Book picks similar to
Take Heart by Lauren Michelle Smith
new-adult
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romance
Lost & Found
Nicole Williams - 2013
And there’s Rowen Sterling.After numbing pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and all-around apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere Montana the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom agreed to front the bill to Rowen’s dream art school only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch hands and mucking out horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to spend her summer doing.Until Jesse Walker saunters into her life wearing a pair of painted-on jeans, a cowboy hat, and a grin that makes something in her chest she’d thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse’s like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. He’s the bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.Rowen knows there’s no happily-ever-after for the golden boy and the rebel girl—happily-right-now is a stretch—so she tries to forget and ignore the boy who makes her feel things she’s not sure she’s ready to feel. But the more she pushes him away, the closer he seems to get. The more she convinces herself she doesn’t care, the harder she falls.When her dark secrets refuse to stay locked behind the walls she’s kept up for years, Rowen realizes it’s not just everyone else she needs to be honest with. It’s herself.
Enforce
Rachel Van Dyken - 2014
But she only wants one of us, and I'll kill him before I let him have her. The only problem? We're cousins. And she may just be our long lost enemy. Whoever said college was hard, clearly didn't attend Eagle Elite University. Welcome to hell also known as the Mafia where blood is thicker than life, and to keep yours? Well, keep your friends close, and your enemies?Even closer...
Summer Unplugged
Amy Sparling - 2013
After catching her sending a less than lady-like photo to a boy who barely knows her, Bayleigh's mom sends her away to her grandparent's house for the summer--sans cell phone, laptop and Ipod. Bayleigh thinks the summer will be torture without social media...that is until she meets the boy next door.
Too Much to Lose
Samantha Holt - 2014
She has no friends, no life. She tries to forget everything that happened to her all those years ago. After changing her image, leaving her home and getting a new job, she’s determined it won’t happen again. If that means never being close to anyone ever again, the so be it.If only Hunter O’Reilly didn’t make her wish things could be different. Hunter needs this job. After being screwed over by his partner—make that ex-partner—his investigation business is on the line. Already in debt, he eagerly takes on the job of finding some stolen money at triple his going rate. He expects problems at that price. But he doesn’t expect to fall for her.However, no job is ever that simple. When he’s forced to spend more time with her, the lines between business and pleasure are blurred. And once Jess’s life comes under threat, they have to make a decision, can they both overcome Jess’s past?
No More Wasted Time
Beverly Preston - 2012
Life isn’t about tomorrow ~ Life is about todayAfter losing her husband to a sudden heart attack, Tess Mathews escapes to Bora Bora to lay her husband and sorrow to rest. What she doesn’t expect is a new beginning.Tom Clemmins is an A-list actor whose life revolves around work and an onslaught of women. He travels to Bora Bora for a much-needed break. Tom has a few ideas of how he’ll enjoy his vacation, but love isn’t one of them. Until he sees Tess.Reserving a private shark-feeding excursion to scatter her husband’s ashes into the lagoon, Tess is furious when Mr. Hollywood bribes his way onto the boat, leaving her no other choice but to share the boat ride.Tess is torn between tremendous guilt and zealous lust when their boat ride turns into a week full of romance and desire neither thought imaginable. Utterly smitten with a woman for the first time in his life, Tom casts his commitment phobia aside and whisks Tess off to Malibu where he introduces her as his “girlfriend” on the red carpet. As the paparazzi besiege, can Tess survive the media blitz that ensues in order to find her second chance at love?
Laying a Foundation
Deanndra Hall - 2013
Living too many years loveless and abused has left him afraid to try to meet another woman, much less form a relationship.
She's just too shy to even meet his eyes.
In one instant left a childless widow, Nikki Wilkes couldn't imagine romance would ever be in her life again, much less passion and deep, never-ending love.Two mature adults sidestep each other for five years until fate brings them together in a sweet, passionate, erotic adventure of sexual exploration and self-discovery. A perfect mixture of Southern charm and hospitality and European sophistication, the tall Italian-American sweeps the funny, smart, kinky Kentucky girl off her feet and into his bed, and together the sparks they throw off ignite their world. The new home they build together draws them closer to his family and each other and into a new life filled with laughter and love, not to mention a big kitchen full of friends and fun as Nikki becomes the glue that holds the family together with her cooking, hugs, and mothering.But just as everything looks rosy, a secret-fueled mystery unfolds when an unknown threat attempts to ruin Tony's business and maybe even hurt him. As the criminal activity becomes more and more focused on destroying their happiness, it's obvious it's personal. And someone's going to get hurt - or worse. It's just a matter of time.Sex, humor, and secrets collide in this blistering start to the series to prove that they're not getting older - they're just getting started!Combo volume contains The Groundbreaking, a prequel that offers readers background on the nine main characters in the series.BONUS: Each book in the Love Under Construction series features the recipe of a dish mentioned in the books. It's like dessert meets drama!WARNING: Strong, graphic, kinky sexual scenes and graphic criminal violence. Not intended for readers under the age of 18.
