Books like 'Starting Fires'

Readers who enjoyed Starting Fires by Makenzie Smith also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  angst  new adult  college

  • Holding You by Kelly Elliott

    Holding You by Kelly Elliott

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Lauren Reynolds wanted only two things in life—to run her father’s horse breeding business and Colt Mathews. Fearing Colt would take her position within the family business, she tried to push him far away from her heart. When life could no longer keep Lauren and Colt apart, their two worlds became one. Every second of every moment, they spent together...
  • The Journey Home by Kelly Elliott

    The Journey Home by Kelly Elliott

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Fate has a way of stepping in and righting itself when we least expect it. Cale Blackwood is devastated when the love of his life ends up leaving him. All alone and abandoned, Cale must seek help from the last person he ever imagined as he takes on one of the biggest challenges he's ever faced...
    Categorized as:
    angst  new adult  contemporary  length-medium
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  • Down To You by Jayne Frost

    Down To You by Jayne Frost

    Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Every story deserves a soundtrack. And ours is epic. She started from perfect. A star who shone brighter than the rest. But then fate took it all away. Now she's broken. A beautiful song with a fractured beat.  But I'm still on the rise. Chasing a dream that she's already left behind. If I'm lucky, I can find my redemption in the spotlight. Destiny brought us together. Put her in my path...
  • The One I Want by Siobhan Davis

    The One I Want by Siobhan Davis

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Siobhan Davis comes an emotional, angsty, new adult, stand-alone romance about a woman torn between two great loves. We thought we were forever, but fate had other plans… I never intended to fall in love. This girl had goals and guys were an unwelcome distraction...
  • End Game by Toni Aleo

    End Game by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    This is going to be Ryan Justice’s year. It’s his last year of college and his last year as a hockey player for the Bellevue Bullies. He’s making all the plays in preparation for achieving his dream of being drafted into the NHL. This is Sofia Castilleja’s beginning. She is starting her college career as a star member of Bellevue’s brand-new gymnastics team...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  college  sports  contemporary  hockey  m-f
  • Across the Horizon by Aly Martinez

    Across the Horizon by Aly Martinez

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    From USA Today bestselling author Aly Martinez comes a sizzling standalone contemporary romance. “Sometimes love happens when you least expect it.” That was what my husband’s mistress told me the day I found out about their affair...
  • The Mason List by S.D. Hendrickson

    The Mason List by S.D. Hendrickson

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    An epic love. An epic hate. An epic story that would last a lifetime. Today, 8:15 p.m. I hurt. I hurt so deeply, I felt the pain searing in my bones and jabbing like a hot poker into my heart. I knew nothing would make it better as the memories pulled from the crevices of my mind, detailing the bad and the ugly, filling my thoughts with regret as I slipped into the darkness. .
  • We Said Forever by Marie James, T E Black

    We Said Forever by Marie James, T E Black

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Rock bottom. They say the only way to go from there is up, but what is “up” when you’re born into someone else’s rock bottom? At ten, football became my first love. It’s what got me out of the house away from my self-destructive family...
  • Be My Temptation by Rachel Brookes

    Be My Temptation by Rachel Brookes

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    You met Josh Crawford and Ashlyn Hart in Be My December, now its time to hear their story. One night connected them.One decision separated them. One craving tempted them. Ashlyn Hart was done with men, or at least those outside of her books. After stupidly falling for the charms of her cheating ex and having her heart broken yet again, she decided to create a new life...
  • Pretty Pink Ribbons by K.L. Grayson

    Pretty Pink Ribbons by K.L. Grayson

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Dying . . . Dead . . . Deceased . . . It doesn’t matter how many times I say it or how many different names I give it, it still means the same thing. One of these days I’ll be nothing but a passing memory, a familiar face in a forgotten photo. But there's three things I need before this life of mine ends . . . I need to tell him I love him more than life itself...
    Categorized as:
    angst  new adult  contemporary  length-medium
  • Wreck My Plans by Kelsey Clayton

