Book picks similar to
American Gypsy Girl by Mary Zinda


young-adult
contemporary
good-reads-giveaways
fiction

Forever Blue


Jennifer Edlund - 2011
    Alexa Moore is just a regular teenager seeking acceptance from her peers. With heartbreak and humor, these two friends expose a world of secrets and learn to survive in the face of life’s contradictions. When Carter’s dark life suddenly unveils before Alexa’s eyes, she witnesses her best friend be beat down mercilessly by his stage mother’s antics. And the truth about his father is exposed after he’s accused of domestic abuse. Its Alexa’s strong will and determination that helps Carter pull through his darkest hours. The two are bonded by a love that only deepens as they grow. However, the closer they get, the more Carter’s mother will do what she can to keep her son from being distracted, going as far as trying to rip their friendship apart. The two are forced keep their childhood romance hidden from prying eyes. Then, Alexa’s world shatters the day she comes home and discovers Carter’s family packed up and gone without a word.Fifteen years later Carter Storm resurfaces as a Grammy award winner. While he’s living life in the Hollywood fast lane, Alexa struggles to keep it together after her parents are killed simultaneously in two very tragic accidents. Just when all seems lost, Alexa is sent to Las Vegas for a job that requires her to do celebrity makeup. It is here she unexpectedly reunites with the boy she never stopped loving: Carter Storm. When an inexplicable attraction leads to a shocking betrayal, Alexa faces the hardest question of her heart: When does love cross the line of moral obligation. And how far will she go to hold on to her past?Above all, this is a story about friendship--its risks, twists, turns and complications---and how it weathers the challenges of love, and most of all, growing up.

Mercy


K.C. Decker - 2020
    And it has nothing to do with his label of transference.I've worn all types of labels over the years--non-believer, pariah, deranged, orphan... it's all in my file if you care to understand me better.But the label that seems to have implanted the deepest and garnered the most attention is the one I wear like a Scarlet Letter. It precedes me when I enter a room and is whispered about like a schoolyard crush.Paranoid Schizophrenic. MERCY is a sexy new standalone that explores the taboo relationship between doctor and patient. It's deliciously naughty, while still delivering all the feels readers have come to expect from National Award-Winning Author KC Decker.

Home to Stay (Clocktower Romance)


Becke Turner - 2020
    She’s determined to open Robey’s Rewards to support her family and honor her husband, but first she has to win the only available lease in historic Sunberry. Wouldn’t you know, Ryan is her competitor? And she for sure won’t be falling for him in the middle of a fierce competition.Desperate to keep her three teens inside the law, Ava moves to her hometown. Renovating Gram’s old farm will keep them out of trouble while she negotiates a lease in the historic district. Just when she thinks she’s achieved success, her wayward boys find more trouble. Worse, their rescuer turns out to be the Marine who led her deceased husband on his fatal patrol.She’s not falling for his kindness, his help with her boys, or his help repairing the farm. Besides, he’s trying to ease his guilt by helping out the poor widow and her kids. She almost lets down her guard until she learns he’s her competitor on the only available lease. Too bad for him because she and her boys are going to kick him to the curb and win that lease.Five years haven’t eased Marine officer Ryan Murphy’s guilt about losing the best man in his unit. Now, he’s losing his heart to the man’s widow. But how does he choose between a comrade and a widow, especially when the family he never believed he could have is right in front of him? If you like a second chance romance with a courageous woman willing to risk everything for family, you’ll enjoy Becke Turner’s award-winning romance HOME TO STAY. Escape to the Sunberry, North Carolina world of romance, pick up your copy of HOME TO STAY, today.

Inevitable


Tamara Hart Heiner - 2013
    But when she witnesses a murder, Jayne finds herself caught up in a dangerous world of intrigue and suspense.As it turns out, she is not the only one doing the stalking. The killer is on to her, and all of her visions of the dying don't reveal how her life will end. Somehow, she must stop the murderer before he arranges Jayne's own inevitable death.

The Daughter Claus


D. Thrush - 2013
    Santa is a grumpy workaholic who focused all his attention on grooming her brother to fill his boots when he retires. But Nick has plans of his own to become a rock star. Now after a family emergency, it's up to Tina to leave college and return home to the North Pole to temporarily manage the family business.Not only does she have to deal with a long distance crush on her brother's band mate, rowdy reindeer, and family drama, but there's also her irresistible ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, her best friend's flirtation with an elf, and way too many Peppermintinis at the local pub. Christmas Eve is quickly approaching and she's counting on her undependable brother to deliver the presents. It's not easy being Santa's daughter!Crazy fun, girl power, and Christmas magic make this a fun story any time of year!

