Book picks similar to
Keeping The Tarnished by Bradon Nave
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Broken
C.J. Lyons - 2013
Literally of a broken heart. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next year. But the clock is ticking…All Scarlet asks is for a chance to attend high school—even if just for a week-a chance to be just like everyone else. But Scarlet can feel her heart beating out of control with each slammed locker and vicious taunt. Is this normal? Really? Yet there’s more going on than she knows. And finding out the truth might just kill Scarlet before her heart does…
Prisoner
Annika Martin - 2014
He’s dangerous. He’s wild. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.So I hide behind my prim glasses and my book like I always do, because I have secrets too. Then he shows up in the prison writing class I have to teach, and he blows me away with his honesty. He tells me secrets in his stories, and it’s getting harder to hide mine. I shiver when he gets too close, with only the cuffs and the bars and the guards holding him back. At night I can’t stop thinking about him in his cell.But that’s the thing about an animal in a cage—you never know when he’ll bite. He might use you to escape. He might even pull you into a forest and hold a hand over your mouth so you can’t call for the cops. He might make you come so hard, you can’t think.And you might crave him more than your next breath.
Call Me Ana
Scarlet Bonnet - 2016
She pieces together a home for herself, but life begins to pass her by one mundane day after another. She’s never been in love. She’s never even felt the excitement of a heart-aching crush. That all changes when a handsome man from out of town shows up at her work. The chemistry between them is unmistakable. There’s just one problem: he doesn’t know who she really is, and if he finds out, it could shatter her world and put him in danger. How will she keep her new love, and keep him safe? Caution: This book contains violence and is not meant for young readers.
Interview with the Author:
Why did you write Call Me Ana: A Love Story?
I didn’t intend to write a romance as I wasn’t a huge fan of the genre at the time (I have since seen the light). But the characters, especially the main character Ana Marie, were so vivid and real to me that I couldn’t possibly ignore them. The story evolved as I spent countless hours day dreaming and I soon felt a pull to write it all down. I had probably been taking myself seriously as a writer for a year or two at that point, but Call Me Ana is the story that truly made me a writer. I rewrote scenes to happen several different ways, and even if I didn’t have a place in the story for a scene, but couldn’t get it out of my head, I still wrote it. This method produced a huge amount of words, but I didn’t find any of it a waste of time. To this day, I still enjoy going back and reading some of the extra scenes that didn’t make the cut. The decision to publish came in an epiphany when I realized if I didn’t put it out there in the world, the characters would die with me. This thought overcame any of the shyness I felt at putting such a personal story out there. And so here I am, still chipping away at finishing the series and slowly polishing it up to get it ready for publication.
What genre is Call Me Ana?
While it is a love story, Call Me Ana doesn’t seem to fit neatly into any romance subgenre. It has some thriller aspects to it as I wanted to write a suspenseful piece to drive the story forward. It is contemporary as it falls in modern times, although the first book could be classed as new age since it begins when Ana and Grant are young adults. There is some tragedy that Ana Marie must overcome, but ultimately, one of my goals was to write a compelling (and steamy) romance between two good, sweet characters. They both have their wild streaks, which will come out as the series progresses, but Grant, Ana’s love interest, is not a bad boy in the sense that their relationship never walks a line of abuse.
What other books are like Call Me Ana?
Call Me Ana fits in with other books where a character overcomes a traumatic, painful past laced with abuse and comes out stronger for it.
