Book picks similar to
Our Secret by Belladona Cunning
college
new-adult
romance
bully
Kicked
Celia Aaron - 2016
Perfect-Has-Everyone-Fooled Carrington.He’s the star quarterback, university scholar, and happens to be the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. He shines at any angle, and especially under the Saturday night stadium lights where I watch him from the sidelines. But I know the real him, the one who broke my heart and pretended I didn’t exist for the past two years.I’m the third-string kicker, the only woman on the team and nothing better than a mascot. Until I’m not. Until I get my chance to earn a full scholarship and join the team as first-string. The only way I'll make the cut is to accept help from the one man I swore never to trust again. The problem is, with each stolen glance and lingering touch, I begin to realize that trusting Trent isn’t the problem. It’s that I can’t trust myself when I’m around him. This is a full-length, sweet, hot, safe, standalone American football romance novel.
Let Love In
Melissa Collins - 2013
Ripped from her home and everything that she has ever loved, she is forced to start all over again. The only way for her to move on is to build walls around her heart and keep everyone at a safe distance. Her logic: she can't get hurt if she doesn't fall in love. That theory is blown to pieces when she meets Reid Connely during her freshman year at college. He is gorgeous and darkly mysterious. He understands Maddy's pain all too well, but sharing his pain would mean breaking down the walls he put up around his own heart. Conflicted between loving Maddy and hiding his dark past, Reid starts to reevaluate his world. Maddy's inner strength, snarky personality and breath taking beauty help Reid to make peace with his past. Together they find out what happens when they let love in.
Cherry Girl
Raine Miller - 2013
Spin-off, yet can be read standalone. Book 1.Elaina Morrison has loved Neil McManus her whole life. She doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t love him. Through heartbreaking tragedy and years of separation, her love holds true…until life stomps all over her heart, shattering her perfect dream, teaching her how hard it is to let go.Real life doesn’t have anything on romantic dreams though, as these two have learned repeatedly. It sucks big time, leaving painful scars in its wake. But Neil isn’t giving up. He’s endured years of longing and sacrifice to wait for her. Always a soldier, he knows his way around a battlefield, and winning Elaina is no different. So that’s precisely what Neil is going to do. He'll go in fighting, and make Elaina see what he already knows.That she will forever be his Cherry Girl…
Unbreakable
Abby Reynolds - 2014
This is a stand alone novel. It is not a cliffhanger. And it is the first novel in the Forehead Kisses Series. Can there be too many pieces to piece back together? This is a question Keira faces every day. It’s impossible for her to go anywhere unaccompanied by her cousin, the only person who knows what happened on that horrific night a year ago. The guilt and pain weigh her down every day. Unwilling to open up to anyone and give someone a chance, she lives in solitude. For her, that’s the only way to live. Liam struggles with his own demons. After losing someone who means the world to him, he combats his anger and pain on a daily basis. He dives into violence and sex, losing himself more and more. But as soon as he meets Keira, he recognizes the same pain he suffers every day. And he pursues her, wanting to connect to someone who understands. Keira can’t put herself back together, and neither can Liam. But can they do it together?
Bombshell
Jen Frederick - 2018
One minute I was arguing with my three-month-old about how many grapes she could stick in her tiny mouth and the next minute I was staring at the face of the father of my child. The guy ghosted me after I told him I was pregnant. I sent him texts, called him and even posted a certified letter but received zero response. While he was down for the baby-making activities, he had zero desire to accept the consequences.So I did what any other like-minded woman would’ve done in my position. I reached into my cart and started hurling things at him. To my surprise, he not only paid for the damage but followed me home. Now, he’s telling me he never got my messages or my letter and that he’s ready to be a father. He’s patching drywall, doing the laundry, and carrying the trash to the curb, and I’m remembering what it was like when he was loving me every night. A few heated stares and a few brushes of his hand against mine and my long-dormant female parts are roaring to life. Everyone’s going to think I’m a few French fries short of a Happy Meal if I let him back into my life, but my heart can’t keep asking what if…THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN AUDIO ON THE READ ME ROMANCE PODCAST.
