Book picks similar to
Drowning by Marni Mann
arc
abuse
romance
suspense
Beautifully Broken
Laura Lee - 2016
Everything about the man screamed confidence. Sensuality. Intelligence. Worldliness. But it was how he saved me that ruined me most.Through him, I learned to end my path of self-destruction. I no longer needed to numb the pain with mindless one-night-stands and drunken blackouts. He made me feel worthy. Treasured. Optimistic about my future.Here I stand four years later, in a coffee shop a world away, still broken…but beautifully so. My scars no longer hold me back. Instead, they give me strength and enrich my appreciation for the good things in life. I have hopes and dreams…faith that anything is possible. I am no longer the lost little girl fighting for survival. I have direction. I have courage. I am not without possibility.I’ll always have Gavin to thank for that—Mr. Cooper, I remind myself. That’s who he is to me now: just a former teacher. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. I was eighteen when we first met. Legally, we did nothing wrong. Morally? Well, I guess that depends on how flexible your morals are.My name is Kat and this is my story.
In The Red
Chelsea Camaron - 2016
Dover Collector Ragnes rides with only five brothers at his back. Nomads with no place to call home, they never stay in one place too long. Together, they are the Devil's Due MC, and their only purpose is to serve justice their way for unsolved crimes everywhere they go. She's not afraid to call herself a sinner. Emerson Flint still remembers the loss of her elementary school best friend. She is all grown up, but the memories still haunt her of the missing girl. Surrounding herself with men at the tattoo shop, she never questions her safety. Her life is her art. Her canvas is the skin of others. Will Dover overcome the history he shares with Emerson in time? Will Emerson lead him to the retribution he has always sought? Contains mature themes.
The Bad Guy
Celia Aaron - 2017
I’ve decided to lay myself bare. To tell the truth for once in my hollow life, no matter how dark it gets. And I can assure you, it will get so dark that you’ll find yourself feeling around the blackened corners of my mind, seeking a door handle that isn’t there. Don’t mistake this for a confession. I neither seek forgiveness nor would I accept it. My sins are my own. They keep me company. Instead, this is the true tale of how I found her, how I stole her, and how I lost her. She was a damsel, one who already had her white knight. But every fairy tale has a villain, someone waiting in the wings to rip it all down. A scoundrel who will set the world on fire if that means he gets what he wants. That’s me. I’m the bad guy. Author's Note: This is a 90,000-word romance with dark themes and a HEA.
Gun Shy
Lili St. Germain - 2017
The second girl in nine years. Identical cases. Identical conditions. Only last time, the girl was found. Dead, stuffed in a well beside the creek that feeds the town's water supply. The killer was never found. As the small town mobilizes and searches for newly vanished Jennifer Thomas, one suspect comes to the fore. But did he do it? Or is there something else at play? Something nobody could have anticipated? For Jennifer's friend Cassie Carlino, the worst is yet to come. As she pins MISSING posters to store windows and joins the search, she begins to suspect that Jennifer's disappearance might be much closer to her than she could have ever imagined.
Addiction
Shantel Tessier - 2015
I’m a man with no shame. I’m a lover with no soul. What am I? You’re a loner with no friends. You’re a beggar with no place to go. You’re a face with no name. Who are you? It doesn’t really matter what I am or who you are. Everyone has sin in common. But I pride myself on doing it better. Through the eyes of another, I am envied. If they only knew the wrath I have endured. Greed can be a motherfucker, but it is what makes us strive to be better. Lust can make you burn, but without it you would freeze to death. Some of us are a glutton for punishment and want to feel the pain that reminds us we’re still alive rather than overcome by sloth. The lure of these seven deadly sins is like an addiction. And I intend to indulge in each of these unforgivable sins.
This Love Hurts
W. Winters - 2020
Some love stories are a slow burn. Others are quick to ignite, scorching and branding your very soul before you’ve taken that first breath. You’re never given a chance to run from it. That’s how I’d describe what happened to us.Everything around me blurred and all that existed were his lips, his touch… The chase and the heat between us became addictive.Our nights together were a distraction; one we craved to the point of letting the world crumble around us.We should have paid attention; we should have known that it would come to this.We both knew it couldn’t last, but that didn’t change what we desired most. All we wanted was each other…
To the Fall
Prescott Lane - 2018
Boy meets girl, they fall in love, two kids, white picket fence. This isn’t that story. This is more like... Man meets woman. Man sleeps with woman. Man meets another woman, sleeps with her. And so on. You get the idea.I own a small boutique hotel in New Orleans, the Kingston. I’ve seen men do some stupid stuff in the name of the woman they love, or at least the woman they love for the night. That’s not me. I’m always in control. You’d be surprised how much you can get away with on just good manners and a smile. It’s the only way to keep my secrets safely locked away. And my smile hides a lot. Until her.She turns me down flat. Playing hard to get is my favorite game. It’s the thrill of the chase. Only problem is, I think it’s me that’s getting caught.
