Book picks similar to
The Truth in Lies by Jeanne McDonald


new-adult
romance
love-triangle
unrequited-love

Something in the Way


Jessica Hawkins - 2017
    Under the sweat and dirt, Manning Sutter was as handsome as the sun was bright. He was older, darker, experienced. I wore a smiley-face t-shirt and had never even been kissed. Yet we saw something in each other that would link us in ways that couldn’t be broken...no matter how hard we tried.I loved Manning before I knew the meaning of the word. I was too young, he said. I would wait. Through all the carefully-chosen words hiding what we knew to be true, through his struggle to keep me innocent, and through infinitely-starry nights—I would wait. But I’d learn that life isn’t always fair. That no matter how much you achieve, none of it matters if you suffer the heartbreak that comes with falling for someone you can never have. Because even though I saw Manning first, that didn’t matter. My older sister saw him next.

Beautiful Oblivion


Addison Moore - 2013
    She’s tired of dating Warren McCarthy just to make her father happy. Reese has long since had her eye on someone else, and this summer she’s determined to make it happen.Growing up in Lake Loveless there has always been a strict monetary divide—there was the rest of the Lake and then there were the Waterman’s. Ace Waterman has worked for everything he has, and he doesn’t have a lot. He breaks his back doing grunt work while putting himself through college. He’s used to life passing him by.Reese has loved Ace from afar for as long as she can remember. The summer of her freshman year she comes home with plans to land Ace in her bed at least for a few short weeks, and, if she’s lucky, forever.Ace has loved Reese for as long as he can remember, but their friendship has never graduated beyond platonic, so when Reese comes home from her first year away and proposes the two of them have a summer fling, Ace is quick to comply. The rules: no strings, no expectations, just something hotter than the sun to set the sheets on fire.But when their worlds collide, and neither of them is willing to admit to having true feelings, it becomes clear to Ace he’s nothing more than a dirty little secret—that the summer fling was just something meaningless to pass the time.Reese wonders if she can ever stop trying to please her father, and it’s only through her mother’s letters that she finds the answers she truly seeks, but will they be the ones she wants to hear?As summer draws to a close, Ace and Reese are still very much enraptured even though the time has come to douse the flame and move on—but neither one of them is prepared to leave this BEAUTIFUL OBLIVION.

The Morning After


Adriane Leigh - 2013
    It's the only coping mechanism she's found to overcome the horror that colors her past. Until one pleasure-seeking playboy turns her world on its axis. Georgia tries to ignore the tornado of emotion that sweeps through her system whenever Tristan is near, but just like an addiction, one look, one taste, one touch is never enough. And then there's Kyle, the doting boyfriend she's left at home for the summer, the one she gave her heart to when she was twelve, the one that holds her fragile love in his strong and steady hands. What was once comfortable turns unbearable, and soon Georgia finds herself fantasizing about the forbidden. The chemistry between Tristan and Georgia is scorching and it isn't long before the slow burn ignites into a full-blown wildfire that threatens to consume anything in its path. Denial is comfortable. Love is anything but. For mature audiences.

If Only


Louise J. - 2012
    I can’t even describe the intensity of my attraction to him. I’d never experienced anything like it before. Since then, it’s become something so much deeper and I’m finding it impossible to ignore what I feel for him. I know I’m already with the man I should be with, yet I want Joe. I can’t seem to get my head and my heart to agree on this. I’m not about to cheat and I won’t just drop the man I love. But what do I do about Joe?JoeTattoos, bikes, and women–that’s been my life for the last two years and it suited me just fine. Until the day I swerved to avoid a raggedy old VW bug heading my way, hit the sidewalk, and ended up sprawled on my back. I came around to a pounding headache and the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen. Don’t know if it was the effect she had on me, or the accident, but I somehow managed to let her go without exchanging information, more importantly–numbers. Maybe it would’ve been better if things had stayed that way. Maybe then I wouldn’t be caught up in this dilemma. I should do what most guys would do and pursue her, regardless of her being in a relationship. Trust me, it’s tempting. The problem is, I’ve been on the receiving end of a situation similar to this, so I know the hurt I could cause and I don’t think I can do that. But I want Callie. I want her bad.When Callie and Joe met, neither were prepared for the sequence of events that would follow, or the impact of the choices they would go on to make. *Adult Contemporary Romance. Can be read as a stand-alone.

