Book picks similar to
Southbound Surrender by Raen Smith


new-adult
romance
contemporary
netgalley

Speak Easy


Melanie Harlow - 2013
    in one week.Suddenly she’s thrust into an intoxicating underworld of greed, lust, lies, and betrayal.Enzo DiFiore is the son of the mobster holding her father hostage, but his sexy screen idol looks and dangerous charm leave her breathless. When the forbidden spark between them refuses to burn out, she tries to use their powerful chemistry to buy more time. And irritatingly handsome childhood pal Joey Lupo has the street smarts Tiny needs to make a quick ten grand, but he’s got his own agenda where gang rivalries are concerned.Deciding whom to trust isn't easy in a world where everyone wants something—be it booze, money, power, or sex—and no one cares what it takes to get it.Temptation is everywhere. And anything goes.**Due to mature material, this New Adult historical is recommended for ages 17+.**

No Turning Back


Casey Peeler - 2013
    Her best friend, Cash Montgomery is the only one who truly knows what happened that night and is a constant source of strength. After a summer of questioning who she wants to be, Charley decides to put the past behind and leave the small town of Grassy Pond to stand on her own two feet again. While Charley is living her life to the fullest at college she meets Joe Olsen and falls head over heels. But one letter is about to change everything and this time Cash isn’t there to help her. Will she be able to escape her past and on her own? Will she run home to Cash? Or will she find comfort in the arms of Joe?

Tough Love: A Forced Proximity Romance


Melanie A. Smith - 2021
    Smith comes a standalone steamy contemporary romance about life choices, love, and finding yourself in between. Sometimes you need a bit of tough love to get where you’re supposed to be … Mia Anderson has been living a life that was chosen for her. But her impending thirtieth birthday is the wake-up call she needed to stop wasting time on all the wrong pursuits. Just as she’s figuring out what she wants to do about it, her beloved grandmother falls ill and Mia drops everything to be with her. What she didn’t expect to find in her grandmother’s tiny mountain town is the courage to quit working for her father, supplied by a little tough love from her Gran. Now faced with an uncertain future, the last thing on her mind is finding love. Nate Edwards is living a solitary life deep in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. He’s content, or at least he thinks he is — until the granddaughter of a good friend shows up and he starts having feelings he thought he’d never have again. But Mia’s future isn’t in Alpine Ridge, so acting on it would lead to nothing but heartbreak. Still, their connection is undeniable and circumstances continue to push them together, despite their resistance. Will Mia stick to her decision to carve her own path? And if she does, will it be with Nate? Or is he doomed to an isolated life?

Shattered


C.C. Brown - 2013
    Her father's tragic accident sparked what seemed like a domino effect of heartbreak and loss. Unable to shake the fear of enduring any more pain, she builds walls around her heart, hoping to heal on her own.Dallis' road to recovery is disrupted when she meets Grayson Rivera, a tattooed, coffee shop owner who, by appearances alone, isn't her typical match. Stubborn and hesitant to let him in, Dallis finally succumbs to Grayson's persistence, where he challenges her to face her loss while also having the walls of her heart broken down.With Grayson's assistance, Dallis must decide if she is willing to learn how to be weak in order to be strong.

Holding On To Love


A.E. Neal - 2013
    She has a promising career, a brilliant best friend, and she's engaged to the man of her dreams. In one heart wrenching moment, Ally’s perfect world is turned upside down. As she succumbs to the heartache and tragedy that has left her utterly devastated, Ally relies on her best friend’s support more than ever. Eventually, she begins to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and move forward. However, the one thing she can’t seem to repair, is the huge void left in her heart. Local hockey star and bar owner, Brody McCabe, has had many titles bestowed upon him in his life — "Nice Guy" was never one of them. After a horrendous childhood, the only kind of love he seems to be capable of, is that of material possessions and his three staples — women, whiskey and wealth. Brody is completely unaware that the universe plans on handing him the hat-trick of a lifetime. After a chance encounter, Allyson and Brody are baffled by the heated connection they have towards each other. Will they be able to overcome the tragedies of their pasts, or can they grasp and hold on to a new love and a future together?

I Want It That Way


Ann Aguirre - 2014
    But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, she barely has time to think, let alone date. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B…. Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he can't risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a full-time construction management job and night classes, a social life is out of the question. The last thing he wants is for four noisy students to move into the apartment upstairs. But one night, Nadia's and Ty's paths cross, and soon they can't stay away from each other. The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it happens. And you can't know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.

The Darkest Day


Britt Bury - 2012
    . . Izel Campbell was raised to believe she is an immortal Fionn with the magical skills of persuasion. But when she travels to Scotland to visit her ancestral home, Izel discovers that she is actually the world's last living human. Forced to run for her life, Izel crosses paths with Kelvin Kerr, the Campbells' greatest foe-and the most magnificent warrior she has ever seen.BURNS BRIGHTEST . . .A thousand-year-old battle chief of the Kerr clan, Kelvin lives only to avenge his father, who died at the hands of the bloody Campbells. Honor demands he kill the Campbell heir, but when he learns that the lovely Izel is both Campbell and human, Kelvin is torn between duty and desire . . . ON THE DARKEST DAY Word Count: 86,000. This is Book 1 in The Immortal Heat series.

