Book picks similar to
Smile Like You Mean It by Willow Hadley
reverse-harem
rh
contemporary
romance
Wide Awake
Shelly Crane - 2013
A coma. A life she can't remember. When Emma Walker wakes up in the hospital with no knowledge of how she got there, she learns that she's been in a coma for six months. Strangers show up and claim to be her parents, but she can't remember them. She can't remember anyone. Not her friends, not even her boyfriend. Even though she can't remember, everyone wants her to just pick up where she left off, but what she learns about the 'old her' makes her start to wish she'd never woken up. Her boyfriend breaks up with the new girl he's dating to be with her, her parents want her to start planning for college, her friends want their leader back, and her physical therapist with the hazel eyes keeps his distance to save his position at the hospital. Will she ever feel like she recognizes the girl in the mirror?
Embers Of A Broken Heart
Stephanie Hassenplug - 2020
Forced to leave the only home she has ever known, she must finish high school across the country---where she knew no one. While doing her best to move forward, Selby let the outside world believe that she was fine, but grief had destroyed her inside. She vowed to herself to never let anyone in, the pain of losing people she loved cut too deep. But, everything changed when the Evans boys pushed their way into her life. Keaton, Breccan, and Calix Evans are some of the hottest guys in school, but mostly kept to themselves. Only they knew why. They were waiting for the right girl---for all of them. One girl to love, one girl that would keep them together. When they meet Selby, they see a chance to finally have what they’ve always wanted. But, will she be able to get past her pain and sorrow to give this unorthodox relationship a chance? Embers of The Heart is a Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance stand-alone. Recommended 18+ due to mature language and situations.
Briar
Ripley Proserpina - 2017
Not anymore. Briar is ready to take control of her life, and step out into the sunlight for the first time. A newly enrolled graduate student at Boston College, she’s determined to discover why her body betrays her. And she knows just the scientist to help her. Professor Hudson Nors has secrets of his own—secrets he’s kept for eternity, and which he never wants to see the light of day. No matter how wonderful Briar smells, and how important she feels, Hudson decides the best thing he can do for her is stay away. Suddenly, Briar, with her strange condition and boundless curiosity, turns the world Hudson’s spent centuries perfecting, upside down. But this pale, fragile girl has a spine of steel, and if Hudson won’t help her, she’ll find someone who will. By a luck, or fate, Briar meets Hudson’s brothers, Marcus, Valen, and Sylvain. Like Hudson, they can sense this human girl means something important to all of them. But what could four, vampire brothers possibly have to offer a human? Unwittingly, Briar brings together these immortal brothers, and teaches them, eternity is too short to give up on hope. ***Briar is the first book in the Midnight's Crown series. A slow-burn reverse harem romance***
Waiting on the Sidelines
Ginger Scott - 2013
Named after a baseball legend, she enjoyed being the Tomboy, her closet filled with her brother’s hand-me-downs, cut-off jeans and soccer shorts. But when her first trip to high school results in a broken heart from the first boy to ever make her heart flutter and cruel words from an older girl she once thought a family friend, Nolan starts to question the very person she thought she was and wonders if her humble upbringing can compete with the afforded luxuries of her privileged peers.Throughout the next four years, Nolan struggles to maintain herself throughout her path of discovery, learning just how cruel teenagers can be through the pressures of underage drinking, sexuality and class. And despite how life seems to continue to work against her, she still manages to listen to her heart, falling deeper and deeper for the guy the entire town adores, even if he only sees her as a friend. Can Nolan strike a compromise between her own integrity and the boy she loves? And can she make him notice her before it’s too late?Reed Johnson came to Coolidge High School with a lot of fanfare. The son of a hometown football legend and the brother of a local football hero, Reed wore all the pressures of carrying a town without hope into the spotlight. Thankfully, he had the talent to back it up. But when he meets a girl who makes him think twice about exactly what being a hero means, he starts to wonder if following in his brother’s footsteps might be all wrong. Nolan Lennox was everything that was opposite of expected. She didn’t flirt, she didn’t drink and she didn’t sleep around. Nothing about her was easy, but something about her made Reed want to try harder. Though she didn’t look the part, she seemed to be spending a lot of time in Reed’s thoughts, and he wondered if she could be the one who made it all worthwhile. But could Reed handle letting her down? And would breaking her heart break him beyond repair?Waiting on the Sidelines explores young love to its fullest, exposing how real young heartbreak and passion is and how important it is to discover yourself and hold onto your own identity. The story follows two young characters as they deal with mature situations, including the prevalence of bullying and promiscuity in today’s high school setting. Ultimately, Waiting on the Sidelines is a story of hope, honesty and those powerful, first true loves—the ones worth holding onto at any cost.
