Book picks similar to
Taking Connor by B.N. Toler
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A Different Blue
Amy Harmon - 2013
She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing. This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.
Six of Hearts
L.H. Cosway - 2014
Mentalist. Trickster.
I think in triangles. You think in straight lines.I show you a table and make you believe it’s a chair.Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, misdirection. I trick and deceive.But most of all, I put on a good show.The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn't. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.I want it for all six of us.She doesn't remember me, but she’s the reason for everything. She’ll be my prize at the end of all this–if I can hold onto my willpower, that is. Maybe I’ll slip up a little, have a taste, just a small one.So go ahead and pick a card. Come inside and see the show. Look at my hands, look so closely that you can’t see what’s happening while you’re so focused on looking. I’ll be destroying your world from right here in the spotlight.You’ll never see me coming until it’s too late.I've only got one heart, and after I've pulled off my grand deception I’ll hand it right to her.So, sit back, relax, and let my girl tell you our story. You’re in for one hell of a ride.
Break Even
Lisa De Jong - 2015
Every day, River gives me ten reasons to stay away, and then eleven reasons why I can't. Our relationship was to remain strictly business, or at least I tried. Four years of marriage, and everything with Cole has changed. I never knew two people who lived together could be so distant. But I’m not ready to give up on him.One man wants to break me.The other is just trying to get even. Both are lying to me.
The Five Stages of Falling in Love
Rachel Higginson - 2015
Grady's prognosis was grim, even from the start, but Liz never gave up hope he would survive. How could she, when he was everything to her?Six months later, she is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and get the kids to school on time. Both seem impossible. Everything seems impossible these days.When Ben Tyler moves in next door, she is drowning in sorrow and pain, her children are acting out, and the house is falling apart. She has no time for curious new friends or unwanted help, but Ben gives her both. And he doesn't just want to help her with yard work or cleaning the gutters. Ben wants more from Liz. More than she's capable of ever giving again.As Liz mourns her dead husband and works her way through the five stages of grief, she finds there's more of her heart to give than she thought possible. And as new love takes hold, she peels away the guilt and heartache, and discovers there's more to life than death.
Dear Ava
Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2020
Once upon a time, I wanted to be part of their world--until they destroyed me.The last thing I expected was an anonymous love letter from one of them.Please. I hate every one of those rich jerks for what they did to me. The question is, which Shark is my secret admirer?Knox, the scarred quarterback.Dane, his twin brother.Or Chance, the ex who dumped me. . .Dear Ava,Your eyes are the color of the Caribbean Sea.Wait. That's stupid.What I really mean is, you look at me and I feel something REAL.It's been ten months since you were here, but I can't forget you.I've missed seeing you walk down the hall.I've missed you cheering at my football games.I've missed the smell of your hair.And then everything fell apart the night of the kegger.Don't hate me because I'm a Shark.I just want to make you mine.Still.Mature Content. Recommended for 18+.A short excerpt of Dear Ava appeared in Team Player 2. (No longer available) This all-new, full-length version is 376 pages and 100,000 words.
Beautiful Oblivion
Jamie McGuire - 2014
She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red. As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.
Hard Time
Cara McKenna - 2014
Tall frame, wide shoulders-but not burly. His near-black hair was due for a cut, curling under his ears. Dark brows, dark stubble, dark lashes and eyes.And he was handsome. So handsome it broke your heart.A deck of cards was split between his hands, paused midshuffle. Some of the men wore navy scrub tops and bottoms, some navy tee shirts, a few white undershirts. This man wore a tee, with COUSINS stenciled on the front, above the number 802267. Those digits imprinted on my brain, burned black as a brand.He watched me. But not the way the others did. If he was trying to picture me naked, his poker face was strong, though his attention anything but subtle. His entire head moved as I passed through his domain, but his eyes were languorous. Lazy and half-lidded, yet intense. A hundred looks in one. I didn't like it. Couldn't read it. At least with the horny jerk-offs, I knew where I stood.I wondered what the worst thing you could do and still only get sent to a medium-security prison was. I hoped not to ever learn the answer. And I hoped to heaven inmate 802267 hadn't signed up for any of the day's programs.
Gentleman Sinner
Jodi Ellen Malpas - 2019
After all, she escaped it long ago. Determined not to let her past beat her, Izzy has a secure, stable life with a job she loves in nursing. But one act of kindness will completely upend everything she's so carefully built-putting her right back in the crosshairs of danger she's been so desperate to avoid.When Theo Kane shows up like a knight in shining armor, Izzy can't help thinking she's been saved from one threat and exposed to another. His imposing physique, the harsh lines of his face, and the wariness of everyone who comes close are just a few clues to Theo Kane's notorious reputation. The man is positively terrifying. But with Izzy, he's tender and a complete gentleman, and her fascination with the mysterious beast of a man becomes too powerful for her to walk away.As Theo's demons come to light, running becomes even more impossible. And yet staying together could doom them both.
