Book picks similar to
Getting Real by Ainslie Paton


romance
music
ebook
contemporary-romance

One S'more Summer


Beth Merlin - 2017
    She knows it’s wrong and it has to stop, but she hasn’t been able to let go ever since they all met on the bus to summer camp back when they were 7 years old. The same week that her best friends finally announce their wedding date, Gigi loses her high-profile design job. With all of her dreams unravelling, she runs to the last place she remembers being happy.Taking the Head Counselor position at Camp Chinooka, Gigi hopes to reclaim the joy she felt as a camper, but the job isn’t all campfire songs and toasting marshmallows. Gigi’s girls are determined to make her look bad in front of the boys’ Head Counselor—the sexy but infuriating Perry—and every scrap of the campground is laced with memories.When Gigi finally realizes she can’t escape the present by returning to her past, she’s forced to reexamine her life and find the true meaning of love. But will she be able to mend fences and forgive herself before she loses her one real shot at happiness?The Campfire Series1. One S’more Summer—Releases May 30, 2017!2. S'more to Lose—Coming December 2017!

Savor You


Emily Snow - 2013
    Not when their attraction is constantly fueled by lust and proximity—she’s her older brother’s Lucas’s assistant and Wyatt is his best friend and band mate.So when Your Toxic Sequel makes a move to record a new album in Nashville, Kylie decides to make the latest break with Wyatt official by getting the hell out of town. She’ll spend a week in New Orleans. A week to immerse herself in the Mardi Gras scene. One week to not think about the last time she was in New Orleans, seven years ago with Wyatt. Seven days where she won’t have to see Wyatt every day just to fall ridiculously in love with him all over again—where, if she wants to, she can have a normal, no-strings attached fling that won’t end in heartbreak.Too bad Wyatt ruins everything by showing up, as gorgeous and demanding and awful for her as ever.Wyatt refuses to let Kylie give up on him. Not without reminding her why they both fell so far and hard in the first place. Not without making her savor the good memories and what could be their last chance with each other.

Out of Love


Hazel Hayes - 2020
    Burdened with a broken heart, she asks herself the age-old question . . . is love really worth it?Out of Love is a bittersweet romance told in reverse. Beginning at the end of a relationship, each chapter takes us further back in time, weaving together an already unravelled tapestry, from tragic break-up to magical first kiss. In this dazzling debut Hazel Hayes performs a post-mortem on love, tenderly but unapologetically exploring every angle, from the heights of joy to the depths of grief, and all the madness and mundanity in between. This is a modern story with the heart of a classic: truthful, tragic and ultimately full of hope.

Rock F*ck Club


Michelle Mankin - 2017
    On my knees. Against the wall. On my titsI don't care. As long as I get the evidence to prove it. Why? Because I caught my former prick of a boyfriend from Heavy Metal Enthusiasts doing a groupie doggie style backstage on the night we were supposed to be celebrating our 1 year anniversary.He told me I was too uptight. Too vanilla. Too boring. So I got drunk with my bestie, Marsha West, the aspiring videographer. I ranted. I raved. I came up with a crazy idea. What I didn't know was that my best friend recorded me. Marsha put the video up on YouTube. It went viral with 10 million hits. Now I've got fans and sponsors offering me big bucks.Rockstars are volunteering to be my f*ck buddy.Hollywood is calling.I get to choose which rockstars I want.The stakes are high.This sh*t just got real.What could go wrong?

Before You


Lisa Cardiff - 2014
    Luckily, she has Camden… Her childhood friend. Her savior. Her boyfriend.Even after Camden leaves their hometown to chase his dream to be a musician, Aubrey can’t imagine her life without Camden and his family.Before starting a job search for her own dream job, Aubrey decides to visit Camden in California for a month. But when she arrives, something unexpected happens…she meets Jax Carmichael, the lead singer in Camden’s band. Jax Carmichael doesn’t have time for a relationship…much less love. Even if Aubrey is irresistible, she’s a complication he doesn’t want or need. He has spent the last few years building Chasing Ruin, and the band is on the verge of being signed. Pursuing Aubrey could destroy his band, and he’s worked too hard to be successful without his family’s money, or connections, to let that happen. Aubrey feels an attraction to Jax like something she’s never experienced before. Confused, she tries to resist, but when her relationship with Cam begins to unravel, she realizes that Jax might just be the one thing she needs.

