Book picks similar to
Barely Breathing by Erica Marselas


romance
second-chance
contemporary-romance
dark

Wildcard


Emilia Finn - 2020
    I’m a pro fighter, the son of a murderous wifebeater, overprotective big brother, and Evelyn Kincaid’s best friend.I’ve known Evie since we were kids. I loathed her on first sight, and picked on her as often as she picked on me, but somewhere around my fifteenth birthday, my dislike was replaced with something else. It was foreign and new, potent and exciting.Now Evie is the woman I’d die for. The friend I would kill for. The girl I will love for eternity.Evie may be a pro fighter too, capable enough to fight her own battles, but she’s wild, and too spontaneous for her own safety, so I’m going to be right here, protecting her six, cleaning up her crazy, and praying she gets on board when I tell her I’ve loved her for years.My five-year plan has been put in place, my claim has been made, but I could lose more than a round in the octagon when another fighter enters a competition he was never invited to.What I feel for Evie was never up for negotiation, but she’s always been my wildcard.From the author of the best selling Rollin On series, comes this beautiful coming of age story that will make you sigh, scream, melt, and giggle; all on the same page.

It's Always Been You


Victoria Paige - 2014
    In two short years, Blake Security Inc. has become highly sought after by the who’s who in Washington DC.But unbeknownst to many, Travis is haunted by the mysterious death of his wife three years before. He carries with him the guilt of not being there to protect the one person who meant everything to him. He has buried his wife, but his heart refuses to accept that the body six feet under is hers. His obsessive search for her leads him deep into the trenches of covert ops—and everything is not what it seems.Caitlin Kincaid has been on the run for a while. The sum of her memories began three years ago when she awakened with a broken arm and leg and a severe concussion. Hunted down by a secret group within the U.S. government, her companion persuades her to stay off the grid because of the standing kill order on their heads. One night, while fleeing assassins, she is left on the side of the road with a cryptic message: “It’s time for you to stop running. I’m not the one you love.” When Travis receives news that the woman who has turned up at the American Embassy in Berlin could be his wife, he wastes no time getting to her. He is unprepared for the devastation that shreds him when Caitlin looks at him with no recognition in her eyes. Amnesia is a challenging enough obstacle for winning the love of his life back. But with lies defining the past three years of her life, Caitlin becomes wary of anyone’s help.Love was never the problem. A marriage cannot survive without trust. As sinister forces threaten the bond they are trying to rebuild, trust must come quickly or one of them will die.* Strong sexual content and language. Disturbing situations.

Deadly Hunt


K.L. Humphreys - 2016
    On her journey to healing, she has finally started to live her life, but the past never really stays in the past. Nathan Slade, a former FBI agent, now owns his own P.I business, has taken on a case that could make or break him. In all the chaos, he meets the love of his life. What happens when the man Nathan's hunting also happens to be a man on the hunt himself - only his target happens to be the love of Nathan's life?Lives will be lost, leaving pain and suffering in the wake of destruction while Nathan and Sophia learn the hard way that the future is never promised – especially theirs

The Way Back To Me


Anne Mercier - 2019
    The book DOES end on a cliffhanger. My life was charmed. I had the best friends ever. We were known as the Fab Five and our futures were planned out.In a flash, everything was taken from me. I don’t know how to live without them. I don’t want to.I’m broken.When I get to college, I see him.Cameron Stone. Mr. Football. Mr. Popular. He’s definitely hot, but on the inside he’s vile. He made my childhood a living nightmare. I don’t know why he hates me or why he’s suddenly being so nice to me. All the sweet talk in the world won’t work. I know better.So, why am I listening?

Second Chance Baby


Natasha L. Black - 2020
    Let these Anderson brothers show you what a real HEA looks like. This is book one of the series. It can be read in any order.

Wreck & Ruin


Emma Slate - 2019
    Monotonous.And then tall, dark, and dangerous walks into the bar where I work.Before I know it, I’m in his arms asking him to rescue me.He’s Colt Weston, President of the Blue Angels MC.Colt makes me feel alive…and wanted.The Blue Angels embrace me as one of their own, and when a violent rival threatens to tear us apart, I learn what loyalty truly means.Family. Sacrifice. Revenge.There’s nothing Colt won’t do to protect me.

Starting Over


Evan Grace - 2014
    And if it weren’t for her brother’s imminent deployment, she wouldn’t even have considered coming back home. But she did. And now she needs to do everything she can to avoid the reason she left in the first place. Luke Carter. The man who turned his back on her when she needed him most. There’s just one problem…Luke seems to have other plans. He’s determined to set things right, making it impossible for Bellamy to ignore the connection they still share after all these years. But Bellamy has a secret. And it’s the kind of secret that has the potential to destroy every last bit of hope she has for a second chance at happiness. The question is, will the truth bring them closer together…or will it tear them apart for good?

