Book picks similar to
Waiting for Grace by Hayley Oakes


freebie
new-adult
lendable
contemporary-romance

Him


Carey Heywood - 2013
    She thought she could stay away forever. If it wasn’t for her big brother's wedding, that is. Part of her even feels silly for staying away this long. It's not like anyone even knew what happened. Well, except for him.That guy. The one she compared all others to. The one who set the bar so high no other guy after him could even compete. The one who made her feel like anything was possible. The one she thought she would never be good enough for. The one she spent the last seven years trying to forget.All she needs to do is make it through the next week without running into him.

Damaged But Not Broken


W.H. Vega - 2013
    She's only 15 but she looks like a woman, and for the group of sociopathic rapists that's good enough. The disgusting men hold her down, and one by one they destroy her innocence that night. Paige is forced to flee from her father and vows never to return, never to forgive him for allowing that night to happen. She leaves behind everything, her friends, her hope, her happiness, her life in Nashville, forever. She leaves behind Blake, her first love...her true love. The wounds of that heartbreak never fully heal, she never forgets about the only guy she ever really trusted. Thirteen years later Paige returns to her father's promise of sobriety, a record deal, and a blossoming career in country music.Everything changes when she sees Blake again, playing with his new band in a local Nashville club, the intense feelings she had buried deep inside rise up and refuse to go away. It's as if they never broke apart. Blake is no longer the 15 year old boy she once knew. Now he's a tall muscular front-man of the band Rust who seethes sex appeal and slays hearts. But as they reconnect, Blake's hardened shell begins to fall away as he teaches Paige to love again, to trust, and to give herself away completely.Paige finds a glimmer of hope and happiness again with Blake but is it all too good to be true? Can Paige overcome the hate, anger, resentment and learn to forgive - or will her father betray her? Her heart has been damaged but it's not broken...can she learn to love again?

Landon


S.M. Shade - 2016
    I’m not interested in his blue-green ocean colored eyes, his lean muscular body, or that crooked smile that can be so infuriating. I have more important things to worry about, like how to keep myself in college and my sixteen year old brother fed and sheltered. We all know life is hard, some of us just learn that lesson younger than others, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up. I intend to succeed and make sure my brother has the opportunities he deserves, and no privileged jerk is going to distract me. Landon I don’t date. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from celibate, but my condition makes carrying on any kind of normal relationship impossible. My life revolves around In Safe Hands or ISH, the underground hacker group I work with to track down and take care of predators and sex offenders who beat the system. I’m satisfied with my life until the day I meet the smart mouthed, compassionate, determined woman who opens my eyes to possibilities I never thought existed. This is book one in a series of standalone novels.

A More Deserving Blackness


Angela Wolbert - 2013
    She's just trying to make it through her last year of high school without breaking apart . . . Logan Brenner is an outcast in his own town, hated and feared by everyone he knows, haunted by a violent secret . . .Then one night he becomes her savior, and they discover a connection between their tragic pasts, one they never thought was possible. Both find themselves drawn close to someone again, learning how to live, and love, after unspeakable heartbreak.

Broken Promises


Dawn Pendleton - 2013
    She left Casper without looking back, leaving her small-town life and everyone in it, behind. Including her sexy high school sweetheart. Luke Bates was devastated when Mallory left him for the city life. He managed to pull himself together and move on, even if only just barely. When Mallory shows up in town, Luke vows to stay away from her at all costs. So why does he keep checking in on her and her father, showing up when he's clearly uninvited? Maybe Luke isn't as 'over her' as he thought.

So Many Reasons Why


Missy Johnson - 2013
    Now, with the impending release of her attacker from prison, Emma knows it’s more important than ever for her to regain control of her life. From her unrelenting nightmares, to her strained relationships, to her crippling agoraphobia, Emma feels as though her life is spiraling out of control.When her professor, Simon Anderson enters her life, Emma must deal with feelings she has never experienced before. Though both she and Simon know their relationship is bordering on inappropriate, neither of them are able to ignore the intense chemistry that is quickly developing between them.What was supposed to keep her mind off the attack has left her more confused than ever. When there are so many reasons why you shouldn’t be together, is simply being in love really enough?This is book one in a two book series.

Tattered


Devney Perry - 2018
    It’s somewhere just above the trash can her mother dumped her in as a newborn but below the class where much comes easy. With her tattered shoes and bargain-bin clothes, her life has never been full of glamour. So when a rich and charismatic man takes interest, she doesn’t fool herself into thinking their encounter is anything more than a one-night stand. Months later, she’s kicking herself for not getting his phone number. Or his last name. She’s given up hope of seeing him ever again.Until one day, years later, Logan Kendrick waltzes into her life once more and turns everything she’s built upside down. This time around, she won’t make the same mistake. She’s going to fight to keep him in her life—not for herself.But for their daughter.

Mr. Frosty Pants


Leta Blake - 2018
    He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool façade again. Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog—and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling—Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw. Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart?Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and romantically steamy scenes.

Stirred


Charity Ferrell - 2020
    I can't do this. That's what my ex said after our son was born, leaving me a single dad. These days, my world consists of two things: Noah and my bar. Until her—the woman I want—but can never have. My ex’s sister wasn’t supposed to be stirred into the mix. Even though I try to push her away, my son falls in love with her. As much as I want to keep my distance, I can’t break his heart.Lines become blurred, and fighting our attraction becomes nearly impossible. Even though we know it’s wrong, desire doesn’t always fade away.As soon as we cross that line, nothing will be the same and everything will fall apart. And it does.

