Empathy


Ker Dukey - 2014
    They say some people are born with decreased activity in the front central lobe causing them a deficiency in empathy. Maybe that’s true about me but whether I was born this way or created in a moment of evil, empathy was something I didn’t possess until her green eyes met mine in the mirror and I couldn’t take her life. I didn’t want to feel, didn’t want this woman in my life complicating how I lived but she was there at every turn. Sent to haunt me for my sins. Her light so bright she provoked a shadow from everyone she touched. When a job turns bad quickly altering my life forever I’m forced to feel. When nothing is making sense I’m forced to face truths I never would recover from. When life drowns you in its cruelty you don’t know which way the current will drag you or who you’ll become once you re-surface. Melody:I was a daughter I was a studentI was a victimDid I have his love? Did I make him feel?Did I have his empathy?When the actions of a soulless killer forces sorrow into my veins I never dreamed the man healing my wounds would be the one to leave the worst scar. His love would scar my soul. Scars are permanent; I will never feel the relief from them. Will I learn to live with them, remember why I have them and learn never to let him close enough to inflict more? Will I eventually cover them… like tattoos coating them with new memories, new love and new starts? I didn’t know these answers because the pain was too suffocating, the only thing I knew was they will always be under the surface lingering. He had scars too, from his sins. There is nothing that can cover them, they were too deep, too ugly, too dark and they marked us both forever.Warning: This book will mess with your mind. It is a very dark, sexy, twisted romance novel. 18+ only.

Sinister Kisses


Adriana Noir - 2013
    Then again, after seeing what Sebastian Baas was capable of, she felt she had little choice. The guy did just save her life, and the feel of his partner’s assault rifle pressed against her cheek still lingered in her mind.What she discovers surprises her. Beneath the armor and fatigues, is a smart, attentive, and sophisticated man. Unable to resist, Taylor finds herself drawn in by the Special Agent’s charm. Everything about Sebastian, from his imposing presence to his hypnotic eyes, pulls her under his spell. When a drive by shooting leaves her apartment riddled with bullets, she falls under his command as well—not to mention the shadow of a lethal, underground organization known as SKALS.Her lover has a dark and dangerous side he tries to keep hidden, but when a series of events sends their lives spiraling out of control, she realizes there is much more to him than meets the eye. Whether she wants to leave or not doesn't matter. Taylor soon learns, when it comes to Sebastian and SKALS, there is no escape.**DISCLAIMER** This is NOT your average romance. It's not a feel good story. It's a dark, gritty, sometimes erotic psychological thriller with a heavy emphasis on plot. It also contains elements of dominance and discipline with dubious consent, psychological conditioning, and mental manipulation. There’s also gunfire and violence. If any of this offends you, this may not be the book for you.

Selling Scarlett


Ella James - 2013
    Dragged out of seclusion by her best friend Suri, Elizabeth is merely playing dress-up, rubbing elbows with a crowd that banished her troubled family years ago.Hunter West is tired. Tired of parties, tired of pretending, and tired of trying to right a wrong that haunts him every day. Bourbon heir and professional poker player by day, by night Hunter is gambling with his life in a high-stakes game of crime and blackmail. When Elizabeth stumbles into Hunter's den of vices, she's a light in the darkness, a flame in the void. And, just like everything he touches, Hunter mars her in a record time. To rectify the damage done, Elizabeth needs money she doesn't have, and she's come up with a foolproof way to get it.Follow Elizabeth - code-named Scarlett - to the lush Nevada brothel where she'll auction her virginity and risk the only thing that's not for sale: her heart. The highest bidder is a familiar face, with wicked hands and the devil's mouth. And a secret so dark that it could cost her life.

Capture Me


Anna Zaires - 2015
     Yulia Tzakova is no stranger to dangerous men. She grew up with them. She survived them. But when she meets Lucas Kent, she knows the hard ex-soldier may be the most dangerous of them all. One night—that’s all it should be. A chance to make up for a failed assignment and get information on Kent’s arms dealer boss. When his plane goes down, it should be the end. Instead, it's just the beginning. He wants her from the first moment he sees her. Lucas Kent has always liked leggy blondes, and Yulia Tzakova is as beautiful as they come. The Russian interpreter might’ve tried to seduce his boss, but she ends up in Lucas’s bed—and he has every intention of seeing her there again. Then his plane goes down, and he learns the truth. She betrayed him. Now she will pay.

