Book picks similar to
Room to Breathe by Nicole Brightman


new-adult
romance
contemporary-romance
stand-alone

Random Acts of Crazy


Julia Kent - 2013
    A guitar. Really. I don't collect guys like that (don't ask what kind of guys I do collect), but when you spot a blonde, tanned, sculpted man with a gorgeous smile and his thumb poking up and practically begging you to stop – you stop.And I definitely never thought I'd be staring into the bright blue eyes of Trevor Connor, the lead singer for Random Acts of Crazy, an indie rock star I followed like the slobbering fileshare fangirl I am. How he came to be nude and lost six hundred miles from home is quite the tale, but how we fell in love is even more unreal.Because someone like Trevor Connor, headed to Harvard Law next year, isn't supposed to want someone like me, a rural Ohio chick majoring in Boredom at Convenience Store University who is all curves and frizzy blonde hair and manners so unpolished they have sharp edges that make you bleed.But he did.When his best friend, Joe Ross, the bass player for Random Acts of Crazy and a man who makes Calvin Klein models look like Shrek, drove eleven hours through the night to rescue him, though, it got real complicated. It's one thing to like two different guys and be torn.What do you do, though, when maybe – just maybe – you don't have to choose?As my Aunt Josie says sometimes, "It's always complicated."* * * * * *Random Acts of Crazy is a standalone, full-length novel (300+ pages, 85,000 words) featuring Darla Jo(sephine) Jennings, the 22-year-old niece of Josie Mendham from the Her Two Billionaires series. It has, like many New Adult novels, an exploration of sexuality for the three main characters, doesn't shy away from mature content, and Darla has a sailor's mouth.

Forever and Always Collection


E.L. Todd - 2014
    L. Todd, comes the limited edition Forever and Always Collection, books 1-3. Sean and Scarlet aren’t exactly an ideal relationship. Stupidity and selfishness on Sean’s part lead him to hurt Scarlet over and over again. Scarlet’s naivety and ignorance doesn’t help matters. But in the midst of all the angst is one of the greatest love stories of all time, full of laughter and love, and tears that will make your eyes glisten. Only For You: When Scarlet realized Penelope was dumping Sean, her best friend, she was devastated. Penelope was the love of his life, the woman of his dreams. Scarlet knew how far her best friend was going to fall and she had to catch him. Scarlet became Sean’s rock and helped him through a very painful breakup, but her own hidden desires bubbled to the surface in the process. When they finally gave in and slept together, she thought it was the start of their new relationship. Unfortunately, Sean didn’t feel the same. Humiliated and heartbroken, Scarlet moved across the country and found what she least expected. She rekindled her damaged relationship with her brother, who she hadn’t spoken to in a year, and her brother’s best friend was attractive and interesting. Their relationship was natural and unforced, and she was immediately drawn to him. Would she be able to get over Sean, forget about him, by sleeping with Cortland, or would that just be another repeated mistake? Forever and Always: Now that Sean and Scarlet are together, Scarlet couldn't be happier. They were meant for each other and would make any sacrifice to be together. With her greatest friend as her new lover, their relationship was perfect. But when Sean asks her to move back to New York, she hesitates. She doesn't want to leave her brother after finally reconnecting with him so they agree to make the coast-to-coast trip every weekend. Scarlet wants Sean to move to Seattle but she knows he can't leave his job for her. Scarlet fears that Sean still loves Penelope even though she never questions him about it. When Penelope shows up at Sean's apartment pregnant and penniless, Sean has to decide what he really wants. Will a baby interfere with the happiness that Scarlet has recently found? Edge of Love: Sean and Scarlet are finally blissfully happy together. Their past is behind them forever. But after Sean and Scarlet travel to Connecticut to reveal their engagement, tensions escalate, family secrets are revealed, and an unexpected visitor ruins the weekend. When they return to Seattle, Scarlet refuses to get married at his family estate, which infuriates Sean. Their arguments escalate until another secret is revealed. Scarlet is full of regret when she realizes she hurt Sean and broke his trust. For the first time, Scarlet is responsible for the pain and the hurt of their relationship. Is Sean’s love just as unconditional as he claims? Will he able to forgive Scarlet for her betrayal just like she forgave him?

