Book picks similar to
Love Unclaimed (Book 1) by Jennifer Benson


new-adult
contemporary
brother-s-best-friend
not-yet-released

Addicted to You


Colina Brennan - 2013
    Leah insists she isn't a sex addict; she just doesn't do relationships. After all, sooner or later, everyone lets you down. At first, the group sessions are little more than an education on how to be promiscuous. Until she meets the newest addict-blue eyes, killer body, and a smile that tempts relapse. Psychology student Will McLean is posing as a fellow addict while researching a case study on unusual addictions. But the more he learns about Leah, the more certain he is that his desire to break through her walls and unearth her secrets has nothing to do with his assignment. As the uncertainties spike alongside the sexual tension, the only thing Leah knows for sure is that falling in love would be disastrous. Too bad love might be one addiction she can't kick.

Until the Last Star Fades


Jacquelyn Middleton - 2018
    COULD YOU BE THE ONE WHO CHANGES EVERYTHING?In her senior year at NYU, Riley Hope appears to be on top of the world. With a loving mother who makes Lorelai Gilmore look like a parenting slacker, ride-or-die friends, and a long-time boyfriend destined for the National Hockey League, she puts on a smile for the world. But behind it, she’s drowning. Racked with fears for the future, she battles to stay afloat amid life in the shadows of a heartbreaking illness.And then, Ben Fagan comes crashing into her life. Twenty-three-years-old, British, and alone in the Big Apple after a disastrous pilot season in LA, the struggling actor is looking for an escape: booze, mischief, sex—minimum commitment, maximum fun—anything to avoid returning across the pond. As they form an unlikely bond, Riley keeps her reality from Ben so that he remains a happy refuge. But how long can she hold back the truth…and is Ben keeping his own secrets, too?From the award-winning author of LONDON BELONGS TO ME and LONDON, CAN YOU WAIT?, comes a bittersweet story about love, loss, sacrifice, and the life-changing decisions we make.IAN Romance Book of the Year Award Winner 2019

Beautiful Pain


Joanna Mazurkiewicz - 2013
    I needed to get away from London, I wanted to start from scratch in Belfast, escape from the life that I didn’t want. Working for Probation Service for the whole summer was going to give me the experience that I needed. I always felt much better when I could help people whose lives were shattered.My parents told me that I wasn't ready and I wouldn't make it through but I was determined to show them that the past was behind me. I had three months to forget about my bad memories, about the pain and my scars. Then I run straight into him, throwing it all to the wind, falling into a trap of love and lust. Harry O’Donaghue was a local offender. At our first meeting he gave me the impression that he didn’t care about what I had to say and didn’t want to be evaluated by a stupid young girl like me. Harry wasn’t an easy subject, either when it came to straight forward conversation about his future or about the crimes that he had committed.Harry had a secret and everything suddenly became complicated. He was bad to be around, bad for me in every respect, but I still allowed him take me to paradise… Contemporary Romance novel - contains adult situations, high sexuality, violence, suited for ages 18 and up. This book is the first in a series but can be read as a stand alone.*

Cooper's Promise


Caitlyn O'Leary - 2016
    Even though the girl is now a woman, he still feels she is too young and inexperienced, and needs to be protected from everything and everyone, and that includes him. Brenna moved across the country to be close to Cooper two years ago, and despite her best efforts, he has kept her squarely in the friend zone. When a stalker threatens her safety, all of Cooper’s pent-up emotions break free. Is there a way to keep her safe from both the stalker and Cooper’s own need to dominate?

Best Laid Plans


Lauren Blakely - 2019
    But how else is a good girl going to find out if she likes being naughty? And Gabe is charming, trustworthy, aces at seduction (or so I hear) and willing to give me lessons. But to guarantee it won’t ruin our friendship, I want these classes to be hypothetical more than hands-on. So what if he’s hella sexy? I can handle that, no problem.***I have it bad for Arden. She’s bright, brilliant, and insanely fun. When she asks for my help, I see my chance to win her sweet heart by showing her how much fun we can have getting spicy. Trouble is, she has a different idea of what “sex-ploration” should mean. Now I’m going to have to get really clever to win her over. Good thing I know exactly how to upend her best laid plans.

Mismatch


Lisa Lace - 2017
    Too bad it paired my childhood sweetheart with my worst enemy. She's the one who got away. The girl who should have been mine. When I was younger and seething with ambition, I let her slip through my fingers. Big mistake. Now I want her in my bed, writhing beneath me, my name burning her lips. When I win her back, I'll carry her to my bed, strip her down and finally savor a sweet seduction. She'll know I own her the moment I claim her tight, wet heat. Mismatch is a STAND-ALONE, full-length contemporary romance. There are no cliffhangers, and a happy ending is guaranteed!

Chasing Lucky


Jenn Bennett - 2020
    When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there. What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame. Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is…

When the Time Is Right


M. Mabie - 2020
    Hudson Bradley is the cockiest, most stubborn, hard-headed man I’ve ever known. And for fifteen years, he’s been my brother's best friend. But lately, what I’m feeling for him isn’t friendship at all.Why is my heart racing every time his blue eyes lock on mine?Why does every word he rumbles in my ear make my body come alive?And worst of all, why did I bet him that I could find a woman he and his son would both love? If I hadn’t given up on love altogether, Hudson would have been perfect for me. After all, he was there the day my world fell apart. He’s spent the last six years piecing me back together. There are a million reasons why we could never work, but after a single kiss, I can’t remember any of them. Now that the time is right, I have to make him mine—before I lose him forever.

