Book picks similar to
A Life Less Broken by Margaret McHeyzer
dark
abuse
romance
new-adult
Translucent
Erin Noelle - 2014
The day I watched my husband murder the woman who was pregnant with his child, my point didn’t just break, it exploded like a full magazine’s worth of hollow points firing through the barrel of a fully-automatic AK-47. Literally. I am no longer his American Princess, nor am I his slave. Now, I’m a murderer in hiding. My name was Bryleigh Carter Oliveira, and that was my story. Translucent is one woman's story of breaking free, starting over, and learning to trust again through willful submission.
Beast
A. Zavarelli - 2017
But then he took me. And he taught me that life isn’t a fairytale. He is scarred. Broken. A dark and wild thing. His beauty is violent and his words are cruel. His heart is a shadowed landscape where nothing can grow. He tells me he could never care for me, and he proves it every day. He’s destroyed my life. Tortured me. And worse… He’s trained me to beg for his affection. This prison is a place where sunlight doesn’t reach. He taught me that hate is born in darkness. And then he taught me that sometimes love is too.
Salvation
Noelle Adams - 2014
There was never anything special about me, except my father is rich and important. That's why it happened.It was just a normal Tuesday afternoon. I was twenty-three and thinking about my new designer boots. They kidnapped me for ransom. They raped me before I was rescued. My therapist says that talking about it means I'm starting to heal.I don't really think I am. It's even harder to talk about Gideon. He couldn’t save me when it really mattered, so he keeps trying to save me now. He refuses to give up on me, and I can’t make him understand. There are some things you just can’t be saved from.Salvation is a love story that follows a difficult path of healing after sexual assault. It is a true romance, but it addresses very hard issues, including rape and attempted suicide. The novel is not, however, about captivity and violence. It is about love, healing, and hope.
Where We Belong
K.L. Grayson - 2014
. . she's a snarky little bitch.I’ve tried several times to regret the events that took place on June 5, 2008, but for the life of me, I can’t. I'd never regret the pain, the suffering, or the heartache because it ultimately led me to the place I am now. And I can’t regret the place I am now. What I still can't figure out is this: how is it possible that the single worst day of my life inadvertently became the very best day?Five years ago my life was irrevocably changed.Seventeen minutes was all it took—to lose my best friend…to lose the love of my life…Seventeen minutes was all it took for the seeds of hope—the seeds of my future—to be planted in the worst possible way.My name is Harley Thompson, and this is my story.
Therapy
Kathryn Perez - 2014
I’m needy. I’m broken. Cutting breaks through my numbness, but only opens more wounds. Depression, self-harm, bullying....that's my reality. Sex and guys....that's my escape. The space between the truth and lies is blurred leaving me torn, lost and confused. And while the monsters that live in my head try to beat me-- the two men that I love try to save me. This is my story of friendship, heartache, and the grueling journey that is mental-illness.Warning: Due to possible triggering subject matter and some sexual situations this book is not recommended for anyone under the age of 17 years old.
Some Sort of Happy
Melanie Harlow - 2015
She’s even more beautiful than I remember. Ten years ago she was an impossible dream, and now she’s right here in front of me, offering everything I ever wanted. But happiness never lasts, not for someone like me. I have to protect us both.****Sebastian Pryce. He’s the most complicated, frustrating, beautiful man I’ve ever met, and my body craves his with a hunger I’ve never known. My heart is his completely.Why won’t he let me in? ** SOME SORT OF HAPPY is a full-length standalone romance. **
Give Me Yesterday
K. Webster - 2015
Tough. Emotionless. What they don’t know, is that ten years ago, she lost everything. Including her hope for the future. Chase Monroe struggles with his own demons. Devastated by guilt and on a mission to correct his past, he uses his skills as a college psychology professor to help others move beyond their grief. When Victoria is forced to attend grief counselling, she meets Chase, and there is an instant attraction. Chase is determined to help her confront her past and find happiness. Victoria is afraid to relive her pain. Just as they begin to step forward, tragedy strikes and throws them backwards, and they find themselves, once again, shackled to the past. Can Chase and Victoria find the path to a happy future together? Or will they forever be wishing for yesterday? **Recommended 18+ due to language and sexual content.
Wrong
L.P. Lovell - 2015
I knew exactly what I wanted and where I was going, until I was thrust into his world and ripped from mine. In the blink of an eye everything shattered, proving to be nothing more than a cheap illusion. Now I’m living in this twisted form of hell, where enemies and friends are one and the same. I thought I wanted perfection. Now I don’t know what I want - perhaps not even my own freedom. Jude I'm the definition of wrong. I'm violent, I'm greedy, and I stop at nothing to win. I'm a notorious bookie and in my game paying with your life is not just a figure of speech. You lose, I collect. I take whatever you have. She’s collateral for a debt, and if that debt's not paid someone will die. This should be just business, so why can’t I kill her? Everything is not always as it seems. Lust. Blood. Lies.Nothing this wrong should feel so right.