The Broken Road


K.S. Ruff - 2014
    When I kiss you for the first time, you’re going to want that kiss more than your next breath.” Montana girl Kristine Stone was strong enough to break out of an abusive marriage, but is she strong enough for the road that lies ahead? For the first time in her life, Kristine finds she has some control over her life. Haunted by her ex-husband and a newly acquired stalker, she leaves Montana to work in the U.S. Senate. Kristine issues a moratorium on dating. This hardly deters Kadyn Rand, the Air Force Captain who threatens to tear down every wall she’s ever built. Still, someone from her dark past refuses to be ignored, and Kristine finds herself in yet another fight for her life. Tall, dark, and determined are the words that best describe Kadyn Rand. He is too stoic to be swept away by much of anything, but a vulnerable woman from Montana manages to do just that when she finds herself alone and in danger in DC. Kadyn is intelligent, resourceful, and a fiercely devoted friend. His sense of humor runs on the sarcastic side. He’s also the kind of guy who likes to keep people guessing about what’s going on inside his head, which is why he makes a conscious effort not to smile. That is until he meets Kristine Stone. Her missteps regularly get a smile out of him. Her moratorium on dating intrigues him, while her vulnerability calls to his protective side. Kadyn tries to earn Kristine’s love and her trust but soon learns it will take much more than that to save her from her past.

Shattered Fate


T.L. Anderson - 2018
    When she finally finds the courage to leave a life she never planned on living, the last person she plans on bumping into, is the one person who pushed her away all those years ago. Colton had it all figured out, or so he thought, until a mistake cost him everything... shattering that illusion. Now he spends his lonely nights chasing away ghosts of the past and his empty days trying to atone for his sins. When Ashley and Colton's paths cross in the most unexpected of ways, sparks fly, but time has changed them both. For years, thoughts of this moment kept Ashley holding on, but fear of hurting her again has Colton holding back. Opening herself up to love again brings a darkness she's not sure she can survive. Breaking down both of their walls just might prove that sometimes the biggest fight of all, is the battle within. Can they both let go of the past, to grab hold of the future they once planned?

From the Ashes


Jamie Garrett - 2017
    How I ended up in the fire that I was dragged from, unconscious and minutes from death. I don’t know what I was doing in a town hundreds of miles from where the police say I live. I don’t remember…anything. Not even my own name. I have no memories of Mason Rawlings, the firefighter who pulled me from the blaze and saved my life. Even so, it’s obvious my body does. It craves his touch, though my mind is blank. We were together, he tells me, many years ago. Then I left him. As Mason helps me discover my past, I find myself falling for him all over again. But then maybe there’s a reason why I haven’t spoken to him for over ten years. A reason why I was back in Monroe. A reason that someone would kill to keep hidden.

Unrequited


Max Henry - 2016
    Our love was all consuming, passionate, and forbidden. We took risks to be together, carrying on an affair for months before her psychotic drug lord husband found the truth behind the lies. She barely escaped with her life … and that of my son. My club president told me that our love was no longer worth the risk, gave me a choice, and loyalty to the club being what it is, I walked away from her. I left behind the only thing I’ve ever wanted more than life itself and remained the dutiful soldier to a corrupt leader. Six years and a promotion to club president later, it’s time the lies stopped. She IS worth the risk, I’ve NEVER gone a day without thinking about her OR my son, and I know underneath it all she DOES still love me. She just won’t admit it … yet.

Black Ink


N.M. Catalano - 2016
    Powerful. Dangerous. Intoxicating. Twisted. A prick. There is nothing or no one beyond his reach anywhere in the world. He uses any means to get what he wants. He wants Gemma Trudeau. For two reasons, first, to find out if she helped her husband steal three million dollars from him. The second, he wants to do very bad, very twisted things to her. He always gets what he wants. Gemma Trudeau Her life was destroyed. She's alone, homeless with no money. A brilliant successful lawyer, she must now beg to work for the one man who suffered as much as she did from her husband's illegal schemes, the only one who can help her get her life back. What she didn't know was he would rock her world. Alexander Black has Gemma right where he wants her. The heat between them rages, leaving them in an constant aching burn. A stranger breaks into her house and she's terrorized. He has one purpose, to take her, bind her, force her into a night of raging passion, leaving her stunned, confused, and very, very satisfied. He promises he'll be back. She can't wait. The Capo di Tutti Capi has offered her protection. But at what price? Someone is stalking her. The mob who wants to own her? The faceless man who seduces her in the dark blindfolded? Or the one man who should hate her, Alexander Black? Who can Gemma trust? First book in the BLACK INK Series. A bit dark, a bit edgy, and a whole lot of heat. It does have a bit of a cliffhanger. **18+ adult audience, very strong sexual content.**

Toxic


Nicole Blanchard - 2017
    A criminal.As a prison nurse, I knew the rules: do my job, don’t get involved, and never let a prisoner get under my skin.I broke all three.My passion, my obsession, my addiction. I risked my entire life so we could be together.I thought helping him escape from prison would be the hard part.It turns out when you fall in love with a villain, you also turn into one.

Promise Me


Barbie Bohrman - 2013
    Drawing strength from him, she left everything behind and sought a new life for herself, far away from the pain and shame.Fast forward ten years: Sabrina is settled in Miami, happy at last—until her best friend urges her to attend her high school reunion and face her painful past once and for all.And…maybe meet the mysterious Tyler once again.Can Sabrina find the courage to face the demons in her past, let go of the pain, and move forward into happiness? Or will insecurity and self-doubt ruin her one chance to get the love she’s not sure she even deserves?

Hate


Tate James - 2020
    I wasn’t dead. But I was set up.After being charged with a string of offences--and made an example of by my political minded father--I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind.Hate.Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid out future. Someone is going to catch the full force of my hate. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.Archer D’Ath and his boys messed with the wrong chick and they’re about to learn just how cold Madison Kate’s hate can run.HATE is a full length mature college/new adult romance with enemies-to-lovers/love-hate themes. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This is book one of four in the series.