Book picks similar to
The Pretender by Katie Ward


young-adult
royalty
blog-tour
charming

Nasty Business


Gillian Godden - 2019
     And, now that he’s running a fancy West End nightclub, Tony has new-found celebrity status – with a never-ending string of gorgeous women on his arm, he’s become the darling of the tabloids. However, despite his success, he still feels he lacks the respect he deserves and the status he desires. The little boy who lived on the streets is never far away. Desperate for recognition, he’s driven to achieve more and more. Most of all, he craves the acceptance of Ralph Gold and to become a bigger part of his extensive web of organised crime. Fearlessly facing up to enemies, winning battles and becoming the undisputed bosses of the London underworld can be a nasty business, but it’s the only business Tony and Jake know. And they’ll stop at nothing to succeed.

Dividing Eden


Joelle Charbonneau - 2017
    With their older brother next in line to inherit the throne, the future of the kingdom was secure.But appearances—and rivals—can be deceiving. When Eden’s king and crown prince are killed by assassins, Eden desperately needs a monarch, but the line of succession is no longer clear. With a ruling council scheming to gain power, Carys and Andreus are faced with only one option—to take part in a Trial of Succession that will determine which one of them is worthy of ruling the kingdom.As sister and brother, Carys and Andreus have always kept each other safe—from their secrets, from the court, and from the monsters lurking in the mountains beyond the kingdom’s wall. But the Trial of Succession will test the bonds of trust and family.With their country and their hearts divided, Carys and Andreus will discover exactly what each will do to win the crown. How long before suspicion takes hold and the thirst for power leads to the ultimate betrayal?

The Healer


Sharon Thompson - 2019
    Her family and community are wary of the beautiful child. As Molly becomes a teenager life gets harder and she loses faith in everything.  Molly is surrounded in danger. She must make choices. But will she chose the right path or is she doomed to a life of misery? Will she survive in a world of violence and crime? Will The Healer ever be healed?

One Paris Summer


Denise Grover Swank - 2016
    She and her brother are sent to Paris to spend the summer with their father, who left home a year ago without any explanation. As if his sudden abandonment weren't betrayal enough, he's about to remarry, and they’re expected to play nice with his soon-to-be wife and stepdaughter. The stepdaughter, Camille, agrees to show them around the city, but she makes it clear that she will do everything in her power to make Sophie miserable.Sophie could deal with all the pain and humiliation if only she could practice piano. Her dream is to become a pianist, and she was supposed to spend the summer preparing for a scholarship competition. Even though her father moved to Paris to pursue his own dream, he clearly doesn't support hers. His promise to provide her with a piano goes unfulfilled.Still, no one is immune to Paris’s charm. After a few encounters with a gorgeous French boy, Sophie finds herself warming to the city, particularly when she discovers that he can help her practice piano. There’s just one hitch—he’s a friend of Camille’s, and Camille hates Sophie. While the summer Sophie dreaded promises to become best summer of her life, one person could ruin it all.

The Truth About Us


Janet Gurtler - 2015
    Her dad is making her spend the whole summer volunteering at the local soup kitchen.The truth is she wishes she was the care-free party-girl everyone thinks she is.She pretends it's all fine. That her "perfect" family is fine. But it's not. And no one notices the lie...until she meets Flynn. He's the only one who really sees her. The only one who listens.The truth is that Jess is falling apart – and no one seems to care. But Flynn is the definition of "the wrong side of the tracks." When Jess's parents look at him they only see the differences-not how much they need each other. They don't get that the person who shouldn't fit in your world... might just be the one to make you feel like you belong.

The Kennedy Boys Box Set


Siobhan Davis - 2019
    No cliffhangers. Dual POV. All books end with a HEA. BOOKS IN THIS COLLECTION: Loving Kalvin - standalone friends-to-lovers second-chance romance I knew it would end in disaster, but I didn’t listen to reason. I didn’t care. Because I loved him so much. Kalvin Kennedy ruled my heart. Until he destroyed it. Shattered it so completely that I became someone else. Someone I loathed. Someone who repeatedly lied to her loved ones. So, I ran. From him. From myself. Desperate to hide my new reality. But I could only run so far. Saving Brad - standalone enemies-to-lovers romance I need to escape. To put as much distance between me and that monster so I can start living my life. Yet, even the vast Atlantic Ocean isn’t enough to sever the connection. To allow me to forget how he’s ruined me. His hold is more than just physical. He has a vise grip on my head and my heart, and I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t function. So, I do everything to blot it out. Until he reappears in my life. Brad McConaughey. So hot. So infuriating. So in love with my best friend. Every word out of Brad’s mouth makes me want to throat punch him or kick him in the nuts. But he makes me feel, and I hate him for it. A part of me might actually love him for it. Seducing Kaden - standalone forbidden romance When I was a little girl, I dreamed of falling in love. The all-consuming sweep-you-off-your-feet kind of love I swooned over in movies. It didn’t take long for that fairytale notion to come crashing down around me. Now I’m trapped in a marriage I despise with no way out. The only light in the dark is Kaden Kennedy—the one true love of my life. He doesn’t know he is, because I’m forced to love him from afar, condemned to toss and turn at night, crying over everything I want and all I can never have. Seeing him day in, day out, destroys me, but there’s no other choice; I had to push him away to keep him safe. Because if my husband ever finds out I’m in love with one of my students, I won’t be the only one in danger. Forgiving Keven - standalone second-chance romance They say you never forget your first love, but I’m determined to prove Keven Kennedy is just a random boy from my past. It’s not like I still think about him after all this time. Or daydream about how hot his kisses were and what it felt like to have his hands on my skin. Nope, that’s not me. I’m in a happy place in my life. Engaged to a great man and finishing the last year of my photography degree. But since I returned to Massachusetts, everything reminds me of the boy who ripped my heart to shreds. Especially when my fiancé’s constant business trips, and dwindling attention, raises old fears to the surface. And then the unthinkable happens—Keven saunters back into my life, turning it upside down once more. It’s ironic he thinks he’s protecting me when the only one I need protecting from is him.

