Book picks similar to
The Darkest Secret by Jessica Pine
new-adult
contemporary-romance
freebies
romance
Let Love In
Melissa Collins - 2013
Ripped from her home and everything that she has ever loved, she is forced to start all over again. The only way for her to move on is to build walls around her heart and keep everyone at a safe distance. Her logic: she can't get hurt if she doesn't fall in love. That theory is blown to pieces when she meets Reid Connely during her freshman year at college. He is gorgeous and darkly mysterious. He understands Maddy's pain all too well, but sharing his pain would mean breaking down the walls he put up around his own heart. Conflicted between loving Maddy and hiding his dark past, Reid starts to reevaluate his world. Maddy's inner strength, snarky personality and breath taking beauty help Reid to make peace with his past. Together they find out what happens when they let love in.
Step Beast
Selena Kitt - 2015
Because he’s built like the tanks he rode in Afghanistan. Beneath Conrad "Beast" Beeston III’s fierce, intense gaze, his brooding temperament, his knuckles scarred from fighting, lurks a wild man, his strong, broad back darkly inked with his own hard truths.He only has one mode, and “Beast” is it. He ripped through Tilly's life, tearing it to shreds, and then he was gone, giving a stiff middle finger to a life of entitlement. He left her like he leaves them all—with little more than a broken heart. But for Tilly, there was one more thing. He left her with an unbearable secret she’s been forced to keep for years. Tilly’s privileged life, after her recent graduation from Mt. Holyoke, has come to a screeching halt under tragic circumstances. Had she really believed she’d never see her Devil Dog stepbrother again? Now he’s coming home—and she’s forced to face his cocky smirk and arrogant swagger, to look once again into the eyes of the monster who left her. Forced to confront him, what she sees is a raw, broken, tortured man who just might be the only person she knows keeping even bigger secrets than she is.
Safe Without You
H. Ward - 2013
Recommended for readers aged 17+ due to sexual situations and language. Stand alone full length novel with no cliffhanger ending.Eight weeks after my arrival, the tour company I was working for went bust. I never saw a paycheck for my second month ofwork, and found myself marooned in Panama with exactly $412. At least the company had fed and housed me--until they skipped out...But I wasn't panicking just yet. I was sure that with a little creativity, I'd find a way to spin straw into gold. I just had no idea what the price of that might be.A mojito with a handsome comrade in a bar just seems too good to refuse.A free road trip to her next destination... what could go wrong?A shared room later that night... maybe. But that's all Amber McShane ever planned for Cal Compton. Sometimes the most complex dangers lurk behind the simplest of plans...
Erased
K. Webster - 2014
She’s a concert pianist in New York who lives with her longtime boyfriend and is close with her fiercely protective father—until one fateful night when she is taken in the middle of the night.In a desperate attempt to access a program that could be a threat to national security, her ability to play the piano is threatened. Her world comes crashing down when her father puts his need to protect a program over his own daughter.At the last minute, Joss finds herself whisked away by an unlikely ally. She later lands in the protective custody of none other than small-town bad boy and bar owner Derek Slade. Slade is entrusted to look after Joss and see to it that she hides behind her new persona, Jill, so that bad people don’t find her ever again.Joss has been erased. Joss is now Jill.As Joss trades her blond locks for Jill’s mahogany ones, she also takes on the strength of her new persona. Jill is someone who doesn’t put up with crap. Jill doesn’t trust easily. Jill must protect the broken heart of Joss.Joss and Slade battle an intense attraction, but she isn’t the only one with secrets. Behind Slade’s silver eyes are mysteries he’s unwilling to share. Slade knows better than to get involved with Joss, yet he finds it nearly impossible to push her away. What happens when Slade crosses the line of protector? Can he protect her when the evils of both of their pasts come back to haunt them?
Dark Lessons
Julia Sykes - 2017
That’s all it was supposed to be. So when my darkly domineering one-night stand turns out to be one of my instructors at Quantico, my life becomes far too complicated. I’m training as an FBI agent, but Jason has other forms of training in mind. Like bending me over his desk for a spanking.I try to resist him, but soon we’re stealing forbidden hours of lust when no one’s watching. It could cost us both our careers, but I can’t help myself. He’s broken, and I want to be his salvation.In return, he says he wants to protect me, to love me. But can he save me when my new job puts me directly in the path of danger?
Weak for Him
Lyra Parish - 2014
Bright lights. Sex.Jennifer is made an offer: sell her virginity to the highest bidder and transform into one of Finnley's girls. But she finds herself weak for him, and doesn't fully realize what she's agreed to until it's too late.Will she rise to the challenge and play by the rules in a land where money is king and love is prohibited? Or will she lose herself and values in the attempt?Weak for Him has unlady-like language, adult subject matter, and s-e-x-ual situations. There is resolution at the end but the story does continue on to Weak Without Him.
Bang Bang
Rachel Van Dyken - 2014
Lines are blurred. Choices are never black and white. And the life you thought you knew is... one giant lie.He was dead.And I didn't want his life to be in vain, so I tried to make something of myself. I tried and failed.Now he's back. Alive. And he wants something...Me.Nobody ever said the mafia played fair.Welcome to The Family.
