Book picks similar to
Shallow by Yessi Smith
family
romance
ya
young-adult
The Theory of Unrequited
Len Webster - 2018
The pact: Stanford. The betrayal: AJ attending Duke. The reason: She did something stupid like fall in love with Evan. The problem: Evan’s not ready to let this betrayal go so easily. The solution: Find AJ and fix them. The Theory of Unrequited, Book One in The Science of Unrequited: The Story of AJ & Evan
Ring around the Rosey
L.A. Fiore - 2019
Twenty years later, they are called back to… Rosey Plantation.A getaway shared by their parents and... the place they were all found dead. As they get the house ready to sell, they uncover clues to a game—a handcuff key in a trinket box, eye bolts anchored into the basement wall, silk bindings in unusual places—and discover it wasn’t a retreat but a place to play. While Emma and Branch find solace in one another, and explore some of their own dark fantasies, mysterious things start happening. Convinced they need to play the erotic game, or end up like their parents, their lives start to unravel.Some say ghosts can haunt, but when the danger becomes real, they find themselves racing against the clock to find the killer among friends before history repeats itself.Are you ready to play, Ring around the Rosey? They all fall down.
Not My Hero: Black Mountain Academy
Michelle Heard - 2020
Dark. Broody. Dangerous.He didn’t care where I cared too much.Then the rumors started.He failed his senior year at his previous school. His brother committed suicide. It’s his fault.And for one blessed week, I wasn’t the topic of discussion. You see, I’m the daughter of a socialite who has no soul. I’m the one paying for her sins. They never let me forget where I come from, and she never stops telling me what a failure I am.But then Colton Lawson looks at me, and unlike the other students, his dark gaze seems to see through the lies spun around me.He starts appearing out of nowhere, fighting my battles for me only to stalk away, making me feel like I’m nothing but a nuisance.My name is Brie Weinstock, and this is my story of how a boy walked into my hell and fought for me, even though I never expected him to. The question is, am I strong enough to repay the favor?This is a high school romance that deals with sensitive subjects. Adult readers only.
Desolate
Autumn Grey - 2018
I was going to finish high school, attend seminary, and finally answer my calling. Becoming a priest was all I ever wanted. Until her. Grace Miller was always the one who could steal my breath with a single look. She was perfect. Out of my league. I never thought we could become more than friends. But we did. On the path I’ve chosen—the path that chose me—our love is forbidden. Wrong. And that doesn’t seem to matter when she’s in my arms. There’s a crossroads ahead of me and a battle raging in my head. Eventually, I’ll have to choose a side. But how can I choose between Grace (my heart) and what I know in my soul I’m meant to be?Desolate is the first book in the Grace Trilogy. It's a sometimes sexy, angsty, slow burn contemporary coming-of-age romance. Download today and experience first love all over again in this forbidden romance. *This story has some content that may be sensitive for some readers.*
Three Brothers
Nicole Williams - 2015
They weren’t tied to me by blood, but our connection went beyond genetics or bearing the same last name. Our connection was forged the summer I turned thirteen, the summer my mom ended her life and left me in the custody of John Armstrong, a man I’d never met. Packing all I owned in a couple of boxes, I left the familiarity of the big city and headed west to Red Mountain Ranch, set in a lonely valley outside of Jackson Hole.Nothing was as it seemed at Red Mountain—it didn’t take long for me to figure that out. John was kind to me but distant, as if he was afraid to let anyone get too close. His three teenage sons had their own devices for keeping love as far away as they could. The eldest distracted himself with cheap relationships that had a shelf-life of one night. The middle son threw himself into the rigor of running a ranch, and the third wielded cruelty and mind-games in his quest to keep people from getting close.Time has gone by, and I’ve spent those years trying to forget the brother I’d fallen for—the biggest mistake of my life.Finally, I’ve moved on. Finally, I’m back. But what I didn’t realize was that running away from the wrong brother meant I’d also run away from the right one. The one who’d been there for me all along, waiting in his brother’s shadow for the day I either would or could move on.But a decade is a long time to wait. Has the brother I should have chosen all of those years ago moved on too? Am I about to discover that my biggest mistake wasn’t falling in love with the wrong brother, but failing to return the love of the right one sooner?Does unrequited love have an expiration date?I’m about to find out.Author’s Note: This book is a “sweet” romance that isn’t overly sexy. Fans of Lost & Found will be interested in Three Brothers.
