Book picks similar to
Secret by G. Bailey


romance
dnf
contemporary-romance
young-adult

Whiskey Prince


Toni Aleo - 2014
    Having been caretaker to her for most of her teenage years, Amberlyn is inexperienced in many aspects of life. She hasn’t had time to live, have fun, or enjoy even the little things. It’s only when a letter from her mother, asking her to fulfill three things, sends her off to Ireland to live a life she never thought possible that she begins to heal.Declan O’Callaghan was born and raised in Ireland and has his family’s legendary whiskey in his veins. He’s shy and not a fan of the pressure and spotlight that comes with his family name, or the title he was given at birth—the Whiskey Prince. Declan knows just what he wants and that is to take over the family dynasty, but when his father gives him an ultimatum, everything he’s worked for could come undone in the blink of an eye.With six months to get married, the reclusive Declan spots Amberlyn across a lake and instantly feels the need to know her. Soon, the two find themselves traveling down a path neither expected. However, like any road, there are bumps and side streets to derail them. Can Declan help find the pieces that will make Amberlyn whole again? And will Amberlyn stay or run when she learns of Declan’s deadline of marriage?

Shattered Ties


K.A. Robinson - 2013
    Nothing is as perfect as it seems though. After her parents divorce, she’s forced to live with her mother in a private Santa Monica community. Ignoring their parental roles, her mother becomes more focused on climbing the social ladder while her father is off on tour. Growing up in a trailer park with his mother, Jesse is used to people looking down on him. When his mother begs him to submit an application for a scholarship to one of Santa Monica’s top private schools, he never expects to actually get it. When he does, he is forced to attend school with a bunch of rich kids. He ignores their stares as they judge him for having tattoos and a less than impressive car. As long as he has his surfboard and the guys at the tattoo shop, he knows he can make it through. When Jesse shows up on the first day of school, Emma can’t help but be intrigued. Her mother would never approve of Emma talking to someone so poor, but she doesn’t care because something about Jesse draws her to him. Jesse tries to hate Emma, but he discovers that he can’t resist her. Forced to hide their relationship from Emma’s mother and everyone else around them, things start to fall apart. When Jesse’s friend, Ally, decides to interfere, things go from bad to worse. Can they survive their first love? Or will they be left with nothing more than shattered ties?Book 1 of a 2 book series. **18+ for sexual situations, cursing, and adult content.***Book Two: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Unspeakable


Michelle K. Pickett - 2015
    No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.”On the outside, Willow appears to have it all. She’s beautiful, smart, from an influential family, and she dates the most popular guy in school—Jaden. But she would walk away from it all in a second. Willow is tormented by lies and suffocating guilt, not the hearts and flowers people believe her life is full of. She carries a dark secret. Plagued by nightmares and pain, the secret dominates her life. If she hadn’t walked away. If she had just…but she didn’t. And now she has to live with her choice. But when someone uncovers her family’s past, they use it against her, crushing her spirit little by little. She tells herself she just has to make it to graduation. Then she can leave Middleton, and her secret, far behind.When Brody transfers to Cassidy High, he turns Willow’s life upside down. He shows her what it feels like to live again, really live. And suddenly, she isn’t satisfied with just surviving until graduation. She wants a normal life—with Brody—and he wants her. But the closer they become, the more it threatens to unravel the secret she’s worked so hard to hide.Willow finds true love with Brody. Will she let his love save her, or walk away from him to keep her secret safe?

Devious Little Liars


Elle Thorpe - 2020
    Some of us are just better at not getting caught.”He murdered my uncle then covered it with fire. A fire that should have killed me, too. Instead, he hauled me from the floor while flames licked the walls, strong arms holding me close.He saved my life.Now I want to know why. I never saw his face. All I know is the letters on his shirt. SVH.Saint View High.The worst school in a hundred miles. Full of drugs and despair. Breeding ground for future criminals. Armed security guards and weapon checks at every door.A far cry from my privileged life of money, private school, and fancy vacations.With the police doing nothing, I take matters into my own hands. I enroll in a school I have no business being at.But the Untouchables are quick to let me know exactly how big a mistake I’ve made. They’re the group of boys even the teachers are scared of.Colt. Banjo. Rafe.Every teenage girl’s dream. Good looking. Popular. Powerful.And determined to break me.Thing is, I’m not that easily broken. And I’m coming for them, too.Devious Little Liars is the story of three bad boys and a girl who knows how to stand her ground. It is a mature high school/new adult, reverse harem, #whychoose romance, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This book contains enemies-to-lovers and bullying themes. It is the first book in an ongoing trilogy.

