Book picks similar to
Distraction by Angela McPherson


new-adult
romance
college
contemporary-romance

This Sky


Autumn Doughton - 2014
    She’s no stranger to disappointment but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that unfolded when her celebrity boyfriend publicly humiliated her. Now the fairytale is officially over and Gemma is determined to put the past behind her and strike out to find a new dream. Just a few teeny-tiny details to work out: she’s currently broke, homeless and unemployed. Landon Young has his own worries. Surfer by day and bartender by night, he doesn’t have the interest or the time to be anyone’s happily-ever-after. Weighed down by the memory of what happened two years ago, Landon can barely keep his head above water. This Sky is the thoughtful and often funny story about broken trust, an unexpected love and the hopes we keep sewn in the linings of our pockets.

Planning on Forever


Ashley Wilcox - 2012
    With graduation day nearing and college life on the horizon, Collin flirts with infidelity and loses everything he has with Alexa.Brokenhearted and single, Alexa meets sexy Nolan Pratt. She can’t deny the attraction and pull that he has over her.Not being able to accept the fact that he has lost Alexa forever, Collin focuses all his attention on his second love, football, in an attempt to move on.Will Collin be able to win Alexa’s heart back or will he find that his first love isn’t the love of his life?

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?

Becoming Us


Amy Daws - 2015
    The last place Finley ever want to be with college basketball God, Jake LaShae. She is losing her mind trying to figure out what this guy wants from her. Between their late night phone calls, cuddle sessions and him showing up at parties, causing a scene, his mixed signals are giving her whip lash. When a mind-blowing betrayal knocks the wind out of Finley and she thinks she can’t feel any lower, Brody stumbles into her path—barefoot and charmingly sexy. This boy next door is a breath of fresh air. And he’s not shooting her any mixed signals. But even he has a past. A past that makes him anything but perfect. When Finley begins to think she’s found the one in Brody, will Jake try to make one final play and ruin the game for everyone?~The college prequel to the London Lovers Series~

Off Sides


Sawyer Bennett - 2013
    Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone... something... to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost... a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved...”Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.Forced her to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days...

Unbreakable


Rebecca Shea - 2013
    She’s a good daughter, makes excellent grades, and always strays on the safe side of life. The last thing she thought would ever happen was falling in love with her best friend’s brother. But sometimes fate just has a way of bringing two people together. Wide receiver for the University of Arizona, Gabe Garcia, seems to have it all. When his feelings for Jessica come to surface, Gabe will give up everything to be with her. But what happens when a tragedy abruptly changes the course of your life? For Jessica and Gabe, everything they thought they knew about each other will be questioned. Sometimes, there are scars in life that are cut too deep to completely heal. Will their love prove to be unbreakable, or will it shatter and prove fate is just another lie?*This book contains mature subject matter and is not intended for those under 17 years of age.*

Breakaway


Ali Parker - 2016
    He’s hard-hitting, rough and puts up with very little. He’s kept to himself throughout his years at Providence University, but it’s time to train the next man up in line for his position. His second on the Hockey team has a twin sister that catches everyone’s eye and leaves most of the guys acting like idiots, but Lucas isn’t interested. Girls are too needy, too catty and a pain in butt. Plain and simple. Aubrey Moore’s had her eye on the captain of the hockey team for the last few years since her brother, Jayce joined the team. He’s known for being a complete jerk, but Aubrey’s had the pleasure of seeing around the edges of his personality and wants to know him more. Now she just has to figure out how to help him breakaway from being so jaded and join her in the best adventure anyone could embark on -love. 18+ Explicit sexual content, possible foul language and violence. **HEA - these novels are all within the Pro-U series, but are about different couples at the university and should stand-alone.

Emerge


S.E. Hall - 2013
    And though change is an inevitable, scary part of life, just lying in wait around the corners and milestones you thought you had a lock on, there's no way I could've known just how much change, that would never change back, I was driving right toward. But... by shutting the door to my old life, the door to my new one opened- and in strolled Dane Kendrick, awakening the wildest of dreams, delights, and desires, that I never even knew slept inside me. And now, it's time to let the real Laney Jo Walker emerge.Evolve & Full Circle Series suggested reading order:*Emerge*Embrace*Entangled*Entice*Sawyer Beckett's Baby Mama Drama Guide for Dummies*Endure*Sawyer Beckett's Guide for Tools Looking to Date My Daughter*Entwined*Embody (Full Circle Series/Spinoff from Evolve Series Book One)*A Crew Christmas*Elusive (Full Circle Series/Princess Presley Duet Book One)*Exclusive (Full Circle Series/Princess Presley Duet Book Two)

