Book picks similar to
Cruel by Raven Kennedy
bully
romance
bully-romance
high-school
Skin
B.B. Easton - 2017
. . perhaps on the entire planet. He hated everyone, except for BB Easton—the perky, quirky punk chick he couldn’t avoid.BB, on the other hand, liked everybody . . . except for Knight. She was scared to death of him, actually. All she wanted was to marry Little Mermaid’s Prince Eric-lookalike and king of the local punk scene Lance Hightower.But Knight was patient. Persistent. Unexpected. And once he got under BB’s skin, her life would never be the same.A forbidden love story overflowing with '90s nostalgia, dark humor, and heart-wrenching angst, and based on a true story.
Lucas
Jay McLean - 2016
He also has an older sister, five younger brothers and a father who relies on him to make sure those brothers don’t kill each other. His saving grace? Lois “Laney” Sanders, a girl he started to fall in like with when he was just eleven. A girl who became his best friend, his confidant, his courage. It took only sixteen clicks and eight seconds for Lucas to realize that his like for Laney had turned into love. Eight life-changing seconds. It’s also the exact length of time it took to lose her.
Freestyle
Bea Paige - 2020
Dance is in my blood.It’s what keeps me sane, out of trouble. It used to keep them out of trouble too. A group of boys I grew up with.Xeno, York, Zayn and Dax.We were a crew once and we ruled the clubs.Separate we were insanely good, together we were unbeatable. F*&ing on fire. I was their girl and they were my Breakers.Until they did something they promised they never would; break my heart.We were sixteen when they left me.You see, for kids like us, dance was all we had.Growing up in a rundown housing estate in London with no prospects can make you view the world differently.It can make you choose the wrong path.I chose dance, and they chose crime.Three years later I’ve won a scholarship to Stardom Academy. I try to forget my past.But how can I do that when the four boys who hurt me are back?And this time they won’t walk away even when I ask them too.Freestyle is book one of this new gritty, contemporary reverse harem academy trilogy for 17+ readers and deals with adult themes and some subjects you may find upsetting. If you love dance, your men on the criminal side, alpha hot holes and the enemies-to-lovers trope, this is for you. Contains foul language and sexual scenes.
Dear Love, I Hate You
Eliah Greenwood - 2021
And he definitely wasn’t supposed to answer it. We end up talking through letters and sticky notes in a book. One sticky note. Two sticky notes. Ten sticky notes. All baring our darkest, deepest secrets. It’s all fun and games until I find out who my pen pal is... Xavier Emery. King of my basketball-obsessed town, my childhood bully, and the guy I am in grave danger of falling in love with. But the rules were clear: we can never know who we’re talking to, and the confessions can never, ever get out. Seriously. It would destroy lives. Fine by me. Even if Mr. Popular does find out his confidant is little old me, it’s not like he’d ever love me back…Right?
Vicious
A.E. Murphy - 2020
Usually with a hard shove or a swift swipe of her ankles.He was a vicious and unruly child; then a boy, now a man. He is in every bad memory Immy has ever had. He consumes her thoughts, her nightmares and reluctantly, her dreams; even now, years after she fled.She hoped she could stay gone, but life hands out jokers sometimes disguised as aces. The ace being her grandmother is dead, good times. The old hag can rot, but not before Immy makes the journey back to Faceless, Texas, to give a eulogy fit for no child’s ears. Releasing years’ worth of weight from her chest. A much-needed release.The joker being… this brings her straight back to her hometown, straight back to him.And unfortunately for her, he is waiting. 18+
Ignite
R.J. Lewis - 2013
They grew up together as the closest of friends... and then more. When Sara Nolan and Jaxon Barlow decided to be together, their relationship as a young couple was consumed by a love that was both passionate and beautiful. Sara had it all when it came to a boyfriend: romance, trust, and a protector of all things bad. Jaxon had given her his bleeding heart for the keeping. The last thing Sara expected was to ruin it all. Falling into a darkness that turned her loving relationship into a chaos of deceit and violence, she walked away from the pain she was inflicting on the man she loved, never seeking to return again. But when Sara is forced to return to her hometown, she didn't anticipate for Jaxon to be there. Nor does she anticipate the change in him; a change so harsh and callous, he is a stranger with a dangerous agenda of his own. Ignited by her past feelings and the reminder of the guilt she carries in her heart, Sara attempts to avoid Jaxon at all costs… only to find herself trying to pull him out of the same darkness she was once in
Trust
Kylie Scott - 2017
Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.