Chancing Hope


Lisa Slater - 2018
    If only Kerwyn could apply those same qualities to his relationship with the vibrant Mable Conner, who just happens to be his long-time childhood best friend. Haunted by the pain his father endures at the loss of his mother, Kerwyn feels determined to not make the same mistakes. He decided to set her free a long time ago, but can he? Should he? Mable Conner has big dreams, but growing up is hard, and life is demanding big changes. Desperately in love with her best friend, Kerwyn, how does she get him to sees her as the woman she is becoming, and not the little girl he grew up with? Also, wants to be a singer more than anything, and she’s got the voice and spirit to make it happen. With the right opportunity, anything could happen. But would leaving to sing mean leaving Kerwyn? Does he even care if she stays or goes? When mysterious, loner Devin Hill, begins interfering, the changes quickly become an eerily, unstoppable force. To Kerwyn, Devin could be a dangerous threat. To Mable, Devin could be an opportunity. The changes they encounter may not be what either of them had expected. They both may just be left to Chancing Hope. Max Van Zile, editor with Editing for Authors, writes about Chancing Hope, “Chancing Hope is one of my favorite books I’ve done working for this company.” Regarding a miscreant character, Mr. Van Zile writes, “He ends up becoming the single best and most memorable villain in any Editing for Authors book I’ve worked on.” Chancing Hope is a very coming of age, heart felt novel with emotional twists.

Love in a Pawn Shop


Bonnie Edwards - 2013
    . .Dix is good with two out of three. She’s had it with dusty shelves, desperate people and her teenage brother. With Riley about to graduate, Dix is ready to buy her one-way ticket to Paris.Then sexy cop Dane Caldwell walks into her store on the hunt for stolen goods, and threatens her brother and her business.The worst threat is to Dix’s heart…if she loses that, she loses her dream.Dane soon realizes he’s found love in a pawn shop. Even the pit bull thinks he’s okay. Now all he has to do is convince Dix that love is more than just another complication.

The Rock Star's Daughter


Caitlyn Duffy - 2011
    After all, he is the lead singer of a world-famous rock band, constantly on the cover of music magazines and giving interviews on MTV. He pays for Taylor to attend the Treadwell Academy, a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts, and provides her mother with monthly checks to cover her basic needs, but has never made much of an effort to play an active part in Taylor’s life. Taylor's mom Dawn is the only family she has ever really known, and because of Dawn's hard-partying Hollywood lifestyle, studious Taylor is happiest on the other side of the country in Massachusetts with her nose buried in a book.When Taylor 's mom unexpectedly dies the summer before Taylor starts her junior year, she receives a crash course in fame. She has no choice but to join her father and his new family on their summer concert tour before she has even had a chance to mourn the loss of her mother. Life as the daughter of a rock star seems like it would be enviable, but Taylor can't figure her dad out. He seems like a supportive authority figure (even if he's kind of a fashion tragedy) , but she is collecting a growing pile of evidence that he's a liar and a cheat. Her stepmother, Jill, can’t seem to decide if she wants to treat Taylor like a girlfriend or a nuisance. Having had no time to grieve and say goodbye to her childhood before being thrust into the limelight, Taylor is suddenly finding herself in situations she could have never imagined before this summer.With no one else to turn to, Taylor falls head over heels in love with Jake, the teenage son of one of the band's touring groupies. Taylor has growing concerns about Jake's background and the suspicious relationship between his mom and her own father, but is desperate for something real in her life onto which she can build a future. When Jake offers Taylor an opportunity to join him on a whirlwind adventure and leave her problems with her father far behind, Taylor has to decide – should she carve out her own way in the world, or try to repair the relationship she has with her only living parent? Over the course of the summer with the band, Taylor learns the depths of her own strength, the difficulty of overcoming loss, and that the definition of family means much more than shared bloodlines.

Dolphin Girl


Shel Delisle - 2011
    Wild. Graceful. Free. But these days her life is nothing like that. Between her mother’s strict rules and the cliques at school, she feels strapped in a child-sized life vest. It’s not until Jane gets a tattoo and befriends popular Sam Rojas, a star on the school’s swim team, that her life feels freer. She begins to wonder: Is there a way to be myself and not be alone? While she navigates these murky waters, a wave of events crash down on her, separating her from her family, her best friend Lexie and Sam, who Jane's fallen fin over tail for. Now she must figure out how to surf through rough seas without having everything she cares about pulled under. DOLPHIN GIRL, author Shel Delisle’s first novel, is a story of family, friendship, first loves and most importantly – freedom.

