Book picks similar to
Wasted Pretty by Jamie Beth Cohen
young-adult
fiction
tbr
contemporary
Entangled Past: Family Ties
Palmer Jones - 2021
Two years of being on her own means two years of avoiding any further disappointment from her failed marriage.Two years of only relying on herself.The reading of her estranged husband's Will is the final closure she needs to move on.Until the day finally arrives.Coming home to find her house burglarized and trashed was terrible enough. Suddenly having her husband's former bodyguard show up on her doorstep makes it worse.The bossy Englishman either doesn't understand her desire to be alone...or doesn't care. Even with muscles galore and an accent that definitely ramps her attraction up another notch, admiring him from a distance is where it ends.It's not that she doesn't want help. She just doesn't want his help.Until the bad guys return...or her.The first of Family Ties Series, Entangled Past is a romantic suspense story full of sarcastic humor and, of course, romance.
Where There's Smoke
Jodi Picoult - 2014
Now, in this original short story, available exclusively as an eBook, Picoult introduces Serenity Jones, one of the fascinating characters from her eagerly awaited new novel, Leaving Time. Even as a child, Serenity Jones knew she possessed unusual psychic gifts. Now, decades later, she’s an acclaimed medium and host of her own widely viewed TV show, where she delivers messages to the living from loved ones who have passed. Lately, though, her efforts to boost ratings and garner fame have compromised her clairvoyant instincts. When Serenity books a young war widow to appear as a guest, the episode quickly unravels, stirring up a troubling controversy. And as she tries to undo the damage—to both her reputation and her show—Serenity finds that pride comes at a high price.
Baby Stetson
Nikki Lynn Barrett - 2013
Raised by loving adoptive parents, she's never lacked for love...only the knowledge of her past.By day she works the Inn, but by night...Avery comes alive as lead singer in a band. Life was good...stable, until new guests blew into town. Some strangers come with secrets and liesLucas Bennett is one such stranger. Drifting from one mess to another has left him jaded. Doesn't matter the dramas are never his doing. Giving it one last shot to make a fresh start lands him Harmony's Echo, Texas and smack dab in front of the tantalizing Avery.Despite his best efforts to ignore the burn Avery's ignited within, he's intent to keep his distance. Secrets have followed him. Secrets he doesn't want Avery to know.Each time they're near the other things heat up like a brushfire on a dry Texas prairie.But maybe, after the dust settles and the smoke clears, love can bloom with a fresh start.
Goodbyes and Second Chances
T.I. Lowe - 2014
Some mistakes create accidental blessings. Jillian (Jewels) Whitman lives with her mistakes and tries to move past the biggest one of her life - Dillon Bleu - Rocker and once best friend. After saying goodbye to the lakeside trailer park of his youth, Dillon sets out to make something of himself only to discover all he needs is his Jewel. After hitting it big in the music industry, Dillon heads back to ask for a second chance. Only... Nothing is ever as easy as it seems... A southern tale of rags to riches where a man's worth is ultimately found in his heart.
Vada Faith
Barbara A. Whittington - 2012
She's always wanted to be known as "somebody.” Somebody besides a high school beauty queen in the small town of Shady Creek, West Virginia. Somebody besides the wife of football hero, John "Wasper" Waddell. More than the mother of twins. More than the town’s most sought after beautician, in the shop she owns with her twin sister, Joy Ruth. She's tired of living in the run down Victorian home her husband inherited from his Grandma Belle, even if Eleanor Roosevelt might have once sat in the wicker chair still on their front porch. Vada Faith longs for a new home in the fancy subdivision of Crystal Springs. Then, Roy and Dottie Kilgore swoop into town, wanting a child of their own, and bringing money to burn.In going after her own dreams, Vada Faith nearly destroys the lives of those she loves.
The Sound of Crickets
Marissa Farrar - 2014
Four lives inextricably joined ... Four friendships that will last forever ... Named after Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, Amelia Thompson always thought life would have given her wings. Instead, she finds herself stuck at home with three small children, and a body she no longer recognises. Hoping to connect with like-minded people, she decides to reach out on a women’s forum to try to find others with whom to start a blog. To her delight, she gets a response. Sara, a romance author whose elderly mother has just moved in with her. Kelly, whose husband only wants to spend time down the pub, and Charlotte, who is suffering from empty nest syndrome now her daughter has left home. Told in the medium of their blog posts and emails to each other, The Sound of Crickets is a touching novel of friendship in the digital age.
The Light of the Fireflies
Paul Pen - 2013
Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns.He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone’s been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they’re shut away.A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn’t know how to get out.…
The Mine
John A. Heldt - 2012
But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.
My Journey to the Ocean
Lena Mikado - 2015
Her whole picture-perfect existence is planned out and allows for no deviation. She is engaged to be married and intends to be happy. Along with three of her girlfriends, she takes a summer trip across the ocean, to St. Simons Island, United States. Her whole world is about to be rock-n-rolled, and she will have to face a pretty hard choice. It all sounds like a setup for a summer-fling novel, but is it really like that in actuality, or does Miss Real Life have something more conniving under her sleeve? Are there happy endings in real life? This book is a love story. It's about love in all possible representations, forms and masks it can wear. It's a love story of a girl in her 20s, looked back on by a woman in her 30s, who is also trying to take a peek into the future. It's an ageless book, it's a borderless book, it’s a book that focuses on and laughs at our cultural differences, yet sweeps away all man-made boundaries on its way. But I made it sound too complex. It's first and foremost a story about a summer away from home, it's a story about falling in and out of love - it's a story about My Journey to the Ocean.
