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The Summer Remains by Seth King


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romance
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Reason to Breathe


Rebecca Donovan - 2011
    This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?"In the affluent town of Weslyn, Connecticut, where most people worry about what to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at all. She’s more concerned with feigning perfection while pulling down her sleeves to conceal the bruises - not wanting anyone to know how far from perfect her life truly is. Without expecting it, she finds love. It challenges her to recognize her own worth - but at the risk of revealing the terrible secret she’s desperate to hide. Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp of hope.

Playing in the Rain


Jane Harvey-Berrick - 2014
    It’s supposed to be an exciting time in her life: fresh out of college, living in a new state, with a new job, and away from her family at last. But when she’s forced to quit her job, everything falls apart quickly. Suddenly, she’s alone in a crowd, with no one to turn to. At her lowest point, a stranger gives her a message that brings her hope. Now is the time to live life her own way. Now is the time to choose to be happy. And maybe it’s time to let a beautiful stranger be part of her life.

Dear Life


Meghan Quinn - 2017
    Four stories. Four sets of letters. Four brave souls in need of guidance while facing life's greatest challenges. The anonymously published Dear Life program is designed to help them step outside of their comfort zones, face their obstacles, and relinquish their demons...and prove their existence. With their lives teetering between wanting more and losing it all, all four souls dive into the program as a New Year’s resolution, sending them on a crazy, life-altering journey. Dear Life, Please be kind. Yours truly, Hollyn, Jace, Daisy, and Carter.

Unbreak Me


Lexi Ryan - 2013
    Due to sexual content and heavy subject matter, this book is intended for mature readers. “If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his.With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?~~~Explore Love Unbound, the series of books set in New Hope and about the characters readers have come to love. Each series can be read on its own or you can read them all.Love Unbound: Splintered HeartsUnbreak Me (Maggie’s story)Stolen Wishes: A Wish I May Prequel Novella (Will and Cally’s prequel)Wish I May (Will and Cally’s novel)Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Splintered Hearts: The New Hope TrilogyLove Unbound: Here and NowLost in Me (Hanna’s story begins)Fall to You (Hanna’s story continues)All for This (Hanna’s story concludes)Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Here and Now: The Complete SeriesLove Unbound: Reckless and RealSomething Wild (Liz and Sam’s story begins)Something Reckless (Liz and Sam’s story continues)Something Real (Liz and Sam’s story concludes)Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Reckless and Real: The Complete SeriesLove Unbound: Mended HeartsPlaying with Fire (Nix’s story, coming summer 2015)

Things We Know by Heart


Jessi Kirby - 2015
    Printz Award winner John Corey Whaley calls it “not just a love story, but one with a ferocious pulse.”After Quinn’s boyfriend, Trent, dies in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the fragments of her now-unrecognizable life. But whoever received Trent’s heart has chosen to remain silent. The essence of a person, Quinn has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then in a way, she will still have a piece of him.Risking everything to get closure once and for all, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas, whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into something more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn’t want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they’re connected—but the time Quinn spends with Colton makes her feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, though, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost . . . and all that remains at stake.Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, this unique and emotional story about an unexpected bond between two strangers will leave no heart untouched.

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.

Wild Reckless


Ginger Scott - 2015
    It involved her best friends, her posh private school in downtown Chicago and time alone with her piano until her audition was perfected, a guaranteed ticket into the best music programs in the world.Instead, a nightmare took over.It didn’t happen all at once, but her life unraveled quickly—a tiny thread that evil somehow kept pulling until everything precious was taken from her. She was suddenly living miles away from her old life, trapped in an existence she didn’t choose—one determined to destroy her from the inside, leaving only hate and anger behind. It didn’t help that her neighbor, the one whose eyes held danger, was enjoying every second of her fall.Owen Harper was trouble, his heart wild and his past the kind that’s spoken about in whispers. And somehow, his path was always intertwined with Kensington’s, every interaction crushing her, ruining her hope for any future better than her now. Sometimes, though, what everyone warns is trouble, is exactly what the heart needs. Owen Harper was consumed with darkness, and it held onto his soul for years. When Kensington looked at him, she saw a boy who’d gotten good at taking others down when they threatened his carefully balanced life. But the more she looked, the more she saw other things too—good things…things to admire.Things…to love. Things that made her want to be reckless.And those things…they were the scariest of all.** This book is a standalone with no cliffhanger. A second, full-length companion novel about a related character, Andrew Harper, is out now. Wicked Restless also available on Amazon. **

