Book picks similar to
Provoke by Rachel Van Dyken


romance
contemporary
rachel-van-dyken
1001-dark-nights

Love at The Bluebird


Aurora Rose Reynolds - 2020
    Even though he’s been burnt in the past, Gavin puts his inhibitions aside and his heart on the line to earn the trust of the woman who could be his everything. Working in an industry where relationships start and end in the blink of an eye, Alyson Dawson has made it her mission not to get mixed up with musicians, no matter how good-looking they are. Keeping her focus on her blossoming career and clients, Aly doesn’t even have time to date much less fall in love. That is until she meets Gavin, a man who changes everything with one smoldering look. Just when these two begin to settle into their new relationship, Aly is asked to do something that may require her to choose between the career she’s building and the man she’s falling in love with. To make things worse, Gavin’s ex decides to add a touch of drama to an already delicate situation. Will their love survive, or become just another sad love song?

Forever Red


Carina Adams - 2015
    Covered in tattoos, singing songs about drugs, drinking and heartache, Nate acts more like an out of control rock star than the grandson of one of the genres most influential and legendary stars. Every man wants to be him. Every woman wants just one night with the hard-rocking country rebel.Except me. I just want to know that the boy I used to love is happy and that I didn’t break his heart in vain. That’s why I buy every magazine that even mentions his name; at least, that’s the story I tell myself.When my friends gave me a birthday present any fan would die for, I was suddenly face-to-face with the man I never thought I’d see again. My body wasn’t supposed to react to him the way it did. And, Nate sure as hell wasn’t supposed to look at me the way he used to. Can someone you loved as a teenager really have a hold on your heart twelve years later? Is it ever too late to say you’re sorry and make up for past wrongs? I’m about to find out.

Dirty Letters


Vi Keeland - 2019
    Over the years, through hundreds of letters, we became best friends, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets and forming a connection I never thought could break.Until one day it did.Then, out of the blue, a new letter arrived. A scathing one—one with eight years of pent-up anger. I had no choice but to finally come clean as to why I stopped writing.Griffin forgave me, and somehow we were able to rekindle our childhood connection. Only now we were adults, and that connection had grown to a spark. Our letters quickly went from fun to flirty to downright dirty, revealing our wildest fantasies. So it only made sense that we would take our relationship to the next level and see each other in person.Only Griff didn’t want to meet. He asked that I trust him and said it was for the best. But I wanted more—more Griff, in the flesh—so I took a big chance and went looking for him. People have done crazier things for love.But what I found could change everything.

The Wreckage of Us


Brittainy C. Cherry - 2020
     I know I should stay away from Ian Parker. But when my drug-dealing stepdad kicks me out, I have nowhere to go. Squatting in an abandoned shed on Ian’s grandpa’s farm seems like as good a plan as any. Ian finds me there, of course, and he insists on me moving into his spare room. I should say no, but the appeal of a roof and a warm bed is too much. Not to mention Ian’s brown eyes and strong arms. We’re nothing alike, but the spark between us is undeniable. My life is finally looking up. Until I call the cops on my stepdad and unintentionally get my pregnant mom arrested. Now I have to sacrifice my dreams to take care of my mom’s baby. She’s the only family I have left. Meanwhile, Ian’s band is taking off; his dreams are coming true. Ian is my one chance at love. I just hope he doesn’t become the one chance that got away.

Fast Lane


Kristen Ashley - 2019
    Forming in a garage in a small town in Indiana. Taking their licks on the road. Going balls to the wall until they made their big break.And then Preacher McCade and the Roadmasters redefined rock and roll.Guided by their tortured lead singer and songwriter, the Roadmasters changed the face of music in the 80s and 90s. And on their journey to becoming one of the most enduring bands in history—dogged by rumors and myth and fueled by drugs and booze—the Roadmasters had one touchstone.Lyla.Preacher’s muse, the love of his life, and the band’s moral compass, from the beginning, Lyla is along for the ride. But with fame and acclaim in their grasp, they’ve entered the fast lane.And they didn’t know it, but they were headed for a crash.

Gone for You


Jayne Frost - 2015
    Painting. But when Cameron Knight, the sexy as sin guitarist for the band Caged, needs a place to hide out from the press for a few days, Lily’s entire world turns upside down.Dangerous. Sexy. Wild. Cam is everything Lily shouldn’t want. Not to mention, a fling with a musician might just be the one thing that severs her relationship with her family for good.Cameron loves his life. His freedom. His music. When it comes to women, there's no such thing as a repeat performance. But one night with the gorgeous blonde has him bending the rules.  Lily wants a taste of something forbidden.Cameron wants to give it to her.They've only got four days. So what could it hurt?Gone For You is a light hearted introduction to Jayne Frost's angsty rock star romance series, The Sixth Street Bands, Each book in the series features recurring characters, but can be read as a standalone. NO CLIFFHANGERS.*** PLEASE NOTE: This book was revised on 12/2018. ***

No Tomorrow


Carian Cole - 2018
    They steal our breath.They steal our sanity.And we let them.Over and over and over again.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *They say you never forget your first love.Mine was a homeless musician who wandered straight into my soul.He was my first everything. And fourteen years later, I still can't get him out of my head.He broke all my rules.He also broke my heart.I watched him climb to stardom, cheering him on from afar.But I was never a fan; just a girl in love.Like a tornado, he spiraled, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.But love conquers all, right? It has to. Because here I stand, ravaged and ruined, needing it to be true.You can't go back, but I want to. Back to the park. Back to when he sang only for me. Before he was famous. Before he shattered my heart.I thought I knew everything about him.But I could not have been more wrong.He promised me every tomorrow. And here I am, waiting.And hoping.Again. _______________________ Note: This is not a fluffy, light read or a swoony romance. It's a journey of love between two people who can't let each other go, even though they are far from perfect. It's about loving someone who is struggling with mental illness and addiction and all the ups and downs that come with it. It's about finding a happily ever after that works between two people loving each other the best they can with patience, understanding, and unconditional love. Not everyone will agree with this kind of love and acceptance - but it exists, and it's real, and it happens every day.

