Book picks similar to
Promise Me by Ashlee Rose


dnf
romance
brothers-best-friend
new-adult

Dear Love, I Hate You


Eliah Greenwood - 2021
    And he definitely wasn’t supposed to answer it. We end up talking through letters and sticky notes in a book. One sticky note. Two sticky notes. Ten sticky notes. All baring our darkest, deepest secrets. It’s all fun and games until I find out who my pen pal is... Xavier Emery. King of my basketball-obsessed town, my childhood bully, and the guy I am in grave danger of falling in love with. But the rules were clear: we can never know who we’re talking to, and the confessions can never, ever get out. Seriously. It would destroy lives.  Fine by me. Even if Mr. Popular does find out his confidant is little old me, it’s not like he’d ever love me back…Right?

Blindsided


Amy Daws - 2019
    Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime. Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered. However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya. What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off. Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.Blindsided is a full length (97,000 words) contemporary rom-com standalone with a sports theme.

Into the Dark


Dana Isaly - 2021
    A sociopath. A murderer.I kill women who are guilty of nothing other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.Women like Lyra.Her yellow raincoat flapped in the cool breeze when she walked by, that blonde hair making her look like a drowned rat as she stopped to taste the rain.She wasn’t like the others, but my demon wanted her.We followed her. Watched her. Obsessed over her.She is ours. Of that I’m certain.We will pull her into the depths of our darkness and keep her imprisoned there.Until we meet our end.LyraI am ordinary in every way.Average looks. Mundane job. Boring life.But when he looks at me, I become something else entirely.His gaze stalks and tracks me like a game of cat and mouse, his eyes licking fire over my skin every time they glance in my direction.My thoughts are consumed by him every moment he’s out of sight.He is my obsession. I can’t let him go.And once he shows me his true form, I know I’ve captured him forever.He is mine. Of that I’m certain.I will follow him to the depths of darkness and happily submit to his madness.Until we meet our end.

Marx Girl


T.L. Swan - 2017
    addictive.I fell hard and fast and then I left.I've thought about her every day since.As I sit here at a wedding watching her with her new boyfriend......I have regrets.Regrets for the past things I've done.But I won't regret what I'm about to do.She's telling me no but her body's telling me yes.I need her beneath me.I'm having her tonight. Bridget. It's the little things I remember about Ben.His smile and the icing sugar he had on his pancakes.What started out as private jokes between us soon turned into private visits.The quiet man at the back of the crowd.His dry wit made me laugh.His dominant body ruined me foreverHe never told me he loved me, until he was leaving.That was five years ago.Things are looking up for me.I met someone, someone special.But Ben is back.I find myself thinking about him ......more than I should.No matter how hard my heart is freefalling from my chest.I will never go back there.You only get to break my heart once.This is a stand alone, Contemporary romance.

Beautiful Carnage


Caroline Peckham - 2020
    Our fates were spun the night he tried to kill me and now he’s back to destroy me for good.It’s always been us versus them. The Calabresis against the Romeros.This city is ours but they vowed to take it from us. And when they couldn’t, they took me instead.Now I’m chained by the cruellest of them all; the man who wrapped his hands around my throat and tried to squeeze the life from me all those years ago.But I won’t fall prey to him. I’m older, fiercer and I’ve grown claws of my own.Rocco Romero thinks he can keep me captive, but he’s about to regret bringing a sleeping tiger into his home.ROCCOShe’s my greatest failure.The name that always haunts me.My dirty little secret.And when I had the chance to kidnap her from her wedding, nothing on God’s green earth could stop me.She’s mine. I could take her life, her body or her heart if I wanted to.But my brothers refuse to believe me.So when they bet I can’t make the little principessa fall in love with me, of course I step up to the challenge.And when she’s down on her knees, pouring her heart out, I’ll crush it in my fist.I’m lining the Calabresis up like dominoes. And she’ll be the first to fall.**Beautiful Carnage is a standalone mafia bully romance between one sexy guy and girl with hot scenes and alpha men causing havoc at every turn**

Renegade Hearts


Nikki J. Summers - 2020
    They’re every parent’s worst nightmare. Arrogant, cocky and self-assured. They used the town of Sandland like it was their own personal playground. They didn’t follow the rules. They made their own.Most girls were drawn to them like a moth to a flame, but Emily Winters wasn’t like most girls.A politician’s daughter.A good girl with morals and principles.She represented everything they despised. The only problem was she lived her life in a perfectly orchestrated smokescreen; and where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. They wanted to expose her for what she was; a pretty little liar hiding the ugliest truths. But when the truth comes out and lies are exposed, who will be the one to eventually crash and burn?Renegade Hearts is a New Adult Romance from Nikki J Summers. It does contain situations of a violent and sexual nature. Therefore, it is only suitable for readers 18 years+. Please read the trigger warnings.

