Book picks similar to
Needing to Fall by Ryan Michele
romance
abuse
dark
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Surviving Amber Springs
Siobhan Davis - 2018
First place honors go to my twin, Ethan; however, hate isn’t a strong enough word to convey how people feel about him. Not that I blame anyone—some days, I hate him too. Mostly, I’m just lost and afraid, drowning in a sea of betrayal and guilt, wondering how this happened right under my nose. There’s no choice but to leave. To move clear across the country in a last-ditch attempt to start over. Transferring to a new school midway through senior year is hellish for most people. For me, it’s a welcome relief—until someone discovers our secret and now everyone knows. The pointing, whispering, and scathing looks follow me around again, and I’m back to square one. Except, this time, I’m not alone. Axel, Skeet, and Heath took me under their wing from the minute I arrived here. I’ve no idea why three of the hottest guys in town took any interest in me or why they continue to have my back, but I’m so grateful to have them in my corner. Because, right now, they’re the only reason I’m not following my brother into an early grave. This is an upper YA/NA standalone. Due to sensitive content and possible triggers, this book is recommended to readers aged 18 and older.
All the Little Lights
Jamie McGuire - 2018
Both Elliott and Catherine feel like outcasts, yet they find an easy friendship with each other. But when Catherine needs him most, Elliott is forced to leave town.Elliott finally returns, but he and Catherine are now different people. He’s a star high school athlete, and she spends all her free time working at her mother’s mysterious bed-and-breakfast. Catherine hasn’t forgiven Elliott for abandoning her, but he’s determined to win back her friendship…and her heart.Just when Catherine is ready to fully trust Elliott, he becomes the prime suspect in a local tragedy. Despite the town’s growing suspicions, Catherine clings to her love for Elliott. But a devastating secret that Catherine has buried could destroy whatever chance of happiness they have left.
Love My Way
Kate Sterritt - 2017
Her back is to me and her shoulders are slumped, perhaps heavy with regret. It kills me to know I am partly to blame, and for that reason alone, it’s impossible to look at her. Leaning against the rough trunk of the tree, I close my eyes. My life will forever begin and end with her, and I’m unable to witness her heart breaking. Standing still is no longer an option, so I begin to pace. Is she still waiting for him or has he already left? Fear pools in my veins at the uncertainty. Above all else, I want her to be happy. If this is too hard, I’ll have to walk away again. I let out a long breath, frustrated by the whole situation. Emerson Hart is the love of my life. Unfortunately, I’m not the only love of hers. And therein lies the problem.
Dear Life
Meghan Quinn - 2017
Four stories. Four sets of letters. Four brave souls in need of guidance while facing life's greatest challenges. The anonymously published Dear Life program is designed to help them step outside of their comfort zones, face their obstacles, and relinquish their demons...and prove their existence. With their lives teetering between wanting more and losing it all, all four souls dive into the program as a New Year’s resolution, sending them on a crazy, life-altering journey. Dear Life, Please be kind. Yours truly, Hollyn, Jace, Daisy, and Carter.
Fighting Redemption
Kate McCarthy - 2013
He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
Escape from Paradise
Gwendolyn Field - 2013
One spontaneous choice whisks Angela across the world to the pseudo paradise of Spain’s Mediterranean Riviera where she has another choice to make: live cooperatively as one of billionaire Marco Ruiz’s slaves, or die.* * *Colin Douglas’s future was seized and choked when deliberate tragedy struck his Scottish family at the age of sixteen. He spent his remaining youthful years infiltrating the U.K.’s crime world, seeking power, control, and revenge, all leading to a position as an undercover agent. With nothing to lose, Colin accepts the seemingly impossible job of rescuing America’s famous missing girl, Angela Birch. Colin knows that to enter a snake lair, one must become a snake. It turns out to be a mission which will put his desire for control to the ultimate test, and make him wish for things he never knew he wanted.*AUTHOR'S NOTE* Escape from Paradise is a work of fiction intended for adult readers, containing graphic sexual scenarios and strong language.
Complementary Colors
Adrienne Wilder - 2014
Her greed made me a slave and circumstance left me with no way to escape.Trapped, the only way I could silence the nightmares driving me to insanity was to wrap them in color, hold them with shadow, and stitch them to negative space with line.But no matter how bright the pigments, no one could see my confession.Except for Roy Callahan.I thought he was just another nameless one-night stand in a long line of many. But I was wrong. Roy could see past the façade of my life and through the veil color over the canvas. He could see what the world couldn’t.And with him I’d find the courage to tell the truth about the boy.The boy who kissed me.The boy who loved me.The boy whose name I couldn’t remember.
