Book picks similar to
Pakhan's Rose by V.F. Mason
mafia
dark
romance
dnf
Facade
D.H. Sidebottom - 2014
This book contains situations that some may find offensive. If you are sensitive to graphic violence read with caution. This book also leads into a second book. You will get answers but the story will continue into a final instalment. You have been warned. Enjoy.
You meet someone. You date. You fall in love. You marry. The four simple rules of love…. Wrong! I’m getting married but I’d never met him before now, never dated him, never fell in love. I have no access to the memories of the most magical time of anyone’s life. My mind won’t allow me to evoke the past, I can’t remember those simple stages to lead me to the fourth . I can’t comprehend why I would have ever wanted to marry someone like Dante. I should never have passed the first stage, although, I may have seen him through the eyes of the woman I once was, this me that lives, breathes here now, can’t understand how we made it to the next stage. I’m not sure, without memories, how I know that this voice inside me, telling me I would never have chosen him, speaks some truth, I just know. He’s controlling, arrogant, callous and violent, and utterly hell bent on humiliating and degrading me – Like watching me falter, watching me struggle to comply and be the woman he asked to marry, powers him- as though he wants to break me piece by piece. Fiber by fiber. Until all that’s here is the shell he created from a soul that I once owned. Now my memories are slowly returning. And they show me a completely different side to meeting him. Our dates, falling in love. The Dante haunting me in the shadows of my mind is loving, gentle and utterly enamored with me, nothing like the man with me now. And this is what taunts me. My tender lover turned into a debauched, cruel sadist who is determined to consume my life, destroy my mind and murder my spirit. I am, Star, and just like with some stars in the sky, the light you see is an echo, a façade, I am already gone I am a no one. Especially to him. To him I am the dark in his desires, the corrupt in his depravity. The sin in his immorality
Crow's Row
Julie Hockley - 2011
Just completing her freshman year at Callister University, Emily faces a quiet summer in the city slums, supporting herself by working at the campus library. During one of her jogs through the nearby cemetery while visiting her brother Bill's grave, Emily witnesses a brutal killing-and then she blacks out. When Emily regains consciousness, she realizes she's been kidnapped by a young crime boss and his gang. She is hurled into a secret underworld, wondering why she is still alive and for how long.Held captive in rural Vermont, she tries to make sense of her situation and what it means. While uncovering secrets about her brother and his untimely death, Emily falls in love with her very rich and very dangerous captor, twenty-six year-old Cameron. She understands it's a forbidden love and one that won't allow her to return to her previous life. But love may not be enough to save Emily when no one even knows she is missing.
Shiver
Suzanne Wright - 2018
Instead, she has a mother who lives in her head, a stepfather who’s on death row, and the stigma that comes with being the child of an extramarital affair. Writing has always been her escape. Knowing the reception her books receive will be tainted by her personal life, Kensey secretly writes under a penname when she’s not working part-time at her godmother’s bar. Her world might not be exciting, but she likes it exactly as it is. When she meets alarmingly compelling businessman Blake Mercier, the snap of attraction is instant. She doesn’t like it. Doesn’t want to be drawn to this man who is blatantly dangerous, carries dark secrets, and lives life by his own rules. Neither of them make a great first impression on the other, so she’s more than surprised when he begins to pursue her with a single-minded focus that is unsettling, thrilling, and infuriating. Her gut tells her to keep her distance, but Blake won’t let her run. Won’t give her space. There’s another person who won’t give her space. Someone who has discovered the secret of her penname and who seems intent on taunting her. And as Kensey struggles to identify her persecutor, Blake is by her side, determined to keep her safe … because Blake Mercier always holds tight to what’s his. Always.
Married to the Bad Boy
Vanessa Waltz - 2015
A man-whore. Whatever the hell you want to call it, I get around. During the day, I crack heads and extort businesses. At night, I find girls to f*ck. I live to hear them moan for me, but one night is all they get. No one ever made me want more. Until her.Elena.The moment her lips wrapped around me, I was done. All day, I think about running my tongue all over those curves. Too bad those curves are off limits. She's running from a man who will kill me for touching her.Well, she's tired of running and needs my help.She thinks I'm doing it for money.I'm doing it to make her mine.
He Is Poison
K.A. Merikan - 2014
---Domenico Acerbi. The Villani Family’s best assassin. Ruthless. Vicious. With no patience for weakness.Seth Villani. The Don’s son. Clueless. Stubborn. In dire need of someone to keep him in line.Domenico Acerbi grew up ready to give his life for the Family. Ready to follow orders and exceed expectations. A proud man of honor.The last thing he wants to deal with is training the Don’s son for his future role within the organization. Lazy, annoying, spoiled, and as hot as a Sicilian summer, Seth Villani is no mafia material. But a man who could never become a threat might just be what Domenico needs. Seth Villani wants nothing to do with the mafia. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a say when he’s pulled back into the fold. Thrown into a den of serpents otherwise known as the Villani Family, Seth has to find a way to navigate the maze of lies. But when Domenico Acerbi, the most vicious snake of them all, sinks his fangs into Seth, letting go becomes impossible. If Seth is doomed to follow in his father's footsteps, he might as well enjoy himself with the most intoxicating man he’s ever met. Maybe he can even fool himself into believing that Domenico isn’t a handsome sociopath who kills for a living. POSSIBLE SPOILERS:Themes: Enemies to lovers, mafia, homophobia, assassin, organized crime, forced proximityWARNING: Adult content. Sizzling hot scenes. If you are easily offended, this book is not for you. ‘Guns n’ Boys’ is a gritty story of extreme violence, offensive language, abuse, and morally ambiguous protagonists. Behind the morbid facade, there is a splash of inappropriate dark humor, and a love story that will crawl under your skin.