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.

Covered in Coal


Silla Webb - 2014
    Just like any little girl would, she assumed her daddy would always be by her side. Unbelievably, he turned his back on her when she needed him most, leaving her with no one in her life to turn to for support. Without options, Carly runs away from the only home she's ever known, leaving behind her heartache and the betrayal of the two men she loved most.Seven years later, Carly reluctantly returns to Kentucky. Her daddy is dying of cancer and Colton is nothing like the boy she once loved and left. After her daddy passes, Carly must uproot her life in South Carolina and take control of Simon Coal Company, where she has no choice but face the pain of her past.Can Carly keep her secrets buried deep beneath the black Kentucky coal and her heart safe from the fiery Colton Weston?

Be the Girl


K.A. Tucker - 2019
    New postal code, new last name, new rules. But she doesn’t mind, because it means she can leave her painful regrets behind. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. Someone better.With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship that Aria learns to appreciate. And Cassie’s older brother, Emmett—a popular Junior A hockey player with a bright future—well … Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more. If he didn’t already have a girlfriend, maybe it would.But Aria soon finds herself in a dicey moral predicament that could derail her attempt at a fresh start. It is her loyalty to Cassie and her growing crush on Emmett that leads her to make a risky move, one that earns her a vindictive enemy who is determined to splinter her happy new world.

Very Bad Things


Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2013
    And why wouldn't they? Valedictorian of her class and a Texas beauty queen, she's well on her way to Princeton after kissing everyone goodbye at graduation.Until the day she cracks wide open in front of the entire school.Leo Tate is a tattooed bad boy who's sworn to never fall in love, especially with a high school girl.But she keeps showing up at his gym, wearing short skirts and tempting him with her list of bad things.He wants to resist her, but with one touch of her lips, forbidden love has never tasted so sweet.Welcome to Briarwood Academy . . . where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things.*Mature Content**Author’s note: Each book in the BW series is written as a stand-alone love story following a new couple, but you’ll enjoy reading the other titles and seeing familiar faces return.1: VERY BAD THINGS (Nora and Leo)2: VERY WICKED THINGS (Dovey and Cuba)3. VERY TWISTED THINGS (Violet and Sebastian)

Bring Down the Stars


Emma Scott - 2018
    I didn’t want to; I fought against it, but I fell in love with him anyway. With his words. With his poetry. With him. The gentleness and beauty of his soul that speaks directly to mine. He writes as if he can feel my heart, hear its cadence and compose the exact right lyrics to accompany every beat and flow. I’m in love with Connor…so why do I feel an inexplicable pull to his best friend, Weston? Grouchy, sullen, brooding Weston Turner, who could cut you down with a look. Fiercely intelligent with a razor sharp wit and acid tongue, he’s the exact opposite of Connor in every way, and yet there’s electricity in the air between us. The thorny barbs Weston wraps around himself can’t keep me away. But the more time I spend with these men, the more tangled and confused my emotions become. When they both sign up for the Army Reserves during a time of increasing strife in the Middle East, I fear I’ll never unravel my own heart that sometimes feels as if it will tear straight down the middle…for both of them. **********Bring Down the Stars is an emotional, angst-filled novel of unrequited love by bestselling author, Emma Scott, and is inspired by the classic tale, Cyrano de Bergerac. (Roxanne) It is Book I in the Beautiful Hearts Duet, coming this summer. Book II, Long Live the Beautiful Hearts, to be released a few weeks later. THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL LOVE TRIANGLE #confusedhearts #notamenage

