Book picks similar to
Where There's Smoke by Elizabeth Lee
new-adult
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Sweet Cheeks
K. Bromberg - 2016
To my ex-fiance’s new wedding. I should have ignored it.Thrown it away. Set it afire. But I didn’t. I replied. With a plus one. And then my assistant accidentally mailed it.Enter Hayes Whitley. Mega-movie star. The man who has captured the hearts of millions. But I gave him mine years ago. He was my first love. He was my everything. Right until he up and left to chase his dreams without so much as a simple goodbye.When he showed up out of the blue ten years later, I should have known to steer clear. I should have rejected his offer to take me to my ex’s wedding. I should have never let him kiss me.But I didn’t. And now we’re left wondering if the pieces of the life we once shared still fit together somehow. First loves are hard to forget. The question is, do we want to forget? Or do we risk the chance and see what happens next?
On a Tuesday
Whitney G. - 2017
Became best friends, then lovers, on a Tuesday. And everything fell apart on a Tuesday... Charlotte Taylor has three automatic strikes in my book: 1) She hates me. She also claims that I'm a "domineering jerk with a huge, overbearing ego." (I do have something huge. It's not my ego, though.) 2) She takes our mandatory tutoring sessions way too seriously. 3) She's sexy as hell...And a virgin. At least, those were her strikes before our study sessions started lasting longer than they were supposed to. Until one innocent kiss became a hundred dirty ones, and until she became the first woman I ever fell hard for. Our future together after graduation was supposed to be set: Professional football for me. Law school for her. But she left me at the end of the semester with no explanation, and then she completely disappeared from my life. Until tonight.We met on a Tuesday. Became everything, then nothing, on a Tuesday. And now it's seven years later, on a Tuesday... **This is a full length second chance romance, inspired by Adele's "When We Were Young"**
Never Tear Us Apart
Monica Murphy - 2016
A. Tucker, the first novel in this darkly sexy contemporary series from bestselling author Monica Murphy kicks off an emotionally powerful two-part tale of forbidden love. A long time ago, when I was fifteen and a completely different person, I saved a girl’s life. I spent only a handful of hours with her, but somehow, we connected—and I’ve never been the same. No one understands what we went through. No one knows what it’s like to be us. We survived, yet I don’t feel like I’m really living—until now. Eight years later, I find her. I want to make her mine. I need to make her mine. But she’ll hate me forever when she finds out who I really am.
Delayed Penalty
Shey Stahl - 2013
As long as the non-offending team maintains possession, the referee allows play to continue and signals a delayed penalty by raising his arm.I’m Evan Mason, an NHL hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks. I spend my nights roughing up two hundred pound defensemen and, at times, spend more time in the penalty box than I do on the ice.That’s my job. One night changed everything I thought I once knew about my life on, and off, the ice. A girl. A brutally beaten girl left to die in an alley.I don’t know why or how but something made me stay that night after taking her to the hospital. I didn’t know her, nor did I have an obligation to stay but something inside of me rooted me there telling me I should stay. Saving a life is worth something. At least I thought so. And I wouldn’t have been me if I just simply left her there. Any man who put his heart and soul into a game of hockey couldn’t just walk away when someone needed them. She had no one else right now. The same guy who saw determination where there was desire, now saw hope where there was once despair.I couldn’t leave. That wouldn’t be me. No, not a man that put all he had into something some called just a game. I couldn’t walk away from her holding onto life, weak and powerless to something she had no control over.So I stayed. In a room full of family members praying for their loved ones to pull through, I prayed for a girl I didn’t know and had never met before, to have a beating heart. While others’ sorrows turned to grieving pain, I sat waiting on the words of the unknown.No bond is stronger than the ones you’ll bleed for.
Sweet Southern Sorrow
Tessa Teevan - 2014
Two very lonely people found solace in one another and in the end, fell in love. Unfortunately their plans for the fall took them in entirely different directions. Despite their best efforts, family issues and life’s circumstances got in the way, breaking both of their hearts in the process. Almost six years later they find themselves face-to-face, and old feelings resurface. When the past collides with the present, will they be able resist the temptation, or will they finally realize that they’re where they’re meant to be?A 65k word novel of broken pasts, first loves, and ultimate sacrifice. New edition includes 15k words in bonus scenes.
How to Save a Life
Emma Scott - 2016
A harrowing past haunts her every time she looks in the mirror, and she can’t escape the violence of her everyday life. More and more, her thoughts turn to Evan Salinger, the boy she knew in high school. The boy they called a mental case. A loner. A freak. The boy who seemed to know things no one could know. For a few short weeks, Jo had found perfect solace in Evan’s company, sneaking every night to meet him at the local pool. In the cool of the water and the warmth of Evan’s arms around her, Jo had tasted something close to happiness. Cruel circumstances tore them apart, and four years later, the sweet memory of their time together is dissolving under the punishing reality of Jo’s life now. Evan seems like a fading dream…until he reappears at the moment she needs him most. Guided by Evan’s strange intuition, they flee her small Louisiana town, and Jo begins to suspect there is something more to his sudden return than he admits.Over twelve days across America’s heartland, deep secrets come to light, buried pasts are unearthed, and the line between dreams and reality is blurred as Evan and Jo fight to hold on to their soul-deep love, and discover that there is more than one way to save a life.***How to Save a Life is a complete second-chance STANDALONE novel with shades of the paranormal. It carries the characters from high school through to their early twenties. It is not YA; mature subject matter, and sexual situations. TRIGGER WARNING: domestic violence (on the page) and mention of sexual abuse (off the page) For readers 18 years and up.The Dreamcatcher novels are a series of interconnected STANDALONES, each with shades of the paranormal. It is NOT necessary to read them in order, though some characters appear in other novels.
