Book picks similar to
Merciless by Esme Devlin


bully
romance
arranged-marriage
contemporary

Hated You Then


M. Robinson - 2019
    Robinson. A coming of age, enemies to lovers, contemporary romance filled with angst and all the feels. I couldn’t remember a time before her... Harley Jameson. Before she owned me.Hated Me.Needed me.Before I hated her…Things were simple. We had an understanding. Bully. Fight. Hate. It’s what we did.Mind. Body. Soul. It’s how we loved.I thought nothing would ever change that, until everything did. She was mine. Always had been. Always would be. Nothing altered that.Not how much I hated her.Not how much she hated me. Especially, not how much I hated… That I LOVED her.

A Vow Of Hate


Lylah James - 2021
    We were poison together and there was no antidote.Our story began like any other fairy tale ended.With a beautiful wedding.One kiss.Two rings.Three vows.Killian Spencer became my lawfully wedded husband and I, his dutiful wife.But he was no Prince Charming. He didn’t come to save me… and he vowed there would be no happily ever after.And me?Just like the legends I'd read as a little girl, I always thought I’d be the princess in my fairy tale.Well, I was the villain of our love story.“Till death do us part…”

Recovered


Jay Crownover - 2018
    However, I couldn’t stop myself from trying to save him from himself when no one else would. In the sweltering heat of the summer, Cable taught me that having it all means nothing if you can’t have the one thing you want more than anything else.CableI was obsessed with Affton Reed.She was rigid, uptight, and no fun. There was something about her innate goodness that called to me.She acted like she was above all the normal faults and failures that clung to the rest of us like the scent of smoke after a fire.I was infatuated with her, but that didn’t stop me from acting like she didn’t exist.In the scorching heat of summer, Affton taught me that there is always a way back from the brink of despair. She showed me that the trick to having it all was realizing that it was already there, in my hands. All I had to do was hold onto it.The road to recovery is full of twists and turns no matter who is in the driver’s seat.

The Dark Knight Part One


L.F. Piper - 2018
    I can promise you that.I only pray I don’t ever have to see them again.A dark enemies to lovers/bully novel.Over 18 onlyPLEASE NOTE - fresh new cover on the released edition!

Just Drop Out


J. Bree - 2019
     All I have to do is survive. After attracting the wrong sort of attention from the richest boy in the country, pissing off the hottest guy in school and being humiliated in front of my favorite rock idol I am now the target of the most popular, and cruelest, group in the freshman class. They want my blood. They can have it. I'm stronger than any spoilt rich kid. But can I survive the game the Juniors have started with me as the goal? Now every boy at Hannaford wants to have me. All except the three I want. Ash, Harley, and Blaise don't care about the game, all they care about is destroying me.

Sweet Destruction


Paige Weaver - 2014
    Rundown trailers and crime-ridden streets were my home. Drugs and alcohol were the norm and happiness was the exception. I lived from day to day never knowing if I would have a roof over my head or food in my stomach. My life sucked. It took from me and gave nothing back.But there was one certainty in my life. A black smudge on my window of hell.Cole Walker.He was a criminal. A thief. He brought hell and damnation with him wherever he went. He hurt and destroyed. He took and gave nothing in return. He was heartache and despair wrapped up in a perfect gorgeous package. Fast cars and fast women were his hobbies. His vices. But he had many.I was one of them.I was his addiction and his craving. His enemy on this earth. I feared him. I hated him. I loved him even more.

Playing Patience


Tabatha Vargo - 2013
    Being a punching bag for his alcoholic father has turned him into stone. Not even the dodgy trailer park he lives in can scare him. Fighting is his release and sex, drugs, and his guitar bring him peace, but deep down Zeke isn't quite as hard as he makes himself out to be. When he meets Patience, she finds all his broken pieces and puts him back together. She's a ray of light in his shadowed life and the last thing he wants to do is bring her into his dark world. Playing careless is easy, playing the bad guy can be fun, but playing Patience is impossible, especially when she can see right through him. Zeke isn't the only one who's broken, and for the first time in a long time, Patience feels alive. Her black and white world gets a shot of color when she meets Zeke. With his tattoos, piercings, and blunt honesty, he's unlike anyone she's ever met. She wants nothing more than to let go and ride the wild side with him, but some wounds never heal and the broken pieces of Patience aren't so easy to find.

Normal


Danielle Pearl - 2014
    Starting at a new high school, in the middle of my senior year, in a new town, in a new state. I know no one. No one knows me. That's what I'm counting on.A year ago, Aurora "Rory" Pine was just a normal teenage girl - just as sweet and naive as the fairy tale princess she was named after.But this isn't a year ago.Rory is broken, and now suffering from a debilitating anxiety disorder, wrought with precarious triggers, she moves across the country to escape the source of her troubles. Her plan is anonymity, but that's easier said than achieved for the new girl having a panic episode outside of calculus. The worst part? There's a witness - and a gorgeous one at that.Sam is a walking trigger for Rory. Incredibly handsome, built like the star athlete he obviously is, and undoubtedly popular, Sam outwardly represents everything Rory despises about high school. But as the fates keep throwing them together, a connection sparks that neither ever expected, and certainly couldn't ignore.But Sam has issues too, and Rory's past won't just stay in the damned past. When friendship evolves into something deeper, can a girl utterly destroyed by the worst kind of betrayal and a boy battling demons of his own ever have a normal relationship? Is that even what they want? Find out in NORMAL, a gritty story of trust and abuse, heartbreak and salvation, and if they're lucky - love. This is not a flowery romance - not for the faint of heart.

