Book picks similar to
Virtue & Vanity by Astrid Jane Ray
dnf
romance
dark
marriage-of-convenience
Stoned
Mandi Beck - 2016
For as long as Stone can remember, Willow has been his music – the notes that weave his soul together. His rhythm. Until he threw her away. All he has left is a handful of pills and a few lines of powder to make him forget her. And he tries, over and over. Clean and ready to make things right, he’s faced with the fact that Willow’s moved on. She’s not the same girl he cast aside. Willow’s a woman sure about her purpose in life. Sure about who she’s meant to love. Stone may be lost without his rhythm, but Willow has found so much more.
Ache
S.M. Soto - 2019
What happens when you fall for the boy next door? Bea Norwood had the market on normal. Drama free life? Check. A single-mother who doubled as her confidant and partner in crime? Check. A neighbor and best friend she trusted more than anyone? Check. But that was until the day her mother remarried. The day that changed everything.When her best friend's cousin, Liam Falcon, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle to clean up his act, Bea finds herself falling for the boy next door. With their hearts so infinitely entwined, Bea turns to Liam as her only escape from her new step-brother's daily torment at home. Bea thought their love could conquer anything. But she was wrong. Love was for fools, and she was the biggest fool of them all. When Liam left Lakeport, he took her heart with him, shattering the organ to pieces. Six years later, Liam takes a trip back to Lakeport to visit his family, and to see HER. His first love.The girl who holds his heart.The same girl who shattered it six years ago without looking back. Liam is hell-bent on seeing Bea again after six years, but what he finds tears his heart in half. Bea Norwood is a shell of the girl he fell in love with. Underneath the baggy clothes, and pale skin, he knows she's still in there somewhere, he just needs to find her. Liam will stop at nothing to win his girl back, but sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and Liam isn't prepared for Bea's truth. *Some aspects of this story may be sensitive for readers.*
Filthy Rich
Raine Miller - 2016
But the moment he sees Brooke Casterley, none of that matters. Caleb is filled with a raw, undeniable need that he can’t ignore…for a girl who is so completely different from everything and everyone he’s ever known.Only Brooke isn’t looking for love. She knows all too well just how much damage the wrong guy can do. Still, what sane, broke British girl can resist the charms of an incredibly sexy, chivalrous billionaire? What starts as flirtation quickly turns into all-consuming passion. Nothing could have prepared her for the searing heat of Caleb’s touch—or just how much she craves him.Their whirlwind romance is the stuff of high-society fantasy—but for every moment of pleasure, there is a cost. Past mistakes and tragedy shadow them both…and falling for him might be the kind of trouble she can’t afford.
Double Standards
Judith McNaught - 1984
The ruggedly handsome president of Global Industries handled his business the way he handled his women -- with charm, daring and ruthless self-control. A man used to the very best, Nick hired Lauren Danner, and assumed the proud beauty would soon be another easy conquest. But Lauren's flashing wit and rare spirit dazzled him -- and slowly, against his will, he was intrigued, challenged -- and in love. Yet Lauren was living a lie, a charade that became more dangerous with every passing moment. Trapped in a web of deceit, she fought her growing love for Nick. Her secret could destroy his fragile trust -- and the promise of life with the most compelling man she had ever met!
Transcending Darkness
Airicka Phoenix - 2015
But it was the only way to keep her family safe and all she had to do was sell her body and soul to the devil.Killian McClary wasn’t called the Scarlet Wolf for nothing. He’d been the head of the McClary Organization since he was fifteen and had built a reputation for being a ruthless son of a bitch when it came to running the city’s underbelly, not to mention merciless when it came to punishing those who betray him. He didn’t believe in weaknesses. Only results. Juliette, with her shy smiles and hot little body was a weakness unlike any other and yet he was powerless to resist one more taste of her sweet flesh.Two: Become his for a year.When given the choice between her life or her body, what could Juliette possibly do, but submit to a man whose very name invoked fear in the hearts of others? She just never anticipated falling for his dark, hungry eyes and clever hands, or the way the beast in him made her feel oddly safe and cherished.But what will happen when Killian’s dark past finally catches up to him and threatens the woman he can no longer imagine himself without? What will happen when both sides find themselves caught in a web of passion, lies and broken promises? Can Juliette tame the wolf or will her love for him devour them both?Three: Don’t fall in love.Boundaries will be crossed, loyalties will be tested and lives will be changed forever.
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.
