Book picks similar to
Toxic by Serena Akeroyd
contemporary
romance
second-chance
mf
Draw
Cora Brent - 2014
A set of fraternal triplets born to a depraved family, they were rough, sexy and wild as wolves."Saylor... I don’t even know if love is real. After running from the bastard who brutalized me, I limped back to Arizona, choosing a vibrant college town in the hopes of starting over. I never expected to find him there. Cord Gentry. He and his brothers were tough, lusty forces of nature I’d known since childhood. Years ago, Cord seduced me as a sick game. I’ve hated him ever since. Now here he is again, a man who beats other men bloody for money. Cord has always been heartless, dangerous, not to be trusted. And I want him so much I can’t think. Cord...They called us ‘those white trash Gentry boys’ until we believed that’s what we were. Our people squatted at the edge of a hellhole prison town for generations. The childhood we endured was the stuff of nightmares. I’d learned early on that my brothers, Chase and Creed, were the only people on earth worth my time. They all told us we were bad, that we’d always be bad. The horrors of the past have scarred my soul. But now I need to be better. For her. Warning: This book contains explicit language, sexual situations, and violence which may be upsetting to some. Draw is the first of the Gentry Boys series, however this New Adult Romance novel can be read as a stand alone.
Focused
Karla Sorensen - 2020
requited. That day was bad enough, but things just got worse.Noah Griffin turned himself into one of the best football players in the country and a transfer to the Washington Wolves— the team I work for—lands him on my doorstep. The timing couldn't be worse, because my boss just handed me the opportunity of a lifetime. And that promotion rides squarely on Noah's big, muscular, condescending shoulders.He wants nothing to do with me, and the feeling is so very mutual. But for the sake of my career, I can ignore all those things about him that drive me insane. His eyes. His mouth. His big, big … hands. Until one day, we can’t ignore them anymore.You know what they say about the line between love and hate though? They’re so very right.
Heartless
Jennifer Sucevic - 2019
Do you believe in fairytales? Well, that’s too damn bad because this story is the furthest thing from one. Once upon a time, I thought I was in love. Her name was Skye Sinclair and I had our entire future mapped out. It went a little something like this-we’d spend the summer after graduation together, attend Claremont University in the fall, I’d enter the NFL draft, and a few years after that, we’d get hitched. Know what happened instead? She dumped my a$$ after graduation and took off for Wisconsin. Wisconsin! I never thought I’d see Skye again. Actually, I’d hoped to hell I wouldn’t see her again. Want to guess who has the audacity to slink back into town after a three year hiatus? You guessed it. Skye effing Sinclair. She’s hoping we can coexist peacefully, but that’s not about to happen. It only takes one look for me to realize that I haven’t moved on. I still want her. Know what else I want? To bring that girl to her knees. Skye can pretend all she wants that she’s over me, but her body will betray her every chance it gets. I’m going to make damn sure my touch is the only one she craves. And when I’m done with her, I’ll be the one who walks away. *Heartless is a New Adult novel intended for mature audiences*
Endgame
Chloe Walsh - 2017
1. Don't fall in love in high-school.2. Get through senior year and snag a full-ride scholarship to college.3. Get the hell away from my irresponsible mother.I didn't think that was too much to ask for, and I've worked damn hard to make it a reality. Until my mother went and did the unthinkable!She's pregnant.Yep, the woman-child only went and got herself knocked-up by a man who lives on the other side of the country.As if it wasn't bad enough to uproot my life six weeks before senior year, Mom's new beau comes with baggage.A sweet stepsister, Amelia.And the b*stard of all b*stards, Rourke.Rourke is a senior like me, and he doesn't want me in his town, much less his home. He's also hell bent on making sure I know it. Thing is, I don't want to be there either, and if Rourke expects me to swan in and kiss his ass to make him like me, he has another thing coming.I'm nobody's bitch and he's about to learn that...Endgame is a feisty standalone romance. Due to its explicit content, bad language, and graphic sexual content, Endgame is recommended for mature readers of seventeen years and above.
Wicked Beautiful
J.T. Geissinger - 2015
What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again. Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago. Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?
Kane's Hell
Elizabeth Finn - 2015
Eleven years later their lives are nothing like they once were. Time has changed them … and not for the better.Helene is smart, driven, and accomplished—her education and achievements a smoke screen hiding the frigid and fragile child wounded long ago. Kane is equally obsessed with his coping mechanisms—fighting … drinking … screwing … compulsively destroying himself one vice at a time.When their paths collide again, their past becomes an obstacle no coping mechanism in the world can protect them from. But confronting the past so they can heal in the present is no easy task. Can Kane reach Helene and recapture what used to burn so warmly between them, or will his own self destructive demons pull her into his hell?A woman determined to look forward. A man always looking back. A love desperate to be restored. “You’re the brightest, warmest star in my universe. You’ll never be less than everything to me.”WARNING: This book contains darker subject matter and violent content that may be difficult for some readers.