The Dead List
Jennifer L. Armentrout - 2015
At Brock Cochran's end of summer pool party, the girls vow to have as much fun as possible before they head off to different colleges next fall. But when Ella is mysteriously attacked on her way home from the party, everything changes. Ella's carefree senior year plans disintegrate as she finds herself at the center of an attempted murder investigation.Ella tries to move on, but her attacker isn't done yet. He shows himself in the form of horrifying signs and symbols: a clown mask strewn on her bed, a dead bird in her backpack, a shadow moving past her window in the night. And as the weeks pass, it turns out that Ella isn't the only one being tormented.With the help of an old flame, Jensen Carver, and her friends and family, Ella tries to attain some sense of normalcy, but she can't seem to shake the feeling that there's a dark pattern hidden in the killer's every move. Suddenly, even those in her innermost circle seem suspicious. In her seemingly safe West Virginia town, Ella starts to wonder who she can trust.
Twisted Heathens
J. Rose - 2021
WHERE BAD GIRLS COME TO DIE.Murderer. Unhinged. Remorseless. Insane. I’ve been called it all while rotting away in a maximum security psych ward, imprisoned for my crimes. When I’m given a chance to escape this hell, it’s an offer I can’t refuse. I’m transferred to Blackwood Institute, purgatory for the dangerous and disturbed. The deal is simple. Complete the three-year experimental program and you’re free to leave. I have no such intentions. People like me; we’re born to die. There’s no life for me out there. I’ll do whatever it takes to end my pitiful existence. This time, nobody can stop me. Not even the four fellow patients with dark secrets and damage that rivals my own. A tight lipped cutter.A manic nymphomaniac. A possessive control freak.A shadowy ghost from my past. The clock is ticking. If I’m not careful, the demons that frequent these blood-stained halls will get to me before I can take my own life. Game on. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Twisted Heathens is a reverse harem contemporary romance set in a mental health institution. It contains very dark and triggering content including references to self harm, suicide, sexual assault, and violence. This is book one in the trilogy and it does end on a cliffhanger.
The Boys of Summer
C.J. Duggan - 2012
She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.How did she let her friends talk her into working?After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.It will be a summer she will always remember.
Hidden River Academy
K.T. Strange - 2019
They are everything and she is nothing. She doesn't belong, and they're going to make sure she knows it. Mia Quinn never asked for her mom to get thrown in jail. She never asked to get shipped off to her uncle's, and be enrolled as Hidden River Academy's newest charity case. But she's going to make the best of it, even though the students drive Range Rovers and Lambos, and she's never even had a bike to call her own. She figures she'll keep her head down, study hard, and be back at the trailer park with her mom in a few months time. Except the guys, and girls, of Hidden River Academy know when someone doesn't belong, and Mia Quinn? Doesn't belong. They've got a plan to get rid of this new upstart who's crashing their rich-kid party. If she doesn't go on her own, they're going to make her. The first person to want her gone? Buck Barron, star football player at HRA, currently living with Mia's uncle while his parents are MIA on a globetrotting trip. He doesn't appreciate Mia crashing "guy time" at home, and Mia knows it. To most students at HRA, Buck, Colt, Shawn, Reid, and Cael are the most popular students in the whole school. But to Mia? They are equal parts nightmare and bullies. Can she survive even a few weeks at Hidden River? Or are the guys, and the girls who trail after their every move, going to run her right back to the trailer park? This 50,000 word contemporary bully romance novel is the first in a series by USA Today Featured Author, KT Strange.
Shadows and Shade
Amanda Cashure - 2019
One minute I’m chained up with my master’s fist raised, and the next, Chaos himself has stepped in and saved my life – or at least my face. I’m used to saving myself, and my new life in immortal lands isn’t going to be easy.I mean, I do cause a little trouble… I may have put a taco in one of the brother’s boots. But that’s small potatoes compared to the magical freaking bubble I end up in – which I wholeheartedly blame Chaos for. It might be invisible but it is very real to me. I’m trapped within a pretty tight perimeter of at least one of the brothers, and if he leaves the room and I’m not right behind him I will literally be crushed to death against the wall. So we’d better get used to working with each other, and living, and showering. Everything! Privacy doesn’t exist anymore.There’s more going on here. With me, with them, with the world we all reside in. Their kingdom is on the brink of destruction. No one can be trusted, and we only have each other. Can the four immortal alpha males drop their guard long enough to see what’s right in front of them? This is a full-length, slow-burn reverse harem filled with humor, crazy antics, and excitement as Shade and her men fight overwhelming odds to find a way to be together. HEA guaranteed...but they're going to have to work for it.Reviewers are saying fans of Tamora Pierce, Maria V Snyder, Jaymin Eve, Jane Washington, Tate James, and Auryn Hadley will love these books. ⚠ Warning: laugh out loud funny and potential drink snorting. ⚠
Solving for Ex
LeighAnn Kopans - 2013
Ashley Price doesn’t have much in life after being bullied so hard she had to leave her old school to live with her aunt and uncle in Pittsburgh. But the camera she borrowed from her best friend and secret crush Brendan, and her off the charts math abilities, make things a lot more bearable. Plus, since Brendan is the captain, making the school Mathletes team should be easy. But when gorgeous new girl Sofia rolls in and steals Brendan, Ashley's place on the team, and her fragile foothold on the Mansfield Park Prep social totem pole, it’s on. Sofia is everything Ashley left her old school to escape. The only thing Ashley didn’t count on is Sofia’s sexy twin brother Vincent. Vincent is not only the hottest boy in school, he’s charming, sweet, and he’s got his eye on Ashley. He’s also not taking no for an answer. There's no real reason Ashley shouldn't like Vincent, but with the battle lines being drawn between her and Sofia, Ashley’s not sure which side he’s on. Or which side she wants him to be on. She does know Sofia is trouble with a capital T, and she’s determined to make Brendan see it. SOLVING FOR EX is a YA contemporary romance that remixes Mansfield Park as Clueless meets Mean Girls in a crazy mix of high school society, mathletic competition, and teenage romance.
