Book picks similar to
Shades of Desire by Virna DePaul


romantic-suspense
romance
contemporary
suspense

Every Last Breath


Juno Rushdan - 2019
    Tasked with neutralizing a lethal bioweapon, she turns to the one person capable of helping her stop the threat of pandemic in time: the love of her life, back from the dead and mad as hell at her supposed betrayal. Recruiting Cole to save millions of lives may be harder than resisting the attraction still burning between them, but Maddox will do whatever it takes...even if it destroys her.When Maddox crashes back into Cole Matthews' life, he wants to fight back. He wants to hate her. But the crisis is too strong to ignore, and soon the two former lovers find themselves working side-by-side in a breakneck race to stop a world-class killer with a secret that could end everything.

Murder at Sunrise Lake


Christine Feehan - 2021
    It starts in her dreams. Hideous flashes from a nightmare only she can stop. Images of a murderer stalking the ones she cares about most... Stella Harrison thought she got away from the traumas of her past. Running the Sunrise Lake resort high in the Sierra Nevada mountains has brought her peace, even though she doesn't truly share her quiet life with anyone. Not even Sam, the hired handyman that notices everything and always seems to know exactly what she needs.Stella doesn't know anything about Sam's past, but somehow over the last two years his slow, steady presence has slipped past her defenses. Still, she knows she can't tell him about her recent premonitions. So far there's been no murder. No body. No way to prove what's about to happen without destroying the life she's built for herself.But a killer is out there. And Stella knows that this time she'll do whatever it takes to stop him.

The Heart of a Killer


Jaci Burton - 2011
    But for Dante Renaldi, it's murder.Before the Special Forces hero has even unpacked his bags from twelve years of active duty, he's embroiled in murder—corpses bearing the brutal trademark he's seen only once before—on the worst night of his life.The last time Detective Anna Pallino saw Dante Renaldi, they were in love. Now, he's part of the connection to a string of fresh homicides and a horrible assault that Anna only survived thanks to him.More than anything, Anna wants to trust Dante. But as the bodies and the coincidences stack up, Anna will have to decide, and fast: Is the man she owes her life to the very same one who wants her dead?

Kill Without Mercy


Alexandra Ivy - 2015
    Individually they're intimidating. Together they're invincible. They're the men of ARES Security.Rafe Vargas is only in Newton, Iowa, to clear out his late grandfather's small house. As the covert ops specialist for ARES Security, he's eager to get back to his new life in Texas. But when he crosses paths with Annie White, a haunted beauty with skeletons in her closet, he can't just walk away--not when she's clearly in danger. . .There's a mysterious serial killer on the loose with a link to Annie's dark past. And the closer he gets, the deeper Rafe's instinct to protect kicks in. But even with his considerable skill, Annie's courage, and his ARES buddies behind him, the slaying won't stop. Now it's only a matter of time before Annie's next--unless they can unravel a history of deadly lies that won't be buried.

Don't Say a Word


Barbara Freethy - 1998
    But Julia is not an orphan, nor was she adopted. She knows where she comes from-or does she? Suddenly, the people she has loved and trusted are tainted by suspicion. The one person who is willing to help her is reckless photographer Alex Manning, who will journey with her toward the dangerous truth-while trying to hide a secret of his own.

Obsession


Debra Webb - 2011
    . .Special Agent Jess Harris has spent more than a decade studying the many faces of evil. In her determination to stop a serial killer, she broke the rules, and it cost her everything. With her career in need of resuscitation and her love life dead and buried, Jess jumps at a chance to advise on a case that has the top detectives of Birmingham, Alabama, stumped. But the case forces her to confront all the reasons she put her hometown—and her first love—in her rearview mirror. Four young women have gone missing, and Police Chief Dan Burnett will do anything to find them before it's too late—even if it means asking for help from the woman who has spent a decade avoiding him. Jess agrees to lend a hand and welcomes the diversion of a new case, a new life to save to make up for the victims she's lost. But then the unthinkable happens: the crazed serial killer from her past follows Jess to Birmingham. The situation is becoming increasingly desperate—and time is swiftly running out...

