Book picks similar to
Only You (Shepherd Family Saga, #1) by Kaleigh James


contemporary-romance
contemporary
cancer
sick-heroine

When Forever Changes


Siobhan Davis - 2018
    Perhaps I did, but I subconsciously chose to ignore them. From the time I was ten, when I first met Dylan, I knew he was my forever guy. Back then, I couldn’t put words to what I was feeling, but, as the years progressed, I came to recognize it for what it was—soul-deep love. The kind only very few people ever get to experience. Dylan was more than just my best friend, my childhood sweetheart, my lover. He was my soul mate. We were carved from the same whole—destined to be together forever. Until he changed. And I believed I was no longer good enough. Until he shattered me so completely, it felt like I ceased to exist. And I’d never experienced such heart-crushing pain. Until he leveled me a second time, and I truly wanted to die. But I had to stay strong because I wasn’t alone in this cruel twist of fate. I look to the sky, pleading with the stars, begging someone to tell me what I should do because I don’t know how to deal with this. I don’t know how to cope when my forever has changed, and I can’t help wondering if I had seen the signs earlier, if I’d pushed him, would it have been enough to save us? Or had fate already decided to alter our forever? Due to mature content and potential triggers this book is only recommended to readers over the age of eighteen.

All That's Left to Hold Onto


Ella Fox - 2015
    After leaving his hellish roots behind him, Ronan found contentment when he started over. Thoughts of the past had been pushed down for so long; he hardly thought about it at all. He intended to keep it that way.When unexpected circumstances force Ronan to return to Colorado, the Keely he finds is no longer the adolescent girl he remembered. Torn between desire and fear, Ronan struggles with his feelings for Keely and his need to escape the town that scarred him so deeply years ago.Letting go is all Ronan's ever known. Will he realize a life with Keely is something he should hold onto at any cost?

Secret for a Song


S.K. Falls - 2013
    Literally.She ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she’s been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she’s ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can’t bring herself to, not after she’s welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives. For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her. But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor’s is out?

Stealing Promises


Brina Courtney - 2013
    But that’s exactly what happened to Victoria Blane and Levi Manor. Tragedy strikes their perfect relationship leaving Victoria struggling to overcome the darkness that threatens to bury her. With Victoria’s life in tatters she decides that running away is easier than dealing with her troubles. But when a friend finds her on the floor in her kitchen, she knows it’s time for a change.Brighton Hanley knows what it’s like to lose someone. He knows what it’s like to be haunted by things that can never change. When he meets Victoria he recognizes the pain she’s trying to bury deep in her eyes. He knows she’s trying to run away, but he also knows that you can’t run forever. Victoria is drawn to Brighton in ways she never expected. He becomes her champion, her life line… her sunshine in the darkness. But is Victoria ready to let go of the past and grab on to her future? Or will she run away from Brighton before she can be hurt again?

Second Chance Summer


Emma Hart - 2013
    It was the summer they both fell in too deep to get out, and try as she might, Kia can’t deny that whatever was there between them a year ago is still there. If she’s honest with herself, there’s so much more there than there ever was, but the way her dad walked out six years ago has shattered her belief of that fairytale love every girl craves.Reese isn’t giving up so easily. His biggest mistake was not chasing after Kia the way he wanted to when she upped and left him without a word. Despite what she says, he knows her better than anyone, and he knows she still wants him the way he wants her. And this time, nothing will stop him from getting – and keeping – his girl.But nothing is that easy. When Kia’s dad arrives back in town, family secrets come tumbling out she never realized existed. Everything her mom has ever told her about the reason he left is a lie – but how can she trust the man who, by his own admission, didn’t fight for her as hard as he could have?With her past and present wants and needs colliding, Kia is thrown into the turmoil of the biggest decisions of her life. And she realizes, sometimes a second chance is all you need.

If Only...


Beckie Stevenson - 2015
    He was the foster kid who wore scruffy clothes and never had any money. He was the bad boy, the fighter. The boy who took all the dares—and won. He was the boy that scared me but excited me at the same time. He was the boy I shouldn’t have wanted, but, of course, he was the one I wanted the most.In the beginning, he was mine. And I was his.Cole and Evie. Evie and Cole.But then a lie was told. Lies break people. And broken people shatter into little pieces of tortured pasts and fractured futures.And then our fairytale beginning morphed into a story of heartache and sadness, instead of happiness and hope. A story that ended with lost love, friendship, and a never-ending cycle of what ifs and if onlys.Our ending broke me. Shattered me. Destroyed me.When a story ends like ours did, is it any wonder I never wanted to start a new one again?*Because of Cole's dirty mouth and the amount of nakedness and references to sex (and other stuff) that's in this book, it isn't recommended for readers younger than 18*

The Sheikh’s Pretend Fiancée


Leslie North - 2018
     Five years after her first stay as a foreign exchange student, American librarian Liyah returns to the Middle East. The move goes against her practical nature, but even a plain jane like herself sometimes thirsts for adventure. When a favor for a friend thrusts her into the path of beguiling billionaire Asad Sharif, Liyah’s sensible life may become something far more…sensual. Liyah is ensnared by Asad’s seductive charm, but she’s way out of her depth. However with a push from Asad’s meddling sister, Liyah is soon leading the lavish lifestyle of a sheikha. Billionaire businessman Asad Sharif has willing women falling at his feet on multiple continents, but what he needs is a wife...or at least the appearance of one. To convince investors that he’s a dependable man, what Asad needs is a fake fiancée. The bookish American Liyah is the perfect choice, and when she accepts his pretend proposal, Asad’s sister is eager to help Liyah look the part. When his shy wallflower unexpectedly blooms into a stunning beauty, Asad will have to work doubly hard not to lose himself in Liyah’s strawberry blonde hair and enticing curves. 
 In the playground of the wealthy Middle Eastern elite, things are getting hotter than ever for the sheikh and his would-be sheikha, but all fake marriages must eventually come to an end...