Spinning Out
Lexi Ryan - 2016
I had it all, and I threw it away with a semester of drugs, alcohol, and pissing off anyone who tried to stop me. Now I’m suspended from the team, on house arrest, and forced to spend a semester at home to get my shit together. The cherry on my fuckup sundae? Sleeping in the room next to mine is my best friend’s girl, Mia Mendez—the only woman I’ve ever loved and a reminder of everything I regret.I’m not sure if having Mia so close will be heaven or hell. She’s off-limits—and not just because she’s working for my dad. Her heart belongs to someone else. But since the accident that killed her brother and changed everything, she walks around like a zombie, shutting out her friends and ignoring her dreams. We’re both broken, numb, and stuck in limbo.Until I break my own rules and touch her. Until she saves me from my nightmares by climbing into my bed. Until the only thing I want more than having Mia for myself is to protect her from the truth. I can’t rewrite the past, but I refuse to leave her heart in the hands of fate. For this girl, I’d climb into the sky and rearrange the stars.SPINNING OUT is a sexy, emotional novel of 100,000 words. It is first in the Blackhawk Boys, a series of standalone novels.
The Guys Are Props Club
Ingrid Seymour - 2013
Cute guys are players and not to be trusted, a fact she learned the hard way when her first boyfriend ran her heart through a paper shredder. Two years later, her promise is still intact, and she’s determined to make it through college without falling victim to another creep. She has her job, school and The Guys Are Props Club to keep her mind and hormones in check.The club was founded by Jessica, Maddie’s best friend. It is a sisterhood of girls who have fallen prey to heartless jerks and who have vowed to turn the tables. Once a semester, Jessica requires members to “do onto others as they’ve done unto you.” Setting the example, Jessica’s next play is Sebastian Capello, a theater major with heartthrob looks and a flair for Latin dance, whose heart she plans to break the way hers was once broken.What the friends don’t know is that Sebastian is different. Despite his perfect looks and popularity, he’s not a jerk. He doesn’t play games to get his way. Instead, he keeps it real and goes after what he wants with honest intentions. And what he wants is not a bombshell like Jessica, but a down-to-earth girl like Maddie – even if it causes a riff in the girl’s friendship. Even if it means getting Maddie to break her personal vow.*** Due to language and sexual situations this book is recommended for ages 17 and older.
This Sky
Autumn Doughton - 2014
She’s no stranger to disappointment but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that unfolded when her celebrity boyfriend publicly humiliated her. Now the fairytale is officially over and Gemma is determined to put the past behind her and strike out to find a new dream. Just a few teeny-tiny details to work out: she’s currently broke, homeless and unemployed. Landon Young has his own worries. Surfer by day and bartender by night, he doesn’t have the interest or the time to be anyone’s happily-ever-after. Weighed down by the memory of what happened two years ago, Landon can barely keep his head above water. This Sky is the thoughtful and often funny story about broken trust, an unexpected love and the hopes we keep sewn in the linings of our pockets.
The Mason List
S.D. Hendrickson - 2015
An epic hate. An epic story that would last a lifetime.
Today, 8:15 p.m. I hurt. I hurt so deeply, I felt the pain searing in my bones and jabbing like a hot poker into my heart. I knew nothing would make it better as the memories pulled from the crevices of my mind, detailing the bad and the ugly, filling my thoughts with regret as I slipped into the darkness. . . When I was eight, my mother was dying of cancer, my father lost his job, and the bank kicked us out of our house. I was forced to move to the strange town of Arlis, Texas where my father and I slept in our car in the hospital parking lot. Desperate and hopeless, we lived on fumes of our former life. Then one night, everything changed forever. A knock on the car window brought a family into my life that I only wanted to shut out. I hated charity and I hated the Masons. Well, except one. He made it impossible to hate him. Jess Mason had the biggest blue eyes and ornery smile of any boy I had ever seen. He was a ray of sunshine in my dark world. A boy full of adventure, dragging me across the meadow of Sprayberry Ranch; a beautiful Texas paradise full of horses and tree houses that got us into more trouble than anyone ever imagined. Jess was my everything as a kid until we grew up and the rules changed. Instead of living happily ever after with a boy full of love. . . I destroyed it.- Alex Tanner Author Note: The Mason List is a coming-of-age story that follows the life of Alex Tanner from the age of six to twenty-six. The novel crosses the genres of Young Adult and New Adult. The Mason List is a standalone, 118,940 word, full-length novel.
