Book picks similar to
Oceans of Us by Vanessa Luisa


age-gap
romance
forbidden
contemporary

Wilder Love


Emery Rose - 2019
    He was my strength. Until I destroyed him.I was infatuated with Shane Wilder since the first time I saw him surfing. But we couldn’t be together. Not yet, anyway. I was too young and screwed up. He was too focused on chasing his dream.So we became friends. We met on the rooftop for late-night confessions under the stars. Cruised along the Pacific Coast Highway with the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces.I took photos of all the beautiful and ugly and interesting things, while he traveled the world in search of the perfect waves.I told him I would wait for him. I never meant to lie.I never meant to ruin his life.I. Destroyed. Him. As his star faded, mine burned bright. But as everyone knows, all that glitters is not gold. Now I’m back after seven long years, hoping for a chance to right my wrongs and fix what I’ve broken. This time I can only hope that loving Shane Wilder will be enough to save him.

The Naked Fisherman


Jewel E. Ann - 2021
    I'm eighteen and a young woman with endless possibilities on my way to reunite with my mom in Colorado after five years apart—she had a little weed incident in Nebraska.At the airport, she springs the news on me ... she's leaving for a month of job training. And me? I'm left on my own in the basement she's renting from the fisherman, aka her landlord who lives upstairs. He's ten years older than me. Never wears a shirt. And makes it hard to remember all the things I learned at Christian Academy. Did I mention he’s also my new boss?

Darling Venom


Parker S. Huntington - 2021
    Huntington comes a broken love story laced with angst and forbidden romance.I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day.Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak.We met on the verge of ending our lives.Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond.We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended.Same time.One roof.Two restless souls.We kept our promise for three years.On the fourth, Kellan made a decision, and I was left to deal with the consequences.Just when I thought our story ended, another one began.They say all love stories look the same and taste different.Mine was venomous, disgraceful, and written in scarlet scars.My name is Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Venom.

Burnout


Coralee June - 2019
     Maybe if I were older. Maybe if he wasn’t my brother’s best friend. Maybe if he wasn’t my teacher. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Having my dirty little secret living down the hall had me obsessing over alternate endings and happily ever afters. I’d never wanted someone so badly, but his hot and cold behavior was giving me emotional whiplash. In the classroom, he practically ignored me. But here? In my brother’s loft? It felt like we were a thick rubber band, pulled so tight we’d snap. Falling for Decker Harris made me realize that life wasn’t as serendipitous as everyone liked to think. We weren’t just a collection of maybes thrust into the world with hope and good intentions. Everything started with a choice, and somewhere between grief and redemption, I chose to make him mine.

Steal You Away


Victoria Ashley - 2020
    Breakup after breakup, they always end up back together, even though I’ve always had a thing for her. I’m tired of waiting. He had his chance. I want mine.When Dixie’s Alibi — her Grandmother’s bar — needs a new cook for the food truck, I jump at the opportunity, despite the fact that Kennedy Ward hates me. At least, she pretends she does. We both know she secretly wants me and always has.One way or another, I will get her to finally admit it, even if it involves losing my brother. I plan to play dirty — real dirty — just like he did. This time I’m going to beat him at his own game. I wanted her first, and he knew that, but our age kept us apart. Not anymore.Now, I’m grown and ready to take what should’ve been mine to begin with.

There's Always Someday


Harloe Rae - 2021
    If only he’d have me. Nolan Jasper has been my broody neighbor for almost six years.I’ve been hopelessly infatuated with him just as long.The bond I have with his little girl only serves to strengthen that hold. Since they moved in that stormy night, I’ve been trying to restore what was lost.I would do just about anything for those two.Acting as Nolan’s reliable doormat is getting old, though.Especially when he seems incapable of accepting love.I’m finally willing to admit that man is a lost cause.Too broken. Jaded. Withdrawn.Nolan Jasper has pushed me away for the last time.If only he realized it before I’m already gone. Clea's story.A romantic standalone coming October 7th.

Dangerous Temptation


Giana Darling - 2021
    Diamond cufflinks. A watch on his tanned wrist that cost more than we would ever see in a lifetime of work. He carries a single red rose for my mother.Months later, Tiernan Morelli lays red roses on my mother’s grave. That same day, he tells me that he is my new guardian.I should have known from the very start that he had more in common with the thorns than the rose. Now I know the truth: I’m a pawn in his dangerous game of revenge. I was too young and naive. Now it's too late to save myself from his clutches.I belong to him.

Beautiful Sinner


Sara Cate - 2020
    When she begged me to stay, I did what a good priest would do, and I said yes. But a good priest wouldn’t spend his days thinking about the fullness of her ruby red lips or feel the sting of envy with the way she draws men to her like flies to honey. A good priest would have stopped things before that first touch. And he certainly wouldn’t have given into temptation so easily, but Cadence Thorn walked in and brought me to my knees.A good priest doesn’t break his vows.But I am not a good priest.

Heartless


R.C. Martin - 2017
    She was honest, until first touch… And against all that is pure and noble, they fell in love. Warning: This is not one of those novels where the characters’ actions are justified. It is merely a story about two people--two flawed humans--who fall in love under forbidden circumstances. It is intended for audiences 18+ years of age due to explicit sexual content.

