Book picks similar to
Secret Heart by Danielle Dreger


young-adult
lesbian
romance
coming-out

No One Needs to Know


Amanda Grace - 2014
    But when he starts dating, Olivia is left feeling alone, so she tries to drive away Liam's girlfriends in an effort to get her best friend back.But she meets her match in Zoey, Liam's latest fling. A call-it-like-she-sees-it kind of girl, Zoey sees right through Olivia's tricks. What starts as verbal sparring between the two changes into something different, however, as they share their deepest insecurities and learn they have a lot in common. Olivia falls for Zoey, believing her brother could never get serious with her. But when Liam confesses that he's in love with Zoey, Olivia has to decide who deserves happiness more: her brother or herself?

Our Demented Play Date


Kat Fletcher - 2015
    The beach is ok, but the rest of it? Boring. And if spending half of August away from her friends wasn’t bad enough, her parents announce she’s expected to hang out with their friend’s daughter Rachel. Sarah’s seventeen years old; she’ll be a high school senior in only a month. Can’t she just stay at home by herself? Whatever Sarah expected from this demented play date, Rach isn’t it. She’s beautiful, smart, stylish—totally on point. And she likes girls and is very out of the closet. Suddenly, two weeks on Cape looks a lot more interesting. If only Sarah can bring herself to come out and tell her how she feels. Young adult/New Adult lesbian romance. 60,000 words.

Suddenly


M.E. Tudor - 2012
    J. Thomas.Jamie and P. J. have gone to the same school since grade school but, because they ran in different circles, Jamie had never really paid much attention to P. J. She only knew that P. J. had been in a lot of trouble over the past few years and had run with a rough crowd. After seeing P. J. working at McDonald’s, thoughts of P. J. fill Jamie’s mind and she realizes she is developing a crush on this girl.Fate intertwines the girls’ lives and they slowly become friends. Some of the other people in Jamie’s life are not happy about the budding friendship between the two girls, including Jamie’s ex-boyfriend, Todd; the leader of her cheerleading squad, Diane; and Jamie’s mother. The two girls have to deal with friends and family finding out about their relationship. Jamie’s mother is determined to keep the two girls apart. P. J. is determined not to lose Jamie. In the end, the two girls find they have allies in unexpected places. Allies who want to help the girls be together, hopefully forever.

Crush


S.R. Silcox - 2015
    Tess Copeland is a country girl trying to save a family tradition.Sparks fly when their worlds collide, but can they overcome their doubts to discover what really matters?

Dating Sarah Cooper


Siera Maley - 2014
    Katie's welcoming, tight-knit family is a convenient substitute for Sarah when her distant parents aren't around, and Sarah's abrasive, goal-oriented personality gels well with Katie's more laid-back approach to life.But when a misunderstanding leads to the two of them being mistaken for a couple and Sarah uses the situation to her advantage, Katie finds herself on a roller coaster ride of ambiguous sexuality and confusing feelings. How far will Sarah go to keep up the charade, and why does kissing her make Katie feel more alive than kissing her ex-boyfriend Austin ever did? And how will their new circle of gay friends react when the truth comes out?

Who I Am


M.L. Rice - 2011
    After the untimely death of her father, she and her mother move to Los Angeles to start a new life. Devin is welcomed to her new school by an arrogant bully named Jason who promises to make the rest of her senior year miserable. Things turn around, however, when a beautiful and intelligent young woman named Melanie Parker, who happens to be Jason’s sister, comes to her rescue. As the relationship between Devin and Melanie grows, Devin finds herself becoming more and more drawn to her new friend’s vivacious spirit. It’s not until an unpleasant confrontation with Jason that Devin must admit to herself that her feelings for Melanie are far more than platonic.

Taking the Lead


Michele L. Rivera - 2013
    Under the guise of friendship, Casey quickly proves to Micah that they have a lot more in common than Micah could have ever imagined. Now Micah must come to terms with her sexuality and her fears that her family and childhood best friend, Emily, will ostracize her. Throughout the process of revealing her true identity, Micah finds herself testing the boundaries of her closest relationships. During this journey, she discovers the meaning of loyalty, bravery, and love.

Beauty and the Band Geek


Mia Archer - 2017
    Katie was a cheerleader. We weren't even on the same plane of existence, socially speaking, but Katie was my best friend in the whole world.Great, right? Oh yeah, except for the part where I'm also totally secretly head over heels in love with my best friend.Oops.I was cool with it. I enjoyed what I had with Katie. I suffered in silence and the knowledge that she'd never in a million years be into me. Until the night I discovered maybe Katie was more into girls than I'd imagined even in my wildest dreams!KatieGwen was my best friend. She was my everything. I loved her cute smile. I loved her dorky jokes. I loved her, and I didn't dare tell anyone. Especially Gwen. Not and risk ruining our friendship!I was a cheerleader. I shouldn't be into girls. I really shouldn't be into my best friend. So I stayed miserable in my closet.Then it happened. A late night bus ride. A game of truth or dare. A kiss that changed my world.I always knew Gwen was my best friend. I always knew I wanted more. So why am I so terrified now that I know she wants more too? Why is it so hard to take what I've always wanted now that she's right in front of me?

