Book picks similar to
A Thousand Cuts by Melissa Toppen


brothers-best-friend
standalone
melissa-toppen
slow-burn

The Boy Next Door


Jennifer Sucevic - 2021
    I’ve spent more years than I care to admit crushing hard on Colton Montgomery. The blond, blue-eyed hottie leaves a trail of broken hearts in his wake wherever he goes. Mine being one of them. Just when I’d decided to cut my losses and move on, he appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. It had all seemed like a fairytale until he dumped me.Through text message, no less.Ouch.Eighteen months and one study abroad program later, I’ve returned to Wesley University to finish out my senior year.And Colton?He’s nothing more than a regrettable mistake I’d prefer to forget. Or so I tell myself. It only takes one run-in to realize that my feelings for him aren’t as dead and buried as I’d thought. Nope, they’re still there, simmering dangerously beneath the surface.He wants a second chance to make things right.That’s not going to happen.But Colton has other ideas.And part of me is afraid that if he actually puts his mind to it, he’ll end up changing mine.

Love Rewritten


J. Saman - 2017
    So when lacrosse star, Brandon Kessler, comes along with his all-American good looks, easy disposition and magnetic charm, things seem to be looking up. Even if they come from two totally different worlds. Xander Novak is the gorgeous, volatile and often times mean best friend of Abby's twin brother, Aubrey. Her relationship with him is strained at best. But when Xander moves in unexpectedly, things seem to shift between them. But in what direction?One night of deception, lies, and heartbreak are a common link the three share. When the truth about that night comes out, none of their lives will ever be the same.Will Abby be able to find the love she's been searching for or will everything in her world fall apart?Warning: Strong language and moderate sexual content.

The Trouble With Bullies


Ruby Vincent - 2019
    they hate when you stand up to them. I used to be on top. I used to rule the school. Then one cruel act knocked me off my pedestal and Christian was more than happy to ride me down.Christian Moreau: resident bad boy, former best friend, now my tormentor. Nobody dared to stand up to him until one girl, a bottle of vodka, and a shove changed everything.Yeah, that girl was me.If only I had known what that shove would set off.A war with the Queen Bee of Meadow Creek. Long-hidden dark secrets revealed. And Christian Moreau moving in down the hall.Christian lures me into his game, but he's not the only bully that came to play.Can I handle the price of playing when winning may grant me his heart... but losing could cost me my life? The Trouble With Bullies is a high school bully romance. This book features language and sexual scenes. If you're cool with that, dive in!

Dead Man's Ink Boxset


Callie Hart - 2017
    Sometimes the choice is made for you, and pretending is the only thing that keeps you going. When Alexis Romera is taken and her kidnappers find her fake ID in her purse, she must become Sophia in order to keep her family safe. Revealing her real identity to the man she's sold to would be easy enough, but can she trust him? Hell bent on revenging the murder of his uncle, Rebel doesn't seem all that interested in playing things safe. In fact, nothing about the secretive, dark and brooding MC president seems safe at all. Rebel What do you do when the man who raised you is murdered, and the only witness is kidnapped girl who's being sold as a sex slave? You buy her, of course. As president to the most powerful motorcycle club in America, Rebel isn't lacking in power. There are strings the man can pull, and entire criminal organisations and corporate businesses alike would fall to their knees. However, along with such power comes intense interest. The DEA have their eye fixed solely on the MC...and they're just waiting for Rebel to trip up. Getting Sophia to testify is the only way to bring the Los Oscuros cartel down. The beautiful, dark haired, dark eyed woman is belligerent and uncooperative and unlikely to bend to his will, but Rebel has a few tricks up his sleeve to make her compliant--he'll charm her until she's bending over backwards to please him. Of course, falling for her might cause a few hiccups along the way... * The Dead Man's Ink series contains strong ties with the Blood & Roses series, but you do not have to have read those works in order to read this one. The Dead Man's Ink series is contemporary romance story with occasional dark themes that some people might find confronting. *

Don't Love Me


S. Doyle - 2020
    That's when I met Ash, she was ten and the daughter of the man who owned the estate. She thought I would be her new best friend but I only wanted to be left alone. For years she was always there, always annoying me, always wanting more from me. But our roles were clear. She was the princess and I was the chauffeur's charity case.I told her not to fall in love with me...she didn't listen.

