Book picks similar to
Malicious by Alex Grayson
new-adult
romance
standalone
dnf
Just One Year
Penelope Ward - 2020
On the first day of orientation, I had an altercation with an infuriating British dude in a campus bathroom. (The ladies’ room was out of order. So, I used the men’s room. Don’t judge.)I got home later that night and realized that the foreign student we were expecting to rent a room in my parents’ house was allergic to our cat.So, the spare room went to someone else: Caleb—the British guy from the men’s room. And so it began…my love-hate story with Caleb Yates. Or was it hate-love in that order?The guy knew how to push every one of my buttons. Sometimes I’d email him to express my aggravation and disdain.He’d actually rewrite my own words and send them back to me. That was the type of infuriating person Caleb was.So frustrating.And…Sometimes incredibly funny and endearingly sweet.And hot. He eventually grew on me, and Caleb soon became one of my best friends that year. Too bad he was headed back to England soon, so nothing could happen between us—for so many reasons. I definitely couldn't fall in love with him, especially since all we had was just one year.
Savage God: A Dark College Bully Romance
Ivy Blake
He feasts on my tears and screams for breakfast, stares me down with hateful eyes and taunts me with salacious threats.I was the first girl to say no to him…But Nate doesn’t give a shit about the word no.I was lucky to escape him once, now my luck has run its course.Oakwood was meant to be my safe haven, my escape from home, but now it’s become the lion’s den and my tormentor lurks in the shadows, waiting to pounce.My cries mean nothing to him; they only make him want me more. Nate doesn’t ask, he takes.My bully likes to play with his prey before he devours it.He vows to bring me to my knees and have his way with me.I don’t know when he’ll strike, but I know he’ll make me pay for daring to disrespect him.Nate knows all the right spots to touch, which makes me hate him even more.But when his hand is wrapped around my throat, it’s hard not to be tempted by that deliciously cruel mouth.I won’t stop fighting him, I won’t bend to his will. And yet, I don’t know how much longer I can continue living in fear. If I surrender, will Nate finally leave me alone?‘Savage God’ is a standalone dark college bully romance that will be a part of a series of standalones set at Oakwood Academy. Check the trigger warnings before diving into Nate and Violet’s deliciously dark story! Recommended for older readers.
No Attachments
Tiffany King - 2013
She knows she left behind a trail of pain, but in the long run, her betrayal will hurt less than the truth. She now has one goal: Live life to the fullest with no regrets and no attachments. She has high hopes that a move to new surroundings will provide the escape she desires, but what Ashton doesn't count on is how fate always seems to find a way to screw up any good plan. Sometimes, when love comes knocking, the pull is too strong not to answer. Suddenly, what she thought she wanted to escape from is what Ashton now wants more than anything.Nathan Lockton has one mission: find his target and complete the task he was hired to do—no attachments and no emotion necessary. He's done it over and over again. What he thought was a typical lost-and-found job has turned into a life examining moment as Nathan is forced to deal with something he has always ignored--his feelings. Now faced with a decision, Nathan must choose to either follow his heart or complete the job.Love can come when you least expect it. The question is: If the odds are stacked against you, how far are you willing to go for the one you love?Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations, language and mature subject matter.
Hate Mates
Mickey Miller - 2020
Or the one about his father, the head football coach. Or even the one about his special talent between the sheets.I’m talking about the one where he has a female roommate in an all-male dorm.I can’t speak to the first three, but that fourth one is true. I know because that girl in his room is me.Because of an error by the college, I’m placed with Mr. Campus Celebrity in the traditionally male dorm.Is he panty-meltingly handsome with an attitude to match? Sure.Do I accidentally fanaticize about him one (okay, maybe two) times? Fine, I’m honest enough to admit it.None of that matters, because we’re opposites in all the ways that are important for getting along as college roommates:He comes from a perfect life and old money. I come from a broken home and bowls of ramen.He’s at Greene State to party. I’m here to study.He’s a popular jock. I wouldn’t be caught dead playing sports.To say we get off to a rocky start would be an understatement.Ironically, that’s what causes our sizzling attraction to boil over one night. But even that comes at a price.Because our story has a twist neither of us could see coming.One that changes both of our lives, ‘till death do us part.
Drew
Amanda Shelley - 2020
He’s made me a firm believer in chemistry existing outside a textbook. Until his ego shows up. Nope – No thank you. Moving on. I mean… who has an entourage in college?When our professor announces we’ll be stuck as lab partners, I nearly lose my mind – I’m certain my dreams of becoming a doctor will go up in smoke with a distraction like him around.DrewI don’t date during the season.The number of trolls who venture into the arena simply to chase jerseys is unbelievable.In fact, I typically distance myself from the social side of being a college athlete because I have my eye on something bigger than our next D-1 championship.I’ve taken painstaking measures to avoid distractions – at all costs. This plan has worked perfectly until Abby shows up at my door.Gone is the plain studious girl I left in lab the day before. Left in her place is the intriguing woman I want to know better. Here I thought she wouldn’t be a distraction – yeah right… I am so screwed. Abby’s gorgeous and there’s nothing plain about her.I am this close to having it all. If I let Abby in, will my perfectly laid out plans disappear?
Little Lies
H. Hunting - 2020
You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords.And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.A standalone angsty new adult romance. Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )
Thorn
Tracy Lorraine - 2019
From the moment she steps foot in Rosewood High— it's clear she must go.And I'll use my power to get rid of her. The betrayal I'm reminded of each time our eyes lock must end.She's a lost rich girl, trying to recover from the death of her parents. But none of that is my concern.This is my life. My rules. My senior year. What I say goes.And I say she's done.Until she proves me wrong...