Unsuitable
Samantha Towle - 2016
Daisy Smith has spent eighteen months of her life paying for a crime she didn’t commit. Now out of prison, she has only one focus—to get back custody of her younger brother, Jesse, who is deep in the foster care system. Desperate to rebuild her life and show the system that she is responsible enough to care for Jesse, she takes on the only job available to her—working as a maid at the Matis Estate. On day one of her new job, Daisy meets Kastor Matis, the only son of the owners and her new boss. An enigmatic, handsome Greek god of a man, Kas is closed off, cold, and…well, kind of a bastard. The more time Daisy spends around Kas, she starts to see there might be more to him than just his cold, bastard ways. He may actually have a heart beating in that frozen chest of his. But Kas has secrets, too. Secrets that he’s determined to keep. Secrets make Daisy curious. And you know what curiosity can do…
Empire of Desire
Rina Kent - 2021
It just happened.Nathaniel Weaver is the most attractive man I’ve ever seen with enough charisma to blind the sun.He’s bigger than the world, owns half of it and conquered the other half.He was forbidden. Wrong.So I totally got over him. Or so I told myself.Until we’re forced to get married.Now I’m trapped.But maybe he’s trapped too.Because we’re both reaching for that forbidden fruit dangling between us.Empire of Desire is a complete STANDALONE. No book should be read prior to this.Note: This is NOT a dark romance.
Wrong For Me
Meagan Brandy - 2018
See, Alec was a thief.He stole my happy.My sanity.My first kiss. I told myself I was glad the day he went away, and I'm reminded of why not five minutes after his sudden and unexpected return.Now he stands before me with a heavy glare and hard body.But those greedy green eyes, they're darker than I remember, and brimming with a secret...A secret I didn't discover until it was far too late.Because this time, he didn't steal a simple kiss.This time... Alec Daniels stole my all.--Wrong For Me is a full-length, standalone novel with no cliffhanger and an HEA. Previously titled The Wrong Blaze, this is the same epic love story with a fresh look and brand new title!
Ruthless Prince
Faith Summers - 2020
It is a stand-alone Dark Mafia Enemies to Lovers Arranged Marriage Romance, complete with HEA and no cliffhangers.Please note: this book is a dark mafia romance that contains mature content, graphic violence and may contain triggers. If such materials offend you, please do not read.
Tycoon
Katy Evans - 2017
This hot. This difficult.Aaric Christos was a guy who protected me. Wanted me. Maybe even loved me.That man is gone.In his place is the most powerful real estate tycoon in the city.He’s a cold, ruthless, aggressive businessman.The only one who can save me and my startup from ruin.It takes every ounce of courage to put my pride aside and ask for his help.I didn’t expect him to offer it easily.And he doesn’t.Instead, he vets me harder than he’s vetted anyone.Don’t invest in what you don’t know, he says.He's assessing every piece of me, to the point I've never felt so bare.I yearn for the boy I once knew, whose touch once craved me.Putting it all on the line will be worth it, I tell myself.Until I realize—too late—that some risks are not worth taking.
The Mistress Mistake
Lynda Chance - 2013
She desperately needs a few things that her moral values can't buy: food, shelter, a chance for a better life. Connor Montgomery is tortured with guilt from the past and wants only one thing from Jessica, something he's very willing to pay her for. Setting her up as his mistress seems like the perfect idea. But how long can a situation continue that was a mistake from the very beginning?
Trailer Park Heart
Rachel Higginson - 2018
It’s my legacy. That’s how my mama lived. And that’s how her mama lived. It’s the life I was born into and it’s the life I swore I would leave the second I was old enough to make it out. Only legacies have a funny way of sneaking up on you. An innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications in my plans to escape. Seven years later, I’ve resigned myself to this small town and the roots I’m tied to. Nothing could make me leave. And nothing could make me spill the secrets that keep me here. Until he walks back into town with a chip on his shoulder and a stupid hunch nobody else in town has been smart enough to follow. Levi Cole is my opposite. Born on the right side of the tracks with family money to spare, he’s the kind of black sheep that can afford to be rebellious—because his family will always pay for his mistakes. He’s also the only living heir to Cole Family Farms, after his brother Logan was killed in duty seven years ago. He sees something in my life that he thinks he has a right to. But he’s wrong. And obnoxious. And he needs to take his stubborn good looks and that intense way he looks at me and go back to wherever it was he came from. I know better than to trust men like him. I was born and raised in a trailer park, I know nothing good happens to girls like me—girls with trailer park lives and trailer park hearts. Especially from gorgeous, kind, pigheaded men like him.
Downfall
Willow Aster - 2019
Besides hating nearly every word that came out of his mouth, I also drowned with lust every time I looked at him. At times I thought he might feel the same.But nothing prepared me for what his family would make me become.*There will be four books in the Kingdoms of Sin series. Each book can be read as a standalone though there are interconnecting characters.*Book 1: Downfall is LIVE! (Luka and Eden)Book 2: Exposed January 9, 2020 (Mara and Elias)Book 3: Ruin March 5, 2020 (Ava)Book 4: May 7, 2020 (Jadon)