Book picks similar to
Falls Boys by Penelope Douglas


romance
new-adult
penelope-douglas
contemporary

Thorn


Tracy Lorraine - 2019
    From the moment she steps foot in Rosewood High— it's clear she must go.And I'll use my power to get rid of her. The betrayal I'm reminded of each time our eyes lock must end.She's a lost rich girl, trying to recover from the death of her parents. But none of that is my concern.This is my life. My rules. My senior year. What I say goes.And I say she's done.Until she proves me wrong...

Flock


Kate Stewart - 2020
    I gave into temptation and fed the beating beast, which grew thirstier with every slash, every strike, every blow.⁣⁣Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.⁣⁣Secrets that cost us everything to keep.⁣⁣That’s the novelty of fiction versus reality. You can’t re-live your own love story, because by the time you’ve realized you’re living it, it’s over. At least that was the case for me and the men I trusted my foolish heart to.⁣⁣Looking back, I’m convinced I willed my story into existence due to my illness.⁣⁣And all were punished.

Find Me


Ashley N. Rostek - 2021
    My parents. My twin sister. All of them murdered by the man who has stalked me for years. He nearly killed me, too. But I got away and he’s still out there, searching for me. He won’t find me. At least, I hope not. Thanks to WITSEC, I’ve been given a new life with a new identity.The present…My uncle, my only living relative, has helped me glue myself back together and given me the tools I’ll need to survive. I’m not fixed and my grief is heavy, but I’m at a point where I can put one foot in front of the other to try to move on.I know my future will be hard and lonely. I must stay strong and focus on the good. I’m getting a second chance at life. I am safe. My new home is beautiful. The four brothers who live next door are even more so. Little do I know that Colt, Creed, Keelan, and Knox will soon become my everything. It’s as if my lonely heart screamed out for someone good to find me. Four answered back.***WARNING This is a reverse harem romance. Contains violence, graphic killing, foul language, and sexual content. Some parts may be triggering.***

She Gets the Girl


Rachael Lippincott
    She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she’s not a selfish flirt. That she’s ready for an actual commitment. And while Alex is the last person Molly would ever think she could trust, she can’t deny Alex knows what she’s doing with girls, unlike her.As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.

Stay Awake


Megan Goldin
    When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers―a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, the same message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget―permanently.In the vein of SJ Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep and Christopher Nolan’s cult classic Memento, Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that plays with memory and murder.

Wicked Liars


Laura Lee - 2020
    Every last one of them. The kings and queens of my new high school.The father and stepmother I never knew. Each has more wealth and privilege than I could've ever imagined. Each has a pile of wicked dirty secrets they'd do anything to protect. These people have grown accustomed to getting what they want and what they want is to make my life a living hell. Too bad for them, you can't break someone who's already broken. Too bad for them, I won't give up without a fight. Too bad for them, I'm going to make them pay...even if it's the last thing I do. *Wicked Liars is the first book in the Windsor Academy series and cannot be read as a standalone. This is a dark high school MF bully romance that may contain triggers for sensitive readers. Due to mature subject matter, it is recommended for readers 17+ only.

The Wrong Prince Charming


Holly Renee - 2019
    But my life was no fairy tale. And in this kingdom called college, the rules went out the window. I’d known golden boy, Theo Hunt, was the one for me since we were kids. My heart was his for the taking, but I had become nothing more than the MVP of the campus king’s friend-zone. Easton Cole was a storm I couldn’t have predicted. He knocked me off my feet and stole my heart. But he was off-limits. Not only was he Theo’s frat brother but he was the teacher’s assistant in English 101 and I was acing every test. My heart was torn, my feelings tangled.Because as soon as I noticed Easton, Theo finally noticed me. I was in love with two guys, as different as night and day, but I could only have one.I only hoped I didn’t choose The Wrong Prince Charming.

Where the Road Takes Me


Jay McLean - 2015
    She’s made a promise to herself: don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone love her. She’s learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she’s focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road—her dream of freedom, at least for a little while.Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all—everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can’t let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear.One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she’s focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.

Long Story Short


Serena Kaylor
    She always thought the hardest part would be getting in, not convincing her parents to let her go. But while math has always made sense to Beatrice, making friends is a problem she hasn’t been able to solve, so her parents are worried about sending her halfway across the world. The compromise: the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy and a detailed list of teenage milestones to check off. She has six weeks to show her parents she can pull off the role of "normal" teenager and won't spend the rest of her life hiding in a library.Unfortunately, hearts and hormones don't follow any rules, and there is no equation for teenage interactions. When she's adopted by a group of eclectic theater kids, and immediately makes an enemy of the popular—and, annoyingly gorgeous—British son of the camp founders, she realizes that relationships are trickier than calculus. With her future on the line, this girl genius stumbles through illicit parties, double dog dares, and more than your fair share of Shakespeare. But before the final curtain falls, will Beatrice realize that there’s more to life than she can find in the pages of a book?In this sparkling debut from Serena Kaylor, Long Story Short is a YA rom-com about a homeschooled math genius who finds herself out of her element at a theater summer camp and learns that life—and love—can’t be lived by the (text)book.

