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Empathy by Ker Dukey


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dark-romance

The Fixer


Jessica Gadziala - 2017
    Like santa. An honest politician. And gut instincts. That was, of course, until I woke up with one.And I knew.This was the day I was going to die. The cops, thus far, have proven useless and uninterested in my issues. When you couldn’t get help from legal channels, what other choice did you have but to look elsewhere?That was how I came across Quinton Baird. A “fixer.” Whatever the hell that was.All I knew was, I had a problem that needed fixing.Hopefully, before it killed me.QUIN-There were a few things I could put my faith to rest in. My team. People f*cking up, and needing my help. And my gut. So when my receptionist informed me that the woman in a case I decided wasn’t my kind of job was having a ‘gut feeling’ about being in desperate need of help, yeah, I dragged my a** across town to check things out.Not only did I not bank on the fact that she was in trouble beyond what I could have anticipated, but she was not what I was expecting either. Beautiful, resilient, and one hell of a distraction I didn’t need.As the pieces of her case start falling together, I was left wondering if maybe this new, unfamiliar sensation in my gut was telling me that Aven was much more than just another name on a case file…

Indebted


J.L. Beck - 2014
    That all changed in a blink of an eye the moment Bree came home for break. She didn't expect to find her dad strapped to chair, a gun pointed at his head. Alzerro “Zerro” King wasn't a man to be messed with. Women flocked to him and men ran from him. He ruled the mafia with an iron fist and no one ever crossed him unless they wanted to pay the price. He believed the only way to pay for something, if unable to do so, was to do it in blood. Nothing got him harder than stringing someone up, and putting a bullet in their head. That is until Bree. One look is all it took for him to know she could pay for her father’s debt in many other ways… Ways that could get him hard. Could a big city mafia king fall in love with the small town country girl? Would she be able to handle his dark and demanding ways? When push comes to shove, would Bree end up running only to be killed? Or would she sacrifice herself for love?

Out of Love


Jewel E. Ann - 2020
    Corruption. Serial killers.You name it—I'm fascinated by it. My mom always blamed my overly curious and highly suspicious mind on my dad.My incredibly overbearing dad.Mr. No One Is Good Enough For My Daughter has been terrifying my dates since I turned fifteen.College is my chance to be free from his control and date any guy I want. I'm absolutely certain he would hate Slade Wylder—almost as certain as I am that I do too.Since when have I shied away from trouble? Slade fascinates me. He lives in a house I'm certain is haunted. His dog is trained as well as any guard I've ever seen. Rumor on campus is that he deals drugs. It would explain a lot.But it doesn't explain why he saves me from my darkest moment.It doesn't explain why I can't stop thinking about him.And the explanation I finally discover is far more dangerous than any rumor.

Married to the Bad Boy


Vanessa Waltz - 2015
    A man-whore. Whatever the hell you want to call it, I get around. During the day, I crack heads and extort businesses. At night, I find girls to f*ck. I live to hear them moan for me, but one night is all they get. No one ever made me want more. Until her.Elena.The moment her lips wrapped around me, I was done. All day, I think about running my tongue all over those curves. Too bad those curves are off limits. She's running from a man who will kill me for touching her.Well, she's tired of running and needs my help.She thinks I'm doing it for money.I'm doing it to make her mine.

Flawed


Francette Phal - 2014
    That's the only memory he carries from a childhood he does not remember. And now it is all he knows. Blood is his life.Knox Bishop has done a lot of horrible things, all at the command of the man who holds his leash. It's a matter of loyalty for him. Allegiance to the man who saved his life when he was a child. So he goes where he is needed and does what he is told. He tortures. He kills. He kills. He tortures. It is an unrelenting cycle that he constantly craves and can never quite satisfy.Until her.Eighteen year old Lacey Barnes distributes her assets to fund her dreams. Medical school is the end game and she is determined to get there by any means necessary. But a family member's careless mistake derails her plans and now she must pay a price in order to save him. She goes to Knox willingly offering him the only valuable thing she has. Herself. In doing so he allows her into his world, a world she quickly realizes is void of any light and hope for escape is utterly elusive. But escape is something she finds that she no longer wants. "He lays a path of pleasure laced agony for me to follow and I do. Stupidly I follow him down the blinding darkness of his euphoric hell."Disclaimer: This is book is intended for mature audiences (18+) due to description of violence and sexual situations.

