Book picks similar to
Between the Pain by Gia Riley


romance
new-adult
contemporary
1st-in-series

Now and Then


Brenda Rothert - 2013
    But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma.Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then.

Dare to Love


Carly Phillips - 2013
    But any future he might have with Riley means he'll have to confront his past — a past he'd rather forget. And that's something this NFL team owner won't dare to do — not even for love.

Finding North


Rachel Dunning - 2013
    They say it is better to have loved and lost.They don't say...that these things are all lies. Conall Williams was my first, my last, my everything.He is my North. He always will be. Even if I am no longer his.

Tank


M. Malone - 2014
    Malone's gritty new romance series: BLUE-COLLAR BILLIONAIRES. Money changes everything...Years ago, Tank Marshall swore off fighting. He exercises iron control to keep his anger in check. But his mother was just diagnosed with cancer and the deadbeat dad he hasn’t seen in years is back offering an inheritance and a chance at redemption. There’s only one person that keeps him anchored in the midst of the chaos. One person untouched by violence and money and lies. Emma Shaw. But the one thing that Tank hasn’t learned yet is that when billions are at stake, there’s no such thing as innocent. Money. Changes. Everything.

Imperfectly Perfect


A.E. Woodward - 2013
    Along with their college addition, Rob, the four friends have an exciting life in NYC. In fact, Emma Sloan appears to have it all.Despite being happy with her current situation, a big family announcement leaves Emma questioning whether she is truly content with her life. With her thirtieth birthday fast approaching she vows to find her 'perfect' man any way she can. But Emma will soon discover that the path of true love never runs smoothly and that sometimes, instead of chasing love, you have to wait for love to find you...

Wanted


Demelza Watts - 2015
    Although she is open to love, she wants to be sure the man she finally sleeps with is the One. She envisions a perfect union; just like her parents. She isn’t worried and she certainly isn’t looking. She is free now and has plenty of time. Or so she thought. Then she goes to work for Theo Steele and her life is turned upon its head... Theo is an arrogant American, bursting to take the London market by storm. He plays by the rules… his rules. Only his rules. People could either live with them or go. He doesn't care. Until he finds himself toe to toe with a beautiful blonde. All he knows it that he wants her… now. Join Beth and Theo as they navigate the treacherous journey of love in Wanted, the first book of the Love in London Series. This is a complete novella with no cliffhangers. The following novellas will feature friends and family who weave into each other's lives. Please note this is written by an English author so there may be some phrases different to that in the US.

Charmed by the Bartender


Piper Rayne - 2017
    Probably not in retrospect. In my defense I had just moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead. So when the guy behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it! Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way. I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.

Fate


Nikki Sex - 2014
     Unfortunately, he just sees her as his friend's little sister. Desperate and infatuated, Emily resorts to lies and deception. She only needs one night with Paul, to finally get over this obsessive crush. But Fate has other ideas. . .

Finding Destiny


Christa Simpson - 2014
    He has never strayed from those rules. And yet Destiny has him breaking every last one of them. Destiny was looking forward to a bit of solitude in the north. She figured surrounding herself with her two besties, at an expensive spa retreat, would beat away the winter blues. That was the plan. Destiny liked plans. But plans don’t always work out the way you want them to. Skylar never expected to find three ladies trudging through the snow. But after finding them stranded, in the middle of nowhere, during the biggest snow storm of the year, he’s forced to invite Destiny and her friends back to his cabin. Though he tried to ignore what was subtly unraveling between them, he couldn't discount their attraction. The way Destiny could read into his thoughts and the way his jealousy raged at the thought of his brother taking her to his bed, he knew he had better stake his claim. But when tragedy strikes, torn from her arms at lightning speed, Skylar’s left to wonder whether he would ever find his destiny.

Steel & Ice


Emily Eck - 2014
    Hardened by years on the streets, she's learned to take care of herself by covering her heart with ice and keeping men at arm's length. She's not weak and she doesn't need to be saved. But she wouldn't mind getting laid a little more often.J's covered his heart with steel. He owe's his life to an MC that is not what it seems. Since he knows his priority must be to the club's demands, no matter how illegal, he decided a long time ago that love didn't fit anywhere in his life.A not so chance, but definitely hot encounter on a crowded dance floor should be enough for J, but he can't seem to stay away from Elle. As she begins to melt his steel, and he manages to chip away her ice, his forced loyalty to the MC threatens to tear them apart. When the risk becomes greater than J expected, will love be enough to keep Elle from freezing her heart to him?

