Book picks similar to
Mad World by Hannah McBride


bully
romance
contemporary
new-adult

Tough Sh*t


Sheridan Anne - 2020
    Wrong.When the bank took our home, it didn’t come as a surprise. The bomb was when mom told me we were moving out of Breakers Flats, away from my crew, and to a place that only existed in fairy tales—Bellevue Springs. Home of the insanely beautiful, rich, and famous.Only, Bellevue Springs is far from a fairy tale. It’s a nightmare full of secrets, horrors, and the ugly reality of the one-percenters, but without this move, mom and I are up sh*t creek without a paddle.We don’t belong here—not even as the help.I should have been prepared. I should have done my homework so at least that way I wasn’t blindsided by Charles Carrington’s son; my new housemate.Colton F*cking Carrington.He’s the definition of an arrogant, entitled prick and he’s determined to make my life a living hell. Guess what, Colton? Where I’m from, you don’t start a war unless you intend to finish it, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.You can’t take down a girl who has nothing left to lose.We may be on your territory, but this is my game.WARNING: Rejects Paradise is a Young Adult / New Adult Dark High School Bully Romance series. It features dark themes and mature content.

Catch My Fall


Ella Fox - 2013
    In need of a fresh start, she settles into a new town and begins to make a new life. Tristan Chamberlain has always kept girls at arm's length and he has no intention of changing. He’s caring, smart, handsome, but he’s also dealing with a lifetime of guilt that’s slowly but surely destroying him.Sometimes what you run from is the one thing that will save you.Separately, they’re both free-falling. Together, they’re about to find that love can create the strongest safety net of all.

Wicked Beginnings


L.A. Cotton - 2017
    A. Cotton, author of the Rixon Raidersseries.Sometimes wrong feels so right...When seventeen-year-old Eloise Stone finds herself halfway across the world, moving into her uncle's pool house, she expects things to be ... awkward. She doesn't expect to come face-to-face with the boy from last summer. The boy that made her feel things she'd never felt before. But a year is a long time, and Lo isn't the girl she was then. Besides, they're family now.It's weird.Maverick Prince acts as if he doesn't remember her, treating Lo like nothing more than an annoying younger sister, and not in a 'he cares' way, just in a 'he's an arsehole' way. One thing's for sure, he isn't just dangerous for her sanity--he's hazardous for her heart.Lo thought moving to Wicked Bay was the worst of her problems, but as life begins to unravel around her, she's going to find out it's only the beginning...~The Wicked Bay Series is recommended for readers aged 17+ due to mature themes, language and content.Reading OrderWicked BeginningsWicked RulesWicked LiesWicked GamesWicked HeartsWicked SurpriseWicked PromiseWicked Forever

Where the Road Takes Me


Jay McLean - 2015
    She’s made a promise to herself: don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone love her. She’s learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she’s focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road—her dream of freedom, at least for a little while.Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all—everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can’t let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear.One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she’s focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.

Bully Me


Selena . - 2020
    When we move to a small town in the south, we’ll own it, my brothers said. After all, my family is rich as sin and used to getting whatever they want. How hard could it be? Except when we arrive in Faulkner, someone already owns this town. The Darling family. They’re every bit as wealthy as we are, and they’re not happy with our new money moving in. The three Darling cousins, each one more cruel and gorgeous than the last, rule the halls of Willow Heights the way my brothers ruled our prep school in Manhattan. None is worse than Devlin Darling, who makes it his personal mission to ruin his new rivals. The Darlings see my brothers as a threat. They want them gone. It doesn’t take them long to find my brothers’ one weakness. Me. *Bully Me is a high school dark romance suitable for readers 18+*

The Art of Falling For You


Maya Hughes - 2021
    In her glasses and stage crew black clothes she has a knack for fading into the background. She’s probably the only one who rolls her eyes when I walk past instead of cheering on my last touchdown play. But before I can shove her into the recesses of my mind filed under “Not my problem” she lands herself smack dab in the middle of my dreams. I catch her singing with a voice unlike any I’ve heard before that taps into feelings I shouldn’t have for the girl who avoids me at all costs. With three months until graduation, the final play is on. Only it’s not for more points. It’s for Bay. Unlike my success on the field, this win is anything but assured. But I can’t stop myself from taking the risk. There’s no flashing scoreboard. There’s no cheering crowd. There’s only her and me. The countdown clock is ticking. The only thing scarier than finding my first love will be losing her.The Art of Falling for You is the first book in the new Fulton U universe sports romance, Falling trilogy.

