Book picks similar to
Secondhand Shadow by Elizabeth Belyeu


fantasy
not-a-pretty-love-story
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Of Silver and Beasts


Trisha Wolfe - 2013
    Now, a cybernetic clamp filters it, but the silver streaks swirling beneath her skin are a constant reminder that she’s different.When Kaliope is chosen as head of the Nactue Guard, she becomes the sworn protector to her empress. In the midst of an invasion on a neighboring land, Kaliope is placed in charge of guarding Prince Caben, the last heir to his kingdom. But when they’re attacked by the feared Otherworlders, Caben and Kaliope are abducted and taken below to a realm where they must fight for their life in a caged arena. Kaliope struggles to protect her princely charge, keeping him and herself alive while battling inhumanly opponents, and trying to save the stolen, sacred relic that will restore her empress’s life force and all of Cavan. And if she can somehow awaken the goddess within her, she may save what’s most important.A Dark Romantic Fantasy series.

The Darkness We Crave


Katie May - 2018
    On the beach drinking margaritas? In the arms of a lover? How about in a shit-ass resort run by your shit-ass parents? I have always lived my life as the perfect daughter. At seventeen, I had no other option than to follow my parents' strict regiment. Did I mention that they're assholes? The world didn't decide to suddenly end. Oh no, that would be too easy. Instead, it was a series of events that led to its eventual demise. Earthquakes, tornados, and a mysterious virus that turned people into raving lunatics. Fortunately for me, I have the help of seven handsome men to combat the coming storm. Literally. Declan, an enigma from my past. Ryder, a flirty musician. Asher, the sweetest boy I had ever met and probably the only one that I don't want to kick in the balls. Tamson, shy and timid, with a past I'm aching to uncover. Ronan, my sarcastic leprechaun. Fallon, the stoic leader. And, finally, Calax (but he doesn't really matter because I kind of hate him and want him to fall on his head and die). I will have to learn to rely on these boys and myself if we're going to survive the apocalypse. This is a slow-burn reverse harem series. Warning: This book deals with sensitive issues such as abuse, rape, and suicide that some readers may find triggering. Reader discretion is advised.

Praying for Rain


B.B. Easton - 2019
    People like Rainbow Williams. Rain isn’t afraid of dying. In fact, she’s looking forward to it. If she can just outrun her pain until April 23, she’ll never have to feel it at all. “Supplies. Shelter. Self-defense.”Wes Parker has survived every horrible thing this life has thrown at him with nothing more than his resourcefulness and disarming good looks. Why should the end of the world be any different? All he needs are some basic supplies, shelter, and a sucker willing to help him out, which is exactly what he finds when he returns to his hometown of Franklin Springs.As society crumbles, dangers mount, and secrets refuse to stay buried, two lost souls are thrust together in a twist of fate—one who will do anything to survive and one who can’t wait to die. Perhaps, together, they can learn how to live.Before their time runs out.

One Bloody Thing After Another


Joey Comeau - 2010
    She has a first-kiss tree and a broken-arm tree. She has a car-accident tree. There is a tree at the hospital where Jackie’s mother passed away into the long good night. When one of them gets cut down, Jackie doesn’t know what to do but she doesn’t let that stop her. She picks up the biggest rock she can carry and puts it through the window of a car. Smash. She intends to leave before the police arrive, but they’re early. Ann is Jackie’s best friend, but she’s got problems of her own. Her mother is chained up in the basement. How do you bring that up in casual conversation? “Oh, sorry I’ve been so distant, Jackie. My mother has more teeth than she’s supposed to, and she won’t eat anything that’s already dead.” Ann and her sister Margaret don’t have much of a choice here. Their mother needs to be fed. It isn’t easy but this is family. It’s not supposed to be easy. It’ll be okay as long as Margaret and Ann still have each other. Add in a cantankerous old man, his powerfully stupid dog, a headless ghost, a lesbian crush and a few unsettling visits from Jackie’s own dead mother, and you’ll find that One Bloody Thing After Another is a different sort of horror novel from the ones you’re used to. It’s as sad and funny as it is frightening, and it is as much about the way families rely on each other as it is about blood being drooled on the carpet. Though, to be honest, there is a lot of blood being drooled on the carpet.

Broken


Ellie Messe - 2017
    Daddy liked to hit. Brothers followed suit. So I ran. I ran from that life. I ran from myself. I ran into him. I have no experience with the game board we’re playing on, and that makes this a lethal game. One wrong move and my heart could land in the fire he’s created inside me. Worse, it could lead my past to his doorstep and it won’t just be my blood that taints this floor. I should run. I need to run. My father is the devil in a flesh suit, he won’t be happy until he paints this town red for my betrayal. I should run. I need to run. Because despite my feelings for Parker Hayes, the devil is coming and he wants what’s his. Due to sexual content, this book may not be appropriate for all ages. Side Note: This is all book. Apart from the usual dedication, acknowledgments, and one or two pages of useless information, this is all one story. No page stuffing, no advertisements, 600+ pages of STORY. Enjoy.

