Book picks similar to
Just Breathe by Rachel Brookes
new-adult
romance
contemporary-romance
favorites
Breaking Kate
D. Kelly - 2014
In Michaels mind there is absolutely nothing that will ever be able to keep the two of them apart. The night Michael is set to propose to Katherine the evening is interrupted by an unexpected tragedy that tears the two of them apart for good. Three years have passed since that fateful night when Katherine, now known as Kate meets Daniel. After an awkward start sparks fly between them. Daniel and Kate fall hard and fast into the most passionate and intense love affair of their lives. In three years a lot can change, Michael knows he made the biggest mistake of his life when he left Katherine and he will do anything to get her back. Asking his best friend Daniel for help is his first step in righting the wrongs he made so many years ago. Unfortunately, neither of them realizes that Michaels long lost love Katherine is Daniel’s true love Kate. While attending the engagement party of a mutual friend, all of their paths collide. How is Kate supposed to choose between the two men that mean the most to her in the world? Kate has to push past her heartache and put some serious thought into what comes next. One wrong choice and not only could she lose them both but Daniel and Michael may never recover their friendship.This book is newly re-edited as of March 2017. If you have an older version please delete it and download the new version. (This book is free)
Lifers
Jane Harvey-Berrick - 2014
He is the local pariah, shunned by everyone, including his own parents. But their hatred of him doesn't even come close to the loathing he feels every time he looks in the mirror.Working odd jobs for the preacher lady, Jordan bides his time before he can leave this backwards town. But can distance erase the memories that haunt him? Trapped in the prison of his own mind Jordan wonders if the pain of living will ever subside?Torrey Delaney is new in town and certainly doesn't behave in a way the locals believe a preacher’s daughter should. Her reputation for casual hook-ups and meaningless sex is the talk of the town. Add that to her budding friendship with the hardened ex-con handyman, and the good Reverend is less than thrilled with her estranged daughter’s path.As friendship forms, is it possible for two damaged people who are afraid to love take their relationship to the next level? Can Torrey live with Jordan’s demons, and can Jordan break through Torrey's walls? With the disapproval of a small town weighing heavily on them, will they find their place in the world? Can they struggle against the odds, or will their world be viciously shattered?Is love a life sentence?Due to scenes of a sexual nature, not recommended for under 18.
Love Hurts
Mandi Beck - 2015
I’m at home, in my element, inflicting pain onto men trained to hurt me just as badly. Making them submit, knocking them out, maiming them, because it’s them or me. And I choose them. Outside the Octagon, my only weakness is a five-foot-two, classy as fuck woman that I’ve loved for most of my life. She’s the one that brings me to my knees, fills my arms, my heart, and one day soon, my bed. She makes me reckless. Volatile. I drink too much and try too hard to fuck my way out of feeling—all because of her.Frankie De Rosa is my girl, my best friend. I haven’t earned her yet, but I won’t stand by and let anyone take her from me. She will be the greatest fight of my life, but she’s worth the battle. Love hurts, but anything worth having does, right?
I’m Deacon “The Hitman” Love — Welcome to the Cage.
Within These Walls
J.L. Berg - 2014
I am not strong. I am just a survivor of circumstance.Isn’t that what we all do? Survive?Each of us has our own set of circumstances to muddle through. Mine are just more…complicated. Born with a severe heart defect, I’ve seen the inside of a hospital room more than my own bedroom. I was drowning, a prisoner to the illness that owned me, until he appeared. He thinks he’s blocked out the world with his tattoos and hard exterior, but I see the real Jude, the one he so desperately wants to forget. But is he the answer to my prayers or will he break my already damaged heart forever?My name is Lailah Buchanan, and this is our story of hope, redemption and sacrificing it all for the one you love.