The Accidentals


Sarina Bowen - 2018
     Never ask a question unless you’re sure you want the truth. I’ve been listening to my father sing for my whole life. I carry him in my pocket on my mp3 player. It’s just that we’ve never met face to face. My mother would never tell me how I came to be, or why my rock star father and I have never met. I thought it was her only secret. I was wrong. When she dies, he finally appears. Suddenly I have a first class ticket into my father’s exclusive world. A world I don’t want any part of – not at this cost.  Only three things keep me going: my a cappella singing group, a swoony blue-eyed boy named Jake, and the burning questions in my soul.
 There’s a secret shame that comes from being an unwanted child. It drags me down, and puts distance between me and the boy I love. My father is the only one alive who knows my history. I need the truth, even if it scares me.

What I Didn't Say


Keary Taylor - 2012
    He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.

Butterfly Weeds


Laura Miller - 2012
    But she should have known better. Her past haunted her every chance it got these days, and tonight it came in the form of lyrics she never expected to hear again—not after a decade, not in the arms of another man and definitely not in the form of a confession. Now, Julia must discover for herself if the song—and more importantly, the man behind it—is enough to leave her new life for her small-town, Missouri roots and a second chance at love.

Behind His Lens


R.S. Grey - 2013
    She hides beneath her beautiful mask, never revealing her true self to the world... until she comes face-to-face with her new photographer — sexy, possessive Jude Anderson. It's clear from the first time she meets him that she's playing by his rules. He says jump, she asks how high. He tells her to unzip her cream Dior gown; she knows she has to comply. But what if she wants him to take charge outside of the studio as well?Jude Anderson has a strict "no model" dating policy. But everything about Charley sets his body on fire. When a tropical photo shoot in Hawaii forces the stubborn pair into sexually charged situations, their chemistry can no longer be ignored. They’ll have to decide if they’re willing to break their rules and leave the past behind or if they’ll stay consumed by their demons forever. Will Jude persuade Charley to give in to her deepest desires?**Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.**

738 Days


Stacey Kade - 2016
    738 days later, she escaped. Her 20/20 interview is what everyone remembers—Amanda describing the room where she was kept, the torn poster of TV heartthrob Chase Henry on the wall. It reminded her of home and gave her the strength to keep fighting.Now, years later, Amanda is struggling to live normally. Her friends have gone on to college, while she battles PTSD. She’s not getting any better, and she fears that if something doesn’t change soon she never will.Six years ago, Chase Henry defied astronomical odds, won a coveted role on a new TV show, and was elevated to super-stardom. With it, came drugs, alcohol, arrests, and crazy spending sprees. Now he's sober and a Hollywood pariah, washed up at twenty-four.To revamp his image, Chase’s publicist comes up with a plan: surprise Amanda Grace with the chance to meet her hero, followed by a visit to the set of Chase’s new movie. The meeting is a disaster, but out of mutual desperation, Amanda and Chase strike a deal. What starts as a simple arrangement, though, rapidly becomes more complicated when they realize they need each other in more ways than one. But when the past resurfaces in a new threat, will they stand together or fall apart?

Away


B.A. Wolfe - 2013
    One night of pure weakness and lust has her running away from it all and seeking refuge in Alamosa with her best friend. But it seems life has other plans for her when she finds herself lost in the small town of Keaton. Jason Bradley is a charming country guy. He lives a simple life that’s nothing like what Cassandra is used to. A single moment in life changed everything he thought he once knew, leaving him with a broken heart and an unplanned future. What happens in Keaton is nothing Cassandra or her heart could have ever prepared for. The instant connection she shares with Jason is no secret, but what they're keeping hidden from one another is. Will these two be able to find a way to trust each other or will their secrets tear them apart?

See Through Heart


Amie Knight - 2016
     It wasn’t our quiet nights by the creek or stolen kisses surrounded by a sea of cotton that saved me. It was her. She was my comfort when life threw one ugly tragedy after another at me. Until she dealt me the greatest blow. Now, abandonment, betrayal, and death darken every corner of my life. Anger and hurt burn bright where love and trust once lived. But, now, she’s back. Sure, she’s changed, but I see through it—straight to her heart.

The Problem with Forever


Jennifer L. Armentrout - 2016
    Growing up, Mallory Dodge learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it's been four years since her nightmare ended, she's beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime. Now, after years of homeschooling, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at a public high school. But she never imagined she'd run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn't seen since childhood, on her very first day. It doesn't take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet soon it becomes apparent that she's not the only one grappling with lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider's life spiral out of control, Mallory must make a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants and the truths that need to be heard.