Book picks similar to
Grace for Drowning by Maya Cross


romance
fighter
fighters
contemporary-romance

Battlescars


Ann Collins - 2013
    He’s moved back home and is focused on training for an MMA fight he hopes will kick start his career. He’s disciplined, focused, and has no time or energy for a meaningful relationship. When Dyson meets twenty-year-old Kayla in his neighborhood bar, he thinks she would be a gorgeous addition to the string of women with whom he has enjoyed one-night stands. The tall, dark and sexy blue-eyed Dyson is determined to have her. Immune to his charms, Kayla wants nothing to do with him. She’s far too busy trying to recover from the pain of her childhood to let a cocky man like Dyson trample on her heart. She knows she’s damaged and is working hard to build a life for herself, free of her terrible memories. But fate seems to have other plans… Will Dyson and Kayla be able to heal the hurts in their past and move forward in spite of their scars? Will they recognize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and be brave enough to take a chance on love?

Brush Strokes


Janelle Stalder - 2014
    Now back in the small town she grew up in, she's forced to spend her senior year at her old school where she's known as the 'freak', all because she'd rather focus on her painting than the trivial drama of high school. But things aren't the same as they were when she left. And the one thing that is turning her life upside down the most just happens to be the resident bad boy, Colt Morgan. Her senior year was supposed to fly by so she could pack up and leave again, but what happens when there's suddenly a reason to want to stay? *This book contains strong language and some sexual content. For mature audiences.

Beautifully Damaged


L.A. Fiore - 2012
    A little tomboyish from being raised by her father, Ember packs a punch when a stranger gets pushy with her in a bar, catching the steely blue eyes of a tall, gorgeous tattooed man—Trace Montgomery. Still damaged from her last disastrous relationship and warned off the bad boy by friends, Ember fights the smoldering heat that Trace sparks in her when he begins shadowing her like a dark angel.Burdened by a lifetime of horror and heartbreak, amateur fighter Trace doesn’t want to want Ember. His deep self-loathing keeps him from having any meaningful relationships, but Ember is an itch he can’t scratch. The two push and pull, slowly crumbling their walls, seemingly brought together by fate, because the turmoil that haunts their pasts is interlinked in undeniable ways. But can these two fighters finally lay down their arms?In Beautifully Damaged, L.A. Fiore delves into deep scars and lets love and forgiveness uncover redemption.

Pure Will


Kristi Pelton - 2014
    Will spiraled into a world of darkness following an unbearable hurt…in turn using women and alcohol to dull the pain.Two wounded people…coming together under awkward circumstances…healing each other…until the bad boy from Camden’s past finds her…Does Will have the power to fight for someone worth fighting for?Camden Biggs, the daughter of a professional baseball player…lost her mother at age 9. Eager to be loved, she fell in love with the hottest, bad boy she’d ever met at age 15, Max. Totally off limits and living under the same roof, she succumbed to his manipulations until he was forced out of her life—hanging on to a promise to only give herself to him. Will Denton raised by a trailer trash father and a trust fund mother had a taste of both worlds and all sorts of women—especially when he dove into a world of darkness following a tragedy and loss of his own. Camden, now a senior at the University of Kansas where she tutors the hottest, most talented athletes hides behind her outgoing roommate Kate—who is sexually active enough for both of them; Camden lives vicariously through Kate while still trying to heal her wounds from the past—until Will Denton comes home with Kate one night. Though he slept with Kate, he sets his sights on Cam. Camden finally succumbs to the gorgeous eyes and body of Will Denton. And as Will is finally starting to tear down the walls that Cam has built over the years…Bad Boy Max makes a reappearance to reclaim what was once his.

A Beautiful Idea


Emily McKee - 2013
    . . until now.She grew up in a world filled with poverty and hatred from the person who gave birth to her and had decided she would finally make her ideas a reality.After moving away to college as a junior she ran into the University of Maryland’s walking one-night stand. Literally.Ryder Mitchell was every girl’s wet dream all in one muscled, tattooed, pierced, baseball playing package. He thought he had the life: going to school, tattooing people by day, and giving girls the best orgasms of their life by night. When he found out that Financial Aid didn’t fully cover Isabelle’s room and board Ryder had an idea: Isabelle should move in with him.On the outside everybody sees Isabelle as a quiet bookworm and Ryder as a player, both on and off the baseball diamond. They soon learn who the other truly is. Either way, they’re about to realize this idea was a beautiful one.

