Book picks similar to
Potential by M.L. Ridener


shifters
paranormal
young-adult
romance

Jaxson


Alisa Woods - 2015
    Three Secrets. One hope to save the shifters of Seattle. Former SEAL Jaxson River would give his life for his brothers and his pack, but if he doesn’t claim a mate soon, he’ll be forced to step down as their alpha. There’s only one problem: Jaxson’s dark secret would kill any mate he claimed. With someone kidnapping shifters off the street — and only Jaxson and his brothers, Jace and Jared, to stop them — now is not the time for his secret to come out. Curvy Olivia Lilyfield is a half-witch orphan with a dark secret of her own. She wants to atone for it by doing good in the world, so when she finds a wolf being tortured in an alley, she doesn’t hesitate to help… even though wolves and witches mix like matches and TNT. Olivia’s dangerous magic means she can’t let anyone get too close — but Jaxson can’t keep his hands off her, and his kisses are more than she can resist. As they race to save the disappearing shifters of Seattle, the true danger lies in loving each other. They’re playing with magical fire… and their secrets could end up destroying them both. Jaxson is a complete novel with HEA, the first in the Riverwise Private Security trilogy (Jace and Jared coming soon). Contains scorching shifter sex, alpha military heroes, and sexy witches.

Relentless


Karen Lynch - 2013
    Now at seventeen, she is still haunted by memories of that day and driven by the need to understand why it happened. She lives a life full of secrets and her family and friends have no idea of the supernatural world she is immersed in or of Sara’s own very powerful gift.In her quest for answers about her father’s death, Sara takes risks that expose her and her friends to danger and puts herself into the sights of a sadistic vampire. On the same fateful night she meets Nikolas, a warrior who turns Sara’s world upside down and is determined to protect her even if it’s the last thing she wants.Sara’s life starts to spin out of control as she is hunted by an obsessed vampire, learns that her friends have secrets of their own and reels from the truth about her own ancestry. Sara has always been fiercely independent but in order to survive now she must open herself to others, to reveal her deepest secrets. And she must learn to trust the one person capable of breaking down the walls around her.

Shifter's Sacrifice


Lisa Ladew - 2016
     Trevor Burbank is a shifter cop in a world of humans who don't know the evil that wants them dead. If he does his job well, the humans will never need to know, but he feels like he's working against the clock, because his pack is about to die. The females have all been killed, and the half-breeds they make when they mate with humans aren't usually skilled or strong enough to fight. Gabriela Carmi has lost almost everything that means anything to her way too fast and now she feels like she’s losing her mind too. On a quest to find something that won't reveal itself to her, she feels as if she’s pining for someone who may not exist. So when an evil presence begins to follow her, she isn't sure if her mind is slowly falling apart, or if the impossible is actually coming true. And when an instant attraction sparks between her and the dangerously sexy police officer sent to help her, it makes matters worse and better at the same time. It's a race against time to find the angel/human hybrid One True Mates that the pack's spiritual leaders say truly exist. Saving the all the shifter clans is on everyone's mind, except for the chosen, the One True Mates, most of whom don’t even know who or what they really are, or why they seem to be slowly losing their minds. Steamy. Light swearing. High heat. You've NEVER read a shifter romance like this before.

13 to Life


Shannon Delany - 2010
    Now even her hometown of Junction is changing.  Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town.It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid.

The Dark Divine


Bree Despain - 2009
    Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.

Twice Bitten


Belle Harper - 2020
    From foster homes, creeps on the street and the law. Lexi is a survivor, she has spent her whole life moving from one abusive foster home to the next, until she decided to take charge of her own life. Living in abandoned buildings, couch surfing and working at a strip clubs are huge improvement on what she had before. All she needs is enough money to feed herself, finish high school and hopefully go to college. She has a plan. That is until she is caught and sent to live with a strange foster family up-state, —her new high school isn’t much better. Rafferty King was forced like Lexi to this new foster home, but he fits in better. And that’s saying something for a total misfit. Hot as hell and getting into fights, while ignoring her existence. Whatever. Then there are the twins Ranger and Maverick, also known as “The joker and The Loner.” They know who she is and give her the new girl treatment she is all too familiar with. And how can a history teacher look that hot, there should be rules against that kind of thing. But there is something about Galen Donovani, that has Lexi feeling safe when he is near. While everyone else avoids him. What the hell is going on in the state of Washington. And why are there so many wolves roaming at Port Willow High! 17+ RH shifter and vampires.

