Book picks similar to
Drowning in Love by Beth Rinyu


new-adult
romance
sports
contemporary-romance

Worth the Wait


Claudia Connor - 2017
    When he finds out just how badly, it will break his too. Nick Walker found the love of his life when he was just nineteen.Found her.Loved her.Lost her.It's been ten years since Nick watched the only woman he ever loved walk out of his life. Now this FBI Special Agent will do anything to win her back.But it won’t be easy…Mia’s heart was shattered by Nick. They'll have to face their painful past if they want a future, including Mia's own secret about that day it all fell apart. Do you believe in second chances?

Fake It 'Til You Break It


Meagan Brandy - 2020
    He didn’t have to break me to win. But he did it anyway.

Shame


Fiona Cole - 2017
    Pretty. Sweet. Kind. Submissive. Until I met her, I was alone with the dark desires that I didn't understand, that I couldn't reconcile. She became my best friend, and then she became so much more.Desire. Disgust. Shame. Dominance. I wouldn’t have survived until college without her. When we were together, I was at peace for the first time in my life. But it was too good to last. Our appetite for pain and pleasure destroyed us. And all the drinks in the world weren’t enough to get used to missing her. On the verge of earning my degree, Ana walks back into my life, those gray-blue eyes still able to see right through me. It’s the chance I’ve been waiting for. One last chance to overcome my shame. If only it were that easy.

The Final Piece


Maggi Myers - 2012
    From the moment a trusted family friend steals her innocence until the moment another rescues her, she struggles to just survive.Surrounded by the comfort and protection of her extended family, Beth embarks on a journey of healing far from the horrors of her home. In her darkest moments, she meets a boy named Ryan. For one incredible summer, Ryan shows Beth what it’s like to act her own age.To feel free and let go.If only for a while.Years later, another tragedy threatens to shatter the life Beth has carefully crafted. When faced, yet again, with more pieces to pick up, Beth begins to question what her choices have cost her.Leaving her old life behind, she sets forth on a pilgrimage that will bring her back to the boy she could never forget. He wants to help her pick up the pieces of her life, but is she willing to do what it takes to become whole again?Can she trust him with a piece of herself?

The Plan


Ella James - 2017
    Woman feels her biological clock ticking and gets someone to knock her up. Not for love, for baby. Crazy, right? That’s what I thought. Then I found out my fiancé had a vasectomy. The life I thought I had? Nope. Suddenly I’m 33, and I don’t even have a kissing buddy. When my mom’s health takes a turn and I wind up back in my hometown of Fate, Alabama, I tell myself to leave things up to…well, you know. Then I see Gabriel McKellan. He’s Fate’s most famous son, a bestselling author who is beautiful, complicated, and living just below me. In addition to his plus-sized brain, Gabe’s well-endowed in other ways, and great in bed to boot. I would know. He's my ex husband. When I suggest The Plan, I don't imagine that he'll take the bait. It's been ten years, and we don't work. But Fate has other plans for both of us.

Body Check


Elle Kennedy - 2009
    Awesome-night-in-the-sack potential? Check! Hayden Houston is breaking out of her good-girl mode. It's time for a one-night stand--and she's found just the man for the job! She spent her childhood being dragged from rink to rink by her hockey-coach father. Now Hayden craves stability. And she's determined to get it--after this one night....When hockey star Brody Croft sees the sexy brunette at the bar, he's riveted. He's ready to shed his bad-boy ways and settle down. And after a mind-blowing night in bed with Hayden, he knows she's the one.Now all he has to do is convince her....

Indulge


Georgia Cates - 2015
    Those hazel eyes.That filthy mouth.That greedy, hard body.It all equates to one thing. Irresistible.One look and I know he’ll bruise my lips and scar my knees. He’ll give me the best nine days of my life while ruining me in the most beautiful way imaginable. And I’ll let him because he has the power to talk me into anything.Except one thing.Staying.I have no choice. The things I desire from him will destroy me in the end. I want more than he’s capable of giving––something true and beautiful.He can never know how much of me belongs to him. Too much is at stake.Shh … don’t tell him he’s my everything.My name is Anna James Bennett. And this is our story.

Whiskey Lullaby


Dawn Martens - 2013
    All books are about different couples.Julie Walker thought she found true love with Jase. Until he betrayed her in the worst way, with one of her best friends. Devastated and heartbroken she runs away, leaving behind her family and friends. She starts a new life filled with secrets.When Julie meets Dean, she thinks he is the answer to all her prayers, but Dean isn’t who she thinks he is.Jase Gibson is a player. Even when he had the girl of his dreams, he still played. When he lost Julie, his life fell apart. He turned to whiskey and women, to fill the void. But, only Julie will ever make him whole.Nine years later, Julie's back home, but she's not alone. What will happen when all of Julie's secrets are uncovered?Jase vowed that if he ever got her back, he would do right by her and never let her go. Will he let Julie's secret keep them apart?When Julie's ex-husband refuses to be her ex, Jase must choose to help her or hang on to his anger.Jase and Julie have to find a way to give their whiskey lullaby a happy ending.

