Book picks similar to
Fire Night by Penelope Douglas


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dark-romance
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The Spanish Love Deception


Elena ArmasElena Armas - 2021
    A trip to Spain. The most infuriating man. And three days of pretending. Or in other words, a plan that will never work.Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister’s wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.That would certainly be tomorrow’s headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call. Four weeks wasn’t a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic–from NYC and all the way to Spain–for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. But that didn’t mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6’4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me. Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister’s wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic induced lie?Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romantic comedy. Perfect for those looking for a steamy slow-burn romance with the sweetest Happily Ever After.

The Initiation


Nikki Sloane - 2019
    But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything—the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents’ mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he’s the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it. I’ll make a deal with the devil to save my family and sell myself to the Hales. But Royce will never own my heart.

Kings of Quarantine


Caroline Peckham - 2020
    Heartless. Quarantined.The ruthless boys of Everlake Prep never saw lockdown coming.But the virus isn’t their number one enemy.I am.And as if being confined to a boarding school for the elite wasn’t bad enough, now I’m stuck in isolation with the boys who hate me most too.Saint, Kyan and Blake. The Night Keepers. Or so they call themselves. They’ve embodied the Native American legend which lives in this valley, taking on the role of the monsters who lurk in the forest. And though they act like beasts, they may also bethe most tempting creatures I’ve ever seen.With the virus escalating and my dad’s name splashed through the news, my entire world is falling apart. What he did has cast a dark shadow over me. And the Night Keepers want to make me pay for his crimes.Then things went from bad to worse when I touched the sacred rock. A rock which supposedly holds a curse to bind me as the Night Keepers’ slave. And as crazy as it sounds, I decided to play along. Because there are things about me they don’t know. Things my dad has hidden from me for years. All I can be sure of is that I have to find a way to escape this school. But until then, those savage boys are making my life a living hell.As the virus sweeps through the country and the world twists into something ugly and unknown, the kings of this school become true monarchs. Even the teachers bow to them now. And I’m kinda glad about that ‘stay six feet away from one another’ rule, because without it, I know they’d rip me apart.At least there’s a silver lining. I’m cosying up to Coach Monroe. My hot as hell, brooding P.E. teacher who has a vendetta of his own against the Night Keepers. And with his help, I may succeed at doing more than escaping the clutches of these heartless fiends. I might even destroy them along the way.My father taught me how to be strong.How to prepare for the end of the world.So this isn’t going to be the end of my world, mark my words.But if I’m able to use my mind and body to bring these assholes to their knees, it might just be the end of theirs.This is a high school bully RH series with off the charts angst, dark themes and is not for the faint of heart. Prepare to enrol at Everlake Prep. Bring your hand sanitiser, face masks and toilet paper to barter with, but don’t expect to hold onto them for long. Because it’s time to go into quarantine with the Night Keepers. And everything you own now belongs to them.

Hooked


Emily McIntire - 2021
     Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy. His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy. Until one day, something changed; stripped his innocence away.The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play. His dreams gone forever, he grew up way too fast. An endless night of crocodiles, and watches made of glass. He grew into a villain, the taste of vengeance on his tongue. Craving to make his enemies pay for the misdeeds they had done. Instead he found a darling girl, and refused to let her go. For what better way to make the man pay, than to steal his little shadow. *Hooked is a full-length, complete standalone and the first in The Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. This is a DARK Contemporary romance (not a literal retelling and not fantasy) featuring mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised.*

Stay with Me


Nicole Fiorina - 2019
    Mia didn’t care. She needed feelings to care. She’d keep her head down, ignore everyone, and make it through the next two years effortlessly. Though Mia never anticipated Ollie Masters.With green eyes, tattoos, and the voice of a poet, she is quickly drawn to him. But because of her sociopath tendencies, she knows it could only end in one of two ways. Either he will be the one to free her from her past, or she will be the one to destroy him.

