Book picks similar to
A Life Less Broken by Margaret McHeyzer
dark
abuse
romance
new-adult
Break In Two
M.J. Summers - 2013
Witty. Sexy as hell. A story as satisfying as the perfect man.Thirty-one-year-old Claire Hatley is running from Seattle having just discovered that her live-in boyfriend has traded her in for a twenty-two-year-old hostess. Devastated and alone Claire must make a fresh start. She answers an ad for a chef at a guest ranch just outside Colorado Springs and finds herself face to face with Cole Mitchell, quite possibly the sexiest man to ever ride a horse. Common sense tells them to stay away from each other, but their attraction is not to be denied. He gives her a glimpse of what love should be, but just as she starts to trust him, the past comes back to tear them apart.Join Claire and Cole as they embark on the stormy love affair of a lifetime.
The Trouble with Goodbye
Sarra Cannon - 2013
She’s always been the girl who does what she’s told. Except that time two years ago when she shocked everyone in the small town of Fairhope by breaking up with the richest guy in town and heading off to Boston to follow her dreams.It was the single most exciting thing she’s ever done for herself, and it felt like the start of something big…Until one terrifying night ripped it all away.With no place else to go, Leigh Anne heads home to reclaim what’s left of her old life. On the outside, she seems like the same reliable girl everyone knows and loves. But deep inside, she’s hiding a terrible secret.That’s when she meets Knox Warner, a troubled newcomer to Fairhope. His eyes have the same haunted look she sees every day in the mirror, and when she’s near him, the rest of the world fades away. But being with Knox would mean disappointing everyone all over again.If she wants to step back into that old life, she has no choice but to say goodbye to him forever.Only, the Trouble with Goodbye is that sometimes it’s about courage and sometimes it’s about fear. And sometimes you’re too broken to know the difference until it’s too late.
Trust Me
Melanie Walker - 2013
Pain, Anger, Terror…she also knew Trust. Of all the things her father taught her and her brother, it was her brother Noah who taught her to trust.At fourteen and awakened in the middle of the night by her eighteen year old brother Noah, they run and escape a fate that is worse than death. Years of abuse so severe has left them both strong, wounded and careful. They know to trust one another above all things and promise then and there they will never look back.The summer before her final year at UW Carrie agrees to a date with her long time crush who happens to be her brother Noah’s best friend Chad Blake. The tattooed and sexy as sin front-man for rock band Thick as Thieves and the crowned King of Gig Harbor’s bad boys, Chad is a known for a good time, great music, killer tats and a sweet goodbye the morning after as long as the girl knows the score. Everything he is, is everything Noah wants her safe from. Chad has wanted his best friends sister since she was eighteen but stayed away after Noah warned him that Carrie was off limits. Having been burned in the past, Chad focused on his day job as a tattoo artist and his dream of making it big with his band Thick as Thieves; keeping his bed warm until he had the chance to get Carrie Beckett there and never let her leave. Noah sheltered Carrie as best he could, keeping her as far from his personal life and Chad Blake as he could. He wanted nothing but happiness and freedom for the sister he watched suffer day in and day out.But Carrie is innocent and smart, strong willed with a sassy mouth, all the things Chad loves about her and refuses to deny himself of anymore.Risking it all on a whim, he shows up and asks Carrie to go “All In” and betray her brother for a chance to be together.Carrie is brought into the world of parties, concerts, fangirls and sex - that forces her to face the memories of her past in order to move on with Chad as her future.Knowing that love is a reward, trust, a gift, Carrie and Chad fall with a passion so strong, it threatens to break them both. They will battle back all the bad things in life for just a second of good and all the insecurities will come to an explosive head that may just destroy them both.
Peep Show
Isabella Starling - 2018
She's the it girl of the moment, a partygirl nobody can stop in her path of self destruction. Bebe Hall isn't the star of her own story.She's the star of mine.My name is Miles O'Reilly. I'm a photographer. An agoraphobic. A millionaire. A womanizer. I'm confined to my apartment. I don't leave. Ever.But when she sees me with my latest online conquest in the window of my apartment, my attention shifts to Bebe.And once I see something I want, I don't give up until it's mine.Forever.Peep Show is a 90,000 word novel with themes of voyeurism and dark scenes that may be upsetting to readers. If you are brave enough, come meet Miles. He's been waiting for you.