Gravity
Lauren Runow - 2017
Spanning over twenty years—it’s raw, it’s real, asking the question if soul mates really exist.LilyAt eight years old, the boy next door changed my life. He was the force pulling me toward him despite our differences. It was like magic.We understood each other, supported each other and in the process became everything to each other.But in chasing Trevin’s dream, I lost myself along the way. TrevinThrough tremendous heartache, she was there. Through fame and fortune, she was there. Loving Lily was the one thing I got right.Eclipsing her in my shadow, I took from her until she was empty. Now I must do anything to prove I can be the man she wants, no, the man she deserves.
Heartless Hero
Mary Catherine Gebhard - 2019
with cruel protection.Love is off limits with Abigail Crowne, but no one said anything about hate.Heartless Hero is the first book in the Crowne Point universe. You do not need to read any of the others to enjoy it, though it is recommended. It will enhance your reading experience as you will catch easter eggs and the timelines overlap.
Kiss To Conquer
Anna B. Doe - 2020
Hayden thinks he knows all about Callie’s life before Blairwood and he’s not ready to let go of the past, much less forgive her for what she has done three years ago.One thing’s for sure… it’s going to take more than a kiss to conquer their broken past.Note: Kiss To Conquer is an enemies-to-lovers sports romance and it can be read as a standalone novel.
Wicked Rich: A Dark College Bully Romance (An Ivy League Alpha Novel Book 1)
C. Morgan - 2021
Hate me all you want, 'cause loving me might just be harder.No one is standing in my way of being the first to graduate from an Ivy League school.Especially not my flaming-hot first love.With his golden blond hair, tanned skin, sparkling blue eyes, and surfer’s body, every girl wants him and every guy wants to be him.It doesn’t hurt that he has a boatload of money backing him up or that his family name is on the gym at our college.When we meet again, there’s nothing left of the boy I used to know in the man he’s become.He looks at me like I’m the enemy and I know I am because, once upon a time, I broke his heart.Now, he’s out for revenge and he won’t stop until he gets it.Bring it, wicked rich bad boy.Bring it.
The Not-Outcast
Tijan - 2020
I was an outcast.He was best friends with my stepbrother, that same stepbrother who hated me.His two parents loved him. My mom was a junkie. My dad barely knew me.Years passed.I got my life together.Cut went onto NHL stardom.Then there was a text.I was drinking.There was a party.Cut was there...I loved Cutler Ryder since the first moment I saw him.The only problem? He never knew I existed.
The Secret Ex-Boyfriend
Krista Ritchie - 2017
And then we broke Aerial Ethereal’s biggest rule together. We’ve been paying the price ever since. Corporate won’t let me see her. Or speak to her. And we painfully signed on the dotted line in agreement. Erasing our secret relationship from existence. Now I’m twenty, and I hate Corporate. But I can’t leave. My family makes up one-third of Aerial Ethereal’s cast list. I love them.(And I still love her.) BAYLEE WRIGHT Luka is back. My undeniably hot secret ex-boyfriend was just shifted to the Vegas show Infini. We’re working together again on a show that means too much to me. No distractions. Even if the sexy, rebellious boy with hidden troubles completely stole my teenage heart.Aerial Ethereal demands he remains my tragic secret.This book was previously published with the title Infini.
Flip Trick
Amo Jones - 2018
I had a one-night stand. Then in true me fashion, I left my phone at his house during my desperate venture to escape. I tried hard to ignore the texts sent to my best friend’s phone... Amethyst: Sup, these selfies are cute as shit, but your lips looked better wrapped around my… I did NOT text him back. I DID vow to never speak of him, or that night again... I’m Amethyst Lily Tatum, and up until this point, I’d managed to maintain a fairly low-key life. I’m what you would call a socially unacceptable hot mess. Instead of partying, I’m skating, flipping ollie’s over guys who loved to underestimate me. Then I started college, met a wild girl who I would soon call my best-friend, had my first drunk one-night stand, left my phone at his house, and then, when I finally managed to meet my mom’s new boyfriend, I found out that my one-night stand, was now my new stepbrother. *this is a standalone novel*
Corrupt
Penelope Douglas - 2015
My nightmares, however, became my obsession. His name is Michael Crist. My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me. But I noticed him.I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away. Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore. Because he’s finally noticed me. MichaelHer name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway. Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college. In my city. Unprotected. The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out. We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true. ***Corrupt can be read as a stand-alone. No cliffhanger.