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


young-adult
romance
contemporary-romance
ya

Leaving Me Behind


Sigal Ehrlich - 2015
    As she settles into her cozy beach house, the exotic coastal town proves to be just what she’s looking for.When a younger and impossibly attractive stranger starts pursuing her, Liv decides that adding a little heat to her new adventure isn’t a bad idea as long as there aren’t any expectations. Liv lets herself be swept into one memorable night…and then another.Slipping effortlessly into her new life, Liv spends her days exploring the charming village, starts cooking classes, and enjoying lively conversations with her new group of friends. Her nights are spent giving in, just “one last time,” to her Spanish lover.It's exciting, it's passionate, and most importantly- it’s temporary. At least, that’s whatshe thinks.He has something different in mind.Great friendships, luscious food, and a swoon-worthy, passionate romance, Leaving Me Behind is a story of finding yourself and living life to the fullest.

We Were Here


Daisy Prescott - 2016
    
This is the story of seven friends. We met in college, completely free for the first time in our lives and determined to enjoy every minute of it. For four years, we gossiped and flirted, partied and road-tripped. We were inseparable. Each of us has our own story of falling in or out of love. Of finding out who we are. Of growing up. We thought we knew everything. We knew nothing. We Were Here is where the Modern Love Stories begins, in a standalone that perfectly captures the humor, angst, and sheer chaos of college.

Sweet Southern Sorrow


Tessa Teevan - 2014
    Two very lonely people found solace in one another and in the end, fell in love. Unfortunately their plans for the fall took them in entirely different directions. Despite their best efforts, family issues and life’s circumstances got in the way, breaking both of their hearts in the process. Almost six years later they find themselves face-to-face, and old feelings resurface. When the past collides with the present, will they be able resist the temptation, or will they finally realize that they’re where they’re meant to be?A 65k word novel of broken pasts, first loves, and ultimate sacrifice. New edition includes 15k words in bonus scenes.

The Boys of Summer


C.J. Duggan - 2012
    She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.How did she let her friends talk her into working?After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.It will be a summer she will always remember.

Random


Lark O'Neal - 2013
    Her mom is dead, and she’s on her own, patching together a living as a waitress when a car crashes through the restaurant where she works. In two seconds, she loses her job, watches her best friend hauled away in an ambulance…and meets Tyler Smith, one of the hottest, most fascinating—and mysterious guys she’s ever met. Both for the good and the bad…Within days, Jess is swept up into the mesmerizing force that is Tyler. Their every touch sizzles, every kiss dissolves them both, and the sex is…fierce. But there’s more to Tyler than his hypnotic eyes. He’s adrift, too, and his body—and his soul—are covered with scars. How can she find herself with a guy who is lost himself? Until you take charge….Jess is determined to find her way, and make a life that is better than the one she was given. But how?

Life of the Party


Christine Anderson - 2010
    The rebellious party girl has a perfect accomplice in best friend Riley, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who scores them drugs, booze and under-age entry into the only club in town. But then everything changes. A traumatized Riley suddenly decides to give up the party life, and a wide-eyed Mackenzie meets Grey Lewis, a broodingly talented, gorgeous older man she falls instantly in love with. Though Riley warns her to stay away, the aspiring rock star's body and ample drug supply are too tempting for her to resist. Previously inseparable, Riley and Mackenzie go their separate ways.When summer hits, Mackenzie has new friends, a new apartment and new drugs to mask the pain of Riley's absence. And of course, she has Grey. But despite the fierce, consuming passion they share, the mysterious bad-boy always leaves her guessing. Is Grey really a good guy? Or was Riley right about him all along? Mackenzie's in too deep to care. Unable to curb her mounting addictions, before long the lust-for-life teen totally loses control. She forgets Riley, forgets life, forgets everything but Grey and their next hit. But luckily for Mackenzie...Riley has never forgotten about her.

Saving Beck


Courtney Cole - 2018
     The cold needle in his warm vein was a welcome comfort to my son at first. But then it became the monster that kept us apart. Heroin lied, and my son believed. It took him to a world where the last year didn’t happen, to a place where his father was still alive. What Beck didn’t understand was that it couldn’t bring his father back from the dead. It couldn’t take away his pain, not permanently. You think it can’t happen to you, that your kids, your family, will never be in this situation. I thought that too. But you’re wrong. Step into our world, and see for yourself. Watch my golden boy become a slave to this raging epidemic. Watch me try and save him. Drug addiction comes with a price. Trust me, you’re not equipped to pay it. Don’t miss this heartwrenching, evocative, yet hopeful novel—it will leave you forever changed.