Breaking Kate


D. Kelly - 2014
    In Michaels mind there is absolutely nothing that will ever be able to keep the two of them apart. The night Michael is set to propose to Katherine the evening is interrupted by an unexpected tragedy that tears the two of them apart for good. Three years have passed since that fateful night when Katherine, now known as Kate meets Daniel. After an awkward start sparks fly between them. Daniel and Kate fall hard and fast into the most passionate and intense love affair of their lives. In three years a lot can change, Michael knows he made the biggest mistake of his life when he left Katherine and he will do anything to get her back. Asking his best friend Daniel for help is his first step in righting the wrongs he made so many years ago. Unfortunately, neither of them realizes that Michaels long lost love Katherine is Daniel’s true love Kate. While attending the engagement party of a mutual friend, all of their paths collide. How is Kate supposed to choose between the two men that mean the most to her in the world? Kate has to push past her heartache and put some serious thought into what comes next. One wrong choice and not only could she lose them both but Daniel and Michael may never recover their friendship.This book is newly re-edited as of March 2017. If you have an older version please delete it and download the new version. (This book is free)

Back to Me


Lindsay Paige - 2016
    When he finds her at the airport, he realizes she's changed, and she's struggling with things she doesn't want to tell him about. Noah also realizes just how much she scarred him when she left. Meredith Quick has always planned everything out. She chose her tennis career over love in order to better succeed, but her plan dissolves when an injury threatens her career and her fiancé leaves her. Struggling through pain and the uncertainty of her future, she realizes her first misstep was walking away from Noah. She impulsively decides to go back to him while she attempts to put her life back together. Reacquainting isn't easy when Noah doesn't quite trust Meredith to stay and Meredith struggles with overcoming the pain she's endured without him. Can they work through their issues and move forward, or will their past ruin things between them forever?

Destiny Ever-Changing


Tasha Ivey - 2013
    . . others for pure unadulterated misery.After catching her boyfriend with another woman, Laura struggles with beginning again, knowing deep down that she is destined to be unhappily out of love for her entire life. Needing some time to recoup and formulate a game plan, she decides to visit her notoriously wise grandmother. But once there, a curveball in the form of a deliciously attractive stranger has her falling again.Brooks is another story altogether. He is quite content with his life until his father forces him into a business decision that will ruin the rest of his life. As if his relationship with his father isn’t tumultuous enough, his new fiancé is making every waking moment a living hell and loving every manipulative minute of it.When Laura stumbles upon her mother’s old journal, she opens a door into a long forgotten past. A past that somehow leads both Laura and Brooks into unfamiliar territory and changes everything they ever knew about fate. Destiny is ever-changing, after all.

Don't Lie to Me


Stacey Lynn - 2013
    What do you do when the man you love leaves, and the only man you’ve wanted since is the one you can’t have?When Emma’s first love walked away after learning she was pregnant, she was forced to pick up the pieces, re-evaluate her priorities, and change the course of her dreams all for the sake of her son, who became the only one who mattered.It also meant taking a job with Jack McMillan; powerful, sexy, controlled, and CEO of McMillan Holdings. Emma has spent the last several years keeping her dreams and fantasies of Jack to herself, but one night, and one encounter, changed everything.Once the walls between them are dropped and the truth is laid bare, will Jack and Emma’s new relationship be able to survive? When they are forced to confront their pasts, will they learn to finally put their trust in someone else, or will the lies that are told destroy them both?

Gemini


Penelope Ward - 2013
    After he abruptly leaves the restaurant, she can’t get him out of her head.She has no idea that he had actually come on a mission to find her.Cedric Callahan wasn’t expecting to fall in love at first sight with the pretty waitress he’d set out to find. In fact, she was the last woman on Earth he should be having feelings for. But his selfish heart had other plans. Feeling compelled to know her before revealing himself, he makes her believe their meetings are coincidental. After a passionate romance ignites, Cedric’s lies and secrets are finally revealed, changing both of their lives forever.

Give Me Yesterday


K. Webster - 2015
    Tough. Emotionless. What they don’t know, is that ten years ago, she lost everything. Including her hope for the future. Chase Monroe struggles with his own demons. Devastated by guilt and on a mission to correct his past, he uses his skills as a college psychology professor to help others move beyond their grief. When Victoria is forced to attend grief counselling, she meets Chase, and there is an instant attraction. Chase is determined to help her confront her past and find happiness. Victoria is afraid to relive her pain. Just as they begin to step forward, tragedy strikes and throws them backwards, and they find themselves, once again, shackled to the past. Can Chase and Victoria find the path to a happy future together? Or will they forever be wishing for yesterday? **Recommended 18+ due to language and sexual content.

