Book picks similar to
Merciless by Esme Devlin


bully
romance
arranged-marriage
contemporary

Fragile Things


Samantha Lovelock - 2020
    And we definitely weren’t supposed to fall in love. But fate, and Folkestone, had other plans.A past kept hidden from me.A secret buried for years.A love I never expected.And now the dark history of this town threatens to rip us apart.I knew this was a mistake.♥Fragile Things is the debut novel from Samantha Lovelock, and the first book in the suspense-filled Folkestone Sins series. As it is part of an ongoing series, this book does end on a cliffhanger.This is a star-crossed lovers, angsty, mature new adult high school romance with a twist. It contains situations and flashbacks that may trigger some readers, including drug use, mental health issues, foul language, and scenes of a sexual nature.

Filthy Little Pretties


Trilina Pucci - 2020
    Liam Brooks is a charmer with puppy dog eyes you can’t say “no” to.They’re the kind of guys that make time stand still when they walk by. And when their childhood best friend, Donovan Kennedy, comes back to New York, friendships get tested. Choices are made they can’t take back. And one boy gets a taste of what it’s like to want someone so bad that you’d burn down the city to have her. “Trilina delivers an addictive high school romance high on angst and drama and a book that is total sexy perfection. Prepare to be twisted into delicious knots! I loved it!”--Siobhan Davis, USA Today bestselling authorDonovan Kennedy is the girl dreams are made of. Five years ago, she was our best friend. Our moral compass. The girl that held our hands everywhere we went. We were young. Innocent. Nothing could touch us — not even heartache. That was then. Now she’s back. All grown up. With red lips and long legs — a challenge waiting to be accepted. A prize that’ll turn our world upside down. Brothers turned to enemies. Friendships decimated. Lies told.Hearts torn apart. Prep school’s never been so scandalous.USA Today Bestselling author, Trilina Pucci, brings you an addictive, sexy friends-to-lovers high school romance packed with off-the-chart chemistry, competition, and raw emotional angst.

Wicked Liars


Laura Lee - 2020
    Every last one of them. The kings and queens of my new high school.The father and stepmother I never knew. Each has more wealth and privilege than I could've ever imagined. Each has a pile of wicked dirty secrets they'd do anything to protect. These people have grown accustomed to getting what they want and what they want is to make my life a living hell. Too bad for them, you can't break someone who's already broken. Too bad for them, I won't give up without a fight. Too bad for them, I'm going to make them pay...even if it's the last thing I do. *Wicked Liars is the first book in the Windsor Academy series and cannot be read as a standalone. This is a dark high school MF bully romance that may contain triggers for sensitive readers. Due to mature subject matter, it is recommended for readers 17+ only.

All the Little Lies


S.J. Sylvis - 2020
    The stone gargoyles sit at the school’s entrance, knowing just as much as anyone: I don’t belong. Once upon a time, I did. I belonged in the “it” crowd with all the other well-endowed kids, but now, I am no longer welcome. Not after five years away from this place. Not after the scandal that landed me on the wrong side of the tracks. I’d be lying if I said I’m not looking forward to seeing the one person who was always by my side. My old best friend. My safe place. Only, Christian isn’t the same boy I left behind. His cold, brooding, devastatingly attractive glare sends chills down my spine. My old best friend doesn’t welcome me with open arms, and I have no idea why. Lies continue to fall from our lips. Christian wants me gone. But I’m determined to stay.

Dark Heart Volume 1


Ella James - 2020
    Looking back, it makes sense. I was young and needed saving. Luca was my strength. He could take on anything—the world, for me. They say first love cuts the deepest. Ours became a blade that bled me out. It turns out I didn’t know a villain when he held my heart in his hands. Now it’s darker—more like his. Elise was my whole world—until my world burned, and I destroyed her with me. Some betrayals, you can’t undo, no matter how much you wish you could. I can’t help who I am now, and why would I want to? I run this city. No one’s going to take me down—not even the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. I heard they’ve got a file eight inches thick on Don Galante. But dodging bullets is my business. They play dirty, but there’s no one dirtier than me.The DA learns the hard way who’s in charge; he’s out. It should be time for celebration. There’s just one problem: his heir. Or should I say heiress? Elise O’Hara wears a crown of lies, a gown of red, and a fat diamond on her left hand. Now it’s me and her. Or her and me. Only one of us will be left standing when the story’s over. This is how you write a tragedy.

Play with Me


Rebel Hart - 2019
    A motorcycle between his legs. Cheerleaders on each knee. A posse behind him students and teachers alike are done fussing with. He rules the school, and everyone in it.Except for one person. Rae Cleaver.He's determined to make her life a living nightmare. Only because he can.He's determined to have everyone in that school afraid of him. He's determined to prove he's not the one to be messed with.When he says jump, everyone in that school should ask him how high. He's determined to get under her skin.The only issue? She's about to wiggle her way under his.

Dirty Wicked Prince


Eden O'Neill - 2021
    I had the audacity of breathing his air. Dirty. Rotten. Savages.The Legacy boys are Windsor Preparatory Academy’s most privileged. No one crosses the devil spawn of this town’s upper echelon, but I managed. I call one of them out my first day, and no one hears it louder than their blond prince. Evil. Wicked. Twisted. Dorian Prinze is as cruel as he is beautiful and once he sets his sights on me, he refuses to let go. Apparently, I bother him by simply existing at my new school and no matter what I do, I can’t stay off the radar of him and his boys. He says I make too much noise and stupid me for not caring. Some really messed up stuff brought my brother and me to this town, and I won’t bow down to these elitist pricks. Something tells me going to war with the cruel prince of Maywood Heights may level both our foundations, but I won’t go down without a fight. I’ll do whatever it takes to win Dorian’s devious and twisted games. Even if he promises I’ll scream for him by the end.