Animate Me


Ruth Clampett - 2013
    When a new project throws the two of them together, lovestruck Nathan finally seizes his moment – only to find Arnauld, head of the animation studio, claiming exclusive rights to Brooke’s affections.But Nathan, it turns out, is not giving up on his dreams so easily. With inspired determination, he sets out to be the super hero of wooing his girl. Threatened by his persistence, Arnauld plays dirty – only to spark an uprising at the studio that unleashes the sort of havoc only a building full of frustrated animators can create. While Nathan pulls out all the stops to win his B-girl, Brooke has to choose. Should she pursue the sparkling career that has taken her years to build…or follow her heart?

Stanton Adore


T.L. Swan - 2014
    Sensual, sweet, and as annoyingly perfect as she was when I left 7 years ago. My body remembers the way she felt underneath me, and wants her again. My heart remembers the way she crushed it and wants as far away as possible. But she’s everywhere, haunting me, torturing me, driving me past all logical reason. I need to forget her, move on and get her out of my system, but to do that, I need to have her one. Last. Time. It started as a kiss. We never meant to fall in love. But I was 17 and carefree, And he was 19, beautiful and forbidden. Our families never would have accepted it… And I broke his heart to save his future. Now the boy I loved 7 years ago is the man I can’t have. He’s grown into everything my body craves, my heart demands… and my sense of decency rejects.

The Bride


S. Doyle - 2017
    I’m sixteen and I’m getting married. Super weird, I know.My dad is a cattle rancher in Montana. Or he was, until he died suddenly, leaving me an orphan (which is still a thing). I’m sixteen months away from being a legal adult, so I have two choices.Foster home, or married. To Jake Talley. The foreman of the ranch and my best friend.It’s legal. It solves all my problems. Except now I’m living with Riverbend’s hottest cowboy - my husband (in name only of course) - and I’m still in high school. Trust me, no one wants to date Weird Married Ellie.But it’s cool. All we have to do is wait it out until I'm eighteen and we'll get a divorce. Then Jake and I will go back to being normal. We’ve got this.Right?JakeI’m twenty-six, and I never saw this coming. Married. To a kid I’ve known her whole life. But there was no way in hell I was going to let her live at a foster home, instead of at the ranch where she belongs.Sure we’re married but it’s not real. Just a piece of paper. My girlfriend is furious but I know I’m doing the right thing - for Ellie. For sixteen months, it’s me and her against the world - until the divorce. No big deal.Or is it?

Therapy


Kathryn Perez - 2014
    I’m needy. I’m broken. Cutting breaks through my numbness, but only opens more wounds. Depression, self-harm, bullying....that's my reality. Sex and guys....that's my escape. The space between the truth and lies is blurred leaving me torn, lost and confused. And while the monsters that live in my head try to beat me-- the two men that I love try to save me. This is my story of friendship, heartache, and the grueling journey that is mental-illness.Warning: Due to possible triggering subject matter and some sexual situations this book is not recommended for anyone under the age of 17 years old.

For the Love of Gracie


Amy K. McClung - 2013
    She's reached a point where it's easier to forget about romance and focus on what's important: college, clubbing, and her friends. But the best-laid plans don't always pan out as hoped.Caught up in a web of relationships that threaten nothing but pain, Gracie has to decide who she can trust and who can help keep her safe. What lengths will the man of her dreams go to… for the Love of Gracie?

The Stand-in


Lauren Campbell - 2019
    Now, it's his turn to save me. But when it's time to go our separate ways, he makes me an offer I can't refuse–an interview with my dream company and ten grand in cash. All I have to do is pretend to be his girlfriend for the week. Easy peasy. It isn't until he takes me home to meet the parents that I realize he left out some MAJOR details. But there's too much at stake for me to back out now. I MUST play the part. Only ... it won't be quite the one he's expecting. Worst Fake Girlfriend: Scene 1, Take 1. ACTION!