The Hostage Bargain


Annika Martin - 2012
    . . and then three hunky bank robbers took me hostage. Sure, I'd always dreamed of escaping my life, but I was thinking Greyhound bus - not getaway vehicle! Then I started asking questions, and I found out about their rules. These guys have more rules than a grammar class. Except their rules are shockingly dirty. And way more fun to memorize. They're letting me stay for now, but I'm never supposed to ask their real names. Or where they're from, or why they lead this life. And we can never, ever think about tomorrow. Here's a secret: I'm starting to suspect my tough-as-nails outlaws might have tender-as-taffy hearts. And every night I go to sleep wishing this didn't have to end.

Never Have I Ever


August Clearwing - 2013
    Between completing a Master’s degree at Caltech and beginning her fruitful career at a local observatory she has little time for socializing. Until she attends one specific party that is.There, Piper is introduced to a drinking game called Never Have I Ever, and she finds herself admitting to a secret fantasy which challenges her friends’ views of her otherwise prudish nature. Her confession piques the interest of one man in particular, Noah; a handsome stranger with a darkly boyish charm.The resulting spiral of rapture and torture that follows is threatened by the demons of both their pasts. Piper's inability to give her heart to anyone, and Noah's guilt over the death of his former lover claw to the surface to tear Piper away from not only the one man who has ever made her feel like she does not have to be in control of her desires, but also the newly collected list of Nevers they both want to turn into reality.*Contains strong BDSM themes*

Bad Neighbor


Molly O'Keefe - 2016
    He's dangerous... He's right next door. I gave up everything to save my sister from a monster, and now I’m lying low in this rundown apartment so I can stay out of danger. Hiding from everyone.Except for the guy in apartment 1A.He’s rude. Silent. Muscled, mysterious, and hot as hell. I don’t know if he likes me or hates me, but the more time I spend with him, the less it matters.I want him.And for the first time in my life I'm going to go after what I want.She doesn’t belong in my world.From the second 1B moves in, I know she’s keeping secrets. She doesn’t belong here, much less with a street fighter like me.But that doesn’t stop me from craving her. Her softness and sweetness. She’s a drug, and suddenly I’m addicted.I know someone is going to try and hurt her and I can’t let that happen. But unless I push her away and get her out of my world, that someone could be me…

Debt Inheritance


Pepper Winters - 2014
    I have the piece of paper to prove it. It’s undeniable and unbreakable. You belong to me until you’ve paid off your debts.” Nila Weaver’s family is indebted. Being the first born daughter, her life is forfeit to the first born son of the Hawks to pay for sins of ancestors past. The dark ages might have come and gone, but debts never leave. She has no choice in the matter. She is no longer free.Jethro Hawk receives Nila as an inheritance present on his twenty-ninth birthday. Her life is his until she’s paid off a debt that’s centuries old. He can do what he likes with her—nothing is out of bounds—she has to obey. There are no rules. Only payments.

Serial, Volume One


Lily White - 2014
    Born with everything, wanting for nothing, murder has become his addiction. He kills women who entice him. He immortalizes them while they’re still young and beautiful. How will he manage to save the one woman he loves?Ronnie Lapierre is a survivor. Born with nothing, she’s struggling in a dead end job with an abusive bastard for a boyfriend. Jude offers her a way out, salvation beyond her wildest dreams. What will happen when she learns his terrible secret?Donovan Blake is the brightest mind to come out of Quantico in years. Charged with finding the Cascades Butcher, he’s perfect for this game of cat and mouse. Will his own dark past lead him to success, or drag him into the depths of hell with the most dangerous man he’s ever encountered?Hearts will be broken, families destroyed, and good men will turn evil. In the end, only one will remain. Find out who survives in this intense story of love and ruin.***Explores dark themes of murder, violence, sexuality, BDSM, the nature of evil...basically all the good stuff.

Ignition


Skye Callahan - 2015
    Fast cars, pain, alcohol, women... his vices come in many flavors, but one woman tempts him closer to the line he can never come back from. She'll be his hardest theft yet--an action that will set the looming conflict with his brother on a new and violent path.Aubrey has two choices. The first she knows too well: the alluring businessman who entwined her in his deceptive plots. The second is a stranger. He makes his promises not with a silver tongue but with harsh, blunt observations that Aubrey can't ignore. Either way, she's caught between two brothers each seeking the other's downfall--and neither has a problem taking her down in the process. IGNITION is the first book in the dark romantic serial, The Redline Series.1. IGNITION2. TORQUE (May 2015)3. BRAKE (July 2015)4. EXHAUST (September 2015)5. CLUTCH (November 2015)

