Book picks similar to
Calling California by J.P. Grider
new-adult
romance
college
contemporary
She Laughs In Pink
Jessica Calla - 2016
Two things keep her from falling into a deep, dark place—dancing and her best friend, Ben. So when Ben decides to play football for New Jersey University, Juliet doesn’t hesitate. She follows. Finally away from her past, there is nothing to stand in the way. Juliet will win Ben's heart. Then she meets Ben's roommate, Chase. On probation and hell-bent on adhering to a “new life plan,” aspiring artist Chase leaves his New York City home for New Jersey University and meets Juliet before even stepping foot on campus. For him, their connection is instant. She’s the most vibrant girl he's ever seen. Her colors explode on his canvas, and he's never been more inspired in his life. Too bad she’s madly in love with his seemingly perfect, good guy roommate.
Chasing Serenity
Eden Butler - 2013
She's been abandoned and betrayed and she lost her beloved mother in a tragic car accident five months ago. That loss damaged her body and fractured her spirit but she's learning to recover, until her ex-boyfriend returns to town, intent on making her life miserable. Declan Fraser hates her ex as much as Autumn does, but the last thing she needs is to put her trust in the hands of another man, especially one like Declan: his hard body and lulling Irish accent makes more than a few girls weak-kneed. The talented rugby player is rude and sarcastic, with tattooed, muscular arms and a cocky attitude, but he's the only one who can help Autumn win an ill-advised bet that, if lost, could cost her more than she's willing to pay. The reluctant alliance between Declan and Autumn stirs up cravings she doesn't want to admit, but Declan is a hard man to resist. Just when Autumn starts letting down her carefully constructed walls to the sexy bad boy, he betrays her when she needs him most. Autumn suspects Declan has secrets, and she is determined to uncover what drove him away from her, even if that means fraternizing with the enemy. But will the truth return Declan to her arms or add to the scars on her heart?
The Upside of Letting Go
Nacole Stayton - 2013
Taking a leap of faith she finds herself enrolling at a campus hundreds of miles away from home. She leaves any thoughts of dating again in Jersey, that is until fate crosses her path with a blue-eyed stud named Kyler King. He is notoriously known for being emotionally unattainable, but his façade is only to hide the burdens he bares every day. As Kyler and Haley’s physical attraction becomes deeper, the secrets of the past threaten to surface. When Haley’s past collides with the present, will her secrets prove too big of an obstacle hindering their happily ever after, or will letting go be the key that locks their bond forever?Warning: This book is intended for readers 17+ due to explicit language and sexual encounters.
Every Soul
L.K. Collins - 2014
Destiny . Fate series. More to come....When you lose the one person who grounds your existence, your whole world changes.In life, it is said that everything happens for a reason. If that’s true, how can you explain death? Especially when it happens to someone so young, so beautiful, and so innocent? My name is Bain Adams, and I struggle with these thoughts every day. I’ve been through hell and back, somehow surviving the unimaginable. My sister took her life six months ago, and now, what’s left is a shell of the man I once was, a shadow of the person I used to be. Do I miss that life? Absolutely. But I miss her more, every day. I pray time will ease the pain and help my suffering while I search for the answers…but so far, nothing.Happiness is something I knew so long ago, and now it’s nothing but a faint, distant recollection of the life I once had. My name is Arion LaSalle, and seven months ago my life was shredded to pieces when my fiancé disappeared while deployed. He never came home, burning a hindrance of pain and agony within my soul. For so long, I lived my life believing everything happens for a reason, until now. ‘Cause none of it makes any sense. Why Nate? Why only him? Since getting through each breath is a struggle, I put on a fake persona, pretending I’m someone I’m not, living my life recklessly. Because for me, it was all taken far too soon.
