Book picks similar to
Sanctuary of Mine by Shelly Pratt


young-adult
high-school
contemporary-romance
college

This Time Around


Ellie Grace - 2013
    Now, four years later, she returns home and is forced to confront the past she left behind and the reckless boy who broke her heart. It’s not long before the pieces of her past begin to blur with the present and she realizes that the feelings she had for her first love never really went away. As old dreams resurface and new truths come to light, she begins to question the future she's always planned on.Jake Harris has spent four years regretting the night he let her get away. When she finally reappears in his life, he is determined to win her back and prove how much he’s changed. She might never forgive him for that night, but if he tells her the truth about what really happened it will shatter the world she thought she knew. If he doesn’t, he might not get a second chance. He’s already lost her once and he won’t lose her again.They come from two different worlds that are threatening to tear them apart…can they make it this time around?

Nowhere


Marysue G. Hobika - 2013
    After the sudden death of her father, she finds herself starting a new life in the Podunk town her mother grew up in, a month before her senior year begins. Mike goes to a party with her cousins to meet their friends, but she spends the whole night wishing she’d stayed home. That changes when a handsome cowboy unexpectedly shows up.Dooner has been working hard every day at football practice to secure a scholarship to get out of this small town once and for all. Looking for a night out, he crashes a party, and suddenly it’s the new girl, Mikayla, who’s got his attention. She’s like a breath of fresh air compared to the girls he’s known all his life. When Mike and Dooner meet they are attracted to each other, but will their encounter turn into something real or will it lead nowhere?

Lily of the Valley


Sarah Daltry - 2013
    If dirty talk, bedroom toys, and threesomes offend you... this is not your book. There are also no billionaires, strippers, or virgins. This is just the story of typical college kids trying to connect to each other. "No one tells you about pain. They tell you that it hurts, that sometimes it's consuming. What they don't tell you is that it's not the pain that can kill you. It's the uncomfortable numbness that follows, the weakness in your body when you realize your lungs may stop taking in air and you just can't exert enough energy to care. It's the way taste and color and smell fade from the world and all you're left with is a sepia print of misery. That's when the shift starts - the movement from passive to active. I fall asleep, hoping that the morning will bring back the pain. At least the pain is a thing."Plagued by a dark past, Jack sees college as a way out. Desperate to escape the area where he grew up, the people who know his secrets, and his own family, he deals with his problems through alcohol and meaningless sex. When he first sees Lily, she's the epitome of everything he hates. Yet something about her makes Jack rethink everything he knows and assumes about other people. Now, with the help of his best friend and lover, Jack has to decide if he wants to pursue something that he knows will only end badly.Can Lily be one of the few people who can see Jack for who he really is - or will his darkness be too much for her to handle?

Muse


Maree Green - 2014
    Now at eighteen, with her final months of high school before her, she only has one goal: To remain unseen…Jace Wallace is about to start living a rock star's life. As lead guitarist for the newest internet sensation, Fighting Fate, he's rocking the stage - and a different girl - every weekend, and that's the way he prefers it. With the band's popularity about to explode to new heights, he doesn't have time for complications. Or commitments. He only has one goal: To succeed...The only thing standing in the way of achieving their goals? Each other.When unusual circumstances bring the two of them together, and one thing quickly leads to another, Mia finds herself proposing an arrangement she never thought she'd ever consider. A no-strings-attached relationship. But when feelings start creeping in, and their one goal blurs to include another, they're both forced to make a decision.Sit back and take what Fate hands you, or fight for what you want.