Secrets in the Shadows


T.L. Haddix - 2010
    So what if she gets lonely from time to time? With a healthy, beautiful daughter, and a successful coffee shop-cafe, the divorced single mother convinces herself she doesn’t have time for love. When she gets her first glimpse at her parents’ handsome new neighbor, though, she starts reconsidering her stance. Once Charlie Clark begins breaking through her defensive walls, Lauren finds him hard to resist. Just as Lauren is learning to let go of the past and embrace the future, her personal demons rear their ugly heads in the guise of a vandal hell-bent on destroying Lauren’s happiness. When another local businesswoman is brutally murdered, the investigation into the crime reveals an unexpected connection to Lauren’s past. The message is clear--the past has come calling, and it’s out for blood. Note for Readers: This book does deal with the issues of incest and sexual abuse, more with the effects on the victims than the abuse itself. Reader Discretion Advised. “Secrets in the Shadows” is the first book in the Shadows Collection, a series of novels set in small-town Indiana. Other titles include “Under the Moon's Shadow,” “Shadows from the Grave,” “Hidden in the Shadows,” "In the Heart's Shadow," and "Deception in the Shadows."

Lockdown on London Lane


Beth Reekles - 2022
    The result transforms the harsh realities of quarantine into rom-com enchantment." -- Publishers Weekly For the inhabitants of London Lane, a simple slip of paper underneath each of their doors is about to change their lives in a hundred different ways.URGENT!!! Due to the current situation, building management has decided to impose a seven-day quarantine on all apartment buildings on London Lane.With nowhere else to go . . .Ethan and Charlotte wonder whether absence really does make the heart grow fonder when they end up on either side of a locked door.A fierce debate over pineapple on pizza ignites a series of revelations about Zach and Serena’s four-year relationship.Liv realizes rolling with the punches is sometimes much harder than it looks after her bridesmaids’ party goes off the rails, leaving the group at each other’s throats.Isla and Danny’s new romance is put to the test as they jump ten steps ahead on the relationship timeline.And Imogen and Nate’s one-night stand is about to get six do-overs they never really asked for—not awkward at all.Through make ups, breakups, love-ins, and blowouts, friendships are tested as everyone scrambles to make it through the week unscathed. Amidst all the drama, one thing remains constant: life is full of surprises.

Shattered Dreams


Ellie James - 2011
    But that isn't as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she's seen, it's already too late.Trinity arrives on her aunt's doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she's seen.But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica's disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica's ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

Falling for Her Fiance


Cindi Madsen - 2013
    Adrenaline-junkie Wes can prove to both his ex and his family that he’s well and truly moved on, and serious-minded Dani can prove to her boss that she’s worthy of the promotion he seems to only want to give to a family-oriented employee.But amid the fake swoons, fake kisses, and forced proximity, neither expects the very real feelings that develop. There’s nothing more dangerous than falling for your best friend…but what if the landing is worth the fall?

Threats of Sky and Sea


Jennifer Ellision - 2014
    Until the day that three Elemental soldiers recognize her father as a traitor to the throne and Bree’s father is thrown in jail—along with the secrets from his last mission as the King’s assassin. Secrets that could help the King win a war. Secrets he refuses to share.Desperate to escape before the King’s capricious whims prove her and her father’s downfall, Bree bargains with him: information for their lives. It’s a good trade. And she has faith she’ll get them both out of the King’s grasp with time.But that was before the discovery that she’s the weapon the King’s been waiting for in his war.Now, time is running out. To save her father’s life and understand her own, Bree must unravel the knot of her father’s past before the King takes his life– and uses her to bring a nation to its knees.

Fury


Charlotte McConaghy - 2014
    On the same day each year Josephine Luquet wakes naked, shivering and covered in blood that is not her own. Under the cold gaze of the blood moon she is someone else entirely, but when dawn breaks her memories vanish and she is left with only an icy horror, a burning fury. Amid a sea of 'drones', she alone hasn’t been cured. Then she meets Luke. He isn’t like the other drones. With secrets behind his eyes, he is the only one determined to help Josephine discover the truth before the next blood moon rises. But time is running out. Is Luke willing to risk his life to be near her? Does he truly understand what violence she is capable of? Raw and full of passion, Fury is a story of love in a dystopian world, and how much we are willing to forgive in the struggle to remember our humanity.

The Curse Keepers


Denise Grover Swank - 2013
    It’s about to come crashing down.Ellie Lancaster has lived her whole life by the site of the mysterious Lost Colony of Roanoke, the North Carolina settlement that vanished without a trace around 1590. Only the descendants of the two men who banished the spirits of an enemy tribe from the material realm know what really happened to the colony. Ellie is one of those descendants—a Curse Keeper. Her father took pains to teach her what he knew of the curse and the responsibilities of its guardians. He taught her that if the two Curse Keepers ever meet, the curse will be lifted, the gate will open, and the raging Native American spirits will be unleashed to seek their revenge.Despite her father’s seriousness, Ellie has always taken the legend for a harmless fairy tale. Until she meets the darkly handsome, but downright infuriating, Collin Dailey and realizes everything she was told is true. For when they meet, it’s like the air is sucked from the room. Collin’s presence is electrifying… and it’s not just attraction Ellie feels, but the inexorable pull toward her destiny. The prophecy is real, and now Ellie and Collin must battle supernatural forces and their loathing—and passion—for each other to set things right.The Curse Keepers are all that stand between the world and its destruction.

The Redemption of Ajax


Trinity Faegen - 2011
    When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—she is an Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx's biggest threat.A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God's promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he's finally found the girl he's been searching for: Sasha.With the threat of Eryx always looming, Jax knows he has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?