Book picks similar to
Waking Up by Renee Dyer


new-adult
contemporary-romance
romance
contemporary

Brando


J.D. Hawkins - 2015
    I'm the best. Now I just need to prove it.The bet is simple: take a nobody and make her a star. I just didn't bet on HER.She's not some wannabe, she's the real deal. But fuck it, I want her. And I always come out on top.

Take a Gamble


Rachael Brownell - 2014
    One chance meeting. One devastating phone call.MacKenna Trist is not happy about spending a month with her family in Myrtle Beach. She would rather be at home, hanging out with her friends, before starting her senior year of high school. That is, until she meets the guy staying in the beach house next door. Roe Gamble is speechless when he first lays eyes on Mac. Normally, pretty girls are his specialty but not this girl. From this girl, he wants more. More of everything. More than she can give him. Most importantly, more time to show her how he feels about her.But time is working against them in more ways than one. How much time do you really need to fall in love? What would you gamble to hold onto it?

Rascal


Katie McCoy - 2018
    He’s also opening a bar with his buddies right below my apartment. Goodbye, peace and quiet, hello sleepless nights fantasizing about my hot new landlord… But when my stuffy workplace makes it clear I need a plus-one for our events, I have the perfect way to even the score. Emerson is A+ arm-candy… as long as I can resist taking a bite. Our arrangement is supposed to be just for show, but Emerson is like that fifth shot of tequila: tempting, intoxicating, and liable to leave me flat on my back with my panties around my ankles, begging for more. Maybe I should stay for just one more round…

Tempting


Alex Lucian - 2015
    My teeth biting his neck. His scent on my skin. My nails carving a path down his back. His commands whispered in my ear. All of my senses filled with him. I knew it was bad. But I craved more. It had begun innocently enough, bumping into one another in a crowded Boston bar. What followed that night had been anything but innocent. Because I'd known, even as he'd slid inside of me, that he was my professor. I'd pursued him, a predator stalking its prey. And he didn't know I was his student. But he would. ***Author's note: This isn't a jail bait student/teacher novel with a butterflies-in-the-belly kind of romance. The characters portrayed in this novel are consenting adults with functioning brains. If curse words, sex, and hard ass college professors with secrets offend you, move right along.

A Beautiful Lie


T.E. Sivec - 2013
    They shared in each other's joy during graduations, promotions, and engagements. They consoled one another through heartache and loss.When one of the friend's life is tragically cut short, it's up to the two left behind to pick up the pieces and find out the truth - no matter the cost. As they slowly start to uncover the nature of his deception, and the very powerful people behind it, they begin to question everyone and everything, even themselves.Everyone has secrets - some do it for love while others do it for power. Those secrets can change perceptions, alter reality and sometimes destroy lives.What do you do when you find out your whole life has been a lie?

Wherever You Will Go


Stephanie Smith - 2014
    Struggling in an industry she knows nothing about, Brooke turns to Saxon, her husband’s best friend and business partner, for guidance and support. Their mutual grief, and Saxon’s need to look after his best friend’s wife, creates a connection beyond just business.Can Brooke take over the company and find a new life without saying goodbye to the past? Can Saxon protect and care for Brooke without scaring her away?What happens when your heart doesn’t listen to your head? When lines are crossed and boundaries are pushed? “Life goes on, whether you choose to move forward and take a chance in the unknown or stay behind, locked in the past, thinking of what could've been. I don’t want to live in the past anymore. I’m so lonely; there’s nothing for me here.”

Sexual Misconduct - The Complete Series: Volume I, II, and III


Bethany Bazile - 2014
    What I couldn't control were my dreams. Memories haunted me there.Even after over a decade, I found I couldn't outrun them. Returning to the place they lived only seemed to trigger a landslide. I couldn't focus, couldn't sleep. Some people drank a warm cup of milk, cuddled up with a book, or threw back a couple shots.Me?I fucked my way to sleep.Every single night, I lost myself in pussy. For a long time, it was the only way I knew to get to sleep. But it was getting less and less effective. I slept shorter periods of time before the dreams started.There was only one hope for my insomnia, and she was sexy, intelligent, and unexpected. I wanted to exhaust myself in her sexy little body and let her soothe me to sleep.The only problem... she was my therapist, and I'd have to break her code of conduct and totally corrupt her before I made her mine.Volume II: Underneath It AllAvery was unexpected but exactly what I needed. She gave me hope again, made me feel things I thought died over a decade ago.I was reverting back to the man I used to be. The man who destroyed lives to keep the one person who meant everything to him.My secrets were piling up. I didn't know how long I'd be able to maintain it all.But I knew I'd do anything to keep her.There was only one way to hold on to her. I had to let her see who I was underneath it all.Volume III: Lie To MeIt was all too much. There was no way I could keep piling up these lies without it all tumbling down.I was desperate to keep her, even if it meant I had to lie to her. But when everything unravels, the only thing that can save us is the truth in our love.Warning: This is an erotic serial and contains explicit sexual content and language.

One Cruel Night


K.A. Linde - 2019
    Linde's new Cruel Trilogy. I spot the mysterious stranger across the party. I’d seen him in the park, writing furiously in his worn leather notebook. He’s pure confidence, born and bred in high society with eyes like a hawk—observant, cunning, and wicked. With sensual lips and a body made to worship, he’s exquisite. A work of art. While I’m young, innocent, and completely out of my depth. But I’m drawn to him. Captivated by his approach. When he asks for one night, I have only one word for him. Yes. One summer in Paris. One night with him. One cruel night.

Love, Lies & the D.A.


