Book picks similar to
Awakened by Shey Stahl


contemporary-romance
stand-alone
erotica
standalone

Shallow River


H.D. Carlton - 2020
    Now she's rebuilding her life with her dream man and life couldn't be better.Ryan Fitzgerald is everything you'd want in a man. Attractive, rich, an aspiring lawyer, and would do anything to keep River. But that's not the only thing that attracts her. It's his attentiveness, his possessiveness... maybe not so much his temper.When her relationship takes a dark turn, Ryan's estranged brother, Mako, is the only one who sees it. He knows exactly what Ryan is capable of, and it's not the first time he had to be a knight in shining armor.River came from Shallow Hill, though. She's never needed saving before. What Mako doesn't see, is that River is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.The only one who should be scared is Ryan.Trigger Warning: Shallow River is a dark romance that contains domestic violence, rape, violence, and sexual situations.

Bend


Kivrin Wilson - 2016
    My boyfriend’s best friend. He was never supposed to be anything more—until he was. When my college boyfriend betrayed me and left, breaking my heart, Jay picked a side. He chose me. He stayed, and for the past six years, he’s been my rock, my anchor, my compass…Now we’ve grown up, finished school, and have careers. Me as a nurse practitioner; Jay as a doctor. He’s been everything I needed, but now I want more. I can’t stop thinking about him, and I’m done hiding it.   It’s time to find out if he wants me, too. 
JAY

A friend. Not a lover. That’s who Mia Waters is to me. I’ve tried damn hard to make sure our relationship stays that way. I’m the shoulder she leans on, the last one to talk to her before she goes to sleep at night… And after six years, she means more to me than my own family.The moment I met her, I wanted her. But she belonged to someone else, so I pushed the need down. I didn’t take what I wanted. I’m not that guy. Her happiness meant more.  Until now. Until she asks me a question that shatters our unspoken boundaries. Have you ever thought about having sex with me? Six years of keeping her at arm’s length, and I can feel myself starting to give in and lose control with her.I can’t let it happen. There are reasons I didn’t get close. She hasn’t let go of her ex-boyfriend, not really. And she has no idea about the lies I’ve told her.What if she finds out about me? What if she finds out who I really am?And what will she do when I leave?

The Choices I've Made


J.L. Berg - 2017
    I couldn't be me anymore. So, with nothing more than a few boxes and a beat up truck, I left behind my old life at the tender age of eighteen.And I never looked back. Twelve years later, I find myself traveling back to the sandy shores of that North Carolina town where my late father has left me his medical practice. Coming here means facing my past... My memories... And her--Molly McIntyre. Growing up, Molly had been my entire world, first as a childhood friend and then so much more. We'd made promises to each other back then. Promises I broke when I walked away. And now that I'm back? Well, let's just say she's not exactly the head of my welcoming committee. But even she can't deny the undeniable spark that still burns so brightly between us and soon, we're tumbling fast and hard into the past.But I need to keep my eyes set to the future, because mine isn't here in this dead end town. Not anymore. All Molly has ever known is here, on this small island. Could I really ask her to give it all up? For me? If I walk away again, will she follow?

Still Waters


Rebecca Addison - 2015
    It seemed that everything came easily to Hartley Preston. And then there was her boyfriend David, good-looking, charming and on his way to the top just like she was. But no one knew better than Hartley that things aren’t always as they seem.After making a devastating discovery that tears her world apart, Hartley runs away to an isolated coastal town. She’s searching for freedom and independence but what she finds is Crew Sullivan, a man who is running from life even faster than she is. Hartley wants to escape her future. Crew needs to be released from his past. And with the way they feel about each other, it could have been more than perfect. Except for one, small thing.Hartley is keeping a secret. And Crew has more than a few of his own.

