Book picks similar to
V is for Villainous by Danielle Allen


romance
danielle-allen
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suspense

Deceit in Bloom


Jennifer Michael - 2017
    The sister of a whore. The fool who fell for the wrong guy. Paisley James is all too aware that sometimes fairy tales just don’t exist.There is no telling where hearts belong or loyalties lie when deceit is in bloom.Author Note: Deceit in Bloom is book one of a series and ends in a BIG, dramatic cliffhanger (No joke). The story continues in book two, Vengeance in Bloom.

Sweethand


N.G. Peltier - 2021
    But her mother’s matchmaking keeps intensifying.Cherisse tries to humour her mother, hoping if she feigns interest in the eligible bachelors she keeps tossing her way, she’ll be off the hook, but things don’t quite go as planned. Turns out for the first time in ages, she and Keiran King, the most annoying man ever, are on the island at the same time. Avoiding him is impossible, especially when Keiran’s close friend is the one marrying her sister, and he’s the best man to her maid of honour.Keiran doesn’t know what to make of Cherisse now. They’ve always butted heads. To him she’s always been a stuck-up brat who seeks attention, even while he secretly harbored a crush on her. Now with Cherisse’s sister marrying one of his good friends he can’t escape her as the wedding activities keep throwing them together.When things turn heated after a rainy night of bedroom fun, they both have to figure out if they can survive the countdown to wedding day, without this turning into a recipe for disaster.

Tell No One


Harlan Coben - 2001
    David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams. The night his wife was taken. The last night he saw her alive.Everyone tells him it's time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible- that somewhere, somehow, Elizabeth is alive.Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn't. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging headlong into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope.But already Beck is being hunted down. He's headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret- and someone intends to stop him before he gets there.

Rule Breaker


Phoebe Alexander - 2019
     Athena Lennox rose to power in the magazine industry by working hard, following the rules, and knowing which secrets to keep. Though her magazine is on the chopping block, she’s assembled her dream team and is ready to wow the board with the perfect pitch for a relaunch. But her recently retired husband is ready to play. Warren has been hounding Athena to take a vacation and has even crazier ideas too--what exactly is a “hotwife,” anyway? Athena swore she’d never mix business with pleasure, but breaking that rule might be the only way she can guarantee a successful launch and indulge her husband’s wildest fantasy. She sets her sights on one wickedly handsome hottie, who just happens to be the marketing director. Ramsey Pearce has some secrets of his own--and Athena plans to leverage them. When Athena is pulled in three different directions, between her husband, Ramsey and the magazine, she has to decide which secrets to keep...and which rules to break. This sexy hotwife/MFM tale could possibly ignite your e-reader. Read with caution, and only if you're 18+.

Spin


C.D. Reiss - 2014
    The one she's just about addicted to, is more than forbidden. With felony-black eyes and a mouth built for lies, loving him is one step away from illegal.But her body keeps overriding her brain. Maybe it's time to stop playing by the rules.Antonio is obsessed. Theresa's the last woman he should touch. She's going to get him killed. She's dangerous. Poison. The wrong woman. Except... She's perfect.And they both figure... One more time. Just one more time. One more time and they won't get killed. One more time and they won't get caught.One.More.Time...**MATURE AUDIENCES--Rough sex. Dirty talk. Criminal activity. Cursing. Fisticuffs. Closed course. Professional driver. Do not try this at home.**

No Gods, No Monsters


Cadwell Turnbull - 2021
    But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?The world will soon find out.

Spring Blooms at the Hummingbird Hotel


Daisy James - 2022
    

Torrid


Jayne Blue - 2015
    The perfect family. The perfect life. In one horrible year, it went away. I can never have it back but I can hurt the man responsible for taking what was left. I know how to steal something even more important from him. He doesn’t see how she looks at me instead of him. I can make her burn for me, make her addicted to me before I send her back.And it will be so easy.Tora - I’ll cross any line to get to the truth, no matter who I have to hurt. I don’t have a choice. I’m not afraid to use sex to get what I want. I know you think that makes me a whore. But until you understand what’s at stake, you can’t know.Don’t judge me until you do.Sometimes, you have to take what you want no matter what it costs.This is part one in a sizzling new erotic romance series by Jayne Blue. It contains strong sexual content and is intended for mature readers.Book Categories

Evelyn


C.L. Stone - 2019
    She hadn’t even known what he was up to, but no one will believe she’s innocent when all signs point to her. Time for a location change. Eva starts her new life at the side of the road, hitchhiking in the kind of heat that would melt steel and nearly her resolve. Never one to pass up a chance to help a damsel in distress, Ace Waris picks her up on his way to Charleston. But he quickly learns this damsel is on the run from the law. Ace promises to help her, but could use a favor in exchange if she's willing: he needs a little help with a rival. Can Eva be the distraction? At first, Eva feels it's a fair trade, but something doesn’t add up. Distrustful of Ace, she seeks out his enemy, Loïc Courteau, to discover the truth. That truth? Not at all anything she might have dreamed up. It’s not about revenge, but a sensual game with high stakes, and she’s the new pawn. What the boys don't know is that Eva is not willing to lie down for anyone. Maybe it's time the boys of Charleston were put in their place.

