Book picks similar to
The Life and Death of Curtis Matthews by C.M. Radcliff
dark
abuse
thriller
standalone
Badger
C.M. McKenna - 2015
McKenna’s compelling voice has earned a devoted audience and multiple awards for her erotic fiction (as Cara McKenna.) Her page-turning literary debut, Badger, disturbs and titillates with the story of a recovering pill addict whose compulsive fascination with a Boston antihero spirals out of control.Nearly twelve months sober, Adrian Birch feels like a nobody. But when her wrist is broken in a hit-and-run accident, she’s avenged by the Badger, a secretive street vigilante. Instantly obsessed, Adrian takes to staging suicide and constructing chance meetings to get his attention. Their resulting affair is harsh and needy, wrought with McKenna’s signature dark eroticism—until the connection gets out of hand and ignites the violent passions of the city.Hailed for her “evocative,” “intense,” “deftly drawn,” and “engrossing” stories by reviewers at Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and Jezebel, McKenna now establishes herself as a rising star in neo-noir. Badger challenges the reader to imagine how an impulsive young man is killed, offering only the perspective of the fascinating and unreliable Adrian Birch.
Hawthorne & Heathcliff
R.K. Ryals - 2015
Two shoes that did. Intense and introspective, seventeen-year-old Hawthorne Macy knows all about being abandoned. She's felt the stark pain of being left behind by the people who are supposed to love her the most; her parents. Raised by her caring uncle on an old plantation, Hawthorne lives her life on the fringes of her small Southern town. Until she meets his shoe. Senior year, last period English class, and a pair of silent tennis shoes resting next to hers in the back of the room throws Hawthorne into a world she'd learned to stay outside of. His name is Max Vincent, but in her mind, he’s Heathcliff. The handsome eighteen-year-old boy behind the shoes will pull Hawthorne into a passionate and unforgettable adventure of self-discovery during a time when love seems impossible. Shoes can tell a lot about a person. The journey they take you on can tell a lot about how they'll hold up.
I Dare You
Shantel Tessier - 2018
Austin Lowes is new to town. She's running from a mom who hates her to her dad who cares nothing about her. Only a few months and she will be free, or at least, that's what she hopes ... until she meets him. Cole Reynolds is the devil disguised as a man. He wants her fear, he wants her blood, and he wants her soul. Just a little game, he says, I dare you. Will Austin survive him, or will she lose herself and the game? Secrets are revealed and justice will be served, but at what cost? Who survives and who doesn't?
Because of Him
Terri E. Laine - 2017
Laine.Past and present intertwine with light and dark to tell a story ...Because of Him Something inside me fiercely craves normal.Sheltered all my life and taught to be afraid, I want to be bold, fearless. Up until now I've kept myself and my heart safe.Tade Astor, a guy so hot he steals my breath away, jeopardizes it all.He isn't the kind of guy to give up on what he wants—me.He’s determined to prove my safe world is missing something—him.Even though he may not be the cocky guy I assumed him to be...He’s definitely not the guy I should give my heart to.But each time I see him, he becomes harder to resist.I want to be brave and give him a chance... though it might come back to haunt me.At the heart of Because of Him is a love story. But due to certain sensitive topics, it might not be suitable for all readers.
The Secret Ex-Boyfriend
Krista Ritchie - 2017
And then we broke Aerial Ethereal’s biggest rule together. We’ve been paying the price ever since. Corporate won’t let me see her. Or speak to her. And we painfully signed on the dotted line in agreement. Erasing our secret relationship from existence. Now I’m twenty, and I hate Corporate. But I can’t leave. My family makes up one-third of Aerial Ethereal’s cast list. I love them.(And I still love her.) BAYLEE WRIGHT Luka is back. My undeniably hot secret ex-boyfriend was just shifted to the Vegas show Infini. We’re working together again on a show that means too much to me. No distractions. Even if the sexy, rebellious boy with hidden troubles completely stole my teenage heart.Aerial Ethereal demands he remains my tragic secret.This book was previously published with the title Infini.
Escape from Paradise
Gwendolyn Field - 2013
One spontaneous choice whisks Angela across the world to the pseudo paradise of Spain’s Mediterranean Riviera where she has another choice to make: live cooperatively as one of billionaire Marco Ruiz’s slaves, or die.* * *Colin Douglas’s future was seized and choked when deliberate tragedy struck his Scottish family at the age of sixteen. He spent his remaining youthful years infiltrating the U.K.’s crime world, seeking power, control, and revenge, all leading to a position as an undercover agent. With nothing to lose, Colin accepts the seemingly impossible job of rescuing America’s famous missing girl, Angela Birch. Colin knows that to enter a snake lair, one must become a snake. It turns out to be a mission which will put his desire for control to the ultimate test, and make him wish for things he never knew he wanted.*AUTHOR'S NOTE* Escape from Paradise is a work of fiction intended for adult readers, containing graphic sexual scenarios and strong language.