Four Doors Down


Emma Doherty - 2016
    She has good friends and a gorgeous boyfriend but Ryan Jackson, the bane of her existence, keeps popping up everywhere. She doesn't care that they were best friends for years. She doesn't care that their moms are close and therefore she hears more about him that she'd ever care to know. She doesn't care that their mutual friend, Jake, keeps pushing them all to hang out together, and she especially doesn't care that the rest of the school bows down and worships him. Becca decided years ago that he wasn't worth her time and nothing, NOTHING, is going to change her mind.

Wrong Crowd


Lisa Helen Gray - 2019
    I feared what my life would become when an aunt I never knew about came swooping in and threw me into the unknown. She was rich. I couldn’t even afford a pack of gum. We were complete opposites, yet I wanted a fresh start in life, and she was promising to give me that. I just had to live with her for a year, until I graduated college. However, from the very first day it became clear that I was completely out of my depth. It was a deal I couldn’t pass up, not if I wanted to stay off the streets until I could find a job to support myself. Everyone at Kingsley Academy was in a league of their own. The girls were high-class, yet as fake as Barbie dolls, and the boys were handsome with that appealing bad boy edge. Especially Kaiden Kingsley. He was charismatic, athletic, and sexy as hell. He also hated me so much he was willing to do anything to send me back to where I came from. And I didn’t even know why. He was cold, cruel and twisted in a way I could never compete with, yet I found myself gravitating towards him. Secrets, lies and deceit. Everyone reeked of it. I wanted answers—needed them. Before my mum died, I thought I knew everything about her. It turns out, I didn’t know her at all. There’s a reason she left all this behind; a reason why Kaiden and his elite group are on a mission to punish me. And I’m going to find out. WARNING: Strong content that may be a trigger to some readers.

Kings of Quarantine


Caroline Peckham - 2020
    Heartless. Quarantined.The ruthless boys of Everlake Prep never saw lockdown coming.But the virus isn’t their number one enemy.I am.And as if being confined to a boarding school for the elite wasn’t bad enough, now I’m stuck in isolation with the boys who hate me most too.Saint, Kyan and Blake. The Night Keepers. Or so they call themselves. They’ve embodied the Native American legend which lives in this valley, taking on the role of the monsters who lurk in the forest. And though they act like beasts, they may also bethe most tempting creatures I’ve ever seen.With the virus escalating and my dad’s name splashed through the news, my entire world is falling apart. What he did has cast a dark shadow over me. And the Night Keepers want to make me pay for his crimes.Then things went from bad to worse when I touched the sacred rock. A rock which supposedly holds a curse to bind me as the Night Keepers’ slave. And as crazy as it sounds, I decided to play along. Because there are things about me they don’t know. Things my dad has hidden from me for years. All I can be sure of is that I have to find a way to escape this school. But until then, those savage boys are making my life a living hell.As the virus sweeps through the country and the world twists into something ugly and unknown, the kings of this school become true monarchs. Even the teachers bow to them now. And I’m kinda glad about that ‘stay six feet away from one another’ rule, because without it, I know they’d rip me apart.At least there’s a silver lining. I’m cosying up to Coach Monroe. My hot as hell, brooding P.E. teacher who has a vendetta of his own against the Night Keepers. And with his help, I may succeed at doing more than escaping the clutches of these heartless fiends. I might even destroy them along the way.My father taught me how to be strong.How to prepare for the end of the world.So this isn’t going to be the end of my world, mark my words.But if I’m able to use my mind and body to bring these assholes to their knees, it might just be the end of theirs.This is a high school bully RH series with off the charts angst, dark themes and is not for the faint of heart. Prepare to enrol at Everlake Prep. Bring your hand sanitiser, face masks and toilet paper to barter with, but don’t expect to hold onto them for long. Because it’s time to go into quarantine with the Night Keepers. And everything you own now belongs to them.

