Book picks similar to
Bastard by J.L. Perry


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Hero


Samantha Young - 2015
    Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they're on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again…

Flip Trick


Amo Jones - 2018
     I had a one-night stand. Then in true me fashion, I left my phone at his house during my desperate venture to escape. I tried hard to ignore the texts sent to my best friend’s phone... Amethyst: Sup, these selfies are cute as shit, but your lips looked better wrapped around my… I did NOT text him back. I DID vow to never speak of him, or that night again... I’m Amethyst Lily Tatum, and up until this point, I’d managed to maintain a fairly low-key life. I’m what you would call a socially unacceptable hot mess. Instead of partying, I’m skating, flipping ollie’s over guys who loved to underestimate me. Then I started college, met a wild girl who I would soon call my best-friend, had my first drunk one-night stand, left my phone at his house, and then, when I finally managed to meet my mom’s new boyfriend, I found out that my one-night stand, was now my new stepbrother. *this is a standalone novel*

Sex, Not Love


Vi Keeland - 2018
    We met at a wedding—him sitting on the groom’s side, me sitting on the bride’s. Stealing glances at each other throughout the night, there was no denying an intense, mutual attraction. I caught the bouquet; he caught the garter. Hunter held me tightly while we danced and suggested we explore the chemistry sparking between us. His blunt, dirty mouth should’ve turned me off. But for some crazy reason, it had the opposite effect on me.We ended up back in my hotel room. The next morning, I headed home to New York leaving him behind in California with the wrong number.I thought about him often, but after my last relationship, I’d sworn off of charming, cocky, gorgeous-as-sin men. A year later, Hunter and I met again at the birth of our friends’ baby. Our attraction hadn't dulled one bit. After a whirlwind trip, he demanded a real phone number this time. So I left him with my mother’s—she could scare away any man with her talks of babies and marriage—and flew back home.I’d thought it was funny, until the following week when he rang the bell at Mom’s house for Sunday night dinner. The crazy, gorgeous man had won over my mother and taken an eight-week assignment in my city. He proposed we spend that time screwing each other out of our systems. Eight weeks of mind-blowing sex with no strings attached? What did I have to lose?Nothing, I thought.It’s just sex, not love.But you know what they say about the best laid plans…From #1 New York Times Bestseller Vi Keeland, comes a new, sexy standalone novel.

Swear on This Life


Renee Carlino - 2016
    As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

All the Pretty Lies


Michelle Leighton - 2013
    However, with a history like hers, she can understand why her brothers and her father want so much to protect her. She has gone along with it for twenty long years, but those days are over. For the girl who never makes promises, Sloane has made a pact with herself that things will change on her twenty-first birthday. So when the clock strikes midnight, Sloane strikes out to spread her wings and break a few rules.Him…In addition to inking skin, Hemi Spencer possesses many talents. Controlling himself has never been one of them. It’s never had to be. He’s lived a life of indulgence for as long as he can remember. Right up until tragedy struck. Now, he’s nothing but controlled. He’s a man on a mission, one who will let nothing and no one stand in his way.Them…Nothing in their lives could’ve prepared Sloane and Hemi for what they’d find in each other—distraction and obsession, love and possession. But the one thing they can’t find is a future. Neither one has been totally honest. And they’ll soon learn that the devil is in the details. In the details and in the lies.How far will two people go to live in the now when the now is all they’ve got?

Chase


Chantal Fernando - 2013
    Chase now has to convince the only woman he has ever wanted that he is worth the gamble.Recommended for readers aged 18+

Three Wishes


Kristen Ashley - 2011
    Her family had three wishes and they’d only ever used one so Fazire was stuck in the human world. This worked since he’d become a member of the family anyway. Even with a genie, Lily's young life wasn’t perfect. To escape the kids making her miserable at school, Lily buried herself in romance novels. One day, when the teasing was just too much, she used one of her wishes. She told Fazire she wanted to find a man like in her books and she made the most complicated wish Fazire had ever heard. Her wished-for man had to be impossibly handsome, virile, fierce, rugged and ruthless (amongst a dozen other things). He also had to think she was beautiful and he had to love her more than anything in the world. Nathaniel McAllister wasn’t born to a life where there were such things as genies granting wishes. His life was filled with drugs, crime and neglect. He was running errands for a gangster before he was in his teens and, even though life and hard work led him to wealth and respectability, he always knew, deep down, he was dirty. When Nate met Lily he knew he was no good for her but as virile, fierce, rugged and ruthless as he was, Nate was no match for the pull of sweet, innocent Lily. Unfortunately, Lily’s wish included that she and her hero go through trials and tribulations to test their love. And Fazire wasn’t only a good genie, he loved Lily – so he gave her exactly what she wanted.

Reclaiming the Sand


A. Meredith Walters - 2014
    Tormenter and tormented. Villain and hero. Ellie McCallum was a bully. No connection to anyone or anything. A sad and lonely existence for a young woman who had come to expect nothing more for herself. Her only happiness coming from making others miserable. Particularly Freaky Flynn. Flynn Hendrick lived a life completely disconnected even as he struggled to become something more than that boy with Asperger's. He was taunted and teased, bearing the brunt of systematic and calculated cruelty, ultimately culminating in a catastrophic turn of events that brought Ellie and Flynn’s worlds crashing down.But then Flynn and Ellie grew up. And moved on.Until years later when their paths unexpectedly cross again and the bully and the freak are face to face once more.When labels come to define you, finding yourself feels impossible. Particularly for two people disconnected from the world who inexplicably find a connection in each other. And out of the wreckage of their tragic beginnings, an unlikely love story unfolds.But a painful past doesn’t always want to let go. And old wounds are never truly healed…and sometimes the further you try to run from yourself the closer you come to who you really are.