Finding Olivia
Micalea Smeltzer - 2013
She believes that her years at college will be her ticket into the real world and her chance to be wild and spontaneous.But she’s never been able to do it on her own.At the start of her sophomore year, she only has four things crossed off her Live List, but that’s all about to change thanks to a chance encounter with Trace Wentworth. She’s about to learn that there’s more to this reformed bad boy than just his looks and panty dropping smile.Trace can’t explain what it is that draws him to Olivia.All he knows is that he wants to get to know the girl with the sad smile but sparkle in her eyes.When she tells him about her list, he knows that this is his chance to get to know Olivia Owens. Trace is determined to show Olivia that she can do all the things she’s ever wanted to do. So, he begins to help her cross things off her list, even the more outlandish requests.What happens along the way is more than what Olivia or Trace ever expected.Love, laughs, and a list.That’s the name of the game when you’re Finding Olivia.*New Adult Contemporary Romance intended for readers 18+.*
Hard Knox
Nicole Williams - 2014
The name inspires resent in every male at Sinclair University, want in every female, and contempt in Charlie Chase.Charlie can be summed up in three words: independent, independent, and independent. To Charlie, Knox epitomizes everything that’s wrong with college males: prolific one-night stands, drunken senseless fights, and a body that hints at prioritizing gym time over study time.As an up-and-coming writer for Sinclair University’s newspaper, Charlie’s tasked with getting to the bottom of who’s been dropping little white pills into girls’ drinks at parties. In an ocean of All-American boys sporting polo shirts and innocent smiles, Knox is the obvious suspect. As evidence piles up against the bad boy of Sinclair, Charlie becomes more and more certain it isn’t Knox. But when her drink is dosed at a party and she wakes up on Knox’s couch the next morning, Charlie’s left with more questions than answers when it comes to Knox Jagger.How can Charlie ever hope to uncover the truth behind a guy so closed off he’s become . . .Hard Knox.
Lost and Found
Lori L. Otto - 2010
I was so taken by Nate and Emi’s love for each other. It’s the kind of love that few have and many desire but never get to experience.” - Megan, Reading Books Like a Boss Independent and sensitive, idealistic and hopeful, Emi Hennigan lives her life with optimism and an open mind. Between sharing a tiny Manhattan apartment with her fun-loving roommate and spending most of her free time with her heart-breaker friend, Emi’s seen enough failed relationships to know what to avoid in her quest to find her true love. Not only that, but a single moment from her past lingers in her mind, setting high expectations for every man she dates. Emi’s best friend, artist and hopeless romantic Nate Wilson, has been her closest companion all of their adult lives. After swearing off love with Emi in a silly high school pact, Nate has been seeing other women in hopes of finding one that evokes stronger feelings than the ones he’s been harboring for Emi since he was a teen. Over the span of a year, boundaries are crossed, feelings are confessed, and their unique friendship begins to blossom into something more. Through Nate’s eyes, an atypical romance unfolds, disrupting the comfortable safe haven their friendship has provided. With a promising future ahead of them both, fate intervenes to bring two soul mates together. Photography and cover design by Christi Allen Curtis, assisted by Katrina Boone
The Edge of Darkness
Melissa Andrea - 2013
I was in an accident I don’t remember… or maybe I don’t want to remember. Either way, every day since, has been… an adjustment and I’m left with a constant reminder that nothing is forever. Now, my life is a tangled web of darkness filled with deceit, hate, betrayal and lies. I don’t dwell on the past, I don’t regret and I don’t remember… I survive. But then I met Ryland Dare and he changed everything. He reminded me that life’s worth living and that remembering isn’t always a bad thing. You don’t know true darkness until you've felt light… On the outside looking in, some would say my siblings and I have had a pretty easy life. But beyond the fancy cars, the huge house and endless social events, is where the truth really lies. Power hungry father, defeated mother and fake friends? Yeah I have one of each. Then Araya Noelle comes along and shows me what I’ve been missing. She thinks I changed her life, but really, she saved mine. At the edge of darkness, you must DARE to HOPE. DARE to LOVE. DARE to LIVE
Very Bad Things
Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2013
And why wouldn't they? Valedictorian of her class and a Texas beauty queen, she's well on her way to Princeton after kissing everyone goodbye at graduation.Until the day she cracks wide open in front of the entire school.Leo Tate is a tattooed bad boy who's sworn to never fall in love, especially with a high school girl.But she keeps showing up at his gym, wearing short skirts and tempting him with her list of bad things.He wants to resist her, but with one touch of her lips, forbidden love has never tasted so sweet.Welcome to Briarwood Academy . . . where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things.*Mature Content**Author’s note: Each book in the BW series is written as a stand-alone love story following a new couple, but you’ll enjoy reading the other titles and seeing familiar faces return.1: VERY BAD THINGS (Nora and Leo)2: VERY WICKED THINGS (Dovey and Cuba)3. VERY TWISTED THINGS (Violet and Sebastian)
