Book picks similar to
Counting Stars by Alannah Carbonneau
romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary
1st-in-series
Behind the Bars
Brittainy C. Cherry - 2017
Life made us colder. Harder. Isolated.Caged.Even though we were different, the broken pieces of me recognized the sadness in her.Now she was back, and I wouldn’t make the mistake of letting her go again.When I first met Jasmine Greene, she came in as raindrops.When we met again, I became her darkest storm.
Sexiest Man Alive
M. Clarke - 2016
MOVIE BOOK TRAILER: https://youtu.be/loLaqma2-kg Nathan Cross is a struggling actor waiting tables at a local restaurant to make ends meet while he attends endless auditions. Though his hopeful career moves at a slow pace, Olivia is the strength and sunshine in his life… until she leaves him. One day, he is offered a contract with a modeling agent, leading him to work for Knight Fashion Magazine—a dream job he never imagined would become a reality. Olivia swore she would always put her career first and that’s precisely what she did when she left Nathan. Having a deadbeat dad and watching her mom work two jobs to make ends meet have been her driving force. When she is offered a modeling career, she drops everything—even the love of her life—and moves to New York. Though Nathan and Olivia try to steer clear of one another, working for the same fashion magazine causes their paths to cross again and old emotions are awakened. Can Nathan forgive Olivia or will he take the next step with the woman he is currently dating? Will Olivia do everything she can to break them apart? Or will she choose her career over her heart… again?
Offbeat
S. Moose - 2015
That’s not true. There are two types of love; the forever kind and the always kind. Forever love means you can’t live without that person. When you close your eyes the image you see is the two of you holding hands, sitting on the porch, and watching your grandchildren playing in the yard. You look over, smile, and whisper “we’ve lived a good life.”Always love means you keep that person in your heart. They’ve done something for you to make you realize who you are. This person means so much to you and lives in your heart.One night of truth.One night of passion.But all of that was taken in one night and I’m left alone.I’m fighting to breathe and holding onto the tiniest shred of hope I have. It’s a losing battle and I’m not sure how much more I can take. Every day is a struggle. That night still haunts me and I see his face. It’s been two years and slowly I’m piecing my life back together. Until one secret throws my life offbeat again.I'm Bayleigh Murphy, and this is my story, my journey of forever and always.
Fight or Flight
Jamie Canosa - 2013
The rules of surviving life on the streets. But when Em comes bursting into his life, in all of her disastrous glory, the rules go right out the window.Survive.Flee what’s been left behind.And never look back.Emerson’s plan was simple. Though, it was easier said than done. The city streets are dangerous and unforgiving to a new arrival. Especially, a seventeen-year-old girl who’s never known anything but life in the suburbs. Sometimes, however, what’s lurking behind those white picket fences can be more frightening than any dark alley.Both of them made the same decision when life got overwhelming—to run from their demons. Brought together by fate or circumstance, Em and Jay find the kind of love neither of them ever expected. But, when those demons come back to haunt them and their love is on the line, which instincts will they choose to follow this time . . . Fight or Flight?
Conflicted
M.M. Koenig - 2013
Her life was everything she wanted it to be; until one fateful night changed everything – leaving her broken and without direction. Nearly a year later, she still has little faith in anyone or anything. Desperate to reclaim her life’s ambition, she takes an unexpected offer that promises to solve all her problems. But as Mia moves forward, she’s faced with obstacles she couldn’t have foreseen. The biggest of them lies within the mystery of Ethan Fitzgerald; a man who affects her like no other, but who she should avoid pursuing, at all costs. On a mission himself, Ethan Fitzgerald didn’t care who he pissed off on his road to fulfill his mother’s dying wish. He relied on himself, and was closed off to the world around him – until Mia Ryan walked through his door. Normally one to avoid messy emotions, Ethan’s world is turned upside down by Mia, and he can’t seem to get enough of her. There are lines you can cross that will change the course of your life forever …
Wrecked
J.B. Salsbury - 2017
Salsbury, the New York Times bestselling author of Split and The Fighting Series.When you can’t trust yourself, how can you ask anyone else to?It’s been months since Aden Colt left the Army, and still the memories haunt him. When he moved into a boat off the California coast, he thought he’d found the perfect place to escape life. Then Sawyer shows up, and turns his simple life upside down. Beautiful and sophisticated, she seems out of place in this laidback beach town. Something is pushing her to experience everything she can—including Aden. But as much as he wants her, starting a relationship with Sawyer puts them both at risk. For Aden, the past doesn’t stay there; it shows up unexpectedly, uncontrollably, and doesn’t care whose life it wrecks.
