Book picks similar to
Hush Puppy by Lisa Cresswell


young-adult
interracial
interracial-romance
uncommonya

Keep Me In Mind


Jaime Reed - 2016
    A boy who can't forget her. A wise, witty, and heartbreaking love story for today's YA generation.Ellia Dawson doesn't recognize the handsome boy who sits in tears by her hospital bed. But he's telling her that he's Liam McPherson, her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Ellia thinks in shock. She has no clue who Liam is, let alone whether or not she once loved him. She remembers her family, her friends, and the fact that she wants to be a fashion designer. But Liam is a big blank in her life.Meanwhile, Liam is devastated that Ellia, the love of his life, who suffered an accident while they were running together on the beach, has lost her memory. He is desperate to win her back, rebuild what they once had, but Ellia keeps him at an arm's length. She's much more comfortable with a new boy she meets at the hospital, who understands more what she's going through. So Liam begins writing the story of the two of them, piecing together the past in the hopes of having a future with the girl he loves.Told from alternating perspectives, this is a lyrical, clever, and surprising novel from Jaime Reed.

Finding Willow


Michelle K. Pickett - 2014
    Moving from school to school with each transfer his mother’s job requires has taught Brody well: If there’s one thing harder than making friends, it’s saying goodbye to them. So he’s learned to close himself off. He’s a loner, and that’s how he likes it.When his mother accepts a permanent position in Wisconsin, Brody begins to slowly open up. But old habits die hard and, for Brody, making friends doesn’t come easily. That is, until he meets Annabelle. Brody loses himself in her. Their connection runs deep and, for the first time, Brody truly lets someone inside. But life can be cruel. An unexpected job transfer uproots Brody from his home in Wisconsin, and Annabelle. Vowing not to get involved with another girl after the heartbreak of losing Annabelle, Brody returns to life on the outside looking in. A loner by choice. Until he finds Willow. Friendly and beautiful, a guy can’t help but notice her, but Brody notices more than her beauty. When she flashes her full smile, a spark is missing from her hazel eyes and for reasons unknown to him, Brody needs to find the reason.Along the way, he stumbles across a secret bigger than both of them.

Quarterback's Unwanted Baby


Nicki Jackson - 2016
    A private rehabilitation contract for an injured football player will offer her just that, giving her a summer alone with her client and her son. Not so bad, right? But her client is no ordinary athlete. He’s Gerard Blackstone: sex icon, the man who broke her heart years ago—and the father of her son. The hurt between them goes deep, but so does their passion. Will they cling to their scars and drown in the past? Or will the sparks between the former lovers ignite a wild and searing inferno? Note: This story contains passionate scenes of epic proportions between a sexy, white billionaire and an ebony beauty!

Riptide


Lindsey Scheibe - 2013
    Everything else disappears. She can forget that her best friend, Ford Watson, has a crush on her that she can’t reciprocate. She can forget how badly she wants to get a surf scholarship to UC San Diego. She can forget the pressure of her parents’ impossibly high expectations.When Ford enters Grace into a surf competition—the only way she can impress the UCSD surfing scouts—she has one summer to train and prepare. Will she gain everything she’s ever wanted or lose the only things that ever mattered?

Addicted to Her


Janet Nichols Lynch - 2010
    Or is she? In this novel set in California's San Joaquin Valley, a Mexican American teenage must choose between what he desperately wants and what he knows is best.

Wanted


Heidi Ayarbe - 2012
    Mike is a seventeen-year-old bookie, and Sanctuary is where she takes bets for anyone at Carson City High with enough cash. Her only rule: Never participate, never place a bet for herself.Then Josh Ellison moves to town. He pushes Mike to live her life, to feel a rush of something—play the game, he urges, stop being a spectator.So Mike breaks her one rule. She places a bet, feels the rush.And loses.In an act of desperation, she and Josh—who has a sordid past of his own—concoct a plan: The pair will steal from Carson City's elite to pay back Mike's debt. Then they'll give the rest of their haul to those who need it most. How can burglary be wrong if they are making things right?Wanted will thrust readers into the gritty underbelly of Carson City, where worth is determined by a score, power is derived from threat, and the greatest feat is surviving it all.

Unraveling You


Jessica Sorensen - 2014
    Outgoing, spunky, and musically talented, she’s constantly surrounded by family and friends, yet she still feels there’s something missing. Then she meets her new next-door neighbor Ayden Gregory. Mysterious, sweet, and sad, Ayden is the exact opposite of Lyric and exactly what she needs to fill the void in her life. Ayden has been through more than most people and believes his life is always going to be rocky, so when he’s suddenly adopted by the Gregorys, he’s thrown for a turn. But even with a new, loving family, he still finds himself haunted by the memories of his old life. The only true breath of fresh air is when he’s with his best friend, Lyric Scott. As Lyric and Ayden grow closer, the lines of their friendship start to blur. But when Ayden's past unexpectedly pushes its way into his new life, their friendship and newfound attraction will be tested. **A novel about Ella and Micha's daughter and Lila and Ethan's son from The Secret Series. However, this series can be read on its own.**

Always Forever Maybe


Anica Mrose Rissi - 2018
    Betts already knows the two of them are infinite. Inevitable. Destined to become an us.Betts has only ever kept one secret from her best friend, Jo, but suddenly there’s a long list of things she won’t tell her, things Jo wouldn’t understand. Because Jo doesn’t see how good Aiden is for Betts. She finds him needy. Possessive. Controlling.She’s wrong. With a love like this, nothing else matters.

