Book picks similar to
No Way Out by Amy McKinley
mafia
romance
ibbb
1
The Vigilante's Lover
Annie Winters - 2015
Seduction. Bondage ropes. Descriptions of things Mia has never experienced or known. The man’s words are desperately passionate. He longs for a woman who must have given him a fake address. Mia’s address. She plans to send the letter back. He’s a convicted felon. But his words gnaw at her. She’s never done anything dangerous. And no man has ever talked to her like this. So Mia writes him, pretending to be the woman he desires. It's her one dark thrill in her dull, solitary small-town life. The man is in prison for another fifteen years. It's harmless. She is safe enough. Until he escapes.
Run to the Sea
K.G. Fletcher - 2019
The very last thing he expects is the inheritance of his famous grandfather’s beach cottage on the sandy shores of Florida where he spent his childhood summers. Emeline Fischer is an aspiring artist trying to make ends meet, working an assortment of odd jobs while painting her dreams on canvas in hopes of landing her own gallery show someday. When she is Thomas’s waitress during her shift at the local beach diner, she immediately recognizes her sensitive childhood friend who promised long ago to protect her from her unstable home life when they were teens. The two friends take a journey into their past through a box of photos left behind at Cap Cottage and rediscover their mutual passion for art - and each other. Thomas doesn’t plan to fall in love with Emmy - but maybe he’s always been in love with her. Can he forgive himself for his past mistakes and start over in the only place that ever felt like home? Or will his guilt and the demands of his cutthroat, big-city career prevent him from following his heart and reuniting with the only woman he ever truly loved?
Dark Protector
Celia Aaron - 2017
Charlie shone like a beacon in a world that had long since lost any light. But she was never meant for me, a man that killed without remorse and collected bounties drenched in blood.I thought staying away would keep her safe, would shield her from me. I was wrong. Danger followed in my wake like death at a slaughter house. I protected her from the threats that circled like black buzzards, kept her safe with kill after kill.But everything comes with a price, especially second chances for a man like me. Killing for her was easy. It was living for her that turned out to be the hard part.Author's Note: This is a full-length romance novel. It's not a super-dark read, no trigger warning. Explicit violence and hot sex included. HEA, no cheating.
Ghostface Killer
M. Never - 2017
Hungry, abandoned, wandering, and alone. An adolescent street rat fighting for crumbs. Then a chance encounter changed my entire world. A man in an expensive suit asked me how much my life was worth. I didn't have an answer, because I didn't know. He asked if I thought it was worth killing for.Impulsively, I said yes... He found me, then fostered me, and in the interim turned me into a killing machine. A modern day La Femme Nikita. Now, I only have one mission. To avenge the death of the man who saved me. There's an invisible war on the streets. Us against them. Family against family. Power against power. They call me Ghostface Killer because they never see me coming.I understand the weight of that danger. The hazard. The jeopardy. Because now here I stand, three months pregnant with the barrel of a gun pressed to my head cause I never saw him coming...
Bourbon & Bullets
Elizabeth KnoxClarise Tan - 2022
The ones who have the ability to start wars with one signal. They make no apologies for the power they hold.What do they all have in common? None of them wait. They take what they want and make no apologies for doing so. In Bourbon & Bullets, a collection of dark romance and romantic suspense authors take you on a wild ride while their heroes, or anti-heroes, find their happily-ever-after.***Bourbon & Bullets is a mafia romance themed anthology organized by Knox Publishing. Please be aware this is intended for mature audiences only, and the contents within may be triggering to some readers.
Black Hearts
Karina Halle - 2017
The son of an infamous drug lord, Vicente was born to help run the family business, which means he’s been raised on a throne of sordid pasts and dirty laundry, violence and pride. But when Vicente stumbles across someone he’s not supposed to know about – a woman from his father’s checkered past – he sets out to California to find her behind his father’s back.What Vicente doesn’t expect to find in San Francisco is Violet McQueen, the woman’s twenty-year old daughter. Beautiful and edgy with a vulnerability he can’t resist, Violet tempts Vicente from afar and though he promised himself he’d stay away from her, curiosity and lust are powerful forces. Besides, Vicente has always gotten everything he wants – why shouldn’t he have Violet too?Soon his wants turn into an obsession, one that sweeps Violet into his games as they fall madly, deeply in love with each other, the type of first love that can drive a person mad.But it’s a love with tragic consequences.Both the truth – and the lies – not only threaten to tear them apart, but threaten their very lives.Someone has to pay for the sins of the fathers.And they’ll be paying the price with their souls.
