Book picks similar to
Dirty Little Secret by Rachael Brownell


college
romance
new-adult
brothers-best-friend

Better With You


Gianna Gabriela - 2018
    With killer looks and so much money he doesn't need his football scholarship, you'd think that he would have nothing to worry about.But behind his picture-perfect life lurks a dark secret - something that Colton has been forced to keep to himself for fear of what happens if he speaks out. Torn up inside by the deceit, he shuts everyone out, not allowing anyone to get close enough to see what hides behind the mask...That is until Mia Collins crosses his path, shakes his resolve and forces him to realize he doesn't have to be strong all the time.

Recovered


Jay Crownover - 2018
    However, I couldn’t stop myself from trying to save him from himself when no one else would. In the sweltering heat of the summer, Cable taught me that having it all means nothing if you can’t have the one thing you want more than anything else.CableI was obsessed with Affton Reed.She was rigid, uptight, and no fun. There was something about her innate goodness that called to me.She acted like she was above all the normal faults and failures that clung to the rest of us like the scent of smoke after a fire.I was infatuated with her, but that didn’t stop me from acting like she didn’t exist.In the scorching heat of summer, Affton taught me that there is always a way back from the brink of despair. She showed me that the trick to having it all was realizing that it was already there, in my hands. All I had to do was hold onto it.The road to recovery is full of twists and turns no matter who is in the driver’s seat.

Finding Me


Stephanie Rose - 2016
    . . Abandoned by a father who didn't want me. Cherished by a stepfather, though I wasn’t his. Shattered by a boy who swore he loved me. But I belonged nowhere, to no one. Then I met Owen, the sweet-talking hockey player who made me love him. He gave me the courage to trust in someone besides myself. He showed me a love I longed for. When an unwanted ghost comes knocking on my door, my heartbreaking history threatens to repeat itself. But where do I turn if I lose everyone? And how do I find where I belong, when I’m still Finding Me? Finding Me is a spinoff from the Second Chances series and can be read as a standalone.

Suddenly Forbidden


Ella Fields - 2018
     We were never meant to let go, but it happened anyway. Too bad I didn’t know someone was waiting to take my place, or I would've held on a lot tighter. Two years later, we were exactly where we'd always planned to be. I'd kept my promise. He'd forgotten all about his. Not only had he moved on, but the person he'd moved on with was my best friend, leaving me to begin college with a broken heart. I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to tell you some other guy stepped in, repaired my shattered pieces, and made me smile again. This isn't that kind of story. My heart might have been broken, but it refused to fall out of love. WARNING: this book contains cheating.Each book in the Gray Springs world can be read as a standalone.

Interference


Harlow Cole - 2019
    It’s true. Ask anyone. I threw my first curveball the day I was born. The whole damn town is waiting on me. To live up to my father’s famous name. To reach for the stars. All I want to reach for is her. But Ashley is the sweet addiction I can’t afford. She’s my best friend’s sister. Hell, she’s practically my little sister. For years, I’ve protected her from guys that want one thing. What happens now that I’ve turned into one of them? Who’s gonna shield her from the way I was made, from my little white lies and from what I’m about to become?My game plan sounds simple: Pitch my way into the Major League draft and stay out of Ashley Foster’s pants. That first part may be statistically difficult. The second feels damn near impossible. Ashley: From the moment we met, I knew he was trouble. The kind my mother sent me to find. The type that ruins you for any other brand. When we were young kids, I didn’t know what to call the frogs and butterflies that danced in my belly whenever Brayden came near. Now I know they have a name. Those three little words that could heal or destroy him. Before Brayden, my life was normal. And then it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Ever again. How was I to know stealing his seat would change all our lives?Anger and forgiveness share two halves of the same coin.Our story might make you choose sides.

More Than This


Jay McLean - 2013
    So when betrayal and tragedy come in quick succession, Mikayla is completely destroyed. Suddenly, everything she loved and everyone she relied on are tragically, irrevocably gone.Jake, a handsome boy she just met, happens to witness her loss. With no one to turn to, Mikayla is forced to depend on this near stranger and his family, and he in turn is determined to take care of her. But Mikayla—thrust into adulthood with no one to guide her—is desperate to contain her grief and hide what she considers to be her weakness. Mikayla and Jake both want more, but despite their growing closeness and intense chemistry, she tries to keep her distance and protect her heart. As he does everything in his power to win her trust, Mikayla must choose between remaining alone and safe or letting love in.

