Book picks similar to
Lock Down by Aella Black


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Elemental Thief


Rachel Morgan - 2018
    Outlawed magic. A heist that’s about to change everything. In a near-future city shielded from the destructive elemental magic that rages through the wastelands, seventeen-year-old Ridley steals from the wealthy and secretly gives to those in need—which is far less of a crime than the other thing she spends her free time doing: using magic. When the stranger who follows her home after her latest heist ends up murdered in the alley behind her apartment, everything starts going wrong. Her best friend is accused of the crime, and the guy who set him up is someone Ridley would rather stay far away from. Archer Davenport is heir to the city’s largest fortune. He represents everything Ridley hates—and that was before he landed her best friend in prison. He’s also the guy she just stole from. Though Ridley would prefer to keep her distance, she’s about to find herself spending a whole lot more time with Archer. Because that ancient artifact she just stole? Turns out it could unlock secrets that will put many lives in danger. Now Ridley and Archer will have to put their differences aside in order to uncover their true enemy and keep that information from winding up in the wrong hands. A brand new urban fantasy series with a dystopian flavor!

When the Red Wolf Runs


Kody Boye - 2020
    At least, that's what I've been told my entire life. The truth is: no one's seen one since they went extinct in the wild twenty years ago.No one except me.This occurrence would be strange on any day. But minutes after I think I see a red wolf in the wild, a new family moves in across from me, and I meet none other than Jackson Meadows. He claims to be from out of town, but something tells me he and his single father hold a secret that goes back generations—and may change the town forever.

Born


Tara Brown - 2012
    There are no regular people anymore."Ten years ago when the world ended she ran for her life.Five weeks ago the world she'd hidden from came knocking on the door of her secluded cabin.Ten days ago she found salvation hiding amongst the dead.Yesterday she went back for the living.Today she wonders if she will live to see tomorrow.What do you do when the world you were born to is gone?Where do you hide when even your own body isn't safe?Emma ran when her daddy told her to. She hid like he said she should. He was the first person she turned her back on. The first one she let die.Ten years has gone by and she still lives by the simple rules he taught her when she was nine years old."Don't help anyone. Don't go where other people are unless you have to. Trust no one. Always pull the trigger."Until one night she hears the worst sound in the world, a knock. A simple, timid knock, on the door to her cabin.Only the voice of the brave little girl, ready to die for her brother, persuades Emma to open the door.As her fingers turn the lock, she has a terrible feeling she will regret her decision.But even as regret fills her world, so do love and companionship. Things she never imagined she would ever have again.Everything comes at a cost; you decide what you'll pay.

Incarnate


Jodi Meadows - 2012
    For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.No soulEven Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?HeartSam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Immortal City


Scott Speer - 2012
    He grew up in the spotlight, and in less than a week he'll become the youngest full-fledged Guardian ever. People around the world are lining up to pay for him to keep them safe. His lifelong dream of becoming a hero is finally within his grasp - and he can't afford to let the parties, paparazzi, or red carpets distract him.But Jackson's high-profile life takes an unexpected turn when he meets seventeen-year-old Maddy. She's smart and down-to-earth, and sees Jackson for who he is and not for his celebrity. They forge an instant - and electric - connection. Their vastly different backgrounds seem like the only obstacle in their path to being together . . . until something much more dangerous threatens to destroy their chance at love.Because not everyone worships the Angels: a bitter killer is murdering the Guardians one by one. And it's up Maddy to save Jackson - he's next in the killer's sights.Set in a reimagined Los Angeles that sparkles with glamour and celebrity worship, Scott Speer's Immortal City is charged with passion and haunted by themes of power and idolatry.

Semester Aboard


Elizabeth Kirke - 2011
    But she could never have fathomed how life altering the sea would be.With seagulls cawing overhead and whitecaps crashing against the hull, Jen catches a glimpse of something not humanly possible. She would have believed it to be a dream, had certain enigmatic passengers not gone out of their way to cover it up.Determined to discover the truth, Jen finds herself face-to-face with a nightmarish creature prowling the ship on the hunt for its next victim. Can she learn to tap into the newfound energy swirling around her in time to save all those aboard? Or will the vessel sink under a tidal wave of looming darkness?Semester Aboard is the award-winning first book in the Urban Fantasy series, More than Magic, featuring witches, vampires, werewolves, and a host of other paranormal creatures. If you like your magic mixed with a little mystery and sweet romance, you’ll want to sail away with this one today.

Sword Fight


Nathan Van Coops - 2019
    But when a tragic murder casts her out of the noble society she’s relied on to protect her, she has to master the way of the sword to fight her way back.The king is searching for the next knight to sit at the Round Table, but Valerie only wants justice. To get it, she’ll enter his tournament and face road warriors from all over the kingdom.Outmatched and unknown, her only hope for survival is a brooding swordsman mentor, a blade with no name, and one legendary car.If you like epic tales of bravery, romance, and revenge, you'll love this high-octane, swashbuckling adventure.