I'll Be Here


Autumn Doughton - 2012
    Willow and Dustin have lots of plans. Plans for college, prom, tonight actually. So, when the unthinkable happens, and Dustin breaks up with Willow over a plate of cheese fries at a steak house, she is left stunned and heartbroken. With less than two months until graduation, Willow has to start a new life from scratch. She'll have to revisit old wrongs along the way and make the most important decision of all: who does she want to be? She’s going to have help from her wacky ex-best friend, her bohemian mother, and an old flame that is suddenly and somewhat inconveniently back in her life.

Secret for a Song


S.K. Falls - 2013
    Literally.She ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she’s been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she’s ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can’t bring herself to, not after she’s welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives. For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her. But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor’s is out?

Cards of Love: The Sun


Stevie J. Cole - 2018
    The glamorous prom queen gets knocked-up by the swoon-worthy tattooed god who smells of leather and exhaust from his motorcycle.That is not how this story goes.Elias Black may have had a sleeve of tattoos and grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, but he didn’t have a true bad bone in his body.Until he fell for me. Then he was terribly bad.

The Tribulations of August Barton


Jennifer LeBlanc - 2016
    Augie just wants to hole up in his dorm room with his Star Wars collectables and textbooks, but Gertie is not about to let that happen. What ensues is a crazy ride including naked trespassing, befriending a local biker gang, and maybe-just maybe-with Augie defeating his anxiety and actually getting the girl.

Into the Tomorrows


Whitney Barbetti - 2016
    I'm no stranger to pain—none of us are. The night I held my best friend's hand as she died, I understood true agony. And I never thought I'd feel happiness again.But that was so long ago...Moving to Colorado to be with Colin, my high school sweetheart, was the perfect way to start over and rekindle what had begun to fizzle. I wanted that spark to ignite, to burn in passion and desire. Instead, I found myself falling for Jude, my boyfriend's roommate. He’s the only person who understands my soul, who can breach the walls I’ve built. But I can't have him.Because I'm Trista Kohl, and my destiny is sorrow.

The Power to See


Jennifer Anne Davis - 2013
    WARNING: This isn’t your average love story. The Power to See is dark, gritty, and not for the faint of heart. This book includes mature content. On the outside, twenty-two-year-old Brianna’s life seems perfect and totally envy worthy. But inside, she’s a twisted-up hot mess. She is sick of playing the part of Daddy’s little girl. Now she’s all grown up and tired of keeping her family’s deadly secret. When two men from opposite worlds enter Brianna’s life, ready to fight for her heart, she finds herself playing a high-stakes game that will ignite a battle between family, loyalty, love, and survival. Unfortunately for Brianna, she knows that girls like her rarely get a happily ever after. When she finds herself being played as a pawn in a ruthless and deadly game, will she be able to get out in time… before she loses herself and her heart in the process?

The Story of Awkward


R.K. Ryals - 2014
    If you are looking for a narrative without emotion, without regrets, and without mistakes, this is definitely the wrong story. This is by no means an uncomplicated tale about uncomplicated people. It is by no means sweet or light. This story is ugly. This story is complicated. This story is emotional. This story is tragic. In short, this story is about being awkward. Peregrine Storke is an artist with an odd sketchbook full of pictures she’s drawn since she was a child. It is a book full of strange sketches and awkward characters, for there is no better way to hide from bullying and life than to create a world of your own. With a stroke of her pencil, she has given life to a spectacled princess, a freckle-nosed king, a candy loving troll, a two-horned unicorn, and a graceless fairy. At nineteen, Peregrine leaves her home, her sketchbook, and awkwardness behind. But what happens when something goes wrong in the world of Awkward? Trapped inside of her complex realm with the bully she thought to leave behind, Peregrine discovers there is nothing worse than falling for your own villain.

The Trap


Beverley Kendall - 2014
    Paige didn’t like that I went so far away to university. But it was going to only be for two years. She'd join me after she did her two years at community college. I thought we could swing that no problem. We were solid. But she hated the distance. She hated not seeing me every day. She complained that I didn’t come home enough. She hated that for months on end, texting and phone calls were our only form of communication. It wasn’t enough. She'd ask about the girls on campus. She’d gotten it into her head that girls were always making a play for me. I laughed and told her, even if that were true, I’d never cheat on her. She didn't seem completely reassured by that. The bottom line is, Paige thought she was losing me. She wanted me home with her. But I could never imagine the level she'd sink to—the trap she’d set to make that happen. And like an idiot I walked right into it.And it’s a mistake I'm going to have to pay for the rest of my life.