Book picks similar to
Payne by Kim Linwood


arc
romance
contemporary-romance
suspense

Merciless


Willow Winters - 2018
    Women like her are made to destroy men like me. I couldn’t resist her though. Given to me to start a war; I was too eager to accept. But I didn’t know what she’d do to me. That she would change everything. She sees through me in a way no one else ever has. Her innocence and vulnerability make me weak for her and I hate it.I know better than to give in to temptation.A ruthless man doesn’t let a soul close to him.A cold-hearted man doesn’t risk anything for anyone.A powerful man with a beautiful woman at his mercy… he doesn’t fall for her.

Thy Kingdom Come


Monica James - 2021
    My father says it’s my birthright, but all I see is a curse. It’s because of the Kelly name my mum was slain by the Doyles—our enemies in Dublin, the fellas livin’ on borrowed time. All of Belfast fears my family, especially me. I’m Puck Kelly, otherwise known as Punky; the lad ye don’t want to double cross. I don’t do feelings or emotions. I never have…until she walks into my world.Babydoll is a liar and a thief, but I can’t stay away. We both thrive in the darkness because that’s where our demons can play.No word af a lie, sixteen years later, those monsters still haunt my dreams. But every monster is scared of somethin’…and that somethin’ is me.No more hiding in the shadows because I’m huntin’ youse. Run, wee monsters, run.

Sweet Captivity


Julia Sykes
    I’m the hacker-geek-goddess of the FBI. When I’m hiding behind my screen, I’m a safe distance from everyone; isolated, powerful. No man has ever touched me, but when I’m captured by Colombian drug lord Andrés Moreno, I no longer have the right to refuse. He’s scarred and scary, and his cruel brother Cristian has tasked him with breaking me. I try to fight, but I can’t escape his strong arms and harsh discipline. He demands that I accept his touch, and my virgin body can’t help but respond to his masterful manipulations.The longer I remain trapped with him, the more I come to suspect that I’m not the only captive in his brother’s home. Andrés’ scars go deeper than the wicked furrows carved into his flesh, his pain reflected in the dark demands he imposes upon me. His obsession is twisted and wrong, but maybe I’m twisted, too.Do I want to be rescued from him? Or is he the one who truly needs saving?

Hook


Elisabeth Grace - 2016
    Men coveted the very idea of me. Escort. Call girl. Prostitute. Hooker. Whore.I'd heard it all. Done it all. Over the years I'd felt a lot of things about my occupation...but not regret--never regret. I had my reasons for doing what I did and nothing and no one had ever made me question them.UNTIL MARCO VALENTI.He'd changed me and I'd naively fed into the fairy tale.But Marco wasn't my Prince Charming. He had secrets of his own. Secrets that would eventually rip away everything I held dear.

The Baby Bargain


Jennifer Apodaca - 2013
    Ex-Marine. Ex-boyfriend. And still extremely dangerous territory. But Adam doesn’t know the secret Megan has been keeping from him. The secret that was created three years ago, after their last night together...Adam returns to Raven’s Cove to sell his home in a final break with the town and memories that haunt him. The problem is that his attraction to Megan is as blazing hot as it ever was. But when a vicious smear campaign against Megan turns ugly, Adam learns the truth he never knew—he has a son. Now the only way Megan can protect her child is to strike a bargain with Adam. And it’s a bargain that looks a lot like blackmail...

Ruined


Tracy Wolff - 2014
    He’s the last man Chloe Girard should love . . . but the first she ever could. Ethan Frost is a visionary, a genius, every woman’s deepest, darkest fantasy—even mine. And, somehow, I am his. He stole into my life like a dream. Turned my reality upside down and made my every desire come true—especially those I never knew I had. He demanded everything I had to give and gave me everything of himself in return. But dreams don’t last forever, and ours is no exception. Because my nightmares are darker, and my wounds deeper, than I could ever reveal. And as much as Ethan wants to protect me, the secrets we share will only tear us apart. Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from other Loveswept titles.

ICE


Hilary Storm - 2016
    She's gained notoriety through her actions as well as the respect of her team. She's one of the first women to graduate as a Ranger and has been called to serve on a secret mission. So why is she about to do something that could throw that all away?Kaleb Maverick has been called to act as Commander for a vital mission and has done his research. He knows his team very well, in fact he hand selected them. He's retired, but still very active in the private sector, leading his personal team to countless successful missions. Now he's going back for one last mission. What happens when his mission is to get the girl? What if she's not ready to be captured? Their chemistry is explosive and the heat is intense, but can Maverick come back with his head held high or will she be the first mission he fails?

