Book picks similar to
The Raw Touch by Serena Akeroyd
dark
arcs
bdsm
mafia
The Beast
Jaden Wilkes - 2014
From the rough streets of Moscow to the highest ranks in the Solntsevskaya Bratva, he has seen it all.An attack four years ago left him disfigured and in seclusion, hiding from reactions to his appearance and in safety from those who failed to kill him the first time.Comfortable in his penthouse, managing his billion dollar businesses, he's resigned himself to be alone, simply called The Beast among those who've dealt with him in the past.Columbia Grey is a pseudo-activist trying to save her neighbourhood from a developer intent on levelling it to build apartment towers. She goes along with a plan to confront the CEO of the company on his own turf, to force him to listen to her demands...all in a pathetic attempt to impress a man she barely likes.Little does she know, she's taken herself into the mouth of the beast, a man familiar with death and destruction, sex and seduction, a man used to getting exactly what he wants and a man with nothing left to lose.She's a beauty, but will that be enough to tame the beast and save her life?*** This is not a fairy tale, this is what happens when the music ends and life goes on after the credits roll. This is about simply existing until you find yourself and write your own happily ever after, no matter what form it takes.
Heartless Prince
Stella Hart - 2018
I’ve watched her from afar, and now it’s time for me to claim my prize - Tatum Marris, the girl I bought. My newest and prettiest toy. She will serve me. Cater to my every wicked whim. Sate my desire for complete control. I’ll own her pleasure, and one day, she’s going to beg for more. She keeps pretending she's pure and innocent, but that isn’t true. I know her darkest secrets, and one way or another, I’ll make her confess every last sin. I’ll make her fear me. Make her submit. Deep down, she knows she belongs with me. She knows she deserves to be punished. Caged. Owned. Tatum Marris, you’re now the property of Elias King. Note: This novel contains disturbing content that may be offensive to some readers. Heartless Prince is the first book in the Dark Dynasty trilogy. The story continues in Vicious King.
Plausibility
Jettie Woodruff - 2013
Aquilla Chavez was raised by a loving father and a brother who may have loved her a little too much. Aquilla was spoiled and adored, bringing cheer when disaster threatened a family. She was exposed to a life of crime, all while lovingly being sheltered and protected from it. Will she ever reclaim the one man who she believes to be the love of her life? She didn’t want to be where she was forced to be. She wanted nothing to do with the person she was involuntary turned into. Aquilla had one goal - one goal that would save her from the catastrophic life she was suddenly thrown into. She had to find him. She had to try, or was this the plausibility of a life she was meant to have? Was the life she was torn from the disastrous life? Could this be where she was meant to be? How would she ever know? What if he found her? What if she never saw him again? What if.... she didn’t want to? If you are into lovey dovey, sappy romance, you should probably move on. This book contains explicit sex, drugs, and adult language. Not your typical every day romance.
Blame It on the Pain
Ashley Jade - 2016
It hurts us. It pushes us. It punishes us. Or, for the few poor souls out there like me...it defines us. I'm not a good person. There are no redeeming qualities about me...not anymore. Any that I had, I'd given to the devil on the night that changed everything. The night my baby sister died. The night I murdered her killer. Yes, I've taken a life...and I would do it again in a heartbeat. And I would never, ever, have an ounce of regret for being who I am. Until her. My name is Jackson Reid. There are two things you need to know about me. The first—is that I'm in love with Alyssa Tanner. The second—is that I'm a murderer. My name is Alyssa Tanner, but you probably know me as the whore who caused her step-father to lose the election for New York City Mayor. And you would be right- because the day the world branded me a slut I decided to become one. You think you know all there is to know about me because you've seen what I look like naked. Believe me, you haven't even cracked the surface. What you don't know—is my past, because I've been forced to keep it a secret to ensure my safety. What you don't know is my pain. Because if you did—you'd be dead. I bet you think you know how this story will unfold...but trust me, you really have no idea. Warning: Due to strong language, some violence, explicit sexual content, and some dark elements, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18. This is a full-length, novel. (100,000+ words.)
Explicit Instruction
Scarlett Finn - 2014
But an unexpected reprieve comes in the form of a stranger, a looming silhouette more terrifying than the evil that captured her. From him she learns that danger has an alias, Rushe. He is abrupt, crude, domineering...and her only hope for survival.With freedom a distant memory, Flick is reluctantly drawn into the criminal plot. As she descends further, her entanglement with Rushe becomes deeper. The adventure she started by accident threatens them; but Flick knows it’s not only her life she is battling for, it’s her heart as well.Warning: Contains explicit language and imagery.