Enemy Dearest (Monreaux Brothers)
Winter Renshaw - 2021
I lost him. And now he’s back. August Monreaux was a stormy sea of a man, the dark between the stars, an electric chill cutting through a crowded room—all wrapped into one wicked, beautiful package. He was also off-limits. My entire life, I was kept a safe distance from the notoriously virulent Monreauxs, banned from so much as breathing the same air. And like the good daughter I was, I obeyed those rules. Until the one time I didn’t …Only while I sampled him, he devoured me like the forbidden fruit that I was. And in the blink of an eye, my worst enemy became my first love. His poison became my antidote. His touch, my addiction. After we severed our ill-fated ties, I thought I’d never see him again. Until he crashed back into my life at the worst possible moment—and asked me to marry him.But it wasn’t that simple.It never is. Turns out marrying a wealthy powerhouse of a man comes with a price. But walking away, could cost me everything.
Ripple
Heather Smith Meloche - 2016
So she finds a shot of much-needed power and confidence by hooking up with boys, even though it means cheating on her boyfriend. But when she's finally caught red-handed, she’ll do anything she can to cover up what she's done.Jack is a prankster who bucks the system every chance he gets—each transgression getting riskier and riskier. He loves the thrill, and each adventure allows a little release because his smug smile and suave demeanor in the face of authority doesn’t make life at home with his mom any less tough. He tries to take care of her, but the truth is he's powerless in the face of her fragile mental health. So he copes in his own way, by defacing public property and pulling elaborate pranks, though he knows in the end this’ll only screw up his life even more.As they both try not to let their self-destructive patterns get the best of them, Tessa and Jack gravitate toward one another, discovering the best parts of themselves in the process. An honest portrayal of the urges that drive us and finding the strength to overcome them, Ripple is a stunning debut from a powerful new voice.
Mr. Popular
Nicole London - 2017
Popular. Rule #2: Do not talk to Mr. Popular. Rule #3: (Most importantly, and above all) Do not fall for Mr. Popular... Liam 'Mr. Popular' Carter will always be the closest thing to the "walking plague" in my eyes. His cockiness seeps through his every move, and no matter how many state championships he wins with the basketball team, he will forever be a "loss" to me. Because he's my older brother's best friend, I'm forced to tolerate him, and he's forced to tolerate me. In fact, unless my brother is around, we happily ignore each other every chance we get. It wasn't always this way, though...Several summers ago, we both attended the same summer camp. A place we returned to year after year. We became friends--close friends, but right when I thought he could possibly turn into my everything, he made it clear that what we had was nothing. Now that's he's a senior, and I only have to deal with him for one more year, I've vowed to keep repeating the same set of rules to myself. Especially since he seems so hell-bent on wanting to talk to me for some reason, and especially since he seems to be staring at me every time we're in the same room together... Rule #4: Always follow rules #1-3...Rule #5: (OMG what the hell are you doing?) Do not KISS Mr. Popular...
Forgetting You
L.A. Casey - 2020
Casey, can she unlock her memories—and find true love?When Noah Ainsley wakes up in a hospital room with no recollection of how she got there, all she knows is that she needs to see Elliot, the love of her life. Then she learns the horrifying truth: her short-term memory has been destroyed by a car accident . She and Elliot broke up five years ago. And now she’s married to Anderson, a man she doesn’t even recognise.In an instant Noah’s world is turned on its head. All she wants is Elliot by her side, but it’s clear Anderson is hurt by her rejection. Can she really have fallen in love with this stranger? Nothing makes sense—and when even Elliot refuses to answer her questions, Noah is left feeling all alone.But as her memories slowly return, Noah begins to wonder if she’s been wrong to shut Anderson out—and wrong to put all her trust in Elliot. The ex she loves and the husband she doesn’t remember hold the keys to her past. And when the truth is finally revealed, which future will Noah’s heart choose?
Salvage
Keren David - 2014
But I couldn't really remember his face. I couldn't remember talking to him or playing with him. He was just a gap, an absence, a missing person.Before she was adopted by a loving family and raised in a leafy Home Counties town, Cass Montgomery was Cass Jones. Her memories of her birth family disappeared with her name. But when her adopted family starts to break down, a way out comes in the form of a message from her lost brother, Aidan. Having Aidan back in her life is both everything she needs and nothing she expected. Who is this boy who calls himself her brother? And why is he so haunted?I glance at the paper. There's a big picture on the front page. A girl with dark red hair. A girl with eyes that might have been green or they might have been grey. I sit down and stare at Cass, and it is her, it is. My stolen sister.Aidan's a survivor. He's survived an abusive step-father and an uncaring mother. He's survived crowded foster homes and empty bedsits. His survived to find Cass. If only he can make her understand what it means to be part of his family. . .