Wicked Secrets


Renee Harless
    It was dark. It was ugly. It was my dirty secret.No one knew the weight of the burdens that nearly consumed me. I lived with a singular focus—seeking revenge on my father.Then the new girl, Jolee Ward, moved into the apartment above me and shattered my carefully constructed world. We were like oil and water. . . until we weren’t.Then we detonated like gasoline and fire, but the inferno threatened to destroy us both. One night with her couldn’t erase years spent plotting.Wellington University wasn’t big enough for the both of us.(Previously published as Of Boys and Men)

Redlined


Cala Riley - 2021
    That is, until one of them sends me far away, making me lose the other.Now, stuck with a cousin I’m not sure even wants me here trying to pick up the scattered pieces of my life, all I want to do is find my own way.Who cares if I’m slightly attracted to the asshole who seems to run these parts? Or that I’m starting to find his little tests exciting?Who cares that the abandonment I felt from the people I thought were my family fades as I find a new group to grow close to.It doesn’t mean anything. In the end, I’ll be gone, right?RomanI knew she was going to be trouble the minute I got the call she was coming. I didn’t expect her to light my blood on fire, though.Now, she’s slowly integrating herself into my life, one irritatingly yet sexy glare at a time.It doesn’t matter that I think the fact that she knows her cars is a huge turn on. Or that I crave having her near me.The fact that I’m itching to protect her has nothing to do with the way she makes me feel.There’s no room in the inner circle for new blood. So why does she seem to fit right in?

Ruined


Marie Johnston - 2020
    Only I don't know that the person I find to spend the next two weeks with is my future husband.I’m a self-professed daddy's girl, but now my he’s gone and I’m left to run the company that's become my life, my passion. Until I get a visit from a lawyer with demands from a mysterious tycoon. The terms are clear: marry Jacobi Dixon or he'll spill all my dad’s dirty secrets, revealing a past that could tank the company.So, fine. I’ll marry him. I’ll protect my company. But before I say my vows I’ll run to Cabo San Lucas and get myself good and ruined first.I don’t know anything about my future husband, just like I don’t know how badly he wants what should've been his in the first place, and it's not just my company, it's me. What he ends up doing when I'm on vacation may ruin any chance between us.

Kings of Westbrook High


Bethany Winters - 2020
    Loyalty. Unconditional love..I've never seen anything like it."All it took was one bullet. One bullet put a dent in my plan to survive the vicious storm that is my father and flipped my entire world on its' axis.Dragged from the dumps of Sin City to the Palace of Westbrook, I find myself living in a strange new version of hell, surrounded by sexy bad boys, money and power.The Kingston brothers own this city and everyone in it. They seem to think they can rule me.Unfortunately for them, I don't follow rules.And my stepbrothers are about to find out just how far I'm willing to go to survive.He wants my body. He can take it. But he will never take my heart. Because you can't take what no longer exists. This is a full length dark high school romance with themes some readers might find offensive. Contains graphic language, dark triggers, drugs, violence and sex. It is book 1 of 3 in the Kingston Brothers series but can be read as a complete standalone.

The Crush


Penelope Ward - 2021
    And for as long as I could remember, I’d secretly wanted my brother’s best friend, Jace.He was six years older and always treated me like the sister he never had.Fast forward a decade.We were all in our twenties now. Jace had moved in with my brother, Nathan, and me to help us make ends meet after our parents died. It was just the three of us—an odd family dynamic. Living under our roof, Jace was as bossy and protective as ever. But he certainly didn’t look at me like a sister anymore. That was what made things so complicated. I was pretty much hot and bothered twenty-four-seven. And he was torn.The signs were subtle, at first. Like on movie night, I’d casually rest my leg against his, and he wouldn’t exactly shift away.Still, I assumed he would never…go there.Nathan would kill us.The knowledge of that wasn’t enough to stop the inevitable, though.Eventually our slow burn exploded. But more than the physical attraction, we’d developed a strong connection. We just couldn’t get caught, right?That sounded simple.Until it wasn’t.This is a story of forbidden love, broken trust, and an unexpected second chance.