The Student Prince


FayJay - 2010
    A modern day (BBC) Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...145,248 Words Complete

Starter for Ten


David Nicholls - 2003
    Brian Jackson, a working-class kid on full scholarship, has started his first term at university. He has a dark secret—a long-held, burning ambition to appear on the wildly popular British TV quiz show University Challenge—and now, finally, it seems the dream is about to become reality. He's made the school team, and they've completed the qualifying rounds and are limbering up for their first televised match. (And, what's more, he's fallen head over heels for one of his teammates, the beautiful, brainy, and intimidatingly posh Alice Harbinson.) Life seems perfect and triumph inevitable—but as his world opens up, Brian learns that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Age of the Andinna Volume One


Kristen Banet - 2020
    She was the reason her people, the Andinna, lost the War against the Elvasi Empire and found themselves enslaved. She’s the boogeyman of her own people, killing on the sands to survive another day. For a thousand years, she’s stood alone. And that’s all going to change. Mave is about to embark on a journey of growth, becoming who she needs to be to free her people. She’ll meet lovers, family, friends, and allies along the way. She’ll be pushed to her limits as the battles take their tolls and she’ll need to find the strength in herself to fight for something far more than survival. The Elvasi Empire forged a weapon in the pits of the Colosseum. For years, they pointed that weapon at their slaves. Now she’s aiming for them. This set includes books one through three of the Age of the Andinna series. All of these books are well over four hundred pages a piece and they only mark the beginning of Mave’s story. -The Gladiator’s Downfall -The Mercenary’s Bounty -The Warrior’s Assault Age of the Andinna is a reverse harem epic fantasy series. The female lead will collect her lovers as the series progresses. There is triggering content in this series including but not limited to: abuse, violence, mature language, and sexual content. It’s recommended for mature audiences.

Bones & All


Camille DeAngelis - 2015
    Since she was a baby, Maren has had what you might call "an issue" with affection. Anytime someone cares for her too much, she can’t seem to stop herself from eating them. Abandoned by her mother at the age of 16, Maren goes looking for the father she has never known, but finds more than she bargained for along the way. Faced with love, fellow eaters, and enemies for the first time in her life, Maren realizes she isn’t just looking for her father, she is looking for herself. The real question is, will she like the girl she finds?

He Loves Me Not


Christine Kersey - 2011
    After all, she's barely met the two men it could be referring to. But as she begins to fall for the man with the striking blue eyes, the disturbing messages increase.Refusing to believe warnings from an anonymous sender, and trusting her own heart, Lily presses forward with her relationship, eventually coming to understand the meaning behind the messages as she fears for her life.He Loves Me Not does not contain any profanity or sexual content.

Buried Secrets


Emme Rollins - 2010
    But Nick is dead, found murdered in their local cemetery, and Dusty simply can’t rest until she finds out who–or what–has killed her brother.Sure the local authorities aren’t being straight with her–or anyone else–about what’s been going on in their little upper Michigan town, Dusty delays going off to college for a semester, defying her father and stepmother and taking a job in the local bar to start doing some digging.Her focus soon fixes on Shane, her brother’s best friend and the town bad boy. The tension and rivalry between Dusty and Shane has always been palpable and sparks fly as the two collide. Dusty finds herself sinking in deeper with Shane and the mystery of what happened to her brother–and a lengthening list of victims–grows even stranger.When everything comes to a head, Dusty focuses on one thing: What happened the night her brother was killed in the cemetery? She’s sure Shane is keeping a secret and she’s determined to find out what it is, one way or another.

Spirit Legacy


E.E. Holmes - 2013
    Jess' life has never been what anyone would call easy; doing damage control in the wake of your nomadic, alcoholic mother doesn't exactly make for a storybook childhood. But now her world has fallen apart just when it should be coming together: her mother gone—dead under mysterious circumstances; her life uprooted to stay with estranged relatives she’s never met; and there’s something odd about some of the people she’s been meeting at school:They’re dead.Aided by Tia, her neurotic roommate, and Dr. David Pierce, a ghost-hunting professor, Jess must unravel the mystery behind her hauntings. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger shadows her every move. An ancient secret, long-buried, is about to claw its way to the surface, and nothing can prepare Jess for one terrifying truth......her encounters with the world of the dead are only just beginning.Spirit Legacy is the first of three thrilling novels in The Gateway Trilogy by E.E. Holmes.

Kingdom of the Wicked


Kerri Maniscalco - 2020
    One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden.Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked—princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia's side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women's murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems...

Winter


Nikita Rae - 2013
    As Avery Patterson, she is no longer the daughter of a serial killer. No longer the girl who was bullied and abused through high school. A fresh name and a fresh start at Columbia University means Avery can leave all that behind. There’s only one thing marring her dream of a clean slate…. A boy with a past of his own… Luke Reid has a lot going for him: sex appeal, badass tattoos and insane musical talent. Despite his guitar skills, his calling in life has always been to serve and protect. A NYPD cop by day, singer in rock band D.M.F by night, from the outside Luke seems like he’s got it made. But falling for a girl whose father was accused of deeply sinister acts—a man whom Luke shared a devastating history with, himself—only serves to complicated things. Pieces of a puzzle…. Four symbols, four methods of destruction. A trade. Borrowed wings. Dark secrets that threaten to destroy.Author's Note: This book was previously released under the pen name Nikita Rae. There have been significant changes to the storyline and voices of the characters. The book has also been re-edited. Please make sure the original book is not already in your kindle library before purchasing! New Adult Romantic Suspense novel. Suitable for readers 16+.

The First She


Elaine Waters - 2020
    When she's saved by an alien that thinks she's a boy with deformations, she fights to keep both herself and secret alive.