Book picks similar to
Marx Girl by T.L. Swan
romance
dnf
second-chance
contemporary-romance
Sacrifice
Adriana Locke - 2015
I was left with a shattered heart, a heap of bills, and our daughter, EVERLEIGH. I don’t want to rely on anyone, least of all CREW GENTRY. He’s my first love and the man who almost destroyed me, the man who has let me down every time I’ve needed him. But when tragedy strikes a second time, Crew just might be my only hope. My life changed forever the night my brother died.I was left with a guilty conscience, a pile of mistakes, and little else. I take care of JULIA GENTRY, my brother’s widow and the love of my life, and their daughter. I know she doesn’t want my help, but she gets it anyway. I owe her that.When another disaster hits, I’m given the opportunity to make things right. I’m taking it. I'm willing to sacrifice it all.
Raw
Belle Aurora - 2014
This is a story of love gone wrong.***Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am.Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street.Best decision I ever made.Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job.My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved.But the saying is true.The world makes way for those who know where they are going.That’s me.I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace.But then there’s him.I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me.He makes me feel.It’s unconventional.But it’s real.I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.So am I.This isn’t a story.This is my life.
Bad Billionaire
Julie Kriss - 2016
To me, he’s Mister Hot, Dark, and Handsome, the neighbor I watch from the window, wondering what he’s really like.Turns out, he’s a thief. A getaway driver. He gives me the hottest night of my life before he’s put away for taking the wrong job. When he’s gone, I try to forget about him and get on with my normal, unexciting life.Until he gets out, and an inheritance makes him a billionaire.Now Devon is back. He’s the richest ex-con you’ve ever seen. He doesn’t care about penthouses, fancy dinners, or private jets. He doesn’t care that his enemies are after him. He doesn’t care that everything is about to go up in flames.In his world of chaos, Devon Wilder says he only cares about one thing.Me.
This is War, Baby
K. Webster - 2016
Until he invaded it and stole it all away. My captor took me and I became a pawn. His strategy changed and he sent me away to WAR, because money is everything in this world. In my WAR, though, I found peace. I couldn’t help but find love where I least expected it, with a man who lived a battle every day of his life…all inside his head. But then my captor came back for me.Yet, this time, battle lines had been drawn and I was protected.So we thought.Even though my WAR was raging,my captor would fight to the death.The good guys always win, right?Not always.All’s fair in love and WAR, right? Not this time.***WARNING***This is War, Baby is a dark romance. A really dark one. So dark you’re going to wish you had a flashlight to see yourself to the end and someone to hold your hand. Human trafficking, dubious consent, and strong sexual themes that could trigger emotional distress are found in this story. This story is NOT for everyone.
Twisted Love
Ana Huang - 2021
Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape. Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart. But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel something in his chest:A crack.A melt.A fire that could end his world as he knew it.***Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t remember.But despite her broken past, she’s never stopped seeing the beauty in the world…including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn’t want. Her brother’s best friend. Her neighbor.Her savior and her downfall.Theirs is a love that was never supposed to happen—but when it does, it unleashes secrets that could destroy them both…and everything they hold dear.
Twisted Love is a brother’s best friend/opposites attract romance with a hint of suspense. It's book one in the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.WARNING: This book contains a possessive, morally gray alphahole; explicit sexual content, and profanity. No cheating or menage, but if you're looking for a traditionally sweet, loveable hero, this is not the book for you. Recommended for 18+.
Rooke
Callie Hart - 2017
Car thief. Heartbreaker extraordinaire.Rooke Blackheath has spent enough time in juvie to know that he really doesn’t want to go to jail. The food sucks, the clothes itch, and there are absolutely no women in sight. Well…none he wants to fuck, anyway. He should probably stop boosting cars, but the money is stellar and the high is out of this world. And why should he turn his back on something that sets his soul on fire anyway? The answer to that question comes in an unexpected form: a petite five-foot-three firecracker named Sasha who refuses to give him the time of day no matter how thick he lays on the charm. Rooke’s not easily deterred, though. Just like the watches he builds from scratch, Rooke knows all too well how women tick. Women are a game to him. A game he always wins. Sasha doesn’t stand a chance.***Sasha Cross’s life has been permanently derailed since her son died five years ago. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, of course. She has a great job, a beautiful house, and caring friends. Every week, she hosts a book club featuring the sexiest, most romantic stories on the planet, and every week she falls for a new fictional knight in shining armor. Fictional men are perfect, though. They don’t hurt you. They don’t break your heart. They don’t cheat on you after your child dies, and they rarely ever leave the toilet seat up. When Rooke Blackheath shows up at Sasha's workplace, it’s clear he’s nothing like the men who grace the pages of Sasha's favorite books. Dangerous, arrogant, sharp-tongued and sarcastic, Rooke’s not the kind of guy she needs in her life. Not to mention the fact that he’s eleven years her junior. They don’t live in different worlds. As far as Sasha is concerned, Rooke lives in a different galaxy altogether. She’d like to keep it that way, but fate appears to have other plans.When Cinderella lost her shoe, Prince Charming showed up at her door. When Sasha Cross loses her book, an entirely different kind of rogue comes a-knocking.
