Book picks similar to
Mahogany Slade by Stephen Robinson
fiction
first-reads
new-adult
liz-collection
Faithful
Alice Hoffman - 2016
Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky? Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.Here is a character you will fall in love with, so believable and real and endearing, that she captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding yourself at last. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap.
The Dhow House: A Novel
Jean McNeil - 2017
It’s a world of all-night beach parties and constant cocktail receptions, and within its languorous embrace her attraction for her much younger cousin grows.But the gilded lives of her aunt Julia’s family and their fellow white Africans on the coast are under threat — Islamist terror attacks are on the rise and Rebecca knows more about this violence than she is prepared to reveal. Will she be able to save her newfound family from the violence that encroaches on their seductive lives? Or, amidst growing unrest, will the true reason for her hasty exit from her posting be unmasked? Rebecca finds herself torn between the family she hardly knows and a past she dares not divulge.
Leftover Girl
C.C. Bolick - 2016
At fifteen, she has adjusted to moving without notice and never fitting in, but everything changes with her adopted mom's hometown. There Jes falls for her mom's nephew, a love she hides when his betrayal leaves her isolated and driven to unravel the past.After Jes befriends a strange new student, she discovers an amazing secret: he's from another planet and searching for a missing girl who might be her. As Jes will learn, truth comes at a cost, but will she give up love to find out?
A Sister's Place
Savannah Page - 2017
But when their beloved grandmother Mimi passes away, they’re drawn back together in the most unexpected way. Set to inherit the family home, a charming Craftsman with an overgrown garden and lush fruit trees near the beach in Santa Barbara, the estranged sisters learn there’s a catch: the house can be theirs, but only if they agree to live in it for one year—together.Suddenly Gracie, a pragmatic paralegal who’s always stayed close to home, and Juliette, an intrepid recent NYU grad in search of the next thrill, are living under one roof. Forced to reexamine their relationship, they find themselves confronting their pasts and bonding over love, heartbreak, and deeply held secrets. Soon they’ll discover whether a sister’s love is what they need to get them through their darkest hours—and if their grandmother’s clever plan can preserve more than just a piece of family history. It just might preserve the friendship of a lifetime…and reveal the sisters and women they were always meant to be.
Early Daze
Jennifer Gilby Roberts - 2014
And now her baby has "fallen out" before she's even started ante-natal classes.Suddenly, she's sucked into the bubble of the Neonatal Unit, where tensions run high and the real world feels very far away. She has a new home, new routines, new friends and even a new crush, just when she feels most distant from her old life and fiancé. Add in sleep deprivation, hormones, worry and the fact that she has more contact with her breast pump than her baby, and her neat little world is in grave danger of falling apart.The third trimester is never easy, but it's a whole lot harder when your baby's no longer inside you...
Guardian of Deceit
William H. Coles - 2015
He is excited and afraid; he wants to recapture the love he knew with his parents before they died and become a doctor like his father. But in his new home of celebrities, crooks, untrustworthiness, and excessively wealthy deviants, lust and want thwart his search for selfless caring love, and in his quest to become a doctor, he discovers the altruism of health care and scientific discovery riddled with profit motivation and deficient moral standards. A finalist in the 2012 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.
Deadly Farce
Jennifer McAndrews - 2012
Though she agrees to meet him on location in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and review the situation, the last thing she expects is to believe his claims. After all, a poisoned pizza? What kind of lame attempt at murder is that? But after getting caught in the center of attempt on Shepard’s life Lorraine is forced to admit he’s right about the danger – and determined to find a way to protect him while finding out who’s behind the threat.With her meddling friend Barb along for the ride and her boss anxiously tracking her every move, Lorraine must juggle the chaos of a film set, the lure of the casinos, the attraction of a hunky co-star, and a mine-filed of Shepard’s ex-girlfriends all while keeping Shepard safe and discovering the identity of a killer…before she becomes the next target.
The Lesser Bohemians
Eimear McBride - 2016
She struggles to fit in—she’s young and unexotic, a naive new girl—but soon she forges friendships and finds a place for herself in the big city.Then she meets an attractive older man. He’s an established actor, 20 years older, and the inevitable clamorous relationship that ensues is one that will change her forever.A redemptive, captivating story of passion and innocence set across the bedsits of mid-1990s London, McBride holds new love under her fierce gaze, giving us all a chance to remember what it’s like to fall hard for another.
Forever Blue
Jennifer Edlund - 2011
Alexa Moore is just a regular teenager seeking acceptance from her peers. With heartbreak and humor, these two friends expose a world of secrets and learn to survive in the face of life’s contradictions. When Carter’s dark life suddenly unveils before Alexa’s eyes, she witnesses her best friend be beat down mercilessly by his stage mother’s antics. And the truth about his father is exposed after he’s accused of domestic abuse. Its Alexa’s strong will and determination that helps Carter pull through his darkest hours. The two are bonded by a love that only deepens as they grow. However, the closer they get, the more Carter’s mother will do what she can to keep her son from being distracted, going as far as trying to rip their friendship apart. The two are forced keep their childhood romance hidden from prying eyes. Then, Alexa’s world shatters the day she comes home and discovers Carter’s family packed up and gone without a word.Fifteen years later Carter Storm resurfaces as a Grammy award winner. While he’s living life in the Hollywood fast lane, Alexa struggles to keep it together after her parents are killed simultaneously in two very tragic accidents. Just when all seems lost, Alexa is sent to Las Vegas for a job that requires her to do celebrity makeup. It is here she unexpectedly reunites with the boy she never stopped loving: Carter Storm. When an inexplicable attraction leads to a shocking betrayal, Alexa faces the hardest question of her heart: When does love cross the line of moral obligation. And how far will she go to hold on to her past?Above all, this is a story about friendship--its risks, twists, turns and complications---and how it weathers the challenges of love, and most of all, growing up.
