Book picks similar to
The Scars of Us by Nikki Naravez


romance
abuse
new-adult
contemporary-romance

Deathless & Divided


Bethany-Kris - 2015
    This is how a war starts.A life for a life. That’s the mafia way. Damian Rossi owes his life to a man who is ready to collect. That payment comes in the form of an arranged marriage to the daughter of another leading family in the Chicago Outfit. He’s ready to follow through, even if that means making sure Lily knows she’s his.Lily DeLuca isn’t being given a choice. Forced home to marry a man she doesn’t know and back into a life she’d rather forget, her world is full of half-truths, buried pain, and uncertainty. But Damian is nothing like she expects. His motives aren’t clear. Her beliefs are being tested.When it comes to this world, no man can be trusted. Someone is ready to flip the Chicago Outfit on its side all for the promise of something better. But no one runs a clean game and these men play for keeps. When blood begins to paint Chicago red, four families will be divided by loyalty, hatred, and revenge. There is no hiding. There is no safety.No one is deathless.No one.

Raw


Belle Aurora - 2014
    This is a story of love gone wrong.***Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am.Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street.Best decision I ever made.Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job.My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved.But the saying is true.The world makes way for those who know where they are going.That’s me.I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace.But then there’s him.I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me.He makes me feel.It’s unconventional.But it’s real.I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.So am I.This isn’t a story.This is my life.

Blyss


J.C. Cliff - 2014
    Two sexy, ruthless men...one innocent female caught in the middle. Prepared to spend the summer back at home, Julianna Oakley's plans take an unexpected turn for the worse. She's become Nick Palcini's ultimate obsession, and he will stop at nothing to have her.Dangerous and controlling, Nick has been setting the stage for a long time, and sparks fly when their separate worlds collide. But Nick didn't bank on one thing: Julianna's fiery, independent streak. She'll fight him at any cost. When Travis Jackson, Nick's right-hand man, lays his eyes on the prize, all Hell breaks loose. He should know Nick is playing for keeps, and while Julianna is fighting for her freedom, a lifetime full of secrets and twisted perceptions slowly unwind as Julianna gets caught in the fray.

Price of a Kiss


Linda Kage - 2013
    I mean, just because my last boyfriend tried to kill me and left a bit of a scar on my neck, then forced me to move across the country and legally change my name to Reese Randall to escape him, does not mean— Oh, who am I kidding? For a freshman in college, I have to have the worst dating track record ever. It’s no wonder love is the last thing on my mind when Mason Lowe enters my life. But the chemistry between us is like bam! Our connection defies logic. And he’s just so freaking hot. Being around him makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt before. I even like bickering with him. He could be my soul mate...except for one teeny tiny glitch.He's a gigolo.Boy, do I know how to pick them.

If I Break


Portia Moore - 2014
    And for the first time in my life, a little trouble was just what I needed.No. What I wanted.It wasn’t like I’d ever marry the guy.Until I did.What I thought would be my happily ever after, was only the beginning. Cal has a secret. One that makes loving him come with a price, and being his wife cost more than I bargained for.

Falling Stars


Sadie Grubor - 2012
    He's hot, he's famous and everything a rock star can be. When he meets fellow lead singer, Mia Ryder, she's energetic, fun, and laid-back. Mia is everything Chris isn't and he isn't going to stand by while her vagina powered band ride the coattails of his fan base.But Chris's demons have grown so powerful he's about to lose everything, including his sanity. Until one night changes everything.Now, the one thing he's been trying to eliminate is the ONLY thing he's been sure of and she hates him.

Fix You: Bash and Olivia - Book One


Christine Bell - 2014
    Her family is about to lose everything, and she has almost no chance of continuing her college education. She can't even seek solace from her high school sweetheart. He's changed. She doesn't recognize the boy she used to know— his violent behavior is escalating and it scares the hell out of her. Her whole world is crumbling, and she has no one to turn to……Sebastian “Bash” McDaniels is an up and comer in the boxing world working nights at the local college bar until he can land the fight of his dreams that will get him the hell out of Boston and away from his family's tragic past. He’s weeks from his goal when Olivia Beckett comes tumbling into his life in a flash of silky dark hair and haunted eyes. When he saves her from a potentially brutal beating, they begin to grow close, but Olivia's ex isn’t ready to let her go so easily. Bash can't bring himself to walk away, but fixing Olivia just might leave him broken…

Sweet as Sin


J.T. Geissinger - 2015
    She has absolutely no interest in rock ’n’ roll, but in order to pay the mortgage, she agrees to work on the set of a rock video for the world-famous rockers known as Bad Habit…which brings her face-to-face with Nico Nyx, lead singer of Bad Habit and Adonis in the flesh.However, the fiercely independent Kat isn’t impressed by the hard-living, womanizing rock star. But when Nico’s model girlfriend shows up to the set drunk and Kat is tapped to replace her as the video’s sexy bride, her combustible chemistry with Nico suddenly threatens to consume the set. Nico feels it, too—and becomes determined to win Kat over, body and soul. Yet behind his rock god swagger, Nico hides a dark secret. Can he rock Kat’s world forever, or will he just break her heart?

