Book picks similar to
Betrayal by Sarah Bailey
dark-romance
dnf
dark
romance
Monster
Julia Sykes - 2013
The night I was taken. I saved a man's life, but at what cost to myself? Can I convince him to save me in return?I hate him for what he's done to me. But the longer I'm trapped with him, the harder it is to cling to that hatred. He is an enigma of a man, one who is shockingly arrogant, sweetly contrite, and frighteningly aggressive by turns. And the pain in his eyes is a mirror for my own.The longer I remain in his grip, the more confused I become.Is my freedom worth betraying him?Warning: This series contains strong language and scorching sex scenes involving light BDSM.
Freestyle
Bea Paige - 2020
Dance is in my blood.It’s what keeps me sane, out of trouble. It used to keep them out of trouble too. A group of boys I grew up with.Xeno, York, Zayn and Dax.We were a crew once and we ruled the clubs.Separate we were insanely good, together we were unbeatable. F*&ing on fire. I was their girl and they were my Breakers.Until they did something they promised they never would; break my heart.We were sixteen when they left me.You see, for kids like us, dance was all we had.Growing up in a rundown housing estate in London with no prospects can make you view the world differently.It can make you choose the wrong path.I chose dance, and they chose crime.Three years later I’ve won a scholarship to Stardom Academy. I try to forget my past.But how can I do that when the four boys who hurt me are back?And this time they won’t walk away even when I ask them too.Freestyle is book one of this new gritty, contemporary reverse harem academy trilogy for 17+ readers and deals with adult themes and some subjects you may find upsetting. If you love dance, your men on the criminal side, alpha hot holes and the enemies-to-lovers trope, this is for you. Contains foul language and sexual scenes.
In Peace Lies Havoc
Amo Jones - 2019
Like a trained possession, weak against their control.She has been conditioned with our blood for years. She just doesn’t know it yet...But Midnight Mayhem was the stained glass that concealed a very dark culture.A culture that she is about to become the center of.The Brothers of Kiznitch come in fours, and they’re not happy about me being hustled into their acts.Or are we? Careful, Little Bird. A warning is a warning for a reason…Mind-tricks.Stunts.Deceit.Power.But there’s something uglier that has been haunting me for years upon years. So ugly that I have never seen its face. I never had to. I’d hear his whispers through my internal screams, feel his shadow brush against my nightmares. He was my the monster that tormented me.And maybe lived under your bed…When I started Midnight Mayhem, his presence faded.His whispers were silenced.His shadow dissolving without a trace.I wondered why that was. She didn’t have to wonder for long…
Follow Me Darkly
Helen Hardt - 2020
But he’s a master of control.
Skye Manning knows what she wants. Her job as assistant and photographer for a major social media influencer isn’t perfect, but it’s a rung on the ladder to bigger and better things. She’s confident she’ll one day take feature photos for National Geographic.Self-made billionaire Braden Black didn’t get where he is by taking no for an answer. When a chance encounter with the refreshingly innocent and beautiful Skye piques his interest in more ways than one, he’s determined to make her submit.Dating a billionaire soon has Skye in the middle of a Cinderella story…until the clock strikes midnight and Braden reveals his dark side. Heat sizzles between them, and Skye finds herself falling hard.But Braden Black is no Prince Charming, and his dark desires are far from his only secret.Start this amazing series off with Darkly, Follow Me Darkly told from the hero's point of view, or spice up your reading with Braden's story any time while enjoying the Follow Me series.Darkly (Book #1 in the hero's POV) can be read and enjoyed in any order!Reading order of Follow Me trilogy:Book #1: Follow Me DarklyBook #2: Follow Me UnderBook #3: Follow Me Always
Irrevocable
Skye Callahan - 2014
” (Everything Marie) Book 1 in the Irrevocable Duet Stripped of everything she knows--even her real name--Silver is forced to adapt, to obey, and to do anything she needs to do to survive. Sometimes when you can’t go back, the only way out is to descend into the darkness. my Captor When I woke in that place, I just wanted to survive. But survival came at a cost, for which they demanded my will and body. my Master With pain came acceptance. Fully-dependent on the man who claimed me, I learned to appreciate what I had-life and relative safety. my Protector I watched him spill blood and tend my injuries. With betrayal came a revelation. “Not only did Irrevocable gut me, it took me on a roller coaster ride full of emotions that I usually don’t experience while reading romances…. You start to hate, you start to sympathize, and you begin to fall in love in every way. Ms. Callahan has turned my world upside down with her writing. Dark, sensual, and at times overwhelming, Irrevocable will bring you on a dark journey that you will never forget..” (Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads, TOP PICK of 2014!) IRREVOCABLE is a dark romance intended for adult readers 18+ only. Not intended for those easily offended by dark subject matter.