Forsaking Gray
K.L. Kreig - 2015
Deception. Betrayal.Within less than twenty-four hours of proposing to the love of Gray's life, Liva disappeared. No note. No trace. No explanation. Nothing. Now, five years later, she’s resurfaced and Gray will stop at nothing to make Livia his again. But is love enough to forgive an unforgivable wrong?Livia had less than sixty seconds to make a decision that would change her life forever. She sacrificed. She suffered. She survived. Now that she's back, she's determined that no one ever discover her shameful secret - especially the only man she's ever loved. But will hiding the past destroy her future?
Shallow River
H.D. Carlton - 2020
Now she's rebuilding her life with her dream man and life couldn't be better.Ryan Fitzgerald is everything you'd want in a man. Attractive, rich, an aspiring lawyer, and would do anything to keep River. But that's not the only thing that attracts her. It's his attentiveness, his possessiveness... maybe not so much his temper.When her relationship takes a dark turn, Ryan's estranged brother, Mako, is the only one who sees it. He knows exactly what Ryan is capable of, and it's not the first time he had to be a knight in shining armor.River came from Shallow Hill, though. She's never needed saving before. What Mako doesn't see, is that River is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.The only one who should be scared is Ryan.Trigger Warning: Shallow River is a dark romance that contains domestic violence, rape, violence, and sexual situations.
Misfit
R. Holmes - 2020
People, problems. Your broken heart with my cock. The list is endless.Until the day I stumbled upon a beautiful Înger who drew the evil right from my bone marrow.
Saving Alexander
Susan Mac Nicol - 2013
Seriously flawed, damaged by a horrific past, he’s trying hard to claw his way back to normality. But how can anyone respect what he truly is? His therapy involves regular sessions at Study in Scarlet, an exclusive S&M club.Then comes Sage. Tall, with black hair and blue eyes, an up-and-coming actor with impossible charm and boy-next-door good looks, he’s the perfect choice to play the leading man in a TV adaptation of Alex’s last best-seller. Even more, he is a man you introduce to your family. Which Alex would do—if he weren’t taken by another man who offers the punishments Alex prays will wipe away the past and make him the person he wants to be. Yet, perhaps there is another path to redemption. If only the solution would reach out and touch him.
Beautifully Brutal
Dani René - 2019
These are suspenseful romances that will leave you hungry for more! My beast hungers to be satiated. And my beauty is the only one who can feed it. In a world ravaged with violence, I still think about the beauty who was taken from me. I’ve turned rabid in her absence. The dormant beast she had tamed is ravenous, feeding on brutality and bloodshed. I focus on the kill, until Arthur confesses his trump card, shattering every hope I had of reclaiming her. Focused on the job at hand, I step into the lion’s den, only to find nothing is as it seems. My beast hungers to be satiated. And my beauty is the only one who can feed it. A dark treacherous journey where happily ever after may be just out of reach.
Lotus
Jennifer Hartmann - 2021
While there are references, and it does feature a secondary character from Still Beating, this is a standalone novel.
Dark Russian Angel
Odette Stone - 2019
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,And I witnessed a crime.The police are failing to protect me.And my chance of survival isn't looking good.Andrusha, is the cold and dangerous leader of the Vancouver Russian mafia,He's also my best chance to make it to trial alive.The only thing we have in common,Is our shared enemy.This man is everything your mom warned you about.He's ruthless.He's cold.And he likes to be in control.I should be afraid of him.I should keep my distance.So why is he the only one who makes me feel safe?Who will protect me from my protector?
Collared
Nicole Williams - 2016
. .Brings her home. Jade Childs spent ten years in captivity, but now that she’s back, the real battle for survival begins. The media shadows her. Flashbacks haunt her. Her old life evades her. Her so-called new life rejects her. She spent too many years in the dark to recognize the light. She spent too long repressing her feelings to remember how to express them. She spent a decade abandoning hope and cannot dare letting it back into her life. Jade’s not just defined by what happened to her—she’s collared to it.When the twenty-seven-year-old woman is found,A community wants to know the story,Parents want to forget the story,Friends want to be a part of the story,And the man who still loves her faces the greatest challenge yet: letting her go.