The Rebel of Raleigh High


Callie Hart - 2019
    Please be advised, this book comes with a trigger warning. Intended for readers 17+ * Silver Hit me. Kick me. Hurt me. Hate me. There’s nothing that the students of Raleigh High can do to Silver Parisi anymore. Over the past year, she’s had to endure more pain and suffering than most people are asked to bear in their lifetimes. She’s a pariah, an outcast, a ghost. She’s also never been one to take shit lying down, though…despite what half the football team might say. With only one hundred and sixty-eight days left of the school year, it won’t be long until graduation, and Silver’s planning on skipping town and leaving Raleigh firmly in her rearview mirror… Until he comes along… Alex Orphan. Degenerate. Reprobate. Deviant. Alex Moretti’s earned most of his labels, and he’s not ashamed of a single one of them. He’ll earn far worse before he’s finished with his new found ‘friends’ at Raleigh High. Having spent years being ground down under the boot heel of society, it’s time for a little payback. And if exacting revenge upon the heads of the Raleigh elite means he can also help the beautiful girl who hovers in the shadows, then that’s all for the better. Oil and water. Fire and ice. The differences between Silver and Alex are broader than any chasm. To reach one another, they must take a leap of faith and fall into the divide. And falling? Nothing good ever came from falling.

On the Rocks


Sawyer Bennett - 2014
    Now he’s returned home to the sand and salty breeze of the North Carolina Outer Banks so he can open The Last Call, a beach bar nestled among the dunes of the Atlantic.Five years ago, Gabby Ward drunkenly threw herself at her best friend’s brother, only to have her young heart crushed. Hunter is back but Gabby is content to stay far away from him and his dangerously charming ways. Gabby’s well-schemed plans to ignore Hunter go up in flames when he presents her an offer she simply can’t refuse. Working together day in and day out proves problematic for two reasons—Gabby realizes her feelings for Hunter are still very much alive, while Hunter struggles to break through to Gabby’s cold heart. What starts out as a mutual business arrangement soon turns into a passion that neither can deny.But when the pro surfing tour comes knocking and Hunter has a chance to reclaim his former glory, hard choices lie ahead for both of them.Choices that could destroy what they have built or take them further than they could ever dare to hope in their second chance at romance.

Beautiful Disaster


Jamie McGuire - 2011
    She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand. Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

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.

Torrent


Gemma James - 2014
    Now, eight years later, he's returning the favor...I've been obsessed with Rafe Mason since I was thirteen. The twisted part of this story is that I still want him even now that he's holding me captive on an island.Rafe has his reasons for doing what he's doing, and if I'm honest, I can't blame him. I'm the girl who sent him to prison for a heinous crime he didn't commit.But now he's free and the tables have turned...now he's the one driven by obsession.NOTE TO READERS: Torrent is a dark romance with kidnapping and other disturbing themes. Intended for mature readers. Not for the faint of heart. You've been warned. Part 1 in the Condemned series.

Fraternizing


C.C. Brown - 2013
    Strong sexual content, violence and vulgarity.Sometimes rules must be broken.Sometimes your beliefs are challenged.Other times... you just have to follow your heart.For Marine Corps Sgt. Alex Cruz, the Corps' rules and regulations have served as a blueprint for how he should live his life. In his mind, the way to maintaining proper conduct and order relied heavily on the ability of the individual to follow orders without question. Alex was that individual.Until...Pfc. Cassie Bennett.She is brand new to the Corps, looking to cement a place in the world for herself after breaking free from the oppressive life she's lived with her mother. Making it in the Corps is her way of showing her mother that she is more than she thinks she is, while also proving to herself she can survive one of life's biggest challenges.Both Alex and Cassie are tested when an intensely strong attraction develops between them. They feel it, they want it, but one thing stands in their way... The Marine Corps order on Fraternizing. Their lust filled thoughts, their strong and aching cravings for one another, and their conflicted minds lead them on a roller coaster of emotions and feelings that neither can ignore, no matter how hard they try.Loyalties will be tested, hearts will be broken, and careers will hang in the balance. Can Alex and Cassie keep their forbidden relationship a secret, or will they lose it all by Fraternizing?

Undescribable


Shantel Tessier - 2013
    Focusing on her new friends and rebuilding her broken life, Samantha is content. Until she meets him – attorney by day and a cocky, foul mouth playboy by night. All girls want Slade Long, but not one has ever been able to keep his attention for long. Having a different woman in his bed every night is how he prefers it-no emotion, no connection. Until he meets her - an angel with the sweetest voice he has ever heard and the most enticing green eyes. Samantha makes him second guess his actions and has him wanting something he didn’t know existed. How can a man who has never been in love, be so sure? Can real love happen this fast? Burned by her past, Samantha struggles to keep up with the overwhelming passion she feels for Slade. She knows that he will be nothing but trouble to her already fragile heart, but how long can she continue to deny the love that she feels for him? Will Samantha let Slade prove his love is real, or will she push him away? She thought she knew love…… He thought he never wanted love….. Together they will show each other what they can’t live without.