Edge of Chaos
Molly E. Lee - 2016
Three years into her Meteorology degree, Blake meets professional storm chaser, Dash Lexington, who is as gorgeous as he is daring. Instantly recognizing her passion and skills in analyzing weather data, he makes a spot for her on his tight-knit storm chasing team. Dash and Blake form a fast friendship and it forces her to realize just how toxic her relationship with Justin is. She can’t deny the lightning-worthy chemistry she has with Dash or how her heart stalls every time he gets too close to a tornado.With each chase and the cherished moments with Dash, Blake discovers her own self-worth and gains the strength to end things with Justin for good. But he won’t go easily. As Blake tries to sever ties with one man, she fears she’ll lose the other to his dangerous obsession—and she doesn't know if she’ll be enough to save him from the impending storm that could end them all.
Beautiful Addictions
Season Vining - 2014
An experience that left her broken, damaged, and clinging to drugs and meaningless hook-ups to numb her pain.When Josie disappeared years ago, she took a piece of Tristan with her. She’s the girl he thought he lost forever—the one he’s never been able to forget. Now a twist of fate has brought them back together, and he never wants to let her out of his inked arms again. But Tristan is haunted by a dark past of his own. On the run from ruthless criminals that shattered Josie’s world years ago, reentering her life puts them both in danger.As Josie and Tristan’s lives become tangled once again, they find themselves unwilling and unable to escape the relentless pull that draws them together. But in Season Vining's Beautiful Addictions, will the past leave their love in ruins—or bind them together for a lifetime?
Imperfectly Perfect
A.E. Woodward - 2013
Along with their college addition, Rob, the four friends have an exciting life in NYC. In fact, Emma Sloan appears to have it all.Despite being happy with her current situation, a big family announcement leaves Emma questioning whether she is truly content with her life. With her thirtieth birthday fast approaching she vows to find her 'perfect' man any way she can. But Emma will soon discover that the path of true love never runs smoothly and that sometimes, instead of chasing love, you have to wait for love to find you...
Unethical
Jennifer Blackwood - 2014
The second she graduated, Payton left everything behind―her high school sweetheart, her family, and the controversy surrounding her mother's death—and hid within the anonymity of college. But Payton’s ex, Blake Hiller, hasn't forgiven her for leaving, and when he enrolls in the same medical ethics class, she panics. She can’t run the risk of him telling everyone who she really is. As if being at the same university isn’t enough, both Blake and Payton land the same internship. Forced together, their passion for each other reignites, but when Payton is asked to testify in her father’s high-profile trial, she must choose between risking her acceptance into medical school to help her father, and losing every connection to her past—including the only guy she’s ever loved.
Black Box
Cassia Leo - 2014
Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.
Man Candy
Melanie Harlow - 2016
And he looks good enough to eat, which is just one more reason to stay away from him. But I can’t resist.The sex is incredible (pretty sure we’ve shaken the house right off its foundation), but he can’t fool me—not this time. A degree in marketing and five years in advertising have taught me that “true love” is a fairy tale used to sell lipstick, diamonds, and perfume. It doesn’t exist.He thinks I’m wrong, and he wants to prove it.I think he’s crazy, so I dare him to try.It might be the biggest mistake of my life.
The Beau & the Belle
R.S. Grey - 2018
A 24-year-old law student at Tulane, Beau was as mysterious to me as second base (both in baseball and in the bedroom). He was older. Intimidating. Hot. Boys my age had chicken legs and chubby cheeks. Beau had calloused hands and a jaw cut from steel. Our interactions were scarce—mostly involving slight stalking on my end—and yet deep down, I desperately hoped he saw me as more of a potential lover than a lovesick loser.Turns out, I was fooling myself. My fragile ego learned that lesson the hard way.Now, ten years later, we’re both back in New Orleans, and guess who suddenly can’t take his eyes off little ol’ me.My old friend, Mr. Fortier.But things have changed. I’m older now—poised and confident. My ego wears a bulletproof vest. The butterflies that once filled my stomach have all perished.When I was a teenager, Beau warned me to guard my heart.Let’s hope he knows how to guard his.
Wicked Innocence
Missy Johnson - 2014
I’m Micah, the youngest member of Resurrection…If only they knew how young.My fake ID says I’m twenty-one. And I will be…in four years.What can I say? I blossomed early. Home sucked, so I left, determined to do something with my life.Landing the gig as lead vocalist in the band was a dream come true. I’ve worked hard to make something of myself and nothing is going to ruin that for me.Then He showed up. Saxon Waite, ex bad boy of rock.He’s hot as hell and so into me.But he’s also twenty-five.I don’t want to lie to him, but if the truth comes out I’ll lose everything. Including him.
Fade to Red
Willow Aster - 2015
Her life with little Leo was blissfully ordinary; she didn’t have time for the drama that stirring up old memories would surely cause.But when Roxie took a spot on an international tour with Woods and rock icon Ian Sterling, the lure of financial security and her passion for dance pulled her into an emotional storm that threatened to spin out of control and hurt the ones she loved most.Just as she began to adjust to her new life, it became apparent that danger was in the shadows, waiting for a chance to move...***Fade to Red is a standalone novel featuring characters from True Love Story.***