Last of the Bad Boys


Nora Flite - 2014
    Pure violence and wet sex. For years, it's been my life. If you think I'd get bored, you'd be very wrong. I'll never get enough. Nothing can sate the ache that wants to bend any and every woman over, just to see how she tastes. I'm a man who aims to please, but no one holds my attention. No one but Zoe. I throb at the very IDEA of her... I want to suffocate with my tongue inside her thighs. When my phone rang, I didn't expect her pretty voice to beg me for help. She thought I'd save her and that'd be it. Well. Too bad. I'm hooked on this girl—I want her more than water or air. I wasn't her first. But I planned to be her last. Author's Note-- Standalone full-length novel. Contains explicit and erotic scenes, a dirty bad boy with a filthy mouth, as well as themes of violence/mature situations.

Black Box


Cassia Leo - 2014
    Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.

Come


Becca Jameson - 2014
    Unfortunately, one of the firm’s partners has been pressuring her for a date. She has no interest in sleeping her way up the corporate ladder, but he won’t take no for an answer, and he’s following her. His Lexus is in the parking lot of her uncle’s gym when she steps outside. In a split-second decision, she plasters herself to the sexy man leaning casually against the wall outside the gym. Rafe Wesson is stunned by one look at the woman so totally out of place at the gym. His plan is to casually run into her outside and ask her out. And then she catches him off-guard with a kiss that rocks his world. Katy isn’t Rafe’s type. She’s far too innocent. But two dates don’t dampen his desire. Rafe has personal rules against sleeping with a woman before she is fully informed about his preferences. However, Katy is persistent. She wants him, but he fears he’ll lose her when she finds out about his lifestyle. Rafe tries to step away from her, but he can’t ignore the unknown threat that haunts her, and time is running out. Someone wants Katy dead. And Rafe wants Katy...very much alive.

Rooke


Callie Hart - 2017
    Car thief. Heartbreaker extraordinaire.Rooke Blackheath has spent enough time in juvie to know that he really doesn’t want to go to jail. The food sucks, the clothes itch, and there are absolutely no women in sight. Well…none he wants to fuck, anyway. He should probably stop boosting cars, but the money is stellar and the high is out of this world. And why should he turn his back on something that sets his soul on fire anyway? The answer to that question comes in an unexpected form: a petite five-foot-three firecracker named Sasha who refuses to give him the time of day no matter how thick he lays on the charm. Rooke’s not easily deterred, though. Just like the watches he builds from scratch, Rooke knows all too well how women tick. Women are a game to him. A game he always wins. Sasha doesn’t stand a chance.***Sasha Cross’s life has been permanently derailed since her son died five years ago. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, of course. She has a great job, a beautiful house, and caring friends. Every week, she hosts a book club featuring the sexiest, most romantic stories on the planet, and every week she falls for a new fictional knight in shining armor. Fictional men are perfect, though. They don’t hurt you. They don’t break your heart. They don’t cheat on you after your child dies, and they rarely ever leave the toilet seat up. When Rooke Blackheath shows up at Sasha's workplace, it’s clear he’s nothing like the men who grace the pages of Sasha's favorite books. Dangerous, arrogant, sharp-tongued and sarcastic, Rooke’s not the kind of guy she needs in her life. Not to mention the fact that he’s eleven years her junior. They don’t live in different worlds. As far as Sasha is concerned, Rooke lives in a different galaxy altogether. She’d like to keep it that way, but fate appears to have other plans.When Cinderella lost her shoe, Prince Charming showed up at her door. When Sasha Cross loses her book, an entirely different kind of rogue comes a-knocking.