Blind Obsession


Ella Frank - 2013
    It's a time when feelings arose and desires ran deep, a time that fundamentally changed her life.A man living in seclusion, Phillipe Tibideau is haunted and plagued by memories he cannot disregard. Choosing to live a quiet life in his Chateau surrounded by the vineyards of France, he's left his passion for art behind. However, the time has arrived to tell his side of a tale. A tale that has depicted him as a 'beautiful monster' and he's finally allowing someone close. Close enough to ask questions. Questions he's not sure he wants to answer. Questions about her.For up and coming journalist Gemma Harris, the pursuit of truth is what drives her and when a job of a lifetime presents itself there is nothing in the world that will stop her from taking it. Even if it does mean leaving her home for several months to stay at Chateau Tibideau, with him.This is a story of what happens when three passionate lovers collide and the desire for truth, art and music merge.Chateau Tibideau is a place full of unanswered questions, dark sinful desire and a beauty so hauntingly sad it will have you wondering how you will ever leave the same....

Royal Blood


Amity Cross - 2014
    It was black or blacker. And I was the blackest of them all."Xavier "X" Blood only remembers the last few years of his life.Trained as an emotionless and deadly assassin, he goes through each day crossing out names on a never-ending list, not once asking why they deserve what he delivers. Death.Then one day, his programming starts to unravel and it's all because of her.Mercy Reid has a secret. A big one. The kind that will get her killed if it gets out.Looking to get lost, she runs from one hopeless situation and falls into the clutches of a monster. A monster that was programmed by the worst of the worst to kill without remorse. A man who is looking for her.When X is given his latest target, things become muddy. He knows his mark is right in front of his eyes, but he doesn't want to acknowledge it. He's literally losing his mind after all.Will he defy his programming and save the woman who has made him feel again?Or will he pull the trigger?

Never Have I Ever


August Clearwing - 2013
    Between completing a Master’s degree at Caltech and beginning her fruitful career at a local observatory she has little time for socializing. Until she attends one specific party that is.There, Piper is introduced to a drinking game called Never Have I Ever, and she finds herself admitting to a secret fantasy which challenges her friends’ views of her otherwise prudish nature. Her confession piques the interest of one man in particular, Noah; a handsome stranger with a darkly boyish charm.The resulting spiral of rapture and torture that follows is threatened by the demons of both their pasts. Piper's inability to give her heart to anyone, and Noah's guilt over the death of his former lover claw to the surface to tear Piper away from not only the one man who has ever made her feel like she does not have to be in control of her desires, but also the newly collected list of Nevers they both want to turn into reality.*Contains strong BDSM themes*

The Tied Man


Tabitha McGowan - 2013
    But Lilith has an artist’s eye, and a gift for seeing what lies beneath the skin. She soon discovers that Blaine is more gaoler than lover, and if the price is right, depravity has no limits.As the weeks pass, Lilith finds that she too is drawn into the malign web that her patron has spun, yet against the odds she forges a strong friendship with the damaged, dysfunctional Finn. In a dark, modern twist to an age-old story, Lilith Bresson proves that sometimes it’s the princess who needs to become the rescuer.Please note that this storyline contains depictions of drug abuse, violence and non-consensual sexual activity.

Vicious Prince


Lili St. Germain - 2018
    A brutal abduction.And a love so forbidden, it might destroy them both.Avery Capulet is missing.Taken by a madman. Kept in the dark.She might not survive.He’ll use her body. Destroy her mind. All before he ever lays a hand on her.Rome Montague is a drug dealer. A criminal. A thief.And he needs the secrets Avery and her family are keeping – even if it means cutting them out of her pretty Capulet flesh.Rome Montague is missing – but nobody will miss him.Not that it matters; After the things he’s done to this girl, he doesn’t deserve to be found.Vicious Prince, set in the criminal underbelly of San Francisco, follows two warring families who are ruled by blood, power and twisted desire.Please note this book was formerly titled Verona Blood.

