Book picks similar to
Under The Same Sky by Tamsyn Bester


romance
heartbreaking
tamsyn-bester
ow-drama

The Sweet Gum Tree


Katherine Allred - 2005
    But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone.Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

The Player Next Door


K.A. Tucker - 2020
    With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up.That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door.Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he's Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong.Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won't allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound.But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she's wrong. Maybe Shane has changed.And maybe this time she's the one playing herself—out of a chance at true happiness.

Dark Obsession


Nicole York - 2019
    Cause life hasn’t really done well serving my desires, but that’s about to change. I’m knee deep in working a black widow scandal with my childhood bestie that’s paying rich-ass dividends. Until beautiful Jenna Web shows up. The daughter of the DA in New York. A goodie-goodie that I just can’t say no to. But my partner in crime isn’t too thrilled with my new girl. And my woman doesn’t know all of my secrets. She’d never accept me as-is. With one foot in the light and one in the dark, I have to decide which way to go before it’s too late. True freedom isn’t always what it’s chalked up to be anyways. Especially not when vows are involved…

Becoming His


Albany Walker - 2018
    On her own since her parents died at age fourteen, Sophia isn't used to being around other shifters. In fact, the one time she did run into a pack, she met her mate - and he rebuffed her. Sophia's fended for herself all these years, and now, in Michigan, she's desperate to create a new life for herself. The only problem? It seems her mate has found her, and this time, he isn't letting her go.Mason Black is the Alpha wolf of the Northern Territories. As an Alpha, he's accustomed to getting everything he wants - until Sophia. Walking away from his mate when she was just a teenager nearly destroyed him. Now that she's back, he'll do everything in his power to possess her. To own her. To make her his Luna.The one thing Mason doesn't count on - Sophia is an Alpha in her own right. A unique species all her own, she's never bowed down to anyone - and doesn't intend on starting. Not when Mason left her heartbroken. Not when he doesn't quite know how to treat her as his mate, and not one of his pack. And especially not when he refuses to see the truth behind the conniving, lint-licking, wanna-be Luna, Roxanne.Can Sophia and Mason work through their issues, or will they be the first mates on record to give up on each other?

Knotted


Pam Godwin - 2018
    It’s impossible. Growing up together, Conor and I shared all our firsts. First love, first kiss, first… Not all our firsts. We were sixteen the night she was violently assaulted while I helplessly watched. I’ll never forget the sounds of her suffering. Or my inconsolable agony when she left Oklahoma. Years later, she returns to honor our teenage pact. Except the boy she loved is gone, replaced by a ruthless cattle rancher knotted with secrets. She doesn’t know my dark cravings or the trails of sin that lead to her. I don’t deserve her, but one truth remains. She’s mine. TRAILS OF SIN series (HEAs with no cliffhangers - must be read in order): Knotted #1 Buckled #2 Booted #3

About Tomorrow


Abbi Glines - 2020
    I take one very long and deep breath hoping to calm the immediate butterflies that take flight in my stomach and hope to slow down the racing of my heart. The voice was slightly deeper but the timbre was one that was achingly familiar.My actions did little to help, but then who was I kidding? A deep breath wasn't going to fix the effect he had on me and my body's inevitable reaction. Even the memories that would forever haunt me couldn't keep my emotions from triggering at the nearness of him once again.I used to pray that I'd find the strength to move on from him, from the pain that the end carried, from the emptiness in my chest, but ultimately move on from—the loss of Creed Sullivan and the death of his sister, Cora.The Sullivans had been the best part of my summers in New England.Deep down, I knew my ache for all that I had lost was the reason I returned...But I hadn't expected to see him again—especially not like this.

More Than Words


Mia Sheridan - 2018
    Her prince. They became each other's refuge, a safe and magical place far from their troubled lives. Until the day Callen kissed her--Jessica's first real, dreamy kiss—and then disappeared from her life without a word.Years later, everyone knows who Callen Hayes is. Famous composer. Infamous bad boy. What no one knows is that Callen's music is now locked deep inside, trapped behind his own inner demons. It's only when he withdraws to France to drink his way through the darkness that Callen stumbles into the one person who makes the music return. Jessica. His Jessie. And she still tastes of fresh, sweet innocence . . . even as she sets his blood on fire.But they don't belong in each other's worlds anymore. There are too many mistakes. Too many secrets. Too many lies. All they have is that instinctive longing, that need—and something that looks dangerously like love.No one lays open the heart and soul quite like New York Times bestselling author Mia Sheridan.