Come Back for Me
Corinne Michaels - 2020
I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania.When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget.And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen.Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right. Because when long-ago secrets are exposed, rocking us both to the core, I have no choice but to watch her walk away again....
Unteachable
Leah Raeder - 2013
The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
The Legacy
Dylan Allen - 2018
I craved every touch, every filthy promise that fell from his beautiful mouth, knowing he could break me. My past had left me battered and bruised, with scars he was determined to heal. Loving him was like drowning—he consumed me, body and soul.But Hayes has secrets of his own. And nothing could prepare me for the shocking pieces of our pasts that threaten to rip us apart. When the truth is revealed will our love be enough to shelter the storm?
Run Posy Run
Cate C. Wells - 2021
He didn't care about my past. The talk. The stain on my family's reputation.Then he saw something I never wanted anyone to see.He cares now.This isn't a breakup, it's a warning shot, and if I want to get out of this bad romance alive, I have to run and never look back.Dario Volpe is no storybook hero. He's a psychopath, and he can't decide--kiss me? Or kill me?DarioI'm the man behind the curtain, the power behind the throne. I could have killed her, and no one would have blinked an eye. Posy Santoro isn't exactly a mafia princess.No one sees her as clearly as I can--the perfect mind hidden by that knockout body in the tight dress.I made a mistake, running her off, but now I get to play one of my favorite games.Posy can run, but she isn't made to be free. She's made for me. And when I catch her? Game over.Run Posy Run is a standalone mafia romance with dark elements. Intended for adult readers.HEA guaranteed.
Wait for Me
Tia Louise - 2019
Her brother Sawyer would kick my ass if he knew how many times we made out that summer, how close we got.Everything changed when Sawyer and I joined the military.We were honorably discharged, but I didn’t go to her.Instead, I went back to the city… where no amount of money, no amount of pills can heal this wound.Only her whiskey eyes and dark hair, her slim arms and her sweet scent, give me hope. I broke her heart just as surely as I broke mine, but I’m going back to make it right.If she’s still waiting…
(WAIT FOR ME is a STAND-ALONE second-chance, military romance with a guaranteed HEA. No cheating. No cliffhangers.)
Right Where I Want You
Jessica Hawkins - 2018
. . and it cuts right through the middle of their office.
Bad boys? They run right over good girls like Georgina Keller. But after a confidence-shattering breakup, she’s determined not to let anyone at her new workplace push her around—least of all the brooding creative director, a “bad boy of publishing” who’s made it clear she’s enemy #1.Sebastian Quinn's taste for fast cars, late nights, and beautiful women may have gotten him to the top of a leading New York magazine, but the reputation that made him is suddenly threatening to end his career.Georgina can help Modern Man shed its bad reputation, but in order to do that, she’ll have to start at the top—and no amount of rakish charm or inconvenient attraction will distract her.Because if Sebastian gets her right where he wants her, it means she’s going down.
Brutal Prince
Sophie Lark - 2020
He’s ruthless, arrogant, and he wants to kill me.We got off on the wrong foot when I set a (very small) fire in his house.Our families believe a marriage pact is the only thing that will prevent all-out warfare.I think I might need to murder him while he sleeps.This would all be a lot easier if Callum wasn’t so damned good-looking.But I’ve got a lockbox around my heart. Because even if I’m forced to marry him…I could never love a brutal prince.“Brutal Prince” is the explosive first act in the epic “Brutal Birthright” series. It’s a stand-alone Dark Mafia Romance, complete with HEA and no cliffhangers. It contains blazing hot bedroom scenes for mature readers only!!!
Cheat Codes
Emily Goodwin - 2018
Since the moment he saw her, he’s been denying his feelings for her, ignoring the void in his heart he knows only she can fill. Everything about them was wrong, the kind of wrong that felt so right. But none of it mattered. Not the terrible timing. And definitely not the mess it would create if Archer made a move on his best friend’s baby sister.It was supposed to be one night, but one night is all it takes to make everything more complicated, and they only have nine short months to sort it all out.No, none of it mattered. Until it did.
Thin Love
Eden Butler - 2014
It isn't supposed to leave you bleeding. Kona pushed, Keira pulled, and in their wake, they left behind destruction. She sacrificed everything for him. It wasn't enough. But the wounds of the past can never be completely forgotten and still the flame remains, slumbers between the pleasure of yesterday and the thought of what might have been. Now, sixteen years later, Keira returns home to bury the mother who betrayed her, just as Kona tries to hold onto what remains of his NFL career with the New Orleans Steamers. Across the crowded bustle of a busy French Market, their paths collide, conjuring forgotten memories of a consuming touch, skin on skin, and the still smoldering fire that begs to be rekindled. When Kona realizes the trifecta of betrayal—his, Keira's and those lies told to keep them apart—his life is irrevocably changed and he once again takes Keira down with him into the fire that threatens to ignite them both.