Forever Innocent
Deanna Roy - 2013
On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.New Adult Contemporary Romance
Something in the Way
Jessica Hawkins - 2017
Under the sweat and dirt, Manning Sutter was as handsome as the sun was bright. He was older, darker, experienced. I wore a smiley-face t-shirt and had never even been kissed. Yet we saw something in each other that would link us in ways that couldn’t be broken...no matter how hard we tried.I loved Manning before I knew the meaning of the word. I was too young, he said. I would wait. Through all the carefully-chosen words hiding what we knew to be true, through his struggle to keep me innocent, and through infinitely-starry nights—I would wait. But I’d learn that life isn’t always fair. That no matter how much you achieve, none of it matters if you suffer the heartbreak that comes with falling for someone you can never have. Because even though I saw Manning first, that didn’t matter. My older sister saw him next.
Ace
Lyra Parish - 2016
I'm not nice and I misbehave. I will be your nightmare. I will be your dream. I will have you begging for more of me with each scream. The truth is in my lyrics. Uncontrollably controlled. I bleed many things one being Rock & Roll. I don't date or make love; I make being with me hard. Did you know the ace of spades is considered the death card? Love doesn't exist in my world, it never did. Love won't exist in my world, it's something I forbid. My name is Ace and I'm the ace of spades. Proceed with caution, because I'm sharp like a blade. The Band of Brothers novels are full length stand alones and will follow each brother in the band. They can be read together or separately.
The Beauty and the Beast
Alana Albertson - 2016
But without her love, I'll forever remain a BEAST.Isabella—Grady Williams is a national treasure, the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, America’s scarred superhero. With tattooed arms sculpted from carrying M-16s, this bad boy has girls begging from sea to shining sea to get a piece of his action.When my father squanders away my college fund, I make a deal with this dirty-talking Devil Dog—I will pretend to be Grady’s girlfriend for the Marine Corps Ball, and my dad will write Grady’s war memoir.Grady is fearless. Hell, this badass jumped on a grenade to save his fellow Marines! As much as I crave him, I refuse to allow myself to become addicted to a dangerous man who will detonate my heart.Grady—Isabella Cuesta is an angel who can see beyond my mangled skin, a pawn used to repay her father’s debt, a woman who makes me feel like a man instead of a monster.But I no longer believe in fairy tales.She’s mine until our contract ends. I’ll take her hard and rough, listen to all her hopes and fears, lay down my life to protect her.This beauty will never let herself love a dangerous man like me—a man who has killed, a man who runs towards gunfire, a man who never backs down from a fight.But without her love, I’m not a man—I’ll remain forever a beast.Publisher's note: This is a full-length, standalone novel. Happily Ever After. No cliffhanger. No cheating.
Every Soul
L.K. Collins - 2014
Destiny . Fate series. More to come....When you lose the one person who grounds your existence, your whole world changes.In life, it is said that everything happens for a reason. If that’s true, how can you explain death? Especially when it happens to someone so young, so beautiful, and so innocent? My name is Bain Adams, and I struggle with these thoughts every day. I’ve been through hell and back, somehow surviving the unimaginable. My sister took her life six months ago, and now, what’s left is a shell of the man I once was, a shadow of the person I used to be. Do I miss that life? Absolutely. But I miss her more, every day. I pray time will ease the pain and help my suffering while I search for the answers…but so far, nothing.Happiness is something I knew so long ago, and now it’s nothing but a faint, distant recollection of the life I once had. My name is Arion LaSalle, and seven months ago my life was shredded to pieces when my fiancé disappeared while deployed. He never came home, burning a hindrance of pain and agony within my soul. For so long, I lived my life believing everything happens for a reason, until now. ‘Cause none of it makes any sense. Why Nate? Why only him? Since getting through each breath is a struggle, I put on a fake persona, pretending I’m someone I’m not, living my life recklessly. Because for me, it was all taken far too soon.