Gypsy Brothers: The Complete Series
Lili St. Germain - 2015
As the leader of the Gypsy Brothers Motorcycle Club, he was guilty of many things. But he died for a crime that he didn’t commit, framed by an enemy within who then stole his club and everything he had ever worked to protect.Including my innocence.When Dornan Ross framed my father, he set into motion a series of events that could never be undone. My father was murdered by Dornan Ross and his sons when I was fifteen years old.Before my father died, Dornan Ross and his sons stole my innocence, branded my skin and in doing so, ensured that their lives would be prematurely cut short. That they would suffer.I’ve just turned twenty-one, and I’m out for blood. I'm out for revenge.But I didn't expect to fall for Jase, the youngest brother in the club.I didn't expect that he would turn my world upside down, yank my heart out of my chest and ride away into the sunset with it.Now, I'm faced with an impossible choice - Jase, or avenging my fathers death?This bundle contains all books in the Gypsy Brothers series. The reading order for the series is:SEVEN SONSSIX BROTHERSFIVE MILESFOUR SCORETHREE YEARSTWO ROADSONE LOVEALTERNATE (bonus novella)ZERO HOUR
Girl Undercover 1: Mystery Man
Julia Derek - 2015
Next to his body is a note that says: “Rats always get what they deserve.” Her captain refuses to let her join the investigation to find Nick’s killer and instead puts her on paid leave, leaving Gabi no choice but to do her own. Convinced the reason for her husband’s murder can be found at the New York health club where she first met him, she heads to NYC and goes undercover as a trainer again—but this time around, she’s on her own. Gabi is determined to learn the truth behind her husband’s murder—even if it means she herself will die in the process. NOTE: GIRL UNDERCOVER is a twelve-part crime drama serial with some strong language.
Mice
Gordon Reece - 2001
Shelley and her mom have been menaced long enough. Excused from high school where a trio of bullies nearly killed her, and still reeling from her parents' humiliating divorce, Shelley has retreated with her mother to the quiet of Honeysuckle Cottage in the countryside. Thinking their troubles are over, they revel in their cozy, secure life of gardening and books, hot chocolate and Brahms by the fire. But on the eve of Shelley's sixteenth birthday, an unwelcome guest disturbs their peace and something inside Shelley snaps. What happens next will shatter all their certainties-about their safety, their moral convictions, the limits of what they are willing to accept, and what they're capable of. Debut novelist Gordon Reece has written a taut tale of gripping suspense, packed with action both comic and terrifying. Shelley is a spellbinding narrator, and her delectable mix of wit, irony, and innocence transforms the major current issue of bullying into an edge- of-your-seat story of fear, violence, family loyalty, and the outer reaches of right and wrong.
Some Boys
Patty Blount - 2014
Some boys will break your heart. But one boy can make you whole.When Grace meets Ian she's afraid. Afraid he'll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses the town golden boy of rape, everyone turns against Grace. They call her a slut and a liar. But...Ian doesn't. He's funny and kind with secrets of his own.But how do you trust the best friend of the boy who raped you? How do you believe in love?A gut-wrenching, powerful love story told from alternating points of view by the acclaimed author of Send.
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.
Velvet Fire
K.B. Winters - 2020
Kill or be killed. I was born into this grim reality. MaisieI never thought I’d fall in love with a cold blooded killer.But with those dreamy eyes and that smile that won’t quit.I find I’m thinking of Virgil more and more.So what if he’s a criminal.My brothers are too. I’ve been around bad boys all of my life.And I’m not sure,Is he really that bad?Even after he saves my life?VirgilI’m not a knight in shining armor,Or even one of the good guys,But I really screw up when I kidnap the wrong girl.Maisie from Texas, with curves in all the right places.She thinks I’m her salvation—her rescuer.Not the guy who drugged her...But they say everything happens for a reason,And she’s my reason.For everything.I’ll rise up for her. Protect her.Crush those who are out to hurt her,And prove not all Prince Charmings ride a white stallion.Some wear a gun.And I’ll do it for her.For us.And when she’s safe, I’ll make her mine.
Nocte
Courtney Cole - 2014
I'm eighteen years old, and I'm one half of a whole. My other half—my twin brother, my Finn—is crazy. I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I'm terrified he'll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me. I'm doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I'm drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline. Dare DuBray. He's my savior and my anti-Christ. His arms are where I feel safe, where I'm afraid, where I belong, where I'm lost. He will heal me, break me, love me and hate me. He has the power to destroy me. Maybe that's ok. Because I can't seem to save Finn and love Dare without everyone getting hurt. Why? Because of a secret. A secret I'm so busy trying to figure out, that I never see it coming. You won't either.
