Book picks similar to
A Bump in the Road by Margaret McHeyzer
tame
1standalone
1young-adult
contemporary-realistic
Lost Girls
Merrie Destefano - 2017
She wears nothing but black.And she can fight.She’s not the only girl to go missing in the last year, but she is the only one to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.But the more she discovers, the more her memories return. And the thrill of what she remembers—of what she can’t resist—might still get her killed.
Bad Billionaire
Julie Kriss - 2016
To me, he’s Mister Hot, Dark, and Handsome, the neighbor I watch from the window, wondering what he’s really like.Turns out, he’s a thief. A getaway driver. He gives me the hottest night of my life before he’s put away for taking the wrong job. When he’s gone, I try to forget about him and get on with my normal, unexciting life.Until he gets out, and an inheritance makes him a billionaire.Now Devon is back. He’s the richest ex-con you’ve ever seen. He doesn’t care about penthouses, fancy dinners, or private jets. He doesn’t care that his enemies are after him. He doesn’t care that everything is about to go up in flames.In his world of chaos, Devon Wilder says he only cares about one thing.Me.
Antisocial
Jillian Blake - 2017
But for Anna Soler, it’s going to be a lonely road. She’s just been dumped by her perfect basketball star boyfriend—with no explanation. Anna’s closest friends, the real ones she abandoned while dating him, are ignoring her. The endearing boy she’s always had a complicated friendship with is almost too sympathetic.But suddenly Anna isn’t the only one whose life has been upended. Someone is determined to knock the kings and queens of the school off their thrones: one by one, their phones get hacked and their personal messages and photos are leaked. At first it’s funny—people love watching the dirty private lives of those they envy become all too public. Then the hacks escalate. Dark secrets are exposed, and lives are shattered. Chaos erupts at school. As Anna tries to save those she cares about most and to protect her own secrets, she begins to understand the reality of our always-connected lives: Sometimes we share too much.
Capture
Rachel Van Dyken - 2015
Losing your ability to speak at the age of seventeen; it’s not normal or fair.But trauma, has a way of throwing normality out the window.Dani lives anything but a normal life.Her sister is married to one of the biggest names in Hollywood.Her best friends are rockstar duo AD2.And she has more love around her than most people experience in a lifetime.But that doesn't change the fact their parents are dead.Or that it's her fault.It seems her new normal is being a mute, living on the inside, unable to actually communicate on the outside.That is until Hollywood’s newest heartthrob Lincoln Greene hires her as his assistant for the summer.He's gorgeous, completely unavailable, and unobtainable.But that doesn't stop her from wondering...if things were different...would he want her?If she was whole, would he be the other half?
Six Months in Montana
Pamela M. Kelley - 2013
She's about to be promoted to her dream job of General Manager, the role she's been striving for her entire career. There's only one thing standing in her way. The will of her childhood friend, Christian Ford's grandfather. She hasn't even seen Christian in over ten years, but a recent run-in with his grandfather during a rare visit home, resulted in a new condition to the will. Christian will only inherit the ranch he's been running and the real estate development business that he has expanded, if he marries Molly and stays married for at least six months.
