Book picks similar to
Cards of Love: The High Priestess by Olivia Ryann
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mafia
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Dark Queen
Ker Dukey - 2021
He was my boss.Rich, ambitious, dominating.I was a waitress, struggling to pay the fees for ballet school.Poor, talented, desperate.He needed to marry to appease his dying father, to inherit the family empire.It wasn’t supposed to be real, or forever.Until he changed the rules.What Mafia king Luca Leto wants, he gets, and he’s crowned his queen.Me.I’m under his rule now.And his reign is cruel and toxic.They call him the dark king and to gain my freedom I’m going to have to become a dark queen. #Standalone Mafia romance.
Sweet Surrender
Sav R. Miller - 2020
Everyone has a debt to collect, and somehow that burden falls to me.I’m being forced into a loveless marriage to pay off my father’s debts when the capo of the Montalto outfit intervenes with an offer I can’t refuse: his hand in exchange for protection.But I’m not the one who needs protecting.EliaThe men in my life value loyalty to our family over everything.I’m supposed to, but my dark heart has a mind of its own.My offer to marry Caroline is half-hearted; I set my eyes on the beautiful nymph and want her for myself.I want to use her. Break her.Turns out, someone else beat me to it.Now all I want is her heart.Sweet Surrender is an enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, dark, erotic, small town mafia romance. Due to adult themes and scenes, it is recommended for ages 18 and older.
Code of Silence
Shantel Tessier - 2020
Who just so happens to also be my ex-boyfriend.It’s complicated. Two years ago, he broke my heart when he left me to do his father’s bidding. After months of crying, I finally accepted he was gone and wasn’t going to look back. That maybe he’d never loved me at all. I never wanted to see Luca again.Now a cruel twist of fate has signed me over to him in a heartless deal. I’m his. He thinks he did me a favor, but I feel like I’ve been given a death sentence. He doesn't want to get married because he still loves me. No, he did it for money. More power.I’m going to be a mafia wife. And there’s only one way out of it. Death.But as it turns out, someone else doesn’t want me to marry the ruthless Luca Bianchi. And if he has his way, I’ll see that early grave.Due to mature content and themes this book is recommended for readers aged eighteen and over. Code of Silence is an arranged marriage and a complete standalone. This novel may contain triggers.
Prince of Hearts
L.A. Cotton - 2020
Hardworking. Honest.She’d rather spend her days helping at the local shelter than brushing shoulders with her vain and entitled classmates.Niccolò Marchetti is his father’s son.Dark. Dangerous. Deceitful.He’d rather spend his days getting bloody in the ring than attending class and keeping up pretences.When their paths cross at Montague University neither of them are willing to drop the walls they’ve spent so long building. But he can’t resist the girl with stars in her eyes, and she can’t forget the guy who saved her that night.There’s only one catch.Nicco isn’t Arianne’s knight-in-shining-armor, he’s the son of her father’s greatest enemy.He is the enemy.And their families are at war.*Prince of Hearts in the first book in Nicco and Ari’s duet. Due to mature content that some readers may find distressing, this book is recommended for readers 18+
Ripple Effect: Episode 1
Keri Lake - 2017
I’m a killer. A murderer. A psychopath. In the eyes of the righteous, I’m a monster, born of sin and depravity.I want to protect her, but I’m not a good man.I want to love her, but I no longer feel.She gets under my skin, though, and has awakened something inside of me.Something I’d kill for.I’m not her savior—not even close. In fact, I’m worse than the hell she’s already suffered.I’m her vengeance. Tit for tat, as they say.And if she’s not careful, I’ll be her ruin.DylanFor months, I’ve watched him.I’ve fantasized him as my savior, my lover. My ticket out of the hell I’ve lived in for the last six years.I never dreamed he’d be my nightmare.Had I known what he really is, I’d have never gotten in the car that night, but life is full of cause and effect.And sometimes the choice on offer isn’t a choice at all.It’s the result of something already in motion, and we’re merely left to survive the ripple effect.*This is an erotic suspense/erotic romance not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to graphic violence and sex.
