Book picks similar to
Beautiful Lies by Heather Bentley


romance
freebie
contemporary-romance
dnf

Twisted


Amity Hope - 2012
    For the past six years she’s constantly been on the move with her mom. When another disaster strikes, she finds herself back in her childhood hometown of Beaumont, living with her older sister for her senior year.A chance meeting reacquaints her with Ben McCaffey, a long-forgotten classmate from her past. After the death of his girlfriend, Ben has become a social outcast. He’s despised by some and feared by most. Determined to become Ben’s friend, Maya begins to break through his layers of emotional protection. It isn’t long before they realize that they both have secrets in their pasts. As the line between dealing with grief and struggling with a desire for revenge begins to fade, the secrets that draw them together may be what will ultimately tear them apart. Because the closer Maya gets to Ben, the more dangerous her situation becomes.

The Light in the Wound


Christine Brae - 2013
    When Jesse Cain enters her life, she falls hopelessly in love with him, and every sadness she’s ever felt is washed away by his intensity and passion. But people change as they grow up. Things can never stay the same forever.Jesse and Isabel fight to stay together, determined to hold on to what they once had. Isabel wonders if a second love can ever be enough to make her forget her first.*Kindle version also available

Art & Soul


Brittainy C. Cherry - 2015
    Passed by. Glossed over. Unnoticed. Now I was Aria Watson… that girl.After one bad decision, and being labeled a slut, I was no longer unseen. I was the whore. The ignoramus. The tramp.I would never be invisible again.Particularly to Levi Myers. He was the odd boy with the beautiful soul who accepted and understood the broken girl inside me.Falling in love wasn’t the plan. But how could I resist his promises of hope? Of forgiveness? Of a future I had stopped dreaming of?We were shattered. We were scarred. We were something strange and beautiful.We were two lost souls holding on to the only thing that could keep us together. Each other.

Undertow


Elizabeth O'Roark - 2013
    It almost seems like enough until Nate Sullivan comes home. Nate – her childhood best friend, her first love. The boy who left without a trace one night and broke her heart. When their attraction threatens the future she and her parents have so carefully crafted, loyalties will be tested and secrets will be uncovered. Giving in may cost her everything. But how do you resist the only thing you’ve ever really wanted?

Shattered Hearts


Octavia Wildwood - 2014
    Alone. Damaged. After escaping an abusive relationship, Amanda finds work on a remote farm in rural Minnesota. Eager for a fresh start, she tries to will her nightmares away. She also tries to stop daydreaming about her hot boss's hard, chiseled body. She doesn't like him, but he's sure easy on the eyes.Stubborn. Proud. Protective.Hardworking and hard-headed, Nate is determined to save his family's farm and provide for his sister. The last thing he needs is some city girl getting underfoot. Sure, Amanda is a breath of fresh air (and the prettiest little thing he's ever seen) but there's no way he'd ever admit it. Nate doesn't do romance...but he can't stop thinking about doing Amanda!*This is a full-length, standalone novel that contains explicit adult situations.

Bossy


Kim Linwood - 2015
    No promises, no regrets. He was rich, ripped, inked up, and gone in the morning. I didn't even know his name. Not until I read it off the door on my first day at work.See, I don't do bad boys, I don't do troublemakers and I sure as heck didn't graduate college with a 3.9 GPA by screwing around.I was never supposed to see him again, but now he's my new boss, as sexy in a suit as he was between my sheets.And my new stepbrother.Having him was a slice of Heaven. Working for him could mean selling my soul. But if the devil looks like Declan Riordan, Hell might be worth the burn.

Kiss This


Hadley Quinn - 2013
    When she meets Teague, their attraction to one another is off the charts, and for the first time in two years, she wants to disregard her rule. But Camryn makes a bet that he can't go just one week without kissing her. She's protecting her own fragile heart, but her wit and smart mouth end up driving Teague crazy. When Teague is equally skilled at her challenge, their friendship turns complicated. He's not at all what she assumed, and he makes her feel things she never expected to feel. But sharing her true reasons for the no-kiss bet hurts too much and she keeps him in the dark. Teague has his own secrets to hide, starting with his last name. It's the reason he left town--to lick his wounds until he can piece his life back together. His time with Camryn proves that it might actually be possible, but with the threat of his family and his past ruining all that he's finally gained, can he really take that risk again?Loving might be easy; learning to trust again could be too difficult to achieve...