Into the Light
L.B. Simmons - 2014
Trust me when I say, it's a breathtaking sight to see. You burn as bright as the sun."When Aubrey Miller begins her education at Titan University, she is no longer the beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl of her youth. In fact, she's no longer even Aubrey Miller. Overcome with guilt and unable to cope with the loss of her beloved family, she has long since buried eight-year old Aubrey along with them and transformed herself into Raven Miller. Now with jet-black hair, multiple sets of eccentric contact lenses, and several facial piercings, she's veiled herself in complete darkness as a form of protection for herself, as well as others. As she enters her first year of college, her goal is simple: Earn a degree with the least amount of social interaction as possible. What she never anticipates is the formation of very unlikely relationships with two people who will change her life in ways she never believed possible: Quinn Matthews, the overtly cheerful pageant queen, and Kaeleb McMadden, a childhood friend who never really let her go. Over the years, as their connections intertwine and strengthen, a seemingly indestructible bond is formed between the three. And eventually, the ties of friendship and discovery of first love begin to coax her from her darkened path as they slowly bring Aubrey back to life. But when faced with the possibility of yet another death, one from which she may never recover, Aubrey finds herself lost again, burying herself deeper than ever before beneath the familiar abyss of her fears. Spanning the course of four years, this is the story of a young woman's plight to finally reemerge, finding strength within unbreakable bonds as she delivers herself from her own manufactured darkness and safely back . . . Into the Light. ****WARNING - Due to the graphic nature of some scenes, this book is not recommended for those who are particularly sensitive to the death of a child and/or suicide and is intended for mature audiences only. Contains adult language and themes.****
Melody's Heart
Alora Dillon - 2015
Kyle and Melody are dating! Great... but one wants to let everyone know about their relationship status and the other... not so much. If you read Melody's Crush, you know which one is wanting to keep it quiet. How can they keep their relationship a secret when it's so obvious how they feel about one another. And when friends, family and Lia discover the truth, how will the lovebirds be able to handle it? On top of dealing with a blooming relationship, Kyle is having to deal with his own personal demons... like the guilt he feels toward his sister's death. For someone who is only eighteen, this young man has gone through more trials and tribulations, heartbreaks and loss than most people go through in a lifetime... and yet, he holds onto hope... and Melody. In this story, we welcome back Jake and Max(i) who will soon be getting their own story to tell! :-) Be advised, this contemporary Teen / Young Adult Romance story has some strong language and even stronger sexual connotation. There are no "Sex" scenes. I truly hope you enjoyed this book. Please let me know what you thought about it. Alora Dillon aloradillon@yahoo.com https://www.facebook.com/aloradillon
The Lake
AnnaLisa Grant - 2013
Having lost both her parents and grandparents, and with nowhere else to go, Layla is moving from Florida to a small town in North Carolina to live with the only family she has left: her estranged uncle and aunt.The last five years of Layla’s life were spent appeasing her less-than-loving grandmother, followed by being her grandfather’s caretaker. Growing old before her time, Layla lost her identity. Now she must learn how to allow herself to be the one cared for and loved.Life takes an unexpected turn when Layla meets Will Meyer. His breathtaking good looks are enough to catch her eye, but his sincerity and passion are everything she needs to find the strength and confidence she lost — and lead her into love.When tragedy once again strikes Layla’s life, her hope is all but completely crushed. Through it all, Layla learns what it means to truly love and be loved.
Where I Live
Brenda Rufener - 2018
Her position as school blog editor, her best friends, Ham and Seung, and the promise of a future far away are what keep Linden under the radar and moving forward.But when cool-girl Bea comes to school with a bloody lip, the damage hits too close to home. Linden begins looking at Bea's life, and soon her investigation prompts people to pay more attention. And attention is the last thing she needs.Linden knows the only way to put a stop to the violence is to tell Bea's story and come to terms with her own painful past. Even if that means breaking her rules for survival and jeopardizing the secrets she's worked so hard to keep.
Not Yet
Laura Ward - 2014
Lesson #1: Nothing goes the way you plan.Lesson #2: You can’t trust men. Especially not the pretty ones.Lesson #3: Turns out, appearances are almost always deceiving.Emma thinks she has life all figured out, and what she knows isn’t good. For years, she’s put her big sister, who was born with Down syndrome, first. Now Emma’s ready to start her own life, but fate has other plans. To do the right thing for the sister she loves, Emma’s dreams will just have to wait.She doesn’t plan on meeting Landon — a rich, flirtatious jock, who never has to wait for anything. Not for attention, not for money, and certainly not for girls. Meeting Emma marks the first time in his life that he’s had to fight for something. And Landon doesn't know how to lose.Emma has no interest in wasting her summer with a superficial guy like Landon. But very soon she realizes she is wrong about him. The question is, can she trust him? Or will he let her down like every other guy in her life? But most importantly, can Emma trust herself enough to live the life she's always dreamed of?Life has a way of sneaking in the most important lessons when you aren't looking. And once the heart gets involved, that's when the real learning begins. *** This book is intended for mature audiences. 18 and over!
Forbidden Bond
Rae Foxx - 2020
I did my own thing, played by my own rules.Which is why after my dad died I ran away from everything, only to find myself in a small town, at a tiny bar, hustling drinks to the truckers that liked to sneak peeks of my boobs. They clearly thought I didn’t notice. Oh, I noticed, and if they were nice enough about it I might let them see more than some well-placed cleavage in the back room. Hey, a girl on the move has to take her needs into her own hands, and sometimes my battery-powered boyfriend just isn’t good enough. It was all a good time until one of those handsome bikers that passed my way wanted a bit more than a backroom boink. Damn it all, these guys are persistent.Except there is something about him that makes me want to be around him, and hug him... and kiss him. Not exactly what my internal ‘lone wolf’ is used to. Except it turns out, I’m not the ‘wolf’ in this equation at all… and Luke has been searching for me for a while. A Shifter Romance with secrets, mystery, and lots of pulsing muscles. Happily Every After Guaranteed!
