Ache


S.M. Soto - 2019
     What happens when you fall for the boy next door? Bea Norwood had the market on normal. Drama free life? Check. A single-mother who doubled as her confidant and partner in crime? Check. A neighbor and best friend she trusted more than anyone? Check. But that was until the day her mother remarried. The day that changed everything.When her best friend's cousin, Liam Falcon, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle to clean up his act, Bea finds herself falling for the boy next door. With their hearts so infinitely entwined, Bea turns to Liam as her only escape from her new step-brother's daily torment at home. Bea thought their love could conquer anything. But she was wrong. Love was for fools, and she was the biggest fool of them all. When Liam left Lakeport, he took her heart with him, shattering the organ to pieces. Six years later, Liam takes a trip back to Lakeport to visit his family, and to see HER. His first love.The girl who holds his heart.The same girl who shattered it six years ago without looking back. Liam is hell-bent on seeing Bea again after six years, but what he finds tears his heart in half. Bea Norwood is a shell of the girl he fell in love with. Underneath the baggy clothes, and pale skin, he knows she's still in there somewhere, he just needs to find her. Liam will stop at nothing to win his girl back, but sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and Liam isn't prepared for Bea's truth. *Some aspects of this story may be sensitive for readers.*

My Soul to Keep


Kennedy Ryan - 2015
     KAI I had two things in life that mattered. My mother and my music. Mama was taken from me too soon, and now music is all I have left. It’s the thing that’s pushed me right out of backwoods Georgia into Los Angeles, where the line between fantasy and reality shimmers and blurs. I’m finally making my way, making my mark. I can’t afford to fall for one of music's brightest stars. Not now. Music is all I have left, and I’m holding on tight with both hands. I won’t let go, not even for Rhyson Gray. RHYSON I had one thing in my life that mattered – music. The only constant, it’s taken me to heights most people only dream about; a gift dropped in my lap at birth. I thought it was enough. I thought it was everything until I met Kai. Now she’s all I think about, like a song I can't get out of my head. If I have to chase her, if I have to give up everything - I will. And once she's mine, I won't let go.

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?

Little Liar


Willow Winters - 2018
    That’s how stories like these get started. But every lie I told, he saw through it. I think in his heart he knew I was broken; he felt my pain as if it was his. And that’s what changed everything. He’s the reason it all fell apart.Sometimes it’s a single moment that alters everything in existence.Sometimes it’s the fall of dominoes, lined up in a pretty little row and designed so that each one will cause more and more pain.In a single day, it’s all changed, and there’s no way to take it back.I didn't know what would happen. But secrets and lies ruin everything.“I was captivated from the very beginning, and I couldn't let go until the very end. Winters wove an outstanding tale, which has an even better message within its pages.” - Kendra @ Reads and Treats** It's Our Secret was previously titled Little Liar **

Broken Politics


Janae Keyes - 2016
    I wasn't a fan of his. I despised his administration and everything it stood for, but yet I wanted him in the worst way." Kayla is stuck in a rut writing puff pieces for a magazine that she doesn’t even like and is far from being a political reporter for a publication with actual substance. Until then she writes a political blog that blasts the current administration and their policies. She can feel her big break coming soon when she gets the chance to do a piece on the President. President Matthew Von Hansen is the youngest president to date and the first single president in the last 130 years. He’s found himself in the seat of power, but with no real power. He wants to make a difference, but that can be hard when being forced to stay within party lines. Matthew is everything that Kayla despises about Washington or so she originally thinks. Sparks fly and love is on the horizon, but can these two find their way around broken politics?

The Gamble


Xavier Neal - 2016
    2 players. 1 bet. When Luca Larson makes an expensive wager, guaranteeing the bedding of his only real female friend, he's expecting the situation to go as smoothly as sleeping with any other woman would. It doesn't take long before he realizes his usual plays won't work. She knows them too well. She knows HIM too well. If Luca wants to win, he'll have to do things he's never done before. Friendships will be challenged. Hearts will be broken. Lives will be inevitably changed. But one question will remain. Was it all worth the gamble?

Bad Duke


Emily Bishop - 2018
    Playboy parties are more my cup of tea. Now, I’ve got 30 days to marry or lose my billion-pound inheritance. Isabella is my saving grace, but we hated each other as teens. The eyes, the body, the confidence. Quite the goddess she’s become since high school. In between all the fighting, we must somehow pretend to be married. Wanting her as more than a “fake” fiancé was never an option. Needing her wasn’t part of the plan. But when opposing forces come between us, neither God, queen, nor country will stop me from having her. This steamy, contemporary, romantic suspense will keep you company tonight, tomorrow, and the day after. No cheating and a satisfying happily ever after!