The Mixtape
Brittainy C. Cherry - 2021
Emery finds him first.Emery has never felt more alone. Raising her daughter is both her pleasure and her pain as she struggles to hold on to her job as a bartender and keep a roof over their heads. With no one to help them—no support system—any unexpected expense or late bill could turn their whole world upside down.Reeling from the death of his twin brother and bandmate, rock star Oliver Smith is trying to drink his problems away. Apparently he isn’t very good at it; they follow him wherever he goes. Also in hot pursuit are the paparazzi, who catch Oliver at his lowest low.He could have walked into any bar in California, but he walked into hers. Emery helps Oliver lose the crowd, and they find themselves alone: two people whose paths are marked with loss and pain. However, they hold an unshakable hope for healing. They find solace together, but can their love withstand the world?
Heart of Marley
T.K. Leigh - 2014
Having trouble coping with the loss of her soul mate, their mother tries to find comfort in drugs and alcohol… And an abusive man with a penchant for underage girls.No longer able to stand listening to his sister’s screams and cries every night for nearly three years, Cam takes matters into his own hands and they’re finally able to escape the nightmare.They’re finally able to start over…But the nightmare still haunts Marley. The years go on and she is forced to put on a smile, making everyone think that she is the perfect, well-adjusted teenager that she is supposed to be… Until she is faced with a painful reminder of her past during her senior year of high school and she’s no longer able to keep on the mask that she has been compelled to wear.Heart Of Marley is a prequel novel to T.K. Leigh’s Heart of Light.
Bound by Lies
Hanna Peach - 2014
He contacts me only through notes − unpredictable and untraceable. When we meet, he can touch me, but I’m not allowed to touch him. When we make love, it’s only after I have been bound and blindfolded. It’s the only time I truly feel alive. Which is why I play along with it. For now.Caden Thaine is the most sinfully beautiful man I have ever seen. But more than that, his touch sets me on fire. And dear God, do I ache for him. I don’t know where he lives or even what he does. But this doesn’t scare me. My only fear is that one day his messages will stop. I know he’s hiding something. But that’s okay. I am hiding things too. Like my real name and... who I really am. But the deeper I fall for him, the stronger my curiosity becomes. I could never have imagined just how much our lives are bound. And that pulling at his tangled web of secrets would cause my own dark past to come back to try and reclaim me. Will we survive? Will our love?Adult romantic suspense. +18 years.
Distrust
T.L. Smith - 2016
She would play with my emotions like a well-played guitar. Then she would disappear. Making me want to strangle her. Maybe she wasn’t a ghost, maybe she was the giver of sin. Because we sinned every time we touched, every time she was near. Her lips were shaped like a heart, deceiving you at every word. Her body was created straight from my fantasies, one I craved to bend to my will. Her heart, well, who the hell knew. She kept that shit locked tight. And I couldn’t find the key.
True North
Marie Force - 2010
He doesn't immediately recognize the world-famous super model who is attending her cousin Enid's wedding at the country club he owns.Thanks to Enid's shameless matchmaking, Travis and Liana become acquainted and later embark on a two-week fling intended to be free of emotion and entanglement. As Liana's return to work gets closer, however, Travis wonders how he'll ever let her go when the time comes while Liana considers whether he might be her true north.Two high-powered careers, two amazing weeks and a love that comes along just once in a lifetime. Is she ready to give up her career for a different kind of life? Does he want the same things she does? After insisting on an emotionless affair, she can't very well ask him. Or can she?
Nocte
Courtney Cole - 2014
I'm eighteen years old, and I'm one half of a whole. My other half—my twin brother, my Finn—is crazy. I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I'm terrified he'll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me. I'm doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I'm drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline. Dare DuBray. He's my savior and my anti-Christ. His arms are where I feel safe, where I'm afraid, where I belong, where I'm lost. He will heal me, break me, love me and hate me. He has the power to destroy me. Maybe that's ok. Because I can't seem to save Finn and love Dare without everyone getting hurt. Why? Because of a secret. A secret I'm so busy trying to figure out, that I never see it coming. You won't either.
