Book picks similar to
King of the South by Calia Read


romance
historical-fiction
historical-romance
historical

The Unseelie Prince


Kathryn Ann Kingsley - 2021
    To his great regret one ancient tradition stands in his way, demanding he first take a bride. With all the members of the Unseelie court proving to be insufferable, what is a prince to do?Steal a human, of course.Abigail often wonders if the townsfolk aren’t right in calling her cursed. Abandoned by her husband and with no family to call her own, everything in her life hangs by a thread. Never did she expect her downfall would come by taking pity on an old hermit. Abducted into the dangerous world of Tir n’Aill, Abigail is thrust into a terrifying Maze that defies all logic. There, she finds herself at the mercy of an Unseelie prince with a strange offer—solve his Maze and he'll grant her deepest wish…If she can live that long.From author Kathryn Ann Kingsley comes this tantalizing, slow burn dark fantasy that proves sometimes the line between love and hate is razor thin.Please note: This is a dark fantasy horror series with a love story. This series contains scenes of graphic violence. It is a slow-burn romance between the monstrous villain and the main character over the course of four books. My fae do not pull punches, and my Unseelie are not kind.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender


Leslye Walton - 2014
    Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

When We Collide


A.L. Jackson - 2012
    Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.A.L. Jackson gives you an intimate look into the lives of a family bound by an unseen connection in this romantic thriller with a supernatural twist.

Don't Kiss the Bride


Carian Cole - 2021
    He was my own personal hero who seemed to be in all the right places at the right times. Like when my car broke down and I needed a ride home, and when I face planted on the sidewalk right in front of him and had to be taken to the emergency room.Those weren’t exactly my best moments, but they were his. We became friends, and it didn’t matter that he was sixteen years older than me. We had a lot in common—like our love of old rock music and vintage fast cars, and our aversion to relationships.When he approached me with a crazy idea to help me out, I couldn’t say no.The arrangement was supposed to be temporary. A marriage on paper and nothing else.It should’ve been easy, but it wasn’t.Because here I am, eighteen years-old, still in high school, and married to a man I was never supposed to fall in love with.We had just one rule—no kissing the bride.But we broke that rule, and it sealed our fate forever.

The North Wind


Alexandria Warwick - 2022
    Dark. Romantic. Introducing a newly reimagined tale written in the vein of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone.Long before civilization, there were the gods. And before the gods, there was the earth, the celestial bodies, and air given flesh. They are the Anemoi—the Four Winds—and they have been banished to the four corners of the world.Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. Her parents are gone. Survival is all she knows. For three hundred years, the land known as the Gray has been encased in ice, surrounded by a great barrier called the Shade, which protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond.But day by day, the Shade weakens.Only one thing can stop the Shade's fall: a mortal woman taken captive across the barrier, bound in wedlock to the dark god who reigns over the Deadlands. He is the North Wind, the Frost King, an immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules.And the time has come for the Frost King to choose his bride. The North Wind is a standalone, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, the first in a series sprinkled with Greek lore. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Laura Thalassa, and Scarlett St. Clair.

Ensnared


Tiffany Roberts - 2021
    Fate has a different plan for him. When the queen he despises declares her intention to claim him, he retreats into the jungle.What he finds there changes his world.Small, delicate, and pale skinned, Ivy Foster is nothing like the females Ketahn has known. She’s not of his kind at all. Yet the moment he sees her, he knows the truth in his soul—she is his heartsthread.And now that he has her, he won’t let anything take her away. Not the jungle, not the gods, not the queen.Whether Ivy agrees or not, their webs are entangled. No one will ever sever those threads.----Book 1 of 3 in The Spider's Mate Trilogy.

