Book picks similar to
Beauty in Deception by Charmaine Pauls
dark
arc
mafia
abuse
King of Lies
Whitney G. - 2020
That I'm a mere pawn in his twisted game of chess.Despite the fact that my heart is still tethered to his, or the fact that he's still the most gorgeous and beautiful man I've ever met in my life (he can still make me wet with a single sentence), I have to focus on getting away from him.I have to accept that he's no longer the man I fell in love with.He's the king of lies...
Ruthless
Michelle St. James - 2015
But all of that changes the night she’s kidnapped. Thrown into a windowless room, Angelica is positive there’s been some kind of mistake — until she meets Nico Vitale. Gorgeous and frightening, Nico became the boss of New York City’s Vitale crime family after the execution style murder of his parents two years earlier. Since then he’s turned the old-school mob into a sleek, modern army of ruthless men who understand that physical violence — while always an option — isn’t the only way to get what you want. Now Angel is forced to face the truth; Her father is not the man she believed him to be. Nico Vitale is dangerous, possibly lethal. She is falling in love with Nico Vitale. This is not your mother's mob. ★★★★★ "Nail-biting, heart-pounding romance!”★★★★★ "Everything a mafia romance should be."★★★★★ "Nico is not your daddy's mob boss… the kind of serious bad boy you can't help but root for." ★★★★★ "Written flawlessly and hotter than sin!" ★★★★★ "Perfect for readers who like their romance steamy with a shot of adrenaline and intrigue!" ★★★★★ "Nico could kidnap me any day!" ★★★★★ "The kind of mob boss I love to read about." ★★★★★ "The tension and chemistry between the two were off the charts... I could not put these books down."
Ruthless Saint
S. Massery - 2021
His gaze steals my breath.Even if my heart thinks this could work, my brain knows better.We say “I do” with his brother’s blood on our clothes,and the bars of my gilded cage slam closed.Our wedding vows are forever – ’til death do us part.But with enemies closing in from all sides, death might be closer than we think.Please note: this book contains dark content that some readers may find distressing.
Obsidian Liquor
Scarlett Dawn - 2014
But when she’s caught red-handed by a man who kills for a living, her enmity rapidly turns to fear. Daniil Kozar isn't a man to trifle with, and Elizabeth is forced to strike a deal with the mafia king. Her every action is watched, and she needs to decide how to handle the gun-toting criminal--and his seductive charm.Daniil may be the devil her father warned about. Or he may be the sensual awakening Elizabeth never knew she needed. Somewhere, Elizabeth's dad is screaming a prayer...*Originally published in The Obsidian Collection**This work contains sexual material intended for readers 18+*
Hard to Love
W. Winters - 2019
I was too much of a bastard to push her away.I grew up in this life, and now I run these streets. Blood and violence taint everything I touch.Everything but her. She was my constant through it all.Just a touch would singe and soothe.Just a look would tempt and torment.She became my escape and my addiction.I only survived because she was by my side.I should’ve known better than to indulge.I should’ve known better than to let her fall for me.It was only a matter of time before the danger bled into what we had.I was Laura’s downfall. Problem was, she was mine too.
You Loved Me At My Darkest
Evie Harper - 2014
Kidnapped by a rich madman, Sasha is sold into slavery, while Lily is forced to join The Collection, a unique bevy of exotic beauties enduring frequent horrors at the hands of elite bidders. However, no amount of pain and suffering will break Lily, who will stop at nothing to save her younger sister. Possibly with help from an unlikely ally.Love is stronger than loyalty…Attempting to prove his allegiance to his employer, Jake is tasked with guarding the unruly and uncontrollable Lily. He can’t afford to help her in her quest to free Sasha—not if he hopes to fulfill his own agenda. But in their dark, gritty, tension-filled world, solace is taken wherever it’s found. Bonds are formed and hearts engage despite Jake’s resistance and both their attempts at self-preservation.When certain secrets come to light, the resulting explosion has breathtakingly bittersweet consequences that, by the end, may not leave everyone whole…or alive.
Wings
Fawn Bailey - 2018
One woman. And a villain out to end it all. Discover the mafia world of Gilded Cage in this full-length dark romance novel. First book in a trilogy. There's only one thing you need to know about Ophelia Sokolov. She was promised to me, not my brother. And I'll do anything in my power to make her mine. She's my future. My destiny. My f*cking property. My name is Max Marino. My family owns this city. I kill because I have to. I f*ck because I can. And I will have Ophelia because I always have my way. We were destined to be together. A bond that would tie our families together forever. But she fell for my younger brother... And Ryker never wanted me to have what had always meant to be mine. He took so much from me. Our parents. Our careers. But Ophelia is mine. And I'll kill to prove it...
Dark Vows
Sinistre AngeStella Moore - 2021
Arranged alliances, blackmailed brides, reluctant vows... happily-ever-after might be a fantasy.This wickedly hot collection of ten never-before-seen dark mafia romances is not for the faint-of-heart.With This Ring by Maren SmithHis for the Keeping by RJ GrayHyland's Property by Felicity BrandonChosen by Daddy by Pepper NorthCollateral by Raisa GreywoodDiamond by Lesley ClarkNot by a Long Road by Tom RhymerDaddy's Little Spy by Stella MooreWhispered Vows by Maggie RyanMad Love by Sinistre Ange
XV
Lana Sky - 2019
Armed with only her instincts, Ellen must resist her captor for as long as she can—which is easier said than done the more she's exposed to the complex man beneath the beast.Because Mischa Stepanov isn’t a mindless monster—he’s a wolf, and she’s the unwitting doe caught in his midst. Unraveling the torment of his past may be her only hope of salvation...Or the secrets uncovered may destroy them both.
