Book picks similar to
Beautiful Tragedy by Alycia Taylor


new-adult
contemporary-romance
college
alycia-taylor

Ridorkulous


Mary Frame - 2019
    It's where I live. And I'm the president, mayor, and sole citizen.Reese Jackson is living her safest life. This polymath is tired of trying to fit in with a small town that never knows what to do with her. Her absentee family may have forced her into dorm life for her own good, but she goes from her classes to her room and back—no parties, no dates, and no drawing attention.Until one noisy night, when Reese gets kicked out of her dorm.Fitz Moreland is living his okayest life. He’s on his own to pay for college, but he’s scraping by with an athletic scholarship and free rent with a friend. If he can keep it together, he’s on track to graduate with a useful degree, especially now that he’s finally said goodbye to his drama-loving ex-girlfriend.Until one night, when she gets him kicked out of his house. What happens when there’s one single room left for rent in the entire town and two people who desperately need it? A merrymaking, money-seeking landlord arrives and throws them into a series of ridorkulous challenges to compete for it, of course. It’s the dorky duckling versus the BMOC. The winner will get a place to live—but the loser may just forfeit their heart.

Kiss To Conquer


Anna B. Doe - 2020
    Hayden thinks he knows all about Callie’s life before Blairwood and he’s not ready to let go of the past, much less forgive her for what she has done three years ago.One thing’s for sure… it’s going to take more than a kiss to conquer their broken past.Note: Kiss To Conquer is an enemies-to-lovers sports romance and it can be read as a standalone novel.

Detour


Kacey Shea - 2017
    I play. You play. Don’t hit on me. Don’t flirt with me. Understood?”Handsome, charismatic, and blessed with a voice that brings thousands of fans to their knees, Trent Donovan is a walking cliché. But he has another thing coming if he thinks he can charm his way into my panties.I don’t care if he’s rich and famous because I’m not here to bag a rock star. I’m here to pave my own way. To prove I belong center stage. There’s just one problem.The more time I spend on the road with the band, the more I realize Trent’s nothing like the arrogant playboy I expected. We share a love of music, and if I’m honest so much more. I came on this tour to follow my dreams, but if I’m not careful he’s bound to lead them off track—right along with my heart.

A Wish for Us


Tillie Cole - 2018
    A story of healing. A story of love conquering all.Nineteen-year-old Cromwell Dean is the rising star of electronic dance music. Thousands of people adore him. But no one knows him. No one sees the color of his heart.Until the girl in the purple dress. She sees through the walls he has built to the empty darkness within.When Cromwell leaves behind the gray skies of England to study music in the South Carolina heat, the last thing he expects is to see her again. And he certainly doesn’t expect that she’ll stay in his head like a song on repeat.Bonnie Farraday lives for music. She lets every note into her heart, and she doesn’t understand how someone as talented as Cromwell can avoid doing the same. He’s hiding from his past, and she knows it. She tries to stay away from him, but something keeps calling her back.Bonnie is the burst of color in Cromwell’s darkness. He’s the beat that makes her heart skip.But when a shadow falls over Bonnie, it’s up to Cromwell to be her light, in the only way he knows how. He must help her find the lost song in her fragile heart. He must keep her strong with a symphony only he can compose.A symphony of hope.A symphony of love.A symphony of them.

The Summer Remains


Seth King - 2015
    The first is that due to a quickly worsening medical condition, she faces a risky surgery in three months’ time that may or may not end in her death. The second is that she would like to fall in love before then.As spring sinks into her namesake season on the Florida coastline, Summer plays the odds and downloads a new dating app - and after one intriguing message from a beautiful surfer named Cooper Nichols, it becomes clear that the story of what may be her last few months under the sun is about to be completely revised. All she has to do now is write something worth reading.Tender, honest, devastating and triumphant, The Summer Remains explores a very human battle being waged in a very digital age: the search for a love that will outlast this temporary borrowing of bones. In an era when many feel compelled to share and re-share anything about everything, prepare to feel a love so special, you will want to hug it close and make it yours forever.

Break You


Jennifer Snyder - 2013
    She prefers things to be as uncomplicated as possible -- but when her friends drag her to a party and she bumps into her high school crush, the path of Blaire’s life veers in an entirely different direction than what she had planned for herself. Jason Bryant created a nice life away from his hometown, putting distance between himself and the suffocating sadness of his father’s death. But when he finds out his grandfather’s health is deteriorating, he decides he must return home. Partying was not on his agenda while in town, but it’s how he bumps into Blaire Hayes—the girl he’d always thought of in high school as an unobtainable pass. Together the two learn there are moments in life that hold within them all the power to break you... (New Adult: Contains sexual situations, language, mature themes, and alcohol usage.)

Butterfly


Cambria Hebert - 2017
    One-night stands.No-show interviews. Toilet-papering my hoity-toity neighbor’s house.Insulting my fans. Trashing hotel rooms.What’s it take to become public enemy number one?I just told you.I’ve done all that and more.My poor conduct got me on the Celebs Behaving Badly listand ultimately ruined my career.From the world’s number-one popstar to world’s most hated.That’s me. Ten Stark.Go underground, they said. Stay out of the spotlight.Most importantly, stay out of trouble.Everyone loves a good comeback story.For once, I listened.I met someone who didn’t know my name,my face, or the bad behavior that defined me.She taught me I wasn’t who everyone thought I was—everyone including me.Then someone whispered my name and things got messy, as they always do.Now I want her back.I’m not a caterpillar, but a butterfly.My wings are in full color, not just black and white.But first, I have to shed my cocoon and fly.