The Real
Kate Stewart - 2018
It started the moment I saw the simple message pop up on my computer screen: Cameron’s Mac: Hi. And when I met the eyes of the gorgeous man messaging me from across the coffee shop, I never thought my reply would lead to the most intense, sexual, and passionate relationship of my life. We both agreed to check our bags at the door and put our future hopes and aspirations on the table. It worked. I fell in love with his no holds barred attitude, sexy smirk, and undeniably good heart . . . and for a while we forgot about our baggage. We happily tripped over it to get to the other, neither of us willing to show the contents of our pasts in the off chance it could ruin us. We built our love on a foundation of gray. It was life in black and white that threatened to tear us apart.
Reckless Hate
Thandiwe Mpofu - 2019
The results? Reckless Hate & Catastrophe."Westbrook had four boys that ruled my life once.They were hell raisers.Cunning Athletes.Skilled Manipulators.Hateful Assholes.Gorgeous gods.Heartbreakers. . .Only I never counted on them breaking my heart as savagely as they did, sending me away when I needed them the most. Making me spiral into a vicious abyss of darkness where I'm haunted by a pair of frosty blue eyes filled with hate.But now I'm back and this time around, for a reason that makes breathing almost completely impossible.And if they think I won't get revenge for my brother--one of the Blue Boys--then they have another kind of hell to face.Because I'm no longer their little Blue girl from four years ago. . .
Waiting for Wyatt
S.D. Hendrickson - 2016
It was unexpected, leaving a feeling in the pit of my stomach like the time I drove too fast over Beckett Hill. The moment happened out of nowhere, all fast and quick and a little strange. Or maybe that was just Wyatt’s personality.It was Charlie that brought us together. Little Charlie with those ridiculous ears. I found the dog, waiting in a pool of his own blood. Waiting for someone. Waiting for me.Now Wyatt, he wasn’t waiting for anyone. At least that’s what he said, except I saw something different in the broken guy all alone out in the woods. I knew he needed me before he knew it himself.Wyatt with his hidden dimples. Wyatt with his warnings to stay away. He was a hard lump of coal, ready to burn everything around him. The more he burned, the more it pulled me into the pain I saw etched on his troubled face.I wanted to help Wyatt. I wanted to save him like he had saved all the Charlies in the world. He told me not to fall for him, but I did anyway. I fell hard and fast and deeply in love with Wyatt Caulfield.
But that was before I knew his secret.
Author Note: Waiting for Wyatt is the love story of Wyatt Caulfield and Emma Sawyer, which also features rescue animals. It's a 112,000 word Standalone Novel. Contemporary Romance / Coming of Age/ New Adult & College
The Sea of Tranquility
Katja Millay - 2012
A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space. Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.
Black Ice
Becca Fitzpatrick - 2014
Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage.Britt is forced to guide the men off the mountain, and knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there…and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.But nothing is as it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?
Suit
Jettie Woodruff - 2015
I woke from a coma unaware that I even had a twin and married to a man with two little girls. Although I fell madly in love with the children that I didn’t remember, I didn’t feel like I belonged with Paxton Pierce. I couldn’t be who he wanted me to be no matter how hard I tried. But things aren’t always as they seem. I fought my own demons, trying not to be the submissive he required me to be, yet I craved it like a drug. I wanted him.Once upon a time I was an identical twin.And then I wasn’t.
What I Didn't Say
Keary Taylor - 2012
He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.
Long Shot
Kennedy Ryan - 2018
One of the NBA's brightest stars.Fine. Forbidden. He wants me. I want him.But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won't let me go.*Some aspects of this story may be sensitive for some readers.
Royal Savage
Victoria Ashley - 2015
Every time I do, all I see is blood, death, and pain. I can feel it - almost taste it, bringing me back to that night. It doesn't matter that I'm still breathing; I no longer need it, I no longer want it. I despise it along with everything else around me. The only thing I long for is to fucking fade away. I've given up. Until her at least… AVALON. She comes into my world, knocking me on my ass. It turns me on to have her around me. Makes me want to wrap my hand around her tight little throat and fuck her until she feels my pain, feels the monster in me, but also makes me want to protect her from the very thing that she should be afraid of... me. Once she sees the damage that I’m capable of; she’ll look at me like everyone else around me does: with fear. AVALON KNIGHT HIS EYES... THE DARKNESS IN them draws me to him, making me want to taste him, feel him… and save him. I shouldn't have gotten on the back of his motorcycle that day. I know that now. Colton warned me. I was told it was dangerous. I was told that nothing would be the same. He was right. ROYAL is dangerous, dark, and seductive; the very thing that keeps me hanging on, willing to give my last breath just to touch him… breathe him in. He’s savage, inked, and highly captivating. So different from his brother… He's hazardous to my health, mind, and body, yet the only thing that I crave. I want to free him. I want to change his mind, but I'm afraid that he’s already too faded…