Raise Hell


Ashley Gee - 2020
    And I will do anything to make it happen.Even pretend to fall in love.People like to say that revenge is a dish best served cold. But it takes planning and patience to seek true vengeance when you’ve been wronged.And the best revenge takes time. You have to smile when you want to scream. Laugh, when you want to cry.Play nice, while you dream about going for the jugular.For that, you need boiling rage.I am the cleansing fire that will burn St. Bart’s Prep to the ground.Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. But I can’t wait on heaven, so instead I’ll raise hell.Coming November 2020

Start a Fire


Julia Wolf - 2021
    I’ve done the popularity thing at Savage River High, but after two years away, I have no interest in reclaiming my crown.The last time I put myself in the spotlight, I was left in shambles.Unfortunately, my carefully laid plans go to hell when I grab the attention of dark, forbidding, and brutally hot Sebastian Vega. He looks at me like he wants to kill my puppy or eat me alive. Quite possibly both.Sebastian is everywhere I go, and he’s decided I’m the twisted game he wants to play, whether I’m a willing participant or not.The question is...what will I have to lose in order to win?Authors Note: This is a DARK high school bully romance with mature themes and dubious situations that some readers may find offensive. If you’re looking for a nice guy, prince of a hero, this story isn’t for you.

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.

Reckless Hate


Thandiwe Mpofu - 2019
    The results? Reckless Hate & Catastrophe."Westbrook had four boys that ruled my life once.They were hell raisers.Cunning Athletes.Skilled Manipulators.Hateful Assholes.Gorgeous gods.Heartbreakers. . .Only I never counted on them breaking my heart as savagely as they did, sending me away when I needed them the most. Making me spiral into a vicious abyss of darkness where I'm haunted by a pair of frosty blue eyes filled with hate.But now I'm back and this time around, for a reason that makes breathing almost completely impossible.And if they think I won't get revenge for my brother--one of the Blue Boys--then they have another kind of hell to face.Because I'm no longer their little Blue girl from four years ago. . .

Bully King


J.A. Huss - 2020
    And the secret society that meets deep in the woods is even more exclusive. Only a select few will get in during the summer rush--and Cadee Hunter wants to be one of them. Too bad it's Cooper Valcourt's mission to make sure she fails. Bully boys.Arrogant tyrants.Blue-blood bastards.Call them whatever you want.Around here, we just call them Kings.Fancy boats.Lakeside mansions.Luxe watches and bespoke suits.The Kings of High Court College act like Gods.And Cooper Valcourt is the worst of them.He is the bully king.His family owns everything.And his mission is to put me in my place and send me packing.But Cooper and I have a history filled with secrets.And everyone knows that power doesn’t come from having money.It comes from holding secrets.And I’m holding one of his.A very dark secret that can bring him to his knees.***** Bully King is new-adult, dark, bully romance from New York Times bestselling author JA Huss featuring boys with power and girls at their mercy. It’s a campus shrouded in lies and a summer rush into an elite society that can propel a poor girl straight into the ruling class.If… she’s willing to pay the price.

Beautiful Disaster


Francette Phal - 2012
    They call it the “bet” and new girl Ellie Holbrook is their latest target. Ellie is not the kind of girl Nicholas dates, but she is pretty enough to be his next conquest and so he sets out to seduce her and claim a nice little prize at the end. But her seduction proves difficult when she openly rejects his advances. In his dogged pursuit of her he slowly finds himself in her small circle of trusted friends and meets her two year old daughter, Sophie.Life takes a startling turn for Nicholas when he realizes his happiness now lies with the young mother and her daughter. Falling in love with Ellie isn’t something Nicholas ever thought could happen to him and he’s completely frightened at how fiercely she makes him feel. But before he can further examine those emotions and clearly process them, enemies from Nicholas’s personal circle of friends conspire to tear them apart and he must now decide whether their love is worth saving or allow his friends to take away the greatest thing that’s ever happened to him.