How We Lived


Erin Butler - 2014
    She just wanted to wear jeans and a T-shirt—the clothes Kyle would’ve wanted her in—not wrap herself up in death. So she watched the funeral from afar, like an outsider. Which is just how she feels.Chase came, though, just like she knew he would. Until a few months ago, the three of them had been best friends, and then Chase made a mistake that shattered both families. But when Kelsey looks at him, she doesn’t see her brother’s killer. She sees the boy next door who’s always taken care of her. She sees home. When Chase tells her his feelings run deeper than friendship, she can’t help but get lost in him. In Chase, she finally has the closure she’s been unable to find anywhere else. But the boy she’s falling in love with is still hiding secrets about the night Kyle died. Secrets that could destroy everything they have…again.standalone

Wicked Thing


Angeline Kace - 2013
    She learned at a young age not to trust anyone. Especially not your spouse. So she's planned. She's planned every detail of her life: who her husband will be, what their careers will be, what their lives will be like. All to avoid the pain of infidelity. Dallas Brown lives according to his own terms. He doesn't do relationships, he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him, and he doesn't live up to anyone's expectations. When Carmyn's fiancé cheats on her, it sends her into a whirlwind of one-night stands with the most infamous player on campus. She can't seem to stay away from this tough guy and his dangerous motorcycle. Everything about him is the complete opposite of who she'd planned to fall in love with: tattoos, dark stubble along his jawline, and hair that brushes his shoulders. As Dallas and Carmyn begin to fall deeper and deeper into each other, they learn that love can truly be a wicked, wicked thing.Sneak Peek of WICKED THING by Angeline Kace. New Adult Romance, Coming Sept 2013“What gives you the right? We are not together. Stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”Carmyn’s forehead creases, and if I were a fool, I’d say it was in pain.Her face flushes with anger. “You’re right, Dallas.” Her words are clipped and cold. A stark contrast to the heat radiating from her. “We’re not together and I had no right. I’m sorry.” She snatches her purse off my dresser and turns to leave.“Carmyn, wait.”She stops but doesn’t turn around.I’m confused. She won’t let me tell her how I feel, but I’m supposed to allow her to fix the most broken part of my life? A part of me wants her to. For her to be the one who makes the broken things work. But not like this. Not when she insists on keeping things the way they are. I can’t give myself to her if she won’t accept my heart, let alone give me hers.She marches to the door and flings it open.I want to tell her to wait, but I still don’t know what to say. I got what I wanted; she won’t try to push me about Denton anymore. Was it worth losing whatever part of her I had?I’m not sure it is.Meet Dallas and Carmyn this summer in WICKED THING by Angeline Kace. For more details and teasers, visit her website at www.angelinekace.com.

Planning on Forever


Ashley Wilcox - 2012
    With graduation day nearing and college life on the horizon, Collin flirts with infidelity and loses everything he has with Alexa.Brokenhearted and single, Alexa meets sexy Nolan Pratt. She can’t deny the attraction and pull that he has over her.Not being able to accept the fact that he has lost Alexa forever, Collin focuses all his attention on his second love, football, in an attempt to move on.Will Collin be able to win Alexa’s heart back or will he find that his first love isn’t the love of his life?

Love Unexpected


Anne Leigh - 2013
    She had everything figured out, in a neat, little timeline. Then, fate chose to intervene in the form of a chance meeting with a guy who stirs unknown emotions inside her, leaving her reeling and wanting for more.Zander Zebowski is not your typical college jock. For one, he's a good guy. Second, he's pretty smart. And, he's level-headed. The farthest thing on his mind was smacking into a woman who may just be his undoing.This is not your typical bad boy meets good girl love story. This is a story between two people who are great on their own. But, with each other, they are absolutely perfect.

Talania: A Trip down Memory Lane


Crystal Spears - 2013
    She lost five years of her life because of brain cancer. Now she is a 20 years old survivor and enrolled in college, determined to reclaim her life. There she meets Tristan Monroe, but it isn't the first time they’ve met. In fact, Tristan and Evelyn were once in love. It was a love so strong that it shattered him when, after the three years they had spent together, she never came back to Laguna.Evelyn wants nothing more than to have her memories back. With the help of Tristan and his brother Drake, they take Evelyn on an emotional journey filled with videos, photos, and memorabilia...a walk down memory lane. While they stroll down memory lane, Evelyn must learn to deal with Tristan's rock star fame and the ever-present groupies. She struggles to find herself and to learn to love again.Is their love strong enough to overcome the memory loss? Is it strong enough to survive whatever comes their way? Will all the proof Tristan shares with her be enough to show her how deeply they loved each other? Will love find Evelyn once again?

