Book picks similar to
Above The Surface by Serena Akeroyd


sports
contemporary-romance
virgin-heroine
not-safe

Maybe


Shane Morgan - 2019
    Her plan: achieve one goal in her senior year. Not attract the attention of a rich boy with a reputation.Sydney is sure about guys like Parker.The wealthy and entitled ones.Players.This one hates the way she looks at him.Parker Prescott is determined to prove her wrong.He chases Sydney.She pushes him away until she can no longer fight her feelings.The ice starts to melt.Her defenses lower the more she learns about him. He’s not just another player.Like her, Parker has issues he’s dealing with.But she’s still so afraid to let him in.And Parker fears he may never truly win her heart.Can Sydney accept her intense feelings and trust that Parker won’t hurt her, and will she be there for him when he needs her the most?

Play Only For Me


R.B. O'Brien - 2021
    She hasn't done anything wrong to me. She seems nice actually, sweet. She’s attractive, that's for sure, but she certainly isn’t trying to capitalize on it. A baggy sweatshirt and a pair of jeans? Maybe it's the UGGS that get under my skin. The screaming designer label on her sweatshirt. Maybe it's the fact that I haven’t stopped fantasizing about what she might look like underneath it.Lauren Percy:Why is he being so rude to me? He has a face that has that boy charm. Dimples, big brown eyes, sandy hair, clear skin. But as I travel to his chest, I can see this is no innocent boy. Through his white t-shirt that grips his biceps, I see the black ink of tattoos. Where I come from, I have never seen a tattoo up close and personal. His hands are calloused, his fingernails slightly bitten, and he has a slight scar on his collarbone, but it’s hard to see under the hemp choker he’s wearing. He's sexy as hell.Colton Masters: “You done staring, Princess?”Lauren Percy: Damn it. Why I am so drawn to him?*****Play Only For Me is a standalone New Adult Romance of two college music majors discovering themselves but ultimately discovering that true love and dreams can come with sacrifice, and that happy endings are not always one-note, scripted, already-heard songs.

Cruel Boy


Clarissa Wild - 2019
    Rich boys sin best.Gossip always goes around at Falcon Elite Prep.Everyone knows Nate Wilson, the most popular football quarterback and every girl’s crush.But there’s more behind those drop-dead gorgeous eyes and that killer smile …He’s a notorious heartbreaker …And he’s got his eyes set on me.The twisted games he plays are cruel and dangerous.He teases and tempts me … just to ruin me.Because I know the one thing he doesn’t want anyone to know.A big, dirty secret …And there’s nothing bad boys won’t do to keep a secret buried.

Sanctum


K. Michelle - 2020
    Always waiting.They call me Priest, and I’ll make you repent for your sins.But I won’t be able to protect you from mine. Do I scare you, Cohen?Does my mere presence heighten your pulse and warm the blood in your veins?Do I stir the deepest parts of you? The parts you buried deep inside long ago?Admit it, Cohen, I’m a thrill, scattered within the deepest layers of your mind.Always tempting. Always enticing.You found me in the woods. You were a danger, and I was naive.But now I want the wolf that hunts me. Call it a truce. Call it a surrender.He needs justice. I need answers.It’s us against them.Cohen may have claimed me, but Sanctum wants to own me.They plan on collecting.But so am I.

Hate the Game


Winter Renshaw - 2019
    Obsessed with scoring, refuses to play by the rules. Cruel. Relentless. Brilliant. Intoxicatingly attractive. Despite his demanding reputation and propensity for being the most arrogant a-hole ever to strut Pacific Valley University’s picturesque campus, everyone wants a piece of him: coaches, scouts, and pretty little fangirls with pouty lips and perfect top knots. But Talon … he only wants a piece of me. And four straight years of infuriating rejection means I’m almost positive he’d take a night with me over a national championship trophy. But I’m no fool—he only wants me because he can’t have me. And with graduation approaching, time is running out. He’s more desperate than ever, pulling out all the stops and doing everything in his power to get in my good graces. They say, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” But to that I say, “Why not both?” I have my reasons ... Sorry, BMOC. This victory? Not going to happen.

