Book picks similar to
Soft Like Thunder by Julia Wolf


romance
college
college-romance
contemporary

Riot House


Callie Hart - 2020
    As far as the boys who run America’s most exclusive international academy are concerned, I’m an unwelcome interloper, an inconvenience, and they’re determined to make my life a living hell. When Wren Jacobi sets eyes on Wolf Hall Academy’s newest inductee, all he sees is an easy mark. A reserved little girl with a target painted on her back. He knows nothing of my troubled past, though. Nothing of my mother’s suspicious death, or the horrific treatment I’ve had to endure at the hands of my psychotic father. And he has no idea of the lengths that I, unassuming little Elodie Stillwater, will go to in order to break the savage beast who dreams of breaking me first. There’s a wolf stalking the forests that surround my new school. Little does he know…There are far scarier predators lurking out there in the dark.

Bad Apple


Selena . - 2021
    If getting out of this hellhole town means spending my last two years of high school at an elite academy full of rich, entitled pricks, then bring it on.“Girls like you don’t belong.”The arrogant and infuriatingly gorgeous Dolce brothers reign supreme in the hallowed halls of Willow Heights, and they don’t welcome my kind. Especially when I get in their way, don’t play by the rules in their twisted games, and refuse to bow to the cruel tyrants who run the place.“Girls like you are bad news.”Royal, Baron, and Duke Dolce set their sights on me. They think a poor girl will be an easy target, that they can break me and bring me to my knees like the girls who came before me. But the Dolce boys underestimate me. In this town, even girls from the trailer park hide deadly secrets. Secrets that could destroy them.After all, it’s those from the wicked world of wealth and privilege with the most to lose.This book is not RH--the main character ends up with ONE love interest.This is the start of a brand new, dark high school bully romance/enemies to lovers story featuring a damaged anti-hero and a heroine who fights her own battles. It is not for the faint of heart. It is in *no way* safe. I don't want to list specifics bc they are spoilers IMO, so I'll just say this. If you have triggers or hard lines, avoid this book. 18+ readers only.

Filthy Little Pretties


Trilina Pucci - 2020
    Liam Brooks is a charmer with puppy dog eyes you can’t say “no” to.They’re the kind of guys that make time stand still when they walk by. And when their childhood best friend, Donovan Kennedy, comes back to New York, friendships get tested. Choices are made they can’t take back. And one boy gets a taste of what it’s like to want someone so bad that you’d burn down the city to have her. “Trilina delivers an addictive high school romance high on angst and drama and a book that is total sexy perfection. Prepare to be twisted into delicious knots! I loved it!”--Siobhan Davis, USA Today bestselling authorDonovan Kennedy is the girl dreams are made of. Five years ago, she was our best friend. Our moral compass. The girl that held our hands everywhere we went. We were young. Innocent. Nothing could touch us — not even heartache. That was then. Now she’s back. All grown up. With red lips and long legs — a challenge waiting to be accepted. A prize that’ll turn our world upside down. Brothers turned to enemies. Friendships decimated. Lies told.Hearts torn apart. Prep school’s never been so scandalous.USA Today Bestselling author, Trilina Pucci, brings you an addictive, sexy friends-to-lovers high school romance packed with off-the-chart chemistry, competition, and raw emotional angst.

Say You Swear


Meagan Brandy - 2022
    It didn’t matter how wild I allowed my imagination to run, it always led me to the same place in the end. It led me to him. My future was clear, and he was it. Until suddenly ... he wasn’t. Now I’m a shell of who I was, on a path too blurry to follow, and I see no way out.No way up. They say first loves last forever.That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.

Heartbreak Prince


C.R. Jane - 2020
    I believe in them. I was lucky enough to have two of them at one point.The only problem. My soulmates happened to be twin brothers.Caiden was the light to Jackson's dark. And after all that I had been through, the light was what I thought I needed.When I chose Caiden, I lost Jackson.Feeling like half a person after Jackson left, I barely survived when tragedy struck and I lost Caiden too.It took me years to admit to myself that I had chosen wrong from the beginning. I’m ready to admit it to Jackson...only problem, he hates me.I’m ready to fight for my happily ever after.But there’s a reason they call him the Heartbreak Prince.

Cruel Prince


Ashley Jade - 2019
    But four years later, here I am...back to finish my senior year at Royal Hearts Academy.And forced to face Jace Covington. My first friend. First crush. First kiss. The one I left behind.Only—he isn't the same boy I gave my heart to.This new Jace is as cruel as he is gorgeous.And he's determined to make my life a living hell. Along with the rest of his glorified family and crew of tyrants.They expect me to worship the ground they walk on like everyone else, but I'd rather eat dirt.If Jace Covington wants me gone...he'll have to try harder. Because I've never been the kind of girl to play by the rules.WARNING: Royal Hearts Academy is a New Adult/High School series of standalones filled with drama, a touch of angst, and boys who are bad to the bone. And when I say bad, I mean they are assholes with a capital A. If you're looking for a safe, sweet romance, this series is NOT for you. At all! Please don't say you weren't warned.WARNING: Royal Hearts Academy is a New Adult/High School series of standalones filled with drama, a touch of angst, and boys who are bad to the bone.This series is recommended for mature readers due to graphic language and sexual content.

