Book picks similar to
The Pretender: Black Mountain Academy by Cora Brent
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King of Hawthorne Prep
Jennifer Sucevic - 2020
A seemingly idyllic school where ivy clings to the thick stone walls and a wrought iron gate keeps out the townies who can’t afford to foot the hefty price tag.A couple of months ago, the idea of being ripped away from my life in Chicago and plunked down in the middle of nowheresville, Wisconsin was unimaginable. Laughable, even. And yet, here I am, forced to wear a short plaid skirt and navy blazer to school every day. The only silver lining is the brand spanking new G-wagon parked in the weathered brick drive. All I have to do is make it through senior year and then I’m off to college.Shouldn’t be a problem, right?Wrong.In a school like this, flying under the radar is impossible.There’s a king who presides over the kingdom and he’s set on forcing me to my knees so I can kiss the crown. Unbeknownst to me, being a Hawthorne in this town comes with a price and he’s going to make damn sure I pay what’s owed.*King of Hawthorne Prep is a mature bully romance intended for audiences over the age of 18*
Dance For Me
Erin Trejo - 2020
Dance became my lifeline, my sanity.
Now I have a new life.
A new twisted family and a school that has me asking questions. Alder Academy isn't your typical college.
It's run by the founding family of Rolling Springs.
And soon, I will learn all their dirty little secrets in the form of the three Alder brothers.
Or so I thought.
Now they are uncovering my past.
And all of our lives are torn apart.
Almost
Anne Eliot - 2012
Very nearly. Not quite. Three years later, Jess has managed to make everyone believe she's better. Over it. Because she is....Almost. Very nearly. Not quite.Unfortunately, until Jess proves she's back to normal activities, her parents won't discuss college. So, she lands a summer internship and strikes a deal with hockey jock, Gray Porter: He gets $8,000. She gets a fake boyfriend and a social life. Jess has no idea Gray signed on for reasons other than money. She also never expects to fall in love. But Gray’s amazingly hot, holds her hand all the time, and makes her forget that he’s simply doing his job. It’s like having a real boyfriend....Almost. Very nearly. Not quite.Gray Porter is hiding secrets of his own. About Jess Jordan. About why he’s driven to protect her, why he won't cash her checks, or deny her anything she asks.
The Golden Boys
Rachel Jonas - 2020
He isn’t the boy next door, or the kind you trust with your heart. He’s the devil in designer jeans, with all the charm of a bona fide psycho.Trust me.He swears I did something to cross him before I even stepped foot inside Cypress Prep, but it’s a lie. No one knows better than me that I’m all out of chances. One more misstep and I can kiss my future goodbye, which means I can’t possibly be guilty of whatever he thinks I’ve done. West marks me with a target anyway, and as this town’s football star, no one dares to go against him. His money, status, and the loyalty of his equally entitled brothers makes him seem untouchable. Only, I know better than that.This false god isn’t infallible like he wants the world to believe. Whenever I stare into those devilish green eyes, I see it plain as day. The chink in his armor. His one and only weakness.Me.The King of Cypress Prep has finally met his match and taking him down just became an inside job.*Final cover coming soon!*
Love Me Never
Sara Wolf - 2015
Declare war on him.Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days, and after what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then she’s lost eighty-five pounds, gotten four streaks of purple in her hair, and moved to Buttcrack-of-Nowhere, Ohio, to help her mom escape a bad relationship.All the girls in her new school want one thing—Jack Hunter, the Ice Prince of East Summit High. Hot as an Armani ad, smart enough to get into Yale, and colder than the Arctic, Jack Hunter's never gone out with anyone. Sure, people have seen him downtown with beautiful women, but he's never given high school girls the time of day. Until Isis punches him in the face.Jack’s met his match. Suddenly everything is a game.The goal: Make the other beg for mercy.The game board: East Summit High.The reward: Something neither of them expected.
Unwritten
Hattie Jude - 2021
But it doesn’t work. Secrets have a way of following me wherever I go.And the new people in my life might be even worse than the ones I left behind.Raf Barron is toxic, but I can't seem to stop wanting him.In a world where everything is about appearance, there’s no one I can trust. Friendships are murky, lust is mistaken for love, and decency is not even a consideration.Welcome to Longlake.I already want to leave.Unwritten is a dark romance, the first book in The Longlake Duet.
Obsessed
R.J. Lewis - 2016
He became my addiction the moment I met him at 10 years old. He was my best friend from childhood. He protected me and guided me. I loved him fiercely long before I really understood what love was. We were inseparable. He knew how I felt, and sometimes he would stare at me in ways that made me breathless. But there were boundaries. Lines that couldn't be crossed. Looks that shouldn't be exchanged. Lips that shouldn't be kissed. We weren't supposed to love each other. Not in **that** way. Because, you see, Aston was also my adopted brother... Aston Elise was off-limits, a temptation that cursed my existence with this visceral hunger to have her, possess her, and taste her like she was made for me. I was tormented and on the brink of falling. If I stepped over that boundary, if I gave into my want, I wasn’t sure I could survive the disappointment of my adopted parents. We would all be affected. Our lives wouldn’t be the way it was. That change was irreversible, and the damage would be permanent. It was a scary thought, destroying a foundation and rebuilding it without knowing what it might end up looking like. But my want for her…it sat in the core of me, growing and growing. And want is a dangerous fucking thing. It clouds your judgment, it makes you weak, and I knew…I knew without a doubt, it was only a matter of time before I cracked. Obsession was devotion. Obsession was mania and need. It was a compulsive urge to self-gratify by wanting, and wanting, and wanting ‘til it hurt, ‘til you could feel it there in your bones, gnawing its way deeper within you. Obsession was my craze for Elise. She was my impulse. My…pulse itself. It wasn’t healthy. I knew that. I didn’t fucking care either.
