Book picks similar to
Brave by Zoe Dawson


new-adult
netgalley
contemporary
stand-alone

The Christmas Shoppe


Melody Carlson - 2011
    A strange older woman with scraggly gray hair and jewelry that jangles as she walks, Matilda is certainly not the most likely person to buy the old Barton Building on the town's quaint main street. When it becomes apparent that her new shop doesn't fit the expectations of Parrish Springs residents, a brouhaha erupts. After all, Christmas is approaching, and the last thing the town needs is a junky shop run by someone who looks and acts like a gypsy. But as townsfolk venture into the strange store, they discover that old memories can bring new life and healing.Once again, Melody Carlson delivers a Christmas story that will touch hearts and delight the senses. Sure to be a classic, The Christmas Shoppe is filled with the special magic the best Christmas stories share--that intangible mixture of nostalgia, joy, and a little bit of magic.

Black Box


Cassia Leo - 2014
    Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.

Escape In You


Rachel Schurig - 2013
    A womanizer. A fighter. Dangerous. The type of guy most girls do their best to avoid. But Zoe Janes is no saint herself. In fact, she sees in Jet the perfect opportunity to distract herself from her responsibilities at home and the mistakes that keep her trapped there. He’s gorgeous, likes to party, and is clearly only interested in having fun—just like Zoe. The more time they spend together, the harder it is for Zoe to stick to her “fun only” mantra. Jet is getting under her skin, making her believe things could actually be different. She knows they’re both trapped by the sins of their past but Jet is starting to make her think freedom might actually be possible. And that makes him the most dangerous boy of all.

Too Close


Lilliana Anderson - 2013
    You don’t understand how important she is to me,” I ramble. I guess I’m in shock because all I can think about is the sight of all that blood over Katrina’s beautiful face. “She’s my world. I can’t lose her.”This is book one in the novella series 'The Beauty in Between' the companion series to Lilliana Anderson's best selling 'A Beautiful' series.

Christmas Ever After


Karen Schaler - 2020
    Scrambling for an answer, she quickly answers that she has had great love in her past and that love inspired her novels.Little does she know that this one offhanded remark will turn her world upside down. Three of her ex-boyfriends see the interview, and each, believing she’s talking about him, shows up for her Christmas Camp book event at the Christmas Lake Lodge, determined to rewrite his happily-ever-after with her!Over the festive weekend, Riley’s old boyfriends compete to win her heart, pulling out all the stops while planning the most romantic Christmas dates on the planet. Despite herself, Riley starts falling for each guy— again—but for different reasons. As Riley revisits each relationship and discovers more about herself, she embraces the magic of Christmas and finally finds true love and her own Christmas ever after...Bonus Content: Christmas Ever After includes delicious original Christmas recipes and fun holiday crafts and activities

Gone


Anna Bloom - 2014
    Not after what happened on that night six months ago... a night which she can't remember and yet managed to change her life forever. When Rebecca comes across Joshua Adams, a man equally haunted by past tragedies, on a moonlit beach, both of their lives are destined to change, and when the girl made out of the sun meets the boy made out of the moon and sea, anything can happen... but will the knowledge of their murky pasts bring them together or drive them apart? Will Rebecca finally be able to claim her freedom? Will she stay and fight to be the girl she found on the sandy beaches of Cornwall or is she destined to keep running and hiding from a past that won't stay Gone? One thing's for certain: either way, nothing will ever be the same again GONE is a mature Young Adult Novel and is only suitable for readers over the age of 16

Forgotten Bodyguard: Book One


Ali Parker - 2015
     Chloe Moore has money, status and popularity, but she yearns for the missing piece - freedom. Her father is the governor of California and has decided to run for President of the United States. Due to some of his political positions, he's receiving death threats. With no choice, Chloe is given a shadow, a bodyguard that has been instructed to never leave her side as she attends school at UCLA. Her life before her father's decision to run was restrictive, now it's unbearable. Ian Matthenson has worked himself up from the shitty start he got in life. Coming from the wrong side of the tracks and spending more time in jail than not, he's finally cleaned up and proven himself to the right people. His older brother gets him a gig he can't refuse - protecting the college-aged daughter of a political icon, a man even he looks up to. He has no concern over his ability to keep the pretty little tease safe, but keeping his hands off of her is going to be the feat of his existence. Things heat up as Chloe pushes Ian to the edge, both physically and mentally. It's only when her life is in danger that he realizes that perhaps its not just his paycheck that causes him to protect the girl's body so closely...

Reckless Longing


Gina Robinson - 2013
    Her mother’s wild and wanton behavior has left Ellie with a deep longing. To escape. To belong. To know who her real dad is. To really be loved. Her mother finally crosses a line thatsends Ellie running, escaping to college with one, focused goal–to find and confront her bio dad, who doesn’t even know she exists. Then she meets Logan. Hot, charming, and troubled. He turns her world upside down and puts all her plans in jeopardy.Logan Walker is hiding a shameful and painful secret. One that nearly cost him everything. When he meets the beautiful and mysterious Ellie at a Week of Welcome event, something inside him awakens and he finds himself drawn to her.But the attraction they both feel for each other is as delicate as the web of secrets they each hide behind. And as the truths are revealed, their reckless longing may not survive the fallout.

