d promised her I wouldn’t—but I would. I didn't have a choice.

Bending to Break


A.L. Hartwell - 2021
    Focusing on her fledgling career to become a lawyer she doesn’t realize a moment of kindness, eight years ago, would be the undoing of all her hard work to remain hidden. Giving away her plane ticket in an act of defiance, Olivia seals her fate to a man who sees right through her.In the passing eight years, Luca Caruso waits in the shadows, protecting her with his anonymity, money, and four highly trained guards - repaying his debt. The repayment stalls when one guard steps out of line, forcing Luca to steal her away, to submit to a life of his blinding obsession and desire.Olivia wrestles with her head and her heart, desiring her freedom but also the secrets from the man that stole her away in the middle of the night. Amid his desperation for her acceptance, Olivia begins to uncover his dark secrets and attempts to flee. Feeling betrayed, Luca forces Olivia to make a difficult decision.To bend or break? The choice is hersThis is the first book in a series of three.Like real life, this series follows some difficult subjects. Please read the below trigger warnings before reading on.TW: Death, kidnapping, stalking, drugs.

Dirty St. Nick


Erin Trejo - 2019
    Well, you get the point. What's that mean? Enter the hot and sexy boss of my best friend. I don't usually go for the suit and tie types. It's not my thing but what's beneath the suit? I think we should find out, don't you? I wasn't looking for love but I think Dirty St. Nick might be throwing me a curveball.

Jacked


Tina Reber - 2014
    Since that moment, she has made it her life goal to pursue emergency medicine, pouring her heart and soul into assuring another innocent life isn’t lost to the hands of the wicked. We all have secrets we've never shared. Detective Adam Trent has lost control of everything, starting with losing his partner to a punk with a gun and then everything else to the crushing guilt. Now a member of the elite Auto Theft Task Force in Philadelphia, it's his job to be one step ahead of the criminals stealing expensive cars in the city. Too bad the television cameras keep getting in the way of his investigation. We all have pasts that we can never escape. A stolen car, a tragic chase, and a traffic stop crosses the fates of these two, tying them together in ways that are unimaginable. As their love and trust grows, so do the enemies that threaten their survival, testing the strength of their commitment. Can true love endure half-truths, past pains, and secrets never meant to be shared? Some things are just out of our control. Love Unscripted spin-off featuring Kyle Trent's older brother, Adam.

Crashing Back Down


Kristen Hope Mazzola - 2013
    Her late husband, Randy, left for the Army right after their wedding. Instead of celebrating his homecoming and living in marital bliss with her soulmate, Mags finds herself living in constant agony. Dealing with the guilt of still living without Randy, are Randy's best friends and parents. Rising from the ashes of this tragedy, Mags starts to learn how to love and trust again, finally being able to find happiness. But sometimes things really are too good to be true and again Mags learns how cruel the world can be as she crashes back down.**18+ for sexual situations, cursing, and adult content.***

Marry Me


Samantha Lind - 2018
    She captured my heart from the moment I first saw her dancing through the sprinkler. I always kept my feelings hidden though, standing back as she dated other guys, afraid to cross that line and risk losing her. I even went out with a few girls myself, but no one ever measured up. Then that dreaded day arrived, and I knew I’d lost her forever. Lauren- Sam was always my constant. My rock. My best friend. That feeling, the one I only got around him, had never been matched by another man. But Sam never showed me he felt anything more for me than friendship, so I moved on... Now, standing at the end of the aisle, ready to walk to my forever, my mind spins with what-ifs. Do I keep moving forward, knowing a man who loves me is at the end? Or do I risk it all, for the one man I’ve always wanted, and hope he wants me in return.