Weak for Him


Lyra Parish - 2014
    Bright lights. Sex.Jennifer is made an offer: sell her virginity to the highest bidder and transform into one of Finnley's girls. But she finds herself weak for him, and doesn't fully realize what she's agreed to until it's too late.Will she rise to the challenge and play by the rules in a land where money is king and love is prohibited? Or will she lose herself and values in the attempt?Weak for Him has unlady-like language, adult subject matter, and s-e-x-ual situations. There is resolution at the end but the story does continue on to Weak Without Him.

Hard to Love


W. Winters - 2019
    I was too much of a bastard to push her away.I grew up in this life, and now I run these streets. Blood and violence taint everything I touch.Everything but her. She was my constant through it all.Just a touch would singe and soothe.Just a look would tempt and torment.She became my escape and my addiction.I only survived because she was by my side.I should’ve known better than to indulge.I should’ve known better than to let her fall for me.It was only a matter of time before the danger bled into what we had.I was Laura’s downfall. Problem was, she was mine too.

Tragic


J.A. Huss - 2013
    Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…Rook got a second chance.And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone – you grab it with both hands and run.Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she’s got The Look. The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive TRAGIC media contract.Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he’s everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn’t. Patient, gentle, happy, attentive, and sexy! He knows exactly what to do to make Rook blush for Antoine’s camera. Rook’s luck changes in an instant and suddenly she’s the darling of the modeling world. It’s a dream job to go with a dream guy and all she has to do is look pretty and follow directions. But there’s always a price to pay – and Rook is about to get the bill.New Adult Contemporary Romance *Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language usage

Saint


E.M. Snow - 2020
    It is not recommended for readers under 17 as it contains dubious situations and triggers that some readers may find offensive. It is NOT a standalone and ends in a cliffhanger.

Bad Billionaire


Julie Kriss - 2016
    To me, he’s Mister Hot, Dark, and Handsome, the neighbor I watch from the window, wondering what he’s really like.Turns out, he’s a thief. A getaway driver. He gives me the hottest night of my life before he’s put away for taking the wrong job. When he’s gone, I try to forget about him and get on with my normal, unexciting life.Until he gets out, and an inheritance makes him a billionaire.Now Devon is back. He’s the richest ex-con you’ve ever seen. He doesn’t care about penthouses, fancy dinners, or private jets. He doesn’t care that his enemies are after him. He doesn’t care that everything is about to go up in flames.In his world of chaos, Devon Wilder says he only cares about one thing.Me.

Get off on the Pain


Victoria Ashley - 2015
    Memphis is all that and more…I live for the pain; it’s what drives me to keep moving. But there comes a time when one has to push the demons aside in order to survive. I thought I buried them deep. I thought I was ready to finally live. Until… my brother, Alex; he throws me into the fire—right into the place I could never control myself, the one place I never want to be again. When I put my hands on people, they get hurt. Things happen that bring me back to that night. The one that will forever torment me. I’m doing fine, keeping to myself in order to ensure no one gets hurt by me. Then along comes Lyric, and all I want to do is touch her, to put my hands in places that I know will only lead to her being crushed by me. She’s the rush that I crave. The darkest of poison running through my veins, killing me bit by bit; like a drug I can’t get enough of even though I’m almost down to my last breath. And being around her only hurts more, but what she doesn’t understand is that I welcome the pain; I get off on it, which in the end leaves me with the hardest decision of my life—one that might get us all killed…

Let Love In


Melissa Collins - 2013
    Ripped from her home and everything that she has ever loved, she is forced to start all over again. The only way for her to move on is to build walls around her heart and keep everyone at a safe distance. Her logic: she can't get hurt if she doesn't fall in love. That theory is blown to pieces when she meets Reid Connely during her freshman year at college. He is gorgeous and darkly mysterious. He understands Maddy's pain all too well, but sharing his pain would mean breaking down the walls he put up around his own heart. Conflicted between loving Maddy and hiding his dark past, Reid starts to reevaluate his world. Maddy's inner strength, snarky personality and breath taking beauty help Reid to make peace with his past. Together they find out what happens when they let love in.