Broken French


Natasha Boyd - 2021
    She impulsively takes up her roommates' offer to nanny for a little girl on a mega yacht in the South of France. Even though she can't stand boats, this seems like fate giving her an opportunity to lick her wounds in a bucket list paradise while she figures out how to get her life back.But this little girl she's arrived to look after has a daddy. A widowed, hot, young, billionaire of a daddy. A man who, for all his wealth, is grumpy, conceited, and utterly closed off. But Josie can't help but be drawn closer to this enigmatic man.Xavier Pascale is on an emotional island of his own making. It's just him and his daughter and he likes it that way. He works hard, his shareholders are happy, his best friends are his bodyguard, and the people who work for him. What's wrong with that? But then he meets Josephine Marin. Her arrival in his life is like a deep ocean tremor along a catastrophic emotional fault line. And now... well, now, he's very, very aware of his isolation and his very human need. But he can't be distracted. When he gets distracted terrible things happen.He should send the nanny home.He really should.But what if he just takes what he wants, just this one time ...This is a standalone, contemporary romance. It includes luscious scenes of sparkling blue ocean, and tantalizing, seductive food, as well as a smoking hot, dirty-talking Frenchman. If traveling scares you, or sexy times scare you, then this book is not for you. But if you're looking for a decadent armchair vacation after being stuck in one place for over a year--that will make you laugh, swoon, and cry--then this one is for you!

Close Quarters


Kandi Steiner - 2021
    So when his steel gray eyes first meet mine, I expect him to pass right over me, to not give so much as a second thought to my presence.⁣⁣Instead, he sees me. ⁣Truly sees me. ⁣And for a girl who prefers to hide behind her camera lens, it’s the most unnerving experience of my life.⁣⁣Until he asks me to stay on his yacht for the summer.⁣⁣All I have to do to earn my keep is be Theo’s on-call photographer when he has guests, and I’ll get a free ride through the Mediterranean with my boyfriend. Easy peasy.⁣⁣Still, my skin prickles in warning when I say yes.⁣⁣As the humid days fade into balmy nights, I can’t seem to avoid Theo. And when he finds me, it’s like a rabbit running into a wolf.⁣⁣His intense gaze immobilizes me. The way he speaks strips me bare. Every brush of his skin sears me like a violent flame.⁣⁣My boyfriend’s billionaire boss always gets what he wants.⁣⁣And this time, I think he wants me.

Doctor Dearest


R.S. Grey - 2020
    Easton is part man, part myth. He’s a formidable surgeon. Highly respected in his field.He also happens to be an ex-collegiate quarterback with a classically handsome face.Are you catching on yet?He’s horrible.Beautiful.A walking Ralph Lauren ad.He’s also so off limits he should come with a warning label: This way lies heartache.Not only is he an attending at the hospital where I’m training, he’s also my brother’s best friend. If you’ve lost count, that’s two reasons why I plan on putting this ridiculous crush behind me. Besides, it’s definitely not mutual. Dr. Easton has never once paid me special attention. No tempting smirks. Not even one subtle innuendo. To him, I’m just another resident—all but invisible.ConnorFor the last five years, I’ve mentored Natalie in the OR, stayed in line, and kept my hands to myself, but it’s been agonizing.Natalie is trouble in scrubs. A walking temptation I’ve been forced to ignore. For so long, I’ve wanted her in silence. By the time fate finally gets around to throwing me a bone, my patience has run out.Natalie’s brother is leaving town, and he wants me to watch over her while he’s gone.He has no idea how I feel about her.Neither does she.But she will.Haven’t you heard good things come to those who wait, Natalie?Well… I’ve done my waiting.

The Fall of Troy


Rebecca Sharp - 2019
    Rebecca Sharp comes an enemies-to-lovers epic romance with a forbidden twist...Love is angry. Love is blind. Love is envious and loathful.And I loathed Léo Baudin. My new art professor. My enemy.I didn't move to Rhode Island for this. I came to forget the Troian Milanovic I'd left behind and start fresh where the damage and betrayal couldn't follow.But Professor Baudin wouldn't let me.Cold. Caustic. Captivating. He didn't just push my buttons... He lit them all up with the indifferent smirk of an aristocratic French asshole. But how much I loathed him only made my need for him stronger. To have him would be either victory or loss. There would be no compromise.To have him would be war.So I fought back. But I was Troy, and he was the wooden horse, full of dangerous secrets I never saw coming. I was the one who invited him inside my walls, celebrating without seeing through his disguise. And under the cover of darkness, he laid siege to my body, my mind, and finally, my heart. The first may be a myth, but this time the history books would show that if Troy fell, it was with her all.The Fall of Troy is the first book in the Odyssey Duet.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time


Kylie Scott - 2018
    If being sent away at eighteen hadn’t been bad enough, the mess she left behind when she made a pass at her dad’s business partner sure was.Fifteen years older than her, Pete had been her crush for as long as she could remember. But she’d misread the situation—confusing friendliness for undying love. Awkward. Add her father to the misunderstanding, and Pete had been left with a broken nose and a business on the edge of ruin. The man had to be just as glad as everyone else when she left town.Seven years on, things are different. Adele is no longer a kid, but a fully grown adult more than capable of getting through the wedding and being polite. But all it takes is seeing him again to bring back all those old feelings.Sometimes first loves are the truest.

Something in the Way


Jessica Hawkins - 2017
    Under the sweat and dirt, Manning Sutter was as handsome as the sun was bright. He was older, darker, experienced. I wore a smiley-face t-shirt and had never even been kissed. Yet we saw something in each other that would link us in ways that couldn’t be broken...no matter how hard we tried.I loved Manning before I knew the meaning of the word. I was too young, he said. I would wait. Through all the carefully-chosen words hiding what we knew to be true, through his struggle to keep me innocent, and through infinitely-starry nights—I would wait. But I’d learn that life isn’t always fair. That no matter how much you achieve, none of it matters if you suffer the heartbreak that comes with falling for someone you can never have. Because even though I saw Manning first, that didn’t matter. My older sister saw him next.