The Bridge Kingdom


Danielle L. Jensen - 2018
    The first is that King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And the second is that she’ll be the one to bring him to his knees.The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara's homeland. So when she’s sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she’s the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she’ll save… and which kingdom she’ll destroy.Passionate and violent, The Bridge Kingdom is a seductive fantasy perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Bennett Mafia


Tijan - 2019
     The wealthiest of the wealthy sent their kids to our boarding school, and Brooke Bennett had been at the top, though I never quite knew why. She was fun and outgoing, but she kept quiet about her family. The only things she showed me were photographs of her brothers. I became fascinated with her second-oldest brother. Kai Bennett. He was the most of them all. Smoldering. Hypnotic. Alluring. Kai had eyes that pulled me in and a face that haunted my dreams. Then I met him. He came to our school with their father, and that’s when I learned what kind of family Brooke came from. They were mafia, and Brooke’s oldest brother was dead. Her father said accident, but Brooke said murder. Three months later, her father died, and Kai became the head of the Bennett Family. Brooke left Hillcrest for good, and that was the last time I saw her. Fourteen years later, I’m staring at her face on the television. Brooke is missing. Two days later, Kai Bennett kidnaps me. ** This is a 120k complete standalone. ** There is a bonus chapter from another book at the end.

The Cheat Sheet


Sarah AdamsSarah Adams - 2021
    The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think me and Nathan belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with...oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that! Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me.How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sort-a-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?Send help.XO Bree

Daughter of No Worlds


Carissa Broadbent - 2020
    Her blood for love. Her soul for vengeance.Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organization of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. Even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.Even if it means wielding death itself.

Whispers and the Roars


K. Webster - 2016
    Can’t. Ever. Touch. Me.

This Love Hurts


W. Winters - 2020
    Some love stories are a slow burn. Others are quick to ignite, scorching and branding your very soul before you’ve taken that first breath. You’re never given a chance to run from it. That’s how I’d describe what happened to us.Everything around me blurred and all that existed were his lips, his touch… The chase and the heat between us became addictive.Our nights together were a distraction; one we craved to the point of letting the world crumble around us.We should have paid attention; we should have known that it would come to this.We both knew it couldn’t last, but that didn’t change what we desired most. All we wanted was each other…

The Roommate


Rosie Danan - 2020
    The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet... Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.

The High Mountain Court


A.K. Mulford - 2021
    Armentrout and Holly Black.A red witch in hiding…Thirteen years fleeing witch hunters and the looming threat of death. Nineteen-year-old Remy knows she is possibly the last red witch alive, and she is determined to stay that way. The Northern Court King has slaughtered her home court and placed a bounty on red witch heads.When four fae warriors enter her tavern refuge, Remy tries to flee, but her magic isn’t strong enough to stop a fae prince on a mission. The handsome Prince Hale of the Eastern Kingdom wants to stop a war with the Northern Court before his kingdom befalls the same fate as Remy’s. He needs a red witch and Remy may be the only person alive who can help him. Can she really trust Prince Hale? Can her fallen court be resurrected from the evil clutches of the Northern Court King? For the chance to save herself, her people, and help defeat the Northern King, Remy must put her faith in Hale and his companions on a dangerous quest to find lost relics.The High Mountain Court is the first book in the thrilling fantasy saga, The Five Crowns of Okrith. Expect danger, intrigue, and thrilling passion as Remy journeys to save the kingdom she holds most dear.

A Ruin of Roses


K.F. Breene - 2021
    We all have. A curse put upon us by the mad king.We are a kingdom locked in time. Shifters unable to feel our animals. Stuck here by a deal between the late king and a demon who seeks our destruction.The only one keeping this kingdom alive is Nyfain, the golden prince to a stolen throne. The last dragon shifter.He’s our hope.He’s my nightmare.When he catches me trespassing in the forbidden wood, he doesn’t punish me with death, as he’s entitled.He takes me, instead. Forces me back to the castle as his prisoner. Seeks to use me.Apparently, I can save him. I can save the whole forgotten kingdom, locked away by the demon king’s power.But it would mean taming the monster beneath his skin. It would mean giving myself to him.It would mean my ruin._ _ _ _ _ _This is a dark and sexy Beauty and the Beast retelling, featuring a strong heroine, a dangerous anti-hero, and a humorous supporting cast. It is a full-length novel at 80k words and suitable for 18+. This is the beginning of a trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Buckle up. The author was let off her leash.