No Tomorrow
Carian Cole - 2018
They steal our breath.They steal our sanity.And we let them.Over and over and over again.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *They say you never forget your first love.Mine was a homeless musician who wandered straight into my soul.He was my first everything. And fourteen years later, I still can't get him out of my head.He broke all my rules.He also broke my heart.I watched him climb to stardom, cheering him on from afar.But I was never a fan; just a girl in love.Like a tornado, he spiraled, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.But love conquers all, right? It has to. Because here I stand, ravaged and ruined, needing it to be true.You can't go back, but I want to. Back to the park. Back to when he sang only for me. Before he was famous. Before he shattered my heart.I thought I knew everything about him.But I could not have been more wrong.He promised me every tomorrow. And here I am, waiting.And hoping.Again. _______________________ Note: This is not a fluffy, light read or a swoony romance. It's a journey of love between two people who can't let each other go, even though they are far from perfect. It's about loving someone who is struggling with mental illness and addiction and all the ups and downs that come with it. It's about finding a happily ever after that works between two people loving each other the best they can with patience, understanding, and unconditional love. Not everyone will agree with this kind of love and acceptance - but it exists, and it's real, and it happens every day.
Scarred Love
M.S. Brannon - 2013
We belong to each other. I spent too much of my time consumed with what everyone else thinks of my feelings for Darcie, but the truth is, it was always supposed to be this way." ~Reggie EvansDarcie Claiborne spent several years of her young life living with a monster, always fearing what he would do next. Clasping onto her last ounce of hope, Darcie releases a scream. It’s her final attempt to live; to survive the villain of her reality. Sweeping her up in his arms, Darcie’s knight in shining armor rescues her from the hell she’s been living; from the stepfather she's feared for all those years.Reggie Evans has been forced to grow up before he’s ready when his mother dies of an overdose, leaving him responsible to raise his younger brothers. One fateful night, Reggie jogs by an old, run down house and discovers a young girl clinging to life as she screams for help.Three years later, Darcie is healing and always protected by the man who saved her, but now she's fighting with something she isn't prepared to face. The growing love for the man who saved her life three years ago, the same man who’s nine years older. All the while, Reggie fights to protect Darcie from the demons of her past and new ones of her present.**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content**
This Sky
Autumn Doughton - 2014
She’s no stranger to disappointment but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that unfolded when her celebrity boyfriend publicly humiliated her. Now the fairytale is officially over and Gemma is determined to put the past behind her and strike out to find a new dream. Just a few teeny-tiny details to work out: she’s currently broke, homeless and unemployed. Landon Young has his own worries. Surfer by day and bartender by night, he doesn’t have the interest or the time to be anyone’s happily-ever-after. Weighed down by the memory of what happened two years ago, Landon can barely keep his head above water. This Sky is the thoughtful and often funny story about broken trust, an unexpected love and the hopes we keep sewn in the linings of our pockets.
Royal Player
Katie McCoy - 2017
He's a beast on the courts, and a wild animal in bed (according to all the tabloids). Girls are lining up for chance at his crown jewels, and when I stumble into the wrong Wimbledon dressing room and catch a glimpse of his game, set, AND match, I can see why.So what's a little good luck kiss between f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ strangers?I know better than to get involved with a bad boy like Charlie. But now he's on a winning streak, he thinks I'm his lucky charm - and you know what's luckier than a kiss?Everything.Suddenly, I've got paparazzi on my trail, exes coming out of the woodwork -- and you don't know 'cutthroat' until you've seen a pack of hungry socialites set loose near the Royal Family.I'm in way over my head, and even worse - I'm falling in love. Can this American girl win her Prince Charming? Or will we both crash out of the championships in flames?
Wimbledon-meets-The Prince and Me in this hilarious, sexy new rom-com from Katie McCoy!
Taken by Lies
Ella Miles - 2019
From USA Today Bestselling Author Ella Miles comes a new dark romance series!I was taken.Kidnapped by a boy I thought I could love.Then he sold me as if I were property.For three years I endured.Beatings.Torture.Pain.I never broke.I was strong, determined, resilient.But then one day it happened...I broke.Setting me free.I should have run away, found a new life, and started over.Instead, I returned.To find the man who sold me.This is book ends on a cliffhanger.Series Order:Lured by Lies #0.5--Prequel Novella included in this bookTaken by Lies #1Betrayed by Truths #2Trapped by Lies #3Stolen by Truths #4Possessed by Lies #5Consumed by Truths #6