Royally Bad
Nora Flite - 2017
Too bad it’s her only choice.
Kain Badd looks great on paper: rich, handsome, and he’s even a prince. But after spending a few minutes together, Sammy sees the real him—arrogant, possessive, and too hot for his own good. If she hadn’t agreed to help plan his sister’s wedding, she could have avoided him. Instead, she’s waking up in his bed after an unforgettable night she definitely wants to forget. But he won’t let her.When Sammy thinks her life can’t get any crazier, the wedding is raided by the police, and she spends her first-ever night in jail. The irresistible Kain isn’t just bad in name—his family is connected to a dangerous underworld. Now she’s mixed up in a power struggle between his family’s empire and their rivals. She has no choice but to put herself back in this filthy prince’s extremely capable hands.Sammy must trust Kain to keep her safe. She’s just not sure she can trust herself to resist temptation.
Deception and Chaos
S.M. Soto - 2018
With her older brother being her only living relative and her anchor, Sophia is sure she's destined for a brighter future. But that was until she was taken.Stolen from her mundane, orderly life, she was drugged, and woke to every woman's worst nightmare.With only four grimy basement walls and a rancid mattress, she loses her sense of time, and preserves what's left of her dignity by hurtling herself into the safety of her mind. The men, the beatings, they come and go with no reaction, until she hears one word that sends an arctic chill through her body. Sold.On the eve of Sophia's bidding, all hell breaks loose in the mansion of horrors. Gunfire and screams erupt all around her, as panic rises.Snatched by one monster only to be taken by another, Sophia slowly starts to learn that not everything is as it seems. When secrets unravel, and the twisted game of cat and mouse ensues, The Puppeteer pulls his favorite strings and chaos brews. Lives are lost while the clock ticks, and only time will tell who will be killed next... WARNING: This book contains very disturbing situations, dubious content, strong language, and graphic violence. May contain triggers for abuse victims.
Arranged
Vanessa Waltz - 2019
She had him first. Alessio Salvatore. Charming, gorgeous, and completely off-limits. I watched him propose and counted myself lucky when my sister said "yes" to the notorious gangster. I have plans for my life. None of them involve sleeping with the enemy, even if it's to broker peace between our families. But when my sister mysteriously dies, my life turns upside-down. I'm now the heir of my father's assets, and without an arranged marriage, our families are on the brink of war. Until my father gives Alessio an offer he can't refuse. Me. -------- ALESSIO I need Mia to understand three things: 1. We are getting married in a month. 2. I demand loyalty. 3. I want kids. Now. I was meant to walk her sister down the aisle. A relationship with Mia would've been unforgivable. She was persona-non-grata forever until her old man gave me her hand in marriage. How could I say no? But wrangling the boss' daughter is more trouble than I thought. When she's not fighting her feelings, she's fighting me. Never mind that we have more fireworks than dynamite. Or that we're perfect together. Or that we're marrying in a few weeks. She hates me. Too bad. She'll have to get used to me. Author's note: This is a dark, mafia arranged marriage, standalone romance. A young woman desperate to leave a life of crime and violence fights her arranged marriage to her late sister's fiancé, a ruthless mob boss who demands three things from her: marriage, loyalty, and a baby. As their wedding date approaches, Mia struggles with a decision that once seemed easy--escape his control or surrender to her heart?