Traded


Rebecca Brooke - 2015
     When you’re done with me, you can walk away with no regrets. That’s how my husband sees me. I try to be the best wife possible for him. After all, he took me on when no one else would. Now--he’s in debt and owes more money to the loan shark than we can possibly repay. But, don’t worry, he’s come up with a solution, it’s just not one I was expecting. ...I’ve been TRADED. **Content Warning: this book contains adult language, Sexual situations and situations of emotional abuse. Please use caution when reading. **THIS BOOK IS MEANT FOR ADULTS 18+ ONLY**

Protecting Piper


Cynthia Eden - 2019
     Eric Wilde has always known that Piper Lane isn’t for him. She is his younger brother’s best friend…and probably more. But that hasn’t stopped Eric from wanting her. For longing for the one woman that he can’t have. Sure, he’s rich, successful—he’s built a security empire, and he’s got the world at his feet. Only he doesn’t have her. He is the one man she needs the most. Free-spirited Piper Lane has always considered Eric to be the enemy. He’s seemed to resent her, and the guy just flat-out makes her nervous. Every time she’s around him, she winds up doing something horribly embarrassing. But, this time…everything has changed. This time, he’s the one man she needs the most. Something is stalking Piper. A stranger has broken into Piper’s home twice, and she feels like someone is following her. Watching her every move. She needs a professional to help her—so enter Eric Wilde. He promises her protection, he promises to put his best investigators on her case, and he even moves her into his house. Suddenly, the guy who has always been the villain in her life…he’s now playing the role of hero. Everything will change as the danger mounts. And maybe Eric isn’t so bad, after all. The more time that Piper spends with him, the more she realizes that her feelings for Eric are far more complicated that she ever imagined. Desire explodes between them even as the danger deepens around her. Someone in the dark is targeting Piper, and he is determined that if he can’t possess her…then he will destroy her. PROTECTING PIPER…a sizzling new romantic suspense from New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Cynthia Eden.

Wrecked


Teagan Kade - 2016
    Now she’s mine—body and soul. DEACON Screw redemption. I’m at the end of the world to hide, to surf, to keep my brothers safe. But Lux blew in like a summer storm, a Californian cliché I couldn’t get enough of. After I saved her, all I wanted was to pull her close, feel her writhe beneath me, but I can’t put her in danger. I won’t. Enough lives have been lost already. LUX ‘The most dangerous wave in the world’—That’s how I found myself at the bottom of Australia, a dark stranger breathing life back into my lungs. He’s trouble. Everything about him says ‘stay the f*#k away’, but I can’t. I don’t know what he’s hiding from, what he’s done, but one thing’s for sure: I’m caught in his undertow and I can’t turn back. Wrecked is a full-length bad boy romance with a happily ever after and no cheating. For a limited time, it also includes bestselling novel Throttle as a bonus.

Romance Series Starter Bundle: Caden + Chaos & the Geek


Elizabeth Stevens - 2021
    Featuring the first books in the LOVING THE SYKES and the GRACE GRAYSON SECURITY series.Loving the Sykes #1: CADENCADENI just have to hope I haven't waited too long. And that her three big brothers, the only family I have left, aren't the thing that finally manage to kill me.I need to make her my girl.LUCYI don't know if he'll ever see me as anything more than a little sister. Not with another in his heart. But, I'm willing to do whatever it takes.I've always been his girl.Grace Grayson Security #1: CHAOS & THE GEEKAMBERHow do you politely refuse when the only guy to star in any of your dirty fantasies has just offered to put you up for the foreseeable future and your brother’s just accepted like you were in fact still thirteen and couldn’t make decisions for yourself? You don’t.KITWhen I find out about my best mate’s little sister’s situation, the offer is out of my mouth before I can stop it; Hawk’s like a brother to me even if Amber’s never looked twice at me. It might just be time that this chaos gets a little geek.

Shocking Heaven


D.H. Sidebottom - 2013
    Determined to take control of her life and move on from her turbulent past,Eve strictly orders no drama, no bullshit and definitely no relationships.That was until she met deep and moody Jax Cooper, The vocalist for local band 'Room 103'. Jax is arrogant and egotistical, an alpha male straight through to his core, but so damn hot, and Eve soon finds his relentless pursuit of her, harder and harder to resist.But both hold tortured souls and secrets, secrets that could blow their whole lives apart...literally.Except sometimes it's not secrets or damaged spirits that threaten their relationship...it's life itself.Eve soon finds out that if you're going through hell, then the only way out the other side, is to just keep going.This book contains explicit sex scenes, strong language and lot's of heartache. And of course...one hell of an alpha male.

