Book picks similar to
Lust is the Thorn by Jen McLaughlin


arc
romance
netgalley
contemporary-romance

Mr Right Across the Street


Kathryn Freeman - 2021
    But then the hot guy who lives opposite – the one who works out every day at exactly 10 a.m., not that Mia has noticed thank-you-very-much – starts leaving notes in his window…for her.Bar owner Luke Doyle has his own issues to deal with but as he shows Mia the sites of her new city he also shows her what real romance looks like for the first time. And when he cooks up a signature cocktail in her honour, she realises that the man behind the bar is even more enticing than any of his creations. And once she’s had a taste she knows it will never be enough!

Trashy Foreplay


Gemma James - 2017
    She's running from her life in shame. Neither expected to fall in love 35,000 feet in the air.​With my heart and reputation in ruins, I can’t afford to make another mistake. Boarding a flight to Seattle is supposed to give me a clean slate, but from the moment Cash Montgomery slides into the seat next to mine, I’m captivated by his steel eyes that see too much. I ache for this stranger in a way I’ve never ached for anyone.But I didn’t know he was married, and I sure as hell didn’t see the curveball fate had in store. My clean slate in Seattle isn’t so clean after all because my new boss is the man forbidden to me.And the only man I want.The only man I’ll do anything for, even if it means breaking the promise I made to myself when I fled my old life in shame.I wasn’t supposed to fall for a married man, but I did.NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Trashy Foreplay is a steamy romance suitable for mature audiences only. Though the subject matter deals with adultery, there are no innocent parties here. Book 1 in the Trashy Affair series.​

Forbidden


Lauren Smith - 2016
    She studies hard and never stays out too late. But when sitting in a pub on her birthday, she realizes she's a nineteen-year-old virgin who's never really lived. And she wants tonight to be the night that changes.Then she sees him walk in. He's tall, dark, handsome, and straight out of her deepest fantasies. His voice makes her knees feel weak, and when he smiles, she imagines him doing wicked things to her in bed. From the look in his eyes, she knows he's imagining it too. So when he asks if he can walk her home, she hears herself whisper yes . . .

Beautiful Addictions


Season Vining - 2014
    An experience that left her broken, damaged, and clinging to drugs and meaningless hook-ups to numb her pain.When Josie disappeared years ago, she took a piece of Tristan with her.  She’s the girl he thought he lost forever—the one he’s never been able to forget.  Now a twist of fate has brought them back together, and he never wants to let her out of his inked arms again.  But Tristan is haunted by a dark past of his own.  On the run from ruthless criminals that shattered Josie’s world years ago, reentering her life puts them both in danger.As Josie and Tristan’s lives become tangled once again, they find themselves unwilling and unable to escape the relentless pull that draws them together.  But in Season Vining's Beautiful Addictions, will the past leave their love in ruins—or bind them together for a lifetime?

Still Beating


Jennifer Hartmann - 2020
    This book contains subject matter that may be sensitive for some readers, including rape, as well as strong language and explicit sex. 18+ only. Please read responsibly. When Cora attends her sister’s birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame. She doesn’t anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on Dean—her arch nemesis and ultimate thorn in her side. And she really doesn’t anticipate waking up in shackles in a madman’s basement.To make matters worse, Dean shares the space in his own set of chains.After fifteen years of teasing, insults, and practical jokes, the ultimate joke seems to be on them. The two people who always thought they’d end up killing each other must now work together if they want to survive.But Cora and Dean have no idea their abductor has a plan for them. A plan that will alter the course of their relationship, blur the line between hate and love, and shackle them together with far more than just chains.

Drowning Instinct


Ilsa J. Bick - 2012
    (This is not one of those stories.)Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire. There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain... magnetism. And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

Center of Gravity


K.K. Allen - 2018
    "If I could rewrite the rules, I'd do it for you."Lex came to Los Angeles with big dreams. To learn from the best choreographers in the business and to secure a professional dance gig working for Hollywood's elite. Everything was going according to plan—until she was shoved into the arms of the one man who could make or break her career. Come to find out, it wasn't her career she had to worry about. It was her heart. Theo didn't work with amateurs.Then again, he had never seen anyone move across a dance floor like Alexandra "Lex" Quinn. She was athleticism and grace, precision and passion, and she had a stage presence he couldn't tear his eyes from. He wanted her...on his team, in his bed. There was only one problem... He couldn't have both.