Wrong (A Stepbrother Romance)


Stella Rhys - 2016
    Cocky smile. Sculpted hipbones that scream filthy sex. Liam Cage is walking torture for any girl in New York, but especially me. He’s my stepbrother and on top of that, I’m living under his roof. I’m following his rules. I’m nothing but his good little girl and so I can’t want him. I can’t tempt him.I can’t bait him into touching my half-naked body while I lay "asleep" on his couch.… About that.It was every kind of wrong but I couldn’t help myself. I stripped down for my stepbrother. Tortured him. Forced him take out years of pent-up lust on my body in one sticky, sweaty shot. Long story short, I made the hottest mistake of my life, and I know there’ll be consequences, especially with a past like mine. But now that I’ve opened up Pandora’s box, there’s no going back. Basically, I’m screwed.But when it’s with a man as painfully sexy as Liam, screwed has kind of never felt so good.**Wrong is a raunchy, angsty standalone novel with a HEA.**

Nothing But Trouble


P. Dangelico - 2019
    And frankly, I kind of wish I still didn’t because then I wouldn’t have a sprained ankle to show for it. And my leg wouldn’t resemble a boa constrictor that’s swallowed a feral pig. Yeah, it’s that bad.I’ve spent years saving every penny I’ve ever earned to be able to transfer to Malibu University. And now my entire future––including my scholarship––is in jeopardy. So I either accept the help he insists on giving me, or lose everything I’ve sacrificed for. In the meantime, I’m going to ignore the fact that we’re becoming friends.And I’m definitely going to pretend he’s not turning into the object of my…umm, dirty fantasies. That’s not happening. Not even a little.Because the minute I clapped eyes on him I knew he was nothing but trouble.

Provoke


Missy Johnson - 2014
    I knew of the crowd he ran with, and they were bad news. But beyond that tough, biker exterior was a sweetheart, and one that treated me like his princess.I liked being the good girl with the bad boy, but I never expected this. What I saw on his computer…I thought I knew him. But I was wrong. So wrong…If there was ever a bad time for me to fall for a chick it was now, but from the moment I saw Leeta, she had me. There was something special about her, and I had to have her. But I also had a job to do, and I couldn’t let her distract me from that. I couldn’t let her discover that side of me either. But she’s not stupid, and I know she’s getting close. God knows what she’ll do if she discovers the truth. Or what she thinks is the truth.

The Proposition


Jennifer Lyon - 2013
    His extreme wealth gives him the control he craves and his skills as an ex UFC fighter the tools he’ll need to extract his ultimate revenge. But when the woman he never believed he’d see again crosses his path, Sloane is caught between the vengeance he needs and a sexual conquest he craves.Kat Thayne has been in survival mode for six years, hiding behind the sweet creations for her bakery. But when a random carjacking brings her face-to-face with her darkest fears and hottest fantasy, Kat is forced out of hiding and offered a dangerously passionate proposition. One she knows she isn’t strong enough to refuse.

Ground & Pound


Emily Minton - 2016
    His name is known worldwide. Men want to be him, and women just want him. All Kane wants is the heavy weight title, nothing else matters to him. Not until, he see Emmy twirling around a poleKane has one rule, never give anyone else control. He doesn’t let anyone in, especially woman. The night he meets Emmy, he knows she is more dangerous than any opponent he has ever fought.Emmy Sanders will do anything to care for her younger brother, even taking her clothes off at a seedy strip club. Ever since their parent’s death, she has been the sole provider for them both. All Emmy wants is to get her brother through college, nothing else matters to her, until she sees Kane sitting at the end of the stage. Emmy has to have control over every aspect of her life. There is a time and place for everything, she never wavers from her plan. The night she meets Kane, she knows he is more dangerous than anyone she has ever met.

Waking Olivia


Elizabeth O'Roark - 2016
    She's trouble of the devious, manipulative, too-f***ing-hot-for-her-own good variety. She's the kind of girl who causes trouble merely by existing, and then makes sure to cause more. And the last thing I need right now is more trouble."A failing farm.His father’s debt.And a struggling college track team. Will Langstrom has too many responsibilities, and the last thing he needs is Olivia Finnegan, a beautiful but troubled new transfer student.A smart mouth. A strong right hook.And a secret that could destroy her. Olivia is her own worst enemy, with a past she can’t seem to escape, and the last person she wants help from is a cocky track coach she can never seem to please.Refusing to be pushed away, Will is determined to save her. And determined to resist an attraction that could destroy them both.