Our Way


T.L. Swan - 2020
    beyond belief.In another life, he’s probably my soul mate.However, lately things have changed. He’s started looking at me differently.His eyes drop to my lips as I speak.His hugs are tighter…. longer.Our fights are more passionate, his jealousy insane.I know it’s all in my head….it has to be.They say to never love someone who treats you like you’re ordinary.I don't. To him I'm a queen.But our story is complicated.And as much as I love Nathan Mercer with all of my heart. . .He’s the one man I can never have.

Escape from Paradise


Gwendolyn Field - 2013
    One spontaneous choice whisks Angela across the world to the pseudo paradise of Spain’s Mediterranean Riviera where she has another choice to make: live cooperatively as one of billionaire Marco Ruiz’s slaves, or die.* * *Colin Douglas’s future was seized and choked when deliberate tragedy struck his Scottish family at the age of sixteen. He spent his remaining youthful years infiltrating the U.K.’s crime world, seeking power, control, and revenge, all leading to a position as an undercover agent. With nothing to lose, Colin accepts the seemingly impossible job of rescuing America’s famous missing girl, Angela Birch. Colin knows that to enter a snake lair, one must become a snake. It turns out to be a mission which will put his desire for control to the ultimate test, and make him wish for things he never knew he wanted.*AUTHOR'S NOTE* Escape from Paradise is a work of fiction intended for adult readers, containing graphic sexual scenarios and strong language.

Freeing Her


A.M. Hargrove - 2014
    the story of two people who were meant to be together. Why? Because unknown to them, they shared terrifying pasts and the cruel circumstances of their births doomed both of them to a life of hell. Two strangers ... one night ... one accidental meeting that changed their lives forever. Gabriella Martinelli, Manhattan psychiatrist had only one goal in life—to help abuse victims avoid the horrors she’d experienced herself. She worked late, volunteered, and donated her services to anyone who needed them. Life was good ... until her nightmare resurfaced. He found her, and began stalking her, and she knew he wouldn’t stop until he destroyed every ragged piece of her.Kolson Hart, Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor, was ruled by his dark past. He liked control, from the boardroom to the bedroom and didn’t care to be involved with someone whose life was just as screwed up as his was. But one look at Gabriella short-circuited everything. Want ... desire ... need ... will sometimes drive a man to do things he swore he never would.He freed her from a life of fear ... When he couldn’t even save himself.

You Don't Know Me


Faleena Hopkins - 2015
    Can their rockstar best friend Alec stand up for her... or will he be the spy they want him to be. And what will Rue Calliwell do with all that cash?

Return to You


Melanie Shawn - 2018
    For Allison Walsh, that line was a tightrope hanging a hundred feet in the air, with no safety net to catch her if--or when--she fell. Ali was barely treading water after losing her big brother, who was her hero and best friend. His sudden death left her to raise her twin nephews when the man that was supposed to share the responsibility with her went MIA after the funeral. Kade's MMA training made him a champion, but it never equipped him to fight off the one force beyond his control: his feelings for his best friend's little sister. He's sure his demons mean he's not good enough for her, but he's going to do everything in his power to conquer them. When the sexy, tattooed fighter shows up on Ali's doorstep out of the blue with a bag hanging over his shoulder and a smile that would make a nun blush, he seems different. But after all he's put her through, Ali's not in a forgive-and-forget kinda mood. Will Kade prove that he's the man worthy of Ali's heart and trust, or will his past sins determine their future?

Man of My Dreams


Faith Andrews - 2013
    But the man in her dreams is the one that got away—her high school crush.Mia has the life everyone envies. A white picket fence, two adorable daughters, and a hottie husband who stole her heart in college with the strum of his Gibson and his sexy baritone. But when forever becomes monotonous for this perfect couple, their faith in each other is tested. For Declan, long trips away from home because of his demanding job cause him to find comfort on the road. For Mia, the recurring dreams of her old flame and the shock of her husband's infidelity send her running into Noah's arms at their ten year high school reunion. Will Mia abandon the alluring pull of the past for her picture perfect future or will the man of her dreams be replaced by the man in her dreams? MAN OF MY DREAMS is a full-length, contemporary romance. This is book one in the Dream Series and can be read as a standalone.