Pretty When She Cries


A. Zavarelli - 2020
    Ours was baptized in fire.I was the new girl trying to find her place.Landon was the brooding neighbor I tutored over the summer.I didn’t know he was a legend at Black Mountain Academy.I didn’t know they worshipped him like a religion.But I fell for him before I knew those things.To me, he was just the tortured soul who drew me in like a magnet.And then he did something so unspeakable, so unforgivable, it shattered me.I ran away then because I was weak, but I’ve shed my tears.He stole my heart and my dignity, and I’m here to take it back.The only problem is… he’s not giving it up without a fight.

Endgame


Chloe Walsh - 2017
    1. Don't fall in love in high-school.2. Get through senior year and snag a full-ride scholarship to college.3. Get the hell away from my irresponsible mother.I didn't think that was too much to ask for, and I've worked damn hard to make it a reality. Until my mother went and did the unthinkable!She's pregnant.Yep, the woman-child only went and got herself knocked-up by a man who lives on the other side of the country.As if it wasn't bad enough to uproot my life six weeks before senior year, Mom's new beau comes with baggage.A sweet stepsister, Amelia.And the b*stard of all b*stards, Rourke.Rourke is a senior like me, and he doesn't want me in his town, much less his home. He's also hell bent on making sure I know it. Thing is, I don't want to be there either, and if Rourke expects me to swan in and kiss his ass to make him like me, he has another thing coming.I'm nobody's bitch and he's about to learn that...Endgame is a feisty standalone romance. Due to its explicit content, bad language, and graphic sexual content, Endgame is recommended for mature readers of seventeen years and above.

Little Things


Madison Street - 2014
    It’s his senior year of high school, and all he needs is to focus on his grades, lacrosse, and keeping his girlfriend happy. That is until Raya walks into his life. From the moment they meet, Duke is drawn to her, not only for her natural beauty and her stunning crystal blue eyes, but because he’s aware there’s more to this girl than just his alluring pull to her. He senses secrecy and fear. Throughout the year, their bond grows stronger, and his feelings for her become undeniable. Just when he is about to express his love, tragedy strikes and Raya disappears. For six years, Duke is tortured by his struggles, as he’s unable to find her and blames himself for failing to protect her. Until the day, she’s found, and he’s given a second chance. Will Duke become her beacon of hope and make her see that it’s the little things that make life worthwhile? Can Raya overcome her fears and fight against the terrors that haunt her? Or will her dark and torturous past be too much for her to battle against? *Warning: This book contains some disturbing situations, strong language and sexual content. Suited for 18 years and over.

Cruel


Ivy Rush - 2020
    Rich, gorgeous, ruthless and cruel, he moves through the halls of Tanglewood Academy like a king, totally untouchable. Until now. Because I know his secret. The one so dark and shocking that it could ruin his perfect life, his perfect reputation, his perfect future. The secret he’ll protect at all costs, even if it means making my life a living hell. He wants to keep me quiet, and he’ll do anything to make sure that happens. Soon we’re locked in a game of twisted cruelty that can only end in an explosion of secrets and lives destroyed. He’s sure I’ll give up. But what Raider didn’t count on was that I have a secret, too. One I’ll do anything to protect. Raider might think he’s untouchable, but I’m not going down without a fight. Game on.

Only Work, No Play


Cora Reilly - 2019
    Leaving the States and following her sister to Australia to work as the personal assistant of rugby star Xavier – The Beast – Stevens seems like the right kind of distraction. Tall, muscled and devilishly handsome, Xavier is the lov’ em and leav’ em kind of guy. He never forgets a girl’s name because he never bothers to remember it in the first place. Evie soon realizes that being Xavier’s assistant is a 24/7 job; the man seems unwilling to even set an alarm for himself. As she watches him move from one woman to the next, Evie is glad that her heart is safe from his attention. After all, she’s a far cry from the size zero models he usually takes to his bed. But soon being around Xavier doesn’t feel like a job, and seeing him walk around his apartment half naked all the time isn’t helping either. Evie knows that giving in to her attraction will lead to heartbreak, but when Xavier starts treating her as more than just his assistant, resisting his charms seems like an impossible task.