Being Brooke


Emma Hart - 2016
    I’m a college drop-out working a dead-end job, my best friend Carly’s dog gets more action than I do, and I have more bad dates in my diary than there are movie remakes. Not to mention I'm completely and utterly in love with Cain Elliott.The problem? He’s in a relationship. With a girl who’s so plastic she makes Barbie cry herself to sleep with jealousy. The second problem? He's my best friend.My shut-up-and-put-on-Harry-Potter, yes-this-is-your-shirt, help-I-have-no-power, crap-I’m-out-of-tampons, kinda best friend. And that’s all he can be, right?Right.(Being Brooke is a standalone romantic comedy. Hilarious, super-sexy, and possibly highly inappropriate at times, this is the perfect feel-good read!)

Crown Jewels


Ella James - 2016
    Not that I keep track of Prince Liam. Definitely don't stalk him online like my friends do.I'm out of that scene now. My family's reality show might still be running, but I've been off-screen for a while. When people pass me on the sidewalk, they might squint, but most of them don't scream "Lucy Rhodes" and ask about my love of Lucky Charms or how my broken toe healed.Prince Liam--my stalking his Instagram--it's my dirty little secret. Trust me, I'm the only woman in the world who doesn't actually want him. Except I'm back in the Hamptons for the first time in two years. I'm at a party, and Prince Manwhore is here as well. I tell myself that smile has no effect on me. That his ridiculous charisma is a parlor trick I see right through.After our one night together, no one knows that I succumbed.It doesn't matter. It meant nothing.Not until I see those two pink lines.

Beneath Your Beautiful


Tamsyn Bester - 2013
    Her name exposes her to the demons of her past but remembering her reason for moving across the country to start over is what keeps her alive. For the first time since the brutal murder of her mother, Huntley allows herself to care about the people around her.Grayson Carter has everything a 21yr old College Senior could wish for – he’s the star of Whitley University’s football team, he has a different girl willing to be in his bed every night and a supportive family. For years he has managed keep his family together and hide their dark secrets from the small town of Breckinridge, Alabama. When Huntley and Grayson meet, a force so strong pulls them together in a hurricane of feelings neither of them could have ever anticipated. Huntley and Grayson try to stay away from each other, but when Huntley’s demons seek her out, their pasts become the biggest storm of all. Will they learn to trust each other and build a new future together or will they simply do nothing to prevent history from repeating itself?“You don’t want to see beneath the surface Gray, there is a reason I only show people what they want to see.” – Huntley“You are so determined to hide your broken soul that you don’t see how beautiful those pieces make you. You have completely disarmed me Huntley, you have left my heart and soul naked and all I want is for you to see that I am in love with every goddamn broken piece of you. I don’t want anyone else.” - Grayson

Damaged and the Beast


Bijou Hunter - 2013
    His newest conquest is college freshman Farah Smith.When the tattooed bad boy reminds her of a rough childhood she desperately wishes to forget, Farah keeps him at arm's length. Yet, Cooper refuses to give up. He pushes her buttons, tears through her walls, and forces her to admit her feelings for him. What begins as lust soon builds into something more powerful than either expects.Can the beast heal the damage inside the girl of his dreams?***Warning: This novel contains scenes of a sexual nature, violent themes, and coarse language. It is intended for mature readers.Damaged and the Beast is a complete novel with a HEA. Damaged and the Knight is scheduled for publication in June 2013 and follows Farah's sister. Damaged and the Outlaw is planned for autumn 2013.