Book picks similar to
Red Thorns by Rina Kent


dark-romance
dark
romance
college

Bad Boy Blues


Saffron A. Kent - 2019
    In middle school, he spread false rumors about her. And in high school, he ruined her prom. She hates that his smirks are unfairly sexy. And she definitely loathes that his dark eyes seem to follow her everywhere. Sometimes, even in her dreams. It doesn’t matter that he’s rich and popular or that he lives in a freaking mansion full of butlers and maids. He’s rude and arrogant, and she wants to stay as far away from him as possible. But unfortunately for Cleo, she lives in the same freaking mansion as Zach. Only he’s the prince and she’s the lowly maid who serves him. #EnemiesToLovers #ZachAndCleo #AssholeAlpha #Angst #NewAdult

Debt


Nina G. Jones - 2014
    Maybe I was bored, or lonely, or there was a void so deep inside of me that I needed something explosive to fill it. It was supposed to be safe. A thrill. A way to break through the monotony of everyday life. It was an illusion of danger that I could walk away from as soon as it was over. Except that it wasn’t. Because I had been in danger long before I ever invited it into my life. ———————My mission is almost complete. The bubbling boil of vengeance that heats my blood might finally simmer. She is the last piece of the puzzle. Once I destroy her, everyone who ever hurt me will have paid their debt. It was supposed to be quick and easy, but as soon as I met her it got complicated. Very complicated.DEBT is a standalone novel. 118k words. Adult/graphic content that may be difficult for some readers.

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.

Striker


Rachel Leigh - 2020
    MarniI wasn't supposed to be at that house.I should have never wandered away from the party.And I definitely shouldn't have pressed my ear to that door.The words I heard play in my mind like a record on repeat.Now, they want my silence.The four guys who terrorize the streets of Redwood as a sport will stop at nothing to make sure that my lips are sealed.What they don't know is that I refuse to go down without a fight. TalonMarni Thorn thinks she's holding all the cards. She believes she's harboring our secret. Little does she know, it wasn't ours to begin with. We made a rule that she's off limits.But a body like that is meant to be touched. Limits are pushed, and rules are broken. But one thing is for certain, I have my little rebel right where I want her.Striker is a Dark Bully Romancethat contains explicit sexual content,graphic language, and situations that somereaders may find uncomfortable.

Perversion


T.M. Frazier - 2018
    New/alternate cover edition here.USA Today bestselling author of the King Series, T.M. Frazier, brings you an all-new trilogy with a sexy anti-hero you're going to love to hate, and a ballsy heroine with more up her sleeve than just tricks. Love is supposed to be a fairy tale.Ours is a death wish.I'm the executioner for the Bedlam Brotherhood. She's a con artist working for my greatest enemy. I use her. She manipulates me.We find ourselves on opposite sides of a bloody war. My heart and head tell me I have to stay away. My lust for her doesn't give a sh*t. Nothings fair in love and gang war.

First Touch


Laurelin Paige - 2015
    Though the two were once notorious party girls, they haven't spoken in years. Although the message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days. And what's more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone missing.Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she's drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she's forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?

The Heir


Sophie Lark - 2021
    Where mafia heirs are trained to control, dominate, infiltrate, and kill.I followed Anna because she’s my best friend. I’ve always been right by her side.She needs me to protect her. Especially from Dean Yenin, a Bratva heir with a lethal grudge.He plans to take everything from me. Starting with Anna...“The Heir” is the first book in the epic dark mafia Kingmakers Series. It’s a forbidden friends-to-lovers romance filled with mystery, suspense, and kindle-melting bedroom scenes that take place everywhere but the bedroom.

Stanton Adore


T.L. Swan - 2014
    Sensual, sweet, and as annoyingly perfect as she was when I left 7 years ago. My body remembers the way she felt underneath me, and wants her again. My heart remembers the way she crushed it and wants as far away as possible. But she’s everywhere, haunting me, torturing me, driving me past all logical reason. I need to forget her, move on and get her out of my system, but to do that, I need to have her one. Last. Time. It started as a kiss. We never meant to fall in love. But I was 17 and carefree, And he was 19, beautiful and forbidden. Our families never would have accepted it… And I broke his heart to save his future. Now the boy I loved 7 years ago is the man I can’t have. He’s grown into everything my body craves, my heart demands… and my sense of decency rejects.