Wanted by You
Steph Nuss - 2014
Carter was captivated by Ellyson Evans the moment he laid eyes on her, but she was the one girl who didn't beg for his attention.He wanted her.Ellyson vowed to never fall in love, because love can destroy you, but then she met Carter Jennings.She wanted him.Unwilling to risk their comfortable friendship, neither confessed their desires.Losing touch after college, a chance meeting reconnects them.They want each other.But love in the city is never quite that easy.
Life's A Cappella
Yessi Smith - 2013
How I lived without regrets. With constant laughter. Without any tears. I want to tell you how I lived each moment to the fullest. How each breath I took was fresh and full of life. With eagerness. Without any fear.I want to tell you all of that, but then my story would be masked with lies and not worth telling.My life didn’t start until I left my past. And I left everything. My mother, my friends, my name.My new name, the name everyone knows me by is Erin Lewis.Four years after finding the courage to leave her hometown in Alabama, Erin is finally happy with where her life has led her. Not only is she secure in her environment, but the relationships she has formed center her, making her forget how damaged she once was. Before she can fully settle into her new life, her past crashes into her present, unraveling a set of events that destroy the very foundation she has built her new life on.
We Were Here
Daisy Prescott - 2016
This is the story of seven friends. We met in college, completely free for the first time in our lives and determined to enjoy every minute of it. For four years, we gossiped and flirted, partied and road-tripped. We were inseparable. Each of us has our own story of falling in or out of love. Of finding out who we are. Of growing up. We thought we knew everything. We knew nothing. We Were Here is where the Modern Love Stories begins, in a standalone that perfectly captures the humor, angst, and sheer chaos of college.
Undone
R.E. Hunter - 2014
Embry’s sole focus is to get through law school—with the help of her best friend, Morgan—and make something of the broken girl she became. Not thinking about falling in love, being in a relationship or even entertaining the idea of romance, Embry is moving forward one day at a time.Luke Brody is charming and sexy, and has a past of his own. He wants nothing more than to put his demons to rest and move on with his life. But, when Embry enters the picture, is he destined to repeat those same mistakes? Blindsided by their instant attraction, neither Luke nor Embry are prepared for the feelings they’re developing. But will it all be for nothing? Will they let their pasts destroy them, or will they risk everything to fight for their relationship when it all comes undone?
Edge of Glory
Magan Vernon - 2016
I'm Lia and I'll nguhhhhhhhhhhhhh". I froze. Directly facing me was Olympic swimmer, Jay Morningstar… and I just made an idiot of myself. The rest of the table looked up to see me standing there with my mouth practically gaping. His coach, who I recognized from TV interviews, and even two other swimmers from the Olympic team... they didn't say anything, they didn't even blink. "Uh… I mean…" I couldn't even put together my words and Jay Morningstar was just staring at me with that Wheaties box smile and those icy blue eyes. What was I supposed to say? "Sorry I just made a weird noise, it's just that I have a poster of you on my wall where you are wearing nothing more than your gold medals, a smile, and a pair of man panties?"
Escaping Me
Elizabeth Lee - 2013
Forget the memory of walking in on her boyfriend in the middle of, well, another girl. Forget how she had her entire life planned out. And, forget about being perfect all the time. Unfortunately, she was Whitney Vandaveer and despite the fact that she moved to the middle of nowhere – she couldn't. He always knew he would never be more than nothing. No job, no money, no future. Cole Pritchett had accepted the fact that he would always be the screw up and he was okay with it. Until he met her. Here's the thing they quickly found out – sometimes we all need a little help escaping who we think we are.
For the Love of Gracie
Amy K. McClung - 2013
She's reached a point where it's easier to forget about romance and focus on what's important: college, clubbing, and her friends. But the best-laid plans don't always pan out as hoped.Caught up in a web of relationships that threaten nothing but pain, Gracie has to decide who she can trust and who can help keep her safe. What lengths will the man of her dreams go to… for the Love of Gracie?