Fighting for Foster


Bex Dane - 2020
    She's forbidden. Unattainable. Out of my league.All these years, I've struggled to deny the relentless desire to make her mine.But not anymore.Her dysfunctional crime family is destroying her and breaking her soul.I can't let that happen.So I'm infiltrating her secret world to save her.But can I earn her trust and convince her to leave before we both get killed?If you like possessive alpha-males and edge-of-your-seat action, you'll love Fighting for Foster.

Tricked


Jessica Lynch - 2020
    Me, too.It all started with a stupid fight. Honestly, I was probably looking a reason to storm out of the apartment and get away from my boyfriend’s disappointed sighs for a few minutes. A walk in the nearest park was just what I needed.What I didn’t need? To impulsively walk through a ring of strange-looking mushrooms only to end up in the mythical, magical world from my mother’s supposedly made-up fairy tales.Faerie. I’m in Faerie.As soon as I cross over, I’m lost. The fairy circle is gone, the trees all look the same, and I don’t have any idea where I am, or how I’m going to get home. I think I can trust the pixie.Nope.Maybe the pair of dwarves who seem so kind?Yeah. Seem is the key word there.By the time I’m on my way to the auction block at the Faerie market, I can’t help but stew over all of the ways I’ve been tricked. This sucks. And it only gets worse after that…

Queen of the Warrior Bees


Jean Gill - 2019
    Together they must change the world. As the Mages of the Citadel fight amongst themselves and prepare for war against the Forest, Mielitta, a despised servant, has her own battle to face. Bastien and Jannlou, the boys who terrorised her as a child, have grown into their status as Mages and she cannot escape them forever.In desperation, she flees to the forbidden Forest and its dangerous attractions. Her scent angers thousands of bees and, although she survives their attack, she has changed. A strange bee symbol glows on her thigh and her senses are altered. She learns that her connection with bees enables her to summon their aid and gives her the power to shift shape.This new-found bond works both ways and the bees need Mielitta's help as the rift widens between Forest and Citadel. Can one girl and a colony of bees reunite Man and Nature, or is the split irreversible?Block Nature out and she'll force a way in.

Captive


Leigh Talbert Moore - 2014
    Red Dawn meets LOST in this New Adult action-adventure romance.Prentiss Puckett is certain of three things:-Graduation is two weeks away.-Summer only gets hotter in south Mississippi.-She's getting a job with air-conditioning.  She did not expect to be kidnapped walking to work.And she never expected to become a hero.

The Second Wave


Krista Street - 2018
    Now, everyone thinks they’re safe—including Davin. As the oldest among his siblings, Davin plans to leave for college after a short visit with his divorced father on the Cheyenne River Reservation.But then the Makanza sirens go off, and everything changes.The warning alarm splits the soft April skies over the vast, South Dakota prairie. Against all odds, the virus has returned, and the outbreak is only a few miles from his father’s ramshackle home.Davin can only watch, helpless, as his family succumbs to the virus, and when coughs rattle his chest, he fears death is inevitable.But a different fate awaits Davin. As his body fights the virus, it isn’t dying. It’s becoming something different. Something that will leave him with strange new powers… and make him a hunted man. The Second Wave is the first installment in a complete series where fantastical powers collide with modern science. Dive into this imaginative and romantic series today!

WarMage: Unexpected


Martha Carr - 2020
    Girl works to befriend dragon. A large, red, dangerous dragon. Raven Alby will have to train her new ride and save the dragon’s life or die trying. Mix in starting at Fowler Academy as a first year, becoming a stronger mage and oh... people disappearing. It's all adding up to typical teenager stuff for a young mage.First lesson Raven will learn? Don’t ever let anything come between a girl and her dragon.

Escape The Deep


S.T. Branton - 2020
    Maybe a monster is exactly what the earth needs. ​My name is Sara Slick, and I was an average teenager. I worked hard. Followed the rules. Took care of my family. But normal dissolved the night that the hidden world of The Far showed up to accuse my dad of heinous crimes against the magical community. To protect the ones I loved, I took the blame and the sentence of ten lifetimes in The Deep. No human had ever been sent to this paranormal prison.They didn’t think I’d last the night. They couldn’t have been more wrong.I survived by becoming the kind of human the magical world feared. Now, a decade later, I need to escape from hell before the home I sacrificed everything for meets its end at the hands of a maniacal, master wizard and his army of fanatics. What’s one army against the heinous Sara Slick?

The Stars Never Rise


Rachel Vincent - 2015
    Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her.