There is No Light in Darkness


Claire Contreras - 2013
    Her present cloaked in secrets. The future holds the only truth that cannot be escaped.After the mysterious and violent death of her parents, Blake Brennan finds comfort with an unconventional family. As the dramatic loss of her parents continues to haunt her—and hinders her from reciprocating love that others give freely—Blake embarks on a harrowing journey in search for the truth.Living in a constant state of fear and need for control, vivid nightmares reveal details that lead to perilous situations. The past begins to collide with the present, and Blake must decide if the truth is worth losing the ones she loves. Can love conquer all as her past comes to light? Or will Blake realize that there is no light in darkness?Book contains: Explicit language & sexual content.

The Eighth Girl


Maxine Mei-Fung Chung - 2020
    Damaged. Destructive. Meet Alexa Wú, a brilliant yet darkly self-aware young woman whose chaotic life is manipulated and controlled by a series of alternate personalities. Only three people know about their existence: her shrink Daniel; her stepmother Anna; and her enigmatic best friend Ella. The perfect trio of trust.When Ella gets a job at a high-end gentleman’s club, she catches the attention of its shark-like owner and is gradually drawn into his inner circle. As Alexa’s world becomes intimately entangled with Ella’s, she soon finds herself the unwitting keeper of a nightmarish secret. With no one to turn to and lives at stake, she follows Ella into London’s cruel underbelly on a daring rescue mission. Threatened and vulnerable, Alexa will discover whether her multiple personalities are her greatest asset, or her most dangerous obstacle.Electrifying and breathlessly compulsive, The Eighth Girl is an omnivorous examination of life with mental illness and the acute trauma of life in a misogynist world. With bingeable prose and a clinician’s expertise, Chung’s psychological debut deftly navigates the swirling confluence of identity, innocence, and the impossible fracturing weights that young women are forced to carry, causing us to question: Does the truth lead to self-discovery, or self-destruction?

Ace & Bleu: A Dope Boy Love Story


Sol - 2017
    After his older brother stepped down and passed him the throne, Ace is tasked with the difficulties of transitioning from being Underboss to H.N.I.C. The job was tough but flipping the culture of an established drug empire had to be done. His money along with his squad had his foremost attention for the longest time, all he wanted to do was get richer by any means necessary. He wasn't looking for love but there's always the exception to the rule.Bleu Majors was the exception to every rule. When he saw her, he knew he had to have her. She was gorgeous, smart, driven and he felt like she could handle a man of his caliber. But he forgot to read between the lines on the pages and took the woman off face value. You've heard of the saying don't judge a book by its cover right? The blue eyed beauty had an insatiable appetite for bad boys and the fast life, the rush of it all really did something to her. Ace offered her all of that in the most addictive way. But the problemwith living life in the fast lane, is that when you make it to your destination so quickly...you just might not be prepared. Follow them on this rollercoaster ride full of betrayal, steamy romance, lies, murder and deceit as they battle between love versus lust. Will love conquer all or will temptations get the best of the dynamic duo? You know what they say about those temporary fixes… Now ask yourself this question, are you ready for Ace & Bleu?

Trouble the Saints


Alaya Dawn Johnson - 2020
    The dangerous magic of The Night Circus meets the powerful historical exploration of The Underground Railroad in this timely and unsettling novel, set against the darkly glamorous backdrop of New York City at the dawn of WWII.Amidst the whir of city life, a girl from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives to strike fear amongst its most dangerous denizens.But the ghosts from her past are always by her side—and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she loves most.Can one woman ever sacrifice enough to save an entire community?Trouble the Saints is a dazzling, daring novel—a magical love story, a compelling chronicle of interracial tension, and an altogether brilliant and deeply American saga.

The Good Girl


Mary Kubica - 2014
    I know where she buys her groceries, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will.One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life. When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty


Akwaeke EmeziAkwaeke Emezi
    It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career. She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love?Akwaeke Emezi’s vivid and passionate writing takes us deep into a world of possibility and healing, and the constant bravery of choosing love against all odds.