    Wreck My Plans by Kelsey Clayton

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 12 ratings
    My name is Carter Trayland,And I really screwed up.I should’ve ended things before they began.Instead, I wound up in a twisted love triangle,One that I never wanted to be a part of.The wrong choice sent my life on a whirlwind.A woman I forced myself to love is dead.My best friend was nearly blamed for her murder.And the one I’ve always wanted, now wants revenge...
  • Fallen Knight by T.K. Leigh

    Fallen Knight by T.K. Leigh

    Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Princess Esme of Belmont finally freed herself from the chains shackling her to royal life and has been living in Paris for the past several years. It’s what she wanted. What she fought for.But there’s still something missing.She refuses to admit what that something is, though, doing everything she can to put the past behind her.Until she receives a phone call that forces her to return home...
  • Fallen Knight by T.K. Leigh

    Fallen Knight by T.K. Leigh

    Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Princess Esme of Belmont finally freed herself from the chains shackling her to royal life and has been living in Paris for the past several years. It’s what she wanted. What she fought for.But there’s still something missing.She refuses to admit what that something is, though, doing everything she can to put the past behind her.Until she receives a phone call that forces her to return home...
  • Hopelessly Devoted to Violet: Hopelessly Devoted Novella by Terri Anne Browning

    Hopelessly Devoted to Violet: Hopelessly Devoted Novella by Terri Anne Browning

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Every time someone mentions planning their wedding, Violet finds a reason why they should wait.Luca is her soulmate and Love Bug’s favorite person.They are already a family, but they need to make it official.Luca is getting tired of calling her his fiancée and not his wife.But Vi is torn.Saying “I do” to Luca will mean releasing the last hold Remington had on her heart...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  angst  contemporary  sports  alpha male
  • Remember When Trilogy by T. Torrest

    Remember When Trilogy by T. Torrest

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    All three best-selling books of the Remember Trilogy in one bundle! REMEMBER WHEN, REMEMBER WHEN 2: The Sequel, and REMEMBER WHEN 3: The Finale. Remember When is the first story in an NA romance trilogy...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  college  contemporary  length-epic
  • Pretty Pink Ribbons by K.L. Grayson

    Pretty Pink Ribbons by K.L. Grayson

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Can be read as a standalone novel **Contains sensitive subject matters** Dying . . . Dead . . . Deceased . . . It doesn’t matter how many times I say it or how many different names I give it, it still means the same thing. One of these days I’ll be nothing but a passing memory, a familiar face in a forgotten photo. But there are three things I need before this life of mine ends . .
    Categorized as:
    angst  new adult  contemporary  length-medium
  • Now Open Your Eyes by Nicole Fiorina, Oliver Masters

    Now Open Your Eyes by Nicole Fiorina, Oliver Masters

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 25 ratings
    MIA. It was so close, I'd tasted it–the freedom. But the only thing I could taste now was the end. Over the last two years, I’d let all outside forces dictate my life, my feelings, my head. I’d allowed everyone to control what my punishment should be for all my wrong-doings. I’d been tested and learned my lesson. I’d paid my dues and suffered long enough...
  • Wild Iris Ridge by RaeAnne Thayne

    Wild Iris Ridge by RaeAnne Thayne

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Lucy Drake and Brendan Caine have only one thing in common… And it's likely to tear them apart. Because it was Brendan's late wife, Jessie—and Lucy's best friend—who'd brought them together in the first place. And since Jessie's passing, Brendan's been distracted by his two little ones…and the memory of an explosive kiss with Lucy years before his marriage. Still, he'll steer clear of her...
  • Wonderful by S.C. Stephens

    Wonderful by S.C. Stephens

    Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    Kellan Kyle finally has everything he’s always wanted—a woman who loves him more than he ever thought possible, family who genuinely cares about him, and the best friends a person could ask for. His band has found success, and they are well on their way to making their dreams come true. But as Kellan quickly learns, sometimes dreams come with a price...
  • Third Chances by Ivy Smoak