The Stepbrother Series: Linc & Raven


Danielle Jamie - 2015
    We all call him Forbidden because, like the fruit in The Garden of Eden, Linc, is gorgeous, tempting and completely untouchable. I've hated the arrogant jerk for as long as I can remember. But a week alone together followed by a drunken bet leads me onto a path that once taken there is no turning back. UNTOUCHABLE: I should hate her. Part of me does. But another part of me wants her more than I’ve wanted anyone--ever. Now she's back in town. Everything I feel...Anger. Lust. Desire...it's all coming to the surface at full force. I keep telling myself she’s untouchable. But that’s easier said than done when I have the devil on my shoulder telling me to forget about everything and everyone, and take what I want. I’m the sex God of San Francisco. I get who I want...whenever I want them. No matter the consequences. RAPTURE: Fate tore Linc and Raven apart, now in a surprising twist it’s bringing them back together—but the question is: Can they let go of the pain from the past giving them a fighting chance at finally having a future together? *This is the complete Linc & Raven trilogy book 3 Rapture is an UGLY CRY and deals with death and suicide which may be triggers for some*

Ready to Love


Franca Storm - 2015
    But there’s one woman he will never touch: his best friend and band mate, Nicki. For four years, he’s been her protector and her confidant.When arrogant frat guy, Axel, attempts to make a claim on her, John suffers a painful wakeup call, quickly realizing that his feelings for Nicki are not purely platonic. Recognizing that Axel’s intentions are anything but innocent, John’s possessiveness spirals out of control, sparking a dangerous feud.Nicola Lewis can’t bear to be touched. Haunted by an awful past that she has been unable to escape, she has kept her distance from the opposite sex. And she’s been just fine living her life that way: safe and uncomplicated with no chance of getting hurt again.Until an unexpected kiss changes everything…But John and Nicki must decide whether the burgeoning desire between them is worth the risk. Is this a case of love conquers all, or a huge mistake that could destroy everything?

Love and Skate


Lila Felix - 2012
    But Nellie’s been hurt, only once, but it was enough to make her look at life through different eyes and off the rink she’s a timid girl who loves with no pretenses. A long time ago Owen Black was betrayed by the girl he thought he loved and the guy he called his best friend. The anguish set off a domino effect of negativity in his life and he never has fully recovered. He meets Nellie Forrester and thinks he can let it go for her. But how can you love someone when the wounds from your past are still wide open?

After Math


Denise Grover Swank - 2013
    A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him.Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?

Hustle


Ashley Claudy - 2015
    College was supposed to be Brook's chance to escape the rumors and the harassment that plagued her at home, but she hadn't planned on meeting Andrew Fayden. Now, she's finding it hard to think of anything else or anyone else. She's determined to wipe him from her mind though because he is the definition of unavailable. He's got an on and off again girlfriend always on the sidelines and a flood of girls willing to take over that position.And his popularity makes it hard to keep a low profile, something she needs to do if she doesn't want to be pulled back into the drama of her past.Despite all the warnings, she's finding it hard to resist—and he's making it hard to say no.

Ridge


Bethany Lopez - 2019
    She had a boyfriend she loved, a softball scholarship, and the best roommate a girl could have. When it turned out her man was a lying, cheating ballsack, she may have gone off the rails a bit. Now, it's a new year and Karrie's ready to build herself back up and move on to bigger and better things. Still, a little revenge would go a long way in helping the healing process. He's got a plan for revenge that will suit them both... Ridge is used to being the BMOC. Sergeant of Arms of his frat and the ability to land any chick within snapping distance has made life pretty easy for him. His home life is another story. He and his brothers are in the middle of a battle between his socialite mother and asshole father. Ridge is looking for a stand-in to placate his mother and her matchmaking ways, and he has a feeling he's just met the girl he can perfectly mold. This makeover has nothing to do with love and everything to do with Karrie and Ridge using each other to get what they want. What starts as a ruse soon becomes an attraction they cannot deny. When it's all said and done, they'll both have more to confess than a need for revenge.

Breathless


Eve Carter - 2013
    Except lately, it has been bad impressions. Frustrated and wounded, he surrounds himself with women, booze and drugs, until one day, he finds himself in a world of trouble. Kicked out by his brother, he relocates to California for the summer to help his uncle open Rookies, a local sports bar. In Santa Monica, Jesse meets the one woman who can lead him back on the right path, the beautiful 22 year old, Niki Milani. Only problem, she is not interested. Niki has her own demons to fight. A past that left her emotional abandoned by her own blood, her father. She keeps her heart guarded and finds it difficult to trust a man again. Especially not a bad boy player who is even more messed up than her. However, Jesse never backs down from a challenge. Blinded by a sizzling attraction, he is determined to prove to Niki that there is more to him than what appears on the surface. That he is the one who can heal her heart.The story of Jesse and Niki is a New Adult Romance that will leave you breathless.