Book picks similar to
Arousing Love by M.H. Strom


romance
young-adult
ya
contemporary

Every Little Piece


Kate Ashton - 2013
    A story of love, hope and healing.** Needing the truth… I wanted to spend the night before graduation making out with Seth, but one of my best friends had the whole night planned. Lucky for me, we ran into him and his friends playing pool where we made some silly bet over a game, and the losers had to run through town in nothing but their underwear. A year later, I wish more than ever we’d just made out at Raker’s Bluff instead, because maybe the night would’ve turned out differently. Now Seth’s back, the guy who broke my heart, the guy I’m still in love with…I just hope he doesn’t break me all over again. Desperate for redemption… No one wants to fess up to having a screwed-up family. When my parents dropped the big divorce bomb on me, I decided to keep it a secret. Just the thought of the pity-stares and pats-on-the-back made me feel sick. I’d tell Haley and my friends another time. Except, I never got the chance. Stuff happened. Stuff that totally sucked and changed our lives forever. Instead of telling my truth, I took the coward’s way out, and I’ve regretted it ever since. But I’m back, determined to tell Haley everything, down to the last gritty detail, if she’ll give me the chance…even if it means losing her forever.

Remember When


T. Torrest - 2012
    Although, come to think of it, I am from New Jersey, which may serve as explanation enough. We were teenagers then, way back in a time before anyone could even dream he’d turn into the Hollywood commodity that he is today.In case you live under a rock and don't know who Trip Wiley is, just know that these days, he’s the actor found at the top of every casting director’s wish list. He’s incredibly talented and insanely gorgeous, the combination of which has made him very rich, very famous and very desirable.And not just to casting directors, either.I can’t confirm any of the gossip from his early years out in Tinseltown, but based on what I knew of his life before he was famous, I can tell you that the idea of Girls-Throwing-Themselves-At-Trip is not a new concept.I should know. I was one of them.And my life hasn’t been the same since.**Remember When is the first book in an NA romantic comedy trilogy, but there is NO CLIFFHANGER. It is intended for mature teen readers and immature adult ones due to some high school sex scenes, underage drinking, questionable language and 1980s flashbacks.**

Dante's Girl


Courtney Cole - 2012
    Every summer, since I was ten years old, has been uneventful and boring. Until this year. And this year, after a freak volcanic eruption strands me far from home, I have learned these things:1. I can make do with one outfit for three days before I buy new clothes. 2. If I hear the phrase, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” even one more time, I might become a homicidal maniac.3. I am horribly and embarrassingly allergic to jellyfish.4. I am in love with Dante Giliberti, who just happens to be the beautiful, sophisticated son of the Prime Minister of a Mediterranean paradise. 5. See number four above. Because it brings with it a whole slew of problems and I’ve learned something from every one of them.Let’s start with the fact that Dante’s world is five light-years away from mine. He goes to black-tie functions and knows the Prime Minister of England on a first name basis. I was born and raised on a farm in Kansas and wear cut-off jeans paired with cowboy boots. See the difference? But hearts don’t care about differences. Hearts want what they want. And mine just wants to be Dante’s girl. My heart just might be crazy.

Tear


Rachel Van Dyken - 2012
    But for Natalee Murray, things have just gotten way more difficult. Bored with life, she can't wait to graduate high school and get out of town, especially considering the famous band members from AD2 suddenly start attending her school, making her once boring life, absolutely insane.It starts with a pen. A single brush of fingers, and she is captivated.But Alec and Demetri have a dark secret, one that could shatter their reputations and Natalee's heart. What do you do when one guy paints your life with color while the other infuses your soul with passion? How do you choose when your heart is divided?*This is a New Adult/Mature YA. Minor swearing and drug usage.

The Accidental Movie Star


Emily Evans - 2012
    Do you see the girl next to him, the one handing him a cup of coffee? Yeah. That’s her.Interning on a major motion picture is not all bad. She gets to watch some of the scenes and even offer her opinion. “That kiss looked lame. Laughably weak. There’s no chance at an MTV award with that kiss.” LOL. Until the director says, “Hey, Intern. Yeah, you. Ashley. You’re right. So, teach Caspian how to kiss. Oh, and get in front of the camera. We're going to need you in this next shot."OMG.

The White Aura


Felicia Tatum - 2012
    Shocked by a discovery about herself, Olivia struggles with her new reality and the secrets her parents have hidden from her. When the two are forced to meet, the countdown begins. Will Scott and Olivia find a way to break the curse or will it lead to Olivia’s death?

You Against Me


Jenny Downham - 2010
    It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love.

Come Away with Me


Ruth Cardello - 2014
    A man who thinks he has everything...until he meets Julia.Julia Bennett:Sweet, spontaneous, and desperate to sell her jewelry line in New York City. She takes a job as a night security guard to pay the rent.Sparks fly when she mistakes her boss for an intruder.He can’t get her out of his head. She can’t find the strength to deny him.Will lies bring them together or tear them apart forever?