Dirty Angels
Karina Halle - 2014
Please see the bottom of this description to see if this is the kind of book that you'll love or piss you off**For Luisa Chavez, a twenty-three year old former beauty queen, a better life has always been just out of her reach. Sure, she’s had men at her feet since she was a young teenager but she’s never had the one thing she’s craved – security. Having grown up in near poverty, her waitressing job in Cabo San Lucas can barely let her take care of herself, let alone her ailing parents. Every day is another unwanted advance, every day is a struggle to survive.When Salvador Reyes, the depraved leader of a major Mexican cartel, takes an interest in her, Luisa is presented with an opportunity she can’t afford to pass up. She’ll become Salvador’s wife and exchange her freedom and body for a life of riches – riches she can bestow upon her deserving parents. But Luisa quickly finds out that even the finest wines and jewels can’t undo the ugliness in her marriage, nor the never-ending violence that threatens her every move.Soon, Luisa is looking for an escape, a way out of the carefully controlled life she’s leading. She finally gets her wish in the worst way possible.As it is, being the wife of Salvador makes her an ideal target for rival cartels and there’s one particular man who needs Luisa as part of his cartel’s expansion. One particular man whose quest for power has destroyed lives, slit throats and gotten him out of an American prison. One particular man who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.That man is Javier Bernal. And he wants Luisa. He wants to take her, keep her, ruin her.Unless she ruins him first.***WARNING*** This book deals with drug cartels and as such it contains a lot of sex and violence and some violent sex. It can get pretty ugly, pretty dark and pretty crazy. There is drug use, abuse, a bit of torture and dubious consent. The hero is not a hero and the villains...well, they're even worse. If this sort of thing bothers you, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT. This ain't no cupcake farting unicorn kind of book. If you are even a bit squeamish about violence, brutality and rape, this is your warning to stay away from a book that you certainly will not like (and why read books that you know you won't like?)******While this is a spin-off of The Artists Trilogy, prior knowledge of the books is not needed. DIRTY ANGELS is the first in a trilogy, however each book can standalone and follows or introduces different characters***
When Ashes Fall
Marni Mann - 2019
You can’t split your heart, soul, and body in half. But I’m here to tell you, you can.Dylan Cole is like ice, sharp and unpredictable, the thunder inside a tumultuous storm. Smith Reid is warmth, soft and gentle, perfect like a sunny day.Both are mine. But I can have only one. There are two sides to this tale. I'm here to tell you mine. If you think this story is about a cheater, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Something like Normal
Trish Doller - 2012
It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.
Dear Ava
Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2020
Once upon a time, I wanted to be part of their world--until they destroyed me.The last thing I expected was an anonymous love letter from one of them.Please. I hate every one of those rich jerks for what they did to me. The question is, which Shark is my secret admirer?Knox, the scarred quarterback.Dane, his twin brother.Or Chance, the ex who dumped me. . .Dear Ava,Your eyes are the color of the Caribbean Sea.Wait. That's stupid.What I really mean is, you look at me and I feel something REAL.It's been ten months since you were here, but I can't forget you.I've missed seeing you walk down the hall.I've missed you cheering at my football games.I've missed the smell of your hair.And then everything fell apart the night of the kegger.Don't hate me because I'm a Shark.I just want to make you mine.Still.Mature Content. Recommended for 18+.A short excerpt of Dear Ava appeared in Team Player 2. (No longer available) This all-new, full-length version is 376 pages and 100,000 words.
Recovered
Jay Crownover - 2018
However, I couldn’t stop myself from trying to save him from himself when no one else would. In the sweltering heat of the summer, Cable taught me that having it all means nothing if you can’t have the one thing you want more than anything else.CableI was obsessed with Affton Reed.She was rigid, uptight, and no fun. There was something about her innate goodness that called to me.She acted like she was above all the normal faults and failures that clung to the rest of us like the scent of smoke after a fire.I was infatuated with her, but that didn’t stop me from acting like she didn’t exist.In the scorching heat of summer, Affton taught me that there is always a way back from the brink of despair. She showed me that the trick to having it all was realizing that it was already there, in my hands. All I had to do was hold onto it.The road to recovery is full of twists and turns no matter who is in the driver’s seat.
Hate Me
L.P. Lovell - 2018
A slave. A possession. I accepted my fate long ago, but fate is not done with me yet. Freedom is so close I can almost taste it, only to have it snatched away under the guise of protection. A gilded cage is still a cage. Friend or foe? Saviour or oppressor? Rafael D’Cruze is a bad man. I hate him, so why do I feel safe with him? Rafael She’s a favour. Collateral. A pretty slave. I have no interest in her beyond keeping her alive for the man who now owns her. And yet…I’m fascinated by the little Russian. There is no room for weakness in my world, but it appears the delicate rose has steel petals. I’m willing to bleed for a willing touch, a trusting glance… A broken little bird. The big bad wolf. A longing that could heal or destroy. Hate me or hold me?
Normal
Danielle Pearl - 2014
Starting at a new high school, in the middle of my senior year, in a new town, in a new state. I know no one. No one knows me. That's what I'm counting on.A year ago, Aurora "Rory" Pine was just a normal teenage girl - just as sweet and naive as the fairy tale princess she was named after.But this isn't a year ago.Rory is broken, and now suffering from a debilitating anxiety disorder, wrought with precarious triggers, she moves across the country to escape the source of her troubles. Her plan is anonymity, but that's easier said than achieved for the new girl having a panic episode outside of calculus. The worst part? There's a witness - and a gorgeous one at that.Sam is a walking trigger for Rory. Incredibly handsome, built like the star athlete he obviously is, and undoubtedly popular, Sam outwardly represents everything Rory despises about high school. But as the fates keep throwing them together, a connection sparks that neither ever expected, and certainly couldn't ignore.But Sam has issues too, and Rory's past won't just stay in the damned past. When friendship evolves into something deeper, can a girl utterly destroyed by the worst kind of betrayal and a boy battling demons of his own ever have a normal relationship? Is that even what they want? Find out in NORMAL, a gritty story of trust and abuse, heartbreak and salvation, and if they're lucky - love. This is not a flowery romance - not for the faint of heart.
Lost Boy
M. Robinson - 2018
Robinson comes this standalone contemporary romance full of feels and angst... In a world where I had no say, violence became my refuge, and nothing else mattered. Not even my own life. Until her. Skyler Bell. It all started the first time I heard that voice. Giving me hope for tomorrow. My first love was everything all at once. Consuming. Maddening. Forever. Mine. Except, I never imagined there were secrets that needed to be shared. Lies that needed to be confessed. Truths that needed to be told. Demons that needed to be buried. Once I realized the depth, the longing, the sadness and sorrow in her eyes mirrored mine, it was too late. Love didn't come to me as heartbreak, it came as everything I've ever wanted. Walking away wasn't an option, but it was the only choice I had. I finally found the price of love and it cost me... My soul.