Book picks similar to
Destiny by Cindy Ray Hale
young-adult
romance
ya
contemporary
Faking It with Damian
D.J. Hunnam - 2017
The man is vile, arrogant, condescending... and scorching hot. If he weren’t my boss and a grade-A a*&hole, I would turn on my world-famous charm and seduce the pants right off the man. But giving in to his undeniable allure might just cost me my job. Or worse yet, my heart.I’m a prick…and Janice Holder’s new boss. Which means I should stay away, but I’ve never claimed to be a nice guy. If I don't get my twisted fascination under control, it will only be a matter of time before I bend her over my desk and screw her.
Hard.
The way I've imagined no fewer than a thousand times since we met. I’m playing with fire and neither of us can afford to get burned, but landing in hot water might just be worth the risk. Faking It is a full-length, standalone office romance. It contains steamy scenes with a ton of heat and strong language intended for mature audiences.
Hooked
Liz Fichera - 2013
This is an opportunity to shine, win a scholarship and go to university, something no one in her family has done. But Fred’s presence on the team isn’t exactly welcome — especially not to rich golden boy Ryan Berenger, whose best friend was kicked off the team to make a spot for Fred.But there’s no denying that things are happening between the girl with the killer swing and the boy with the killer smile...
The Secret Santa Wishing Well
Nikki Lynn Barrett - 2012
At the suggestion of his ill sister, Jacob takes a job as a Secret Santa at the mall, hoping to restore his Christmas spirit. Even that doesn't seem to work, until a special little boy ambles up to make a very special wish...Cheyenne Jensen is struggling to raise her two kids without the help of her ex-husband who refuses to acknowledge his daughter's existence and doesn't provide for the son he does. This Christmas is shaping up to be as heartbreaking as the last, until her son Ben's kind actions lead a stranger to them.Ah, but it's Christmas time and the magic has begun.When Jacob and Cheyenne meet, neither can deny their immediate attraction to one another. As situations arise that require they spend more time together, their feelings grow stronger and stronger.With Christmas fast approaching, the pair learn what matters most in life. Now, if only they could ditch the ghost of Christmases past.Maybe this holiday will bring some wishes come true—for everyone after all.
Steel Lily
Megan Curd - 2013
No, more than a commodity. Her existence is guarded at all costs.She’s a water Elementalist, the strongest of her dwindling kind. She creates steam to provide energy to fuel Dome Four: the only thing standing between humanity and an earth ravaged by World War III. No steam, no Dome. No Dome, no life.Or so she thinks.That is, until a mysterious man offers her a way out of having to donate steam. A way to escape the corrupt government of Dome Four. While the offer seems too good to be true, Avery is intrigued. But when she arrives to her new home, she realizes the grass isn’t any less dead on this side of the fence. Instead, the lies are just hidden better.…Which means digging deeper.When Avery enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth, she learns that while some secrets are better left concealed, humankind was never meant to live in a cage. And when you can control the most sought after resource, you can learn to control anything…including the fate of your world.
So I'm a Double Threat
Julie Prestsater - 2009
Expectations and hopes are high for their Freshman year. Meggie wants nothing more than to experience all high school has to offer – growing freedom, hot boys, parties, make-out sessions, and did I mention hot boys? Enter Alex Aguilar. At seventeen, he is Carver High’s sports superstar and dreamy superstud. Yet, despite the hype, Alex is undeniably sweet, and Meggie is beyond smitten. But, of course, he is a SENIOR. So, ought to be completely off limits for a ninth grader, right? Age doesn’t always dictate whom you will love, though. So I’m A Double Threat is the start of their journey. Will young love survive the challenges presented them or is friendship all they can only really hope for? Backs will be stabbed, hearts will be broken, tears will be shed. But, despite this, Meggie’s strong-willed determination, loyalty, and zest for fun, will ensure the ride is a memorable one. (This book has mature content intended for older young adult audiences.)
Maid in England
Brenda St. John Brown - 2019
What's hard - besides his abs? The fact that he's way hotter than he was 12 years ago.Not that I'm noticing. Nope. I'm 150,000% over him.As far as I’m concerned, my relationship with Alastair Wells is strictly professional. Despite that brooding regret he has when he looks at me. And that smile that tells me he has ideas of his own and they definitely include me. But not in any kind of professional sense.Did I mention I’m 150,000% over this guy?Maybe make that 149,000%...
Hybrid
Vanessa Wester - 2012
New friends, her own digs, and an enriched learning environment. It's what she needed to get on with her life. When she meets Steven Thorn during Fresher's week she has no idea that her future is on a different kind of trajectory. The attraction they share is instant and it is no surprise that they find themselves drawn to one another. However, Steven has a secret past that is destined to reveal itself. Soon he will become a stranger to everyone and his new life in Brazil will begin. People like him are not meant to live amongst normal humans. The wheels are set in motion for his radical upheaval. But first love is a powerful thing, and the connection forged between Caitlin and Steven is not easily broken.The impossible is only the beginning...