    Third Chances by Ivy Smoak

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    When your first chance passes you by, sometimes you regret it your whole life. But what if you're given a second chance? Daphne lives a life of structure and routine. It's the only way to keep her demons at bay. But when she has to let lose at her friend's bachelorette party, her demons prove to be a little closer to the surface than she realizes...
  • Tapped by the Rockstar by Christina Hovland

    Tapped by the Rockstar by Christina Hovland

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    Internet fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.As a teenager Samantha Johnson wrote a song that went viral in all the wrong ways. A pop song about her love of mozzarella sticks. She hoped for adoration but instead became a joke for an entire generation. She absolutely does not want to be in the limelight ever again. Or even near it. Since then, she's kept mostly to herself...
  • Truly Mine by Kennedy Fox

    Truly Mine by Kennedy Fox

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    𝑻𝑹𝑼𝑳𝒀 𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑬 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕𝒚, 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘-𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. The night we met in the dimly lit bar, she looked like a brunette bombshell, and I wanted to learn her deepest secrets...
  • The Mind by Edee M Fallon, Kate Stewart

    The Mind by Edee M Fallon, Kate Stewart

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    We fell in love in a lightning strike, a sudden anomaly in a sea of lost people. He knew right away, yet I was hesitant. I could have never prepared myself for a love like ours. No one could. As a child, I had conjured an amazing story in my mind. It was a story I could retell about a man that would move me like no other; a story about the way we met and how he had swept me off my feet...
  • Secrets Vol. 2 by Ella Steele

    Secrets Vol. 2 by Ella Steele

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    Sexy thoughts about Cole fill Anna's dreams. Every detail burns brightly in her mind; the way his hands feel on her bare skin, the soft brush of his lips against hers, and the way their bodies fit perfectly together. Anna awakes breathless, tingling as if it really happened. What caused her to think about Cole like that? It was completely forbidden...
  • Closer by Mary Elizabeth

    Closer by Mary Elizabeth

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    Gabriella Mason is damaged. Teller Reddy is wrecked. Misery loves company, and that’s exactly what Ella gets the afternoon her path crosses with Teller’s: the misunderstood premed student who instantly becomes her lifeline when she moves to Los Angeles, an attempt at escaping her heartbreaking past. In the beginning, Lonely and Defensive complete each other...
  • Redeem Me by Jennifer Foor

    Redeem Me by Jennifer Foor

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    The Road to Redemption is a Long Journey Parker Hutchinson has done a good job messing up his reputation as the golden child. He’s made bad choices, pushed everyone away, and almost ruined his brother’s life. Though he’s tried his best to make amends, he can’t seem to find a way to convince his family that he’s changed. Cameron Hynson is in college with hopes to become a lawyer...
  • Tap & Gown by Diana Peterfreund

    Tap & Gown by Diana Peterfreund

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Fans of Cora Carmack (Losing It) and Tammara Weber (Easy) will devour the original New Adult novels: Secret Society Girl, Under the Rose, Rites of Spring (Break), and Tap & Gown. At an elite university, Amy Haskel has been initiated into the country's most notorious secret society...
  • Dear Agony by Georgia Cates

    Dear Agony by Georgia Cates

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Dear Agony, You've been my shadow, following me through childhood—filling my days and nights with terror and uncertainty. You cleverly disguised yourself as some form of pain or suffering as I grew into a young woman. We were unwavering companions … until I severed our ties. I traded homelessness on the streets of New Orleans for a luxurious bed covered by the finest linens...
  • 10 Dates by Emily James

    10 Dates by Emily James

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Joanie Fox can't wait to settle down and marry the man of her dreams. However, when her engagement starts to look more stalemate than soulmate, her best friend stages an intervention sure to make even the most hardened, serial daters wince: 10 Dates in 10 Days...
  • Love Survives by Jennifer Foor

