Book picks similar to
The Girl on the Red Pillow by Angelika Rust


first-reads
sociology-anthropology
arc
indie-and-self-published

Unstolen: You can steal, but you can't hide


Tony Batton - 2018
    Almost.
 He returns stolen items to their rightful owners.
 For a price.

 A man has to make a living, and Jake more than most. Because he's still paying for mistakes made a long time ago. And they weren't even his.

The Temptation of Demetrio Vigil


Alisa Valdes - 2013
    Coronado Prep student Maria Ochoa, 16, is near death after crashing her car on an isolated stretch of New Mexico Highway 14 during a blizzard. When the only person to show up to help her is a teen gangbanger named Demetrio Vigil, Maria fears she’s doomed, until the young man manages, miraculously, to heal her nearly fatal wounds with nothing but the warm energy radiating from his hands. Maria is grateful for the help, and seeks to thank Demetrio by returning to the tiny ghost town of Golden, where he said he lives, to find him and give him a gift. What she discovers out about Demetrio along the way, however, not only defies logic and belief, but puts Maria’s very life in terrible danger.

In Search of Love


Piyushi Dhir - 2014
    Nursing a broken heart, she decides to visit her parents in Ahmedabad for a short reprieve. Even as she struggles to resign herself to a marriage ‘arranged’ by her parents, she runs into their neighbour’s attractive son.Parth is more than happy to spend time in his own company, in the comforts of his ‘resort’. His plan to take some time off before he plunges head long into his career lands him in front of a lovely girl. The pain in her eyes belies her warm smile and he finds himself irresistibly drawn to her. Yet he knows that this cannot end well, for any intimacy with her is forbidden.Fate plays a cruel trick with Ayesha when it ends her search for love in a cul-de-sac, a point of no return. Ayesha is distraught when she realizes that the one person she has finally fallen in love with, is not hers to be had. They part ways with memories that will return to haunt them and questions that will remain unanswered, until another tryst, seven years later on the other side of the world.

Easy Reunion


Tracey Jerald - 2020
    Since her classmates are as cruel to her as when she last saw them on graduation day, she has no difficulty bailing on the event for the hotel bar. Only it’s there she comes face-to-face with the most painful part of her past.And he doesn’t recognize her.Taking full advantage of her anonymity, Kelsey gives herself one night with Rierson Perrault, the boy from her childhood dreams. Being no one's fool, she makes sure she’s gone the next morning before he can ask any questions. Ry didn’t realize the woman he spent the night with was Kelsey. But when he puts it together, he’s sick at heart. He’s lost his chance to reconcile with her; the only reason he went to the reunion to begin with. Kicking himself for not figuring it out sooner, he returns home embittered. When Kelsey and Ry meet again in the heart of New Orleans, will another fifteen years need to pass before they find the right words to say? Or will they finally listen to each other's hearts so their easy reunion can begin?

Rescue


Kemmie Michaels - 2014
    The emptiness in her gaze he understands to his core, and he's instantly compelled to help this brown-haired beauty fight the source of her pain. Determined and intense, he needs to use his strength to help her find her own. Cam Foster, in that instant, becomes the dove he wants to free from her cage. From the first night, he needs her.Cruelly, the past refuses to let her go. The lingering manipulation holds her in that cage as the control she lived under continues to crush the woman she wants to become. Even though Ledger offers her heated passion and a safe haven, she can't find her way out.Desire and danger fight to pull her life in two directions…but those forces may crumble as Ledger fights harder than any barrier he and his dove face.

The Rebound


J.R. Rogue - 2019
    So when he finds himself in the throes of a panic attack before a show, he chooses her over the arena of fans chanting his name. What he doesn’t expect to find when he makes it home, is Jo...in bed with his uncle Apollo."Maybe we are all looking for something that feels a little wrong. Maybe we all get off on that kind of thing."Ignoring his uncle’s ominous warnings, Sean decides on a betrayal of his own: to seek comfort in the one person Apollo wants this hidden from—Calliope das Dores.But when he arrives at her lake house—just before his twenty-first birthday—he quickly learns he was the last to know of their partners’ deception. "Are we really going to do this? Rebound with each other?"What starts as an act of revenge rekindles long-buried desires between the forbidden lovers. As Sean and Calliope drive across the country, their stunned exes follow—and so do the secrets they hoped would stay hidden.But all road trips, and some love affairs, have to end somewhere.

Stolen Innocence


Melody Anne - 2016
    Tragedy beyond what a human can possibly imagine will forever alter Mary’s future. Mary’s life is boring, conservative and typical. She wants adventure, thrills and so much more. But she will soon learn to be careful what to wish for when she’s taken against her will and thrust into the twisted world of a powerful man who doesn’t care if she lives or dies. When Mary starts becoming Elena, she does find a savior, but is he truly the person who will protect her, or will he be the one to escort her straight into the pits of hell? Forgetting who she is or where she belongs, she learns she can trust no one, rely on only herself, and fall further than she ever thought possible. She will become someone else and the cycle will begin. She will become the person who will eventually change the life of so many others. Some might say the change is good, the violence is necessary. And some will cry for this tragedy that should have been stopped. Just when you think you know how it all came about, how it will end, you will be floored again by who can be trusted … and who can’t. Note from the author: This book isn’t anything like what I’ve written before. I had a dream, the opening scene of this book, actually. And I woke up and lay there for a while, and still couldn’t push it away, so I got up, wrote the first chapter. Then I lay back down and was back out of bed within fifteen minutes, where I gave up on sleep and sat at my computer all night and all the next day until my eyes wouldn’t stay open anymore. Then for the next week, all I did was eat and sleep (minimally) and the first draft was born. I was so emotionally drained from it, I put it away for a month, and then came back to it and went back into the world of Elena. My question was, what makes someone enter into a lifestyle of BDSM? What makes them enjoy pain? Enjoy being degraded? Then I realized, it’s not a matter of enjoyment necessarily. It’s a matter of your world spinning out of control. And this is a way to ground yourself. Elena has become so special to me. The first book is tragic and I cried several times while writing it. The second book, she starts to find herself, and in the third book … well, the third book leaves your mouth hanging open. I hope you enjoy this journey with me. It’s been an emotional one. This book is intended for mature audiences only. There are explicit scenes of abuse, language and questionable sexual situations. Eighteen and older only. This story is about a woman so abused she turns into a person most wouldn’t even fathom becoming.

