Book picks similar to
Breaking Free by S.M. Koz


young-adult
romance
contemporary-romance
ya

By a Thread


R.L. Griffin - 2013
    She was engaged to a man she adored, and was headed to law school in the fall. Tragically, her perfectly planned future ends just as it was beginning. With no ties to family or friends, Stella finds herself alone in a new city, spiraling out of control. Her typical day comes to a close with her passed out on the floor; sometimes clothed. Luckily, her new roommate, essentially a stranger, is dead set on getting Stella past her grief and back to functioning within society. Putting one foot in front of the other, she climbs up from the bottom of a bottle. Even with all her progress, Stella walks through life unfeeling, numb. Defiant, she sends out warning signals for the world to keep away. But, is that what she really wants? With the steadfast help of a few tight knit friends, she gradually begins to feel again. She starts to savor the flavor of food again; lets herself notice how the handsome bartender glances at her. Still, after allowing herself a fling, she wonders if she will ever be able to let go of her shattered past, fully enjoy the present, or get over what she thought would be her perfect future and with the man who destroyed her heart.

Fighting Seduction


Claire Adams - 2014
    One of best romance books I've read this year." - Extremely Hot Romance Books My name is Aria and I'm just a normal girl. I go to college and work as a bank teller. My only problem is that my mother has racked up sixty thousand dollars worth of medical bills. She doesn't have a job so any extra money I make goes to her bills. When my boss, Zayden, gives me a proposition that if I agree to be his girlfriend for six months then he'll give me the money for my mom's bills I can't turn him down. The only problem is that he wants me to be more than just his girlfriend. Will I be able to stop his seduction?

Never Say Never


Kailin Gow - 2012
    As the band's lead singer and manager, Never formed and shaped the band to where it is today, a band on the rise and on the brink of being signed by a label. As one of the guys, she knew each of the band members since they were all snot-nose ten-year-olds. While her boys were the cutest guys and they would protect her like knights, she couldn't date any one of them and ruin the chance at being signed with the record label of her dreams. That changes when one of the band members suddenly drops out of the band, and in walks Danny Blue, with his dreamy blue eyes, hot body, and British accent. Suddenly, Never's solid world has turned to mush, and her rule for not dating one of her band members is seriously challenged. Can she keep her head straight and get her band signed with a label without losing her heart?YA Mature/New Adult

The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland


Rebekah Crane - 2016
    But her parents insist that she get out of her head—and her home state—and attend Camp Padua, a summer camp for at-risk teens.Zander does not fit in—or so she thinks. She has only one word for her fellow campers: crazy. In fact, the whole camp population exists somewhere between disaster and diagnosis. There’s her cabinmate Cassie, a self-described manic-depressive-bipolar-anorexic. Grover Cleveland (yes, like the president), a cute but confrontational boy who expects to be schizophrenic someday, odds being what they are. And Bek, a charmingly confounding pathological liar.But amid group “share-apy” sessions and forbidden late-night outings, unlikely friendships form, and as the Michigan summer heats up, the four teens begin to reveal their tragic secrets. Zander finds herself inextricably drawn to Grover’s earnest charms, and she begins to wonder if she could be happy. But first she must come completely unraveled to have any hope of putting herself back together again.

Love on the Cape


M.K. Meredith - 2017
    But when Van Buren Enterprises announces plans to develop historic Cape Van Buren into a gold-plated playground for the wealthy, Larkin refuses to watch one more beautiful thing in her life be destroyed, so she sets out to preserve the historic cape—and with it, the memory of her son. Only it isn’t the company she needs to fear, it’s the dangerously irresistible CEO who has the power to derail her plans. Annoyingly arrogant one minute and beautifully wounded the next, he awakens something in her heart that had died with her son even as his actions promise to break it once again.Ryker Van Buren needs closure from his dark childhood and the best way to do that is to level his family home. As the rightful owner of the estate, he plans on developing it into a master community—what better way to secure his future than by selling off his past? Until he locks eyes with the passionate conservationist who fights him at every turn for the rights to his legacy. He can’t keep his hands off her, but worse, he can’t get her off his land or out of his dreams.Attraction sparks and two broken souls recognize each other through the pain. Against all odds, love blooms on the cape. But when their pasts collide, will they choose love in the moment, or will they lose their chance at forever?

Break Me


Ashley Christin - 2015
    After the loss of their mother, Pro BMX rider Colt Taylor and his brother, Parker, hope to rebuild their lives by concentrating on competitions. One night brings them together.One night shatters it all.Can they survive the break?