The Locket


Stacey Jay - 2011
    But when her boyfriend Isaac finds out she cheated on him - with their mutual best friend Mitch, no less - he dumps her, leaving her devastated. And then a miracle happens. The locket burns on Katie's chest and she feels herself going back two weeks in time, to the night she cheated with Mitch. At first, Kate is delighted to be a better girlfriend to Isaac this time around. But as other aspects of her life become inexplicably altered, she realizes that changing the past may have had a dangerous effect on her present. Can she make things right before the locket destroys everything - and everyone - she loves?

Rooftoppers


Katherine Rundell - 2013
    True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive, but that means still possible. You should never ignore a possible. So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, she takes matters into her own hands and flees to Paris to look for her mother, starting with the only clue she has - the address of the cello maker. Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers - urchins who live in the sky. Together they scour the city for Sophie's mother before she is caught and sent back to London, and most importantly before she loses hope.

Sunrise Over Pebble Bay


Della Galton - 2021
    Talented, yet relatively unknown actress and celebration cake baker extraordinaire Olivia Lambert is running out of time.Approaching forty, she’s yet to land the role that will launch her television career and she’s desperate to be a mum.Her new man, Phil Grimshaw from the Bluebell Cliff Hotel, seems the perfect match, but seems to be in no rush to settle down.Having ditched her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Tom Boyd, when he backtracked about being a dad, Olivia dreads making the same mistake again.Rocked by confessions from both her sister Ruby and Tom, Olivia knows it’s time to make some life changing decisions.Then a terrifying incident off Chesil Beach changes the course of her future and brings Olivia to question everything she values and loves.

Blood Brothers


Heather Atkinson - 2020
    

Build Me Up Buttercup


Bella Osborne - 2018
    And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve… Fantastically funny, this irresistibly heart-warming novel will charm fans of Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell.

The Price


Kerry Kaya - 2020
    Together they work for notorious East End gangster Billy King. Across the water in South London is Billy’s rival George Bannerman and the two firms are locked in a bitter turf war.Amid murder, drug deals, and rival firms, Fletch is harbouring his own secrets and it’s only a matter of time until those secrets are revealed, and when you break the rules you have to pay the price.

Madam Love, Actually


Rich Amooi - 2018
    Easily in my top ten of the year!” —Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews Lance Parker is an arrogant know-it-all. As author of the bestselling book Your Soulmate Doesn’t Exist, he says love is for losers. Madam Love is a fortune teller and matchmaker who has brought hundreds of couples together. When the two clash during a radio interview, she admits even someone as irritating and impossible as Lance has a soulmate. He says she’s delirious and a fraud. Then the gauntlet is laid down: Madam Love has two weeks to prove Lance wrong and find him a soulmate. When Lance meets wonderful Emma by chance, he doesn’t know what to think anymore. But Emma has a secret. She’s Madam Love, actually. And it's going to take a whole lot more than a crystal ball to get her out of this mess. “OMG! The funniest and entertaining romantic comedy that I ever read.” —Books Are My Life “A delightful and charming story full of laughter and wit with characters you just can’t help but fall in love with.” —Sinfully Wicked Book Reviews “Funny as hell.” —Ana’s Column “Crazy, fun and, uplifting . . . pure escapism." —Ellesea Loves Reading “The perfect pick-me-up book.” —The Spoonie Mummy “I defy people not to read this book and smile, laugh, gasp and swoon.” —Bernadette Maycock “This book is filled with so much laughter and love… but warning if you read this in public don’t be surprised if you get strange looks because you’re laughing so hard.” —Audio Killed the Bookmark “Rich Amooi has earned a spot alongside my favorite female authors: Kristan Higgins, Kirsty Greenwood, Sally Thorne, and Penny Reid. Bravo! Keep the fun coming, Rich!” —Sarah Marshall “A delightful treat.” —Books and Bindings “So good I had trouble making myself stop reading to go to sleep.” —Lisa Loves Literature “A wonderful, humorous romance that is SO fun!” Kristan’s Beachread Bookshelf This new romantic comedy kindle book is free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers!

Poison


Bridget Zinn - 2013
    Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

The Traitor's Game


Jennifer A. Nielsen - 2018
    Kestra Dallisor has spent three years in exile in the Lava Fields, but that won't stop her from being drawn back into her father's palace politics. He's the right hand man of the cruel king, Lord Endrick, which makes Kestra a valuable bargaining chip. A group of rebels knows this all too well -- and they snatch Kestra from her carriage as she reluctantly travels home.The kidnappers want her to retrieve the lost Olden Blade, the only object that can destroy the immortal king, but Kestra is not the obedient captive they expected. Simon, one of her kidnappers, will have his hands full as Kestra tries to foil their plot, by force, cunning, or any means necessary. As motives shift and secrets emerge, both will have to decide what -- and who -- it is they're fighting for.