Where Good Girls Go To Die


Holly Renee - 2017
    He was my brother's best friend and the definition of unavailable. But I didn't care. I had loved him for as long as I could remember. He was worth the risk. He was worth everything. But then he broke my heart as easily as I fell for him. He watched me fall, spiraling out of control, and as I reached for him, he wasn't there to catch me. So I ran. Four years later, I never expected to see him again. He was still my brother's best friend, and he was more unavailable than ever. He looked every bit the bad boy I knew he was, covered in tattoos and a crooked smile. Guarding my heart from him was top priority because Parker James was where good girls go to die. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't a good girl anymore.

Richer Than Sin


Meghan March - 2018
    Our family feud is the stuff of legends.Ten years ago, Whitney Gable caught me off guard with her long legs and grab-you-by-the-balls blue eyes.I didn’t know or care what her name was.Like any Riscoff worth the family name, I went after what I wanted. We burned like a flash fire until she married another man.She hates me, and she should.I objected on her wedding day.Now she’s home, with those same long legs and man-eater stare, but there’s no ring on her finger.They say a Riscoff and a Gable can never live happily ever after . . . but I’m not done with Whitney Gable.I’ll never be done with her.

Where the Road Takes Me


Jay McLean - 2015
    She’s made a promise to herself: don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone love her. She’s learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she’s focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road—her dream of freedom, at least for a little while.Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all—everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can’t let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear.One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she’s focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.

Tell Me


Abigail Strom - 2017
    She’s made peace with it, unlike Sam’s business partner, Caleb, who’s always nudging Jane to go after what she really wants. Why should she care what blunt, brash Caleb thinks? They’ve never had much in common, except for Sam.After tragedy strikes, they don’t even have that.Caleb can’t quite remember when Sam’s little sister stopped being like a surrogate sibling to him and became just… Jane. She’s the most intriguing woman he’s ever met, and so much sexier and stronger than she thinks. On the emotional journey to honor Sam’s memory, the spark they’ve tried to deny becomes an inferno. This journey was meant to be an ending, but will they discover an unexpected new beginning?

The Wild


K. Webster - 2017
    No technology. No interference.Just us.A chance to piece together what was broken.But the wilderness is untamed and harsh.Brutal and unforgiving.It doesn’t give a damn about your feelings.Tragedy lives there too.No escaping the truths that won’t let you go.All you can do is survive where love, no matter how beastly, is the only thing you can truly count on.Confusing. Wrong. Twisted. Beautiful. Sick.Love is wild.And we’re going to set it free.Warning:The Wild is an extremely taboo story. Most will find that the themes in this book will make you incredibly uncomfortable. This book is only for the brave, the open-minded, and the ones who crave love in even the most dismal of situations. Extreme sexual themes and violence in certain scenes, which could trigger emotional distress, are found in this story. If you are sensitive to heavy taboo themes, then this story is not for you.

Just Love


Prescott Lane - 2019
    The how you fell in love, and the how you fell apart.This is ours.The cardinal rule of friendship is you don’t mess with your friend’s sister.That goes double when she’s his little sister.It was just supposed to be fun.She wasn’t supposed to end up being the love of my life.And I definitely wasn’t supposed to break her heart.Ainsley is a wedding dress designer. That should’ve been a warning that she’s a hopeless romantic. That should’ve clued me in that she believes love conquers all.But there are some things that love can’t fix. I’m one of them.She thinks love is the answer.But love is the reason I let her go.

Loving Lucas


Violetta Rand - 2015
    Twenty-one-year-old Karlie Augustine is a survivor. She’s smart and tough, but she’s in too deep with a bad boyfriend who isn’t above breaking her spirit—or her body. Luckily, help arrives in the form of a leather-clad, motorcycle-riding hunk on the right side of the law. Lucas Lafontaine is pure muscle, a Corpus Christi cop who ignites something primal deep within Karlie. And when he offers her room and board in exchange for housekeeping, she finally starts to feel safe again. As their arrangement turns deliciously decadent, Lucas gets hooked on Karlie’s killer body and fighting spirit. He wants to heal the pain he sees behind her eyes, but to protect her he needs to keep her close, especially now that her psycho ex won’t take a hint. Even as Lucas fights his own battle for custody of his young son, he knows that what he’s found with Karlie is real—and that he’d do anything to protect the woman he wants to take to the finish line.

Fractured Love


Ella James - 2017
    Landon Jones, a boy with nothing, from nowhere. He had cinnamon hair and blue eyes—light blue, just like mine. When we went out as a family with my foster brother, people asked if Landon was my twin. He wasn’t. That year, we found out how much he wasn’t. When my parents caught us, they threw Landon out like trash.Now I’m twenty-nine, a soon-to-be surgeon, like my mom and dad. I know residency is going to kick my ass, but I had no idea that it would rip my heart out, too. Not until I see him—Dr. Jones.--The third standalone contemporary romance in the Off-Limits Romance collection. Coming in July.