Holding Out for You
Anna Paige - 2020
He was my friend, my ally, my protector all my life. Everyone loved him, looked up to him almost as much as me.My big brother’s best friend, though?He was my nemesis, my tormentor, my least favorite person on earth. Ashton Hunter was a complete jerk.And yet, like my brother, everyone loved him. Not me, though. No way. Not after a lifetime of his snide comments and not-so-subtle jabs. Years of treating me like the bratty little sister he barely tolerated. But I refused to let him deter me from seeing my brother.I’d just have to ignore him. Like I always had. Or—more accurately—like I always pretended to. I was used to pretending when it came to Ash.But some feelings refuse to stay hidden forever. ***My best friend was better than all the other friends on earth. Hands down. My partner in crime, my ride or die, my brother in every way that counted. His little sister, though?She was an entirely different story.Blair Martell was…complicated. Where her brother acted like she was made of glass, I tried to make her shatter. When others bowed to her wishes, I challenged every word out of her pouty little mouth. She wasn’t meant to be on some pedestal. And I made sure she knew it. Maybe she hated me for the way I treated her, But I knew exactly what she needed.Even when she didn’t know.And after so many years of biding my time, I was finally going to be the man to give it to her.
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.
Things I Wanted To Say (But Never Did)
Monica Murphy - 2021
Dark and thunderous, furious and fierce. Cold, heartless and devastatingly beautiful, like the statues in our prep school gardens. The school with his family name on the sign. He can do no wrong here. This is his domain. He’s a menace on campus. Adored and feared. Hated and respected. His taunting words carve into my skin, shredding me to ribbons. Yet his intense gaze scorches my blood, fills me with a longing I don’t understand. When I stumble upon him one night alone, I find him broken. Bleeding. My instincts scream to leave and let him suffer, but I can’t. I sneak him into my room. Clean him up. Fall for his lies. Let him possess every single part of me until I’m the one left a gasping, broken mess. When he leaves me alone in the dead of night, he takes my journal with him. Now he knows all my secrets. My hate. My truth. And he promises to use my words against me. I’ll be ruined if my darkest secret gets out. That’s when I strike a bargain with the devil. I’ll let Whit Lancaster ruin me behind closed doors instead.
Boyfriend Bargain
Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2019
Broke and desperate, Sugar Ryan has no use for arrogant, bad boy athletes . . . until she’s forced to bargain with the cockiest of them all.If only he knew she was alive. Her mission? Get on this hockey player’s radar any way possible. Zack Morgan is the king of the ice and the bedroom—but nothing prepares him for the mystery girl who shows up everywhere he does—frat parties, his favorite bar, and finally his front door with an offer he can’t refuse. The only rule in her boyfriend bargain: no falling in love.But after one (um, two) smoking-hot hookups, he’s done with pretending and vows to make their fake relationship real. Too bad she can’t trust a player with a reputation for breaking hearts. Will this hockey star score his forever girl or will their Boyfriend Bargain end in heartbreak?
A standalone hockey romance.
Used
Lynetta Halat - 2014
No worries. I've come to terms with it, and you will too. I’m not one of those girls who thinks she’s too plain, too fat, too skinny, too shy … no, I don’t have that kind of luck. I’m the girl who knows she’s just right for everyone. — Denver A reputation as a manwhore–with–a–heart–of–gold tends to precede me. But, I don’t do girls with issues, that is until this girl. It's this girl I want to fix. This girl I want to protect. And maybe … more. — Ransom Being in love with the same girl your entire life isn't all it's cracked up to be. She uses me in every way imaginable. How does she see me? I am her perpetual one-night stand. No strings, no attachments. Just mind-numbing sex ... for her anyway. — Greer Feeling like the life is being choked out of her in the small town of Anaconda, Montana, Denver Dempsey craves the escape that college offers … even if that means leaving her “best friend with benefits” and looking for a new way to forget. Thinking she's found the perfect hookup in Ransom, Denver's outlook on college is bright. That is, until Greer shows up looking for a second chance, and Ransom's interest turns to hatred. Love. Hate. Triangle. Who's using who?
Intended for mature audiences only. Contains subject matter that may be sensitive to some.
Bad Judgment
Meghan March - 2016
I’ve been turning him down for two years straight.Every shut-down makes me work harder.I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl.She doesn’t realize I won’t settle for only one night.He’s a distraction I don’t need. She’ll say yes eventually because I’m not giving up.
Dirty Little Secret
Rachael Brownell - 2021
From dreaming about sharing my future with him. From wondering what it would be like to be with him.It didn’t stop the heated looks he’d send me when no one was paying attention. Or how he always found a way to be near me, to touch me. To protect me.For six years we fought against the waves of desire but the current kept pushing us toward one another. Then I had him.We collided with hurricane force. Our connection… explosive. It felt right, being with him. With the first kiss, I gave him my heart. With the first touch, I gave him my body. When I saw the love in his eyes, I handed over my soul.I should have known it was too good to last, though. The next morning, he was gone, and my heart shattered. I left it on his bedroom floor as I did the walk of shame. It’s been nine months since I laid eyes on him. Yes, I’ve been avoiding this moment. But I can do this. I can fight my attraction for one night. Even if the moment I see him again, I know that night is going to come rushing back to me, along with the days and weeks of agony that followed.Because he still owns every piece of me.
Where the Road Takes Me
Jay McLean - 2015
She’s made a promise to herself: don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone love her. She’s learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she’s focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road—her dream of freedom, at least for a little while.Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all—everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can’t let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear.One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she’s focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.