Falling into Place
Amy Zhang - 2014
cause and effect.Liz Emerson doesn't understand any of it.But I do.I understand how we fall. Where we fall. Why we fall.I understand her sadness and loneliness and silence, her shattered heart.It doesn't have to be this way, does it?It wasn't always this way, was it?Stay alive, Liz Emerson, stay alive.On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton's laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? The nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High's most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn't understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn't understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang's haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.
All the Dying Children
James Halpin - 2019
Another is tearing apart the man who is determined to help them. When the gruesome death of a popular teenage girl is caught on a video that goes viral, authorities discover a cryptic link between suicides that have been plaguing local high school students. Erik Daly is a newspaper reporter with a haunted past who is determined to get to the bottom of the suicide cluster — before the body count rises. In his journey through the dark underbelly of the former coal towns of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Daly is forced to confront his personal demons as he comes face-to-face with a menacing evil. As Daly learns the disturbing truth, he makes it his mission to expose an insidious threat to his small-town community. If only he can save the dying children, he just might be able to find redemption for himself. No cliffhangers. No sequel. Just a thrilling, suspenseful, fast-paced murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This gripping page turner is perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and James Patterson.
Love Into Eternity
Marcel Lynn - 2018
Five love stories.In a serene Southern Louisiana community, three men attempt to abduct Ava. Remi, a stranger, risks his life to give Ava a chance to escape.Welcome to a charming Southern cul-de-sac, where neighbors are like family. Together, they share intimate friendships, abundant laughter, and delicious food. Tragedy strengthens their bonds, and tender, sweet romances develop among them.After four years of dating Santiago, Rosamunde ends the relationship. When he begs her for a second chance, will she trust him again?José has been in love with María since childhood, but he’s ready to move from friends to lovers. Will he finally tell her how much he loves her?Chiquita is a middle-aged woman desperate to find her soul mate. Will she learn to stop focusing on handsome men and use her skills to affect her community with goodness?Empowered by a mother’s love Angeliqùe, a single mother has dedicated her life to raising her daughter. Now that her daughter is an adult, will Angeliqùe finally take care of herself?We invite you to fellowship with lovable characters and witness the inescapable power of love in this Happily Ever After, Standalone, Contemporary Christian Romance spiced with a little Suspense.
Sweet Hearts of Sweet Creek Box set: Three sweet and clean romances
Carolyne Aarsen - 2021
As she and Mark spend time together, and their friendship deepens she wonders if maybe, this man might be different. Wonders if she dare let go of her heart. Can she forgive her family and herself before Mark too becomes a man of her pastHer Heart’s PromiseNadine aims to use her job as editor of the town newspaper to probe into the her father’s mysterious death but her secret high school crush Clint just took over the paper, and he wants the story buried. The same way she would prefer to keep her changing feelings for him under wraps.When Clint reveals a hidden truth about the past, Nadine has to make a choice: continue the quest for justice or find room in her busy life for love…Close to His HeartJace Scholte is determined to rise above his poverty-stricken childhood. Now he’s back in Sweet Creek to win the residents' support for a high-rise condo. He volunteers in a local fundraiser to melt their resistance, but he never expected he'd work side-by-side with the one who got away…Tess Kruger remembers the plan she and Jace constructed all those years ago. But she can't forget the dark secret that caused her to run away from their potential future.Old flames reignite between Jace and Tess, though as they find themselves questioning a past they thought they knew. For a second chance at love, they'll have to face the harsh truth together…The Sweethearts of Sweet Creek Series brings you three heartwarming stories that will entertain, inspire and stir your heart and soul.
Dragonfly
Leigh Talbert Moore - 2013
Pulling Anna into their extravagant lifestyle on the Gulf Coast, Lucy pushed her outside her comfort zone and Jack showed her feelings she's never experienced... Until he mysteriously withdrew.Anna turned to her internship at the city paper and to her old attraction for Julian, a handsome local artist and rising star, for distraction. But both led to her discovery of a decades-old secret closely guarded by the twins' distant, single father.It's a secret that could cost her the boy she loves and permanently change all their lives.
The Light Through the Leaves
Glendy Vanderah - 2021
But when she returns, Viola is gone. A breaking point in an already fractured marriage, Viola’s abduction causes Ellis to disappear as well—into grief, guilt, and addiction. Convinced she can only do more harm to her family, Ellis leaves her husband and young sons, burying her desperate ache for her children deeper with every step into the mountain wildernesses she treks alone.In a remote area of Washington, a young girl named Raven keeps secrets inside, too. She must never speak to outsiders about how her mother makes miracles spring from the earth, or about her father, whose mysterious presence sometimes frightens her. Raven spends her days learning how to use her rare gifts—and more important, how to hide them. With each lesson comes a warning of what dangers lie in the world beyond her isolated haven. But despite her mother’s cautions, Raven finds herself longing for something more.As Ellis and Raven each confront their powerful longings, their journeys will converge in unexpected and hopeful ways, pulled together by the forces of nature, love, and family.