A Toast to the Good Times


Steph Campbell - 2012
    When Landry’s present and near past collide, it only further complicates things.Landry thought he was leaving all of his problems behind when he left his family in New Jersey. But he comes home to find out that problems, like family, never go away. And sometimes facing the past with the help of someone who’s fearless about the future is the only way to move on.Cheers?

Summer's Desire


Olivia Lynde - 2013
    In each other, they find a safe haven... and respite from the darkness haunting them both. Until they are betrayed.Can they ever regain their friendship? And if they do, can they trust each other enough to take the biggest risk of all: falling in love?Genre: Mature YA/New Adult, Romance

Safer Outside


Kristina Renee - 2014
    School is her escape from the violence at home and her only hope at breaking the cycle of poverty she was born into. Trying to shield her siblings from her stepfather's fury gets harder each day so when she meets Logan, she thinks it will be a harmless distraction from the fear. She's Wrong.Logan has the resources to change her life but at what cost? Her relationship is the best thing that ever happened to her but it could also be the worst. If she's not careful, she may lose everyone that's important to her. But it's hard to be careful when you're fifteen and in love.For mature readers (16+)

Blue Love


M.J. Fields - 2013
    He is hot, arrogant, and has a sexual past that most boys his age could only dream of, (If they even knew they could dream of such things). Lucas, the star quarterback seems to have it all, super star athletic abilities, expensive clothes, cars, and women who literally stop just to watch him walk by. On the outside he appears to have it all. Tessa is a young woman who lives her life always doing what is right to make everyone else happy. She tries desperately to hold herself accountable to the demanding expectations of her family and everyone around her. Is Tessa as innocent as she appears? Is Lucas just a spoiled young man who seems to have what every male, and female wants?A troubled home life exposed. Past flings fight for his attention. While the only girl who Lucas ever dated connives to win him back using the only thing she knew held him to begin with. Does her desperation destroy a love he never knew existed before Tessa? A love bound not by his past or hidden secrets. A love of truth and depth. A love that knew no end regardless of tragic circumstance. Blue Love is not your typical love story. It is a journey through your past or a story of one close to you. It’s our story.

Only Between Us


Mila Ferrera - 2013
    This semester she’s putting herself back together, determined to reclaim her passion for art and for life. When she signs up for a painting class at the local art co-op, the possibility of passion becomes very real -- in the form of her teacher, Caleb. Both mysterious and seriously hot, Caleb bares his soul on his canvases, and Romy’s fascinated by what she sees.Caleb is just trying to keep his head above water. Caring for his traumatized, unstable sister is getting harder every day, and his paintings are so dark and bleak that no one is buying. Teaching classes at the co-op is no longer enough, and now he’s going to have to sell more than just his art to the wealthy, sex-starved women in his classes. But when Romy comes along, she makes everything more complicated. She sees the truth in his paintings -- a truth no one else has realized, until now.Romy and Caleb might have a real shot together -- one that could heal them both. But when ghosts from their pasts re-emerge, determined to keep them apart, will they be strong enough to hold on to each other?

Anywhere with You


Kaylee Ryan - 2013
    Her parents died in a car crash when she was ten, and she has been living with her elderly grandmother who happens to be her only living relative ever since. Allison became best friends with the boy next door, Aiden. Aiden’s family has taken her in as part of their own, which is why when her gran insists that she live in the dorms at college, Allison chooses to attend the same school as Aiden.Liam MacCoy is a college senior and quarterback of his college football team. Liam is rumored to be first round draft pick for the NFL following graduation, as is his best friend, Aiden. Liam has one focus and that’s football, that is until his little sister introduces him to her roommate Allison. Since he met her, he hasn't been able to think of anything else.Liam is not a relationship kind of guy, and Allison wants it all. She wants the romance and the family that she grew up without. Will Liam overcome his fear of relationships as well as the tangle of friendships to give Allison everything she wants?