No Weddings
Kat Bastion - 2014
I think I have my act together as a successful bar owner, my master’s degree within reach, and a list of no-strings-attached women warming my bed. Turns out, I don’t. Hannah believes she has safeguarded her wounded heart by shunning men and focusing on her new baking business. The thing is, she hasn’t. When my three sisters and I start a new event-planning business with Hannah as our baker, I have no idea how my life is about to change. As Hannah and I work closely together, the attraction between us becomes irresistible. And complicated. I’ve promised my sisters I wouldn’t mix business with pleasure. But I’ve never been one to follow the rules. *** The No Weddings Series Release Dates *** No Weddings ~ Sep 8th One Funeral ~ Sep 29th Two Bar Mitzvahs ~ Oct 20th Three Christmases ~ Nov 17th
After Math
Denise Grover Swank - 2013
A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him.Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?
Surrender to Fate
Jacelyn Rye - 2013
The story of young love and the intimate moments were fresh and full of hope." ~Literati Literature Lovers "Surrender To Fate made me speechless. How is it possible for someone to write a love story and make a reader actually feel the love the characters shared? I loved this story. My emotions were hanging by a thin thread!" ~Chasing Pages Book Blog How do you fight against fate? You don't. You can't. You can only surrender to fate in Jacelyn Rye's new release! Some say fate holds the cards. But what if love deals the hand? No love goes untested. Ever. Indeed, true love is left to prove itself. And that is exactly where fate steps in to play the game. For William and Sarah, that game begins with growing up, in the unspoiled mountains of Colorado. In a time and space as clear as the Rocky Mountain skies above, these young souls together learn about life, what matters most, what endures, what doesn’t, and about love. Innocent young love moves ever so surely toward lives they both can picture, lives spent loving each other in a place they know so well and cherish. Will and Sarah are ecstatically swept away in the swells of new love. And it is in their rarefied bliss that they make the fragile promise of first love, a promise that fate will soon rock and pound into doubt, guilt, and epiphany. Unexpected and unprepared, these young lovers are suddenly torn apart, first by distance, and then by the far greater pressures of temptation that test the very fidelity of their heart-held promise. No longer able to console each other, hold each other, touch each other, they face the inevitable decision: move on to other loves, or cling to the faith that they will someday be together, again. Will and Sarah stare down an unknown path, sensing destiny will not wait long before it comes to take them. Wracked with doubt, they wonder if their love was real. Caged by guilt, they both feel tempted by others intent on stealing their hearts. Fate plays hardest when love is tested. And Will and Sarah are no exception, letting go of their happy past to embrace hope for an uncharted future. Love plays hardest when fate tests. And so it is, even through their trials of the heart, Will and Sarah never really stop loving each other. Theirs is a love so real and pure that each just wants the other to find happiness, even if it's with another. But fate does not surrender so easily. Dealing blow upon blow, both Will and Sarah are each struck by jolting events that take them to the very edge of life, itself. Sarah and Will hold tightly to their past, but steadfast promises begin to wane. Life continues, filled with romance, drama, and two souls yearning to understand the challenges brought with coming of age, and learning that fate is ultimately in control. What happens to love when life is on the line? Can they both relinquish control when love is on the line? Will fate even allow them to find out? This is book one of the New Adult Romance Series: Fate's Path. The books are not stand alone. For your reading enjoyment, please read the books in order.
End Game
Tabatha Wenzel - 2014
All she has ever wanted is to feel like she belongs.A girl who is trying to learn to love herself after finally leaving an abusive household. Leaving for the first time, to go to away to college, she runs into the boy that broke her heart...only he never knew he owned it. She has to deal with the issues and fears that come with having a mother, who suffers from mental illness and was abusive towards her, all on top of having a new body since losing one-hundred pounds. This is a story of a girl learning to love herself...and maybe the cute boy.https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
No Turning Back
Casey Peeler - 2013
Her best friend, Cash Montgomery is the only one who truly knows what happened that night and is a constant source of strength. After a summer of questioning who she wants to be, Charley decides to put the past behind and leave the small town of Grassy Pond to stand on her own two feet again. While Charley is living her life to the fullest at college she meets Joe Olsen and falls head over heels. But one letter is about to change everything and this time Cash isn’t there to help her. Will she be able to escape her past and on her own? Will she run home to Cash? Or will she find comfort in the arms of Joe?
The Wedding Dress Diaries
Aimee Carson - 2013
She’d spent every summer in the Hamptons with his family as a kid, fantasizing about kissing him. But she’s shocked to discover that the confident boy who’d given Amber her first taste of love has become a man who mocks its very existence.Parker can’t believe the girl who used to follow him around has grown into a beautiful woman—one with some very naughty ideas when she fits him for his tux. But Amber also knows why he’s shut everyone out of his life. She’s not the kind of woman Parker gets involved with…even if he can’t keep his hands off her.Amber doesn’t do one-night stands or casual hookups, but she’s wanted Parker long enough to make him an exception—especially if she can convince him he needs love in his life, too.
Lost
Layla Hagen - 2014
**Whatever might help him forget his past and numb the pain, James has tried it all: booze, car races, fights, and then some. Especially women. College offers plenty of opportunities for everything. . . Especially when you have a trust fund to spend.Serena spirals deeper and deeper into a hurricane of pain. But no matter how far she falls, there’s no redemption from the overwhelming guilt. Two souls consumed by their pasts fight to learn how to survive. But all hope seems to be lost. Until they meet each other.
After We Break
Katy Regnery - 2014
It is intended for readers 18+**
Rounding Third
Michelle Lynn - 2016
I gave up my scholarship.I fled from Beltline.I left the girl behind.Now, I’m back.