Fighting for This: The Last Resort Motel


Gwyn McNamee - 2018
    The California surf boy has no business being up Spruce Mountain or anywhere near The Last Resort Motel. There can only be one reason he’s hanging around—to search one of the old mines in hopes of striking it rich. And as soon as he’s done, he’ll be gone fast enough to make my head spin. But Max brings more than just a danger to my heart. MAX Aurora Clayton is the last thing I expect to find at The Last Resort Motel. What in the world is a girl like this doing in the middle of nowhere, Nevada? Search the land I inherited and get back to California—that’s the plan. I never expected to find something here even more precious than silver. But someone else is after what’s down that mine shaft. And I’ll do everything in my power to protect what I’ve found, including Aurora. ***Fighting for This previously appeared in The Last Resort Motel shared world as Room One***

Passion and Surrender


Cali MacKay - 2015
     From New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Cali MacKay... Marshall should be riding high as the CEO of his own successful company. Instead, he’s in the middle of a nasty divorce as he tries to rid himself of his cheating and lying wife, while trying to track down a mole in his company. What he needs is a distraction, so when Harper Jones walks into his office with improvements she’d like to make to one of their products, Marshall knows that the brilliant and gorgeous engineer is exactly what he needs to take his mind off his problems. Harper's heard the gossip about her boss, and the last thing she wants is to get sucked into the middle of a nasty divorce—especially when rumor has it that Marshall’s ex may be carrying his baby. When Marshall sets her in his sights, Harper finds him far too difficult to resist, with his charming good looks and sexy smarts, but with her heart and career on the line, and a mole pointing the finger in her direction, will she risk it all to find happiness or simply walk away? *** This novel contains a Happily Ever After ending. Due to the adult language and explicit sex scenes, this book is for adults only.***

True


Erin McCarthy - 2013
    She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

In a Lifetime


Ariadne Wayne - 2015
    At the very least, lust. But when fate steps in, Matt ends up playing Good Samaritan and losing the girl he wants to his best friend, Sam. When Ella and Sam marry, Matt leaves the country, desperate to get over the deep feelings he has for his friend’s wife. When he returns, he finds a couple struggling with infertility; cracks appearing in their relationship. Making things worse, his feelings for Ella have intensified. When you’re in love with your best friend’s wife, whose side do you take when everything falls apart? Recommended 18+ for sexual situations

Trophy Life


Elli Lewis - 2016
     Meet Amy, the world's most improbable trophy wife. She has a degree, ambitions and something resembling a mind of her own. The trouble is, she just doesn't use it anymore. Married to handsome aristocrat, Harry Green, Amy’s world is a whirlwind of luxury, labels and lunches. But amidst the peerages and polo of the privileged few lie wolves in minks' clothing. Before she knows it, Amy's perfect existence is plunged into chaos by the poshest of plots. Ominous heiresses, simpering starlets and a terrifying mother-in-law abound as Amy faces up to some harsh realities. Can Amy survive life in the upper crust? Or is high society an all new low?

Swear on This Life


Renee Carlino - 2016
    As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

Saint Anything


Sarah Dessen - 2015
    She's grown accustomed to her brother, Peyton, being the focus of the family’s attention and, lately, concern. Peyton is handsome and charismatic, but seems bent on self-destruction. Now, after a drunk-driving accident that crippled a boy, Peyton’s serving some serious jail time, and Sydney is on her own, questioning her place in the family and the world.Then she meets the Chatham family. Drawn into their warm, chaotic circle, Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance for the first time. There’s effervescent Layla, who constantly falls for the wrong guy, Rosie, who’s had her own fall from grace, and Mrs. Chatham, who even though ailing is the heart of the family. But it’s with older brother Mac—quiet, watchful, and protective—that Sydney finally feels seen, really seen, at last.Saint Anything is Sarah Dessen’s deepest and most psychologically probing novel yet, telling an engrossing story of a girl discovering friendship, love, and herself.

There You'll Find Me


Jenny B. Jones - 2011
    Love will lead her home.Finley Sinclair is not your typical eighteen year old. She's witty, tough, and driven. With an upcoming interview at the Manhattan music conservatory, Finley needs to compose her audition piece. But her creativity disappeared with the death of her older brother, Will.She decides to study abroad in Ireland so she can follow Will's travel journal. It's the place he felt closest to God, and she's hopeful being there will help her make peace over losing him. So she agrees to an exchange program and boards the plane.Beckett Rush, teen heartthrob and Hollywood bad boy, is flying to Ireland to finish filming his latest vampire movie. On the flight, he meets Finley. She's the one girl who seems immune to his charm. Undeterred, Beckett convinces her to be his assistant in exchange for his help as a tour guide.Once in Ireland, Finley starts to break down. The loss of her brother and the pressure of school, her audition, and whatever it is that is happening between her and Beckett, leads her to a new and dangerous vice. When is God going to show up for her in this emerald paradise?Then she experiences something that radically changes her perspective on life. Could it be God convincing her that everything she's been looking for has been with her all along?