The Secrets of Lost Stones
Melissa Payne - 2019
Haunted by memories and grief, Jess packs what’s left and heads for the small mountain town of Pine Lake, where she takes a position as caregiver to an eccentric old woman.A rumored clairvoyant, Lucy is strange but welcoming and immediately intuits Jess as a “loose end” in need of closure. But Jess isn’t the only guest in Lucy’s large Victorian home. There’s also Star, a teenage runaway with a secret too painful to share. And the little boy with heart-shaped stones, who comes with a hope for reconciliation—and a warning.Soon Jess learns that she’s not the only lost soul running from the ghosts of the past. She and Star have been brought together for a reason: to be saved by the very thing that destroyed them.
Blitzed
Lauren Landish - 2016
I brought her back to meet you.”
I’m normally not into jocks, but when Troy Wood asks me out, I feel like I’m the Chosen One. After all, he’s hot as hell and Silver Lake’s best athlete, practically the King of Campus. God’s gift to women—that’s what they call him, but I’ll make a gentleman out of him. Everything is perfect, and he already practically has his ticket to the Big Leagues. There’s just one little problem . . . I’m hiding a secret that could destroy him and his future. I can’t tell him . . .
I can’t tell him that I’m pregnant with his baby.
**Blitzed is a full-length romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger!
Suggested Reading
David Connis - 2019
The iconic books on the list have been pulled from the library and aren’t allowed anywhere on the school’s premises. Students caught with the contraband will be sternly punished.Many of these stories have changed Clara’s life, so she’s not going to sit back and watch while her draconian principal abuses his power. She’s going to strike back.So Clara starts an underground library in her locker, doing a shady trade in titles like Speak and The Chocolate War. But when one of the books she loves most is connected to a tragedy she never saw coming, Clara’s forced to face her role in it.Will she be able to make peace with her conflicting feelings, or is fighting for this noble cause too tough for her to bear?
Stellar Survival Quest
Jalf Whitemage - 2019
With no hype building announcements, no history of any Alpha, or beta, or even as much as a leaked snapshot they released a first-generation fully immersive virtual reality pod and their bundled game Stellar Survival Quest. Even being 20 years ahead of anything else out, a new entertainment media is not typically world shattering. Especially, when players reported not being able to recall their time playing. The company made claims of not allowing meta-gaming, Thus keeping the game world pure. After every gaming session regardless of length the player could watch a short video of their session. Each video was only three minutes of randomly recorded footage from every hour played. Thus, a nearly impenetrable wall of secret gameplay was maintained.However, when that first generation of gamers left the white-grey egg-shaped gaming pods, they gave the world an even bigger shock! The technology was amazing, true VR with all five senses was outrageous, the stuff of fiction novels! No, what really sent the world reeling was skills learned in game translated to real life skills! Overnight the world was thrown on its heels. A new player could log into the game to be given a job in some way decided by the game and come out an ivy league educated scientist, or special ops level soldier. As the world reels from these first-generation gamers suddenly becoming some of the most highly skilled individuals in the world, more gamers clamor to buy their own expensive pod and hop into space!Nathan Tyrone Rogers or Bubba to his friends and family awoke on a small transport. Freshly landed on an ancient space station. As the first Human to be spawned outside the Sol System, Nathan is vastly unprepared and overwhelmed for the task. With a cryptic message that he needs to claim the solar system of Epsilon Indi before one of the other 12 alien species; whom were also spawned in system can. Some of which will supposedly be hostile to humanity. Nathan attempts to survive in the completely unforgiving environment of space. All the while trying to choose a path for himself, avoid being eaten by monstrous alien women, and growing more and more annoyed with his “real self” still back on Earth.Nathan’s first step to claiming the Solar system is simple to say, hard to do. He must survive!***This is the first Sci-Fi LitRPG in the Stellar Survival Quest series set in Jalf Whitemages Total Expanse Universe. This book contains adult themes, mild harem themes, base building, and real time strategy elements. It is not recommended for those new to the Lit Genre, and definitely not anyone who is easily offended by … well anything. You have been warned