Keeping Lily


Izzy Sweet - 2016
    One night and everything in my life changed. Two words and my world turned dark. “Take her”.Owing the most ruthless crime lord in Garden City five million dollars, my husband chose to trade me and my children away to save himself. I was on the cusp of freedom, so close to divorcing that scumbag I was married to. Now I’m enslaved to a man who is obsessed with me. A man so wicked and beautiful, they call him Lucifer. So alluring, he makes the angels weep with envy. He’s so powerful, I can’t stop myself from bending to his will. He’s determined to master me, and he won’t rest until I give him all. He wants my light, and he wants my dark. He wants my body, and he wants my heart. But most of all, he wants the one thing I can’t give him. The one thing I can’t bear to part with…

Bullet to the Heart


Lea Griffith - 2013
    She has become everything but is no one. Known only as Bullet she was long ago forced to shed the name her parents gave her. Changed, molded and trained to kill with sharp-shooting efficiency she is one of The Collective’s most valuable assets. In a cadre of killers, Bullet is death waiting but her time for vengeance has come.He was loved and then he lost. He has become a hunter in search of revenge.Everything was taken from Rand the day a bullet ended the lives of his beloved wife and daughter. He has searched for their killer seven long years and may have her in his hands. Rand has suffered but now the time has come to make The Collective pay or die trying.Joy and sorrow are two sides of the same coin. Vengeance draws them together but before all is said and done they will learn love can either break you or make you stronger.

Little Dove


Layla Frost - 2020
    Yeah.Once upon a time.Isn’t that how all good fairy tales start? And Maximo and I, we were definitely a fairy tale.Not the cleaned-up, sanitized ones where life’s problems were solved with a smile and a song. We were the old-school kind. The twisted tales packed with murder, violence, and tragic beginnings.Okay, so maybe we weren’t a traditional fairy tale. After all, Maximo was more villain than prince. He was scarily sexy. Devilishly charming. Controlling, possessive, and dangerous.Especially when it came to me. His little dove.And heaven help anyone who tried to free me from my gilded cage.Warning: Recommended for readers 18+. This book features graphic language, sex, violence, and a Daddy obsessed with his little dove. If this doesn't sound like your kind of fairy tale, this may not be the book for you.

Torrent


Gemma James - 2014
    Now, eight years later, he's returning the favor...I've been obsessed with Rafe Mason since I was thirteen. The twisted part of this story is that I still want him even now that he's holding me captive on an island.Rafe has his reasons for doing what he's doing, and if I'm honest, I can't blame him. I'm the girl who sent him to prison for a heinous crime he didn't commit.But now he's free and the tables have turned...now he's the one driven by obsession.NOTE TO READERS: Torrent is a dark romance with kidnapping and other disturbing themes. Intended for mature readers. Not for the faint of heart. You've been warned. Part 1 in the Condemned series.

Little Black Book


Tabatha Vargo - 2014
    I could have any woman I want, but I choose you. NO RELATIONSHIP, JUST SEX. Here’s my offer… I’ll put your name in my LITTLE BLACK BOOK, and when I want you, I’ll call you. When I call, you’re going to come, in more ways than one. It will be mutually pleasurable for both of us. There are only two rules: DON'T EVER DENY ME. DON'T FALL IN LOVE. If you do either, I’ll remove you from my book and payment stops. Do we have an understanding?

Ruthless Princess


Rachel Van Dyken - 2020
    A mafia romance about best friends turned enemies by Rachel Van Dyken, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series.The enemy of my enemy is my friend…I never thought my father would ask this of me, to become the second generation at Eagle Elite University, to rule with an iron fist, and to take care of anyone who gets in our way.But ever since the incident.Ever since Him.There’s been a war in our little clique.After all, a house divided cannot stand.He’s the problem, not me.He used to kiss me like I was his oxygen.Now he looks at me like I’m his poison.But we both drank it, again and again, never believing there would be a day when our love would start a war.And our friendship would shatter into a million pieces.Then again, the worst thing you could do in the mafia is hang on to hope that your life will be normal.The second worse thing?Fall in love with your best friend.Enemy.And heir to the Nicolasi throne.

Last Hit


Jessica Clare - 2013
    For years I savored the fear caused by my name, the trembling at the sight of my tattoos. The stars on my knees, the marks on my fingers, the dagger in my neck, all bespoke of danger. If you saw my eyes, it was the last vision you’d have. I have ever been the hunter, never the prey. With her, I am the mark and I am ready to lie down and let her capture me. Opening my small scarred heart to her brings out my enemies. I will carry out one last hit, but if they hurt her, I will bring the world down around their ears. Daisy I've been sheltered from the outside world all my life. Home-schooled and farm-raised, I’m so naive that my best friend calls me Pollyanna. I like to believe the best in people. Nikolai is part of this new life, and he’s terrifying to me. Not because his eyes are cold or my friend warns me away from him, but because he’s the only man that has ever seen the real me beneath the awkwardness. With him, my heart is at risk... and also, my life.

Bad Dad


Sloane Howell - 2017
    Nothing on earth matters but him.Soon, I’ll have to send him out into society. The cruel machine that gnashes innocence and spits out the hollowed remains of a child’s imagination. It’s a place I know all too well, considering my past. I’ve worked hard to separate myself from it, but it looms in the back of my mind—waiting for the perfect moment to strike.My son, Logan, wants to have birthday parties, make friends, play at the park—all the normal things that seven-year olds want to do. All the things I want to do with him.I’ve put up walls around our life to shield us from danger. Giant barriers to ward off possible threats.Cora Chapman crashes through them like a wrecking ball. She’s intelligent and hilarious with soft curves and a spark that ignites a flame deep inside of me.There’s only one problem—she’s Logan’s teacher.When my past wraps its tentacles around my throat and threatens to strangle the breath from my lungs, I’m given an option—fight for my family’s freedom, or die as they’re stripped away from me.I can’t lose. I won’t lose.My name is Landon Lane and I am a warrior.