Just Juliet


Charlotte Reagan - 2016
     Juliet represents the road less traveled. Will Lena take it? Lena Newman is 17, her best friend’s a cheerleader, her boyfriend’s a football player, and as far as everyone is concerned, her life is sorted. But that’s before she befriends the new girl. Juliet is confident, slightly damaged, drop-dead gorgeous and a lesbian. Lena realizes that her interest goes beyond just friendship. She sets off on a path of self-discovery where the loyalty of those closest to her will be tested. "It feels real without being tedious, and heart-warming without being sappy. It's not all roses, and it's not all doom and gloom. It's great.” - Jon "Just Juliet is the story I wish I could have given to my parents to read when I was 16 so that they knew what I was going through." - Caro M.

The Space Between


Michelle L. Teichman - 2016
    That is, until she meets Sarah Jamieson. Sarah is a reclusive artist, a loner who wears black makeup and doesn’t have any friends, but for some reason, Harper can’t stop thinking about her.Sarah isn’t used to people looking her way, especially popular girls like Harper Isabelle. Scared, religious, and unsure of herself, when Sarah begins to realize that her feelings for Harper might go beyond friendship, she is afraid to take the plunge and tell Harper how she feels.Emotions build between these young women until they both reach their breaking points, and they need to make a choice about coming to terms with who they really are, and what they can and cannot live without.Words: 92,000

The Prom: A Novel Based on the Hit Broadway Musical


Saundra Mitchell - 2019
    But in her small town of Edgewater, Indiana, that's like asking for the moon.Alyssa Greene is her high school's "it" girl: popular, head of the student council, and daughter of the PTA president. She also has a secret. She's been dating Emma for the last year and a half.When word gets out that Emma plans to bring a girl as her date, it stirs a community-wide uproar that spirals out of control. Now, the PTA, led by Alyssa's mother, is threatening to cancel the prom altogether.Enter Barry Glickman and Dee Dee Allen, two Broadway has-beens who see Emma's story as the perfect opportunity to restore their place in the limelight. But when they arrive in Indiana to fight on Emma's behalf, their good intentions go quickly south.Between Emma facing the fray head-on, Alyssa wavering about coming out, and Barry and Dee Dee basking in all the attention, it's the perfect prom storm. Only when this unlikely group comes together do they realize that love is always worth fighting for.

Almost Straight


Justice Serai - 2015
    Good grades were the key to my future. And I wanted a boy to take me to prom. Then Liv happened. The way her eyes smiled when she watched me made my stomach do somersaults. Mysterious and flirty, she inspired me to question things about myself I took for granted. People seem to think certain traits are engrained in you from the moment you’re born. Personality, special talents, sexual identity, things like that. But what if some things aren’t so black and white? What would people say if they knew Audrey, the good church girl, was actually...almost straight?

Because You Can


Leigh Landry - 2020
    But once she spies his famous country singer companion, her plan dissolves and a new one emerges. She’ll make him think twice before hurting anyone else ever again…if she can peel her eyes from his gorgeous date long enough to form that plan.Josephine Broussard would do anything for her bandmates. Even hide her true identity to appease their fans. But she can’t hide her feelings for Molly or resist the woman’s vengeful crusade. She’ll need to tame her unyielding sense of responsibility while Molly battles destructive insecurities to create their own love song for the ages.Because You Can is a sweet f/f celebrity romance of partners-in-revenge turned partners-in-love.

Everything Changes


Samantha Hale - 2014
    She’s never really been interested in boys. But she was always too afraid to examine what that might mean. Until she meets Morgan O’Shea and finds herself inexplicably drawn to her.As their friendship develops, Raven is forced to face the possibility that her interest in Morgan might actually be attraction and that she might be gay.Acknowledging the possibility opens Raven’s world to the excitement of her first romance, but it also leaves her struggling to come to terms with her sexuality and the impact it will have on her relationships with her family and friends.

A Story of Now


Emily O’Beirne - 2015
    And some new friends.But brittle, beautiful, and just a little bit too sassy for her own good sometimes, she no longer makes friends easily. And she has no clue where to start on the whole finding a life front, either. Not after a confidence-shattering year dogged by bad break-ups, friends who have become strangers, and her constant failure to meet her parents sky-high expectations.When Robbie and Mia walk into Claire’s work they seem the least likely people to help her find a life. But despite Claire’s initial attempts to alienate them, an unexpected new friendship develops.And it’s the warm, brilliant Mia who seems to get Claire like no one has before. Soon, Claire begins to question her feelings for her new friend.The sequel, The Sum of These Things, will be released in late 2015. Paperback available July 15.Length: approx. 140,000Themes: Australia, lesbian, Melbourne, young adult, new adult