Book picks similar to
A Taste of Utopia by L. Duarte
abuse
arc
contemporary-romance
romance
Pretty Scars
C.D. Reiss - 2019
Her beauty got her past the velvet ropes and into high society, but it ripped her away from the man she loved and chained her to an unbearable life.Then, in a single night, a song played by a mysterious and secretive musician carries her back to a past ripe with possibilities, when love could open any door.Who is this anonymous performer?How can a man she’s never met tell such a precise story of a boy she loved?She needs to know. But sometimes masks exist for a reason, and this unveiling could scar them both.
Beyond The Cage
Alana Sapphire - 2016
He’s smart, tall, dark, and handsome, with a bad boy twist. The only problem is, this Prince Charming doesn’t talk. That’s right. He acknowledges he can, he just…doesn’t.The night I met him, his beauty turned my brain to mush. Then, he kissed me, and my world tilted on its axis. He was a distraction, something I didn’t need being twenty-two years old and pre-med. Besides, I had no business even thinking about a violent MMA fighter, so I walked away with no intention of seeing him again. Apparently, he had other plans.He tracked me down, and I brushed all my objections aside, diving head first into a relationship because he intrigued me. As I get to know him, I learn he’s not the psychotic killer I thought he was, but the more I’m with him, it seems the less I know. He’s a conundrum – scary fighter and gentle giant; public figure, private man. Mystery surrounds him and no one is more curious than I am. Well, you know the saying – ‘curiosity killed the cat’. Cameron’s world is dangerous, and I’m about to learn firsthand. When it breaks down my door, will he be able to save me?***REVISED AS OF 8/15/2016*** (Instances where Jasmine referred to Cameron as "Daddy" were removed)
Fall from Love
Heather London - 2013
He terrifies her in more ways than one and invokes feelings in her that she thought were buried forever. Regardless of her fears, she knows she must face him in order for her heart to heal. Everyone tells Carter that what happened on the mountain that night was just a terrible accident, but even then, he can’t help but carry around the guilt and is unable to forgive himself. He’s drawn to Holly and being near her helps ease his conscience and gives him the release he needs.As Holly and Carter’s relationship grows, they begin to realize that the more time they spend with one another, the more their wounds begin to heal—her grief and his guilt. But when Holly learns the details about the night of the accident—what everyone has been keeping from her—it will rip open old wounds and tear apart what they’ve both worked so hard to overcome…
Perfectly Broken
Prescott Lane - 2014
She has little desire to date or show off her natural beauty, content simply to hang out with her best friends and run her pie shop in New Orleans. But her world turns upside-down when a handsome architect and self-confessed player shows up in her shop and thinks she’s perfect, much more than the usual hook-up. While Peyton does her best to resist his charms, believing she could never be enough for him, she can’t deny the obvious heat between them. With Reed determined to have her, Peyton must decide whether to continue to hide behind her apron and baggy clothes or take a chance and share her scars with Reed, a man with a playboy reputation and scars of his own -- a dark past he can’t possibly share with Peyton, not after learning the horrors she’s endured. But if they can find a way to trust each other, and themselves, they just might be able to heal, to save each other, to live perfectly broken together.
Patch Up
Stephanie Witter - 2013
The relationship brought only pain and destruction in Skye's life, and yet, she can't bring herself to open up and live her life."What if I am already broken into pieces?"She hates to be touched, hiding under her oversized shirts and behind her wild frizzy hair. Even her bubbly roommate can't reach her. And yet ..."I'm the guy who knows how you can hurt so much that your insides feel like they're cut and bleeding."The tall, handsome, and tattooed TA in her psychology class changes everything when he literally collides with her and confronts her. For the first time in a long time, she wants to try and open up to this guy whose dark, intense eyes can't hide his own pain despite his dazzling smile getting to her.However, just when she's starting to live again, her ex-boyfriend comes back, breaking her time and time again, making it all the more complicated.She wants to fight for herself and for this building thing with the TA, even when he pushes her away, but can two broken people patch each other up?"I never thought colliding with someone could change lives, but it is possible."* Due to some shocking scenes, this novel is for readers of 18 and up.
Being Kalli
Rebecca Berto - 2013
She’s a nineteen-year-old college student, sometimes mother to her little twin brothers when theirs is indisposed, sex-addict (she’d never admit this), and live-for-the-moment go-getter.At such a young age she’s witnessed the ugly that this world hides—hides in girls like her.So what does one kiss with her close friend, Nate, matter? What does it matter if she drops to her knees between his legs and bets him she can blow his mind?But there’s something she didn’t count on—someone. Nate. He has a dark past of his own and he could be that that good guy a bad girl like her never sees coming.
Here's to Tomorrow
Teagan Hunter - 2015
He’s funny, hot in that panty-melting sort of way—exactly the type of guy I’d crawl between the sheets with.Only problem? He’s looking to settle down, and I’m not.I have big plans to leave this town behind. The last thing I should do is get tangled up with a guy like him.So please explain to me why the moment he looks at me from under the hood of my car, the sarcastic replies on my lips come out sounding sweeter. Why does he make me want to settle down, right here…with him? He’s not what I wanted.But maybe he’s what I need…Here's to Forever, a follow-up novella, is available now!