Cozen


Bethany-Kris - 2018
    trick or deceive. • obtain by deception. She was named most appropriately. Cozen Taylor has more than earned her place as one of North America’s most successful thieves. Her name is whispered amongst criminal elite as the go-to thief when someone needs a heist. She has never failed. A call from the Miami-based Astor family could change all that with a job that seems almost impossible to complete. The mark should be simple—a stolen family heirloom, the man who has kept it hidden for over twenty years, and six months to return the piece to its rightful owners. Nothing is ever that easy. Three-hundred million for a successful heist. No smart thief would turn the offer down. Cozen didn’t expect a complication like him to put a kink in her plans, though. Sargon Makri—tall, dark, gorgeous, and entirely dangerous. For her life, her heart, and for the success of the heist. The last thing Cozen needs to be thinking about is Sargon, and how she can get him into her bed … especially when he just happens to be her mark’s bodyguard. The thrill of the job has never been more addicting to Cozen, and she will risk everything to make the heist a success. But at what cost? *** From author Bethany-Kris comes a whole new world. A North American network full of criminals battling to stay on top, and painting the streets red in war as they dabble in the game of betrayal. Malicious, cunning, forbidden, and violent—welcome to The Empires and Badlands.

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.

The S*x Tape


Serena Akeroyd - 2019
    Among her peers, Briar’s humiliation knows no bounds when Flynn, Lennox, and Blake, each wearing their own crowns, find a wicked pleasure in destroying her reputation.They’ll stop at nothing until she’s torn to shreds.But the only question Briar has, is...WHY?Find out in THE SEX TAPE, a standalone bully, Why Choose romance.**All characters are over 18**

Cold and Broken


Nichole Greene - 2020
    No one befriends her. Otherwise they risk the wrath of the Titans.”Moving her senior year of high school was not Lilith’s idea of a great plan. She would have much rather stayed with her best friend Zion for their final year of school. Her dad had different plans though; this new job was too good to pass up, and she knew she needed to go with him. Being thrown into a school of snobby rich kids, where she would even have to wear a uniform, seemed like an even worse idea. The icing on the cake, though, is Connor Volkov. He wants her gone and thinks siccing his friends Griffin, Levi, and Margaux on her will scare her off. But, if he wants her out of his life so badly, why does he keep butting into hers?When he first saw Lilith, Connor realized two things: one, he wanted her, and two, he wanted her gone. Making her life at school hell should be enough to make her and her dad get out of his house. The more time he spends with her though, the more his desire for Lilith and her company grows. Realizing he doesn’t want to be the bad guy anymore, Connor has to convince Lilith he’s worth taking a chance on. But, can he show her he’s a lot more than cold comments and hot, stolen kisses? Recommended for readers 18+ due to bullying elements, triggers, and sexual content.

Beg for Mercy


L.A. Hart - 2019
     The only problem is that Aric’s also a rich, arrogant, and gigantic prick. Nothing but filth and insults come out of his smirking mouth, constantly reminding me that poor, trailer park trash girls like myself don’t belong in his pretentious academy. Aric and his best friends all think they’re untouchable. But the cocky bastard is finally going down this year. I’ve hit the motherload of blackmail on the jerk, pun intended, and I can’t wait to give him exactly what he deserves. Aric Prince’s reign at the academy is coming to an end. Before I’m done with him, he’ll be on his knees, begging for mercy. WHILE BEG FOR MERCY IS A HIGH SCHOOL BULLY ROMANCE, IT CONTAINS DARK THEMES, EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT, AND GRAPHIC LANGUAGE THAT IS INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS.

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?

Noble Savages


Natalie Bennett - 2019
    Brutal. Vicious. Lawless. Merciless.Maybe you’re the new girl.Maybe you’ve always had it coming.Maybe you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.Either way, you’re about to become the victim.You’re about to bow, break, and bend the knee. You’re about to kneel at my feet.I’ll destroy your credibility.I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you by my side.I’ll make you learn the hard way there is only one way out.And when all is said and done, I’ll leave you begging for me to do it again...Five possessive, controlling bullies. Five strong, spirited heroines. Welcome to their Savage Kingdom.Noble Savages by Natalie Bennett, Nicole Cypher, Esme Devlin, Logan Fox and Rina Kent is a five books dark high school romance boxset.All standalone. All full length. No cliffhangers. All the angst, the steam, and HEA you've been looking for.

The Touch of a Villain


Holly Renee - 2021
    Wealthy. Elite. Ruthless. The boys of Clermont Bay ruled over this town as if it was their kingdom. And Beck Clermont controlled them all. He was arrogant and conceited, and from the moment I met him, he had made up his mind about me. Dangerously handsome and wickedly cruel, he had no intention of letting me spend my senior year under the radar. The secrets of old money ran deep, and even though I barely knew them, the sins of my family had put a target on my back. He was a hurricane, and I was unprepared for the storm. His touch fatal. His impact irreparable. There was no negotiation. He stole my heart. Without warning, without permission. He was the enemy, but that didn’t stop me from falling for The Touch of a Villain.