Best New Novels 2018 Novels & Stories

His face was inches from mine. His breath ghosted over my lips—warm, whiskey-scented from dinner and my body remembered him instantly: the way he’d pinned my wrists, the slow grind of his hips, the filthy things he’d growled in my ear while I came apart beneath him. He leaned in. I felt the pull—like gravity, like hunger. My lips parted on instinct. Just one more inch and we’d be kissing again, messy and desperate, right here in his car like teenagers who couldn’t wait. But reality crashed in. I jerked back, pressing myself against the door. “We can’t.” His jaw ticked. “Why not?” "Because I practically raised you.” My voice shook. “Because your mom is my best friend and I'm way older than you..." "I don't care" he bit out, shocking me even further. "I’ve wanted you since I was old enough to know what wanting meant. And don’t pretend like you don't feel something too." Sophie helped raise him. She was there for homework, school runs, and the lonely years when his parents were too busy. To her, he was just her best friend’s son. Years later, she catches her husband cheating on their anniversary and loses her unborn child due to the shock, Sophie spends the night with a stranger that she never expects to see again. But the stranger is Antonio — the boy she once helped raise. Now he’s all grown up. Powerful. Successful. And off limits. She manages to escape from him — so she thinks — until days later, she gets hired in a fashion company where Antonio is the CEO.

After I got a second shot at life, the very first thing I did was enroll in an intensive weight-loss boot camp. In my past life, my boyfriend was always on my case about my weight. He flat-out told me he wouldn't put a ring on it unless I got down to a hundred pounds. I tried every diet and workout plan out there—I pushed myself to the edge—but instead of losing, I packed on even more pounds. Meanwhile, my so-called best friend ate cheeseburgers, fries, and pizza like it was her job and still dropped from 130 pounds to a hundred in less than a month. The second she hit that magic number, my boyfriend's head turned. They started sneaking around behind my back. When I finally confronted them, they shoved me off a rooftop. It wasn't until after I died that I discovered the truth: my "best friend" had linked herself to a weight-transfer system. Every single pound I struggled to lose went straight to her. And every ounce of fat she should have gained? It landed right back on me. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day my boyfriend gave me his hundred-pound ultimatum. With every memory of my past life intact, I couldn't help but smile. My best friend wants to be skinny, does she? Well then, let's see how she likes being nothing but skin and bones. Let's see if forty-five pounds is skinny enough for her.

"No Chris… you can't fucking kiss me with the same lips that tasted Anna's. You can't… just leave Chris, please leave…” She screamed, her body shaking terribly. For Anna coming home meant summer nights by the lake, her mother's cooking, and slipping back into the life she left behind. Most of all, it meant Carly, her best friend, her constant, her home. And Chris, Carly's boyfriend. Who was clearly off limits or at least... he should have been. Because the moment Anna steps back into Millbrook, something feels wrong. The town is quieter. The air feels heavier. And Chris? He isn't the same boy she remembers. He's colder, stronger and dangerous in a way that makes her heart race and her instincts scream. Then come the dreams. Running through moonlit fields. A voice calling her name. A presence she can't escape... or resist and when the truth finally surfaces, it shatters everything Anna thought she knew. Chris isn't just her best friend's boyfriend. He's an Alpha and impossibly she was his mate. Torn between loyalty and a bond she can't break, Anna must decide, walk away and protect the only family she's ever known or surrender to the Alpha who was never meant to be hers. Because in a town full of secrets, some fates are more dangerous than others... and loving him might cost her everything.

Warning 18+ only :This is smut with a plot. It is the kind of book you crack open and immediately regret because now you’re hot and way too invested. Ever looked at your best friend’s brother and thought, yeah, that is a terrible idea, let me ruin my life a little? This book is that bad decision. It’s messy, it’s scandalous and fucking shameless. ~~~~ Dylanne Hayes has always had a huge crush on her best friend's brother, Kai. He's every woman's dream, and hers since she was 18. Now Kai is back in the States. He's different, more charming, and she swears she's over him, even after she's required to work with him at work. Work is supposed to be easy, but not with Kai Reed in the picture. Can she resist him this time or betray the promise she made to her bestie?

Riley thought her life was better the way it has been; a man to run to, a best friend whose shoulder she could cry on all the time. But everything came crashing when she found her best friend and her boyfriend on the bed, where she found out that her boyfriend had used her to get to Zelia, her best friend. Her world came crashing as they were the only ones that she had to call family.It wasn't intentional when she slept with her best friend's father that night; it was just a way she had considered to take things off her head. But what happens when Riley ends up pregnant, unsure of whom the father of her kids is.