The Potter


Kristy Marie - 2022
    the exam room. A brilliant surgeon.A master sculptor.The media touted Dr. Potter as a savior dressed in a crisp suit.I think he’s a vicious madman of jerk-sized proportions.But fate is a wicked tease.Only Dr. Potter can give me what I need.A fresh start.A new identity.But he refused, leaving me to take matters into my own hands by accepting a job as his partner’s new secretary.Dr. Potter can’t turn down my case forever.Or at least I thought so until I found him on the floor.Broken. Angry.With a venomous warning... I failed to heed. ​​​​​​​The Potter is a standalone grumpy-sunshine rom-dramedy.

Dark Legacy: The Complete Series


Jaymin Eve - 2020
    Includes Broken Wings, Broken Trust, Broken Legacy, and a BONUS never before seen epilogue. They rule my new town, my school, and with more money than God, there's very little out of their reach.Four gorgeous, perfect, scary boys. There used to be five, but one of them died, leaving a fifth position that I now fill. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be part of this billionaire-boys-club. But no one cares about what I want.Sebastian Beckett is the worst of them. Their leader. He draws me in, and strips me of every defense I have. He calls me Butterfly, but it's not a pet name, it's a threat. Beck wants nothing more than to break my wings, pin me to a board and watch me writhe.He wants to see me broken. Body, heart and soul.And what these elite want, they get.Only they've never met Riley Jameson.Let the battle begin.*This dark contemporary romance features one girl and four sexy, dangerous boys but is NOT a reverse harem.*

Save Me


Bella Scully - 2015
    Cal Gatlin hates me. And now? Cal Gatlin is my stepbrother. I’ve been broken since Dad died. Crippled by pain and the secrets I keep. I’m supposed to be perfect—the good girl with the 5.0 GPA and a ticket to Harvard. The last thing I need is a sexy, dangerous, tattooed bad boy stalking me, flirting with me, and calling me Sis with a cheeky grin. Especially if that bad boy is my obsessive childhood bully. Cal Gatlin. I hate him. But now that we are forced together by our parents' marriage, our acts are breaking down. He’s seeing the weak, imperfect side of me I’ve been terrified to show to anyone. And I’m discovering the pain beneath his cocky bad boy mask. Deep down, we’re each both just as broken as the other. Loving Cal Gatlin hurts. It’s dangerous. It’s reckless. But maybe we can save each other. ___ Warning: this novel contains strong language, adult themes, and explicit sex. It is intended for readers over the age of 18.

Release


Aly Martinez - 2020
     Growing up, Ramsey Stewart branded my soul in ways time could never heal. At twelve, he asked me to be his girlfriend. At thirteen, he gave me my first kiss. By sixteen, we’d fallen in love, planned a future together, and had our eyes set on the horizon. Love never fails, right? But for Ramsey, it did. Love failed him. I failed him. The entire world failed him. At seventeen, Ramsey was convicted of killing the boy who assaulted me. Move on, he wrote in his first and only letter from prison. Start a new life, he urged. I don’t love you anymore, he lied. There was no such thing as giving up on Ramsey. Love may have been our curse, but he was mine—then, now, and forever. So here I am, twelve long years later, waiting for a man I don't even know to emerge from between the chain link gates.

Indian Summer


Eve L. Mitchell - 2019
    It should have been simple, but nothing is ever as easy as it should be when starting over. New town, new school, and a new life. It sounded easy enough, or I’d thought it had.It wasn’t.People from my past were showing up, and those people just happened to be part of the reason I ran.Colton Dawson, hot older brother to my ex? He’s the main reason I was here, starting over.Now he and my ex were back in my life, and my past was colliding with my future. He could destroy me, or he could save me. I wasn’t sure which one I wanted more.These boys were shrouded in dark secrets, and I was about to be thrown into the middle of something I didn’t ask for.Will we survive the secrets, or will the world come unravelling around us and ruin everything I tried to achieve by starting over?