Rebel
Elle Casey - 2013
Overnight, her life of privilege becomes one of survival, and no matter where she turns, it seems like the world is out to get her. She's not going to fall apart, though. She's a rebel and she's strong … determined to live life on her own terms … and nothing's going to stop her from getting things done and making things right. But when a twist of fate brings her to the doorstep of a different kind of Rebel, she's forced to figure out when something's worth fighting for and when something's worth letting go.Content Warning: Contains sexy adult situations, creative foul language, and some mild violence. May not be appropriate for younger readers.Rebel Wheels Series Reading OrderRebel (Rebel Wheels Book 1)Hellion (Rebel Wheels Book 2)Trouble (Rebel Wheels Book 3)
Watch over Me
Tara Sivec - 2013
She has a family that loves her, friends that make her laugh, and she's wrapped up in the excitement of graduating high school and going off to college to pursue her dream of becoming an author. When her mother, who also happens to be Addison's best friend, dies unexpectedly, her world comes to a crashing halt. Death changes everyone... To make the pain go away, Addison and her father travel down separate, dark paths. She chooses to end her grief forever, while he drowns his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle. How do you learn to live again when the most important person in your life is gone? Addison struggles to pick up the pieces of her life. Instead of getting back to being the carefree teenager she once was, she's stuck handling all of the responsibilities that should have been her father's. She has no time to grieve, no time for emotions, and no time for happiness...until Zander Reinhardt walks in. All it takes is one little handwritten note on a napkin to kick-start her back to life and help her realize that maybe there's more to that life than pain. But can it really be that simple? Can she really trust this man who makes her feel alive again for the first time in a year?
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.
Undescribable
Shantel Tessier - 2013
Focusing on her new friends and rebuilding her broken life, Samantha is content. Until she meets him – attorney by day and a cocky, foul mouth playboy by night. All girls want Slade Long, but not one has ever been able to keep his attention for long. Having a different woman in his bed every night is how he prefers it-no emotion, no connection. Until he meets her - an angel with the sweetest voice he has ever heard and the most enticing green eyes. Samantha makes him second guess his actions and has him wanting something he didn’t know existed. How can a man who has never been in love, be so sure? Can real love happen this fast? Burned by her past, Samantha struggles to keep up with the overwhelming passion she feels for Slade. She knows that he will be nothing but trouble to her already fragile heart, but how long can she continue to deny the love that she feels for him? Will Samantha let Slade prove his love is real, or will she push him away? She thought she knew love…… He thought he never wanted love….. Together they will show each other what they can’t live without.
Foreplay
Sophie Jordan - 2013
He’s the key to everything she’s always craved: security, stability, family. But she needs Hunter to notice her as more than just a friend. Even though she’s kissed exactly one guy, she has just the plan to go from novice to rock star in the bedroom—take a few pointers from someone who knows what he’s doing.Her college roommates have the perfect teacher in mind. But bartender Reece is nothing like the player Pepper expects. Yes, he’s beyond gorgeous, but he’s also dangerous, deep—with a troubled past. Soon what started as lessons in attraction are turning both their worlds around, and showing just what can happen when you go past foreplay and get to what’s real…
Surrender Your Love
J.C. Reed - 2013
Dangerous. Better left untouched. And better forgotten. But lightning always strikes twice.Brooke Stewart, a realtor in New York, doesn’t do relationships. When she’s sent to a remote estate to finalize a real estate deal, she discovers her new boss is no other than the guy she left naked in bed.Sexy, dangerously handsome, and arrogant Jett Mayfield attracts trouble, and women, like a lightning rod. But the night he meets Brooke he gets more than he bargained for. The green-eyed millionaire playboy isn’t used to taking no for an answer, and he isn’t about to start now.When he proposes two months of no strings sex, Brooke is intrigued and accepts his proposal. Little does she know Jett’s determined to claim the one woman he can’t have, pulling her deeper into his dangerous world.A man who doesn't take 'no' for an answer.A woman afraid to surrender to love.Two lives that are about to cross...and secrets laid bare.