Drowning


Rachel Firasek - 2013
    She's a party girl that doesn't believe in love until she meets a man that only writes about it.Seth James escaped his overbearing father and moved into one of the James family's vacant condos, hoping to create the music he loves in peace. But the fragile calm he's envisioned shatters when a tiny woman with a world full of energy bounces out of the elevator and nearly takes him out.With the patience of a saint, Seth seeks the dark that keeps Alice from enjoying life. He challenges her to exorcise the demons in her past in order to discover the true meaning of love. But when the walls fall down, the hidden deceptions will bare the ugly truth about a woman drowning in sorrow and a man who may not know how to be her hero.

Wild Irish


C.M. Seabrook - 2017
    I just didn't expect to find it in the form of Cillian Gallagher. The gorgeously tatted lead singer and guitarist of Wild Irish, Cillian is everything I've always tried to stay away from. He's wild and dangerous. And exactly what I need to cross off number four on my bucket list. Kiss a complete stranger. It should have been that simple. But I wasn't prepared for the scorching heat that would ignite a passion, leaving us both gasping for air. It was never meant to be more than a fling. I didn't expect that when I left Ireland, I'd be leaving a piece of my heart, or how our lives would be intertwined even when we were thousands of miles apart. One last request. One life-changing list. One month of no regrets. I ran from my boring, simple life, straight into the arms of trouble. The thing with trouble is that it has a way of finding you, no matter where you go.

My Soul to Keep


Kennedy Ryan - 2015
     KAI I had two things in life that mattered. My mother and my music. Mama was taken from me too soon, and now music is all I have left. It’s the thing that’s pushed me right out of backwoods Georgia into Los Angeles, where the line between fantasy and reality shimmers and blurs. I’m finally making my way, making my mark. I can’t afford to fall for one of music's brightest stars. Not now. Music is all I have left, and I’m holding on tight with both hands. I won’t let go, not even for Rhyson Gray. RHYSON I had one thing in my life that mattered – music. The only constant, it’s taken me to heights most people only dream about; a gift dropped in my lap at birth. I thought it was enough. I thought it was everything until I met Kai. Now she’s all I think about, like a song I can't get out of my head. If I have to chase her, if I have to give up everything - I will. And once she's mine, I won't let go.

Chasing Dreams


Nicole Edwards - 2013
    And he has knowingly just dropped off the grid. The first decision he has made on his own in quite some time. Cooper only thought he was looking for a challenge when he walked off of that concert stage in Chicago. After finding himself in Devil’s Bend, Texas, he soon realizes that the dream he’s been chasing might not be the one he was after all along. Now he’s found himself not only starting over in a new town, but he’s pretty sure he’s met the toughest challenge of his life... she just happens to be an angel in blue jeans. Tessa Donovan hasn’t been the best of friends with Fate for quite some time now. Owning and operating The Rusty Nail, a small bar in her hometown of Devil’s Bend, has been enough to keep her going through the motions of her life. But it’s the only thing she’s got. After losing her husband fifteen short months after they were married, Tessa has spent the last four years chasing dreams in order to maintain her sanity. Only those dreams are soon ripped right out of her grasp by a sexy country music star who claims he descended on her small town by accident. Coincidence? Or has Fate stepped in once again? Whatever the case, Tessa knows the handsome cowboy might get to overtake her dreams, but she’s bound and determined that he won’t take her heart.

Dirty Like Me


Jaine Diamond - 2016
    An indecent proposal. How can a girl resist?Struggling barista Katie Bloom doesn’t even know who Jesse Mayes is until she inadvertently wins the coveted role of sex kitten in his hot new music video.But by the time she’s in bed with him, she knows his reputation.Love maker. Heartbreaker. Making out with a stranger in front of a camera crew isn’t how Katie imagined herself getting over a broken heart, but when Jesse touches her, sparks fly. The sex is fake but the chemistry is real, and before long, the steamy video is blazing up the charts.Then Jesse makes Katie a tantalizing offer: act as his girlfriend for six weeks while he promotes his new album. The only catch? Their sizzling make-out sessions will be for the cameras only.Which suits Katie just fine, since she’s not about to trust her heart to rock’s most legendary lover. Her body, though? Maybe.As it turns out, pretending to fall in love is incredibly sexy…And falling in love for real, with a man she promised not to fall for?Irresistible.