Young Mungo


Douglas StuartDouglas Stuart
    Published or forthcoming in forty territories, it has sold more than one million copies worldwide. Now Stuart returns with Young Mungo, his extraordinary second novel. Both a page-turner and literary tour de force, it is a vivid portrayal of working-class life and a deeply moving and highly suspenseful story of the dangerous first love of two young men.Growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow, Mungo and James are born under different stars--Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic--and they should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all. Yet against all odds, they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in the literary world, Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism, the violence faced by many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

Devious Little Liars


Elle Thorpe - 2020
    Some of us are just better at not getting caught.”He murdered my uncle then covered it with fire. A fire that should have killed me, too. Instead, he hauled me from the floor while flames licked the walls, strong arms holding me close.He saved my life.Now I want to know why. I never saw his face. All I know is the letters on his shirt. SVH.Saint View High.The worst school in a hundred miles. Full of drugs and despair. Breeding ground for future criminals. Armed security guards and weapon checks at every door.A far cry from my privileged life of money, private school, and fancy vacations.With the police doing nothing, I take matters into my own hands. I enroll in a school I have no business being at.But the Untouchables are quick to let me know exactly how big a mistake I’ve made. They’re the group of boys even the teachers are scared of.Colt. Banjo. Rafe.Every teenage girl’s dream. Good looking. Popular. Powerful.And determined to break me.Thing is, I’m not that easily broken. And I’m coming for them, too.Devious Little Liars is the story of three bad boys and a girl who knows how to stand her ground. It is a mature high school/new adult, reverse harem, #whychoose romance, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This book contains enemies-to-lovers and bullying themes. It is the first book in an ongoing trilogy.

American Royalty


Tracey LivesayTracey Livesay
    More importantly, it'll grant her control over her life, something she's craved for years. But an incident with a rising pop star has gone viral, unfairly putting her deal in jeopardy. Concerned about her image, she's instructed to work on generating some positive publicity... or else.A brilliant professor and reclusive royal, Prince Jameson prefers life out of the spotlight, only leaving his ivory tower to attend weddings or funerals. But with the Queen's children involved in one scandal after another, and Parliament questioning the viability of the monarchy, the Queen is desperate. In a quest for good press, she puts Jameson in charge of a tribute concert in her late husband's honor. Out of his depth, and resentful of being called to service, he takes the advice of a student. After all, what's more appropriate for a royal concert than a performer named "Duchess"?Too late, Jameson discovers the American rapper is popular, sexy, raunchy and not what the Queen wanted, although he's having an entirely different reaction. Dani knows this is the good exposure she needs to cement her deal and it doesn't hurt that the royal running things is fine as hell. Thrown together, they give in to the explosive attraction flaring between them. But as the glare of the limelight intensifies and outside forces try to interfere, will the Prince and Duchess be a fairy tale romance for the ages or a disaster of palatial proportions?

Good Girl Complex


Elle Kennedy - 2022
    So what could go wrong?Mackenzie "Mac" Cabot is a people pleaser. Her demanding parents. Her prep school friends. Her long-time boyfriend. It's exhausting, really, always following the rules. Unlike most twenty-year-olds, all she really wants to do is focus on growing her internet business, but first she must get a college degree at her parents' insistence. That means moving to the beachside town of Avalon Bay, a community made up of locals and the wealthy students of Garnet College.Mac's had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but when she meets local bad boy Cooper Hartley, that ability is suddenly tested. Cooper is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to her ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life.Despite his disdain for the trust-fund kids he sees coming and going from his town, Cooper soon realizes Mac isn't just another rich clone and falls for her. Hard. But as Mac finally starts feeling accepted by Cooper and his friends, the secret he's been keeping from her threatens the only place she's ever felt at home.

When Rivals Fall


J.L. Beck - 2019
     Two years ago she set us up, tainted our family image, ruined my brother’s life. She made it personal. It was no longer just a rivalry between our parents. Now she’s here, at Bayshore University, without her family’s protection. There’s nothing to stop us from getting our revenge on her, no one to tell us enough is enough. And so my brothers and I have devised a plan. We’ll break her, have her falling at her knees for us in no time, and then we’ll send her back to her family with a warning… Cross the Bishops again and you’ll pay. *** HARLOW I’ve despised the smug, stupidly gorgeous Bishop brothers since I was a small child. Our families rivalry was one that started years before us and one that I wanted to end. I was tired of being my parent's puppet, tired of the games, of the hate. All I wanted was to enjoy college and move on with my life. But your past can never stay hidden, right? When the Bishop brothers turn up at my school I have no place to run. I know then they’ll make certain I pay for every single bad-mouthed remark I or my parents ever made about them. At Bayshore, I’m at their mercy and they won’t stop until my heart is a bleeding mess. AUTHOR NOTE: This is a reverse harem college bully romance that contains subject matter not suitable for all readers.

Master of Salt & Bones


Keri Lake - 2020
    He'd ride up on his white steed and break the curse I've been fated to carry since the day I was born.Funny how things changed over time. How the fairy tale twisted into something far more crooked, darker than I ever imagined.In reality, my knight is scarred and broken, living alone in a castle of bones that overlooks the sea. He isn’t searching for me. He never was.Lucian Blackthorne is as cursed as I am, and equally shunned by the locals, the fishers of men, who believe him to be the devil in the flesh.Perhaps he is, with the way his amber eyes draw me in, ignite me like an infernal blaze. And the sins he whispers in my ear are as wickedly intoxicating as the man himself.Yet, his touch is heaven and his will is my weakness.He calls us forbidden, an unsalvageable tragedy, with no happy end. Maybe we are. But in this story, he’s the one who needs saving.