Before You Go


Clare James - 2013
    But she soon realizes the changes are not enough. Tabby must take action to help her heal and move on from the past. And though it sounds crazy, she believes a one-night stand is the best way to take back what’s hers. If she can choose where, when, and most importantly, who … maybe she can regain control.First, she needs a willing participant. She finds more than that when she meets Noah Adler. Unfortunately, she can’t go through with it. And when she tries to forget about the plan—and the guy—it becomes impossible. Noah quickly weaves his way into her new life and her heart. But as he comes dangerously close to discovering her secret, Tabby’s at risk of losing it all.

This Tangled Thing Called Love


Marie Astor - 2012
    When an enigmatic new neighbor, Alec Brunell, moves into an apartment above from Claire's, Claire is surprised to find herself wondering whether the choices she has made in her life are worth following through.In order to secure his place as his father's successor, David Lawson must settle down with a wife befitting the future head of Lawson Enterprises - and who could fit the prerequisite better than lovely Claire Chatfield? There is just one glitch - David Lawson is in love with another woman.Alec Brunell has never lacked for women's attention, but he finds himself at a loss when faced with his downstairs neighbor, Claire Chatfield. Still, her iciness only adds fuel to his fire, as Alec is determined to change Claire's view of him.This Tangled Thing Called Love follows a story of four people searching for love - will they have the courage to find it?

Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-up Christmas Relationship


Brittainy C. Cherry - 2013
    Deciding not to follow in her family's Oscar-winning footsteps, Jules chooses to take a more behind-the-scenes career in one of the Top 10 Talent Agencies in Chicago. After being dumped five hours before spending Christmas with her dysfunctional family, she needs a plan to avoid their judgmental eyes. Enter: Kayden Reece.Kayden is the black sheep of his family, being the one actor drowning in a world of doctors and lawyers. Never really getting a jumpstart at his acting career or landing a big time role, he can feel his dad’s disappointment soaking into his spirit. When Kayden gets a chance to meet and sign with a big name agent at Walter and Jacks Talent Agency, he’s ready to prove everyone wrong. Jules stumbles into the building in shambles, ugly crying, and begging to pay an actor a big sum of money to be her made-up boyfriend for five days, Kayden jumps at the opportunity—finally able to say he landed a role. When secrets start to unravel, Kayden and Jules must learn that all families have their baggage, sometimes co-stars fall in lust, and it’s important to always have invisible mistletoe hanging around. This holiday season join the two fake lovebirds as they partake in the role of a lifetime.

Sweet Southern Sorrow


Tessa Teevan - 2014
    Two very lonely people found solace in one another and in the end, fell in love. Unfortunately their plans for the fall took them in entirely different directions. Despite their best efforts, family issues and life’s circumstances got in the way, breaking both of their hearts in the process. Almost six years later they find themselves face-to-face, and old feelings resurface. When the past collides with the present, will they be able resist the temptation, or will they finally realize that they’re where they’re meant to be?A 65k word novel of broken pasts, first loves, and ultimate sacrifice. New edition includes 15k words in bonus scenes.

Crazy Love


Michelle Pace - 2014
    He dreads the whirlwind of being a blue-blood in Savannah, and between his mother and his brother a peaceful existence is out of the question. Miles away from her ugly past, Annie Clarke is thriving in pharmacy school. Uncomfortable with her own success, she begins to fall back to her self-sabotaging ways. Then along comes Trip Beaumont, a hot, edgy artist. Every instinct in her says run, which only makes him that much more tempting. The day she finally agrees to go out with him, his younger brother, Sam, shows up. Sam’s first words about Trip chill her: “Don’t be fooled by the act. Prince Charming is a toxic monster.” Annie soon sees that Sam’s callous exterior is a direct result of coping with a family as dysfunctional as her own. Could love shield them both from spiraling into madness, or will their crazy worlds collide like renegade storm fronts leaving devastation and destruction in their wake?

Unintentional Virgin


A.J. Bennett - 2013
    Cursed with a stupid name and the inability to lose her virginity. She's on a mission to lose her virginity before she turns twenty if it's the last thing she does.One night, her good friend Eva brings her to an underground club where Karma meets a tattooed bouncer. He’s far from the clean-cut type she normally falls for, which makes her think this finally might be the night she crosses the threshold of womanhood.Excited, she goes home with the bouncer named Jax and as always, her dreams crash down once again. Jax cannot believe she is willing to give away her virginity to a stranger she met at a club. As the only son with five sisters and a widowed mom, he can't morally go through with it, even though he's never been more tempted in his life.Unwilling to let her walk away he strikes a deal. Karma has to spend three weeks dating him and then decide if she wants to have sex or walk away.

Black Rain


Jettie Woodruff - 2015
    There comes a time when life’s disappointments start to add up. When you can’t cry one more tear. When you can’t feel that surge of panic one more time, or when you can’t pray for one more day. You wonder, are we humans having a spiritual experience, or are we spirits having a human experience? What does it all mean? Do we all have a purpose? People said I was a hero—that I could persevere through anything I put my mind to. How could I be a hero when I never got a choice? Nobody asked me. I did what I hope anyone reading this would do. While one life was taken too soon, another needed to live, really live. She needed to be the center of somebody’s universe. I was that universe. Just like the Pea under the mattress, I felt her.