Blackbird
Molly McAdams - 2017
I’ve trained for this. I know what to say, what to do, and how to act. I’ve perfected the lethal calm required for this life. Now it’s time to buy my first girl. But all it takes is one look at the brave girl who starts singing mid-auction for that calm to slip.Briar Chapman is going to be the death of me, and I don’t care. I’ll take every day with her until that death comes, and I’ll welcome it when it does.On the outside, Lucas Holt is what nightmares are made of. A man cloaked in darkness, with sin-filled eyes and an enticing grin. A devil so devastatingly beautiful and cruel that his very presence instills fear.But beneath his terrifying, ever-calm exterior is an affectionate man haunted by a past that refuses to stay buried. And Lucas looks at me as though he’s finally found the only person who can make it all go away.We’re a battle of the brightest day and the darkest night—and I want to lie in the wake of our war.
Condemned to Love
Siobhan Davis - 2021
Will one life-altering night unite or destroy them? Bennett Mazzone grew up ignorant of the truth: he is the illegitimate son of the most powerful mafia boss in New York. Until it suited his father to drag him into a world where power, wealth, violence, and cruelty are the only currency.Celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Sin City should be fun for Sierra Lawson, but events take a deadly turn when she ends up in a private club, surrounded by dangerous men who always get what they want.And they want her.Ben can’t believe his ex’s little sister is all grown up, stunningly beautiful, and close to being devoured by some of the most ruthless men he has ever known. The Vegas trip is about strengthening ties, but he won’t allow his associates to ruin her perfection. Although it comes at a high price, saving Sierra is his only choice.The memory of Ben’s hands on her body is seared into Sierra’s flesh for eternity. She doesn’t regret that night. Not even when she discovers the guy she was crushing on as a teenager is a cold, calculating killer with dark impulses and lethal enemies who want him dead.Understanding the risks, she walks away from the only man she will ever love, stowing her secrets securely in her heart. Until the truth becomes leverage and Sierra is drawn into a bloody war—a pawn in a vicious game she doesn’t want to play.As the web of deceit is finally revealed, Ben will stop at nothing to protect Sierra. Even if loving her makes him weak. In a world where women serve a sole purpose, and alliances mean the difference between life and death, can he fight for love and win?A STAND-ALONE DARK MAFIA ROMANCE.
Filthy
Serena Akeroyd - 2020
Not even God will deny a man like him.I'm certainly not God.I'm just a woman he's set his sights on. One he’ll never relinquish. His idea of being ‘kind’ is to give me two options.One Destroy the reputation of a man I love.TwoBed him . . . and he’ll forget about what he knows.One night only. He doesn't know I'm a virgin.And when he finds out?One night isn't enough.-- Not for him, and not for me. --But his world is forged on the misery of others. He might have a house in the Hamptons, stare at the Hudson when he sits behind his desk,and manage a billion dollar hedge fund, all of that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a mobster. One of the infamous Five Points. Being with him puts me in danger. But my heart?Well, it’s been in danger from the first moment we met . . .*-*Note: This was originally released as "The Air He Breathes".
Owned by the Hitman
Alexis Abbott - 2016
I will not hurt you, unless you want me to.”I'm in deep to the Mafia. My father was the one who made the deal, and when I inherited his club, I also inherited his troubles.Ivan wants to save me, or so he says. More like he wants me to be his slave for a year. After the one-night stand I had with him, though, would that be so bad? With his impossibly hard body, and the way he always makes me scream...But he's still a monster. He's a criminal, and something so much worse.And yet I can't stop the tingling in my body every time I think of how he touched me, and those dark but delicious words rolling off his tongue, tinged with his Russian accent.He knows what I'll say, even before I do. "I'll take your offer."
Feyness
E.S. Carter - 2016
I don't see dead people.I see you.I see every incarnation of you.I see the history of your soul.I can see your aura soaked in the blood of your previous lives.Most people are inherently good or evil.Some flit between darkness and light.Few can change the fabric of their essence; it's a fight that most are too weak to win.He was once darkness.An evil so pure that his very soul is black and yet I am drawn to him like a moth to a flame.Some days, I feel like I am drowning, the waves of my feelings stealing the very air from my lungs.Other days, I feel nothing at all.I'm unsure which is worse; gasping for air or dying from this thirst.Can you learn to breathe underwater when you find someone worth drowning for?Feyness is a dark standalone.Readers of a sensitive disposition may want to step away from the book.Step away, nothing to see here.Readers who like to dance on the dark side, come on in and enjoy the ride.
Takeover
Lana Grayson - 2015
Imprisoned. Ravished.When tragedy stole my family, my father’s will mandated my future. I didn’t inherit Atwood Industries. I became the only one capable of protecting it. Atwood Industries belongs only to a male heir, my heir. And my enemies—my own step-brothers—will stop at nothing to create a shared bloodline.But they’ve made a mistake, and they’ll forever regret trying to control me.Nicholas: Damned. Destroyed. Enthralled.My family’s livelihood depended on acquiring the rival Atwood Industries and seizing the innocent woman bound within its terms of succession. I never expected such a challenge from my step-sister.I never thought I’d betray my own blood to protect her from the nightmare we began.But if I don’t stop her, the woman I’m forbidden to love will be responsible for tearing apart the empire my family spent generations building.