Friday Night Alibi


Cassie Mae - 2013
      In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney.   Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black., and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knows her, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love.Advance praise for Friday Night Alibi   “Totally entertaining with as many swoon-worthy moments as hilarious ones, Friday Night Alibi is a must-read.”—Jolene Perry, co-author of Out of Play   “A fun, funny, and fantastic story, this is one you will read in a day, and pick up to re-read again the next.”—Kelley Lynn, author of Fraction of Stone

Where You'll Find Me


Erin Fletcher - 2014
    But Nate is too charming to be dangerous. He just needs a place to get away, which Hanley understands. Her own escape methods (vodka, black hair dye, and pretending the past didn't happen) are more traditional, but who is she to judge?Nate doesn't tell her why he's in her garage, and she doesn't tell him what she's running from. Soon, Hanley's trading her late-night escapades for all-night conversations and stolen kisses. But when Nate's recognized as the missing teen from the news, Hanley isn't sure which is worse: that she's harboring a fugitive, or that she's in love with one.

Invisible Love Letter


Callie Anderson - 2015
    Weston Carter was all kinds of wrong for a girl like me. He was musician, a womanizer, and a first class heartbreaker.I didn't know a love like this could exist. Our love was epic, the kind people wrote stories about. We fell into it hard, unable to control our feelings.I set myself up for a shattered heart.A broken life.A fucked up love story.

Straight from the Heart


Breigh Forstner - 2014
    Bryn Schaefler grew up rich. Her parents expected the best out of her, picked her boyfriend for her, and groomed her to be the next trophy wife fresh out of High School. But when they discover she wants to pursue music instead of following in her mothers footsteps, they wanted to hear nothing about it. That was when Bryn left for good. By chance, she auditioned for main stream rock band Everlasting. Never in a million years did she think she would make it. Cale Pelton knew it was his fault for the band scrambling around to find a new guitarist. Once he saw Bryn audition, he knew he had to have her. Not just in the band, but in his mind, body and soul. This is the first book in the Straight from the Heart series. Follow Cale and Bryn as she goes on her first tour, and discovers there's so much more to her than she ever realized.

We Thought We Were Invincible


Michelle MacQueen - 2017
    And one day, she dreams of riding that wave out of her small town. Away from everyone.Her plan is simple: graduate high school. With Callie's best friend gone away to college, she plans on spending her senior year skating by. She isn’t looking for friends, and especially not for love - all she needs are her waves and her twin brother. Even if he comes with an annoying best friend, Jamie Daniels, who she can’t stand.Jamie is a care-free, easy-going surfer who has everything. On the surface, his life appears perfect, but reality is far from it. He has his share of secrets, including one that burns deeper than any other. It’s a good thing Callie hates him because if she didn’t, Jamie knows there’s no way he’d be able to stay away.And then, one night, everything changes. And nothing will ever be the same.

Twisted Desire


Laura Dunaway - 2014
    The sharp surge and sway of her world the only hints she has of her surroundings. Penelope Santoro is alone, trapped in an empty room of what could only be a boat in the middle of a rough ocean. With no recollection of how she got there, and no escape in sight, she's quickly losing hope that she will ever find her way home. Tag Reynolds is detached. His life depends upon it. But when the beautiful daughter of one of his biggest rivals winds up in his care, his entire world shifts. Drawn to her innocence, he desperately fights the feelings he can't have...feelings that could destroy everything he's worked for. Penny is nothing more than a pawn in a deadly game -- a game that Tag cannot afford to lose. Can he save her without compromising his position, or will they become victims of their twisted desire?

3:AM Kisses


Addison Moore - 2013
    Love is the last thing on the list, but when Baya meets her brother’s roommate she begins to have thoughts and feelings that make even her blush.Bryson Edwards has a secret he prefers buried in the past and long forgotten. He prefers loose girls, fast cars, and long nights working at the string of bars his family owns. When his roommate’s sister shows up on the scene, she’s far too innocent and sweet for him but he can’t shake Baya out of his mind and worse, it looks like she’s seeping into his heart as well.Baya seems determined to show her brother she’s not a little kid and equally determined to use Bryson’s body to prove her point. It’s been made pretty clear that Baya is off limits to Bryson but their undeniable sparks explode into a whole lot more than just a few 3:AM kisses.

Awake


Elise Daniels - 2013
    Wealth, a faithful best friend and more than a few boys to choose from as she comes to the end of her last year in college, but something has always been missing inside her since losing her mother as a girl. When she meets the insanely sexy fiance of her lifelong nemesis, fellow debutante Tori Wexler, she starts to feel whole again, but Wade Donovan is forbidden fruit. Erin’s father and Tori’s father run a billion dollar business together and a scandal like this one could rock its foundation, destroying not just Wade and herself, but everything her father has spent a lifetime building. Like love, some decisions last forever.