Bully
Penelope Douglas - 2013
He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all. No, he'll barely even speak to me.But he still won't leave me alone.We were best friends once. Then he turned on me and made it his mission to ruin my life. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to stay out of his way. I even went to France for a year, just to avoid him.But I'm done hiding from him now, and there's no way in hell I'll allow him to ruin my senior year. He might not have changed, but I have. It's time to fight back. I'm not going to let him bully me anymore.***This novel contains adult/mature young adult situations. It is only suitable for ages 18+ due to language, violence, and sexual situations.
Close to Me
Monica Murphy - 2020
My first crush.My first kiss.The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time.Willingly.We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway avoiding each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year…The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored. And he’s definitely not my prince, no matter how badly I want him to be.Our senior year and we’re months away from never having to see each other again when disaster strikes—and brings us closer together. All it takes is one touch, and I’m burning for Ash. Hotter than I ever have.But will that burn turn into a devastating fire? Or can we actually make it work this time?
Obsession
Cassie Hargrove - 2021
We are the ones who ultimately decide whether you live or die, so be careful what sins you commit.We’re the Deadly Seven, the rejects of this town and we represent death to anyone who crosses a line we deem unacceptable.When she shows up in our town like some innocent avenging Angel, we don’t know what to think…so we watch. And the more we watch, the more obsessed we become.***I’ve been on the run for the past four years. My Dad has done everything in his power to keep me hidden from the man who wants to destroy me, but you can only run for so long before you have to stop.Officially in Witness Protection, this is supposed to be my chance to finally have a normal life…but nothing is ever foolproof.If you think it is, you’re naive.I know I’m being watched. I can feel eyes on me every second of every day. I don’t think I’m as safe here as they want us to believe…*This is book 1 in a 4 book series that must be read in order.***Dark Romance with stalking, non/con, dub/con and much much more. Read TW before attempting to read this series!*****This is a reverse harem romance where the main character ends up with 3+ men. In this case, 7. If that isn't your thing then this series is not the right one for you. This book will also contain M/M scenes.***
Bully Me
Selena . - 2020
When we move to a small town in the south, we’ll own it, my brothers said. After all, my family is rich as sin and used to getting whatever they want. How hard could it be? Except when we arrive in Faulkner, someone already owns this town. The Darling family. They’re every bit as wealthy as we are, and they’re not happy with our new money moving in. The three Darling cousins, each one more cruel and gorgeous than the last, rule the halls of Willow Heights the way my brothers ruled our prep school in Manhattan. None is worse than Devlin Darling, who makes it his personal mission to ruin his new rivals. The Darlings see my brothers as a threat. They want them gone. It doesn’t take them long to find my brothers’ one weakness. Me. *Bully Me is a high school dark romance suitable for readers 18+*
Good Girl
Sam Hall - 2021
So that's what I'm doing, attending soirees and parties with the glittering elite, looking for the man that will complete me.Then I meet him.Orion Ratcliffe, heir to Ratcliffe Industries and all around bad boy, we're shoved together by his parents in the hope of a match.But what he wants is something else altogether.He has three mates, some of the biggest, baddest men in town, each more beautiful than the next. The last thing he needs is another, more socially acceptable partner. So in exchange for my help in deflecting his parents' attentions, he'll Bridgerton the situation, squiring me about town, drawing other men's eyes, helping me find The One.So why is it their gaze I feel on me the most, tracking my every movement? All in the name of protection, of course.Society wants me to be a good girl. They don't want another mate.But fate? She has completely different ideas about our futures.