Book picks similar to
Tragic by Cole Lepley


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Thief


C.L. Stone - 2014
    The only way she scrapes by is to utilize her one skill: pickpocketing. But even though she’s a thief she has a moral code: no kids or old ladies, only targets who can defend themselves. Not that they see her coming…Thinking she’s been working under the radar, Kayli has no idea The Academy has been watching and taking notice. Now a team that needs her skill has offered her a way out of her predicament and it’s her last chance: work with them, or face jail time. Kayli resists at first, but slowly the boys reveal they can be trusted. With Marc, the straight man, Raven, the bad-boy Russian, Corey and Brandon the twins as different as night and day, and Axel their stoic leader, there’s a lot Kayli can learn from these Academy guys about living on the edge of the law. If only she can stay on the good side instead of the bad.Especially when the job they offer her is more than any of them bargained for. After it’s done, the hunters have become the hunted and their target is now after Kayli. The Academy boys do their best to keep her hidden, but a thief like Kayli will never sit still for long.Meet an all-new Academy team in Thief, the beginning of the Scarab Beetle series.Warning: This is a new adult series. Readers of the other Academy series may need some caution as this series will contain mature sexual and violent situations and themes.

Love Show


Audrey Bell - 2014
    Jack Diamond is a laid back student whose good looks have made things even easier than they need to be. She’s the girl who came out of nowhere and kissed him in the rain. He’s the boy who made her do something crazy.When the stakes seem too high, they have to decide if they’ll let their love show or if they’ll walk away for good.

Second Chance Baby


Natasha L. Black - 2020
    Let these Anderson brothers show you what a real HEA looks like. This is book one of the series. It can be read in any order.

Swallow Me Whole: A Friends To Lovers Romance


Gemma James - 2018
    She’s my sister’s best friend. The girl I’ve known since grade school. The girl I’ve always considered off-limits. She’s the girl that crawled under a table in a bar one night and changed everything between us. Now the brain in my pants is more than willing to step up. The rules are simple. No kissing. No screwing. No falling in love. But the more I let her use my body in the name of experimentation, the more I know being friends isn’t enough. Is it too much to want it all with her? The taste of her lips. The sweetness of her innocence. The chance to earn her love. I might have a real shot with her…if her douchebag ex and my past don’t ruin everything. Note from the author Swallow Me Whole is a friends-to-lovers standalone romance. Full-length at 77,000 words. Please note that parts of this story were previously published as a serial under the pen name of Angel Allen. This standalone novel includes the complete story. For a limited time, Trashy Foreplay is included as a bonus book in this copy of Swallow Me Whole, so the main book ends at about the 58% mark.

The Wedding Game


Meghan Quinn - 2021
    So it’s only natural that Luna would convince her brother and his husband-to-be to compete on The Wedding Game, a “do-it-yourself” TV show, for the title of Top DIY Wedding Expert.As a jaded divorce lawyer, Alec Baxter scoffs at weddings and romance. But when his recently engaged brother begs him to participate in The Wedding Game, Alec grudgingly picks up a glue gun and prepares for some family bonding.Both fierce competitors, Luna and Alec clash on national TV as harsh words and glitter fly with abandon. But as they bicker over color swatches and mood boards, they find themselves fighting something else: their growing mutual attraction. While Luna is torn between family loyalty and her own feelings, Alec wonders if he might have been wrong about love and marriage all along…

A Really Bad Idea


Jeannine Colette - 2019
    Mine just happens to be Dr. Christian Gallagher— the gorgeous, green-eyed heart surgeon who wants to have a baby with me. Yes, you read that correctly. When my mother approached me on my thirty-third birthday with a brochure for egg freezing, it was a glaring reminder that my biological clock is ticking toward its expiration date. I’ve always dreamed of being a mom and had a plan — one that was destroyed when I caught my professional hockey player husband in bed with another woman. Despite my broken heart I still believe in love. I want the happily ever after, but I also want a child desperately and won't settle in order to make it happen. That’s why when I decided to take my mother’s advice, Christian came up with his own plan: Let’s have a baby together. It’s a bad idea. A really, really bad idea. And yet...I can’t stop thinking about how great it could be. There’s just one condition. Before we have sex (oh, yes, we’re doing this the old fashioned way!) Christian is adamant we go on three dates. Sounds easy, but it's not.I thought sex would be the hard part, but the dates are only making me fall for the man I’ve known almost my entire life. Whoever said sex doesn't change things never went to bed with their best friend.