Dark Russian Angel
Odette Stone - 2019
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,And I witnessed a crime.The police are failing to protect me.And my chance of survival isn't looking good.Andrusha, is the cold and dangerous leader of the Vancouver Russian mafia,He's also my best chance to make it to trial alive.The only thing we have in common,Is our shared enemy.This man is everything your mom warned you about.He's ruthless.He's cold.And he likes to be in control.I should be afraid of him.I should keep my distance.So why is he the only one who makes me feel safe?Who will protect me from my protector?
Devious Little Liars
Elle Thorpe - 2020
Some of us are just better at not getting caught.”He murdered my uncle then covered it with fire. A fire that should have killed me, too. Instead, he hauled me from the floor while flames licked the walls, strong arms holding me close.He saved my life.Now I want to know why. I never saw his face. All I know is the letters on his shirt. SVH.Saint View High.The worst school in a hundred miles. Full of drugs and despair. Breeding ground for future criminals. Armed security guards and weapon checks at every door.A far cry from my privileged life of money, private school, and fancy vacations.With the police doing nothing, I take matters into my own hands. I enroll in a school I have no business being at.But the Untouchables are quick to let me know exactly how big a mistake I’ve made. They’re the group of boys even the teachers are scared of.Colt. Banjo. Rafe.Every teenage girl’s dream. Good looking. Popular. Powerful.And determined to break me.Thing is, I’m not that easily broken. And I’m coming for them, too.Devious Little Liars is the story of three bad boys and a girl who knows how to stand her ground. It is a mature high school/new adult, reverse harem, #whychoose romance, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This book contains enemies-to-lovers and bullying themes. It is the first book in an ongoing trilogy.
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.
Sweet Destruction
Paige Weaver - 2014
Rundown trailers and crime-ridden streets were my home. Drugs and alcohol were the norm and happiness was the exception. I lived from day to day never knowing if I would have a roof over my head or food in my stomach. My life sucked. It took from me and gave nothing back.But there was one certainty in my life. A black smudge on my window of hell.Cole Walker.He was a criminal. A thief. He brought hell and damnation with him wherever he went. He hurt and destroyed. He took and gave nothing in return. He was heartache and despair wrapped up in a perfect gorgeous package. Fast cars and fast women were his hobbies. His vices. But he had many.I was one of them.I was his addiction and his craving. His enemy on this earth. I feared him. I hated him. I loved him even more.
Weightless
Kandi Steiner - 2016
I remember I wanted to photograph them, the way the red and blue splashed across his cold, emotionless face. But I knew even if my feet could move from the place where they had cemented themselves to the ground and I could run for my camera, I wouldn’t be able to capture that moment. I had trusted him, I had loved him, and even though my body had changed that summer, he’d made sure to help me hold on to who I was inside, regardless of how the exterior altered. But then everything changed. He stole my innocence. He scarred my heart. He took everything I thought I knew about my life and fast-pitched it out the window, shattering the glass that held my world together in the process. I remember the lights. The passionate, desperate, hot strikes of red. The harsh, cruel, icy bolts of blue. They symbolized everything I endured that summer. And everything I would never face again.
Perfect Chaos
Nashoda Rose - 2014
Have since I was sixteen and my world fell into chaos. But I found a way to endure, or rather it found me. Now I’m a prisoner of my own doing, hiding behind a false mask so no one sees the truth. Not even the man I want but can’t have—Deck. But I messed up and the lies are spilling over, out of control. Deck is unrelenting and will settle for nothing less than the truth. He demands everything from me—EVERYTHING—even if it rips me apart.DECKI kill for a living.Unyielding—It’s how I survive in my line of work. I bend people to my will…except Georgie.But that ends now.I've played her game for far too long. Now I think it's time we play mine.
The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window
Kirsty Moseley - 2011
I can’t stand him. Well, that’s not strictly true, at night I see a side of him that no one else does. Every night Liam becomes my safe haven, my protector, the one to chase the demons of my abusive childhood away and hold all the broken pieces of me together.He’s cocky, he’s arrogant, and he’s also some sort of playboy in training. With his ‘hit it and quit it’ mentality, he’s the last person you’d want to fall in love with. I only wish someone had told my heart that…The international bestselling novel, and finalist of the Goodreads choice awards YA fiction 2012.
Paper Princess
Erin Watt - 2016
She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone. Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.He might be right.Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.