Lovely
Beth Michele - 2013
The problem? She's not interested...
Ashton Taylor lived a charmed life. Everything came easy to him. Except Cara Hayward.So what happened when a guy who everything came easy to, met a girl who didn't come easy? Could he fight past her shield and all the broken pieces? Would the girl he discovered deep down be able to see past his perfect exterior?His dilemma? She's not interested...And he's in for the fight of his life.** A new adult college romance with strong language and mature sexual content/situations and only recommended for readers 18 years of age and older**
Falling Fast
Aurora Rose Reynolds - 2017
After a year of rehabilitation, losing his career as a Marine along with his fiancée, he’s had to learn quickly what’s really important. Colton grew up wanting to serve his country. Managing his parents’ biker bar was never part of his plan, but after meeting Gia Caro, he’s beginning to think that’s exactly where he’s meant to be.Ever since Gia Caro arrived in the small, sleepy town of Ruby Falls, Tennessee, her life has spiraled out of control. Between losing her grandmother a little more each day to dementia, and her hot boss’s constant attention, her once quiet existence isn’t so quiet anymore.After weeks of sidestepping Colton, things get out of hand, and before Gia knows what’s happening, she’s spending her nights in his bed and her mornings in his kitchen. And as he cleans out drawers and makes room in his closet, she starts to wonder if she’s falling too fast.
Wherever It Leads
Adriana Locke - 2016
Sexy. Irresistible. Those qualities equal only one thing.Big. Freaking. Trouble.Brynne Calloway knows that anything that seems too good to be true usually is. Fenton Abbott and his cashmere voice, Adonis body, and a magnetism like no other clearly falls into that category. But what’s life without a little risk?It was supposed to be a rebound, an uncomplicated escape from reality. But nothing ever goes as planned. Fenton turns out to be so much more … in ways Brynne never sees coming.
Break Me
Jo-Anna Walker - 2013
Tori McLeod moved to the big city to get away from her mother—and her past. Her new routine is destroyed when she meets a mysterious stranger who won’t take no for an answer. Sebastian intrigues her, but his eyes hold secrets she would rather avoid. Sebastian Chelios, a hard as nails enforcer, is a new-in-town loner.Sebastian has to have her. Control her. Possess her. But he can’t—won’t lose control, even though Tori’s innocence fascinates him. The last thing he’s going to do is love her, even after he gets her in his bed.Losing control is dangerous, especially when someone from Sebastian’s past covets Tori, putting more than just her heart in danger.How can Sebastian protect Tori from Jose’s sadistic obsession? If he gets his hands on her, will she make it out in one piece?
Finding Ever After
Stephanie Hoffman McManus - 2014
The one thing she definitely wasn't expecting was Kyden McCabe, the hot, tattooed and pierced musician she meets her first night back.All she ever wanted as a little girl was to be swept off her feet by a prince, but Ky is nothing like the heroes from the stories her mom used to read to her. He's arrogant, frustrating and completely wrong for her. He lives his life one night stand at a time and she knows he's nothing but trouble.Still haunted by her past and afraid to let anyone see the scars she hides, she fights the attraction she feels for Kyden and wonders if she'll ever find her storybook ending. Then a monster from her past threatens to rip away her chances before she realizes that maybe she already found it.Content Advisory 17+ recommendedContent updated May, 2015
Abandoned
Elisa Dane - 2016
A lot. It numbs the hollow ache in my chest and—for a few minutes—makes me forget how truly alone I am. My mother is an alcoholic. She hates me and insists I'm the reason she's not married to my father, whom I have never met. My best friend, Kaylee, is the only person who knows the real me. Everyone else sees what I want them to: a happy, confident, popular girl who has the world at her feet. I am a fraud. Relationships are forbidden. I avoid them at all costs. Sex? Emotions? Those things make a person vulnerable, and vulnerability always leads to heartbreak. When my childhood crush, Mattie shows up at school my world tumbles off its axis. The shell I surround myself with feels more like a pathetic crutch than a protective barrier, and I find myself wanting things. Daydreaming about what it would be like to have a boyfriend, a relationship—love. The sad fact is: I'll never have any of those things. I am unworthy—trash. Which is why my mom abandoned me. *Recommended for readers ages 15+
My Torin
K. Webster - 2018
A fortune. And horses too.It’s too easy.Nothing in my life has ever been easy.What’s the catch?There’s always a catch.
Shine Not Burn
Elle Casey - 2013
Determined to move on from a bad break-up, she joins her girlfriends for a wild bachelorette weekend in Las Vegas, promising to let her hair down just this once.Vegas is a blur of cocktails and blackjack, and in the middle of it all she meets Mack, a real-life cowboy with a winning hand and an irresistible body. They get lucky in the casino and luckier back at the hotel, a hot night of passion that was definitely not part of Andie’s life plan.By dawn Mack is gone and all she has to remember their one-night romance is a hangover and a pile of casino chips. Or so she thinks…
Revised edition: This edition of Shine Not Burn includes editorial revisions.