Code Red


N.R. Walker - 2021
    He’s at the top of every music chart, every award show, every social media platform, and every sexiest-man-alive list. He’s the bad boy, the enigma, the man everyone on the planet wants a piece of.He’s also burned out and exhausted, isolated and lonely. Not in a good headspace at the start of a tour.Roscoe Hall is Maddox’s personal manager. His job is high-flying, high-demand, high-profile, and he loves it. Maddox has consumed his entire life for the past four years. Roscoe knows him. He sees the real Maddox no one else gets to see.He’s also in love with him.When the tour and stress become too much, when the world begins to close in, Roscoe becomes Maddox’s lifeline. But as Maddox knows already, and as Roscoe is about to learn, the brighter the spotlight, the darker the shadow.Word count: 102K

Catch Me


Claire Contreras - 2013
    I've experienced a lot of things in my twenty-five years, everything except the one thing I want. It's the one thing that can’t be bought. It can't even be taken, it has to be given. And nobody has ever given it to me, not really anyway. Not until him.Music is the center of both our lives, but as he found his place in it, I lost my way. He soared, while I spiraled down a destructive path.I lost myself in more ways than I can count.The ironic thing is that I didn’t realize how lost I was until he found me. And now that he has, I have to wonder if he'll stay around long enough to catch me.

Lies & Lullabies


Sarina Bowen - 2020
    We shared a lot during our short time together. But he skipped a few crucial details.I didn’t know he was a rock star.I didn’t know his real name.Neither of us knew I’d get pregnant.And I sure never expected to see him again.Five years later, his tour bus pulls up in Nest Lake, Maine. My little world is about to be shattered by loud music and the pounding of my own foolish heart.

The Girl in the Love Song


Emma Scott - 2020
    But most of us knew them as the Lost Boys...Miller Stratton is a survivor. After a harrowing childhood of poverty, he will do anything it takes to find security for himself and his mom. He’s putting all his hopes and dreams in the fragile frame of his guitar and the beauty he creates with its strings and his soulful voice. Until Violet. No one expects to meet the love of their life at age thirteen. But the spunky rich girl steals Miller’s heart and refuses to give it back. Violet McNamara’s life hasn’t been as simple as it looks. Her picture-perfect family is not so perfect after all. Her best friend Miller is her one constant and she is determined not to ruin their friendship with romantic complications. But the heart wants what it wants. As Miller’s star begins to rise to stratospheric heights, what will it take for Violet to realize that she’s the girl in all of his love songs?Lost Boys is a new series of interconnected, coming-of-age standalones from USA Today bestselling author Emma Scott, coming in 2020

Our Song


Lauren Runow - 2019
    I was trying to make the best of it. That is, until the world I had to leave behind, showed up in my classroom in the form of a five-year-old little girl. Her father living the exact life I almost had. Adam Jacobson is known as the bad boy of rock. While he and his band tour the world, they leave a trail of mayhem. What no one knows is behind the music is a caring, straightedge man with a secret — a daughter who the world is about to discover. When they move to my small town, their secret is blown. He needs my help to keep her out of the media, and with each exchange we grow closer. Only problem is I need to stay away from the memories he ignites, and the temptations he brings my way. Secrets I’ve kept and thoughts of that fatal night come crashing back into my life. I have to wonder if it was more than fate that brought his little girl into my classroom.

Seeing Stars


J. Sterling - 2014
    Madison Myers is a hard working talent agent assistant thrust into the spotlight one day after Walker pulls her on stage during one of his concerts. She tries to stay away from him, but he keeps chasing her. She is strong in her resolve and he is relentless in his pursuit. The question is... WHY?!?! Tabloid Headline Reads: Walker Rhodes pulls woman on stage during LA concert and serenades her with stars in his eyes and we watched as the sparks flew! But just who is this mystery woman who has stolen Walker's heart? And will she be the one to finally tie down our favorite womanizing gambler? Our readers poll: 80% say no way! The other 20% wish they were her!Read more inside...

Reckless Encore


Eden Summers - 2019
     Reckless Beat are back for an encore! Memories will be shared. Secrets will be exposed. And teenage angst will be in abundance. Someone may have even lost the naming rights to their kid during a drunken bet. Yep. Reckless are back - more seductive, hilarious, and crazy than ever.

Playing by Heart


J.B. Salsbury - 2018
    I wouldn’t sleep with him if he were our last chance to ensure survival of the human race. The only reason I put up with him is because he’s my boss’s brother. Whatsherface is one of those holier-than-thou types. She’s bossy, has a horrific singing voice, and she’s so ordinary, she practically blends in with the eggshell-colored walls—the complete opposite of anyone I’d bang. The only reason I put up with her is because my career is on the line. Playing by Heart is an enemies-to-lovers romance where opposites not only attract, they ignite.