    Love Survives by Jennifer Foor

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    This book follows Love's Suicide. It can be read by itself as a stand alone. Imagine being in love with the same girl since you were ten years old, only to have her fall for your twin instead. This story is rocky. It will rip you apart and possibly put you back together again. I know this because it's my story...
  • In Pieces by Danielle Pearl

    In Pieces by Danielle Pearl

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Three years ago she was left in pieces . . . Most college freshmen love the newfound freedom of living on campus, but none of them craves it like Beth Caplan. One ill-fated night when she was fifteen left her locked in a posh prison of private tutors. It's for the best , everyone said, and maybe it was...
  • The Way Back To me by Anne Mercier

    The Way Back To me by Anne Mercier

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    She was perky, fun, and full of life—everything I hated about girls and their bullshit exterior. People called her bubbly; I called her “fake-as-hell.” The edgy, dark, lonely girl in front of me was not the Olivia Brennan I knew from high school—far from it, actually. I knew the story—the whole town knew the story, we witnessed it all...
  • The Road to You by Melissa Toppen

    The Road to You by Melissa Toppen

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Life is full of choices- of chances- of moments. Chances we regret not taking. Choices we wish we could change. And then there are the moments that define us. Kam was my choice… The one who stole my heart instantly. Kane was my chance… The one who set me ablaze with just one look. They were my moment… Two brothers that both owned a part of me...
  • Through the Lens by K.K. Allen

    Through the Lens by K.K. Allen

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    "He thought I was his muse. Turned out, he was mine too."Maggie Stevens is done feeling objectified.After spending her entire life in the spotlight and climbing the high fashion ranks as a model in LA, she’s willing to leave it all behind for a fresh start. Moving to Seattle seems like the perfect solution.A clean slate.New adventures.Endless opportunities.All is going according to plan...
  • Pretty Scars by C.D. Reiss

    Pretty Scars by C.D. Reiss

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    In Carrie Drazen’s diamond-studded world, beauty is everything: a blessing, a commodity, and a curse. Her beauty got her past the velvet ropes and into high society, but it ripped her away from the man she loved and chained her to an unbearable life...
  • What's Left of Us by Amanda Maxlyn

    What's Left of Us by Amanda Maxlyn

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    The heartwarming conclusion to What's Left of Me. Love found me three years ago. I’m cancer free, happily married to the love of my life, and working toward my dream career. Our life is complete. Perfect, really. Or is it? I’ve always wanted a family of my own, but never dreamed I could have one. Now Parker’s ready to make my dream our reality...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  angst  contemporary  m-f  length-short
  • Avoiding Temptation (A Bro Code Standalone) by Rachel Van Dyken

    Avoiding Temptation (A Bro Code Standalone) by Rachel Van Dyken

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    I hit on her first. Realized she was my best friend Finn's little sister second. And got a bloody nose third — compliments of Finn after he watched me nearly score with the new underclassman. After all I did have a reputation on campus, word on the street was that a girl could orgasm within one minute just watching me eat Lucky Charms...
  • Ruthless by Michelle Heard

    Ruthless by Michelle Heard

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    From International Bestseller Michelle Horst, comes a new, sexy novel in the Enemies To Lovers series. MARCUS I'm good at deceiving people. Too good. I let people think I'm a bastard. Then Willow walks into my life, and no matter how hard I try to scare her off, she keeps coming back. But, everyone has their limit, and I'm afraid Willow has reached hers...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  angst  contemporary  length-medium
  • The Wright Mistake by K.A. Linde

    The Wright Mistake by K.A. Linde

    Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    A new stand alone enemies-to-lovers romance by USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde... I spent six weeks screwing Austin Wright’s brains out and all I got was this broken heart. He can’t be trusted. Not with my body or my heart. Yet, two years have passed and I still crave him like an addict needing a fix. The last time we tried this, it nearly ruined me...
  • Zane & Lucky's First Christmas by J.S. Cooper