Deliverance
A.T. Smith - 2014
That’s what Abigail Adams had been living. Since as early as she could remember she had been in the deepest darkest pits there was on this earth. Finally having the courage to stand up against what she knows was wrong, finally escaping the abusive life she was living, she moves into the happiness and comfort of a happy home. Tragedy strikes again and Abbi is left alone once more, her life in danger daily. After three years on the cold streets on London she is taken in by the Sexy, rich, intoxicating and intriguing Alpha male; Leighton Lock. Can Leighton help fix Abigail, to mend her broken and scarred heart or will her life continue in the relentless spiral downwards? With danger following Leighton at every turn, will he be able to protect both of them, can Leighton save Abbi before everything just becomes too much to handle. Follow Abigail and Leighton as they begin this passionate, erotic and dangerous journey that will change both of their lives. Contains explicit M/M, M/M/FF, F/F and M/F sex scenes, strong language and violence
3:AM Kisses
Addison Moore - 2013
Love is the last thing on the list, but when Baya meets her brother’s roommate she begins to have thoughts and feelings that make even her blush.Bryson Edwards has a secret he prefers buried in the past and long forgotten. He prefers loose girls, fast cars, and long nights working at the string of bars his family owns. When his roommate’s sister shows up on the scene, she’s far too innocent and sweet for him but he can’t shake Baya out of his mind and worse, it looks like she’s seeping into his heart as well.Baya seems determined to show her brother she’s not a little kid and equally determined to use Bryson’s body to prove her point. It’s been made pretty clear that Baya is off limits to Bryson but their undeniable sparks explode into a whole lot more than just a few 3:AM kisses.
Hate Mates
Mickey Miller - 2020
Or the one about his father, the head football coach. Or even the one about his special talent between the sheets.I’m talking about the one where he has a female roommate in an all-male dorm.I can’t speak to the first three, but that fourth one is true. I know because that girl in his room is me.Because of an error by the college, I’m placed with Mr. Campus Celebrity in the traditionally male dorm.Is he panty-meltingly handsome with an attitude to match? Sure.Do I accidentally fanaticize about him one (okay, maybe two) times? Fine, I’m honest enough to admit it.None of that matters, because we’re opposites in all the ways that are important for getting along as college roommates:He comes from a perfect life and old money. I come from a broken home and bowls of ramen.He’s at Greene State to party. I’m here to study.He’s a popular jock. I wouldn’t be caught dead playing sports.To say we get off to a rocky start would be an understatement.Ironically, that’s what causes our sizzling attraction to boil over one night. But even that comes at a price.Because our story has a twist neither of us could see coming.One that changes both of our lives, ‘till death do us part.
The Locker Room
Meghan Quinn - 2019
One rowdy and naked encounter against the lockers with the girl of your dreams will make her your wife. Translation: baseball players are stupidly superstitious and believe the locker room has magical powers. But not all baseball players are superstitious, me included. So when the girl I've fallen for brushes me off, I start to question if I need to switch my way of thinking. Maybe it's time I finally hand out a coveted invitation to the locker room. The only question is, will she accept?
How to Love
Katie Cotugno - 2013
But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.
After:
Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.
No Reverse
Marion Croslydon - 2013
No need to say: their shotgun wedding was low-key. But when there was no baby anymore, they went their separate ways.Five years later, Josh has breezed through Georgetown and is about to finish his post-grad degree at Oxford University. He is set to join a lobbying group on Capitol Hill, owned by his new fiancée’s father. For Josh, the sky is now the limit… only he must first take care of a tiny legal matter: technically, he’s still married to the girl who broke his heart. Meanwhile, Cassie has been waiting tables in Steep Hill to pay for her sick grandmother’s care. On the day of the old lady’s funeral, Cassie is served with two sets of papers. Josh is asking for a divorce. Her heart squeezes, but, well, he moved on a long time ago. But the second envelope shakes Cassie to the core. So, for the first time, she leaves Kansas and heads to good ol’ England.There, Cassie finds that Josh has not just “moved on,” he’s freakin’ engaged to some blue-blooded heiress. The feelings Cassie had buried deep rush back to her. But no matter if he keeps thrusting the divorce papers under her nose, she needs him to save the only person she loves more than Josh, more than life itself…