Book picks similar to
Thirteen Hours to You by Annie Emerson


contemporary-romance
slow-burn
romance
high-school

The Rebel of Raleigh High


Callie Hart - 2019
    Please be advised, this book comes with a trigger warning. Intended for readers 17+ * Silver Hit me. Kick me. Hurt me. Hate me. There’s nothing that the students of Raleigh High can do to Silver Parisi anymore. Over the past year, she’s had to endure more pain and suffering than most people are asked to bear in their lifetimes. She’s a pariah, an outcast, a ghost. She’s also never been one to take shit lying down, though…despite what half the football team might say. With only one hundred and sixty-eight days left of the school year, it won’t be long until graduation, and Silver’s planning on skipping town and leaving Raleigh firmly in her rearview mirror… Until he comes along… Alex Orphan. Degenerate. Reprobate. Deviant. Alex Moretti’s earned most of his labels, and he’s not ashamed of a single one of them. He’ll earn far worse before he’s finished with his new found ‘friends’ at Raleigh High. Having spent years being ground down under the boot heel of society, it’s time for a little payback. And if exacting revenge upon the heads of the Raleigh elite means he can also help the beautiful girl who hovers in the shadows, then that’s all for the better. Oil and water. Fire and ice. The differences between Silver and Alex are broader than any chasm. To reach one another, they must take a leap of faith and fall into the divide. And falling? Nothing good ever came from falling.

A Game Like Ours


Marissa J. Gramoll - 2021
    To the outside world, Bobby Anderson is an attractive, charismatic baseball star. But inside, Bobby holds secrets—including his closeted sexuality—and each secret alone has the power to destroy his carefully-constructed life.When his best friend Cody dies, Bobby is thrown into the unwitting role of supporter for Cody’s grieving fiancée, Lexie. The issue? Bobby has long-harbored feelings for her that he never allowed to surface. Torn between his growing attraction for Lexie and devotion to his deceased friend, Bobby is forced to re-examine his life and concern about divulging his sexual identity. Another secret spoken by Cody during his final moments eats away at Bobby’s conscience, driving the wedge of Cody’s death deeper. Once these secrets come to light, will Lexie ever be able to forgive them? Can she accept Bobby for who he is? Will she ever want anything to do with him again?

Dear Emily


Trudy Stiles - 2013
    Comfortable. Blissfully happy. She was surrounded by her best friends in the world, who love and adore her, and would do anything to support her. But one violent night destroys everything, breaking down her perfect world and tearing away her safety. Kyle Finnegan comes into her life when she’s at her lowest. Can he help restore her faith? And can they build a future together?Tabitha Fletcher ran away from a violent and turbulent past. She attempts to hide in a new city, enveloping herself in a veil of safety. Alex Treadway strolls into her life and struggles to break through her protective barrier. As she slowly opens her heart, can she learn to love? Can he help her heal? Tabitha’s demons resurface, threatening to destroy her new life. When she finds herself at rock bottom, a surprise pregnancy only adds to her turmoil.Tabitha must make the ultimate choice to give her unborn child a chance at a wonderful life. The life Tabitha wished she had herself. Free from fear. Free from pain. Carly and Kyle desperately yearn for a family of their own. Will Tabitha’s choice give them that chance?And can they all find what they desire most…Redemption?Love?Family?Dear Emily is the first book in the Forever Family series.This book is not suitable for young readers. It is intended for mature adults only (18+). It contains strong language, adult/sexual situations, non-consensual sex and some violence.

What's Left of Me


Amanda Maxlyn - 2013
    He is persistent, and he knows what he wants. Me.He doesn’t treat me like I’m fragile.But he doesn’t know, and I’m not ready to tell him.What if it changes everything?Tragedy found me when I was seventeen.Love found me when I was twenty-one.My name is Aundrea McCall, and this is my journey.