Black Skies Riviera
Catherine Wiltcher - 2020
I'm a black suit of spades:Determined to bury both her and my demons.I never asked to see the shape of her heart.I never asked for her to fill the blank spaces of mine. But the mafia wants her secrets.I'm not the first she betrayed.And Issa? Sweet, not-so-innocent Issa?She's now a debt no sinner can pay. Black Skies Riviera is a heart-stopping, enemies to lovers romance with NO cliff-hanger and a guaranteed HEA. For mature readers only.
Savage Beginnings
J.L. Beck - 2020
Like a thief I came in the dead of night and stole her away from her protected castle and placed her in a gilded cage made of gold. The arrangement had been made. Her father knew I was coming, knew I had intended to make him pay. His empire was crumbling. He had no money, nothing of value to me, nothing except... her. Which is why he agreed. His precious, virgin daughter in return for a debt paid. He thought I would break her, kill her, he had no idea what I had really planned. She would become my wife. She would bear my children. She would bend to my will. And I would go to any lengths to keep her by my side. *This is a dark mafia romance that contains mature themes, graphic violence, and sexual content. This is a standalone with a HEA.*
Confess
A. Zavarelli - 2018
Two signatures. A marriage of inconvenience. Lucian West is one of the most hated men in America. He’s a ruthless attorney who gets what he wants in the courtroom, and outside of it. Now, he wants me. For reasons I can’t fathom, he’s determined to make me his wife. He makes it clear he’s not above blackmailing me to put a ring on my finger. But he should know I can’t be domesticated. I don’t know how to love men. I only know how to leave them… with everything I want. ***I don't do love. I don't even do relationships. But all of that changes when I stumble upon the tragic, beautiful woman confessing her sins in the dark of night. She’s a thief. A con. The essence of everything I loathe. And yet she lures me in with her lying eyes.I want to protect her. I want to bring her to heel. I want to teach her a lesson she’ll never forget. She belongs to me, she just doesn’t know it yet. I've already made her mine in name. Now it’s time to claim the rest of her.
Arranged
Vanessa Waltz - 2019
She had him first. Alessio Salvatore. Charming, gorgeous, and completely off-limits. I watched him propose and counted myself lucky when my sister said "yes" to the notorious gangster. I have plans for my life. None of them involve sleeping with the enemy, even if it's to broker peace between our families. But when my sister mysteriously dies, my life turns upside-down. I'm now the heir of my father's assets, and without an arranged marriage, our families are on the brink of war. Until my father gives Alessio an offer he can't refuse. Me. -------- ALESSIO I need Mia to understand three things: 1. We are getting married in a month. 2. I demand loyalty. 3. I want kids. Now. I was meant to walk her sister down the aisle. A relationship with Mia would've been unforgivable. She was persona-non-grata forever until her old man gave me her hand in marriage. How could I say no? But wrangling the boss' daughter is more trouble than I thought. When she's not fighting her feelings, she's fighting me. Never mind that we have more fireworks than dynamite. Or that we're perfect together. Or that we're marrying in a few weeks. She hates me. Too bad. She'll have to get used to me. Author's note: This is a dark, mafia arranged marriage, standalone romance. A young woman desperate to leave a life of crime and violence fights her arranged marriage to her late sister's fiancé, a ruthless mob boss who demands three things from her: marriage, loyalty, and a baby. As their wedding date approaches, Mia struggles with a decision that once seemed easy--escape his control or surrender to her heart?
Vicious Prince
Lili St. Germain - 2018
A brutal abduction.And a love so forbidden, it might destroy them both.Avery Capulet is missing.Taken by a madman. Kept in the dark.She might not survive.He’ll use her body. Destroy her mind. All before he ever lays a hand on her.Rome Montague is a drug dealer. A criminal. A thief.And he needs the secrets Avery and her family are keeping – even if it means cutting them out of her pretty Capulet flesh.Rome Montague is missing – but nobody will miss him.Not that it matters; After the things he’s done to this girl, he doesn’t deserve to be found.Vicious Prince, set in the criminal underbelly of San Francisco, follows two warring families who are ruled by blood, power and twisted desire.Please note this book was formerly titled Verona Blood.