Jekel Loves Hyde


Beth Fantaskey - 2010
    But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.To better her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything – even Tristen’s love – just for the thrill of being… bad.

Kissed by a Cowboy


Lacy Williams - 2014
    She thinks she’s ready for this homecoming. She’s spent years escaping her perpetual shyness and being Katie Michaels’ tag-along friend, but being back in her hometown brings back a lot of old memories, especially when she is faced with the cowboy she never forgot — Katie’s older brother, Maddox. Twelve years ago, Maddox Michaels was supposed to be somebody. He had everything. A football scholarship. A Division I team scouting him. Maybe even a chance at the pros. Now, he’s a burned-out cowboy working day and night to stay ahead of his brother’s medical bills and keep their family farm from going bankrupt. And trying to be a father-figure for his niece, Olivia. When Haley and Olivia start spending time together, Maddox can’t help remembering those dreams that died alongside his sister. Will being with Haley open his heart to new dreams?

The Beginning of After


Jennifer Castle - 2011
    What I’m talking about here is the ka-pow, shake-you-to-your-core-and-turn-your-bones-to-plastic kind of crappy.Sixteen-year-old Laurel’s world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new reality in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel’s life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss—a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways.Jennifer Castle’s debut novel is a heart-wrenching, surprisingly witty testament to how drastically life can change in the span of a single moment.

Star Struck


Jamie Campbell - 2014
    Yet all that changed after a chance encounter took her face to face with the world’s biggest superstar.Living every girl’s fantasy, Melrose falls for one fifth of the most successful boy bands on the planet, Cole Newton. He invites her on a date and she can’t help but fall in love with her idol.But in a world that is full of shining stars, can one small town girl really capture the heart of a supernova? Find out in the first installment of the Star Kissed series.

Made to Last


Melissa Tagg - 2013
    Due to a painful broken engagement and a faith she's mostly forgotten, she's let her entire identity become wrapped up in the Miranda everyone sees onscreen. So when she receives news that the network might cancel her program, she must do the very thing she fears most: let the spotlight shine on her closely guarded personal life. The only problem? She's been living a lie—letting viewers believe she's married—and now she's called upon to play wife to a sweet, if a bit goofy, pretend husband to boost ratings. Desperate to help his family and prove he's not a total failure, reporter Matthew Knox is looking for a breakout story. When he's offered the opportunity to do an online serial feature on Miranda Woodruff, he jumps at the chance, even if celebrity reporting isn't really his thing. But as soon as he meets Miranda, he knows she's keeping secrets. When Miranda's former fiance suddenly appears on the scene again, she doubts her life could get more complicated. Juggling three guys, an on-the-rocks television show, and the potential exposure of her deception is way more than she bargained for. Can the woman who makes things look so good onscreen admit it's time to tell the truth about who she is? And if she does, will the life Miranda's built come crashing down just as she's finally found a love to last?

Courted


Jennifer Chance - 2015
    But now I’ve got no choice.By the end of the week, I must give up my treasured military commission and take the throne. Given what my family’s already endured, I'll do it, too. There's no escape for me.Then, out on the edge of my beloved Aegean Sea, a dreamy-eyed American girl falls into my arms...and life as I know it will never be the same.Looks like we’ve got a brand new kind of fairy tale on our hands.

A Perfect Mess


Zoe Dawson - 2012
    He was always the unpredictable one, the one who would be brash enough to make it big self-publishing horror novels on the internet. He promised never to tell, but everyone knows you can never trust an Outlaw.Then a year later, in the middle of the night, she receives a phone call at Tulane. Her aunt, who took her in after her mother’s death, is in a coma under suspicious circumstances. Now she has to face that one person who knows all about what she did that summer—sexy Booker. Returning to Hope Parish to be with her aunt, stirs up all those ugly memories. When Aubree starts getting threats, she can’t help but wonder if what she did last summer was tied to her aunt’s “accident.” Afraid, she turns to the only person who knows the truth and Booker doesn’t hesitate to offer his broad shoulder for her to lean on. But Booker has a secret of his own that could crush their fledgling relationship.As the hot, sultry summer days move on, she finds that even a perfectly smart girl can lose her heart to a perfectly bad boy. What is she going to do when someone starts asking questions Aubree doesn’t want to answer? She’s knee deep into a terribly dangerous, wholly life changing, who-can-she-really-depend-on perfect mess.A Perfect Series: Three perfect girls, three perfect secrets, one unholy trinityA Perfect Mess, Book #1 – the girl most likely to succeed, an unpredictable Outlaw, and a dangerous secret that could be the death of her.A Perfect Mistake, Book #2 – A preacher’s daughter, a reckless Outlaw, and a secret that will change her life forever.A Perfect Dilemma, Book #3 – The town’s poor little rich girl, a sweet-talking Outlaw, and a secret that will ruin all that she holds dear