Beautiful Bounty
M.J. Nightingale - 2014
But, her perfect life comes crashing down around her in the blink of an eye. Arrested, framed for drug smuggling, and facing years behind bars, Ronnie sees no choice but to run. Only she can prove her innocence. Nikko Marino is a sexy, devastatingly charming bounty hunter. His job, as told to him by his older brothers, is to keep an eye on the curvaceous blonde. Make sure she doesn't run. But what his brothers don't know is that he and Ronnie have a past. He and the Ice Princess are more than mere passing acquaintances. She makes his blood burn, and he knows how to warm up this woman. Nikko wants to prove himself, but this beauty might just take him down. With his reputation on the line, will Nikko, the hot-blooded youngest Marino, fall for this temptress? Will he be able to protect this beautiful bounty from herself, from the man who framed her, but most importantly can he protect his heart?Beautiful Bounty is the first book in The Bounty Hunters - The Marino Bros. Suspenseful, erotic, and romantic, these books are packed with passion, sex and characters you will love. What more could you want?
A Perfect Mess
Zoe Dawson - 2012
He was always the unpredictable one, the one who would be brash enough to make it big self-publishing horror novels on the internet. He promised never to tell, but everyone knows you can never trust an Outlaw.Then a year later, in the middle of the night, she receives a phone call at Tulane. Her aunt, who took her in after her mother’s death, is in a coma under suspicious circumstances. Now she has to face that one person who knows all about what she did that summer—sexy Booker. Returning to Hope Parish to be with her aunt, stirs up all those ugly memories. When Aubree starts getting threats, she can’t help but wonder if what she did last summer was tied to her aunt’s “accident.” Afraid, she turns to the only person who knows the truth and Booker doesn’t hesitate to offer his broad shoulder for her to lean on. But Booker has a secret of his own that could crush their fledgling relationship.As the hot, sultry summer days move on, she finds that even a perfectly smart girl can lose her heart to a perfectly bad boy. What is she going to do when someone starts asking questions Aubree doesn’t want to answer? She’s knee deep into a terribly dangerous, wholly life changing, who-can-she-really-depend-on perfect mess.A Perfect Series: Three perfect girls, three perfect secrets, one unholy trinityA Perfect Mess, Book #1 – the girl most likely to succeed, an unpredictable Outlaw, and a dangerous secret that could be the death of her.A Perfect Mistake, Book #2 – A preacher’s daughter, a reckless Outlaw, and a secret that will change her life forever.A Perfect Dilemma, Book #3 – The town’s poor little rich girl, a sweet-talking Outlaw, and a secret that will ruin all that she holds dear
Because You're Mine
K. Langston - 2013
She’s already working for one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston as a research assistant, and in a few short months, she will finally graduate from Harvard and collect her law degree. Everything she’s worked so hard to accomplish is well within her reach. But when Madison has to take an unexpected trip back home, she's blindsided by the one thing she never anticipated. A man who not only tests her patience but tempts her heart. Madison doesn’t have time for love and a love as consuming as his will only derail her perfectly laid plans. Desperate to escape his wicked past, Holden Brooks moved to Madison's hometown five years ago, hell-bent on overcoming the demons that nearly destroyed him back in Texas. He’s in a good place in his life. Love is the last thing on his mind until he tastes her honeysuckle skin and looks into those deep blue eyes. Desire ignites as their two paths collide and they soon find out, fate has a plan of its own.
The Christmas Gamble
Sienna Ciles - 2017
Winner take all. My prize... Him. Being stranded at the airport was the last thing I wanted. Flights cancelled. Rooms booked. The only thing I had was a suitcase, the bar and the hot stranger sitting next to me. Dean Pearson was hot, confident with a side of cockiness and filthy rich. The perfect cocktail to forget my woes and also celebrate delaying a trip to see my family. A few drinks later and the stakes were higher than I could ever imagine. Would I be willing to bet it all at the chance for a prize of a lifetime at Christmas? The Christmas Gamble is hotter than a yule log and guaranteed to melt snow and bring a heat to your holiday like never before.