The Plan


Ella James - 2017
    Woman feels her biological clock ticking and gets someone to knock her up. Not for love, for baby. Crazy, right? That’s what I thought. Then I found out my fiancé had a vasectomy. The life I thought I had? Nope. Suddenly I’m 33, and I don’t even have a kissing buddy. When my mom’s health takes a turn and I wind up back in my hometown of Fate, Alabama, I tell myself to leave things up to…well, you know. Then I see Gabriel McKellan. He’s Fate’s most famous son, a bestselling author who is beautiful, complicated, and living just below me. In addition to his plus-sized brain, Gabe’s well-endowed in other ways, and great in bed to boot. I would know. He's my ex husband. When I suggest The Plan, I don't imagine that he'll take the bait. It's been ten years, and we don't work. But Fate has other plans for both of us.

Mister Know It All


Amélie S. Duncan - 2021
    Listening Length 10 hours and 8 minutesA romantic comedy set in the world of Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward's Stuck Up SuitWhat’s a girl to do when she discovers that her boss/boyfriend (I don’t need a lecture, thank you very much!) is a cheating windbag?Dump him and quit her job, of course.After that, it was supposed to be the Summer of Me—a totally self-indulgent few months.Except that I met a drop-dead gorgeous Viking with a bossy attitude.We clashed on his arrogance and crassness, but geek bonded over Star Wars and Star Trek.He offered himself as a no-strings-attached candidate for my get-my-groove-back sex plan, and I left because he already had a girlfriend, even if they were on a break.But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.I really, really needed to find someone less complicated, but he infiltrated my thoughts.He was hot, after all (And his towel might have slipped on purpose.) Seriously hot.No matter how many times I decided not to pursue anything with him, he kept showing a softer side of himself.But we couldn’t keep going like that, neither here nor there.Some decisions had to be made.One that could change everything.If someone had told me how my Summer of Me would end? I’d never have believed them.But I regret nothing.

Little Lies


H. Hunting - 2020
    You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords.And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.A standalone angsty new adult romance. Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )

Fake It 'Til You Break It


Meagan Brandy - 2020
    He didn’t have to break me to win. But he did it anyway.

Bad Boys Break Hearts


Micalea Smeltzer - 2020
    Rich. Hotter than sin. The campus’s reigning bad boy. We knew each other once upon a time, but even if I’m named after a princess, it doesn’t mean my life is a fairytale. My plan is to keep my head down, get my degree, and leave this town.But the moment Mascen Wade recognizes me all my carefully laid plans come crumbling down. He’s decided he wants to make my life a living hell. But I’m not so easy to push around and won’t put up with his bully playground antics. Too bad for me I’ve never been able to resist him.

With This Heart


R.S. Grey - 2014
    Well, that is, until I met Beckham. Beck was mostly to blame for my recklessness. Gorgeous, clever, undeniably charming Beck barreled into my life as if it were his mission to make sure I never took living for granted. He showed me that there were no boundaries, rules were for the spineless, and a kiss was supposed to happen when I least expected. Beck was the plot twist that took me by surprise. Two months before I met him, death was knocking at my door. I'd all but given up my last scrap of hope when suddenly, I was given a second chance at life. This time around, I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers. We set out on a road trip with nothing to lose and no guarantees of tomorrow. Our road trip was about young, reckless love. The kind of love that burns bright. The kind of love that no road-map could bring me back from. **Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.**

Bro Code


Kendall Ryan - 2018
    In a word, she’s dangerous. And completely off-limits.Falling for her could ruin everything.Yet I can’t seem to stop, even when her company is threatened by a lawsuit, and my promotion hinges on representing the opposing client—and winning.I can’t see a way out of this mess that doesn’t end in a broken friendship, a broken heart, or a ruined career.I may have broken the bro code when I fell for Ava. But do I have the balls to handle what comes next?

Fighting Chance


Lea Coll - 2022
    James rejected me in high school. It's her cluttered storefront I have a problem with. Still, it’s hard to stay mad at her when she’s more beautiful than I remember and her son keeps finding new ways to sneak over to my hardware store every chance he gets. While I admit he needs a male figure in his life, I’m the wrong guy for the job. Despite my reluctance, the little guy brings us together even as our pasts keep us apart.I’m falling deeper for this woman, and the more I get to know Savannah, the more I realize I may have misjudged her. Maybe we can get a second chance after all.

In This Moment


Autumn Doughton - 2013
    A year ago her world imploded and Aimee has been running ever since. She doesn't want to feel. She doesn't want to remember. To bury the ghosts that haunt her, she is living a life that has become unrecognizable.Cole Everly is a golden boy with a cocky smile and an attitude to match. He's grown accustomed to girls throwing themselves at his feet, but when Aimee trips and literally lands in his lap one afternoon, she's not at all what he expects. Difficult, damaged, closed-off. If Cole needed to make a list of qualities to avoid in a girl, Aimee would probably match up with every single one of them. He knows that he should stay away but he's drawn to her in a way that he can't exactly explain.In this honest and absorbing story, Aimee and Cole struggle to sort out the thin spaces between loss and love. Ultimately, they will need to learn how to navigate through the pieces of the past if they want to hold on to the future and each other.