Follow Me Darkly


Helen Hardt - 2020
    But he’s a master of control. Skye Manning knows what she wants. Her job as assistant and photographer for a major social media influencer isn’t perfect, but it’s a rung on the ladder to bigger and better things. She’s confident she’ll one day take feature photos for National Geographic.Self-made billionaire Braden Black didn’t get where he is by taking no for an answer. When a chance encounter with the refreshingly innocent and beautiful Skye piques his interest in more ways than one, he’s determined to make her submit.Dating a billionaire soon has Skye in the middle of a Cinderella story…until the clock strikes midnight and Braden reveals his dark side. Heat sizzles between them, and Skye finds herself falling hard.But Braden Black is no Prince Charming, and his dark desires are far from his only secret.Start this amazing series off with Darkly, Follow Me Darkly told from the hero's point of view, or spice up your reading with Braden's story any time while enjoying the Follow Me series.Darkly (Book #1 in the hero's POV) can be read and enjoyed in any order!Reading order of Follow Me trilogy:Book #1: Follow Me DarklyBook #2: Follow Me UnderBook #3: Follow Me Always

Taking Turns


J.A. Huss - 2017
    And maybe everyone wants what they can’t have, but I should’ve thought it over before I accepted the key and unlocked the door to their forbidden world.Number One is mostly silent. He watches me with them very carefully. His gaze never wanders. His interest never wanes.Number Two is mostly gentle. But it’s the other side of him I like best. The wild side.Number Three is mostly reserved. He refuses to cross the line. Even when I beg.It was carnal, it was sensual, and it was erotic. That’s it. That’s all it was supposed to be. A trip into the dark. A peek into the forbidden.I just didn’t expect to like them.*****I heard the door open and close and said nothing. And the footsteps coming down the hallway towards the bedroom. I even heard him say, “Hey.” So softly. “You awake?” Like he didn’t want to wake me.I listened as he stepped into the closet. There was that slick sound a man makes when he pulls his tie through his shirt collar. I heard the unclasping of his watch. The jingle of his belt buckle and the shuffle of his pants as they dropped to the floor.I even heard his moan as he stood over me. I could feel his shadow from the streetlamp outside like it was heat.Then the bed creaked, the mattress sank. And his warm, hard body straddled me.Still, I said nothing.I just buried my face in the sweet scent of the pillow and closed my eyes, feigning sleep.“Rochelle,” he whispered, leaning over me. His fingertips gently brushed the hair away from my shoulder. His mouth pressed against my skin. “Did you miss me? God, I’ve missed you. Two weeks is too long. We need to renegotiate.”He nipped my neck. Kissed it. Licked my ear as he positioned himself to begin.And I said… nothing.Even though my name is not Rochelle. That’s why I’m here. Tied up and gagged inside the closet. Sitting in the dark as three men on the other side of the door argue about where Rochelle went, why I was in her bed, and what they should do next.I should be scared but I’m not.I should be screaming, but I won’t.Because this just feels very, very right.And the only thing on my mind is… what will happen next?

Deceit in Bloom


Jennifer Michael - 2017
    The sister of a whore. The fool who fell for the wrong guy. Paisley James is all too aware that sometimes fairy tales just don’t exist.There is no telling where hearts belong or loyalties lie when deceit is in bloom.Author Note: Deceit in Bloom is book one of a series and ends in a BIG, dramatic cliffhanger (No joke). The story continues in book two, Vengeance in Bloom.

Counsellor


Celia Aaron - 2015
    Once every ten years, the pretense falls away and a tournament is held to determine who will rule them. The Acquisition is a crucible for the Southern nobility, a love letter written to a time when barbarism was enshrined as law. Now, Sinclair Vinemont is in the running to claim the prize. There is only one way to win, and he has the key to do it — Stella Rousseau, his Acquisition. To save her father, Stella has agreed to become Sinclair's slave for one year. Though she is at the mercy of the cold, treacherous Vinemont, Stella will not go willingly into darkness. As Sinclair and Stella battle against each other and the clock, only one thing is certain: The Acquisition always ends in blood. Full disclosure: This book is a dark romance with elements of slavery, violence, BDSM, and super-hot sex. It is the first of a series and ends on a cliffhanger. If you're good with these caveats, enjoy.

Black Obsidian


Victoria Quinn - 2017
    Beautiful. Perfect. Flawless.I knew I had to have her.And by the end of the night, I will.My next submissive.**Intended For Mature Audiences**