Perfectly Damaged


E.L. Montes - 2014
     know about this illness — very well — because I suffer from it. It’s been four years since my diagnosis, and ever since, I’ve been living in a dark hole. Voices constantly invading my thoughts. Hallucinations. All of which force me to question if what I’m experiencing is even reality. But here I am, still hanging on, still breathing and living through it. That is, until he stumbled into my life. Logan Reed. I don’t want any part of him. I’ve pushed him away, but he isn’t easily deterred. I’ve told him I’m different, but he doesn’t care. He’s trying to slowly break me down. I’m trying just as hard not to let him. He doesn’t know how truly damaged I am; what will happen when he does? I know the truth — he’ll never be able to look at me the same way again. Just like everybody else.

Last Second Chance


Caisey Quinn - 2014
    She wants to help real people with real problems, not spoiled celebrities going on vacation for publicity. But growing up on her family’s ranch left her with a love of horses that draws her to the opportunity. How bad can babysitting a bunch of strung out celebrities be? What she didn’t count on was being roped into a tangled mess with infamous rocker and three-time rehab drop out Van Ransom on her first day. And she sure didn’t expect to feel the overwhelming attraction that pulls her to the man who has more issues than she can count on both hands. Like the hotel rooms and tour buses he’s famous for trashing, the havoc he could wreak on Stella’s heart would be irreparable. Van isn’t at Second Chance for publicity or because he’s suffering from “exhaustion”. He’s on the brink of destruction, and he needs the kind of help Stella isn’t sure she can give. But without her, he'll lose everything. Because he’s on his last second chance.

Lotus


Jennifer Hartmann - 2021
    While there are references, and it does feature a secondary character from Still Beating, this is a standalone novel.

Game Changer


Kayt Miller - 2020
    From her promise ring to her parent-approved major in college, she knows there won't be any surprises in her life. That is until she catches her boyfriend with her new college roommate that life that was so thoughtfully planned, ceases to exist.Alex Emerson has his life figured out. As a likely first-round pick in the next NFL draft, this All-American tight end is ready to graduate from college and move on to his life as a wealthy, single, pro ball player--the life he's always wanted. That is until he meets Stella. She makes Alex feel like there is more to life than football.When the two run into each other, literally, a connection is felt that can't be explained. Alex has an overwhelming need to protect and love Stella. Stella has an overwhelming need to give Alex her everything. But with a spiteful roommate and a jealous ex in the way, can the two of them find their way to each other?

Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl


Jessica Sorensen - 2016
    The middle is a bit more complicated.The list of rules is supposed to protect mine and Beck’s friendship and stop us from accidentally kissing again. But most of all, it’s supposed to protect my heart from getting crushed and keep me from ending up broken like my mom.I’ve always been great at following rules. But the more time I spend with Beck, the more I can’t stop thinking about that kiss and how amazing his lips felt against mine. For the first time in my life, I wish I was a rule breaker. But I can never cross that line. Not with Beck. Not with anyone.Besides, if Beck knew the truth about my life, then the list wouldn’t have to exist because he wouldn't have kissed me to begin with.BeckIt started with the most amazing kiss ever and led to Willow handing me a list.That stupid list. When she gave it to me, I wanted to shred it to pieces, pull her against me, and kiss her until she realized a piece of paper wasn’t going to stop me. Willow’s been my best friend since forever and she should know by now that I’m not a follow-the-rules kind of guy.She may think that kiss was a mistake, but she’s wrong. Kisses like that can’t be a mistake. Willow and I belong together, have since the day I promised to always protect her from the bad stuff in her life. And somehow I’m going to prove it to her. Just like I’ll always protect her no matter what.A standalone contemporary romance.Suggested reading age 18+

The Way I Used to Be


Amber Smith - 2016
    Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.

Drowning in Stars


Debra Anastasia - 2020
    She blew bubbles through my window. I shot my Nerf gun through hers. We both had secrets, but one of us was fated to get hurt. I wanted it to be me.Pixie: When I was afraid of the dark, he would shine a light in my window. We shared our popsicles and I taught him how to get a good swing on the playground. I never imagined I’d have to decide who got to live and who didn’t. I chose him --and he could never know.She walked a tightrope five stories up just to save my life…★☆★ Drowning in Stars is a full 100k standalone. ★☆★

The Playboy Patriot


Evangeline Kelly - 2019
    He was gorgeous, wild, and completely off limits. After dealing with unstable parents, she was determined to find a man who met her standard of “safe.” As a wide receiver for the Georgia Patriots, Tucker received plenty of attention, but he was tired of the media blasting him for being a player, thus earning him the reputation, “the playboy patriot.” He wanted to settle down one day but wouldn’t let anyone steamroll him into a commitment he wasn’t ready for. When a friendship developed that neither of them expected, along with more sparks than they knew what to do with, something changed between them. If they’d foreseen the explosion their relationship would cause in the media, they might have thought twice about their actions. Then again, Tucker was never one to back down from a challenge. *This is a contemporary Christian story with strong Biblical themes and Bible references.