Seduce


Lexi Buchanan - 2013
    His wife, Viv, had died in a car accident, with her current lover, on the way to meet with the divorce attorney’s six years ago. Michael was divorcing her because he’d discovered she’d had a stream of lovers during the course of their marriage. Since her death he’s had no wish to get involved with anyone, until Lily. Lily, having lost her job at Oakfield Development gains employment at McKenzie Holdings thinking she’s going to work as the Assistant to Dale Roberts, but unbeknown to Lily she has been hired to work as Michael’s assistant. Lily is shocked, and disappointed to realize that the man she’s just been flirting with in the elevator is actually her boss. Lily and Michael are instantly drawn to each other, but he’s her boss and Lily lives with her boyfriend of seven years. David, her boyfriend, has been acting strange for about five months which has caused Lily to re-evaluate her relationship with him and it comes up short, a lot. She had decided before meeting Michael that she wanted out of her relationship with David, but she has nowhere else to go, so she stays with him for now. Michael and Lily finally start their relationship, which involves a lot of hot loving and scarves which Lily uses on Michael! Their relationship seems to be heading towards happily ever after, until Lily makes an announcement to Michael, which has him telling her to leave his home. She does, heartbroken, and runs to his brother Lucien. This is book 1 of a 5 book series. Each book has a HEA!

One to Hold


Tia Louise - 2013
    Melissa Jones is a small-town girl trying to escape her troubled past. When the two intersect in a bar in Arizona, their sexual chemistry is off the charts. But what is revealed during their "one week stand" only complicates matters. Because she'll do everything in her power to get away from the past, but he'll do everything he can to hold her. Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18. (M/F)

Beyond Control


Karice Bolton - 2013
    With a brilliant job in the corporate world, glamorous parties, and a beautiful condo overlooking Seattle, she is thrown into a world she doesn't want to claim. It's not until Jason crashes into her world that she realizes she's not really living. Facing his own demons, Jason attempts to piece his life back together after a personal tragedy. Damaged by his ghosts, Jason finally begins to forgive himself whenever Gabby's around. She makes him feel--alive, something he hasn't felt for a long time.It's only as their love grows and secrets are revealed that they realize a devastating connection from their past might actually tear them apart.------Dear reader:I hope you enjoy reading Gabby and Jason's story as much as I loved writing it. This is a completed story of Jason and Gabby and is the first in a new series. However, the book does end with a new story just beginning surrounding another couple, who I've gotten the joy of writing about. Their story continues in Beyond Doubt and is out now!Again, thank you for taking the time to read the first in the Beyond Love Series, and I hope you enjoy!~Karice

Second Chances


H.M. Ward - 2014
    Ward and Stacey MostellerSex. Betrayal. Forbidden Love. Lawn Boy.I'm not a catch, I'm not even certain I'm what they'd call 'mentally stable,' not anymore. Too much has happened too fast and it ripped my soul in half. I'm alone, with a plastic stick in my hand that says the one word we'd been so eager to see. Pregnant. Lucky in love once is a miracle, but I lost him, and this baby is all I have left. My life turned to ash in a blink and there's nothing I can do about it. Years pass and I'm still here, but it doesn't feel like it, not until the lawn guy, Daniel Clemment, checks me out. Me. A yoga-panting, pony tailing, frumpy-butt, frizzy mommy who's covered in whatever the baby tossed on me at lunch. Daniel's dark eyes linger too long, as if he likes what he sees. I'm shocked and flattered, but he's too young. The age gap between us is over a decade, but that doesn't stop him. If I sleep with him everyone will think I've lost my mind. Maybe I have, because everyday that I see Dan's sexy, toned body glistening in the sunlight, I consider feeling him pressed against me, naked. The few times his fingers grazed my skin were heaven, but once the clothes come off--he's a god and I'm... me.I've been alone for so long. Surely one kiss won't hurt anything, one taste of his mouth should be harmless. Things don't have to go that far, but I'm wrong. Love only comes around once in a lifetime. Only fools think otherwise, and I'm the biggest fool of them all.Genre: New Adult RomanceType: Stand Alone Novel

Because of Lucy


Lisa Swallow - 2013
    A revised and expanded 2016 edition is now available***Recommended 17+ due to strong language and sexual content* Ness's parents are shocked when she turns down her place at Leeds University and takes on a full-time job in a call center. Determined to begin her adult life the way she wants, Ness moves to Leeds to live with her best friend Abby.One night she meets Evan, who is everything she hates about guys. He may be hot but he's also drunken, arrogant, and on top of that, he apparently has sex with girls and forgets about it. But Evan isn't what he seems and Ness soon discovers they have more in common than she thought.Evan is struggling to escape from his past too, and when Lucy appears she threatens his new relationship with Ness. Unsure if she can deal with the effect Lucy has on Evan, Ness makes a decision about her future which pulls them apart.When their new lives don't go as planned, Ness and Evan are both faced with difficult choices. All because of Lucy...

Uncaged Love, Volume 1


J.J. Knight - 2014
    Jo is on the run from her one terrible mistake. When Colt drags Jo from a brawl with street thugs, he recognizes her potential as a female fighter. But as they begin her training, their desire for each other sparks a love affair that could jeopardize them both. Uncaged Love is a five-part series.

Forever Innocent


Deanna Roy - 2013
    On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.New Adult Contemporary Romance