Alpha
Jasinda Wilder - 2014
Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just "VRI Inc.," and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: "You." Just those three letters.If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?I did.The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: "belong."A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. "To me."The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't.And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: "It's time to pay your debt."Would you have gotten in?I did.It turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.
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.
To Have and to Hold
Ketley Allison - 2018
Him: outgoing, intimidating, and wild, all the things I wasn’t.Yet we collided, smoke turning to stardust changed to flesh.Such catastrophic connection couldn’t last. We split apart—not separated, because that word is so gentle and we cracked in half—and I haven’t seen him in two and a half years.We aren’t the same; we never were. I hoped, but hope is nothing but a hellbent dream. I made it two years without him, I could make it forever more.I became, in one word, happy.And then I was kidnapped.Spence...save me...TO HAVE AND TO HOLD is Ketley Allison's stunning new novel that combines the heartwarming chance of finding lost love with the terrifying concept of being taken against your will. This thriller will heat you all the way through, then chill you to the bone.
The Boss
Melanie Moreland - 2021
New added content for a complete romantic suspense experience.
Dishonored
Bethany-Kris - 2018
A woman with nothing to lose. Caesar Accardo is gasoline. Mostly harmless while stable, but Aria holds the match to set the dishonored Cosa Nostra prince on fire in more ways than one. And if he burns down everything in his path because of it—so be it. The problem is … she just wasn’t prepared for all of him. Aria De Rose is a hurricane. Amazing from afar, but destructive up close. Caesar keeps getting pulled into the Camorra queen’s plans in her effort to gain power, but he’s a better player than she knows. The thing is … women like her are the reason why rules are meant to be broken. Philadelphia isn’t ready for game these two are playing—the sacrifices they make might not be worth it in the end, and someone will always lose in a war. They’re broken, so very vicious, and they are not the good guys. But for every villain in the world, there’s a monster at his back who made him that way. And monsters like those hide in plain sight. Note: This is a standalone romance with content that some might find triggering. Be warned, and read with caution.
Bang
E.K. Blair - 2014
But I’m not innocent. I haven’t been for a very long time. My innocence was stolen from me. Taken was the life I was supposed to have. The soul I was born with. The ruby heart embedded in a life full of hopes and dreams.Gone.Vanished.I never even had a choice. I mourn that life. Mourn the what-ifs. Until now. I’m ready to take back what was always meant to be mine.But every plan has a fatal flaw. Sometimes it’s the heart.**Due to the dark and explicit nature of this book, it is recommended for mature audiences only as some scenes may be particularly disturbing.**
Veil of Night
Linda Howard - 2010
But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed.The problem is, almost everyone— from the cake maker and the florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids’ dressmaker—had his or her own reason for wanting the bride dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie’s wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in the shadow of suspicion. Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.
Taken
J.C. Owens - 2011
If only it had stayed that simple.It had all gone wrong. Sent as a mercenary to kidnap Kirith Martinelli from his tropical island home, Landon finds himself on the wrong end of a job gone bad. But there's more to Kirith than meets the eye - he's the brother of feared mob boss Enzo Martinelli, and he's taken Landon as his captive. Kirith makes Landon an offer he can't refuse: stay with him for three months - until he tires of Landon's body - and then Landon may go free.Landon, fearing his own criminal family more than the man before him, quickly agrees. Three months will buy him enough time for his brothers to lose his scent, and then freedom will be his. But that freedom has a steeper price than Landon bargained for as he's drawn into the secrets of Kirith's past. He can't ignore the sadness and loss behind his captor's beautiful eyes, and Landon finds himself wondering if three months will be enough - for either of them...
Hunter
Eden Summers - 2018
I've been running for ten years - fleeing my past and clawing my way toward an inescapable act of vengeance. Until he walks into my life, sure and strong and full of secrets. He dilutes my thirst for retribution with his touch. He obliterates my need for solitude with his kiss. But it's his hidden agenda that makes the hair on the back of my neck prickle. He wants something. Something that doesn't revolve around sweaty skin and tangled silk sheets like he'd have me believe. I have to stop falling for him, otherwise the last ten years will all be for nothing. I need to keep running, keep fighting for vengeance, even though I know he will track me down. But trying to escape him is just another problem. Because now I crave the hunt.
The Professional
Kresley Cole - 2014
Ordered to protect her, Aleksei will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.Rules are made to be broken…Grad student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the dark and breathtaking Sevastyan before the professional enforcer whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. Every day under his protection leads her deeper under his masterful spell.Are you ready to play?Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true...