Book picks similar to
Sweet Nothing by Jamie McGuire


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Playing with Fire


L.J. Shen - 2020
    A scarred girl without direction. A love story carved in secrets, inked with pain and sealed with a lie. Grace Shaw and West St. Claire are arctic opposites.She is the strange girl from the food truck.He is the mysterious underground fighter who stormed into her sleepy Texan college town on his motorcycle one day, and has been wreaking havoc since.She is invisible to the world.He is the town’s beloved bad boy.She is a reject.He is trouble.When West thrusts himself into Grace’s quiet life, she scrambles to figure out if he is her happily-ever-after or tragic ending.But the harder she pushes him away, the more he pulls her out of her shell.Grace doesn’t know much about anything beyond her town’s limits, but she does know this:She is falling in love with the hottest guy in Sheridan U.And when you play with fire—you ought to get burned.

Trust


Kylie Scott - 2017
    Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.

Someone Else's Ocean


Kate Stewart - 2018
    Thomas, I was six years old and we shared a summer beneath the stars.The second time I met Ian Kemp, he was a shell of the boy I once knew. Turbulent and infuriating, he refused my friendship at every turn. Like me, he was a casualty of life’s cruelty, but we were planets apart. We’d both sought refuge on the island, hoping to find our anchor. Instead, we found each other and managed to reclaim our stars...until we both got swept away.

Coming Home


Priscilla Glenn - 2014
    After discovering the man she loved had manipulated and deceived her, she refuses to even entertain the idea of a relationship. Instead, she focuses her attention on taking care of her family, a role she’s assumed since the death of her mother and the one place she knows her kindness won't be taken advantage of again. When a nostalgic trip back to her childhood home results in a chance encounter with Danny DeLuca, a smart-mouthed mechanic who’s as attractive as he is mysterious, Leah's carefully cultivated walls begin to crumble. She finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Danny, despite his unreliable behavior and mixed signals. But Danny has a secret...One that could shake Leah's already precarious foundation and bring her world crashing down around her. Suddenly, she's faced with an incredibly difficult decision--is she willing to risk everything for the chance at finding the love she's always wanted? Or are some obstacles just too big for the heart to overcome?

Wait for It


Mariana Zapata - 2016
    Diana Casillas can admit it: she doesn't know what the hell she's doing half the time. How she's made it through the last two years of her life without killing anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Being a grown-up wasn't supposed to be so hard. With a new house, two little boys she inherited the most painful possible way, a giant dog, a job she usually loves, more than enough family, and friends, she has almost everything she could ever ask for. Except for a boyfriend. Or a husband. But who needs either one of those?

Arsen: A Broken Love Story


Mia Asher - 2013
    The other sets me on fire.One is my rock. The other is my kryptonite.I'm broken, lost, and disgusted with myself.But I can't stop. This is my story.My broken love story.

On the Island


Tracey Garvis Graves - 2011
    Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family—and a stack of overdue assignments—instead of his friends.Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

When You're Ready


J.L. Berg - 2013
    waiting.As a widow and a single mother, I’d made peace with a quiet life. After all, I lost the love of my life. No one could ever replace him. But then, I met Dr. Logan Matthews and everything changed. He appeared like a white knight, caring for my injured daughter as he slowly mended the pieces of my broken heart. The letter Ethan left me has three words written on the envelope, When You’re Ready.So, I guess the question is...Was I ready... to love again?

A Crack in Everything


L.H. Cosway - 2018
    Then Dylan O’Dea broke into my flat, held me against the wall and told me to stay quiet.It was like in the movies, where the universe zeros in on a single scene. I looked into his eyes and knew he was going to change me.For Dylan, the sky was always falling. He showed me how our world is a contradiction of beauty and ugliness. How we choose to ignore the awful and gloss over it with the palatable. How you need just a tiny drop of something unsavoury to create every great scent.Pretty deep for a pair of teenagers living in a block of council flats in inner city Dublin, right? Probably. But we weren’t typical. We both had our obsessions. Mine was growing things, Dylan’s was scent. He taught me how to use my nose, and I introduced him to the magic of flowers.I had no idea that one day he’d build an empire from what we started together. But before that, there was love and happiness, tragedy and epic heartbreak…My name is Evelyn Flynn and I’m going to tell you about the crack in everything.A Crack in Everything is Book #1 in L.H. Cosway’s Cracks duet.