The View Was Exhausting
Mikaella Clements - 2021
. .The world can see that international A-list actress Whitman ("Win") Tagore and jet-setting playboy Leo Milanowski are made for each other. Their kisses start Twitter trends and their fights break the internet. From red carpet appearances to Met Gala mishaps, their on-again, off-again romance has titillated the public and the press for almost a decade. But it's all a lie.As a woman of color, Win knows the Hollywood deck is stacked against her, so she's perfected the art of controlling her public persona. Whenever she nears scandal, she calls in Leo, with his endearingly reckless attitude, for a staged date. Each public display of affection shifts the headlines back in Win's favor, and Leo uses the good press to draw attention away from his dysfunctional family. Pretending to be in a passionate romance is one thing, but Win knows that a real relationship would lead to nothing but trouble. So instead they settle for friendship, with a side of sky-rocketing chemistry. Except this time, on the French Riviera, something is off. A shocking secret in Leo's past sets Win's personal and professional lives on a catastrophic collision course. Behind the scenes of their yacht-trips and PDA, the world's favorite couple is at each other's throats. Now they must finally confront the many truths and lies of their relationship, and Win is forced to consider what is more important: a rising career, or a risky shot at real love?The View Was Exhausting is a funny, wickedly observant modern love story set against the backdrop of exotic locales and the realities of being a woman of color in a world run by men.
After They Go
J. Mercer - 2018
The second stunted by her sister's shadow. The youngest propelled by desperation. Gwen is the oldest of four children in the Aaldenberg family, and the one who seems to have it all. She's also most desperate to escape. Betta, having nursed their dying grandpa for the past three years, is anxious for Gwen to go, so she can finally have reins to the family business. And Esmerelda, viciously determined to follow in Gwen's footsteps, vies for popularity as a freshman in high school, only to learn she must sell her soul, reputation, and most prized possession for acceptance. When Gwen's fiancé moves to town, Gwen does her best to resign herself to a local life, while Betta struggles for meaning without the store. In order to carve out a place for herself, Betta must decide to what lengths she'll go in order to become her own person, and Gwen must decide what's more important: her sister or her future. Can this family pull through their disappointment, jealousy, and regret? Or will they cling so tightly to their desires that it ruins them?
If I Wake
Nikki Moyes - 2016
Their lives intersect in dreams, where destiny pulls them together through different times in history. Even though their meetings are more real to Lucy than the present, Lucy is uncertain if Will exists outside her mind. Lucy’s mum thinks there is something wrong when Lucy sleeps for days at a time. She is so caught up with finding a cure she doesn’t see the real problem. Lucy is bullied at school and is thinking of ending her life.When the bullying goes too far and Lucy ends up in a coma, only Will can reach her. But how do you live when the only person who can save you doesn’t exist?
The Girl He Used to Know
Tracey Garvis Graves - 2019
She feels lost in social situations, saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way. She just can't read people. She prefers the quiet solitude of books or playing chess to being around others. Apart from Jonathan. She liked being around him, but she hasn't seen him for ten years. Until now that is. And she's not sure he'll want to see her again after what happened all those years ago. Annika Rose likes being alone.Except that, actually, she doesn't like being alone at all.The Girl He Used to Know is an uplifting novel full of surprising revelations that keep you turning the page. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Gail Honeyman, Jill Santopolo and Sliding Doors.
Game On
Monica Seles - 2013
There are only two ways in. Deep pockets or enough talent to score a scholarship. Young tennis star Maya's dreams have finally come true when she earns a scholarship to The Academy. Plucked from her small town, Maya moves to the sports training facility/boarding school to (hopefully) start the beginning of her pro career. But Maya's fantasy of The Academy doesn't quite match the reality. Because where there are hot, talented teens, there's a lot of drama. Meet the players:Cleo: Maya's rebel/punk roommate who is nearing the top of the golf world.Renee: The gorgeous swimmer with enough money to buy her way into The Academy.Nicole: A tennis star who feels threatened by Maya (but she'd never admit it).Travis: The son of The Academy owner--perfectly groomed to be the next NFL star. Jake: Travis' younger brother--the bad boy to his brother's good.
The Next to Last Mistake
Amalie Jahn - 2019
Although she chooses to spend most of her free time playing chess with her best friend Zander, the farm-boy from next door, her skills as a bovine midwife and tractor mechanic ensure that she fits in with the other kids at East Chester High. But when her veteran father reenlists in the Army, moving her family halfway across the country to North Carolina, Tess is forced out of her comfort zone into a world she knows nothing about.Tess approaches the move as she would a new game of chess, plotting her course through the unfamiliar reality of her new life. While heeding Zander’s long-distance advice for making new friends and strategizing a means to endure her dad’s imminent deployment to the Middle East, she quickly discovers how ill-equipped she is to navigate the challenges she encounters and becomes convinced she’ll never fit in at her new school.When Leonetta Jackson is assigned as her mentor, she becomes Tess’s unexpected guide through the winding labyrinth of disparities between them, sparking a tentative friendship and challenging Tess to confront her reluctant nature. As the pieces move across the board of her upended life, will Tess find the acceptance she so desperately desires?