Magic Hands


Jennifer Laurens - 2007
    When he lands one doing women's nails, his eyes are opened to the catty, back-stabbing world of females. Girls he thought he knew and trusted turn out to shock and use him. He gets to know Rachel, an elusive girl the others gossip about, a girl with secrets. From her he learns there is more to life than weekend partying and social status, and one of the secrets she shares with him will change his life forever.

The Art of Falling


Jenny Kaczorowski - 2013
    She’s a militant vegan with purple hair, Doc Martens and a permanent scowl. Kissing captain of the football team Ben Harris? Definitely not part of that image. Now with each secret kiss, she’s falling deeper for the boy every girl at Oceanside High is crushing on. Throw in a few forbidden bacon cheeseburgers and she’s facing one major identity crisis. Ignoring Ben should be easy, but when a flashy display of artistic spirit lands her in close quarters after hours with the boy she’s too cool to like, she can’t keep pretending those kisses meant nothing. With her reputation and her heart on a collision course, Bria must either be true to herself or to the persona she’s spent all of high school creating.

Pull


B.A. Binns - 2010
    David blames himself for not saving their mom that night; after being injured in a basketball game, he was given strong painkillers and slept through the shooting. In the terrible aftermath, he changes his name and moves to a tough new inner-city Chicago high school when he and his sisters Barney and Linda move in with their aunt. Barney, who found their mom's body, is barely able to cope. With their mother gone and their father in jail, David tries his best to take care of his sisters. When he's forced to join the basketball team or be expelled after getting in too many fights, it cuts into the after-school construction job that he takes to help support his family. Then David begins falling for Yolanda, the hottest girl in school who is also Malik's, the school player and bully's girlfriend. They flirt and spar, but going after this fashion loving Mighty Mite spells big trouble for David. And as he ponders trying for a basketball scholarship or keeping the construction job he loves, Aunt Edies stroke eliminates most of Davids options. He can keep his family together by working full time, or follow his moms dream of college, which would send Barney into foster care. Teen readers will hold their breath as David weighs his options about the kind of life he wants to live.

The Meet-Cute Project


Rhiannon Richardson - 2021
    Mia hates them. They're silly, contrived, and not at all realistic. Besides, there are more important things to worry about—like how to handle living with her bridezilla sister, Sam, who’s never appreciated Mia, and surviving junior year juggling every school club offered and acing all of her classes.So when Mia is tasked with finding a date to her sister’s wedding, her options are practically nonexistent.Mia’s friends, however, have an idea. It’s a little crazy, a little out there, and a lot inspired by the movies they love that Mia begrudgingly watches too.Mia just needs a meet-cute.

Mick Sinatra: Not In My House (The Mick Sinatra series Book 11)


Mallory Monroe - 2019
    It will take every ounce of power Mick has to beat back the tide, and even that may not be enough. And although his marriage to African-American actress Rosalyn Graham-Sinatra is strong, Roz is going through her own difficulties and is in need of the kind of attention he can’t give. But for the love of her man and her family, Roz put aside her own wants and needs and work to beat back that tide right alongside her husband. But how long can a woman neglect herself in service to a greater good, and can her marriage survive the onslaught? In the latest fiery installment of the Mick Sinatra Interracial Romantic Suspense series, Mick and Roz love hard and fight hard, and stretch their once-unbreakable bond nearly to its breaking point.

I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl


Gretchen McNeil - 2016
    She's starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying.So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend Jesse dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it's time to use The Formula for herself. She'll be reinvented as the eccentric and lovable Trixie—a quintessential manic pixie dream girl—in order to win Jesse back and beat new-girl Toile at her own game.Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn't all it's cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As The Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to reclaim her true identity and fix everything she's messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine?

The Fancy


Mercedes Keyes - 2006
    However, at hearing how close he'd come to losing his mother - his priorities, his plan shifted. Dr. Quinton Thaddeus Caine had saved his mother's life - for this deed, the young surgeon deserved the best that he could give in compensation. A gift - the best - a Fancy. To his reasoning, what better gift could one man offer another? Especially considering that the new doctor had arrived and settled in their small town off the Port end of Connecticut - with practically nothing. He would need help, in more ways than one - thus - the placing of Suga - his most valuable possession - her skills far exceeded many of those whom were purchased simply to fill ones bed. According to her master, she'd been taught to serve in many more ways... than that one - as her new owner, Quinton Caine would come to find out.