Ruining Me


Nicole Reed - 2012
    Secrets, lies, and the worst imaginable betrayal haunt her new reality. Burying her problems under a cold façade seems to be the only way to cope until it all catches up with her. Soon, she loses control of the lonely world she built around her, and the past, present, and future collide.Three guys are there when it all comes crashing down: JT, the perfect boyfriend she never wanted to give up; Rhye, the local bad boy “rock star” who made her forget the past; and Kane, the funny and sweet tattooed bartender who wants her future. Secrets must be kept. Choices must be made. Is it possible to move forward while still chained to the wicked vices of the past?

Going Under


S. Walden - 2013
    Forgiveness proves elusive, and trouble finds her anyway when she discovers a secret club at school connected to the death of her best friend. She learns that swim team members participate in a “Fantasy Slut League,” scoring points for their sexual acts with unsuspecting girls.Brooke, wracked with guilt over her friend’s death, decides to infiltrate the league by becoming one of the “unsuspecting girls,” and exact revenge on the boys who stole away her best friend. An unexpected romance complicates her plans, and her dogged pursuit of justice turns her reckless as she underestimates just how far the boys will go to keep their sex club a secret.

Crazy For You


S.B. Alexander - 2021
    One girl yearning for hope.Colton Caldwell is hotter than I remember—broad chest, muscles in all the right places, wavy brown hair, and eyes that suck me in. All private-school perfection. Pity he can’t drive worth a damn. He hit me with his truck, just backed out without looking, leaving me bruised, aching... and well aware of him. But things have changed since he left. A lot of things. He’s no longer the budding football star, and I’m no longer the gawky kid he never noticed. We have one thing in common now… our tortured past. When I witness a fight between Colton and his dad, I realize just how much we’re alike. The only problem is, he doesn’t seem to think so. But as the darkness we try to leave behind pushes us together…We realize one thing is certain.Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow isn’t given. So what if we live today as if it’s our last?Crazy For You is a standalone boy next door romance with a happily ever after and is suited for mature audiences.

Free Fall


E.M. Moore - 2019
    This is a war zone. It should be just another year for me at Spring Hill High. It’s not. It’s the first of many years…without my brother.Fighting back the memories of Brady should be the most difficult thing I have to face while walking the halls of SHH. Instead, those sad reminders become the least of my worries.My brother’s best friends make sure of that.They won’t let me heal in peace. In fact, the three star football players—the ones my brother knew all his life—are determined to make me do it their way, or live through hell in the process.What they don’t understand is, I lived through my brother’s death…that means I can live through anything. Bring it, hotshots. I’m waiting. Free Fall is a high school bully romance.

Heartbreak Prince


C.R. Jane - 2020
    I believe in them. I was lucky enough to have two of them at one point.The only problem. My soulmates happened to be twin brothers.Caiden was the light to Jackson's dark. And after all that I had been through, the light was what I thought I needed.When I chose Caiden, I lost Jackson.Feeling like half a person after Jackson left, I barely survived when tragedy struck and I lost Caiden too.It took me years to admit to myself that I had chosen wrong from the beginning. I’m ready to admit it to Jackson...only problem, he hates me.I’m ready to fight for my happily ever after.But there’s a reason they call him the Heartbreak Prince.

Like You Care


Kaydence Snow - 2020
    I want to be seen.I want him to see me.I'm not who he thinks I am but I'm starting to suspect he's not all he says he is either.Just my luck that he starts to make friends with my tormentors. How am I supposed to tell him who I really am? How am I supposed to show him my true face? What if the boy I'm falling in love with decides I'm nothing too?*Like You Care is a part of the Bully Me Anthology. In the Bully Me Anthology, this was a 30k novella. This is now the complete book. *

The Boy on the Bridge


Sam Mariano - 2021
    I saw someone hurting and wanted to help. I saw someone possibly in danger and wanted to make sure he was safe.There’s nothing safe about Hunter Maxwell, though. I thought there might be. I fell under his spell. Whatever the world saw when they looked at him, it wasn’t what he showed me. The bond we formed was real. I know it was real. But with Hunter, when the tides turn, you’d better hope you’re safely on the shore and out of his reach.I thought I was a strong enough swimmer to keep my head above water. I thought if it came down to it, I could resist his pull.I didn’t know, but now I do.Once Hunter sets his sights on you, there’s no such thing as out of his reach. Whether it’s today, tomorrow, or five years from now, he’s coming for me—and when he does, he won’t stop until he’s destroyed me.***The Boy on the Bridge contains mature, adult content and is only recommended for adult readers.