Rough Edge


C.D. Reiss - 2018
    He has a surgical residency, and she has a psychiatric practice in the basement of their Manhattan brownstone.Everything is going to be fine.Caden loves his wife more than he can measure. But soon after she comes home, he starts hearing whispers. Someone else loves her. Someone else wants her. There's someone else, and though whoever's behind the whispers will move mountains to have her, Caden will move heaven and earth to keep her.Everything is going to hell.Greyson will never break her vows, even as their marriage snaps apart one piece at a time; even as the line between dreams and reality blurs. Even as Caden demands control, and Greyson cedes it, she will never, ever turn her back on him.When their marriage crumbles, love becomes the one thing holding them together.The Edge series:Cutting Edge (free prequel)Rough EdgeOn the EdgeBroken EdgeOver the Edge

Lessons in Sin


Pam Godwin - 2021
    As the headteacher of a Catholic boarding school, I’m never tempted by a student.Until Tinsley Constantine.The bratty princess challenges my rules and awakens my dark nature. With each punishment I lash upon her, I want more. In my classroom, private rectory, and bent over my altar, I want all of her.One touch risks everything I stand for. My faith. My redemption. And even my life.As if that could stop me. I need her pain, and her heart, and she needs my lessons in sin.

Until Tomorrow Comes


Adelaide Forrest - 2021
    I left with an obsession.With one look, Isa captivated me. She consumed me, drawing me into her world without ever knowing the dangers of mine. I intend to make her mine, no matter what lies I need to tell to manipulate her into falling in love with El Diablo. It should be simple enough, but secrets lurk in the depths of her multicolored eyes, and I’ll do anything to understand what broke her before I had the chance.Because she’s mine to break.IsaRafael Ibarra tore through my life like a raging inferno.Consuming every part of me he touches, he promises to show me passion and the real Ibiza. Though our tryst can never be anything but temporary, I never want to leave the man who makes me wish things were different. But there’s a nightmare hiding within his multicolored gaze, a phantom rattling at the cages who wants to devour me, to take me and claim me as his. He’s temptation, pushing me toward sin with his wicked touch. But the sins of the flesh are different from the sins of the mind, and as much as I hate his secrets.I will never tell him my own.Until Tomorrow Comes is the first book in the Beauty in Lies trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. This is a DARK mafia romance and contains graphic violence, mature content, and elements that may be triggering. Please read at your own discretion.

Once a Myth


Pepper Winters - 2020
    A boy who wasn’t strong enough to save me when I was taken.”“There was a girl once. A girl called Tess Snow who sat with me in the dark waiting to be sold.”“There was an owner once. An owner who bought me, entrapped me, and made me his unwilling goddess.”Eleanor Grace is a naïve dreamer. Trusting and young, she believes her book-loving boyfriend can save her when her freedom is snatched and sold. Squirreled away to an island at midnight, delivered to a man even darkness won’t touch, she’s bound by a contract. Four men.Four fantasies. Four pieces of her soul.Sullivan Sinclair is the giver of fantasies. Any wish, any desire—he is the master at quenching even the filthiest appetites. His private paradise and perfectly trained goddesses are there for one purpose: to ensure every guest is extremely well satisfied. He bought her. He trapped her. She belongs to him.

Nero


Sarah Brianne - 2014
    I just want to be a fu**ing made man.I’m just a fu**ing waitress.

Heartless Prince


Stella Hart - 2018
     I’ve watched her from afar, and now it’s time for me to claim my prize - Tatum Marris, the girl I bought. My newest and prettiest toy. She will serve me. Cater to my every wicked whim. Sate my desire for complete control. I’ll own her pleasure, and one day, she’s going to beg for more. She keeps pretending she's pure and innocent, but that isn’t true. I know her darkest secrets, and one way or another, I’ll make her confess every last sin. I’ll make her fear me. Make her submit. Deep down, she knows she belongs with me. She knows she deserves to be punished. Caged. Owned. Tatum Marris, you’re now the property of Elias King. Note: This novel contains disturbing content that may be offensive to some readers. Heartless Prince is the first book in the Dark Dynasty trilogy. The story continues in Vicious King.

Bad Habit


Charleigh Rose - 2017
    Even bruised and bloodied, he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. We couldn't ever be together. I was too young, and he was too untouchable. He was too troubled, and I was too naive. But the heart is rebellious, and mine decided it didn’t care about any of those things. As I got older, harmless flirting turned to stolen moments in dark corners. Until one day, he was gone without a trace. Now, three years later, he’s back. Callous and cruel. He’s my brother’s best friend. My parents’ worst nightmare. I should hate him. But like a Bad Habit, I can’t quit him. ASHER I was drawn to Briar Vale from the first time she looked up at me with stars in her big, blue eyes. She was just a kid, nothing but elbows and knees, but she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. We could never be together. I was too old and she was too off limits. She was too good and I was too fucked up. Eventually, the temptation became too much to resist. I risked everything for a kiss and she betrayed me. Three years have passed and I’m forced to see her again, but now she's all grown up. She’s my best friend’s baby sister. My downfall. I hate her for what she did. But she's always been my drug of choice