The Sweetest Oblivion


Danielle Lori - 2018
    . . Nicknamed Sweet Abelli for her docile nature, Elena smiles on cue and has a charming response for everything. She’s the favored daughter, the perfect mafia principessa . . . or was.Now, all she can see in the mirror’s reflection is blood staining her hands like crimson paint. They say first impressions are everything . . . In the murky waters of New York’s underworld, Elena’s sister is arranged to marry Nicolas Russo. A Made Man, a boss, a cheat—even measured against mafia standards. His reputation stretches far and wide and is darker than his black suits and ties. After his and Elena’s first encounter ends with an accidental glare on her part, she realizes he’s just as rude as he is handsome. She doesn’t like the man or anything he stands for, though that doesn’t stop her heart from pattering like rain against glass when he’s near, nor the shiver that ghosts down her spine at the sound of his voice.And he’s always near. Telling her what to do. Making her feel hotter than any future brother-in-law should. Elena may be the Sweet Abelli on the outside, but she’s beginning to learn she has a taste for the darkness, for rough hands, cigarettes, and whiskey-colored eyes. Having already escaped one scandal, however, she can hardly afford to be swept up in another.Besides, even if he were hers, everyone knows you don’t fall in love with a Made Man . . . right?This is a standalone forbidden romance.

Tramp


Mary Elizabeth - 2020
    After fleeing a tragic past, Lydia’s determined never to go back to the life she left behind at any price. She lands in Grand Haven, California—a city booming with billion dollar corporations and tech money—and everything changes. Armed with the only lesson she learned from her mother, Lydia builds a life of routine, solitude, and success. Nothing is out of reach when you’re beautiful. Nearly a decade after her arrival, Lydia's the highest paid escort in the city, and only the most influential people in Grand Haven can get near her. She's a goddess among her clients, and out of reach to everyone else. Lydia's created the perfect illusion, and no one will take it from her again.Until a misunderstanding lands her in the office of the city’s most eligible bachelor. Talent Ridge is Grand Haven royalty. Despite running in the same circles as Lydia’s clients, he’s scandal-free and on his way to being the most powerful man in the area. Their chemistry is undeniable, but a relationship has the potential to destroy everything they’ve worked for. Especially when Lydia is running from her past, and Talent is running toward a future she can never be a part of. Beauty and money can’t save them this time. Are Lydia and Talent willing to give it all up for each other, or will their differences cost too much?

Shameless King


Maya Hughes - 2018
    Voted Biggest Flirt. Highest goal scorer in Kings of Rittenhouse Prep history. Everyone’s impressed, well except one person…After a blow out in high school, Makenna Halstead and I were happy to never have to cross paths again. Except life has a way of knocking you straight in the teeth with a puck when you least expect it. She hasn’t just returned to my life, she crashed into it like a wrecking ball...into my college kingdom, into my class, and smack dab into the seat next to mine. My new lab partner to be exact. For years we hated each other... I may be King on the ice, but she is the Ice Queen. She has no problem calling me out, doesn’t back down, and her piercing blue eyes have me picturing more than than just my arms wrapped around her. Now we’re stuck with each other and there’s no getting around that fact that we have to work together. My hockey career hangs in the balance. Problem? Oh, yeah.I can’t deny it. I want her. More than I ever thought I could want a woman. I’ve got one semester–only four months–to convince her everything she thought about me was wrong. Will my queen let me prove to her I’m the King she can’t live without? Only one way to find out...

Playing with Fire


L.J. Shen - 2020
    A scarred girl without direction. A love story carved in secrets, inked with pain and sealed with a lie. Grace Shaw and West St. Claire are arctic opposites.She is the strange girl from the food truck.He is the mysterious underground fighter who stormed into her sleepy Texan college town on his motorcycle one day, and has been wreaking havoc since.She is invisible to the world.He is the town’s beloved bad boy.She is a reject.He is trouble.When West thrusts himself into Grace’s quiet life, she scrambles to figure out if he is her happily-ever-after or tragic ending.But the harder she pushes him away, the more he pulls her out of her shell.Grace doesn’t know much about anything beyond her town’s limits, but she does know this:She is falling in love with the hottest guy in Sheridan U.And when you play with fire—you ought to get burned.

Things We Never Got Over


Lucy Score - 2022
    Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon. Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

Regretting You


Colleen Hoover - 2019
    By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

All Rhodes Lead Here


Mariana Zapata - 2021
    Aurora De La Torre knows moving back to a place that was once home isn’t going to be easy. Starting your whole life over probably isn’t supposed to be. But a small town in the mountains might be the perfect remedy for a broken heart. Checking out her landlord across the driveway just might cure it too.

The Spanish Love Deception


Elena ArmasElena Armas - 2021
    A trip to Spain. The most infuriating man. And three days of pretending. Or in other words, a plan that will never work.Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister’s wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.That would certainly be tomorrow’s headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call. Four weeks wasn’t a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic–from NYC and all the way to Spain–for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. But that didn’t mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6’4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me. Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister’s wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic induced lie?Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romantic comedy. Perfect for those looking for a steamy slow-burn romance with the sweetest Happily Ever After.

Inevitable


Shain Rose - 2020
    It is the first novel in the Stonewood Brothers Series but can be read as a standalone.AubreyThe day I lost my parents was the day he saved me.Jax Stonewood—my best friend's older brother.He was never meant to be my savior. My first real love.And certainly not my greatest heartbreak.I spent years getting over him and now he's back—the nation’s most-streamed artist and eligible bachelor... but I'm not falling for him again.Jax and I are done.JaxThe day I saved her was the day I lost myself to her.Aubrey Whitfield was only ever supposed to be my brother’s best friend.Not my life. Not the one I would die for.Definitely not the one that would break me.She’s built up walls to shut me out but I won’t leave her behind again.Our souls are welded together.Aubrey has always been mine. I’ll make her remember...Whether she likes it or not.We’re inevitable.