Book picks similar to
Dark Legacy by Theresa Charles


gothic
the-shelf
romance
everything-not-contemporary

Shadows in the Mirror


Linda Hall - 2007
    Yet to discover who she was, Marylee had to go back, sure the Lord would look out for her. But learning anything about her past was proving impossible. Why were there no records of the accident that claimed her parents' lives? No records of her parents, period? And who was trying to stop her from finding out? Someone whose threats were escalating. Someone close to her, such as Evan Baxter, the handsome photographer she'd entrusted with the one clue she had.

LIGHTS! SCALPEL! ROMANCE!


Jas Kohli - 2019
    

The Werewolf's Kiss


Cheri Scotch - 1992
    . . Sensual and seductive, it holds secrets that only the initiated may share. Sylvia Marley is drawn to the moonlit bayous, to her lover, Lucien, and to a choice between the debutante's life she knows and the werewolf's life she craves.But for Sylvie there is a hidden danger: A madman must have her power - the power she is unaware she possesses - to satisfy his desire, to make himself king of the Voodoos. All he needs is Sylvie's total surrender - and one act of ritual murder...

Shades of Red


Doris Mortman - 2005
    But her world suddenly comes crashing down. First, someone is sabotaging her company. Next, her enemies are moving in. And then someone begins to kill using the most insidious means possible--cosmetics that bear Vera's name. Martie Phelps is estranged from Vera, her mother. A military doctor in the first Gulf war, Martie has scars and demons she holds close. As a single mother, all she wants is a quiet life with her daughter. Now, the glamorous, complicated Vera Hart is making overtures to her: Vera wants Martie back in her life. Greta Hart wants her sister, Martie, to stay gone. Greta has always been the dutiful daughter who Vera has taken for granted. This current crisis is helping Vera pull Martie closer. And Greta doesn't like it. All three women are searching for answers. Who wants to bring down Vera Hart? How intense can a rivalry between estranged sisters get? And when will the killer strike next?

Dawn/Secrets/Twilights/Midnight


V.C. Andrews - 1981
    

Post-Apocalypticon (The Apocalypticon Trilogy Book 2)


Clayton Smith - 2018
    His madcap last-hurrah road trip from Chicago to Disney World ended in disaster; he lost his best friend, and he’s spent the three years since weighed down by ghosts and haunted by tragedy. He’s found a shred of purpose back on Horace’s train, riding the rails and teaching new Red Caps how to protect the dwindling freight. When the train is beset by bandits who steal a particularly precious piece of cargo, Ben heads out into the high desert of the Colorado-Utah borderlands on a post-apocalyptic mission to get back what he’s lost. He’s not alone, though...he has the memory of Patrick Deen to guide him at every turn—for better or for worse. With a desert full of snakes and cults and messengers and cliff-dwellers and all manner of after-doomsday weirdness ahead of him, plus a sinister blonde woman thundering dangerously along his trail, hunting him for reasons he can’t possibly fathom, Ben is going to need all the guidance he can get. But when he learns the real reason for the train robbery—and of the mysterious doctor who controls the bandits and performs gruesome experiments on M-Day survivors in his remote lab, protected by an army of dusters—well...this might be one adventure he can’t machete his way out of. It’s a hilarious, harrowing, and heart-breaking sequel that confirms: the apocalypse is hard...but a world post-Apocalpyticon may be more than Ben can handle.

Bad Things


Tamara Thorne - 2002
    But it really belongs to them…The Piper clan emigrated from Scotland and founded the town of Santo Verde, California. The Gothic Victorian estate built there has housed the family for generations, and has also become home to an ancient evil forever linked to the Piper name…As a boy, Rick Piper discovered he had “the sight.” It was supposed to be a family myth, but Rick could see the greenjacks—the tiny mischievous demons who taunted him throughout his childhood—and who stole the soul of his twin brother Robin one Halloween night.Now a widower with two children of his own, Rick has returned home to build a new life. He wants to believe the greenjacks don't exist, that they were a figment of his own childish fears and the vicious torment he suffered at the hands of his brother. But he can still see and hear them, and they haven't forgotten that Rick escaped them so long ago. And this time, they don't just want Rick. This time they want his children…

You Never Know


Akash Verma - 2017
    . There will be times when it will be the worst that has happened to you There will be times when you know you are getting into something horrible, something that will not stop till it destroys you, And yet . . . You are pulled so inextricably, unstoppably . . . She was my true love, I knew that. So despite being married and having children, I still went ahead with our affair. I hid it from my wife and colleagues. I told lies so I could be with her-it was that amazing! But I couldn't hide from the dark truth she was keeping. It pulled me into a vortex of danger so deep that I lost all I had. It happened to me and if you think it won't happen to you think again.