    Zane & Lucky's First Christmas by J.S. Cooper

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    The final book in the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Forever Love series is here! Handsome, Zane Beaumont fell for Lucky Morgan hook, line and sinker. He became the happiest man on earth when she told him she was pregnant and agreed to marry him...
  • Sever by Mary Elizabeth

    Sever by Mary Elizabeth

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Misery overstayed its welcome. But fate will not be so easily swayed. Gabriella Mason and Teller Reddy have walked a thin line between affection and hostility for years. The intensity that once set them on fire has ended their engagement and separated them by more than just miles...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  angst  contemporary  length-short
  • Fate by Sydney Lane

    Fate by Sydney Lane

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    I'm used to getting what I want. I've always taken what I wanted. No apologies. No excuses. I know what it feels like to be betrayed, when someone else is calling all the shots. I've been down that road, and I'm not going there again. I've got my family, my friends, and the brotherhood. That's all I need. I believe in Fate. Everything happens for a reason...
  • Relent by Rachel Schurig

    Relent by Rachel Schurig

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Levi has always been on the outside looking in. When your best friends make up one of the most famous rock bands in the country, living at the edge of the spotlight comes with the territory. Levi was pretty happy with the way things were; after all, helping the Ransome boys achieve their dreams was his dream too. But all of that changed when Levi fell for lead singer Daltrey Ransome’s girl...
  • Don't Hold Back by Missy Johnson

    Don't Hold Back by Missy Johnson

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Three countries. Two months. All expenses paid. Just you and me. About you: You’re fun loving, adventurous and you have a wicked sense of humor. You’re spontaneous, open minded and creative. You live for today because you never know what tomorrow holds. I'm Erin and this isn't your usual Craigslist Ad. I’m twenty-four, and full disclosure, I’m dying. But I don’t want your pity...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  angst  contemporary  length-short
  • Twisted by Release by B.B. Hamel

    Twisted by Release by B.B. Hamel

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A dark mafia...
  • Last Letters to Ara by Kaymie Wuerfel

    Last Letters to Ara by Kaymie Wuerfel

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    "A gripping story about finding love, passion and drive after loss. This book is an emotional rollercoaster and I could not put it down." -SSAra Had Everything She Needed. Until She Didn’t. Every time Ara has opened her heart it’s ended in hurt, and now she’s lost the only person she’s ever been able to trust...
  • Perfectly Imperfect by Tiffany Casper

    Perfectly Imperfect by Tiffany Casper

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    DaemonWhen you learn at the young age of nine that words have the same impact as a fist, it shapes you into the man you grow up to be.It makes you hard.Unshakable.And sometimes… Cold.That was until he saw her in a classroom being the kind of mom that he wished he had. Being the kind of mom that all women should aspire to be...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  angst  contemporary  sports  m-f  length-medium
  • BLACKOUT by Olivia Evans

    BLACKOUT by Olivia Evans

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    There is a gaping hole in the middle of Lonna's memories of the worst night of her life. Her body told her how it ended, but the details leading up to her lying hurt and sobbing on the bathroom floor have been lost...
  • Beat by Anna Edwards

    Beat by Anna Edwards

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Liam Romero has the mother of all hangovers in more ways than one after he wakes from a wild night in Las Vegas to find he's married. Not only has he got to explain it to the rest of the band, but he also needs to figure out why he's got an overwhelming urge to keep his new wife by his side. He should run for the hills, but something about her is drawing him in...
  • One Little Dare by Whitney Barbetti

    One Little Dare by Whitney Barbetti

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Truth or dare? I always choose a dare. And no matter the dare, I always follow through. Even if it means walking down a busy street in my bathrobe and hair curlers. Or recreating that iconic When Harry Met Sally deli scene while on a crowded subway. Or hitting on a handsome stranger in a bar. And then … marrying that stranger. While in Vegas...
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