No Prince


Stevie J. Cole - 2020
    He was the top of the food chain. And I was next in line to be dragged into the lion’s den. At least that’s what he thought… Good girls wanted to tame him. Bad girls want to be tainted by him. Everyone bowed down to him. And me?I hated Zeppelin Hunt with every fiber of my being.Which was why I stayed away from the arrogant bad boy with tattoos and a rap sheet.Until I couldn’t.Until we traded favors, and I owed him three months of my life. I never thought I would end up in his bed, and when I did, I had to remind myself that he hated me as much as I hated him.Until I didn’t. Zepp Hunt was no prince, and I absolutely refused to be his damsel in distress…

Dear Love, I Hate You


Eliah Greenwood - 2021
    And he definitely wasn’t supposed to answer it. We end up talking through letters and sticky notes in a book. One sticky note. Two sticky notes. Ten sticky notes. All baring our darkest, deepest secrets. It’s all fun and games until I find out who my pen pal is... Xavier Emery. King of my basketball-obsessed town, my childhood bully, and the guy I am in grave danger of falling in love with. But the rules were clear: we can never know who we’re talking to, and the confessions can never, ever get out. Seriously. It would destroy lives.  Fine by me. Even if Mr. Popular does find out his confidant is little old me, it’s not like he’d ever love me back…Right?

Triple Threat


K. Webster - 2022
    I would never abandon my little sister. Hope comes in the form of a devilishly handsome man with dark eyes and darker secrets.With each encounter, I’m lured deeper into the labyrinth. The danger lurking beneath his surface calls to me, even as it warns me away.Except there’s a new side of him every time we meet. A different danger each time we touch. It’s as if three different men want to devour me.He’s not just one villain. He’s three.

His Hollow Heart


Rachel Leigh - 2021
    Two orphans who vowed to never part. I was selfish. For once, I had to be. The last time I saw Callum he was standing at the dormer window as I sat in the back seat of the car. His dark eyes foreign to me. The hatred that radiated from his glare shot through me with more force than a silver bullet. In a matter of minutes he had become a stranger. No longer my best friend. He was now a boy with a hollow heart who was headed down a dark path. A path I knew I’d never cross again. Or, so I thought. CallumWe had a deal—always stay together. The day Bella left, I vowed I would find her. And when I did, she would feel what I felt as I watched her pull away into a new life, with a new family. Leaving me behind to endure a life that was wrapped inside the hands of a monster.It’s been twelve years, but I’ve finally found her. Now it’s time for her to bask in the darkness she’s created inside of me.

Do You Dare?


Lylah James - 2019
    Reckless bad boy. Infamous playboy. My nemesis. And now my best friend.I know he’ll never leave me hanging. He knows I'll never refuse a dare. Everywhere we go we turn heads, but it’s not like that.Until it is.For one of us, anyway.I've always known he would be my downfall. But I trusted him to catch me.He proved me wrong.Maddox has gone too far, and I don’t know if I want to rein him in or push us further into dangerous territory.He tells me those three little words that I crave. Three little words I want from no one else.𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖Except this time, it's no simple dare. This could burn us to the ground."𝑰 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒎."

Little Lies


H. Hunting - 2020
    You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords.And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.A standalone angsty new adult romance. Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )

Pieces of You


Jay McLean - 2021
    Another world.Where his wasn’t falling apart.And hers wasn’t already in pieces.-High school senior Holden Eastwood only has one fear in life: growing up.He spends his days unmotivated, moving from one game to the next, searching for his next challenge.He never expected that challenge to come in the form of a girl…A girl with zero fashion sense, a filthy mouth, and a bullsh*t attitude.Unlike Holden, Jameson Taylor had no choice but to grow up.Neglected, isolated, and forced to raise herself, Jameson only has one goal in life: graduate and move on.The last thing she needs is some guy she can’t stand suddenly declaring her as his new hobby.Their lives couldn’t be more opposite.Their pasts a complete paradox.But in each other, they find the unexpected…They find solace.Fragments of forever…A forever that might tear them to pieces.

The Hunter


L.J. Shen - 2020
    Like Stonehenge, Police Academy 2, and morning glory clouds.It just happened.Now my ball-busting father is sentencing me to six months of celibacy, sobriety, and morbid boredom under the roof of Boston’s nerdiest girl alive, Sailor Brennan.The virginal archer is supposed to babysit my ass while I learn to take my place in Royal Pipelines, my family’s oil company.Little does she know, that’s not the only pipe I’ll be laying…SailorI didn’t want this gig, okay?But the deal was too sweet to walk away from.I needed the public endorsement; Hunter needed a nanny.Besides, what’s six months in the grand scheme of things?It’s not like I’m in danger of falling in love with the appallingly gorgeous, charismatic gazillionaire who happens to be one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors.No. I will remain immune to Hunter Fitzpatrick’s charm.Even at the cost of losing everything I have.Even at the cost of burning down his kingdom.

Things I Wanted To Say (But Never Did)


Monica Murphy - 2021
    Dark and thunderous, furious and fierce. Cold, heartless and devastatingly beautiful, like the statues in our prep school gardens. The school with his family name on the sign. He can do no wrong here. This is his domain. He’s a menace on campus. Adored and feared. Hated and respected. His taunting words carve into my skin, shredding me to ribbons. Yet his intense gaze scorches my blood, fills me with a longing I don’t understand. When I stumble upon him one night alone, I find him broken. Bleeding. My instincts scream to leave and let him suffer, but I can’t. I sneak him into my room. Clean him up. Fall for his lies. Let him possess every single part of me until I’m the one left a gasping, broken mess. When he leaves me alone in the dead of night, he takes my journal with him. Now he knows all my secrets. My hate. My truth. And he promises to use my words against me. I’ll be ruined if my darkest secret gets out. That’s when I strike a bargain with the devil. I’ll let Whit Lancaster ruin me behind closed doors instead.