The Space Between
Victoria H. Smith - 2013
Losing high-stakes poker has its consequences, but he’d repeatedly face them just to hear Lacey Douglas sing. Drake sees Lacey light up the stage, and he has to have her. But his intentions for being on her side of town turn out to be the reason he can’t. Chicago native Lacey has dreams of the opera, but life has its obstacles. Lacey has come to know her hardships as part of living in the real world and accepts them fully. When Lacey meets the intense and invigorating Drake, a fire is lit inside her, unleashing those dreams again.Two paths that should have never crossed prove to create the exact pairing the other needs. But when their worlds take time to catch up, everything they have is tested. Finding the space between the two sides that challenge them will be hard, but it’s the only place that will keep them together.The Space Between is a new adult contemporary romance.
Fast
Ryan Ringbloom - 2013
Young hearts fall in love and mistakes are made...by everyone. Sometimes everyone is guilty of going a little too FAST!
Meet Me There
Judy Corry - 2018
A fake British accent. It's all fun and games until somebody falls in love.When sixteen-year-old, Ashlyn Brooks, runs into a sweet British guy in the dark Chemistry lab, she has no idea she's actually sitting in the pitch black room with her longtime rival, Luke Davenport. She also doesn't know that she's stepped into another one of the football captain's pranks. It isn't long before she's sharing things she's never told anyone, and starting to fall for the mysterious guy with a sexy accent who seems to understand her in a way no one ever has before.When Luke's mom dies the summer before his senior year, he turns to pranking Ashlyn to keep his mind off his loss. But the more he gets to know her, the more he regrets using his fake British accent in the first place. Soon Luke is walking the thin line of keeping his lies a secret and wishing he could tell her that the boy she's falling for is really him.Meet Me There is a standalone novel in The Ridgewater High series, a collection of simmering YA contemporary romances. If you like sweet romance with ballad-worthy chemistry, swoony kisses and endearing characters then you'll love Judy Corry's latest book.
The Unwritten Rule
Elizabeth Scott - 2010
He’s easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he’s paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna’s boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah’s best friend.Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she’s thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It’s wonderful... and awful.Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can’t stop herself from wanting more...
Almost Christmas
Brooke St. James - 2016
It was her one chance to escape a lifetime of misery, and she was determined to take advantage of it. The fact that it was almost Christmas and she had no particular place to go was of little consequence. The only thing on her mind was starting over. She headed east, confident that her strong will and meager savings would be enough to get by. But her plans quickly began to crumble when she found herself in desperate need of help. Thankfully, that was precisely when she met Jesse Ward. Mae was stubborn, and she tried her best to refuse assistance from this handsome stranger. After all, her plans didn't include an extended detour in the middle of Virginia. Yet the two of them would soon discover that this chance encounter was exactly what they both needed to make a fresh start.
Thanks for the Trouble
Tommy Wallach - 2016
Was this story written about me?”I shrugged.“Yes or no?”I shrugged again, finally earning a little scowl, which somehow made the girl even more pretty. It brought a bloom to her pale cheeks and made sharp shelves of her cheekbones.“It’s very rude not to answer simple questions,” she said.I gestured for my journal, but she still wouldn’t give it to me. So I took out my pen and wrote I can’t on my palm.Then, in tiny letters below it, I finished the thought: Now don’t you feel like a jerk?Parker Santé hasn’t spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he skips school to hang out in hotels, killing time by watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he’ll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for.
The Playmaker
Jordan Ford - 2016
He's a guy who thinks he knows what he wants. Can the quirkiest girl in school win over the coolest guy on the football team?This is it—Tori’s senior year. Her last chance to leave Nelson High without a bucketload of regrets. Number one priority—get Colt to fall in love with her. So what if he’s the Raider’s number one playmaker? So what if he’s so far out of her league the idea of them together would rupture the school’s social order?She has to try, before it’s too late. She’s come up with the perfect excuse to spend more time with him. All Colt has to do is think he’s helping her win over one of his teammates, and in the process he’ll fall madly in love with her.Or will he?Colt wants one thing: to play football after high school. But his grades are tanking and his dreams of playing college ball are fading…fast. He doesn’t really have time to waste helping out Tori, but they were friends in middle-school and he just can’t turn her down. Besides, how hard can it be to get one of his teammates to notice her?He’ll help her out, and then he’ll focus on what’s really important: football…assuming he can stop thinking about the last girl who could ever steal his heart.If you're a fan of small-town football, field parties, high school angst and melt-your-heart kisses, then you'll love The Playmaker.
Wanderlove
Kirsten Hubbard - 2012
In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.