VIP
M. Robinson - 2013
I went to Miami to discover myself; never in my wildest dreams, did I think home would become a three-letter word. VIP. I was the dream. I was the illusion. I was the fantasy. Until him… Everything went to hell in hand basket the moment we laid eyes on each other. I wanted him. He wanted me. Sebastian I have always been a man who made decisions based on other people’s feelings, wants, and desires. I was selfless. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Especially her. The moment I met her… I wanted her. I loved her. For the woman she was. For the woman she wanted to be. But most of all… For the woman she was, when she was with me. This isn’t a love story, but a story about love. Warning sex/drugs/language. Mature readers only.
Within These Walls
J.L. Berg - 2014
I am not strong. I am just a survivor of circumstance.Isn’t that what we all do? Survive?Each of us has our own set of circumstances to muddle through. Mine are just more…complicated. Born with a severe heart defect, I’ve seen the inside of a hospital room more than my own bedroom. I was drowning, a prisoner to the illness that owned me, until he appeared. He thinks he’s blocked out the world with his tattoos and hard exterior, but I see the real Jude, the one he so desperately wants to forget. But is he the answer to my prayers or will he break my already damaged heart forever?My name is Lailah Buchanan, and this is our story of hope, redemption and sacrificing it all for the one you love.
Sick Fux
Tillie Cole - 2017
Ellis was loud and beautiful – all blond hair, bright laughs and smiles. Heathan was dark and brooding, and obsessed with watching things die.The pair forged an unlikely friendship, unique and strange. Until they were ripped apart by the sick cruelty of others, separated for years, both locked in a perpetual hell.Eleven years later, Heathan is back for his girl. Back from a place from which he thought there was no return. Back to seek revenge on those who wronged them.Time has made Heathan’s soul darker, polluted with hatred and the thirst for blood.Time has made Ellis a shell of her former self, a little girl lost in the vastness of her pain.As Heathan pulls Ellis out of her mental prison, reviving the essence of who she once was, down the rabbit hole they will go.With malice in their hearts and vengeance in their veins, they will seek out the ones who hurt and destroyed them.One at a time.Each one more deadly than the last.Tick Tock.Dark Contemporary Romance. Contains explicit sexual situations, violence, disturbingly sensitive and taboo subjects, offensive language and very mature topics. Recommended for ages 18 and over.
Forget Me Not
Willow Winters - 2017
I was only a small girl. Scared and frightened, I was taken from my home and held against my will. His father hurt me, but he protected me and kept me safe as best he could. Until I left him. I ran the first chance I got and even though I knew he wasn’t behind me, I didn’t stop. The branches lashed out at me, punishing me for leaving him in the hands of a monster. I’ve never felt such guilt in my life. Although I survived, the boy was never found. I prayed for him to be safe. I dreamed he’d be alright and come back to me. Even as a young girl I knew I loved him, but I betrayed him. Twenty years later, all my wishes came true. But the boy came back a man. With a grip strong enough to keep me close and a look in his eyes that warned me to never dare leave him again. I was his to keep after all. Twenty years after leaving one hell, I entered another. Our tale was only just getting started. It’s dark and twisted. But that doesn’t make it any less of what it is. A love story. Our love story.
Blood to Dust
L.J. Shen - 2016
Me.His name is Nate and I should hate him, but I don't.I'm not supposed to know his real name, even worse, I'm not supposed to care. He is nothing to me but means to an end. The plan is simple: break free, collect the pieces of my broken soul, kill the bastards and run away.His name is Nathaniel Thomas Vela, and I've never seen his face, though I hear that it's beautiful.Behind the rugged and handsome exterior, there's a quiet murderer, a killer who thinks guns are for pussies and ends people with his bare hands.His name doesn't matter, neither does his face, but what does matter is my heart. And right now, sadly, it's his.
Blood to Dust is a standalone, full-length novel. It contains graphic violence and adult situations some may find offensive.
Bouquet Toss
Melissa Brown - 2012
Be it a blessing or a curse, Daphne (a hopeless romantic and perpetual single girl) catches the bouquet at every single wedding she attends. Daphne’s love life is a mess. Her first love, Mayson, haunts her heart and keeps her from pursuing happiness with any man who comes along. As she struggles to move on from the one who got away, Daphne wonders if she will ever break her curse and find her happily ever after.