Down and Out


Kelley R. Martin - 2014
    And don’t read this book if you don’t like sassy, strong-willed, fiercely independent heroines who use phrases like “bossy asshole” as a term of endearment. You have been warned.*“Tattooed package of sin.” That’s how Savannah Ryan would describe her new boss, Declan Whitmore, the deliciously tatted and pierced fighter who holds the top spot in Boston’s newest underground fighting organization. She’d also describe him as bossy, arrogant, and—depending on what he does to piss her off that particular day—an asshole.It’s that aloof attitude, along with Savannah’s witty comebacks and tight little body that land her on his radar. Unfortunately for her, Declan is relentless when he sets his sights on someone, both in and out of the ring. Unfortunately for him, this recently reformed bad girl is trying to go straight after heading down a dangerous path. She’s not going to make this easy for him. In fact, she’s going to make it—and him—very, very hard.Declan’s not worried, though. He’ll have Savannah come hell or high water, because if there’s one word he’d use to describe her, it’s “MINE.”Genre: New Adult, ContemporaryAges: 18+

A Love So Tragic


Stevie J. Cole - 2016
    We all make them. Sometimes we break them. But what happens when the promise you break haunts your dreams, when that moment of betrayal echoes within every last beat of your heart? Love. Love is passionate, painful, and all consuming in the most brutal yet beautiful way. How many people have you said 'I love you' to? Five, ten, maybe no one? I've said that word to two men, but only one where I felt it. Tragic. This word sums up my relationship with Nicolas: devastating, painful, depressing. A first love that should have lasted a lifetime, but I ruined with a stupid decision. Nicolas is my star crossed lover, and even though Shakespeare has taught me that stories such as ours always end in tragedy, I can't not love him, even if I'm married to someone else.

Trailer Park Heart


Rachel Higginson - 2018
    It’s my legacy. That’s how my mama lived. And that’s how her mama lived. It’s the life I was born into and it’s the life I swore I would leave the second I was old enough to make it out. Only legacies have a funny way of sneaking up on you. An innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications in my plans to escape. Seven years later, I’ve resigned myself to this small town and the roots I’m tied to. Nothing could make me leave. And nothing could make me spill the secrets that keep me here. Until he walks back into town with a chip on his shoulder and a stupid hunch nobody else in town has been smart enough to follow. Levi Cole is my opposite. Born on the right side of the tracks with family money to spare, he’s the kind of black sheep that can afford to be rebellious—because his family will always pay for his mistakes. He’s also the only living heir to Cole Family Farms, after his brother Logan was killed in duty seven years ago. He sees something in my life that he thinks he has a right to. But he’s wrong. And obnoxious. And he needs to take his stubborn good looks and that intense way he looks at me and go back to wherever it was he came from. I know better than to trust men like him. I was born and raised in a trailer park, I know nothing good happens to girls like me—girls with trailer park lives and trailer park hearts. Especially from gorgeous, kind, pigheaded men like him.

Wildcat


Max Monroe - 2018
    Mile-high courting and an intense pursuit to win her heart are just the beginning.Attention, fame—even, public scrutiny find their way into the mix. It should be simple, right?Wrong.Because, in the end, not everyone wants to see the small town girl find love with the superstar.Good thing Quinn Bailey knows how to win.Game on, baby.From the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of TAPPING THE BILLIONAIRE comes a hilarious and sexy standalone about chance encounters and finding true love.

The End Game


Kate McCarthy - 2015
    They are heroes in the eyes of boys and girls and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that positively represents their community.”The public loves a good scandal. Seeing someone fall from the pinnacle of success makes a great headline. No one knows that better than I do. What started out as a promising career in college football, spiraled into scandal and shame. But being a hero is easier said then done. Especially when there are those who expected to see the great Brody Madden fail. I craved nothing except being the best—willing to do anything to prove them wrong. But I went too far, and I tried too hard, and it broke me.“At the time of going to print, Jordan Elliott was unavailable for comment.” I met Brody Madden in my senior year of college. An Australian native on an international scholarship, I was the female soccer sensation with stars in her eyes and no room for a hotshot wide receiver with a chip on his shoulder.But a heart bursting with ambition and a driving fire to succeed isn’t made of stone. I became his strength, his obsession, and the greatest love of his life. Only I wasn’t there when he needed me most.This is a story about love and a game that takes everything. Where the path to glory is paved with sacrifice. Where pressure makes you, or breaks you, and triumph is born in the ashes of failure. Where two people’s end game will change everything.

Permanent Lines


Ashley Wilcox - 2014
    Amelia stole his heart…Only to break it.When fate puts Merrick and Amelia back together, it doesn’t come without a price- it comes with vengeance, determination, and putting his life on the line for the one he loves. But, how much is Merrick willing to put on the line to have a future with no reason to hide? In the end, fate will decide...Who's permanent.Some words, a disclaimer, from Merrick Drake, himself:I’m just going to put it out there…I’m sorry I’m a f*cking pussy at the beginning of this book. It isn’t any secret, Amelia burned me bad—like motherf*cking, stab me in the heart, leave me lying there by myself bad, but dammit, I wouldn’t change anything if I was ever given the chance. You’ll see that Amelia is damn near perfect and worth every second of misery she put me through. If you find yourself saying, “Jesus Christ, this guy needs to grow a set!” I don’t blame you, but just keep reading. I redeem myself pretty damn well, if I do say so myself, but beware, because holy $hit do things get intense! Enjoy reading, my friends—my life is a whole clusterf*ck of crazy, but somehow it all comes full circle by the end. Merrick Drake*New Adult, Suspense, Contemporary novel*

Kane's Hell


Elizabeth Finn - 2015
    Eleven years later their lives are nothing like they once were. Time has changed them … and not for the better.Helene is smart, driven, and accomplished—her education and achievements a smoke screen hiding the frigid and fragile child wounded long ago. Kane is equally obsessed with his coping mechanisms—fighting … drinking … screwing … compulsively destroying himself one vice at a time.When their paths collide again, their past becomes an obstacle no coping mechanism in the world can protect them from. But confronting the past so they can heal in the present is no easy task. Can Kane reach Helene and recapture what used to burn so warmly between them, or will his own self destructive demons pull her into his hell?A woman determined to look forward. A man always looking back. A love desperate to be restored. “You’re the brightest, warmest star in my universe. You’ll never be less than everything to me.”WARNING: This book contains darker subject matter and violent content that may be difficult for some readers.