Book picks similar to
My Beautiful Poison by T.L. Smith
romance
dark-romance
dnf
arc
Shuttergirl
C.D. Reiss - 2015
A girl paparazzi. What could go wrong?I never forgot her. Not for one minute. Not from the last time I saw her, at seventeen, to today. I measured all women against her and all women came up short.But being with her was unfeasible in high school, and it’s taboo now.I see her sometimes, but I’ve never spoken to her. She runs, or I run. We’re in the same town, on the same block, in the same building, and the gulf between us is just too wide to cross.Until tonight.He was my high school crush, back when I lived in a world that didn’t want me. He was the perfect boy, and I was the outcast kid from the other side of town. And when he held my hand I thought I could fit in, just a little. I thought I could be his and he could be mine.Then he left, and my life fell apart.Now we are the king and queen of opposite sides of Hollywood. And we haven’t spoken a word to each other.Until tonight.
Dear Love, I Hate You
Eliah Greenwood - 2021
And he definitely wasn’t supposed to answer it. We end up talking through letters and sticky notes in a book. One sticky note. Two sticky notes. Ten sticky notes. All baring our darkest, deepest secrets. It’s all fun and games until I find out who my pen pal is... Xavier Emery. King of my basketball-obsessed town, my childhood bully, and the guy I am in grave danger of falling in love with. But the rules were clear: we can never know who we’re talking to, and the confessions can never, ever get out. Seriously. It would destroy lives. Fine by me. Even if Mr. Popular does find out his confidant is little old me, it’s not like he’d ever love me back…Right?
Even Money
Alessandra Torre - 2018
A connection of eyes across a room, a quickened heartbeat, and everything changes. I was a cocktail waitress with a fondness for partying and meaningless hook-ups. He owned half of Vegas, with the reputation to match. I should have turned away. Instead, I stepped closer. Then, the lies started. Rumors spread. Stalking commenced. And someone died. It didn't stop me from falling in love. *This is book 1 in a duet. The second book, Double Down, will release on June 18th*
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.
Give Me a Reason
A.L. Jackson - 2021
Jackson comes a single-dad, enemies-to-lovers stand-alone romance about a jaded club owner and his son’s teacher…
Eden Murphy came into my club looking to make some extra cash.A girl like her didn't belong in a place like this. She'd get ripped to shreds.Most likely by me.There's nothing but sweetness dripping from her sexy little body, and I'm the monster who's salivating to get a taste. Trent Lawson is the last man I should want.Dark.Dangerous.So wickedly gorgeous he makes my knees weak. He's also an arrogant jerk who happens to be my new boss. When I discover his adorable son is also in my kindergarten class, I know I have to keep my distance. But neither of us can ignore the attraction that flames.One glance, and our hearts race. One touch, and we’re aching for what we can’t have. One night, and we’re falling fast.Dragging her into my sordid world is wrong.It doesn’t matter. Eden Murphy is mine.
Childstar 1
J.J. McAvoy - 2015
Noah Sloan is America's bad boy. Both are former child stars and once were lovers. When they are cast as the leads in the upcoming erotic suspense blockbuster—Sinners Like Us—they are forced to come to terms with the issues that tore them apart to begin with. As the whole world watches, can they keep their secrets hidden? After all, everybody is a sinner…
Resist
K. Bromberg - 2019
Rich, handsome, and more than intriguing, he thinks blackmail will bend me to his will.But he’s wrong.I may have done a few things that weren’t exactly legal, but I have my own reasons for that. The last thing I’m going to do is let some high-powered divorce attorney come into my life, have my body, and rule my heart. Not to mention ruin everything that I have carefully built in just a short amount of time.But as much as I try to resist him, and against my better judgment, there is something about him that has me agreeing to his proposal.I’m putting everything on the line for him. I just hope I won’t lose everything when this is all over.
Hush Hush
Lucia Franco - 2019
Don’t get close to the clients. The dark and glamorous lifestyle of the rich and shameless open my eyes to a lavish world of sin and wealth, and a man I can’t have. A man I desperately want—James Riviera. We're treading a fine line as we live the ultimate double life until we make a startling discovery that tests both our loyalties. I only had to follow the rules, but rules are meant to be broken.
Carnage
Sarah Bailey - 2021
A girl. Scarlett.She was one of us until she was ripped away from her life. The only trace of her was dust in the wind.One day she returned to the city and sought us out. Scarlett couldn’t remember who we’d been to her, but we recalled her all too well.If she knew what was good for her, she would have never come back. The moment she stepped through the doors of Fortuity, it was the beginning of her end. And the start of our reign over the girl who wanted us dead.A dark reverse harem contemporary retelling of the four horsemen of the apocalypse set in Sarah Bailey's Dark Universe with cliffhangers and a HEA in the final book.This is a DARK romance and therefore comes with a content warning. Please see the author's website for full details.