No Tomorrow
Carian Cole - 2018
They steal our breath.They steal our sanity.And we let them.Over and over and over again.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *They say you never forget your first love.Mine was a homeless musician who wandered straight into my soul.He was my first everything. And fourteen years later, I still can't get him out of my head.He broke all my rules.He also broke my heart.I watched him climb to stardom, cheering him on from afar.But I was never a fan; just a girl in love.Like a tornado, he spiraled, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.But love conquers all, right? It has to. Because here I stand, ravaged and ruined, needing it to be true.You can't go back, but I want to. Back to the park. Back to when he sang only for me. Before he was famous. Before he shattered my heart.I thought I knew everything about him.But I could not have been more wrong.He promised me every tomorrow. And here I am, waiting.And hoping.Again. _______________________ Note: This is not a fluffy, light read or a swoony romance. It's a journey of love between two people who can't let each other go, even though they are far from perfect. It's about loving someone who is struggling with mental illness and addiction and all the ups and downs that come with it. It's about finding a happily ever after that works between two people loving each other the best they can with patience, understanding, and unconditional love. Not everyone will agree with this kind of love and acceptance - but it exists, and it's real, and it happens every day.
The Impossible Vastness of Us
Samantha Young - 2017
I’m the only one that ever has.India Maxwell hasn’t just moved across the country—she’s plummeted to the bottom rung of the social ladder. It’s taken years to cover the mess of her home life with a veneer of popularity. Now she’s living in one of Boston’s wealthiest neighborhoods with her mom’s fiancé and his daughter, Eloise. Thanks to her soon-to-be stepsister’s clique of friends, including Eloise’s gorgeous, arrogant boyfriend Finn, India feels like the one thing she hoped never to be seen as again: trash.But India’s not alone in struggling to control the secrets of her past. Eloise and Finn, the school’s golden couple, aren’t all they seem to be. In fact, everyone’s life is infinitely more complex than it first appears. And as India grows closer to Finn and befriends Eloise, threatening the facades that hold them together, what’s left are truths that are brutal, beautiful, and big enough to change them forever…
Secondhand Sinners
Genevieve Lynne - 2016
The sins of her past still haunt her, but when her brother lands in jail, she has no choice but to go back and face her old demons.Miller Anderson has never forgotten about the girl who ran out of his life thirteen years ago… And with the secret he’s keeping from Emily, he knows he most likely never will. But when his daughter Abby plays matchmaker to set him up with his lost love, he can’t resist the resurgence of emotion that has them reliving their high school glory days.Evil has a way of waiting for what it wants…Just when Emily and Miller discover their old flame hasn’t died, they learn another fire has been smoldering in Bokchito. Her family’s long line of sins, kindled with a generation-old grudge, ignites when Emily discovers the truth about Miller’s daughter and is forced to choose between protecting Miller’s secret and the one thing she can’t afford to lose…her son Jack. Caught up in a game of lies and dirt road scandal, Emily must risk everything to save her son and preserve Miller’s good name, or let her family’s darkest secret ruin them both.
The Storyteller
Antonia Michaelis - 2011
They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?Award-winning author Antonia Michaelis moves in a bold new direction with her latest novel: a dark, haunting, contemporary story that is part mystery, part romance, and part melodrama.
Chasing Gunner (Chasing Series)
J.M. Stoneback - 2019
Repeat. I’m an empty vessel. Torn by my demons that haunt me. Until the woman I craved for nine years stumbles back into my life. Working as my Personal Assistant. Gia Gallagher. Wreaking havoc like a tornado. She knows I’m a wolf in a sheep’s clothing. She knows not to fall in love with me. She fell hard. I fell hard. And then, I broke her. I broke me. I broke us. Disclaimer: This book deals with sensitive topics and cause emotional response.