Ava Monroe is struggling to pay for her college fees. After a terrible loss in business when her family went bankrupt overnight, Ava saw all her dreams shatter right in front of her eyes. It doesn't help that her family is obsessed with becoming wealthy again. The shock of being poor had turned them into something Ava could no longer recognize. However, eager for some quick money, Ava works as an escort over the summer before college begins. The money is good, and she hasn't had any strange experiences yet. That has to be worth something, right? Brian Reinhold is rich, successful and soon turning forty. But his home is anything but happy. After losing his sixteen-year-old daughter in a car crash, Brian doesn’t know how to go on with life anymore. Nothing makes sense. Nothing makes him lively. His friends believe Brian needs a break. A long pause in his hectic life so he could grieve and make amends for the sadness that is dousing him from inside. But instead of packing his bags and moving to his hometown, Brian thrusts himself more into work and pretends that moving on is a choice, not binding. But life takes a toll when the next client on Ava’s list turns out to be Brian Reinhold. The dear daddy of Valerie. Ava’s best friend. Now, Ava doesn’t know why the idea of sleeping with a man double her age is electrifying. Brian Reinhold might be forty soon, but he looks anything but old. His arms are a thing of beauty and his charming grey eyes can suck you in so deep that reality gladly withers away. But this arrangement has cons of its own. And truth has the power to destroy the lives they both care for.

Leah lives with her mother and younger sister, carefully balancing school, work, and responsibility. Her father drifts in and out of her life, bringing nothing but chaos, guilt, and financial strain. Every interaction with him reminds Leah why control matters, why stability must be protected at all costs. Her secret begins with Damien Cross, her best friend’s father. Their connection forms quietly, deliberately, and with full awareness of the line they are crossing. Damien’s dominance awakens something in Leah; she has never allowed herself to explore a desire to surrender, to be guided, to belong. Their encounters are hidden and intense, leaving Leah shaken, fulfilled, and aching for more. Even as desire deepens, Leah understands the danger of discovery and the devastation it would bring. But passion comes at a price. Extra money, watchful eyes, and her father’s greed threaten exposure. One wrong move could destroy everything Leah fights to protect. Owned by My Best Friend’s Father is a dark, addictive romance about forbidden desire, alpha dominance, and the dangerous thrill of surrender. Some loves aren’t safe, but they’re impossible to resist.

Mistakes? I’ve made plenty. The biggest one? Falling head over heels for Brian Lockwood—my brother’s best friend and the captain of the school’s basketball team. For years, I lived in the shadow of my one wish: for him to see me as more than just Simon’s little sister. But how could he, with Lyla, his perfect girlfriend, glued to his side? Then everything changed. Lyla cheated, Brian’s heart shattered, and he was desperate for a distraction. That’s when he came to me with a deal—a no-strings-attached arrangement where we could give each other exactly what we wanted. I saw my chance. I thought I could make him fall in love with me. But I didn’t account for how messy things could get—how keeping it all a secret from Simon would twist everything. And when Brian crossed a line I couldn’t forgive, I knew it was time to let go of my high school crush. Fast forward three years. I’m over him. Or so I tell myself. Except now Brian’s back, no longer the heartbroken boy I knew but a leading basketball star with one goal: to win me over. I swore I wouldn’t fall for him again.

Avery Nash had two lives and one rule. Keep them completely separate. By day she was the captain of the Crestwood University cheer squad and a Business Management student holding onto her scholarship by her fingernails. By night she was Scarlett, masked and wigged and untouchable, dancing at Velvet Underground to cover the gap between what her scholarship paid and what her mother's deadbeat boyfriend kept taking from them. On the night her boyfriend cheated on her with her biggest rival, Avery made one reckless decision. She followed a brooding stranger back to his motel room and gave him the one thing she had been saving. Her virginity. "Take off the mask. I want to see you." He had said. "A little mystery never hurt anyone, did it?" she replied. She slipped out before dawn, telling herself she would never see him again. Then she rang her best friend, Jade's doorbell and he answered the door. Liam Harrington was Jade's new stepbrother, who she hated, the transfer quarterback every girl on campus was already talking about, and the boy sitting three seats away from her in every Business Management lecture. He was also the only person in the world who knew what Avery felt like without her armour on. He just did not know her real face. Now Avery was living three lives at once. The captain, the stripper, and the girl quietly falling for the one man she was absolutely forbidden to want. And the secret that started as one reckless birthday night was growing into something big enough to burn everything she had built.

As an entrepreneur, Ashley West has spent most of her time focusing on business, but she decided to take a break from work and go on a vacation to explore and have fun. What happens when she had a one night stand with a stranger who turned out to be her father's best friend and business partner.  Caught between loyalty to her father and a desire she can no longer deny, Ashley faces a dangerous game of forbidden attraction. As emotions flare and boundaries blur, she must decide. Will she follow her heart and risk losing her father's trust or give up on her feelings for peace to reign?