Secrets & Lies


Brooke Blaine - 2021
    The bronzed god lying by my pool in tight shorts that left little to the imagination. But I was only human, and with the temptation constantly within reach, it was only a matter of time before I could no longer resist.It was wrong. I knew that. He was my son’s age.Hell, he was my son’s friend.But even worse...I was his teacher. Secrets & Lies is a standalone teacher-student MM romance from USA Today bestselling authors Brooke Blaine & Ella Frank.

You Make Me


Erin McCarthy - 2014
    Then he left without a word. The betrayal devastated Caitlyn and made her vow to forget the compelling bad boy. But forgetting his sensual touch and their deep all-consuming friendship is easier said than done. Isn’t the guy she needs… Determined to move on, in college Caitlyn has risen above her small town impoverished roots and has joined a sorority, reinvented her appearance, and landed the right boyfriend. Pre-law major and frat president, Ethan, is thoughtful and always laughing, and he makes her feel happy, calm. He also gives her the social acceptance she craves. But the perfect world she tried so hard to attain is ripped apart when Heath appears one night out of nowhere. Caitlyn remembers all the reasons why she loves him, even if they don’t make sense to anyone but her. Out of the military, Heath is as brooding and intense as ever, and he is determined not only to win her back, but to exact revenge on everyone who kept him from her… And when one love allows her to breathe, but the other feels as essential to her life as air, how does she choose between them?

Royally Matched


Mckenna James - 2020
    I have little dealings with women in general, so I hire a matchmaker to vet some candidates.Then one evening, in a room filled with suitable future queens, I discover her.Lisabet Olinescu.The haunting notes emanating from her cello, that gorgeous mane flowing wildly down her back, those deeply expressive eyes—they awaken something in my soul.She brings colors to my world I’ve never seen before, and I know I must have her.The fact that she’s not interested in becoming a queen is but a minor detail.I’ll stop at nothing to make her mine.And who knows? Maybe she is fiery enough to melt my stone cold heart.

Only for You


Genna Rulon - 2013
    It also feels an awful lot like a kick to the stomach when you try to fight it!” All Everleigh Carsen wanted to do was complete her final semester at Hensley University and begin the life she carefully planned. When a wave of violent crime seizes campus, Everleigh is persuaded to attend a school sponsored self-defense seminar by her best friend, where she meets volunteer instructor, Hunter Charles. After Everleigh’s biting sarcasm induces Hunter to eject her from class, a tempestuous relationship is born. Everleigh is determined to forget the striking man, but fate—that fickle shrew—continuously intervenes. Unable to escape him, she declares Hunter an enemy combatant. The only complication…Hunter is resolutely pursuing vindication…by any means necessary. Verbal warfare ensues, and despite Everleigh’s ingenious efforts, in Hunter, she has finally found her equal.Only For You is a compelling tale of friendship, desire, and redemption—brimming with intelligent characters, witty dialogue, unexpected twists, profound sorrow, unfettered hope, and love’s unassailable perseverance.• This story is appropriate for readers 18+• Only For You is the first book in the For You series by Genna Rulon. Each book in the series can be read as a stand alone novel.