In Peace Lies Havoc


Amo Jones - 2019
    Like a trained possession, weak against their control.She has been conditioned with our blood for years. She just doesn’t know it yet...But Midnight Mayhem was the stained glass that concealed a very dark culture.A culture that she is about to become the center of.The Brothers of Kiznitch come in fours, and they’re not happy about me being hustled into their acts.Or are we? Careful, Little Bird. A warning is a warning for a reason…Mind-tricks.Stunts.Deceit.Power.But there’s something uglier that has been haunting me for years upon years. So ugly that I have never seen its face. I never had to. I’d hear his whispers through my internal screams, feel his shadow brush against my nightmares. He was my the monster that tormented me.And maybe lived under your bed…When I started Midnight Mayhem, his presence faded.His whispers were silenced.His shadow dissolving without a trace.I wondered why that was. She didn’t have to wonder for long…

The Sweetest Oblivion


Danielle Lori - 2018
    . . Nicknamed Sweet Abelli for her docile nature, Elena smiles on cue and has a charming response for everything. She’s the favored daughter, the perfect mafia principessa . . . or was.Now, all she can see in the mirror’s reflection is blood staining her hands like crimson paint. They say first impressions are everything . . . In the murky waters of New York’s underworld, Elena’s sister is arranged to marry Nicolas Russo. A Made Man, a boss, a cheat—even measured against mafia standards. His reputation stretches far and wide and is darker than his black suits and ties. After his and Elena’s first encounter ends with an accidental glare on her part, she realizes he’s just as rude as he is handsome. She doesn’t like the man or anything he stands for, though that doesn’t stop her heart from pattering like rain against glass when he’s near, nor the shiver that ghosts down her spine at the sound of his voice.And he’s always near. Telling her what to do. Making her feel hotter than any future brother-in-law should. Elena may be the Sweet Abelli on the outside, but she’s beginning to learn she has a taste for the darkness, for rough hands, cigarettes, and whiskey-colored eyes. Having already escaped one scandal, however, she can hardly afford to be swept up in another.Besides, even if he were hers, everyone knows you don’t fall in love with a Made Man . . . right?This is a standalone forbidden romance.

Credence


Penelope DouglasPenelope Douglas - 2020
    The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents’ fame followed her everywhere.And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she?Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore. As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them.And as a part of them.She also realizes that lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.One of them has her.The other one wants her.But he…He’s going to keep her.*Credence is a new adult standalone novel suitable for readers 18+.

The Risk


S.T. Abby - 2016
    Collecting the debts that are owed to me.Ten years ago, they took from me. They left me for dead.They should have made sure I stayed dead.Now I'm taking from them.One name at a time.I've trained for too long.I've been patient.I can't stop now.Revenge is best served cold...They never see me coming, until I paint their walls red.Logan doesn't know how they hurt me. He doesn't know about the screams they ignored. He doesn't know how twisted that town really is.He just knows people are dying.He doesn't know he's in love with their killer.No one suspects a dead girl.And Logan doesn't suspect the girl in his bed.They're looking for a monster.Not a girl who loves red.Not a girl in love.I'm a faceless nightmare.At least until I tell them the story they've pretended never happened.But in the end, will Logan choose them? Or will we watch them burn together?**Graphic**Adult language**Some triggers could be too much for the easily disturbed reader**Sexual content**Fucked up moral compass; read at your own risk.

Throttled


Lauren Asher - 2020
    Unapproachable. Ruthless on and off the track.A man with walls higher than the Grand Canyon.And my brother's new teammate.I want more of the prince who disguises himself as the villain.But while I crave a happy ending, he wants to destroy his.Maya Alatorre is a forbidden temptation.An ambitious post-grad I should stay far away from.And chaos wrapped with a bow.We're a ticking time bomb, about one wrong move away from exploding.I want to trip the wire, detonating together in passion and pain.Because in the end, all's fair in lust and war.