Come to Me Quietly


A.L. Jackson - 2014
    She has goals and dreams and an easy smile. She also has a secret she holds locked inside.Jared Holt believes he doesn’t deserve to love or be loved. He destroys everything he touches. Haunted by the mistake that shattered his life, he’s fled from the memory of that pain.Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. The exact place where it ended. When he runs into his childhood best friend, Aleena’s older brother Christopher, he agrees to share Christopher and Aleena’s apartment while he looks for a place of his own.Aleena is no longer the little girl Jared remembers from his past and evokes feelings in him he never wanted to feel again. Terrified of destroying her, he fights to keep her away. But her touch is something he can’t resist—the touch that sealed his fate.Their pasts are intertwined and their futures uncertain. The only truths they know are the secrets they whisper in the night.

Silver Heart


Victoria Green - 2013
    Since then, she's done her best to forget the past, put her dreams on hold, and play the role of the perfect, dutiful daughter. When her best friend coaxes her into a winter getaway to a mountain resort, she sees it as a chance to forget about her suffocating responsibilities and the future she doesn’t want—med-school and a fake fiancé.But then the past catches up to her. Sexy Olympic snowboarder Sawyer Carter is the last person she expected to encounter on the slopes after all these years. Being around him again is intoxicating, and as bittersweet memories mix with dark desires, she starts to wonder if maybe they really are meant to be.But Dylan doesn't believe in fate, and a future with Sawyer no longer factors into her risk-free plans. As he dares her to be the person she has always wanted to be, can she find it within herself to abandon her fears and seize this opportunity for a second chance? One thing is certain: after a week in Whistler, Dylan’s life will never be the same.

Heart Thaw


Liz Reinhardt - 2014
    One impulsive night Sadie and Trent act on all those years of sexual tension and--It's damn incredible.But the potential for disaster leads Sadie to bolt. She does her best to ignore her aching heart. And Trent's dozens of voicemails. Their relationship goes from fire to solid ice.After a tragic death rocks the families, Sadie manages to avoid home completely until winter break...but when Trent comes to her rescue one frigid night, all it takes is one look to realize walking out on him was the biggest mistake of her life.Christmas is the season for miracles, which is perfect. Because it's going to take miracle to thaw Trent's heart and prove to him that she's ready to give their epic love story a fighting chance. But when tragedy strikes and everything she's ever cared about hangs in the balance, Sadie has to decide what's truly worth fighting for.HEART THAW is a New Adult Christmas romance.

The Life I Never Asked For


Kira Adams - 2018
    Life threw a curveball at me, wrecking everything in it’s wake. I had it all, and in a single moment it was ripped away from me. I lost everything. I lost myself. Picking up the broken pieces of my life hasn’t been easy. Starting over is the hardest part. I didn’t ask for this life, but I’m going to make the most of it for them.

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.

The Right Kind of Wrong


Jade Eby - 2013
    Kara Pierce has held onto the same dream since she was a little girl: to be the next Katie Couric.Vince Gage, a budding filmmaker whose I-don't-give-a-shit attitude cancels out his charm, almost ruined it for her once, and now he’s back, threatening to do it again.When the two of them are paired together for a college competition with a $20,000 prize, the only thing they agree on is winning.They return to Iowa where Kara grew up to research her grandfather's service in World War II, instead they find themselves in the middle of a family scandal kept quiet for far too long.As Kara and Vince investigate the scandal deeper, they realize the price of uncovering the truth is so much more than they bargained for.

One Day Soon


A. Meredith Walters - 2016
    I stayed with him through darkness and fire. We loved each other in the moment between innocence and bitter truth. We were the kids easily ignored, who grew into adults we hardly knew. We weren’t meant to last forever. And we didn’t. He ran away. I tried to move on. Yet I never stopped thinking about the boy who had fought to keep me alive in a world that would have swallowed me whole. He was the past that I buried, but never forgot. Until the day I found him again, years after believing I had lost him forever. And in cold, resentful eyes, I saw the heart of the man who had been everything when I had nothing at all. So I vowed to hold onto the second chance that was stolen from the children we had been. Sometimes fate is ugly. Life can be twisted. And who we are can be ruined by who we once were. For two people who had survived so much, we would have to learn how to hold on before we were forced to let go.

We Said Forever


Marie James - 2017
    Second chances are meant only for those that deserve them.Love isn’t enough to heal when you’ve shattered a heart.Love isn’t enough to make you forget.Love isn’t enough to make you look back when you’re supposed to be moving forward.Love just—isn’t enough.I broke Fallyn McIntyre, and in doing so I broke myself.Betrayal, addiction, and years separate us.I’m no longer the man I used to be.But I’m still not sure I’m man enough.