Chasing McCree


J.C. Isabella - 2012
    The right clothes, the right friends, the right car. Being popular was all that mattered. Her parents were rich and treated like royalty throughout the community. She thought her senior year of high school was going perfectly, until the night her drink was spiked at a party by one of her so called friends. That was the night she met Chase McCree. Chase wanted to go back to Montana. To the ranch and the wild, wide blue sky that went on forever. He wanted nothing to do with flashy cars or spoiled rich kids. But he found himself head over boots for the quirky cheerleader who turned her back on her social status. She befriended him when no one else would. Shunned and hurt by the people who were once her friends, Briar flees with Chase to his family ranch in Montana. There she discovers another world, and apart of herself she never knew. The cowboy wasn’t like anyone she’d ever met. The cheerleader wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met. Apart their lives didn’t seem to make sense, but together, they were chasing forever.

Bro Code


Kendall Ryan - 2018
    In a word, she’s dangerous. And completely off-limits.Falling for her could ruin everything.Yet I can’t seem to stop, even when her company is threatened by a lawsuit, and my promotion hinges on representing the opposing client—and winning.I can’t see a way out of this mess that doesn’t end in a broken friendship, a broken heart, or a ruined career.I may have broken the bro code when I fell for Ava. But do I have the balls to handle what comes next?

Cocky Chef


J.D. Hawkins - 2017
    But when you're the best at what you do and have the hottest restaurant on the west coast, with enough Michelin stars to make Gordon Ramsay's head spin, you've earned the right to your confidence.When I give an instruction in the kitchen, it's not a suggestion--it's an order. So when a new chef thinks she can do things her way, and dares to say so to my face, even her sharp wit and gorgeous pouty lips don't make it okay. But I have to admit, she's got talent. She's creative in the kitchen and not even that double-breasted chef jacket can hide her perfect body. As I get to know her, I can't help wanting to know everything she thinks. I've never met a more talented chef. And I've never met a sassier and sexier woman in my life. There's only one way this push and pull can end.With her in my bed, begging for more.

Travis


Mia Sheridan - 2021
    An important role as the chief of police in the idyllic town of Pelion, Maine. Looks that regularly and consistently make women fall at his feet. Two nephews and a niece he adores, and a family who’s mostly forgiven him after a series of unfortunate decisions years before. Perhaps his past is riddled with regrets and misguided choices, but his future looks bright and limitless.Until the new guy in town crosses him in a way both shocking and indefensible.A guy who, as it turns out, has a sister who may be equally as disastrous to Travis’s well-ordered plans, though in an altogether different manner. Not that there’s any real risk of him falling for the smoothie-making, birdseed-eating wild woman. She’s not even his type. A plant lady from California with a head of unruly curls and an equally messy past. More than that, she’s only in town for the summer, busy mooning over perfect-in-every-way Gage Buchanan.And if Travis knows anything, it’s that he refuses to be second best. Ever again.Haven Torres’s life fell apart. Or more to the point, it burned to the ground. At the time, it seemed like a solid idea to jump in her car, her brother a mostly-willing co-pilot, and embark on a cross-country adventure.When they land jobs at an exclusive tennis and golf club in a picturesque lake town in Maine, Haven’s hopeful it might prove a summer to remember. Especially if she can catch the attention of the most eligible bachelor in town and her current crush. Even the kindest, most upstanding, perfect of men aren’t opposed to summer flings, right?But when she meets the local police chief—all swagger and arrogance—and learns of her brother’s scandalous misdeed, she knows that Pelion is just another town where their stay is best... short-lived. Still, she and Travis strike up an unlikely friendship and Haven sees that the gorgeous lawman isn’t only easy on the eyes, but he has... layers. Not that she’s going to peel any of them. He’s only her friend. A friend willing to scratch her back, if she scratches his.It seems simple enough. She’ll help him make her brother sweat a little. And he’ll help her win over Gage. But before either Travis or Haven knows it, simple turns complicated, friendship gets flipped on its ear, passion faces down perfection, and they both discover that sometimes you have to lose it all to find exactly what you need.

Racing the Sun


Karina Halle - 2015
    After a frivolous six months of backpacking through New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia, she finds herself broke on the Mediterranean without enough money for a plane ticket home to California. There are worse places to be stuck than the gorgeous coastline of southern Italy, but the only job she manages to secure involves teaching English to two of the brattiest children she’s ever met.It doesn’t help that the children are under the care of their brooding older brother, Italian ex-motorcycle racer Desiderio Larosa. Darkly handsome and oh-so-mysterious, Derio tests Amber’s patience and will at every turn—not to mention her hormones.But when her position as teacher turns into one as full-time nanny at the crumbling old villa, Amber finds herself growing closer to the enigmatic recluse and soon has to choose between the safety of her life back in the States and the uncertainty of Derio’s closely guarded heart.

Love, Kinsey


Brandy Jeffus Corona - 2013
    She had a normal upbringing, a stable career and a good love life, finally meeting “the One,” Colby.But life has a funny way of turning the tables on you.Faced with a devastating diagnosis, Kinsey sets out to write her last story – her own.Her journey reunites her with each man she’s fallen in love with and with their words, along with other friends and family, she pieces together the story of herself. With each meeting, Kinsey begins to realize that each of her past loves has happened for a reason. And she’s left footprints on their lives just like they did for her.Every life is special, especially your own.

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.