Keeper


Harloe Rae - 2020
    To me, Decker Fredric is another nameless face in the crowd. To him, I’m a forgotten girl he hasn’t seen in years. But he agrees to be my crutch through the fog as if we were once friends.Everything is a blank canvas spreading far and wide in front of me. Any direction I take, my steps stumble over the unknown. Decker becomes the only reliable constant in my life. I lean on him too hard, but he doesn’t seem to mind. His unwavering patience and guidance restore some semblance of normal I don’t recall having.My attraction to Decker is instant, but he appears indifferent. Until the day his stare holds a bit too much heat. In return, I dare to let my touch linger. Our hugs cling tighter than a simple embrace should. But we have no business defying the distinct line cutting between us.Decker Fredric was never mine to keep. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting him to be.

Fallen Memories


Amber Nicole - 2020
    My boyfriend, my best friend, and my family. Now all I'm left with is a whole lot of questions, a diagnosis, people I don't recognize, and enough uncertainty to fill an ocean. Since waking up all I've had are secrets, rumors, lies, and abuse from a guy who seems almost familiar to me. Will I ever learn what really happened that night? Will I remember these fallen memories before it's too late? Only time will tell.AshWho does she think she is? How dare she walk around like nothing happened? Like she didn't rip out my heart, steal my sister, and plunge me into the darkest pits of hell.I'm going to break her, bit by bit. She may have been the love of my life, my soulmate, but that time is gone. How can I have a mate when I no longer have a soul?Time to play, dollface.

The Peer and the Puppet


B.B. Reid - 2018
    Win the race. Collect the cash. It should've been an easy job. Ran out of town with a broken leg and a lawsuit, my mother's latest flame swoops in like a knight in gilded armor. Blackwood Keep is a place I don't belong, and I'm not the only one who knows. To the boy across the hall, my savior's only son, I'm a stray looking for a bone.He's lord of the manor.King of the academy.And number one on my shit list.THE PEERI have no intentions of becoming a happy family with the social climber and her wild daughter. A bottle of Jameson and a cracked skull gets my problem shipped to reform school, but I didn't bank on her returning.Four's out to get even, and she almost had the perfect plan: expose the privileged kid moonlighting as a gangbanger. She's smart, but she'll have to be smarter. Sending her away won't be good enough this time. I'm going to have to tame the little troublemaker. To the girl across the hall, the one without a name, I'm nothing without my silver spoon.She's lady of the trailer park.Queen of the swamps.And my new favorite pastime.The Peer and the Puppet is a standalone romance, however, the series is one story. The plot introduced in Four and Ever's story will continue in the following novels. Content suitable for 18+.

Bad Apple


Gemini Jensen - 2019
    Keyword: Supposed. But I’ve just been shipped off to a new school. Sentenced to hard time deep in the heart of Hicktown, USA. I left everything behind—my friends, my girl, my band, my ambitions. Besides graduating, I thought there was nothing left to strive for. Then, I meet her...Pretty. Preppy. Popular. Basic. Most importantly, daughter of the enemy.And now I have a new vision...Rip away her crown. Knock her off her pedestal. Wear her down until she’s stripped bare. She has no idea what’s coming for her. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and the Creed family tree is full of bad apples. But me?I’m the most rotten of them all. Note: This is a full-length novel that ends on a cliffhanger. Book two will be releasing before the end of the year, and can be pre-ordered at the release of Book One. This series deals with subjects that may be uncomfortable for some. This duet in particular contains flawed characters that may be hard to swallow. In other words, if you are a safety reader, or have disliked “Bully” stories with crude anti-heroes in the past, this may not be the book for you.

Long Shot


Kennedy Ryan - 2018
    One of the NBA's brightest stars.Fine. Forbidden. He wants me. I want him.But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won't let me go.*Some aspects of this story may be sensitive for some readers.