Bound by Honor


Cora Reilly - 2014
    What many consider a gift means her doom when she’s forced to marry Luca Vitiello to bring peace between two mafia dynasties. Luca is the future Capo of the New York Famiglia, a man known for his brutality—and for crushing his cousin’s throat with his bare hands.Aria is terrified of marrying a monster like him. He may be one of the most sought-after bachelors in New York, thanks to his good looks, wealth and predator-like charisma. But Aria knows the bad boy aura isn’t just a game; blood and death lurk beneath Luca’s striking gray eyes and arrogant smile.In her world a handsome exterior often hides the monster within; a monster who can just as easily kill as kiss you.Yet, there’s no escaping the arranged bond, much less a man like Luca. He’d follow her to the end of the world.Her only chance to survive in a marriage with Luca is to gain his affection and work her way into his heart—even when rumor has it that Luca doesn’t have a heart to begin with.A mafia princess known for her beauty given to a monstrous man. Even monsters have a heart.She has every intention of working her way into his.

For Fallon


Soraya Naomi - 2014
    Fallon’s mask is real, what you see is what you get. Growing up with two loving parents in Chicago, graduating in Chicago, and now working a job she loves, she enjoys her life. Her untarnished world is shaken when Luca crosses her path. Luca’s mask is tightly controlled. Distrust, rivalry, and violence rule his life.When confronted with insecurities, when the one you love wears his mask perfectly, when your life unravels and you don’t know why, do you keep trusting the person you love? Everyone has a façade. Everyone has an ulterior motive.A contemporary romance/ romantic thriller in dual point of view. Contains sexual content and violence.

Everything I Left Unsaid


Molly O'Keefe - 2015
    But the stranger with the low, deep voice on the other end of the line tempted me, awakened my body, set me on fire. He was looking for someone else. Instead he found me.   And I found a hot, secret world where I felt alive for the first time.   His name was Dylan, and, strangely, he made me feel safe. Desired. Compelled. Every dark thing he asked me to do, I did. Without question. I longed to meet him, but we were both keeping secrets. And mine were dangerous. If I took the first step, if I got closer to Dylan—emotionally, physically—then I wouldn’t be hiding anymore. I would be exposed, with nothing left to surrender but the truth. And my truth could hurt us both.

Pieces of Lies


Angela Richardson - 2013
    Her move allows her to reconnect with Josh, her best friend, who is more then thrilled at Norah's appearance back into his life. At the same time that Norah steps back into Josh's heart, she learns that he is in the process of being accepted into McLaren's uber exclusive secret society, the 'Lappell'. Josh takes Norah to the Lappell's glamorous parties in the hope of taking their friendship to the next level, but when Norah meets the handsome and elusive Clint Weston, a leader in the Lappell, he sweeps her off her feet in more ways then one. Norah quickly becomes caught up in an emotional tug-of-war between the two guys while also trying to deal with her own secrets that follow her every day. When Norah's past begins to intertwine with her present, what unfolds is a series of dramatic events filled with romance, mystery and dark motivations. She quickly realizes the path to real love can be paved in all kinds of lies.*NOTE: This is a new adult novel with some mature sexual content.

The Contract


Scarlett Edwards - 2014
    My imagination conjures up demons of the worst kind.Reality is much worse:A collar with no leash. A prison with no walls. And a life stripped of meaning.I am presented with a vile contract and asked to sign. It outlines the terms of my servitude. The only information I have about my captor are the two small letters inked at the bottom:J.S.Armed with only my memories, I must do everything I can to avoid becoming ensnared in his twisted mind games. But in the end, it all comes down to one choice: Resist and die.Or submit, and sign my life away.