Book picks similar to
This Too Is Love by Anya Monroe
young-adult
ya
pregnancy
stand-alone
From Ashes
Molly McAdams - 2012
So of course she follows him to Texas when he leaves for college. She just didn't expect to be so drawn to their new roommate, Gage, a gorgeous guy with a husky Southern drawl. The only problem? He's Tyler's cousin.Gage Carson was excited to share an apartment off campus with his cousin. He didn't mind that Tyler was bringing the mysterious friend he'd heard about since they were kids ... until the most beautiful girl he's ever seen jumps out of his cousin's Jeep. There's something about Cassi that makes Gage want to give her everything. Too bad Tyler has warned him that she's strictly off-limits.Despite everything keeping them apart, Cassi and Gage dance dangerously close to the touch they're both been craving. But when disaster sends her running into Tyler's arms, Cassi will have to decide whether to face the demons of her past ... or to burn her chance at a future with Gage.
Phantom Limbs
Paula Garner - 2016
Since then, it’s been three years of radio silence, during which time Otis has become the unlikely protégé of eighteen-year-old Dara—part drill sergeant, part friend—who’s hell-bent on transforming Otis into the Olympic swimmer she can no longer be. But when Otis learns that Meg is coming back to town, he must face some difficult truths about the girl he’s never forgotten and the brother he’s never stopped grieving. As it becomes achingly clear that he and Meg are not the same people they were, Otis must decide what to hold on to and what to leave behind. Quietly affecting, this compulsively readable debut novel captures all the confusion, heartbreak, and fragile hope of three teens struggling to accept profound absences in their lives.
Heartbeat
Elizabeth Scott - 2014
She's being kept alive on machines for the sake of the baby growing inside her.Estranged from her stepfather and letting go of things that no longer seem important—grades, crushes, college plans—Emma has only her best friend to remind her to breathe. Until she meets a boy with a bad reputation who sparks something in her—Caleb Harrison, whose anger and loss might just match Emma's own. Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death—and maybe, for love?
I'll Meet You There
Heather Demetrios - 2015
But after graduation, the only thing separating Skylar from art school is three months of summer…until Skylar’s mother loses her job, and Skylar realizes her dreams may be slipping out of reach.Josh had a different escape route: the Marines. But after losing his leg in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be.What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and, soon, something deeper.Compelling and ultimately hopeful, this is a powerful examination of love, loss, and resilience.
Shh!
Stacey Nash - 2015
She has it all, until Christian breaks up with her in public, calling her out as a self-gratifying sexoholic: the kind that plays solo. But Olivia doesn’t masturbate all night — the only thing she does is sleep … right?Now all the boys on campus seem to want her attention for the absolutely wrong reason — including resident hottie, Logan Hays. He's pulling out his best moves to gain her attention, so resisting his sexy charm is hard work. With rapidly slipping grades, a disturbingly lurid reputation and demanding parents, Olivia must discover the truth behind her rumoured sleeping problem. If she doesn't, the perfect life she's worked so hard for may slip away, including the one person who has Olivia breaking all her rules — Logan.What do you do when you’re asleep?***Shh! is a story about acceptance, learning to trust and in turn love while facing life's unexpected difficulties.NB: This book is of a mild heat level, and contains no sex scenes.
North of Beautiful
Justina Chen - 2009
She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?Written in lively, artful prose, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley has woven together a powerful novel about a fractured family, falling in love, travel, and the meaning of true beauty.
Best Kind of Broken
Chelsea Fine - 2014
Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward.All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.
Hope for Garbage
Alex Tully - 2014
No matter how hard he tries, this seventeen year-old just can’t get a break. Through no fault of his own, he finds himself living with his alcoholic uncle on the outskirts of Cleveland. His days are filled with garbage-picking and hanging out with his seventy year-old neighbor, who also happens to be his best friend.One early morning while scanning the streets in a posh suburb, he meets Bea, a rebellious rich girl with problems of her own. She’s smart, cute, and a glimmer of light in his dark world.But in the midst of their budding romance, Bea’s beautiful mother enters the picture with an agenda of her own. She sets off a chain of events so shocking and destructive, Trevor's crazy life soon becomes more than he can handle. While he is desperate to save his relationship with Bea, he learns that nothing in his world can be saved unless he first saves himself.Hope for Garbage is a story about resilience—about overcoming adversity under the most extraordinary circumstances—about never, ever, giving up hope.Because sooner or later, everybody gets a break.