Spiked


C.P. Rider - 2019
     My name is Neely and I'm a telepath-spiker. Not only can I read a person's thoughts, I can also spike deadly power straight into their brain.But don't worry, I have strict rules about that sort of thing.I'm hiding again. This time in a California desert truck stop town run by Lucas Blacke, a tiger shifter and alpha leader who's as handsome as Lucifer and twice as slippery. I've been running from alphas like him my whole life. They either want to own me or kill me—there is no middle ground.Now a homicidal alpha from my past is threatening everything I care about and I know I can't fight him alone. Lucas Blacke is dangerous, and his intentions are murky at best, but I've run out of options. If I want to live, I'm going to have to put my faith in a man I know I can't trust.If you like urban fantasy with a side order of romance, fast-paced action and slow-burn love, you'll love SPIKED. 2017 Best Banter Paranormal Award Winner 2017 Future, Fantasy, Paranormal On the Far Side Award Finalist 2017 Pages From The Heart Paranormal Romance Award Winner

Gypsy Blood


Kristy Cunning - 2018
    Or uncommon. I'm sure there are a lot of girls with old gypsy blood who see the dead, have killer cults hunting their family, and turn into something that gets scary when they panic. Yep. Completely unoriginal, if I do say so myself. Move along. Nothing to see here. Nope. I'm just an ordinary girl. I wish people would believe that. I've been labeled as one thing or another for most of my life: Death Girl. Crazy Gypsy Girl. Gothic Chick. Monster... It took my mother's death for me to finally start getting answers about what's really been going on. Unfortunately, most of the answers come from men...who aren't just men. Somehow, I've gone and landed myself in a world truly filled with monsters, and I'm starting to think this is where I should have been all along. Only...I don't understand what's going on. I'm walking into the middle of a story that's thousands of years old, and I'm the new girl on the block who doesn't have a clue how this world even works. My only guides happen to be the most lethal of the bunch. They decide who lives or dies. They decide who gets stabbed or tortured. Yeah... I've gone and drawn attention to myself, and the ones paying attention are the ones everyone else seems to fear. How do these things always happen to me? **Reverse Harem **Language warning **Sexual content **Dark Humor

Witch's Reign


Shannon Mayer - 2018
     If I can find a way out, if I can find a way to escape, perhaps I can outrun this curse. But that means passing through the Ice Witch's realm-something no one has returned from. But life has a funny way of changing directions on you. A freak accident. A child in danger. And a damn Warlock named Merlin who thinks he can manipulate me. It looks like I'm about to start a journey I never planned on, to face a Witch who has never been challenged, in an attempt to survive a storm of magic, danger, and trickery.

The Legend of the Blue Eyes


B. Kristin McMichael - 2013
    Why were her parents dead? Why did she not have family? Where was she raised until she was five? When someone offers to explain it all, Arianna thinks she’s just getting answers. Instead, she is thrown into a world of night humans who drink blood.On Arianna's sixteenth birthday, her world is thrown upside down when she changes into a vampire. Night humans, or demons, as some call them, live in normal society. Learning all of the new rules of a world she didn’t know existed might be hard enough, but it's further complicated by two former-friends that now want to help her take her role as the successor to her grandfather. There is a war going on between the night humans. Sides have been taken and lines are not crossed. Four main clans of night humans are struggling for control of the night. Divided into two sides, clans Baku and Tengu have been at war for centuries with the clans Dearg-dul and Lycan. That is, until Arianna Grace finds out the truth; she’s the bridge of peace between the two sides. But not everyone wants peace. With the night humans divided, Arianna is now a pawn in the war between them. She must choose a side—her mother’s family or her father’s—and for once in her life, decide her own fate.

Wild Moon


C.R. Jane - 2021
    You'll love this paranormal romance if you love True Blood, Twilight, or Vampire Diaries.Wild Moon is book 1 in a new wolf shifter trilogy by C.R. Jane and Mila Young. More books coming in this series.