Always You
Missy Johnson - 2013
At twenty-three, this would be my first ‘real’ teaching assignment. Working at the elite boarding school, home to the daughters of some of the wealthiest people in the world, was a great opportunity that I would’ve been stupid to pass up.One week into my new job, and I suddenly had no idea why I chose high school…I was a seventeen year old boy once, I knew how teenage girls behaved. You can’t even imagine the hell of trying to teach thirty, hormonal driven seventeen year olds who have been cooped up, away from any male contact. I could handle the whispers every time I entered the room. I could even handle the obvious attempts at gaining my attention. What I couldn’t handle was her…Rich bitches and way too many rules. Was it any wonder that I hated school? Add to that the lack of male contact, and I was going insane. Like literally. I wasn’t used to this. A year ago I was normal. I had a boyfriend, friends and a loving family. There is nothing normal about me anymore, and nobody here lets me forget that.My name is Wrenn, and I’m only here because my aunt took me in after what happened, but my aunt also happens to be the headmistress of this academy…Can you see my problem? I’m hated for my lack of money, and I’m hated for who my Aunt is.Then he arrived. Dalton Reed. My new history teacher.Slowly, he helped me see that even in the worst situations, there is always hope.
Happenstance
Jamie McGuire - 2014
Erin Easter, raised by a neglectful single mom, keeps to herself and admires Weston Gates from afar. The other Erins, Erin A. and Erin M. are the darlings of the community: daughters of the two wealthiest families in town, best friends, cheerleaders, and everything Erin Easter isn't--and they never let her forget it. Erin A. has even claimed Weston since the 8th grade.Weston is a well-liked star athlete, and the son of two prominent attorneys. He struggles daily with the pressures of living up to his family name and secretly empathizes with Erin Easter's feeling that she belongs somewhere else; in a different life. Not until he begins sneaking nights out with Erin does he gain the courage to buck expectations and acknowledge his feelings ... both for his future, and for her.But when a shocking tragedy rocks the tiny town, Erin's life is turned upside down in the best way possible. But when the truth is revealed and everything Erin thinks she wanted falls into her lap, life only becomes more complicated.
Dark Russian Angel
Odette Stone - 2019
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,And I witnessed a crime.The police are failing to protect me.And my chance of survival isn't looking good.Andrusha, is the cold and dangerous leader of the Vancouver Russian mafia,He's also my best chance to make it to trial alive.The only thing we have in common,Is our shared enemy.This man is everything your mom warned you about.He's ruthless.He's cold.And he likes to be in control.I should be afraid of him.I should keep my distance.So why is he the only one who makes me feel safe?Who will protect me from my protector?
All Lined Up
Cora Carmack - 2014
My life has always been ruled by both.Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It's obliterated.Dallas doesn't know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn't know that Dallas is his new coach's daughter.And neither of them know how to walk away from the attraction they feel.
Varsity Heartbreaker
Ginger Scott - 2020
I even changed schools just to make the hurt disappear.But no matter how hard I tried to not think about Lucas, I just couldn’t stay away from the high school quarterback with perfect blue eyes and so many secrets.I’m back. We’re seniors now. We’ve grown—all of us. And Lucas Fuller might be different, but I’m different too. This is my time to take risks, to experience life and to fall in love for real.I want Lucas Fuller to be a part of my story, but I know for that to happen, I need to know the truth about our past.
The Impact of You
Kendall Ryan - 2013
Keeping a low profile was the plan, falling for the intense frat boy, Jase wasn't. Yet she can't deny how alive she feels when he's near. Even as common sense implores her to stay away, her body begs her to get closer.Jase, numb from his own family drama, has grown bored with weekends fueled by nameless girls and countless bottles when he meets Avery. Helping her cope with her past is better than dealing with the bullshit his own life's served up. Determined to drive away the painful secret she's guarding, he appoints himself her life coach, and challenges her to new experiences. Getting close to her and being the one to make her smile are simply perks of the job.But when Avery's past boldly saunters in, refusing to be forgotten, can Jase live with the truth about the girl he's fallen for?Recommended for 17+ due to mature themes and sexual content.
Wild Card
Karina Halle - 2017
Rough, raw & rugged.As the man in charge at Ravenswood Ranch, Shane Nelson has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. His sculpted physique isn't the product of a gym, but of years of hard labor under a relentless sun. His straightforward, alpha tendencies come from a man who knows what he wants and goes after it.And what he wants is Rachel Waters.He's never stopped wanting her.They were childhood best friends, then teenage lovers who evolved into soulmates. But on one fateful night, Shane made a grave mistake, breaking both their hearts in the process.Now, after six years, Rachel is back in the small, wild mountain town of North Ridge, BC.Ready to face her past.Ready to face Shane.Ready to face his dark secret.But is a second-chance at a one true love in the cards? Or will their wild hearts be broken once again?WILD CARD is a complete standalone novel and the first book about the Nelson brothers of North Ridge.
Moonshot
Alessandra Torre - 2016
The daughter of a legend, the Yankees were my family, their stadium my home, their dugout my workplace. My focus was on the game. Chase... he started out as a distraction. A distraction with sex appeal poured into every inch of his six foot frame. A distraction who played like a god and partied like a devil. I tried to stay away. I couldn’t. Then, the team started losing. Women started dying. And everything in my world broke apart.