Hidden Deep
Amy Patrick - 2015
You might think she'd be happy to see him again. Not exactly. She's a bit underdressed (as in skinny-dipping) and he's not supposed to exist. After her father's affair, all Ryann wants is to escape the family implosion fallout and find a little peace. She also wouldn't mind a first date that didn't suck, but she's determined not to end up like her mom: vulnerable, betrayed, destroyed. Ryann's recently moved back to her childhood home in rural Mississippi, the same place where ten years earlier she became lost in the woods overnight and nearly died. She's still irresistibly drawn to those woods. There she encounters the boy who kept her from freezing to death that long ago winter night and was nowhere to be seen when rescuers arrived. He's still mysterious, but now all grown-up and gorgeous, too. And the more she's with him, the greater the threat he poses to Ryann's strict policy-- never want someone more than he wants you. Seventeen-year-old Lad knows the law of his people all too well: Don't get careless and Don't get caught. It's allowed his race to live undetected in this world for thousands of years, mentioned only in flawed and fading folklore…Lad's never been able to forget about Ryann since that night ten years ago. When he sees her again, his fascination re-ignites and becomes a growing desire that tempts him to break all the rules. He's not even supposed to talk to a human, much less fall in love with one.And the timing is atrocious. The Assemblage is coming, the rift between the Light and Dark is widening, and mysterious celebrity fan pods are becoming more and more widespread and influential. Lad may have to trade his own chance at happiness to keep the humans, especially Ryann, blissfully unaware and safe.
Taking Flight
Adrian R. Magnuson - 2012
Two unlikely companions meet in midair: 13-year-old Jeremy, sent against his will by his career-absorbed father to spend the summer with his bipolar mother, and Harry, one-legged and afflicted with mid-stage Alzheimer’s, who escapes the confinement of home for what may be his last adventure. Their journey begins, trailed by Harry’s wife and Jeremy’s parents, who threaten to cut it short. It’s a race against time and circumstance. "In Adrian Magnuson's Taking Flight a curmudgeon losing his memory and a snarky teen fleeing his parents find a common passion in bird watching. Endearing characters, delightful story and a poignant final scene give this book wings along with the beautifully depicted birds.” —Frances Wood, author of Brushed by Feathers: A Year of Birdwatching in the West "Taking Flight is an evocative and moving contemporary novel. It is, at every level, a story about love. For one character it is a coming of age tale, for the other the end of an age. Both are runaways, yet each ultimately is searching for home. I highly recommend this heart-touching, beautifully written book." —Andrea Hurst, president of Andrea Hurst Literary Management “Filled with well-developed, real-life characters, Taking Flight’s heart-breaking but satisfying story hits on all cylinders: action, comedy, and emotion.” —Terry Persun, award winning author of Sweet Song
Willow
Julia Hoban - 2009
But they never made it--Willow lost control of the car, and both of her parents were killed.Now seventeen, Willow is living with her older brother, who can barely speak to her. She has left behind her old home, friends, and school. But Willow has found a way to survive, to numb the new reality of her life: She is secretly cutting herself.And then she meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is. When Guy discovers Willow's secret, he pulls her out of the solitary world she's created for herself, and into a difficult, intense, and potentially life-changing relationship.Julia Hoban has created an unflinching story about cutting, grieving, and starting anew. But above all, she has written an unforgettable tale of first love.
The Sun Is Also a Star
Nicola Yoon - 2016
Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
Married by Mistake
Abby Gaines - 2007
That really was Casey Greenebeing jilted by her fiancé on live TV! And that really was Memphis's most eligible bachelor who stepped in to marry her instead. Millionaire businessman Adam Carmichael wanted only to help Casey save face. He isn't prepared for the news that their "fake" wedding is legal and binding. While they secretly wait for an annulment, media and family scrutiny forces them to put on their best loving-couple act. Except by now, neither one is quite sure who's acting....
A Sliver of Hope
Karla J. Nellenbach - 2013
Apparently, I was wrong.Twin sisters share a unique bond, one that can't be broken by miles, time, or even death. Hannah and Hope Morton are no exception. When Hope takes her own life, Hannah loses a sister and a best friend, a catastrophe she isn't sure she'll survive herself. With her family in ruins, Hannah is slowly disappearing, drowning in a sea of misery. Even her wild, energetic best friend can't pull her out of her grief. Desperate to help Hannah, her brother comes home from college, bringing his best friend Julian along, the first boy to break Hannah’s heart. None of their efforts are enough to pull Hannah off her self destructive path, though. Julian is the only one who can get through to her, working his way into her frozen soul with cocky remarks and genuine love that warms her from the inside out. As Hannah works to find answers, she continues to uncover new secrets and people that reveal a side of Hope she had never shared with her twin. Alone now, Hannah must make a decision of her own: move on and start a new life with the people she has left, or let the weight of her grief drag her down with her sister.
Breathe, Annie, Breathe
Miranda Kenneally - 2014
No matter how far she jogs, she can't escape the guilt that if she hadn't broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she's at war with her body, her mind-and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms...and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.