Accidental Royal: A Royal Romance


Gigi Thorne - 2018
    I work with my hands, I'm wicked to the core, and my life is no fairytale. But then I accidentally cross paths with the barely legal Princess Charlotte in her chambers late one night. I see the dark passions in her eyes and know I'm the man she needs to stretch her to new limits. Princess Charlotte is forbidden. I shouldn't dare look upon her, let alone touch her. If anyone finds out that I'm about to gobble her up and swallow her whole, I'm as good as dead. It's bad enough that someone in the kingdom is threatening her older sister, Crown Princess Helena's life. The palace is no place to break any rules right now. But I've never backed down from a challenge before, and I'm not about to start now. She might be forbidden fruit, but I'm ready to take a taste. Author's Note: Accidental Royal is a standalone romance of with no cliffhanger and a happily ever after ending. If you love dominant, possessive alpha males and sinfully over-the-top stories, this one is for you!

Seal of Confession


Michele Pace - 2021
    A young priest on the other side of the screen is shaken by what he learns. A former college athlete with an MBA from a prestigious university, Father Joe Russo is not your typical man of God. Nine years earlier, his own life took a tragic turn and he gave everything up, committing his life to the church. Now his peaceful existence is being tested, and he finds himself questioning the God he serves, the vows he made, and someone he left behind.In this gripping thriller, a priest and an FBI agent work to uncover secrets and expose hidden crimes, but when it seems they have it all figured out, everything they think they know will be questioned.

Scars and Tats


Kristi Pelton - 2017
    Taking refuge in the mountains of Colorado, not one person had come near their secluded doorstep… though she was prepared for a fight. In the middle of a historic blizzard, little Beck points out the window to a figure approaching in the snow. After hiding Beck…and fully armed, Mela confronts Jackson Winslow and has zero reservations about shooting him, if necessary. Ultimately, saving him from the forces of nature, she takes the uninvited stranger prisoner in her home holding the upper hand. While cautiously tending to him, she realizes how much she has missed a man—though this scarred and tattooed man is not who he seems. Once he has invaded her thoughts in a delicious way, her guard is down and suddenly, the tables are turned and now…it’s his turn. What she doesn’t know is who he really is and what he brings to her doorstep.

Promise Spoken (The Dupree Boys Book 1)


J. Nichole - 2022
    

The Fighting Season


Bram Connolly - 2016
    Matt Rix, the ultra tough commando who led the ambushed platoon, swears vengeance. Rix is one of Special Forces' most lethal operators. He'll neutralise Rapier - whatever it takes.But in Afghanistan's brutal war, not all things are as they seem.'The Fighting Season is military fiction of the first order: as tough as nails and packed with the insider knowledge of someone who has done it for real.' - Matthew Reilly'Action packed, gritty and authentic to the core.' - Merrick Watts

Forfeit


Lydia Michaels - 2015
     When Austin lost his job he began to question his dominant role as head of the household and his worth as a man. Self-doubt has infected his once perfect marriage, and now his submissive wife, December, must do whatever necessary to save their home. As Austin’s world spirals out of control, he enlists the help of his best friend, Cord. Only, Austin doesn’t realize Cord has secretly loved December since the day they met. Cord’s honor is challenged. In the end, a sacrifice will be made, but who will forfeit first?

Life, Unscheduled


Kristin Rockaway - 2021
    As a user experience designer at Virtuality, an artificial intelligence company in Los Angeles, Nicole is at her desk from sunrise to sunset. She doesn’t have time for a social life (or a love life), but that’s perfectly fine with her. Until her best friend, Parisa Shahin, announces her engagement and asks Nicole to be her maid of honor.That’s when Nicole decides to meticulously schedule out the next six months of her life—from her project due dates to her dress-fitting appointments to how many hours she plans to sleep each night. If she can stick to her schedule, she’ll balance everything fine. Of course, that’s a really big if. And after she crosses paths with emerging restaurateur Brandon Phelps, Nicole is feeling feelings she hasn’t felt in…well, ever. But scheduling time to fall in love might push even the most meticulous plans into pure chaos.

Angel


Danielle Carriere - 2019
    However, Angel’s plans are disrupted when she becomes stranded in an unfamiliar town. With no means to leave and no place to stay, Angel finds aid in an unexpected place: Nathan, a childhood acquaintance with scars of his own.All nineteen-year-old Nathan wants is to leave every memory of his father far, far behind. But when Nathan’s path leads him to Angel, he begins to realize that his father’s influence has reached further than he could ever have imagined.As Nathan and Angel face the prejudices of the townspeople together, their tenuous friendship begins to grow into something more. However, when Nathan’s father returns, Angel and Nathan must decide whether they are willing fight for the life they’ve created for themselves, or whether they will once again leave everything they love—including each other—behind.