Book picks similar to
The Masks We Burn (Emerald Falls #3) by Lee Jacquot
romance
fake-dating
arc
spicy
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood - 2021
candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding... six-pack abs.Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
The Player Next Door
K.A. Tucker - 2020
With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up.That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door.Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he's Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong.Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won't allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound.But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she's wrong. Maybe Shane has changed.And maybe this time she's the one playing herself—out of a chance at true happiness.
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.
Faking with Benefits
Lily Gold - 2021
Must be tall, ripped — and willing to teach me how to kiss.My name is Layla Thompson, and I am undateable.Seriously. I’m twenty-eight and I’ve never had a boyfriend. And with my thirties rapidly approaching, I’m starting to lose patience.Lucky for me, I have three overprotective best friends who are all-too-eager to help hone my dating skills.There’s Zack, the huge rugby player with the cheeky grin and rippling biceps.Josh, the boy-next-door with the sculpted jaw and calculating stare.And Luke, the silver-haired divorcee… who also happens to be my old professor.After a bad date leaves me crying on their shoulders, the three men are determined to help me find a guy. Together, they agree to be my ‘practice boyfriends’, and come up with a lesson plan packed with fake dates, make out sessions, and classes on flirty texting. In return, I just have to make an appearance on their relationship advice podcast once a week. Easy.But as my lessons become more and more intense, we soon find ourselves getting in too deep. Every butterfly-inducing touch lingers a little too long, and every molten kiss ends in fireworks. It’s not long before I realise that their friendship isn’t enough for me anymore. I want more.The guys have been teaching me how to get a boyfriend, and now it’s time I put their lessons to the test.Three times over.Faking With Benefits is a sizzling fake dating romance featuring multiple love interests, tons of molten fake relationship heat, and a whole lot of heart. No cheating, and an ultra-sweet HEA guaranteed!
First Semester
Q.B. Tyler - 2018
He definitely wasn’t supposed to walk into class Monday morning on my first day of college. He wasn’t supposed to be my teacher. He did things to my body that no man had ever done before. Things I wanted him to do again And again. And again. But the man I had in my bed two days ago was now off limits. He was my teacher. I was his student. I couldn’t have him... I wanted him anyway. First Semester is a 50,000 word standalone novel and the first in The Campus Tales series.
Don't Kiss the Bride
Carian Cole - 2021
He was my own personal hero who seemed to be in all the right places at the right times. Like when my car broke down and I needed a ride home, and when I face planted on the sidewalk right in front of him and had to be taken to the emergency room.Those weren’t exactly my best moments, but they were his. We became friends, and it didn’t matter that he was sixteen years older than me. We had a lot in common—like our love of old rock music and vintage fast cars, and our aversion to relationships.When he approached me with a crazy idea to help me out, I couldn’t say no.The arrangement was supposed to be temporary. A marriage on paper and nothing else.It should’ve been easy, but it wasn’t.Because here I am, eighteen years-old, still in high school, and married to a man I was never supposed to fall in love with.We had just one rule—no kissing the bride.But we broke that rule, and it sealed our fate forever.
Bailey And The Bad Boy
R. Linda - 2017
I was too… until my heart was ripped out of my chest. As if getting dumped wasn’t bad enough, I’m forced to endure the humiliation of witnessing my ex-boyfriend flaunt his new girl — who also happens to be my now ex-best friend — all over town. Double whammy. Now I’m the pathetic ex-girlfriend left gutted, heartbroken, and nose deep in a bucket of ice cream. I’m doomed to spend the summer sulking over a guy who thought I was predictable and bad in bed. So, when I get an offer guaranteeing me some well-deserved payback, of course I’m going to take it. Besides, the plan is simple. Pretend like I’m dating Ryder, the town’s popular bad boy, and make my ex wallow in a pit of jealousy and regret. It’s perfect. I mean… what could possibly go wrong?
Reckless Longing
Gina Robinson - 2013
Her mother’s wild and wanton behavior has left Ellie with a deep longing. To escape. To belong. To know who her real dad is. To really be loved. Her mother finally crosses a line thatsends Ellie running, escaping to college with one, focused goal–to find and confront her bio dad, who doesn’t even know she exists. Then she meets Logan. Hot, charming, and troubled. He turns her world upside down and puts all her plans in jeopardy.Logan Walker is hiding a shameful and painful secret. One that nearly cost him everything. When he meets the beautiful and mysterious Ellie at a Week of Welcome event, something inside him awakens and he finds himself drawn to her.But the attraction they both feel for each other is as delicate as the web of secrets they each hide behind. And as the truths are revealed, their reckless longing may not survive the fallout.