Love and Other Words


Christina Lauren - 2018
    Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother...only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

Into the Light


L.B. Simmons - 2014
    Trust me when I say, it's a breathtaking sight to see. You burn as bright as the sun."When Aubrey Miller begins her education at Titan University, she is no longer the beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl of her youth. In fact, she's no longer even Aubrey Miller. Overcome with guilt and unable to cope with the loss of her beloved family, she has long since buried eight-year old Aubrey along with them and transformed herself into Raven Miller. Now with jet-black hair, multiple sets of eccentric contact lenses, and several facial piercings, she's veiled herself in complete darkness as a form of protection for herself, as well as others. As she enters her first year of college, her goal is simple: Earn a degree with the least amount of social interaction as possible. What she never anticipates is the formation of very unlikely relationships with two people who will change her life in ways she never believed possible: Quinn Matthews, the overtly cheerful pageant queen, and Kaeleb McMadden, a childhood friend who never really let her go. Over the years, as their connections intertwine and strengthen, a seemingly indestructible bond is formed between the three. And eventually, the ties of friendship and discovery of first love begin to coax her from her darkened path as they slowly bring Aubrey back to life. But when faced with the possibility of yet another death, one from which she may never recover, Aubrey finds herself lost again, burying herself deeper than ever before beneath the familiar abyss of her fears. Spanning the course of four years, this is the story of a young woman's plight to finally reemerge, finding strength within unbreakable bonds as she delivers herself from her own manufactured darkness and safely back . . . Into the Light. ****WARNING - Due to the graphic nature of some scenes, this book is not recommended for those who are particularly sensitive to the death of a child and/or suicide and is intended for mature audiences only. Contains adult language and themes.****

Breathe into Me


Amanda Stone - 2013
    Kane's reputation is far from perfect, but is there more to him than what everyone else sees?Kelsey soon learns that you can’t run from your past, no matter how hard you try. When her nightmares find her once again, Kelsey must find the courage to face the demons that have been haunting her and save the people she loves most.

Say the Word


Julie Johnson - 2014
    When their paths cross again unexpectedly in New York City, Lux does her best to feign indifference toward her first love. But the harder she tries to hold Sebastian at arm’s length, the more determined he becomes to uncover the secrets she’s been keeping about their past… and the true reason she broke his heart seven years earlier.She’s as much in love with him as ever; he’s just as furious at her for leaving. But beneath the anger, forbidden attraction still simmers… and it’s only a matter of time before it boils over. When the past is finally unearthed, the monsters Lux spent seven years running from will finally catch up to her. And nothing – not even her love for Sebastian – will be enough to save her… **SAY THE WORD is a steamy, suspenseful standalone contemporary romance for fans of action and angst. Due to sexual situations, adult language, violence, and thematic elements, it is intended for readers ages 16 and up.**

Next to Never


Penelope Douglas - 2017
    And when a family friend—several years older—from her childhood captures her heart, she knows they’re going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man—experienced, sophisticated, and important. And knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden.But Lucas left town years ago and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn’t wait for him anymore.But then a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn Quinn’s world upside down. She’s never asked about the tumultuous path of her parents’ romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start.As she begins to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she’ll keep waiting…or finally go after what she really wants.*Next to Never is a 60,000 word novella from Quinn's point-of-view. It is not her love story. That will be a full-length novel eventually. This story covers some family history, introduces the new generation, and catches up with the original couples.

Sweet Thing


Renee Carlino - 2013
    then you'll hear the sound of your soul."Mia Kelly thinks she has it all figured out. She's an Ivy League graduate, a classically trained pianist, and the beloved daughter of a sensible mother and offbeat father. Yet Mia has been stalling since graduation, torn between putting her business degree to use and exploring music, her true love.When her father unexpectedly dies, she decides to pick up the threads of his life while she figures out her own. Uprooting herself from Ann Arbor to New York City, Mia takes over her father's cafe, a treasured neighborhood institution that plays host to undiscovered musicians and artists. She's denied herself the thrilling and unpredictable life of a musician, but a chance encounter with Will, a sweet, gorgeous, and charming guitarist, offers her a glimpse of what could be. When Will becomes her friend and then her roommate, she does everything in her power to suppress her passions—for him, for music—but her father's legacy slowly opens her heart to the possibility of something more.A "heartbreaking and romantic" (Aestas Book Blog) debut, Sweet Thing explores the intensity and complexities of first love and self-discovery.