Lead Me Not
A. Meredith Walters - 2014
She knows what rock bottom looks like, and she is determined to crawl back up to the top after the sudden death of her younger sister. She blames herself for her part in the tragedy, convinced that she could have done something, anything, to help her.In her effort to gain redemption, Aubrey starts fresh at Longwood University and facilitates an addiction support group, hoping she can support someone else in the way she failed her sister. But what she doesn’t count on is an all-consuming fascination with group member Maxx Demelo, a gorgeous, blond, blue-eyed enigma who hides dark secrets behind a carefully constructed mask. He only reveals what he wants others to see. But Aubrey glimpses another Maxx hidden below the surface—a Maxx who is drowning in his own personal hell.As Aubrey and Maxx develop an attraction too intense to ignore, he pulls her into the dark underbelly of the city club scene, where she is torn by her desire to save him and an inexplicable urge to join him in his downward spiral. Worst of all, she is beginning to love everything she should run away from—a man who threatens to ignite in her a fire that could burn her alive…
Release
Aly Martinez - 2020
Growing up, Ramsey Stewart branded my soul in ways time could never heal. At twelve, he asked me to be his girlfriend. At thirteen, he gave me my first kiss. By sixteen, we’d fallen in love, planned a future together, and had our eyes set on the horizon. Love never fails, right? But for Ramsey, it did. Love failed him. I failed him. The entire world failed him. At seventeen, Ramsey was convicted of killing the boy who assaulted me. Move on, he wrote in his first and only letter from prison. Start a new life, he urged. I don’t love you anymore, he lied. There was no such thing as giving up on Ramsey. Love may have been our curse, but he was mine—then, now, and forever. So here I am, twelve long years later, waiting for a man I don't even know to emerge from between the chain link gates.
Twisted Loyalties
Cora Reilly - 2018
Left to fend for himself, Fabiano is forced to fight for a place in the mafia world. As a ruthless street fighter, he quickly earns his place as the new Enforcer of the Las Vegas Camorra – a man to fear. Leona wants to build a decent life for herself, away from her drug-addicted mother. But soon she catches the attention of a dangerous man – Fabiano Scuderi. Staying out of trouble and living a normal life are near impossible with a man like him. Leona knows she needs to avoid Fabiano, but men like him aren’t easy to shake off. They always get what they want. Fabiano cares about only one thing: the Camorra. But his attraction to Leona soon puts his unwavering loyalty to the test. Is Leona worth risking everything he’s fought for, and ultimately his life?
The Predator
RuNyx - 2020
As the only non-blooded member in the high circle of the Tenebrae Outfit, he is an enigma to all - his skills unparalleled, his morality questionable, and his motives unknown. He is lethal and he knows it. As does Morana Vitalio, the genius extraordinaire daughter of the rival family. What Caine does with weapons, Morana does with computers. When a twenty-year old mystery resurfaces, Morana infiltrates Caine's house, intent on killing him, unaware of a tie that binds them together. Hate, heat, and history clash together with unexpected sparks. But something bigger, something worse is happening in their world. And despite their animosity, only they can fight it down.
Addicted to You
Krista Ritchie - 2013
He’s addicted to booze…the only way out is rock bottom.No one would suspect shy Lily Calloway’s biggest secret. While everyone is dancing at college bars, Lily stays in the bathroom. To get laid. Her compulsion leads her to one-night stands, steamy hookups and events she shamefully regrets. The only person who knows her secret happens to have one of his own.Loren Hale’s best friend is his bottle of bourbon. Lily comes at a close second. For three years, they’ve pretended to be in a real relationship, hiding their addictions from their families. They’ve mastered the art of concealing flasks and random guys that filter in and out of their apartment.But as they sink beneath the weight of their addictions, they cling harder to their destructive relationship and wonder if a life together, for real, is better than a lie. Strangers and family begin to infiltrate their guarded lives, and with new challenges, they realize they may not just be addicted to alcohol and sex.Their real vice may be each other. New Adult Romance recommended for readers 18+ for mature content
Prisoner
Annika Martin - 2014
He’s dangerous. He’s wild. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.So I hide behind my prim glasses and my book like I always do, because I have secrets too. Then he shows up in the prison writing class I have to teach, and he blows me away with his honesty. He tells me secrets in his stories, and it’s getting harder to hide mine. I shiver when he gets too close, with only the cuffs and the bars and the guards holding him back. At night I can’t stop thinking about him in his cell.But that’s the thing about an animal in a cage—you never know when he’ll bite. He might use you to escape. He might even pull you into a forest and hold a hand over your mouth so you can’t call for the cops. He might make you come so hard, you can’t think.And you might crave him more than your next breath.