Mirage


Ashley Suzanne - 2013
    Two sets of best friends embark on a new adventure together, forming life long bonds. Mira and Danny are looking forward to their future as husband and wife. Everything was going according to plan. That was until tragedy struck them on graduation night leaving three broken people to pick up the pieces. Skylar has always stood in the background, watching his best friend begin a life with the woman he fell in love with until he can no longer keep a distance. Right when Mira thinks her life is back on track it spirals out of control. What if everything you thought you knew was nothing more than a mirage?This is an alternate-cover edition for ASIN B00ESL6T52.

Blood & Rust


Skyla Madi - 2015
    I met him in the shadows first. He was tall and broad-shouldered, a man walking a dangerous path of rage and revenge, barreling toward certain death. The more time we spent together, the more he showed me who he was. Captivating… Charming… Ferocious in his own way… I had no right following Jai into the abandoned industrial site, but I did, and that stupid mistake was all it took to rip me from my world of semi-normalcy and thrust me headfirst into the gritty criminal underground with Stone as my only ally. Above ground, I'm a student nurse painfully dragging herself through an unfulfilling life, but down here, where men wear tattoos on their faces and kill without remorse, I'm a fraud living on borrowed time... ...and not much of it.

A Week for Love to Bloom


Scarlet Wolfe - 2013
    He intended for his vacation in Masonville to be a pit stop on his path to creating a future elsewhere, but an encounter with the beautiful and independent Lauren Evans turns Justin’s future plans upside down.After a devastating betrayal by her father, twenty-one year old Lauren is left to manage her family’s garden and nursery business in Masonville. Although guarded from the betrayal, she still longs to find love. After a few chance encounters, Justin and Lauren are unable to resist each other.The magnetic attraction between them opens their worlds to an enthralling period of lust and passion. Will the intensity be too much for them to trust, or will a secret Justin’s family holds about Lauren destroy their chance at a future together?

My First: Jason & Katie


Melanie Shawn - 2013
    With his easygoing charm, whiskey-colored brown eyes, and sinfully sexy half smile, women just seem to fall all over themselves when he’s around.Well... most women, anyway. Katie Lawson’s the one woman who isn't putty in his hands, and she's the only one he’s ever wanted in his arms.Katie Lawson left Harper's Crossing in the middle of the night ten years ago, immediately after her high school boyfriend Nick's funeral. She left behind all memories of Nick, and she left behind her life-long best friend, Jason Sloan.Now she's on the fast track to junior partner at one of San Francisco's top law firms. She's made a life for herself that's all about maintaining order and sticking to the rules. Rule #1 is keeping herself WAY too busy to think about all that she ran away from. If she can do that, after all, she can keep everything under control.But that rule is about to be broken. She’s headed back home to be the maid of honor in Nick’s little sister’s wedding. It's time to face the truth she's been avoiding all these years, the same one that sent her running ten years ago - that maybe she didn't lose her first love the summer after high school. Maybe her first love has been waiting for her all this time, at home in Harper's Crossing.

Fearsome


S.A. Wolfe - 2013
    She has worked hard fulfilling her role as a child prodigy and graduating college years before her peers. She’s the good girl, the brilliant girl.Unfortunately, she’s also the dateless young woman.That all changes with one phone call. Jess’s rigid, predictable life upends when she must visit a small, obscure town to deal with a relative’s death. This isn’t just any little speck of a town, though. Long lost memories come crashing down on Jess’s world when two men, the Blackard brothers, seem to lure her in. Dylan is cover model handsome, and pursues Jess the minute she comes to town. Then there is tall, dark and gorgeous Carson, who hides his own secrets behind his hardened reserve. For someone who has been governed by her own obsessive behaviors and fears, Jess lets her guard down and jumps at the opportunity to have an affair with a man she actually finds attractive for a change.There’s just one problem. Jess discovers that she can’t have a simple romantic fling because true passion does indeed come with some very big strings attached to it. She will have to own up to her own truths about love and face the two extraordinary men; both troubled in their own ways and both determined to have her.This novel contains graphic sexual content and strong language. It is intended for mature readers.