Dubious
Charmaine Pauls - 2017
Breaking people runs in my blood. The Haynes’ were supposed to be a straightforward job. Go in and pull the trigger twice. One bullet for Charlie, one for his sister. But when I saw Valentina, I wanted her. Only, in our world those who owe us don’t get second chances. No way in hell will my mother let her live. So I devised a plan to keep her.It’s depraved.It’s immoral.It’s dubious.It’s perfect.Just like her.(Dubious is Book 1 of The Loan Shark Duet and ends on a cliffhanger. The story is concluded in Book 2, Consent.)
King of Diamonds
Renee Rose - 2018
I told you not to set foot in my casino again. I told you to stay away. Because if I see those hips swinging around my suite, I’ll pin you against the wall and take you hard. And once I make you mine, I’m not gonna set you free. I’m king of the Vegas underground and I take what I want.So run. Stay the hell away from my casino. Or I’ll tie you to my bed. Put you on your knees. Break you.So come to me, beautiful, if you dare...
Fight Me, Daddy
Zoe Blake - 2017
He was cruel, calculating and very dangerous. Above all, he got the job done - by any means necessary. When he is hired to retrieve information from a young woman who has fled to an isolated cabin, he decides to amuse himself with the powerless female.He'll make her submit to his every depraved desire. Subjecting her to pain and punishment, he won't relent, not even when she submits and calls him Daddy.She can beg and plead her innocence all she wants, but he won't stop.And if his little plaything decides to fight him?Even better.
Prince of Hearts
L.A. Cotton - 2020
Hardworking. Honest.She’d rather spend her days helping at the local shelter than brushing shoulders with her vain and entitled classmates.Niccolò Marchetti is his father’s son.Dark. Dangerous. Deceitful.He’d rather spend his days getting bloody in the ring than attending class and keeping up pretences.When their paths cross at Montague University neither of them are willing to drop the walls they’ve spent so long building. But he can’t resist the girl with stars in her eyes, and she can’t forget the guy who saved her that night.There’s only one catch.Nicco isn’t Arianne’s knight-in-shining-armor, he’s the son of her father’s greatest enemy.He is the enemy.And their families are at war.*Prince of Hearts in the first book in Nicco and Ari’s duet. Due to mature content that some readers may find distressing, this book is recommended for readers 18+
Because You're Mine
Claire Contreras - 2018
They're the ones with experience. The ones with secrets. The ones that exude sex just by saying your name.From the minute I laid eyes on Lorenzo, I knew he wasn't just bad news. He was the headline.My opinion didn't change on our second meeting. Or our third. But my head and my heart are at war. He’s too mysterious, too gorgeous, too wild, and now, he wants me. I should run far away. So why am I racing toward him? I’m totally going to get burned. I know it. A man like Lorenzo won’t leave me unscathed.He'll make ashes of me.
Killing Sarai
J.A. Redmerski - 2013
Over time she forgot what it was like to live a normal life, but she never let go of her hope to escape the compound where she has been held for the past nine years.Victor is a cold-blooded assassin who, like Sarai, has known only death and violence since he was a young boy. When Victor arrives at the compound to collect details and payment for a hit, Sarai sees him as her only opportunity for escape. But things don’t go as planned and instead of finding transport back to Tucson, she finds herself free from one dangerous man and caught in the clutches of another.While on the run, Victor strays from his primal nature as he succumbs to his conscience and resolves to help Sarai. As they grow closer, he finds himself willing to risk everything to keep her alive; even his relationship with his devoted brother and liaison, Niklas, who now like everyone else wants Sarai dead.As Victor and Sarai slowly build a trust, the differences between them seem to lessen, and an unlikely attraction intensifies. But Victor’s brutal skills and experience may not be enough in the end to save her, as the power she unknowingly holds over him may ultimately be what gets her killed.This is their story…
Dirty Dom
Willow Winters - 2017
I do what I have to do, and more than often, I f*cking love it. The power, the women, the money. All of it comes easy to me. Until Becca walked into my office. Everything about her was tempting. Her beautiful eyes that pierced into me, her body that was made for sin. She came to pay off a debt, but I wanted more. So I did what I’ve always done, I took what I wanted. She’s a good girl who never should have walked through that door. I never should have touched her, but now that I have, I can’t stop. I’ll push her boundaries, she’ll cave to temptation. We’ll both forget about the danger. And that’s a mistake I can’t afford…
Crescendo
Lana Sky - 2017
and how to thrive in the inferno. After five years spent under his controlling thumb, Daniela knows her position with a man like Vincent Stacatto is precarious, but as long as she plays by the rules of his "game", she's safe...Until she's taken by the devil. Kidnapped by a rival boss, Daniela becomes a pawn between two powerful forces, and just another casualty in a bloody game of chess. But to get to the top, and stay at the top, you have to fight dirty and hold nothing back, because the most dangerous piece on the board isn't the King. Contains Mature subject matter not suitable for those under 18.
Machiavellian
Bella Di Corte - 2020
I hungered to be seen. There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello: He was gorgeous. He was reclusive. He was considered one of New York’s most savage animals. And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement – you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave. Life was never that simple, though. By the age of twenty-one, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings. Capo might’ve been the only man to ever see me, but I had made a vow to myself: I would never owe anyone anything. Most of all, the man I called boss. I killed to stay hidden. Mariposa Flores thought she owed nothing to no one, but she owed everything…to me, the ghost the world had once called The Machiavellian Prince of New York.
Better When He's Bad
Jay Crownover - 2014
. . meet Shane Baxter. Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way. Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced. Bax terrifies her, but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.