The Empty Jar


Michelle Leighton - 2016
    Romantic. Dazzling. Unforgettable. The trip of a lifetime.But some lifetimes are shorter...We couldn’t have known it would work out this way.No one could. No one could’ve guessed that something so beautiful could be so tragic.But it is tragic.Yet so, so beautiful.That’s what sacrifice is—beauty and tragedy.It’s pain and suffering for something or someone you love.And this is the ultimate sacrifice. One stunning act of true love.This is our story.Our true love story.

Holding Onto Forever


Heidi McLaughlin - 2017
    Making sure he worked hard to deserve the opportunities provided to him, Noah is where he's dreamed of being - starting QB for Portland Pioneers. Together, with his model girlfriend by his side, life can't get much better. Except that standing in his path is Peyton Powell-James, his life-long friend and the one woman he can never have. Peyton Powell-James always knew her future would be in football and dreams of having a successful sports journalism career once she graduates college. After being given the assignment to cover a professional game from the sidelines, Peyton believes that everything is going to plan. Until one fateful night changes her life. Harsh reality sets in for Noah and Peyton. One could lose everything, while the other struggles to keep the families together.

Good Girl


Piper Lawson - 2018
    Instead I fell for a legend...The month I wrote my first piece of code, Jax Jamieson launched his third platinum album.The week I drank my first beer, he spent in jail.The day I got under his skin, I wound up on his tour.And the night he gave me his hoodie…I fell in love forever.Good Girl is book 1 in the hit new adult rockstar-meets-nerd series WICKED! Jax and Haley’s addictive, emotional, slow burn romance continues in Bad Girl and concludes in Wicked Girl.Binge the completed trilogy now!

Dear Ava


Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2020
    Once upon a time, I wanted to be part of their world--until they destroyed me.The last thing I expected was an anonymous love letter from one of them.Please. I hate every one of those rich jerks for what they did to me. The question is, which Shark is my secret admirer?Knox, the scarred quarterback.Dane, his twin brother.Or Chance, the ex who dumped me. . .Dear Ava,Your eyes are the color of the Caribbean Sea.Wait. That's stupid.What I really mean is, you look at me and I feel something REAL.It's been ten months since you were here, but I can't forget you.I've missed seeing you walk down the hall.I've missed you cheering at my football games.I've missed the smell of your hair.And then everything fell apart the night of the kegger.Don't hate me because I'm a Shark.I just want to make you mine.Still.Mature Content. Recommended for 18+.A short excerpt of Dear Ava appeared in Team Player 2. (No longer available) This all-new, full-length version is 376 pages and 100,000 words.

Drumline


Stacy Kestwick - 2017
    Especially in the South. College football. Rivalries. Tailgating. Halftime shows. Some things just don’t change. Until Reese Holland shows up with her long legs and no-bullsh*t attitude to audition for the prestigious all-male Rodner University snare line. It doesn’t matter how much hazing she has to endure from Laird Bronson, with his narrowed green eyes and arrogant smirk. She wants that damn spot, and she’s more than good enough to earn it. She expects there to be tension. Even friction. But not sparks hot enough to burn the entire campus down. ***Drumline is a standalone college romance.

Picture Perfect


Ella Fox - 2013
    Although he's got a reputation as a player, he’s decided that it’s time to find something real.One look at a photo of Tessa Hamilton had him hooked.Tessa’s teenage celebrity crush was Flynn Rand. Now he was offering her the professional opportunity of a lifetime, a job as the official photographer for the Renegade Saints farewell tour. Assuring herself that her teenage attraction to Flynn wouldn’t hold up when she met him in person, Tessa took the job. The chemistry between them is immediate and powerful, but Tessa is hesitant to explore their connection.Flynn has no intention of giving up, and he intends to prove to her that they are meant to be together.Can Flynn convince Tessa that their attraction to each other is the real thing?

Ransom


Rachel Schurig - 2014
    She’ll go to class, alone. She won’t speak or make eye contact. She’ll spend her entire day doing her best to go completely unnoticed. That’s what life is like for Daisy now—an endless cycle of loneliness and fear. A life lived hiding behind the walls she so faithfully maintains. Then she sees it. A magazine, left behind in class. A simple picture—just his face. And it changes everything. It’s been a year since she’s seen Daltrey Ransome. A year since he and his brothers left town to pursue their dreams of rock and roll superstardom. A year since he left Daisy behind—left her to watch as everything she knew crumbled around her. She’s been running from Daltrey ever since, desperate to keep her secret.But she can’t run anymore. And now that Daltrey has found her—the girl he’s loved his entire life, the girl he’d give up everything for—he’s determined never to let her go again.**The first book in a brand new series from USA Today bestselling author Rachel Schurig. This New Adult Contemporary Romance novel is a complete story with no cliffhanger.**

Rush


Kandi Steiner - 2015
    With the perfect mix of angst, emotional romance, and romantic comedy, the Palm South University series is your next guilty addiction. Drama. Lies. Sex. Welcome to Palm South University.The weather isn’t the only thing heating up in South Florida. At a school where fraternities and sororities don’t exactly play by the rules, relationships are bound to be tested. Parties and sex are definitely key ingredients in the Palm South recipe, but what happens when family issues, secret lives, and unrequited love get tossed in the mix?Follow Cassie, Bear, Jess, Skyler, Erin, Ashlei, and Adam as they tackle college at a small, private beach town university. Written in television drama form, each episode of this serial will pull you deeper and deeper into the world of PSU.Where the sun is hot and the clothes are scarce, anything can happen.