Rock Country


K. Webster - 2014
    For two years they spent every waking moment together. And just as they started realizing they had potential to be more, Bobby was unexpectedly uprooted to Las Vegas. Fast forward fifteen years.Bobby is now a guitar hero of a very successful rock band. June is wasting away, working at a local diner, and married to an abusive man. Devastating events send Bobby back to Texas to deal with some unsettled issues. When he runs into June, she’s all grown up. No longer that blonde haired, pig-tailed little girl—now she’s the Queen of the South with tanned legs, sexy curves, and more beauty than all the groupies combined. Problem is, June is a shell of her former self—that is, until—Bobby brings the spark back into her life.What happens when a typical bad boy rocker comes across a sad country song? Why, you get the sweet sound of Rock Country.

Forgiving Reed


C.A. Harms - 2014
    She had no choice but to move forward and give her son the best life she could. Which meant moving back home. Except there was one problem.Home was where Reed would be...The man who once held her heart, then shattered it into a million pieces. Grieving the loss of Rhetts dad, and learning to forgive those who have betrayed her, Kori was battling it all.But will she ever have the strength to forgive Reed?

The Sinner


Kelsey Clayton - 2020
    She ruined my life in one fell swoop, and didn’t even have the heart to warn me.Now, nearly a decade later, I’m back in the town I grew up in, determined to make her pay.They say revenge is a dangerous game, but I’ve never been one to play it safe. There is nothing I’ll love more than to find her weakness and use it to destroy her. The lie she told all those years ago will be her undoing.Savannah Montgomery may be queen of the rich and entitled, but she’s about to meet her match. THE SINNER is a standalone and part of the Haven Grace Prep series. It contains angst, violence, and scenes that may be triggering for some readers. If you're looking for a sweet love story, this may not be for you.

Zealous


Hazel Grace - 2019
    I paid for all three when I fell in love with Rora. Her betrayal left me in shambles, a hollow man filled with insurmountable regret. I resented her. And then I hurt her. Betrayed her in the selfishness of my retribution. But when I lay eyes on her again, she’s not the same woman I exiled from my past. She’s not the woman I once loved. Her eyes burn brighter, only with the deepest of hatred. A hatred that bears my name Nova Everything has a meaning; your past, your present, the people that you hold true to your heart. But what if all three of those play your trial, jury and judge to a crime you never committed in the first place? The old me died after my conviction, only to come back with contempt and revenge in my veins. The love and trust are gone while I write my list down of every Judas in my midst. And I’m starting with him.

Virtue & Vanity


Astrid Jane Ray - 2016
    On the surface, her rich and beautiful husband is the embodiment of every girl’s dream, but Isabelle will learn just how deceiving looks can be. By the time she discovers there is real danger hidden behind those captivating green eyes and thick layers of sophisticated appearance, it is too late to escape Sebastian’s cruelty. Without a thread of compassion, he shows her the true meaning of hell, making it abundantly clear her fragile feelings mean nothing to him. But life has strange ways of playing with one’s fate. In an intriguing turn of events, the same man who had once shattered her to pieces, suddenly starts treating her with extreme care and swears there will be no more pain. Isabelle has been tricked too many times to believe him, but the devil she bargained with refuses to give up on his mission to earn her forgiveness as well as her heart. While Sebastian unfolds from a monster into Prince Charming right before her eyes, Isabelle finds herself falling under his spell and getting closer to making a choice that might be fatal for both of them.

Ricochet


L.K. Reid - 2021
    I’ve been called all of those and worse.Somebody once told me that one bad chapter doesn't mean your story is over.Mine was just starting.Painting me as the villain of the story and destroying everything I held dear was an easy task for them.It was easy for him.But the rules of the game have changed, and this time I was going to make them pay.My name is Ophelia Aster, a girl they threw away, a girl they wanted to shatter.They thought trapping me would set them free, but they didn’t know that the girl they used to know, didn’t exist anymore. They threw me into the darkness, so darkness was what I became.

Jaybird


M.A. Foster - 2017
    Zach.But then everything changes.When news hits the streets that famous rock star and celebrity judge, Marcus King, has suddenly died,the spotlight shifts to his daughter.His Jaybird.*Not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to language, sexual situations, and mild violence.Jaybird is a standalone in a series.

Serendipity


Janet Nissenson - 2013
    But with the dawn of a new day came only heartache and betrayal, and her dreams were snuffed out like so much fairy dust. Nathan Atwood felt like the lowest sort of life form after seducing the incredibly beautiful girl he met in New York, only to break her tender heart with the confession that he was already involved with someone else. Leaving Julia was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and the memory of their passionate night together haunted his dreams for months afterwards.Now fate has brought them together again, and they are forced to work alongside each other. Will Julia be able to put aside the feelings she still has for her handsome boss and forge a new life for herself in San Francisco? And how long will Nathan be able to resist the gorgeous woman he’s never really stopped thinking about or wanting?