When the Saint Falls


A.D. McCammon - 2020
    Arrogant. Cruel. Ruthless. And the most attractive guy I’ve ever laid eyes on. He’s the rebel of Westbrook high, and I’m merely the annoying goody two-shoes he dubbed the saint. There must be something wrong with me. After nearly two years of dirty looks and constant humiliation, I’m still crushing on the guy who hated me on sight. Then he kissed me and instead of the ice-cold gaze I was accustomed to, I saw passion burning behind his dark molten eyes. Violet St. James doesn’t belong in my world. Good. Kind. Pure. She’s everything I’m not.She doesn’t just look like an angel, she is one. And I’ve fought every impulse to make her mine.But all my efforts went up in flames the second I tasted her sweet lips. My inability to stay away has changed everything. She’s determined to break down all my walls, but my little saint doesn’t understand the consequences of her actions. She tells me she’s not afraid of the fall.But she should be.

Tough Sh*t


Sheridan Anne - 2020
    Wrong.When the bank took our home, it didn’t come as a surprise. The bomb was when mom told me we were moving out of Breakers Flats, away from my crew, and to a place that only existed in fairy tales—Bellevue Springs. Home of the insanely beautiful, rich, and famous.Only, Bellevue Springs is far from a fairy tale. It’s a nightmare full of secrets, horrors, and the ugly reality of the one-percenters, but without this move, mom and I are up sh*t creek without a paddle.We don’t belong here—not even as the help.I should have been prepared. I should have done my homework so at least that way I wasn’t blindsided by Charles Carrington’s son; my new housemate.Colton F*cking Carrington.He’s the definition of an arrogant, entitled prick and he’s determined to make my life a living hell. Guess what, Colton? Where I’m from, you don’t start a war unless you intend to finish it, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.You can’t take down a girl who has nothing left to lose.We may be on your territory, but this is my game.WARNING: Rejects Paradise is a Young Adult / New Adult Dark High School Bully Romance series. It features dark themes and mature content.

Nico


Sarah Castille - 2016
    But when he meets his match in the gorgeous, headstrong Mia Cordano, the daughter of a rival crime lord, all bets are off . . . Sexy computer hacker Mia struggles to break free of her ruthless father's Mafia ties . . . but she can't resist the powerful and seductive Nico, who will stop at nothing to possess her. With their families locked in a brutal war for control of the city, Mia and Nico enter into a forbidden game. Will they surrender to the passion that burns between them and risk tearing apart their families? Or will Nico be forced to betray the only woman who sets his blood on fire? Contains mature themes.

Here's to Falling


Christine Zolendz - 2015
    Intended for mature readers only.***TRIGGER WARNING!

Pretty Little Savage


Lucy Smoke - 2020
    1: Don’t piss off the Sick BoysThey’re cruel. Reckless. Impossibly fucked up.The Sick Boys feed on the order they create. They rule Eastpoint University just as their families have for decades. But their power doesn’t stop there. The three of them are heirs to some of the largest fortunes in the world, and behind that kind of wealth lies an underworld of corruption.On the surface, they’re perfect princes and he is their King. But underneath it all, they’re filled with blood, lies, and secrets. With all of their connections, they have the power to crush anyone who gets in their way. But just because they’re as warped as I am doesn’t mean I’m going to give them a free pass.Because I, Avalon Manning, bow to no one, and I live to break the fucking rules.***This is a Dark MF New Adult Enemies to Lovers Romance.***

Tangled


Em Wolf - 2013
    Strangely, it isn’t with the one who held her heart, but his asshole of a best friend, who will stop at nothing to keep them apart. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Do you want to know why he’s sidelined you?” His gaze meandered over her head, sweeping the vicinity before bending down conspiratorially. His lips ghosted her ear. “Your type is merely the intermission before the grand finale,” he said in a low, smoke-rasped voice. “A dirty little secret. A warm hole to bang out and blow his load before moving on to something more refined. Stop wasting your time.” And on that note, he ambled off, leaving her adrift in a scrim of self-doubt and cannabis smoke. ***Due to strong language, drug use, and sexual content, this is not intended for readers under the age of 18.****

Bad Blood


Cora Kenborn - 2021
    A Carrera bleeds for revenge.Thalia Santiago is the daughter of my enemy. A beautiful rebel with a single cause.Impulsive. Fearless. And ripe for her father’s undoing.I recognized her the moment she stepped into my casino.I watched her start the fires that burned her pretty fingers, and then I poured gasoline on the flames. Now she’s in my debt, and her dues are a shiny gold ring and a vow of deception. I’ll bend her. I’ll break her. I’ll turn our mockery of a marriage into a battlefield.And that river of bad blood that flows between our two families? I’ll make it an ocean of hate. *This is book 1 of a new dark romance duet, releasing May 12th. Tainted Blood, book 2, releases June 9th. **Bad Blood is set in the Santiago and Carrera worlds, but it is not necessary to have read either trilogy beforehand.