Wreck You
Abby McCarthy - 2014
I take men who love me and I destroy them. If there was a scarlet letter I could wear to keep the men at bay, it would be a W. I would wear it proudly, to let them know I am a wrecker. If you love me, I will wreck you.” Raised within the Devil’s Crusader’s, Maura has been exposed to many of life’s uglies and sheltered from any real relationships. She has all but given up on the idea of love. Until she meets Corbin Marx, a sexy beast of a Marine who refuses to back down from any challenge. He is the type of man Maura has craved, the type who might just be strong enough… This journey will be brutal, littered with violence, deceit and heartache. Maura must learn to navigate through the bumpy roads that life has paved and hope that at the end she will find her happiness. Warning: Due to violence, language, drug use and sexual content this book is not suited for anyone under 17. If those things offend you, this might too.
Our Hearts Entwined
Lilliana Anderson - 2013
It's here that she's introduced to Dr Cayd Donnelly, a man so devastatingly attractive that she almost forgot to say no when he asked her out - despite her loyalty to her long term boyfriend, Eric.Shortly after, the usually predictable Mia becomes anything but. The change in her behaviour delights Eric, but concerns her best friend Louise when she stops signing while they talk.After a month of worry and frustration, Mia finally seeks help. Help that comes in the form of an incredibly hard to resist doctor - Cayd.From there, she discovers just how entwined her life and her heart is with those of others while she navigates a path of passion, treachery, and loss.Things will never be the same for Mia again...(Confused? This book was previously known as 'Alter')
A Moment
Marie Hall - 2013
Life didn't turn out the way I'd ever hoped it would. I got pregnant at 14. Same year my mom got diagnosed with MS. Dad bailed on us and my life felt like it suddenly started to spiral out of control. I'm 21 now, I go to college, I work hard, trying to make something of myself. I wasn't supposed to be at that burlesque bar Valentine's Day. I wasn't supposed to meet Ryan Cosgrove, but I did. And now nothing will ever be the same. Love born from pain... I'm a retired Marine, an MMA fighter, and when I was younger something terrible happened to me. Life is hard and I'm so tired of pretending its not. I'm in a burlesque bar, drowning my sorrows, trying to shut out the demons breathing down my neck always reminding me I'm not good enough. Then I see Liliana Delgado and something inside of me- something I'd thought long dead- stirs to life. I wonder... can she save me? I hope she can, because I don't think I can save myself. This is our moment...
Alpha
Jasinda Wilder - 2014
Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just "VRI Inc.," and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: "You." Just those three letters.If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?I did.The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: "belong."A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. "To me."The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't.And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: "It's time to pay your debt."Would you have gotten in?I did.It turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.
Unbreakable
Abby Reynolds - 2014
This is a stand alone novel. It is not a cliffhanger. And it is the first novel in the Forehead Kisses Series. Can there be too many pieces to piece back together? This is a question Keira faces every day. It’s impossible for her to go anywhere unaccompanied by her cousin, the only person who knows what happened on that horrific night a year ago. The guilt and pain weigh her down every day. Unwilling to open up to anyone and give someone a chance, she lives in solitude. For her, that’s the only way to live. Liam struggles with his own demons. After losing someone who means the world to him, he combats his anger and pain on a daily basis. He dives into violence and sex, losing himself more and more. But as soon as he meets Keira, he recognizes the same pain he suffers every day. And he pursues her, wanting to connect to someone who understands. Keira can’t put herself back together, and neither can Liam. But can they do it together?
Progress
Amy Queau - 2013
But how far into his mind is she willing to go?Jesse has a curious attraction to Charlene, a hostess at the restaurant where he works. Outwardly he’s rude, awkward and unapproachable. But his sudden bursts of charm are inescapable. A devastating childhood filled with physical and emotional abuse have left him complex and frigid.Charlene, an innocent, is quickly mystified. Her craving for him generates an infatuation and a purpose. Losing weight and gaining confidence, she begins taking more risks. She defies her past, damaged and tender, in order to move ahead."Progress" is a realistic tale of two friends who both have similar issues that make them hesitant to get close to anyone. Jesse's demons have manifested into an emotional detachment, and Charlene's, a physical one.If nobody makes the first move then nobody gets hurt.Their journeys take them down parallel paths which leave them just as emotionally unmatched and conflicted as the day they met.
The Promise of Paradise
Allie Boniface - 2007
To escape, she rents an apartment in the sleepy town of Paradise, New Hampshire, where no one knows who she is.Ashton hopes for solitude, but all bets are off when Eddie West, the town’s most eligible bachelor, moves in downstairs. Eddie likes his women and his cars shiny, sleek, and fast, and when he meets his new housemate, he wastes no time getting friendly. While he's looking for a no-strings romance, though, he gets more than he bargained for in Ash, who sees through his bravado to the pain of a loss too fresh to mention.Can two people from different worlds find common ground, a place to fall in love and build a future? Is it possible to find your soul mate in the place you least expect?