Collared


Nicole Williams - 2016
    . .Brings her home. Jade Childs spent ten years in captivity, but now that she’s back, the real battle for survival begins. The media shadows her. Flashbacks haunt her. Her old life evades her. Her so-called new life rejects her. She spent too many years in the dark to recognize the light. She spent too long repressing her feelings to remember how to express them. She spent a decade abandoning hope and cannot dare letting it back into her life. Jade’s not just defined by what happened to her—she’s collared to it.When the twenty-seven-year-old woman is found,A community wants to know the story,Parents want to forget the story,Friends want to be a part of the story,And the man who still loves her faces the greatest challenge yet: letting her go.

Homebound


Kata Čuić - 2020
    Heading home to the backwoods Appalachian town she swore she’d never return to with her young daughter in tow, she can’t imagine her future getting much bleaker.Then she comes face-to-face with the one man she never expected to see again.Jesse Yates was supposed to escape the mountains, make something of himself, and attain every dream Lenore destroyed. He’s determined to wear down her resolve and win her back, but she’s got a secret to keep and reasons to keep her old flame at arm’s length.Lenore already broke her own heart to save Jesse, but she’ll do anything to protect her daughter from the same fate.Except fate has a funny way of working out, especially when all roads lead to home.

Nothing Left to Lose


Kirsty Moseley - 2013
    Three years after the tragic events of Anna’s sixteenth birthday which saw her boyfriend killed and her kidnapped by his sadistic murderer, she’s no longer the happy-go-lucky girl that everyone used to know and love; she’s now cold, hard and suffers from night terrors. Carter is currently serving time for the murder of Jack–a conviction that Anna helped secure–but his retrial is coming up because some key evidence appears to have been tampered with. Needing to ensure his daughter’s safety, presidential candidate, Senator Spencer, tasks in Ashton Taylor, a newly qualified SWAT agent, to guard the broken girl and keep her safe until the end of the trial. For three years Anna has refused to feel emotion or pain. Can Ashton help her rebuild her life and finally deal with the grief of losing her childhood sweetheart? Will he be the one to make her see that life is, in fact, worth living and that not all men will hurt her? Author's note: This edition contains Part 1 (Guarding the Broken) and Part 2 (Blurring the Lines) and combines them into one novel of epic proportion! Librarian's note: This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B00GGMQLFO.

Fighting Silence


Aly Martinez - 2015
    We spend our lives blocking out the static in order to focus on what we believe is important. But what if, when the clarity fades into silence, it's the obscure background noise that you would give anything to hold on to? I've always been a fighter. With parents who barely managed to stay out of jail and two little brothers who narrowly avoided foster care, I became skilled at dodging the punches life threw at me. Growing up, I didn’t have anything I could call my own, but from the moment I met Eliza Reynolds, she was always mine. I became utterly addicted to her and the escape from reality we provided each other. Throughout the years, she had boyfriends and I had girlfriends, but there wasn't a single night that I didn’t hear her voice. You see, meeting the love of my life at age thirteen was never part of my plan. However, neither was gradually going deaf at the age of twenty-one. They both happened anyway. Now, I'm on the ropes during the toughest battles of my life. Fighting for my career. Fighting the impending silence. Fighting for her. Every night, just before falling asleep, she sighs as a final conscious breath leaves her. I think that's the sound I'll miss the most. Each book in this series can be read as a standalone.