The Keatyn Chronicles: Books 1-2


Jillian Dodd - 2016
    She's popular, goes to the best parties, dates the hottest guy, and sits at the most-coveted lunch table. But she's thinking about giving it all up to date an adorable surfer. So she writes a new script. One where all the pieces of her life come together in perfect harmony. But little does she know, there's someone who will do anything to make sure that doesn't happen.Book 2 - Kiss Me Keatyn's always written scripts for her perfect life. But she never would have scripted this ... She's now at a boarding school, where she has new challenges to face. Like tutoring a hottie god that tortures her with his smile. And having the most popular girl hate her, because of a guy. So she's decided to stop trying to script her life, and just live it. Because who knows how long she has left.

A Love Thicker than Blood


Aurora Hanson - 2019
    When her parents arrange to get her married to the very man that her twin sister is deeply in love with, her life is turned upside down. Jess's only option is to run away, taking a train with no destination and little hope. When she makes a new friend on the train and gets introduced to her charming brother, her life finally seems about to take the right turn. But will she dare to follow a road she has never chosen before, with her heart as a compass?Cooper Tremaine has everything a man could ever want: he is a hard-working rancher and his coffers are full. And even though the only thing he lacks is a sweet love, capable of shaking his world, his aching past makes it hard for him to trust anyone. When his sister brings home a charming friend, he suddenly finds himself uncertain of what to think. Will he allow himself to trust Jessamine, and discover that she is different from any other woman he has ever met? Or will he stay away from love once again, fearing that he might get hurt?Jessamine and Cooper find the chance to learn a lesson for life, and develop unprecedented feelings by each other's side. But could their happiness last? When Jess's past comes back to haunt her and keep her from the love she'd always wanted, how will she call for help? Will Cooper be capable of following the signs and even risk everything to save her?"A Love Thicker than Blood" is a historical western romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

The Rancher takes his Convenient Bride: a Sweet Marriage of Convenience Western Romance


Shanae Johnson - 2020
    He’s got just 90 days to break ground, construct, and open the elite forces training camp he and his men have been planning since they left the military. The problem is his camp, which is on the grounds of the Purple Heart Ranch, needs access to the adjoining creek for their training exercises. Luckily, the stunning female rancher who owns that piece of land is willing to make a deal. Cattle rancher Brenda Vance is shedding ranch hands who can’t stand working for a woman. But she’s also bleeding money as she modernizes her property. To cover the debt of the technological advances, she agrees to sell the creek to Keaton. But the only way to cut through the red tape and transfer the land quickly enough to meet his 90 day deadline is to get married. Their iron-clad prenup protects her assets, but what will protect her heart? As Keaton and his unit of Army Rangers work the land with no problem taking orders from a woman, Brenda has dangerous dreams of this marriage lasting longer than the red tape requires. Dating isn’t on Keaton’s to do list, but a woman like Brenda makes him want to move love to the top of his priorities. Will these two stick to the deal and go their separate ways once the camp is up and running? Or will they change their plans and make this marriage of convenience last?

Ambush in the Everglades


Petie McCarty - 2012
    Trapped with nightfall approaching and no way back, Kayli learns some tough lessons from her sexy but volatile airboat guide: Trust means everything in the dangerous River of Grass, and a skilled partner makes all the difference in your survival. Skye Landers takes the airboat safari gig as a favor to his cousin who is called out of town. Skye doesn't expect the governor's photographer to catch his eye, but Kayli Heddon is unlike any woman he has ever met. He knows he should keep his distance, but common sense flies out the window whenever she gets near. Unfortunately, Kayli values honesty above all else, and placing her trust in Skye tests her resolve--especially when he turns out to be a fraud. When secrets from his past chase them into the Everglades, Kayli and Skye are soon on the run from more than just alligators.

Magnolia Tree


June V. Bourgo - 2018
    Aided by her grandmother who returns to the farm, Sydney must rely on her instincts to uncover the mystery.But do they have enough clues to unravel the truth about her mother’s disappearance?Praise: ★★★★★ - "Hooked me right from the start and kept me guessing throughout." ★★★★★ - "Filled with characters that you can relate to. A great mystery."

Too Close


Lilliana Anderson - 2013
    You don’t understand how important she is to me,” I ramble. I guess I’m in shock because all I can think about is the sight of all that blood over Katrina’s beautiful face. “She’s my world. I can’t lose her.”This is book one in the novella series 'The Beauty in Between' the companion series to Lilliana Anderson's best selling 'A Beautiful' series.