Bang
E.K. Blair - 2014
But I’m not innocent. I haven’t been for a very long time. My innocence was stolen from me. Taken was the life I was supposed to have. The soul I was born with. The ruby heart embedded in a life full of hopes and dreams.Gone.Vanished.I never even had a choice. I mourn that life. Mourn the what-ifs. Until now. I’m ready to take back what was always meant to be mine.But every plan has a fatal flaw. Sometimes it’s the heart.**Due to the dark and explicit nature of this book, it is recommended for mature audiences only as some scenes may be particularly disturbing.**
Inseparable
Siobhan Davis - 2018
An unbreakable bond. One tragic event that shatters everything. It all started with the boys next door… Devin and Ayden were my best friends. We were practically joined at the hip since age two. When we were kids, we thought we were invincible, inseparable, that nothing or no one could come between us. But we were wrong. Everything turned to crap our senior year of high school. Devin was turning into a clone of his deadbeat lowlife father—fighting, getting wasted, and screwing his way through every girl in town. I’d been hiding a secret crush on him for years. Afraid to tell him how I felt in case I ruined everything. So, I kept quiet and slowly watched him self-destruct with a constant ache in my heart. Where Devin was all brooding darkness, Ayden was the shining light. Our star quarterback with the bright future whom everyone loved. But something wasn’t right. He was so guarded, and he wouldn’t let me in. When Devin publicly shamed me, Ayden took my side, and our awesome-threesome bond was severed. The split was devastating. The heartbreak inevitable. Ayden and I moved on with our lives, but the pain never lessened, and Devin was never far from our thoughts. Until it all came to a head in college, and one eventful night changed everything. Now, I’ve lost the two people who matter more to me than life itself. Nothing will ever be the same again. A standalone new adult contemporary romance with a happy ending. Only suitable for readers aged eighteen and older due to mature content and possible triggers.
Pocketful of Sand
Michelle Leighton - 2015
And I’m hope for her heartache.”—Cole Danzer.I don’t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul? The answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other’s shattered pieces and made a whole. If that is what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine…ours is the greatest of them all.**Contains material that some may find disturbing. Not intended for readers under the age of 18**
Turbulence
Whitney G. - 2016
Boy charms girl. Boy fucks girl.Our story was supposed to end right after the orgasms, right after we went our separate ways.But then we saw each other again...And neither of us could walk away.Our rules were simple.Our passion was scandalous.Our hearts were supposed to be safe...But when you find something so all-consuming--something so intoxicating and inescapable, you'll risk everything you've ever had, even if you're destined to crash and burn.This is us.This is our messed up love.This is turbulence.
Strangers
Barbara Elsborg - 2009
Charlie Storm has turned being a bad boy into an art form. Already a famous pop star, mega-success in the movie business beckons until his inner demons send him spiraling out of control and right out to sea. The last thing he expects to do before he dies is crash into a suicidal woman.When the worlds of these two strangers collide, their lives take an upward twist.In surviving the waves, they find they can’t stand to be apart, in or out of bed. Kate seizes a chance for happiness, seeing in Charlie a man she can finally trust to love her. Charlie can’t let go of Kate because she’s the only woman able to see the man he wants to be.But the price of fame is high and when the world wants to drive them apart, life only seems safe in Kate’s bed.
The Italian
T.L. Swan - 2019
Travel the world. And fall hopelessly in love. I aimed to do all three. I went to Italy to find myself. But he found me. It was like a story book, our eyes met across a crowded room. He asked me if I needed help reading the menu. We ate, we laughed, we danced, and I fell. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan, and we parted ways. Two years later, our eyes meet across a room again. Only this time I was on a date with another man. He went crazy in a jealous fit. But the man I met then is different now. He’s colder, harder, and officially one of the most powerful men in Italy. Dare I say it, even more enticing. But if you dance with the devil, you get burnt. And the fires in Italy are scalding hot.
Beautiful Broken Rules
Kimberly Lauren - 2013
That’s why this hard-partying college student plays by her own code of bedroom conduct, refusing to stay with the same guy for too long. She gets all the pleasure of having a good time without the messiness of a relationship.. So what if frat house–hopping has earned her a certain reputation around campus? At least no one gets hurt this way—especially her.When ridiculously gorgeous Jaxon Riley moves in next door, Emerson’s not sure how long her vow against emotional intimacy can last. Jaxon’s tattoo, muscles, and sexy voice make him tempting, but he also seems to really understand her…until his jealous ex-girlfriend and Emerson’s life-changing discovery about her parents get thrown into the mix. After everything she’s been through, can Emerson handle a real relationship? Or will breaking her rules just lead to a broken heart?
Revised edition: This edition of Beautiful Broken Rules includes editorial revisions.