Working on My Brother's Best Friend


Sharon Cummin - 2016
     He was my family, the only one I had, and he was gone. I sat in the cold, dark funeral home while people moved around me. I could hear them talking, but all I could do was think. So many questions ran through my mind as I looked down at my hands in my lap. How could I have let him go? How could I have lost five years with him? Why hadn't I gone? There were two reasons. One was to take care of my grandparents. They'd both passed in the five years he'd been gone. The other was the one person I couldn't stand, my brother's best friend, Doug. He'd gone with him to help him start his company. I'd been under my covers in the same clothes for two days when my phone rang. It was my brother's lawyer letting me know that I needed to be in California the following morning. If I didn't show up, my brother's company would stop running. It was in his will. My plane ticket was waiting, there was no getting out of it. It took all I had to get out of bed and shower off the funk I was feeling, but I did it. I did it for my brother, his company, and the people that worked there. When I walked into the room to wait for the rest of the people to arrive, I thought about Gabe and how proud I was of what he had accomplished. He'd taken his passion and turned into something amazing. When the door opened and his best friend walked in, it took all I had to remain in that room. I couldn't wait for the others to walk in and fill the space between us, but that never happened. There were no others. It was just the two of us. Then it happened, the lawyer began to speak, and I thought I was going to lose it. Gabe left everything, including the company, to his best friend and me evenly. But that wasn't all, not even close. There were rules we had to follow before the papers would be signed and everything would be split. 1. We had to work together at the company for six months. 2. We both had to live in my brother's house the entire time. I was done. There was no way. My brother always had been a jokester, and that by far was his best joke ever. I was ready to leave when his lawyer added one last thing. If either of us treated the other badly during that time, the company would be sold and everything would be given away. I couldn't let that happen. Just in the hour I was there, I'd already learned that my brother had kept things from me. I hadn't told him everything about my life either. What else didn't I know about him? There was only one problem, and his name was Doug. Could we be that close for that long without ruining everything my brother had built?

Tangled Beauty


K.L. Middleton - 2013
    That is, until she met Reed, Jesse's sexy as hell older brother, and ends up getting much more than what she'd bargained for.Reed Eddington assumed his future was settled until he met Sinclair, his brother's so-called "girlfriend," but the raw, sexual tension between them is hard to ignore. As he watches their ruse from the sidelines, he finds himself wanting to uncover more than just their amusing little facade.Due to sexual content and heavy subject matter, this book is recommended for ages 18+.

Roommates


Hazel Kelly - 2016
    But when our parents got married, things got confused. As if being a teenager isn't confusing enough. All I knew was that the feelings I had for him weren't okay.I’ll never forget the anxiety I felt the night I ran into him at a party that had gotten out of control. I saw him standing around with the popular kids as soon as I walked in the door. And he saw me, too. He always saw me. It was talking to me that he avoided. I watched his buddy spin an empty wine bottle on the butcher block while my friend Brandi rummaged in her oversized purse for the two bottles of hard lemonade her older sister gave us. When the spinning bottle stopped, I realized everyone was staring at me. “Looks like you’ve gotta kiss Jen,” some jock said to Ethan. I felt the color drain from my face, taking the moisture in my mouth with it as a suffocating panic grew in my chest. I was going to be found out. Ethan laughed it off. “Yeah, that’s not happening. She’s my sister.” “Not really, though,” his buddy insisted. The eruption of laughter and jeering sounds made the dim kitchen feel like a jungle full of predators, and I was sure my cheeks were going to burst into flames. “Don’t be stupid,” Ethan said, tilting a can of beer over his mouth. When his friend spun the bottle again, Ethan glanced back at me one more time and wiped the back of his hand across his lips. I’ve been wondering what it would be like to kiss him ever since. **Author's note: This is a full-length, standalone romance novel with no cliffhanger and no cheating. It is intended for a mature audience and has an ending that will leave you smiling so hard it hurts.

Secret Smiles


Laura John - 2019
    He was a small hope, a tiny bit of joy in another life. One that I pretend isn’t part of me, of who I am today. But now he’s just a reminder of the pain I once felt. I’ll never go back.MIKEYI have everything a man could ever want: fame, money, women, power. At least I thought I did --until she came into my life. Tia is my manager, she’s off limits. But the moment I see her, something feels familiar. A missing part of me comes home and I can’t stop myself. I need her.She’s the one I want the most but the only one to ever tell me no.*Trigger Warning* This book discusses some tougher subjects that might bother some readers.

More Than Water


Renee Ericson - 2015
    It doesn’t feel wrong. It just...feels.EJ Cunning, an art history major, dates musicians. Foster Blake, a chemical engineering major, can’t sing a tune. They’re not each other’s type. They’re coworkers.Then, one night leads to sex—sex between friends—which leads to an agreement. It all seems so simple—but nothing ever is.Many layers build a person’s facade.Look into the depths for what’s hidden within.It’s more than water. It’s a story—a living and breathing substance beyond the reflective surface.