Sweet Home


Tillie Cole - 2013
    But when Molly leaves England's grey skies behind to start a new life at the University of Alabama, she finds that she has a lot to learn — she didn't know a summer could be so hot, she didn't know students could be so intimidating, and she certainly didn't know just how much the folks of Alabama love their football.When a chance encounter with notorious star quarterback, Romeo Prince, leaves her unable to think of anything but his chocolate-brown eyes, dirty-blond hair and perfect physique, Molly soon realises that her quiet, solitary life is about to dramatically change forever...Mature New Adult novel — contains adult content, highly sexual situations and mature topics. Suited for ages 18 and up*

Facing The Enemy


M.E. Clayton - 2019
    Growing up in an abusive household, she endured a life of violence that ultimately led to the murder of her mother. However, she's only a couple of months away from turning 18, so she's got it covered. At least, she thought she did until her guilt ridden aunt comes and takes her in. Now, living miles away, where money is worshipped like a deity, she realizes she's a far cry away from the trailer park she called home. ​ Ramsey Reed wasn't blinded by money, power or social standing, even though he had all three of those things in spades. He knew people with money were just as degenerate as people without it. The wealthy were just able to pay people to look the other way, while the poor could not. He was only 18-years-old, but he was already sick and tired of the people around him. They were nothing but tools he used for his entertainment, and he found himself not being entertained much these days. When Emerson shows up at a pre-school year party and meets Ramsey, their connection sparks a battle of wills so strong, neither is certain if they'll be able to hold on to their sanity. And, yet, neither of them cared. Warning: While the story contains a HEA, it is a dark romance, bully read. It contains triggers and can be offensive to some readers. Please do not purchase if sensitive to such materials.

Josh & Hannah


Lynda Chance - 2013
    She's perfect and new . . . but she's a McIntyre. She's from the richest family in the county, and he's a Turner, from the wrong side of the proverbial tracks. And to make matters worse, there's no love lost between their families.New Adult 92K words / suitable for 18+ AN ALPHA-MALE IN THE MAKING

Pure Will


Kristi Pelton - 2014
    Will spiraled into a world of darkness following an unbearable hurt…in turn using women and alcohol to dull the pain.Two wounded people…coming together under awkward circumstances…healing each other…until the bad boy from Camden’s past finds her…Does Will have the power to fight for someone worth fighting for?Camden Biggs, the daughter of a professional baseball player…lost her mother at age 9. Eager to be loved, she fell in love with the hottest, bad boy she’d ever met at age 15, Max. Totally off limits and living under the same roof, she succumbed to his manipulations until he was forced out of her life—hanging on to a promise to only give herself to him. Will Denton raised by a trailer trash father and a trust fund mother had a taste of both worlds and all sorts of women—especially when he dove into a world of darkness following a tragedy and loss of his own. Camden, now a senior at the University of Kansas where she tutors the hottest, most talented athletes hides behind her outgoing roommate Kate—who is sexually active enough for both of them; Camden lives vicariously through Kate while still trying to heal her wounds from the past—until Will Denton comes home with Kate one night. Though he slept with Kate, he sets his sights on Cam. Camden finally succumbs to the gorgeous eyes and body of Will Denton. And as Will is finally starting to tear down the walls that Cam has built over the years…Bad Boy Max makes a reappearance to reclaim what was once his.

Dear Ava


Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2020
    Once upon a time, I wanted to be part of their world--until they destroyed me.The last thing I expected was an anonymous love letter from one of them.Please. I hate every one of those rich jerks for what they did to me. The question is, which Shark is my secret admirer?Knox, the scarred quarterback.Dane, his twin brother.Or Chance, the ex who dumped me. . .Dear Ava,Your eyes are the color of the Caribbean Sea.Wait. That's stupid.What I really mean is, you look at me and I feel something REAL.It's been ten months since you were here, but I can't forget you.I've missed seeing you walk down the hall.I've missed you cheering at my football games.I've missed the smell of your hair.And then everything fell apart the night of the kegger.Don't hate me because I'm a Shark.I just want to make you mine.Still.Mature Content. Recommended for 18+.A short excerpt of Dear Ava appeared in Team Player 2. (No longer available) This all-new, full-length version is 376 pages and 100,000 words.

Monster


Francette Phal - 2014
    But how does one persevere when in the clutches of a Monster?

Windows


Emily Minton - 2013
    Each time, gaining a piece of her heart and leaving a bit of his behind.Lucas was in love with the girl next door, but he ruined any chance he had of making her his. So, he moved on without her.Lindy gave her heart to the boy next door, but he left her humiliated and heartbroken. So, she started a new life without him. They both head off to college, leaving the other behind. Lucas finds success then misery on the Football field. Lindy finds new love, but it never feels quite right. Years later, Lucas and Lindy find themselves back in their hometown. Will Lindy open her window again and give Lucas another chance?***This novel contains adult situations and may not be appropriate for readers under eighteen.