The Final Piece


Maggi Myers - 2012
    From the moment a trusted family friend steals her innocence until the moment another rescues her, she struggles to just survive.Surrounded by the comfort and protection of her extended family, Beth embarks on a journey of healing far from the horrors of her home. In her darkest moments, she meets a boy named Ryan. For one incredible summer, Ryan shows Beth what it’s like to act her own age.To feel free and let go.If only for a while.Years later, another tragedy threatens to shatter the life Beth has carefully crafted. When faced, yet again, with more pieces to pick up, Beth begins to question what her choices have cost her.Leaving her old life behind, she sets forth on a pilgrimage that will bring her back to the boy she could never forget. He wants to help her pick up the pieces of her life, but is she willing to do what it takes to become whole again?Can she trust him with a piece of herself?

Alluring Turmoil


Skye Turner - 2013
    The past couple of years have been all she’s dreamed of and her business takes all of her focus, all of her heart. Jude Delecroix is the lead singer of one of the most famous rock bands in the country, Bayou Stix, and the man who broke Lexi’s heart. Lexi and Jude have a past. When Jude comes back to town eight years after leaving to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a famous musician and comes face to face with Lexi, forces collide, old hurts are brought to the surface, and life as these two have been living it will never be the same. There are two sides to every story, and what happens when the things you believed to be concrete suddenly crumble like ash and fade away? What happens when two people afraid to face the past, become involved in the present? Can they hope for a future?Welcome to Louisiana where humidity and passion are high and things are not always what they seem. ***Contains graphic sex and language. Not for young readers.***

Pretty Little Lies


Jennifer Miller - 2013
    . .Like every other eighteen-year-old in love, Olivia has dreams of spending forever with the love of her life. Luke is all she’s ever wanted – until she overhears something she was never meant to. In a matter of seconds, Olivia’s heart is shattered. Olivia handles it the only way she knows how - she runs- leaving behind her family, friends and the boy she loves. Seeking comfort and an escape, Olivia finds it in resident bad boy Deacon. He’s everything Luke isn’t – and that’s fine with Olivia.Now, seven years later, Olivia is older, wiser and headed back to Chicago looking forward to a fresh start and reconnecting with her best friend Pyper. What she doesn’t expect, is to come face to face with the boy she left behind and discover that even though she may have left, her feelings for him didn’t. Can Olivia put aside the pain in her heart and trust Luke? Will the ties to her past ever let her go, or will she continue to let her life be affected by pretty little lies?

Collision


Evie Harper - 2015
     That day I learned cruelty wasn’t only within the walls we had just escaped. It hasn’t been easy growing up in the middle of a war. A struggle to find shelter. Fighting to protect our bodies against the corruption of the streets. Nobody cared about the street kids who had to beg and steal to eat. Now we are the Portland Street Kings – A family forged through loyalty not blood. To get through this life of broken dreams alive, we’ve become hard, uncaring and merciless. We do what must be done to keep our family safe, we will harm those who stand against us.  We have it all, feared and respected by those on the streets. Then she collided into my world, and with her came demons from my past, back to haunt us all.

Losing Control


Desiree Wilder - 2013
    Now she’s just looking to have some fun…During her marriage, she and her husband tried for several years to have a baby, she got pregnant three times and miscarried all three. Her husband couldn’t bear to give up his dream of having a family so they grew apart and eventually divorced. Gia feels like a total failure since she couldn’t carry a child. But now, it’s time to move on. She just wants to have a little fun. She needs to have a little fun. Secretly hoping of a wild sexual encounter with someone who craves to devour her inch by inch, she and a group of her closest friends set out to have a wild weekend at a rock festival which they look forward to every year. This is what she wants and what she needs, but is she really ready for this?Ethan has been working too hard for the past ten years to have a serious relationship, but he’s always fantasized about one woman…Ethan’s put his heart and soul into this venue and this year it looks like he might finally make a profit. Each year it hosts a rock festival and every year he looks for one person, the same person, the problem is he doesn’t know anything about her, he doesn’t even know her name. Finally he meet’s her and she’s everything he always hoped for, except for one thing…she seems to be looking for a wild sexual encounter. This causes a bit of a dilemma since all he really wants is to get to know who this mystery woman is. He needs to know who she is. While trying to fulfill her every desire he gives her the most carnal sexual experience of her life, hoping she will open up to him and give him a chance to discover who she truly is.

Secret Maneuvers


Jessie Lane - 2013
    One ‘Dear John’ letter haunted Bobby Baker’s every living moment. It was the letter he’d stupidly written to his high school sweetheart, Belle, right after he had left to join the Army. The letter in which he’d told her that he wasn’t so sure they were ready for forever yet. Before he could let her know that the letter, and his second thoughts, were nothing more than a mistake, she disappeared from the small Georgia town they had both been raised in. Fifteen years after the letter, Belle unknowingly walked back into Bobby’s life when her job as an ATF Agent forced her to work with a group of men secretly headed by the CIA to help her track down whoever was involved in funneling black market weapons to a drug cartel in Mexico. Bobby planned to use this mission to try to soothe Belle’s hurt feelings while proving to her that their love was meant to be forever. He would use every dirty trick he’d learned since he had joined the Army to maneuver her back into his life for the long haul. Belle was not making it easy, though, as she continued to keep him at arm’s length in the hopes that mistakes of her own would never come to light. Warning: Mature themes and a secret baby! <- You've been warned.