Donati Bloodlines: Part One
Bethany-Kris - 2016
Not by choice, but as a mafia princess—was there ever one?But the soul-black eyes of the man tasked with ensuring her safe arrival to the wedding of her nightmares tempts her like no other. In the worst possible way.Calisto Donati. He’s entirely forbidden. The nephew of the man she’s supposed to marry. And just a touch from him could get her killed.Is it worth it?Now Emma has two problems. Saving herself from a marriage to a man she doesn’t want, and not falling in love with the one she does.NOTE: The Donati Bloodlines trilogy includes THREE parts that should be read in order—part one and two end on a cliffhanger, and part three is a HEA.
Accidental Witness
Sam Mariano - 2017
We’d never spoken, but of course I heard the stories about his family. I know they’re dangerous. I know he’s dangerous. Vince never had a reason to notice me, anyway—until I inadvertently witnessed his first mob hit. His family doesn’t believe in leaving witnesses alive, but Vince seems different. He knows the best thing he can do for me is stay away, but something keeps drawing us together. Despite knowing the risks of getting mixed up with him, I can’t resist. Only problem is, Vince is a package deal—you don’t get him without getting swept up in his family’s dark games. Now entangled with a notorious Chicago crime family, will my life ever be mine again?**Obligatory trigger warning: While not wholly dark, this is a mafia romance with elements of DARK ROMANCE. There are no knights in shining armor to be found here.Sensitive content not recommended for those under 18, or those who loathe the dark romance genre. **This is a continuing story series. The story continues and evolves in each book until you get to the end.
Merciless Saints
Michelle Heard - 2021
Loyalty is owned. Love is taken.
I’ll show everyone I’m a threat, and they will fear me.For my family. I have to protect them.The second I hear the name Damien Vetrov I know I’m in trouble.He’s an arrogant Russian God.Only, I have zero intention of bowing to him. Ever.Attractive and lethal. He’s such an intoxicating mixture.Every second we spend together, the pull between us becomes stronger, and my fear grows.While my body wants him, my head knows better. He has the power to kill my family.But when blood is shed, I’m forced to depend on Damien for my life.Being at his mercy, whether he’ll kill me or protect me, is still up for debate.
STANDALONE:
Romance Suspense full-length novel.
The Bloody Bride
Bree Porter - 2020
Sophia always knew her marriage would be arranged and out of her hands, but when her husband-to-be is nonother than the notorious Alessandro 'The Godless' Rocchetti, prince of the Rocchetti family and Capo of Chicago Outfit, she finds herself falling into a nightmare. The arranged marriage begins bloody and the violence does not end on their wedding day. Sophia is forced to navigate her new family, her grief, and the brutal world she knows. As well as dealing with her dangerous yet intriguing husband. Secrets and threats surround her from the Feds and criminal world alike. Including the strange occurrences surrounding her sister's death… UPDATE: The Bloody Bride has been professionally edited as of the 12th of July 2020. Thank you to Sheri at LightHandProofreading.
Want You
Jen Frederick - 2018
It’s Leka Moore. I don’t care that he took me in when he was barely more than a kid himself. I don’t care that he raised me. I don’t care everyone thinks being with him is wrong. I know we belong together, and the only person I need to convince is him. Leka I found her in the corner of a dark alley. If I hadn’t taken her with me, she would’ve died that night—or maybe worse. Before I knew it, she became the light in my dark life, the haven from the madness. I watched her grow up. I tried to teach her right from wrong. Now that she’s an adult, I’m feeling things that no good man should ever feel. But then…I’ve never been a good man. I have a chance at redemption by saving her from the greatest danger of all—me. A stand alone novel.