Nico
Sarah Castille - 2016
But when he meets his match in the gorgeous, headstrong Mia Cordano, the daughter of a rival crime lord, all bets are off . . . Sexy computer hacker Mia struggles to break free of her ruthless father's Mafia ties . . . but she can't resist the powerful and seductive Nico, who will stop at nothing to possess her. With their families locked in a brutal war for control of the city, Mia and Nico enter into a forbidden game. Will they surrender to the passion that burns between them and risk tearing apart their families? Or will Nico be forced to betray the only woman who sets his blood on fire? Contains mature themes.
A Love of Vengeance
Nancy Haviland - 2014
Vasily needs someone he can trust in Seattle to protect his estranged daughter, Eva Jacobs, while he avenges the murder of the young woman’s mother. Gabriel is unstoppable in a fight, whether he’s using fists, blades, or bullets; but innocent, onyx-haired Eva may just be the most dangerous—and beautiful—thing he’s come up against.Intense sparks fly between the two, tempting Gabriel to mix business with pleasure while in the Emerald City. But once word gets around that Gabriel has shown up in New York, Stefano—his vengeful brother and the de facto head of the family—decides that Eva is the key to ending the feud between them…permanently.In this pulse-pounding romantic thriller set against the backdrop of New York City’s storied underworld, loyalties will be tested, secrets will be told, and mob justice will be served.
Obsessed with His Bride
B.B. Hamel - 2020
She was an apology for stealing from the wrong man and starting a war with the Russian mob.But I killed him and kept her anyway.Now the Russians want to use her against me. They’ll burn the whole city to the ground trying to take her away.I won’t let that happen. Aida’s all mine, from her pouty, delicious lips to her curvy hips. It doesn’t matter how many soldiers the Russians send at me, they won’t take what I protect.I’m a monster. A killer. I’m not the kind of man that settles down, much less for the daughter of a thief.But I want her, and I get what I want.The war doesn’t matter. In the end, I’ll make her my bride.Welcome to the Leone Crime Family! This is the first in a new series of steamy, exciting, and gritty mafia romances. Dante might be a killer, but he protects those he loves! As always, there’s no cheating, no cliffhanger, and a guaranteed HEA. Enjoy! XO BB
The Viper
Amanda McKinney - 2021
Apparently they haven’t met the Archer sisters.Owner of Archer and Archer, Inc, a prestigious New York PI Firm, Colette Archer embodies effortless perfection in her couture suits and trademark chignon. But this private investigator has a secret. When night falls, Colette slips on her wig and into the persona of a tequila guzzling hustler who occasionally fancies two men instead of one. This double-life comes as an unwelcome side-effect of a horrific past that she and her sister Jade, a bohemian, martial-arts-instructing renegade, decide to settle once and for all—regardless who they must destroy in the process.Unreasonably obstinate—according to his boss—DEA Agent James Black is one mistake away from spending his career crunching numbers under confinement of his six-by-six cubicle. In a last-ditch effort to save his fledging career, James seeks the assistance of Ice-queen Colette Archer who, despite the spark of heat between the them, seems to despise him almost as much as false dichotomy.After following Colette and her sister to a small, sleepy town in Montana, James learns of a devious—and dangerous—pact the sisters have made to avenge their past. Using her weakness to his advantage, James tricks Colette into helping him uncover the whereabouts of a ruthless drug lord. But when Colette gets brutally attacked, James realizes he has inadvertently set wheels in motion that might not only cost him his job, but also the woman who’s stolen his heart.
Bad Blood
Cora Kenborn - 2021
A Carrera bleeds for revenge.Thalia Santiago is the daughter of my enemy. A beautiful rebel with a single cause.Impulsive. Fearless. And ripe for her father’s undoing.I recognized her the moment she stepped into my casino.I watched her start the fires that burned her pretty fingers, and then I poured gasoline on the flames. Now she’s in my debt, and her dues are a shiny gold ring and a vow of deception. I’ll bend her. I’ll break her. I’ll turn our mockery of a marriage into a battlefield.And that river of bad blood that flows between our two families? I’ll make it an ocean of hate. *This is book 1 of a new dark romance duet, releasing May 12th. Tainted Blood, book 2, releases June 9th. **Bad Blood is set in the Santiago and Carrera worlds, but it is not necessary to have read either trilogy beforehand.