Provocative
Lisa Renee Jones - 2017
They change us, mold us, maybe even save us. But some are darker, dangerous. If we allow them to, they control us. Seduce us. Quite possibly even destroy us. The moment I walked into Sonoma’s Reid Winter Winery and Vineyard and made eye contact with Faith Winter for the first time was one of those moments. Provocative because I know at least one of her secrets, of which, I suspect she has many. Provocative because she believes I was a stranger to her when we met, but I am not. Provocative because I sought her out, with no intention of touching her. But now I have. Now I want her. Now I have to have her. But that changes nothing. It doesn’t change why I came for her.
Lies That Sinners Tell
Anne Malcom
Cruel. No sane person would fall in love with him.But sanity abandoned her the second she agreed to be his.She chose to take his hand.It started with a white dress.With ocean eyes.With a woman he had to have, even though he had no business touching her porcelain skin.She was never meant to enter his world. He dragged her in anyway.It was meant to be about his twisted, selfish desires.She gave him a glimpse of the man he could’ve been had the world not turned him into a monster.He led her into the abyss.There, in the darkness, she learned wicked things.He knew he’d ruin her life, loving her. So he lied. Like the sinner he was, he broke her gentle, precious heart.Like only a devil could.But the dance had to end.
Promises and Pomegranates
Sav R. Miller - 2021
Hades incarnate.They say he stole me.Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises.Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free.They’re not wrong, per se.Except it was my choice to stay.KalTo most, Elena Ricci is an innocent.Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares.Little one. Persephone personified.They say I ruined her.Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate.Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free.They’re not wrong, per se.Except it was she who ruined me.**Promises and Pomegranates is a full-length, standalone, dark contemporary romance based loosely on the framework/characters from the Hades and Persephone myth. It features mature themes, explicit scenes, triggers, and strong language. If you’re not a reader of the genre, this book may not be suitable for you. Reader discretion is advised.
Born, Darkly
Trisha Wolfe - 2017
She shattered his reality. They dared each other...to the brink of madness.A dark and twisted maze awaits criminal psychologist London Noble when she falls for her patient, convicted serial killer, Grayson Pierce Sullivan. As she unravels the traps, her sanity tested with each game, she's forced to acknowledge the true evil in the world around her.
Den of Vipers
K.A. Knight - 2020
Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses.Yes, sold me.They own me now.I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant. These men, they look at me with longing. Their scarred, blood-stained hands holding me tight. They want everything I am, everything I have to give, and won’t stop until they get just that. They can own my body, but they will never have my heart.The Vipers? I’m going to make them regret the day they took me.This girl? She bites too.18+ Reverse Harem Romance. Warning this book contains scenes and references of abuse/assault that some readers may find triggering. Along with graphic sex scenes and violence. This is a dark book.
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.
Lotus
Jennifer Hartmann - 2021
While there are references, and it does feature a secondary character from Still Beating, this is a standalone novel.
Wicked Liars
Laura Lee - 2020
Every last one of them. The kings and queens of my new high school.The father and stepmother I never knew. Each has more wealth and privilege than I could've ever imagined. Each has a pile of wicked dirty secrets they'd do anything to protect. These people have grown accustomed to getting what they want and what they want is to make my life a living hell. Too bad for them, you can't break someone who's already broken. Too bad for them, I won't give up without a fight. Too bad for them, I'm going to make them pay...even if it's the last thing I do. *Wicked Liars is the first book in the Windsor Academy series and cannot be read as a standalone. This is a dark high school MF bully romance that may contain triggers for sensitive readers. Due to mature subject matter, it is recommended for readers 17+ only.
Sweet Cruelty
Zoe Blake - 2020
Mine. If I were a better man, I would've just let her go. But I'm not. I'm a cruel bastard. I ruthlessly claimed her virtue for my own.It should have been enough. But it wasn't. I needed more. Craved it. She became my obsession. Her sweetness and purity taunted my dark soul. The need to possess her nearly drove me mad. A Russian arms dealer had no business pursuing a naive librarian student. She didn't belong in my world. I would bring her only pain. But it was too late…She was mine and I was keeping her.