Book picks similar to
The Lies we Steal (The Hollow Boys, #1) by Monty Jay
dark
romance
dark-romance
college
Kiss a Stranger
R.J. Lewis - 2014
Accepted all his ugly the way he embraced all of mine.But sometimes loving someone isn't enough. Sometimes it breaks you apart and moulds you into somebody else entirely. And sometimes the person you loved the most can be the one to hurt you worst of all.(Kiss a Stranger is a new adult/contemporary romance.There is a whole lot of sex, and a whole lot of swearing. If that is not your cup of tea, then this is not for you.)
The Initiation
Nikki Sloane - 2019
But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything—the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents’ mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he’s the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it. I’ll make a deal with the devil to save my family and sell myself to the Hales. But Royce will never own my heart.
Bought
Lauren Landish - 2016
I trust no one. I thrive with control and I’ve learned to be ruthless and coldhearted. A love life? I’m not interested.But I still have desires.That’s where Dahlia came in; my treasure. She had never been a submissive before and I was eager to train her.The dusting of sparkles on her dress barely hid her tempting curves. I wanted to see all of her. My d*ck was already hard at the thought of my hand leaving a bright red print across her lush ass.When I saw her on stage at the auction, dressed in gold, I knew I had to have her.She’s mine for an entire month. I own her. But one lie changed everything.She’s going to be punished for it. But I’m doing this for her own good. She needs this.I’m going to make this right. I’m going to heal her.If it’s the last thing I do.
*Bought is a full-length standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
Empathy
Ker Dukey - 2014
They say some people are born with decreased activity in the front central lobe causing them a deficiency in empathy. Maybe that’s true about me but whether I was born this way or created in a moment of evil, empathy was something I didn’t possess until her green eyes met mine in the mirror and I couldn’t take her life. I didn’t want to feel, didn’t want this woman in my life complicating how I lived but she was there at every turn. Sent to haunt me for my sins. Her light so bright she provoked a shadow from everyone she touched. When a job turns bad quickly altering my life forever I’m forced to feel. When nothing is making sense I’m forced to face truths I never would recover from. When life drowns you in its cruelty you don’t know which way the current will drag you or who you’ll become once you re-surface. Melody:I was a daughter I was a studentI was a victimDid I have his love? Did I make him feel?Did I have his empathy?When the actions of a soulless killer forces sorrow into my veins I never dreamed the man healing my wounds would be the one to leave the worst scar. His love would scar my soul. Scars are permanent; I will never feel the relief from them. Will I learn to live with them, remember why I have them and learn never to let him close enough to inflict more? Will I eventually cover them… like tattoos coating them with new memories, new love and new starts? I didn’t know these answers because the pain was too suffocating, the only thing I knew was they will always be under the surface lingering. He had scars too, from his sins. There is nothing that can cover them, they were too deep, too ugly, too dark and they marked us both forever.Warning: This book will mess with your mind. It is a very dark, sexy, twisted romance novel. 18+ only.
All About You
Joanna Mazurkiewicz - 2014
I drag him down a road of humiliation and pain to try to cope with what his brother did to me. A few months after Christian’s passing, Oliver leaves town, and for the next two years, he is absent from my life. The demons claw their way back in, and I must learn to live with the secret that has destroyed me. Now I’m starting a new life, away from Gargle and away from my past, but everything crashes when I see Oliver the first day at university. It’s clear that many things have changed since we’ve been apart. Now he is captain of the rugby team and the most popular bloke on campus. Then he makes a bet and gives me an ultimatum: I leave Braxton forever and start somewhere else, or I stay and play his game… because he’s never forgotten that it was me who ruined his life two years ago.
Lost Boys
Eva Ashwood - 2019
They want to see a princess brought low, and they’ll do whatever it takes to make me fall.Money was the language of my old world, but violence is the language of my new one. The only way I’ll survive until graduation is to make a deal with three gorgeous, dangerous devils—the ones everyone calls the Lost Boys.If I accept their bargain, Bishop, Misael, and Kace will protect me.But they’ll own me too. This is the first book in the Crazy Vicious Love series, a reverse harem bully romance. It contains mature themes and is intended for readers 18+.
Sweet Mercy
K.A. Tucker - 2019
Tucker comes the dark and steamy Empire Nightclub series.One visit to my father in prison—convicted for a murder he didn’t commit—and I’ve attracted the attention of the last man I’d ever want knowing that I exist.Gabriel Easton.Son of an infamous crime boss. Deplorable womanizer. Scoundrel to the core.Worse, he has figured out how desperate I am to protect my father from brutality behind bars. He has the power to grant that protection, and he has offered it … for a price.Me.I'll do anything for my father, including agree to Gabriel's cruel game. But I won't comply with his every whim and wish. Unfortunately for me, I think my loathing for him is what he’s enjoying most.That's fine. By the time I’m through with him, he’ll be crying my name.Mercy.