Unforgettable


Caroline B. Cooney - 1994
    Here, a teenage girl who witnesses a strange crime--and then suffers amnesia--is rescued by a handsome college student.

Devil's Wind


Patricia Wentworth - 1912
    When Helen’s father dies, she moves in with Adela and her husband, the dashing Captain Richard Morton. Adela’s flirtatious behavior and imperious attitude set tongues wagging in the expatriate community, but when the spirit of rebellion spreads like wildfire amongst the sepoys of the East India Company, the time for gossip is over.   Fleeing the massacre at Cawnpore, Helen, Adela, and Captain Morton discover that the sins of yesterday are never forgotten, and that true love can blossom in even the most tragic of circumstances.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

In Darkness Waiting


John Shirley - 1988
    Although In Darkness Waiting begins in much the same vein as many horror novels (mysterious deaths; a small town invaded by evil; plucky, attractive young lovers; the logical level-headed doctor; some salt-of-the-earth townsfolk...) by its end you will have discovered it is not "just another horror novel." With its exploration of the "insect" inside us all, In Darkness Waiting proves more relevant today than ever. Considering a read of In Darkness Waiting is like considering a trip through the Amazon with no weapons and no vaccinations and no shoes. It's like contemplating a journey in the Arctic clad only in your underwear. Or maybe it's more like dropping into one of those spelunker's challenges, those chilling pitch-black shafts into the Earth's crust-and when you get down there your light burns out and you remember the chitinous fauna of the cavern... Unlike undertaking those endeavors, you can get through the harrowing pages of In Darkness Waiting alive (although we are not promising you'll remain unscathed.) Towards the end you'll discover one of the most extreme yet literate passages ever written. It may well be the most outré scene ever created. But John Shirley wasn't after shock alone. Shock is never enough for him.

The Gift Shop


Charlotte Armstrong - 1966
    But when a fatally wounded private eye staggers off a plane, gasps out a message, and collapses in front of the souvenirs, pretty Jean Cunliffe finds herself at the heart of a dangerous plot beyond anything she ever imagined.At the side of a mysterious playboy millionaire who has asked for her help, Jean is pitched into an international chase as they try to stay one step ahead of the killers. She’s within a hairsbreadth of unraveling the mystery—if only she can do it without giving away the secret to her enemies!

Your Secret Admirer


Carl Laymon - 1980
    I know lots about you...From the moment I saw you in the park I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. Thoughts of you fill my days and haunt my nights...With all my heart,Your Secret Admirer"Janice's best friend things the guy who's writing these letters is looney--and may be dangerous! After all, what kind of person goes around sending anonymous letters? But Janice is secretly thrilled about the mystery person who is in love with her. Maybe now, Mike, the guy she really likes, will hear about her secret admirer and begin to take notice!

She: A History of Adventure


H. Rider Haggard - 1886
    The journey is triggered by a mysterious package left to Leo by his father, to be opened on his 25th birthday; the package contains an ancient shard of pottery and several documents, suggesting an ancient mystery about the Vincey family. Holly and Leo eventually arrive in eastern Africa where they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen, Ayesha, who reigns as the all-powerful "She" or "She-who-must-be-obeyed" and who has a mysterious connection to young Leo. The story expresses numerous racial and evolutionary conceptions of the late Victorians, especially notions of degeneration and racial decline prominent during the fin de siècle. In the figure of She, the novel notably explored themes of female authority and feminine behaviour. It has received praise and criticism alike for its representation of womanhood. (From Wikipedia)

Beyond Armageddon IV: Schism


Anthony DeCosmo - 2011
    For Trevor Stone, however, what began as a straightforward battle for survival has grown into a complex campaign against both external and internal adversaries. While his forces confront a human/alien alliance, Trevor finds that his most dangerous enemy is much closer to home. Schism is the fourth installment in the five-part Beyond Armageddon series and features massive battles over the skies of California, a conspiracy that will shake the foundation of humanity's empire, and a conversation with the gods. Get Ready. Hold on. Choose your side.