Six Years
Stephanie Witter - 2015
She’d always had a crush on him. He'd only ever seen her like a little sister. And now...he’s back.BrooklynI thought that he was a part of a distant past. I thought I didn’t feel anything for him now, but I was not so sure anymore. Having him back in my life, for however long it was, was making me see things differently. So many things had changed in the last six years and somehow I’d lost myself and forgotten all about my dreams. My home life was still a mess, my personal life was nothing to boast about and when I see how successful he is, how everything he’d always wanted came true, I couldn't help but feel lacking in a lot of ways. But he’s back and he needed me. I knew I was the only one who understood that part of his life, the only one he’s willing to share it with. My heart is still beating too hard and too fast for him and this time around, I was as much an adult as he was. Having a six year age gap didn't mean shit.NolanBeing back in Riverdale was harder than I thought. I’d turned my back on that life, but there had always been that one girl in my head. Little B. Now she’s nothing like the twelve year old girl I’d last seen. She’s a young woman, gorgeous and sexy. I couldn't stay away. There’s something drawing me to her and it goes beyond my need to reconnect with her, to have her back in my life and fill the hollow part of my chest. But I couldn't forget the little girl she had been; I shouldn’t forget the little girl she used to be.Growing up with a junkie mother and nobody else, my neighbor, Brooklyn, had been my only happy place. I had taken care of her, and when I had left, I had to leave behind a huge part of me. I couldn't do it again. I needed her. Once again, she’s the only person I want in my life, but I wasn’t sure if it was for all the right reasons. Were there too many obstacles in the way?Contemporary Romance standalone novel for readers over 18.
The Secret Ex-Boyfriend
Krista Ritchie - 2017
And then we broke Aerial Ethereal’s biggest rule together. We’ve been paying the price ever since. Corporate won’t let me see her. Or speak to her. And we painfully signed on the dotted line in agreement. Erasing our secret relationship from existence. Now I’m twenty, and I hate Corporate. But I can’t leave. My family makes up one-third of Aerial Ethereal’s cast list. I love them.(And I still love her.) BAYLEE WRIGHT Luka is back. My undeniably hot secret ex-boyfriend was just shifted to the Vegas show Infini. We’re working together again on a show that means too much to me. No distractions. Even if the sexy, rebellious boy with hidden troubles completely stole my teenage heart.Aerial Ethereal demands he remains my tragic secret.This book was previously published with the title Infini.
Bright Before Sunrise
Tiffany Schmidt - 2014
He feels like the doggy-bag from his mother's first marriage and everything else about her new life—with a new husband, new home and a new baby—is an upgrade. The people at Cross Pointe High School are pretentious and privileged—and worst of all is Brighton Waterford, the embodiment of all things superficial and popular. Jonah’s girlfriend, Carly, is his last tie to what feels real... until she breaks up with him. For Brighton, every day is a gauntlet of demands and expectations. Since her father died, she’s relied on one coping method: smile big and pretend to be fine. It may have kept her family together, but she has no clue how to handle how she's really feeling. Today is the anniversary of his death and cracks are beginning to show. The last thing she needs is the new kid telling her how much he dislikes her for no reason she can understand. She's determined to change his mind, and when they're stuck together for the night, she finally gets her chance. Jonah hates her at 3p.m., but how will he feel at 3 a.m.? One night can change how you see the world. One night can change how you see yourself.
Swear on This Life
Renee Carlino - 2016
As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?
Dealing with Demons
Melissa Haag - 2013
However, choosing would mean his premature death. Unwilling to condemn any man to that fate, Tessa searches for an explanation behind the curse and the rules that dictate her life. What she learns is more terrifying than she could have imagined. A demon brokered a deal with her ancestor in exchange for a companion, and he's come to collect. Tessa has a choice to make. Pay the debt or condemn a man to death. Her time to decide is running out, and as she’s learned, breaking the family rules always has consequences. *This book was previously published as Touch.