Broken
J.L. Drake - 2015
One day after my twenty-seventh birthday I was grabbed from behind. A cloth sack was quickly pulled over my head, and I was taken from everything I’d ever known. I was beaten, starved, treated like an animal, and forced to live in a room with no windows. With no sense of time and no dignity left I finally gave up hope and made a promise to myself to end it all. Unfortunately, it was going to be a slow process.Then one night an elite group of US Army soldiers came to my rescue. I was brought to a safe house and given two options:One—Stay under their protection and follow their rules or...Two—Leave and be guaranteed to be returned to the savages within a week. I chose option one. As I work with a therapist and begin processing my hellish ordeal things slowly begin to surface. With the help of new friends and a potential new love I fight to get my life back and make choices that will forever alter my future. This is my story…
Ruthless People
J.J. McAvoy - 2014
But behind closed doors is a constant battle for dominance between two Bosses, cultures, and hearts.Ruthless People is a romantic crime fiction set in modern day Chicago, following the life and marriage of Melody Nicci Giovanni and Liam Callahan—rivals by blood and leaders through fear. Their marriage was arranged by their fathers in hopes to end years of bloodshed between the Irish and the Italians.Liam, next in line to lead the Irish, believes he’s getting a simple-minded wife, one he can control, one who bends to his every need . . . the complete opposite of Melody. Bred to be a Boss, a world-class marksman, master of disguise, with no mercy and no fear. Twenty-four years later, she has achieved more than any man could even dream of, killing anyone who steps in her way. She knows exactly what type of man Liam is, and she would rather die than give up the power she has spent her whole life building. But with no other family left, she must not only learn to work with Liam, but the whole Callahan clan.The Mafia of the past is evolving, and with rival bosses gunning for them, Melody and Liam will have to figure out how to work as one to take down those who stand in their way, all while keeping up appearances.Power, Family, and Respect are everything.Warning: This book contains adult language and subject matter including graphic violence and explict sex that may be disturbing for some readers. This book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
The Psycho
Nikki J. Summers - 2021
She didn’t agree, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.She was all I thought about. She was my obsession.So, I watched. I studied.I toyed with her and I played my games. In her I’d found my perfect match, because she met every single one of my challenges with one of her own. She fought back and I loved it. All good things are worth fighting for, right?Trouble was, she thought it was all a game, but I would never give up. I saw something in her that made me crave more. What did she see in me?Cruelty.Savagery.A street soldier with a thirst for vengeance.I was a virus and she was immune. Or was she?Where I come from, they call me The Psycho.And I’m about to show the world exactly why.The Psycho is a Dark, New Adult standalone romance from Nikki J Summers. There are scenes of a violent and sexual nature in this story, therefore it is intended for readers of 18+ years. Please take note of the trigger warnings.
Deathless & Divided
Bethany-Kris - 2015
This is how a war starts.A life for a life. That’s the mafia way. Damian Rossi owes his life to a man who is ready to collect. That payment comes in the form of an arranged marriage to the daughter of another leading family in the Chicago Outfit. He’s ready to follow through, even if that means making sure Lily knows she’s his.Lily DeLuca isn’t being given a choice. Forced home to marry a man she doesn’t know and back into a life she’d rather forget, her world is full of half-truths, buried pain, and uncertainty. But Damian is nothing like she expects. His motives aren’t clear. Her beliefs are being tested.When it comes to this world, no man can be trusted. Someone is ready to flip the Chicago Outfit on its side all for the promise of something better. But no one runs a clean game and these men play for keeps. When blood begins to paint Chicago red, four families will be divided by loyalty, hatred, and revenge. There is no hiding. There is no safety.No one is deathless.No one.
Laces
Tempi Lark - 2021
Not because of their impressive rap sheets, but because of how they look.And when I arrive, they take notice. Especially their king: Lincoln “Laces” Caster.He’s dark and disturbed.He’s controlling and possessive.Exactly the kind of boy I should stay away from if I want to clear my name and get out of here.*LACES is not intended for readers under seventeen. This book does have strong language/cursing and triggering scenes (that might not be suitable for everybody).
Love, Lies, and Deception
L.P. Dover - 2013
What made it even better – or so she thought – was when her path crossed with the alluring Alec Holden. Unable to stay away from him, Marissa experiences a love like no other, and falls into his world of passion and intrigue. However, things begin to shift when this path takes a deadly turn.Her trust is put to the test when hidden dangers unfold before her, revealing secrets that have been buried for years. Secrets that were meant to stay hidden. Murder, lies, and betrayal … will Marissa figure it all out in time and escape with her life intact, or will she be too late and fall into the trap of deception?
One is a Promise
Pam Godwin - 2017
My dark rebel in leather. My powerhouse of passion, devastating smiles, and impulsiveness.When his job sends him overseas, he promises to return to me.A promise that’s destroyed in the most irrevocable way.Two years later, an arrogant suit invades my heartbroken loneliness.Clean-cut and stern, Trace is everything Cole wasn’t.At first, he’s a job that will rescue my dance company. But as he intrudes on my life, our hostile relationship evolves.He knows I’m still in love with Cole, but his dedication is my undoing.Then a catastrophic moment changes everything.Promises resurface.Lies entangle.And an impossible choice shatters my world.I love two men, and I can only have one.The TANGLED LIES series must be read in order.One is a PromiseTwo is a LieThree is a War
Aries
Gemma James - 2019
A virgin queen. One arranged marriage. The first time I met the boys of the Zodiac Brotherhood, I was forced to my knees for the introduction. Still grieving the death of my parents, I was a child queen, a pawn in my uncle’s agenda for wealth and gain. As my guardian, he had the authority to arrange a marriage upon my eighteenth birthday. That meeting took place six years ago. Now those boys are powerful men. Twelve virile men that want to own me. And I must spend a month with each one. Bending and yielding to their desires and commands. Shedding pieces of my innocence so long as my virtue remains intact. Because they want a virgin queen after the last month concludes, and my uncle plans to auction me off to the highest bidder. Out of the twelve men, only one has my heart. And only one can claim my hand in marriage. If only it were up to me to decide.
Part 1 of The Zodiac Queen.