Princess Ballot
Jaymin Eve - 2019
Those four words change Violet Spencer’s whole life, when against staggering odds, she's selected in the "princess ballot." Arbon Academy is affectionately known as the school for Royals. Only the rich, powerful, or heir to a throne gain entry ... except for the one scholarship student accepted every five years. It's a worldwide lottery, and one that Violet entered without giving it any serious thought. But the media got it wrong and Arbon Academy is much more than a simple college for future leaders.It’s a dark world of politics, intrigue, and dangerous guys who will stop at nothing to get their own way. Despite her best efforts at remaining off the radar, Violet finds herself a pawn between two of the most powerful monarchies in the world. Prince Rafe of the Switzerlands and Prince Alex of the Australasias are bitter enemies both on the soccer field and in the political arena. Monarchies rule the world now, and every waking breath is a competition for the princes. Control the ball.Control the world. Control Violet. Whether it's through love or hate, someone will ultimately win.*This is book one in a dark college romance. This is not a RH or traditional love triangle story, but it does include a-hole princes, nasty princesses, and one chick who will take none of their shit, all the while doing her best to make it out alive. HEA guaranteed. Eventually. 17+. #darkromance #collegeromance #sportsromance #royals
Best Kind of Broken
Chelsea Fine - 2014
Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward.All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.
Little Devil
Bethany Winters - 2021
We’re supposed to smile and look pretty and do as we’re told without argument.I keep my mouth shut for an easy life.A boring life.But then I meet him.Xander Reid doesn’t follow rules.He’s a cocky bad boy with a devil may care attitude and a tongue bar I can’t stop staring at.He treats life like a game and dares me to play with him.And even though I know he's bad for me, I’m not sure how much longer I can resist.XANDERLakewood is supposed to be a punishment.A way to fix me and my unusual take on life.Seven months before the end of my senior year, my parents ship me off to live in a strange town with a family I barely know and a private school full of entitled rich kids.They seem to forget change doesn’t bother me.I get bored easily, can’t sit still for five minutes and nothing holds my attention.But then I meet her.Jordyn James isn’t as innocent as she makes out to be.She’s a bad girl trapped in a life fit for a princess, desperate for freedom from the chains that hold her back.Making her mine just might be the worst thing I’ve ever done, and yet I regret nothing.This is a full length, opposites attract romance with themes some readers might find offensive.Complete standalone with a HEA and no cliffhanger.
Not Pretending Anymore
Penelope Ward - 2021
I was starting to lose hope. Until a knock at my door came and God answered my prayers. Except…uh…wrong prayer, God. I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate. Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway. While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined. Then cupcakes showed up at my door—freshly baked by Declan and just as sinfully delicious as he was. You could say he was persistent. I eventually folded. It wasn’t like I had another viable candidate anyway. Plus, I was interested in someone else. And Declan was into another woman. So it wasn’t like anything would happen romantically. After he moved in, the two of us became the best of friends. We even started to give each other advice on getting our crushes to notice us. Eventually, Declan concocted an idea: we should pretend to be a couple to make our love interests jealous. I was hesitant, but went along with it anyway. To my utter shock, his crazy plan worked. Now I was dating the supposed man of my dreams, and my best friend had the woman of his. But there was one problem. I couldn’t stop thinking about Declan. Those feelings we were trying to fake? Yeah…I wasn’t pretending anymore.
There Are No Saints
Sophie Lark - 2021
Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch.Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game.I’m fixated on her for a different reason…She makes me feel things I never thought I could feel. Want things I never wanted.Only she can make me lose control.I don’t know if I should protect her at all costs… or destroy her before she ruins me.Mara knows I’m no saint. But she has no idea she’s dancing with the devil…
The Lark Notes:
I have always been fascinated by true crime, as well as by villains and anti-heroes. A serial killer is, of course, the ultimate anti-hero — the baddest of the bad boys. Redeeming a character who starts so evil was a challenge that inspired me to entirely new heights and entirely new depths. Come on this darkly sensual and utterly brain-bending ride with me! — Sophie"There Are No Saints” is the first book in the Sinners Duet. Reader be warned: this is a dark and steamy serial killer romance that will take you on a journey through the twisted mind of an artist on the brink of madness.
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."
Sex Material
Victoria Ashley - 2018
Sex Material… It’s what I’m known around town for. A rock-hard body, covered in tattoos with a sizeable bulge that women spend their nights fantasizing about. Women track me down, needing someone that will take them rough without holding back. They find me because they need a distraction from reality. They need something to get their mind off of the boyfriend who screwed them over or the job promotion they got passed over on at work. Sometimes it’s just because they need someone reckless in the bedroom before settling down with the right one. ‘Cause I’m not that guy. Nowhere close. I’m not the suit wearing, flower-buying guy you take home to meet the parents. I’m not the guy who will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not anymore. I was boyfriend material once. Would’ve even made a good husband. Until one night changed everything. These women come to me because they need an escape to cope with the real world, but none of them know I need it more than them. I need something to make me feel alive. Something to get my heart beating again. Then Cami shows up in my hometown, broken-hearted and pissed off at the world, needing an escape from her cheating ex. She’s the only one that doesn’t want to use my body. In fact, she wants nothing to do with it and has no problems telling me so. She’s interested in one thing only from me—to move into my rental property. But the problem with that is the more we fight, the deeper she buries herself in my soul. Sex material is what I’m good at, but for the first time, it may not be enough.