The Protector


Gennita Low - 2004
    Navy SEAL Jazz Zeringue soon discovers that his lovely savior is a covert agent and mistress of disguise who needs Jazz and his men to help her complete her most important and dangerous mission.

Ruthless


Lexi Blake - 2016
    Riley, Drew, Brandon, and Mia believe the CEO of StratCast orchestrated their parents’ murder twenty years ago to steal their father’s software program. And there’s only one way Riley can find some solid evidence...   Heir to the StratCast legacy, Ellie Stratton hires a new attorney to handle a delicate business matter—and she’s shocked by her attraction to him. Over the course of a few weeks, Riley becomes her lover, her friend, her everything. But when her life is threatened, Ellie discovers that Riley is more obsessed with settling an old score than in the love she thought they were building. And Riley must choose between a revenge he’s prepared for all his life and the woman he’s sure he can’t live without...

All the Lies We Tell


Megan Hart - 2017
    They’d grown up on a remote stretch of Quarry Street, where there were two houses, two sets of siblings, and eventually, a tangled mess of betrayal, longing, and loss. Tragedy catapulted Allie and Ilya together, but divorce—even as neighbors—has been relatively uncomplicated.Then Ilya’s brother, Nikolai, comes home for their grandmother’s last days. He’s the guy who teased and fought with Allie, infuriated her, then fled town without a good-bye. Now Niko makes her feel something else entirely—a rush of connection and pure desire that she’s been trying to quench since one secret kiss years ago. Niko’s not sticking around. She’s not going to leave. And after all that’s happened between their families, this can’t be anything more than brief pleasure and a bad idea.But the lies we tell ourselves can’t compete with the truths our hearts refuse to let go…

Sweet Seduction Sacrifice


Nicola Claire - 2013
    I promise you that."With a loser ex-boyfriend threatening her dream business, Sweet Seduction, Genevieve Cain is forced to go to a lawyer to finalise things once and for all. Gen knows she's only good for one dream in her lifetime, so when she meets senior partner, Dominic Anscombe, in the foyer of the law firm's building, she dismisses any delusional ideas her mind creates involving his very fine body. But Dominic is intrigued by Gen's run-away mouth and if there's one thing to say about Dominic Anscombe, he knows what he wants and when he finds it, he sets out to take it, claim it and possess it - completely.Kidnappings, shootings, dream-shattering moments, hot investigators and just as hot lawyers, everything comes to a head when Genevieve sacrifices something so precious for something even more so. And it wasn't the sacrifice she thought she'd make. The sweetest of sacrifices, the most worthy offering. But can she believe Dominic has fallen as hard for her as she has for him in such a short time? And can she allow herself a second dream in her life, by letting him in?Love at first sight has never been so dangerous and so very delicious at the same time.

One Scream Away


Kate Brady - 2009
    A set of antique dolls brings Beth into his sight, and inspire Chevy's disturbing crimes as he draws closer to Beth and her young daughter. Chevy sends the dolls to Beth one-by-one and she soon realizes that these antiques carry the same marks as his victims, signaling that the final piece in his collection will be for her.Neil Sheridan gave up his FBI shield five years ago, but his best friend Rick, a cop, pulls him in as a consultant on a case involving a serial killer who is eerily similar to a murderer Neil encountered in the past. The investigation leads Neil to Beth's doorstep, and he is certain she isn't telling him the truth. Neil is the only one who can get through Beth's defenses and, as they grow closer, discover the secrets that Beth is hiding about her fateful night with Chevy.

Girl, 11


Amy Suiter Clarke - 2021
    After two seasons of successfully solving cases, Elle decides to tackle her white whale—The Countdown Killer. Twenty years ago, TCK abruptly stopped after establishing a pattern of taking and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days, each a year younger than the last. No one’s ever known why—why he stopped with his eleventh victim, a girl of eleven years old, or why he followed the ritual at all.When a listener phones in with a tip, Elle sets out to interview him, only to discover his dead body. And within days, a child is abducted following the original TCK MO. Unlike the experts in the media and law enforcement who have always spun theories of a guilty suicide, Elle never believed TCK had died, and her investigation was meant to lay that suspicion to rest. But instead, her podcast seems to be kicking up new victims.