A Song for Josh
Susan Rodgers - 2013
Discovered while busking on the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Jessie Wheeler -- once a teen runaway from Prince Edward Island - is now a popular singer-songwriter and actor. On the day her boyfriend Charlie proposes, he kicks an estranged friend - actor Josh Sawyer - out of his Club. Jessie sees something of herself reflected in Josh's sorrowful chocolate brown eyes -- a deep loneliness and angst. When a part on Josh's new television series Drifters becomes available, Jessie can't resist the temptation, despite the fact that taking the part threatens her engagement to Charlie. When a past nemesis, Deuce McCall, makes a tragic appearance in the city, Jessie's turbulent past catches up with her, threatening any chance she has at a true and sustainable love. A Song For Josh is a simple sweet story about hope and love, and the power of music to heal. Through Josh and Jessie's story we learn that all of us damaged souls are indeed lovable, even when we are quite certain we are not.
Bride in Trouble
Serenity Woods - 2018
She doesn’t remember her father passing away. She doesn’t remember opening the Bay of Islands Brides shop with her mother and sisters. And she definitely doesn’t remember Rafe Masters, the gorgeous firefighter who tells her that they’re due to be married on Valentine’s Day in ten days’ time.Rafe insists they’re madly in love, but the thought of saying ‘I do’ to a complete stranger makes Phoebe want to run for the hills. Her family suggests she postpone the wedding until her memory returns. But Rafe’s determined not to give up on their marriage before it’s even started. He has ten days to convince Phoebe that he’s still her Mr. Right, and he’s determined to win her all over again, no matter what it takes.
Tasting Never
C.M. Stunich - 2012
She doesn't need any complications in her life, especially not when they're attached to a man that could be her emotional twin.Ty McCabe can't stand Never the first time he meets her. He's aware that the feeling's mutual and the two don't think they'll ever see each other again, but when fate takes a hand and puts them both in the wrong place at the wrong time, Ty and Never form a tentative friendship that opens the door on their dark sides and shows them what it's like to live in the light."Sometimes, the only way to go forward, is to take a few, careful steps back."READING LIST#1: Tasting Never#2: Finding Never#3: Keeping NeverOR Books #1-#3 in one volume: "Tasting, Finding, Keeping: The Story of Never"#4: Never Can Tell#5: Never Let Go#6: Never Did SayTASTING NEVER EXCERPT:Ty's hot mouth is on my neck, and I find myself taking short, sharp, little breaths as I press my shaking hands to his chest. If I sleep with him again, I'll be making the biggest mistake of my life. He's the first real friend I've ever had, and I don't want to cheapen the feelings that are simmering between us. We made that mistake once before, and we survived. We've been through a lot since then, and I know that if I lose him now, I will never be whole again. Ty is my other half, lover or no, and just being around him is enough for me. “Ty,” I say, trying my best to sound stern. Instead, my voice comes out like a butterfly, flutters against Ty's hair and swirls it gently against my lips. I moan and find that my fingers are now curled in the fabric of his T-shirt. “Never,” he says back to me, the word like fire against my skin. In those two syllables, I hear how he feels about me. He thinks he's in love. Ty McCabe thinks he's in love with me. He doesn't say it aloud, but I can tell. Sex isn't the best way for me to show my feelings; I've abused it for far too long that it has somehow lost some of its meaning. I try to tell Ty this, but I can't speak with his lips on my throat and his hand sliding across the nape of my neck. I run my own hands down his chest and put them beneath his shirt, on the hard plane of his belly. His muscles contract as I press my fingers into them, touching, feeling, absorbing the man, the complication, that is Ty McCabe. All the while, my mind is racing in circles trying to talk me out of this.“Kiss me,” Ty says and it's not a question, it's a request, albeit a gentle one. His voice is softer than I've ever heard it. His words are naked, stripped of all the bullshit that's happened to him, all of the horrible things that mirror my own life. Ty and I are like twins, like two halves of the same whole. They say that opposites attract, but Ty and I are very much the same and the attraction between us burns brighter than the sun. “Kiss me,” he says again and I do.
All the Lies We Tell
Megan Hart - 2017
They’d grown up on a remote stretch of Quarry Street, where there were two houses, two sets of siblings, and eventually, a tangled mess of betrayal, longing, and loss. Tragedy catapulted Allie and Ilya together, but divorce—even as neighbors—has been relatively uncomplicated.Then Ilya’s brother, Nikolai, comes home for their grandmother’s last days. He’s the guy who teased and fought with Allie, infuriated her, then fled town without a good-bye. Now Niko makes her feel something else entirely—a rush of connection and pure desire that she’s been trying to quench since one secret kiss years ago. Niko’s not sticking around. She’s not going to leave. And after all that’s happened between their families, this can’t be anything more than brief pleasure and a bad idea.But the lies we tell ourselves can’t compete with the truths our hearts refuse to let go…