Rebecca Rohman - 2014
    Days later, she’s on a trip that she intends to be relaxing and a prelude to her fresh start, when she runs into the rude, obnoxious, but gorgeous Jonathan Kole.Jonathan Kole is San Francisco’s newest District Attorney. When he finds himself deeply attracted to a stunning beauty, he has no idea that she’s about to get into BIG trouble with the law—and he’ll be the one presiding over her trial. To make matters worse, his father is the lawyer representing her in the high-profile case.When a series of events force them together over New Year’s weekend, Jonathan’s feelings and ethics will come into question, while Jada comes to terms with the fact that she is falling for the man that will be responsible for attempting to put her behind bars… Little do they know, they're both about to fall into a whirlwind so deep, it will send both their lives spiraling out of control.

Corrupted


Alicia Taylor - 2014
    He is my everything. He manipulates people for fun. He takes over their lives, consuming them. He dominates and crushes, ruling them, claiming their souls. No one has survived the games of Damon Hunt, so far. Before now. Before me. I am Ella Knight. I am corrupted. My sister was a victim of Damon's games. It’s my turn to play now. Damon Hunt has been my sole focus, my everything for three years, since my sister’s death. I'll manipulate him. I'll take over his life, consuming and crushing him. I am going to take away his soul. Damon Hunt will not survive my games. I will win. I hope.

Searching for Tomorrow


Kathryn McNeill Crane - 2013
    Wrynn’s yesterdays were what others only dream of having. She and Tripp were the best of friends before they even thought about love. They had the fairy tale life where ‘like’ turns into ‘love’, and ‘love’ becomes ‘happily ever after’... What happens when life conspires against you, and snatches your soul mate from your arms? … Only her forever love ended much too soon. Broken beyond her own ability to repair, Wrynn boxes up her grief and attempts to raise her three girls the best she can on her own. As time slowly passes, Wrynn relives her life with Tripp while struggling most days to get out of bed. She is reminded of him at every turn. How do you set your grief and anguish aside? How do you pick up the shattered pieces, put those pieces back together again, and try to move on? Wrynn tries to find the joy in life every single day through her daughters, family, and friends. Her twin brother Liam has dedicated himself to helping Wrynn put her life back together after losing his own love. On the other hand, her mother-in-law lives to torment her at every turn. Wrynn can't even find a chance to breathe, much less a desire to somehow search for her tomorrow.

That's a Promise


Victoria Klahr - 2013
    I’ve been to hell only to find it never really leaves when you get back. It haunts me through nightmares, unrequited love, lies, broken hearts, and now death. A monster almost took my life.My best friend carries half my soul a world away. My boyfriend broke my heart but refuses to let me go. And my father is dead.I don’t believe in fate and I don’t believe in happily-ever-afters, but for some reason, I still hope. Live, even with a tainted spirit.Long for my other half to come back to me. Risk another broken heart, just to feel loved again. And refuse to let another horror break me. In the face of my most recent tragedy, I have to decide whether forgiveness is something I can give. But even if that’s an option, can I be forgiven?(That's a Promise is book 1 in a 3 part series, and the new/ updated version will be available 10-10-2014)

Numb


Lynn Rider - 2014
    Her parents wanted her to be a doctor. She decided to risk everything to follow her dreams…Starting over in the city of her dreams, her hard work and dedication had paid off, landing Meagan a coveted seat on one of the country’s top orchestras. She was doing what she loved. And everything was perfect. Until she met Ashton Harris. Lead guitarist and backup vocalist to the chart-topping Silver Knight, Ashton was unlike anyone she’d ever met. With one glance of his crooked grin, she knew he could be her undoing, but determined to succeed, she refused to let anyone step in her way … Not even him. Because falling for someone like Ashton Harris could ruin everything.

Unspeakable


Michelle K. Pickett - 2015
    No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.”On the outside, Willow appears to have it all. She’s beautiful, smart, from an influential family, and she dates the most popular guy in school—Jaden. But she would walk away from it all in a second. Willow is tormented by lies and suffocating guilt, not the hearts and flowers people believe her life is full of. She carries a dark secret. Plagued by nightmares and pain, the secret dominates her life. If she hadn’t walked away. If she had just…but she didn’t. And now she has to live with her choice. But when someone uncovers her family’s past, they use it against her, crushing her spirit little by little. She tells herself she just has to make it to graduation. Then she can leave Middleton, and her secret, far behind.When Brody transfers to Cassidy High, he turns Willow’s life upside down. He shows her what it feels like to live again, really live. And suddenly, she isn’t satisfied with just surviving until graduation. She wants a normal life—with Brody—and he wants her. But the closer they become, the more it threatens to unravel the secret she’s worked so hard to hide.Willow finds true love with Brody. Will she let his love save her, or walk away from him to keep her secret safe?

Signed


Marni Mann - 2018
    More ruthless and cutthroat than any arrogant bastard you’d ever met.The top actors in Hollywood came to me to get signed. When I saw James Ryne, America’s Sweetheart, standing across the bar, I wanted her body like I’d never wanted anything before. I broke rule number one.But, after all, I was a man. No one had ever mistaken me for a saint.Rule Number 1: Do Not Fall in Love Again I didn’t know his name. I didn’t who he was. All I knew was that he was deliciously handsome and he had to be someone to get into the most elite bar in LA. He was too old for me, too experienced—the kind of man everyone warned me about. It was only supposed to be a one-night stand. I could have walked away. I should have walked away.And then I was forced to walk away when my scandal hit the tabloids.I broke rule number one and now I had to make the biggest decision of my life.Risk my heart or get signed.