Never Say Never


Kailin Gow - 2012
    As the band's lead singer and manager, Never formed and shaped the band to where it is today, a band on the rise and on the brink of being signed by a label. As one of the guys, she knew each of the band members since they were all snot-nose ten-year-olds. While her boys were the cutest guys and they would protect her like knights, she couldn't date any one of them and ruin the chance at being signed with the record label of her dreams. That changes when one of the band members suddenly drops out of the band, and in walks Danny Blue, with his dreamy blue eyes, hot body, and British accent. Suddenly, Never's solid world has turned to mush, and her rule for not dating one of her band members is seriously challenged. Can she keep her head straight and get her band signed with a label without losing her heart?YA Mature/New Adult

Catching Lucy


Terri Anne Browning - 2015
    I’m no different. I’ve had some really amazing ups, but I’ve also had some crap-tastic downs.When I was four, my biological mother died. I don’t remember crying for her. She’d never been the type to cuddle me, tuck me in, and read bedtime stories. That job was pushed off onto my sister Lana. She did her best to take care of me until Mom died. After the funeral we went to live with our older sister, Layla and I got to see what a real mother was supposed to be like.When I was six we moved to Malibu for Layla’s new job as the housekeeper to one of the worlds most popular rock bands and their manager. When my sisters told me that we were going to live with Demons I was definitely not looking forward to it. Then I met Nik, Drake, Shane, Emmie and the man that would one day become one of my favorite people in the world. Jesse Thornton.By Christmas my oldest sister was married to the Demon’s Wings drummer. Six months later they made me theirs and adopted me. The day I became Jesse’s daughter was one of the best days of my life. I felt like I belonged to someone for the first time in my life.But you know the rules of fate, or at least the rules it feels like those bitches have specifically for me. Something truly amazing always seems to be followed by something really, really shitty. When I was nine, my real dad was released from prison and tried to take me. I still have nightmares about that night.I got through it, though. My parents sent me to a good therapist, but it was my best friend Harris who really got me through that time in my life. When I couldn’t sleep I would call him and no matter how tired he was he would stay up and talk to me until I would finally fall into an exhausted sleep. He was the kind of friend that one text and he would drop everything for me.To bad my hormones got in the way of our friendship. At twelve, puberty hit me hard, and the love I felt for my best friend got complicated with a crush. They’re called crushes for a reason, something I’d learned real quick that year. I pushed him away to avoid the agonizing pain that my crush made me feel.Now it’s been years since I’ve seen him. He’s graduated from college and moved forward with his dream by opening his first club. First Bass is the most popular nightclub in not just Los Angeles, but all of California. I’m so proud of him, but I’ve avoided going to check it out. After an email that twisted my heart into knots I’m finally going to head over there.Maybe I won’t still be crushing on him. Maybe we can go back to being best friends.Maybe…The series will have 3 novellas and end with a full length book in 2016.

Courted


Jennifer Chance - 2015
    But now I’ve got no choice.By the end of the week, I must give up my treasured military commission and take the throne. Given what my family’s already endured, I'll do it, too. There's no escape for me.Then, out on the edge of my beloved Aegean Sea, a dreamy-eyed American girl falls into my arms...and life as I know it will never be the same.Looks like we’ve got a brand new kind of fairy tale on our hands.

Because You're Mine


K. Langston - 2013
    She’s already working for one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston as a research assistant, and in a few short months, she will finally graduate from Harvard and collect her law degree. Everything she’s worked so hard to accomplish is well within her reach. But when Madison has to take an unexpected trip back home, she's blindsided by the one thing she never anticipated. A man who not only tests her patience but tempts her heart. Madison doesn’t have time for love and a love as consuming as his will only derail her perfectly laid plans. Desperate to escape his wicked past, Holden Brooks moved to Madison's hometown five years ago, hell-bent on overcoming the demons that nearly destroyed him back in Texas. He’s in a good place in his life. Love is the last thing on his mind until he tastes her honeysuckle skin and looks into those deep blue eyes. Desire ignites as their two paths collide and they soon find out, fate has a plan of its own.

Times Like These


Julia Wolf - 2019
    His words can cut, and this time, his quick temper has earned him an intruder in his life and on his tour.Dalia Brenner looks like a grown-up Annie gone bad, but he wants nothing to do with her pin-up worthy curves and smart mouth. His method of dealing is to keep his head down, get through the tour, and then he'll never have to see her again.Dalia has no intention of having heart-to-hearts with Nick. They share a bus and sleep three feet apart every night, but that doesn't mean she can't ignore the scowly, grumpy lead singer.Except she can't seem to deny the annoying instinct to "fix" the pain and grief behind Nick's sea glass eyes, even though she definitely knows better.And Nick, well, he's getting tired of denying Dalia...period.Dalia has plans though, and none of them involve being a rock star's girlfriend. Too bad Nick couldn't disagree more.