Ignite


Jody Morse - 2014
    But when her mom is killed in a car accident, Amalia has no other option but to move to Shadow Hill, Connecticut to live with her estranged family where she finds herself more alone than ever. When Amalia meets Julian Archer, she feels a magnetic pull to him unlike anything she’s ever felt before. She’s pretty sure he feels the same way she does, but he won’t let her get too close to him. She soon learns it’s because Julian is keeping secrets – dark, dangerous secrets that affect both of them. And then there’s the cute, mysterious stranger who Amalia meets in the woods but who won’t even tell her his name. The more time she spends with him, the more she finds herself intrigued by him...and unsure of what his true intentions are. As Amalia learns more about herself and not just one but two age-old curses that involve her, she’s forced to decide if she’s willing to risk it all. Disclaimer: This Young Adult Paranormal Romance is recommended for readers ages grade 9 and up due to mild language and other mature topics. Approximately 73,000 words.

Heir of Shadows


Kel Carpenter - 2016
    Period.The day my sister broke that rule one too many times, I knew there would be consequences. I expected us to be sent to one of those schools for “troubled” kids—and maybe Daizlei Academy was, in a way. But really, it was far more complicated than that.You see, I thought that world had forgotten me. Forgotten us. For years we were left alone, and one day . . . we weren’t.It was only when I got there that I remembered the second rule:Trust no one.Because in our world? They would kill me if they knew the truth of what I am.Daizlei Academy is a school for Supernaturals.And me? I’m so much more.*This is a YA+ Academy series with slow-burn romance and a strong but flawed heroine. It is labeled YA(+) for stronger language and some mature situations. As the heroine ages and grows so does the content of the stories.*

Feral Sins


Suzanne Wright - 2012
    Unfortunately, Taryn Warner, a latent wolf shifter, doesn’t have many options open to her right now. Okay, she has no options. Basically it comes down to whether she’ll do what it takes to escape the arranged mating with the sick SOB that her father set up. As the answer in this case is yes, it looks as though she’ll have to agree to Trey Coleman’s deal… she’ll have to mate with him instead. Having always disliked shifter politics, Trey Coleman hadn’t bothered trying to form alliances with other packs. Now that his uncle – a wolf with many alliances – means to take Trey’s territory and his pack, he has no option but to form some alliances of his own very quickly or he’ll be easily outnumbered in the upcoming battle. He figures that the easiest way to do that would be to mate with a female whose Alpha is powerful and influential. There’s only one problem with that – he would then be stuck with her, and the last thing Trey wants is a mate. When he hears of Taryn’s situation, he offers her a deal – if she falsely claims he’s her true mate and allows him to claim her, he’ll save her from her arranged mating and then let her leave after the battle with his uncle is over. Sounds like a pretty straightforward deal...but soon Taryn and Trey realize they got more than they bargained for. Their mating instincts to protect and possess are weighing on them, they crave each other’s touch and company, and their inner wolves don’t like it whenever they’re apart. Add in that they’ll have to deal with this for an entire three months until the day of the battle finally arrives, and they’ve got themselves a recipe for disaster – or maybe for something quite the opposite. Warning: This novel contains an extremely sarcastic Alpha female, a broody possessive Alpha male, bitter in-laws, voyeuristic enforcers, a whole lot of dirty talk, and steamy bedroom battles for dominance. Reader Advisory: This edition also contains a graphic ménage scene - not for the faint-hearted, which is no longer included in subsequent editions.

Shadow's Edge


J.T. Geissinger - 2012
    Bound together by ancient bloodlines and a ruthless code of secrecy that punishes traitors with death, the Ikati send their leader Leander on a mission to capture one raised outside the tribe before she can expose their secret. When Leander tracks the unsuspecting outsider to Southern California, the hardened warrior is prepared for a fight—but not for the effect the sensual young beauty has on his heart.Jenna spent her childhood in hiding, on the run from someone—or something—her parents refused to discuss. She trusts no one, not since her father’s mysterious disappearance, not since her mother’s sudden death, and definitely not since she began exhibiting strange, superhuman abilities. When handsome, enigmatic Leander appears, promising answers to the mysteries that shroud her past, she knows she shouldn’t trust him either. But their connection is undeniable, and as powerful as the enemy hell-bent on destroying every one of their kind…