Princess Ballot


Jaymin Eve - 2019
    Those four words change Violet Spencer’s whole life, when against staggering odds, she's selected in the "princess ballot." Arbon Academy is affectionately known as the school for Royals. Only the rich, powerful, or heir to a throne gain entry ... except for the one scholarship student accepted every five years. It's a worldwide lottery, and one that Violet entered without giving it any serious thought. But the media got it wrong and Arbon Academy is much more than a simple college for future leaders.It’s a dark world of politics, intrigue, and dangerous guys who will stop at nothing to get their own way. Despite her best efforts at remaining off the radar, Violet finds herself a pawn between two of the most powerful monarchies in the world. Prince Rafe of the Switzerlands and Prince Alex of the Australasias are bitter enemies both on the soccer field and in the political arena. Monarchies rule the world now, and every waking breath is a competition for the princes. Control the ball.Control the world. Control Violet. Whether it's through love or hate, someone will ultimately win.*This is book one in a dark college romance. This is not a RH or traditional love triangle story, but it does include a-hole princes, nasty princesses, and one chick who will take none of their shit, all the while doing her best to make it out alive. HEA guaranteed. Eventually. 17+. #darkromance #collegeromance #sportsromance #royals

Bad Habit


Charleigh Rose - 2017
    Even bruised and bloodied, he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. We couldn't ever be together. I was too young, and he was too untouchable. He was too troubled, and I was too naive. But the heart is rebellious, and mine decided it didn’t care about any of those things. As I got older, harmless flirting turned to stolen moments in dark corners. Until one day, he was gone without a trace. Now, three years later, he’s back. Callous and cruel. He’s my brother’s best friend. My parents’ worst nightmare. I should hate him. But like a Bad Habit, I can’t quit him. ASHER I was drawn to Briar Vale from the first time she looked up at me with stars in her big, blue eyes. She was just a kid, nothing but elbows and knees, but she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. We could never be together. I was too old and she was too off limits. She was too good and I was too fucked up. Eventually, the temptation became too much to resist. I risked everything for a kiss and she betrayed me. Three years have passed and I’m forced to see her again, but now she's all grown up. She’s my best friend’s baby sister. My downfall. I hate her for what she did. But she's always been my drug of choice

A Beautiful Wedding


Jamie McGuire - 2013
    Maddox. But what do you really know?Why did Abby pop the question?What secrets were shared before the ceremony? Where did they spend their wedding night?Who else knew about it . . . and didn’t tell?Everything about Abby and Travis’s elopement was top-secret . . . until now. Fans of Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster will get all of their questions answered in this whirlwind tale of the wedding day (and night!)—and as with all good stories, this one will definitely have been worth the wait.

Twisted Loyalties


Cora Reilly - 2018
    Left to fend for himself, Fabiano is forced to fight for a place in the mafia world. As a ruthless street fighter, he quickly earns his place as the new Enforcer of the Las Vegas Camorra – a man to fear. Leona wants to build a decent life for herself, away from her drug-addicted mother. But soon she catches the attention of a dangerous man – Fabiano Scuderi. Staying out of trouble and living a normal life are near impossible with a man like him. Leona knows she needs to avoid Fabiano, but men like him aren’t easy to shake off. They always get what they want. Fabiano cares about only one thing: the Camorra. But his attraction to Leona soon puts his unwavering loyalty to the test. Is Leona worth risking everything he’s fought for, and ultimately his life?

The Lies We Tell


Becca Steele - 2020
    One in particular. Caiden Cavendish.My nightmare. My shadow. My stepbrother.My dad’s death was an accident... Lie.My life isn’t in danger... Lie.The Four won’t bring mayhem to my life... Lie.I don’t want Caiden Cavendish... Lie.Lies.Lies.Lies.Eeny, meeny, miny, mo.The Four are coming for you, Snow.Note: This book is not a standalone, and may contain triggers for some readers.