Book picks similar to
Forbidden With Me by Leigh Lennon


suspense
romantic-suspense
age-gap
arcs

Machiavellian


Bella Di Corte - 2020
     I hungered to be seen. There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello: He was gorgeous. He was reclusive. He was considered one of New York’s most savage animals. And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement – you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave. Life was never that simple, though. By the age of twenty-one, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings. Capo might’ve been the only man to ever see me, but I had made a vow to myself: I would never owe anyone anything. Most of all, the man I called boss. I killed to stay hidden. Mariposa Flores thought she owed nothing to no one, but she owed everything…to me, the ghost the world had once called The Machiavellian Prince of New York.

After All


Karina Halle - 2017
    Light, fun and sexy as sin, it's the PERFECT SUMMER READ. From the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of The Pact and Before I Ever Met You. Emmett Hill is the perfect gentleman. At least that's what his PR team wants the world to think. Tall, handsome, and wickedly charming, Emmett is in the midst of a career comeback, having landed the role of a villain in a popular TV show. The only problem is, Emmett has come a long way from the "nice guy" characters he used to play and his old squeaky clean image is quickly being tarnished by bar fights, womanizing and bad boy behaviour. Considering he's two years shy of forty, it's an act he needs to drop. And fast. Enter Alyssa Martin. At twenty-eight, Alyssa is tired and ready for a change. Her job as office manager has grown stagnant and unfulfilling, while she's become continuously frustrated with Vancouver's lackluster dating scene, always searching for Mr. Right in a city of Mr. Wrongs. When Emmett and Alyssa's paths cross at a mutual friend's wedding, their chemistry is off-the-charts hot, culminating in a steamy one-night stand. What neither expected was for the media catch wind of their coupling - and run with it. Now Emmett has to convince Alyssa to date him for the sake of his image. Her curvy, cute and "normal" persona is just the ticket to smoothing out his reputation, while Emmett provides Alyssa with the excitement and change her life has been lacking. The only problem is, the two fight like cats and dogs outside of the bedroom. And considering their arrangement is just for show, they shouldn't be in the bedroom with each other anyway. Right? Try telling them that.

Dominic


Kat Mizera - 2016
    Dom Gianni takes a lot of punishment in the hockey rink, but when he sees Molly McCarran getting beaten up by her husband, he’s ready to throw down his gloves and fight for her. But Molly isn’t about to trust another man—and Dom is already skating on thin ice with his NHL-mandated probation. Besides, how could a hotshot player like Dom really care about a woman so much older than he?Then a kidnapping ups the stakes. If Molly can’t believe in Dom, and if he can’t dig deep to save her, it might be the final buzzer for them both.

Torch


Cambria Hebert - 2013
    All she’s ever wanted is a place to call her own—a life that is wholly hers that no one can take away. She thought she finally had it, but with the strike of a single match, everything she worked so hard for is reduced to a pile of smoking ash. And she almost is too.Now she’s being stalked by someone who’s decided it’s her time to die. The only thing standing in the path of her blazing death is sexy firefighter Holt Arkain.Katie’s body might be safe with Holt… but her heart is another story.As the danger heats up, sparks fly and the only thing Katie knows for sure is that her whole life is about to go up in flames.

Code Of Silence


J.L. Drake - 2016
    He’s known for solving even the most impossible cases. Except for one… The murder of Stacy and Charlie Knight is still open, and Agent Colin doesn’t have an answer. What happened to the small town girl and her mysterious lover who were killed over twenty years ago? Colin has one suspect, but he’s never found any evidence to back up his hunch—until now. The Mafia is involved, and Agent Colin is hell-bent on proving it… Agent Colin travels back to Nashville where the murders took place to revisit the case. With some help, he manages to infiltrate the Mafia and finally uncover enough proof to pin down the elusive murderer. Sometimes the answer you have been chasing can also be the key to your future… There is more riding on this case than just Agent Colin’s reputation. The choices he makes will change not only his life, but those of the people he’s grown to care about. Will Colin finally close the case that’s been dragging him down, or will he take justice into his own hands and take the… Code of Silence?

Rooke


Callie Hart - 2017
    Car thief. Heartbreaker extraordinaire.Rooke Blackheath has spent enough time in juvie to know that he really doesn’t want to go to jail. The food sucks, the clothes itch, and there are absolutely no women in sight. Well…none he wants to fuck, anyway. He should probably stop boosting cars, but the money is stellar and the high is out of this world. And why should he turn his back on something that sets his soul on fire anyway? The answer to that question comes in an unexpected form: a petite five-foot-three firecracker named Sasha who refuses to give him the time of day no matter how thick he lays on the charm. Rooke’s not easily deterred, though. Just like the watches he builds from scratch, Rooke knows all too well how women tick. Women are a game to him. A game he always wins. Sasha doesn’t stand a chance.***Sasha Cross’s life has been permanently derailed since her son died five years ago. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, of course. She has a great job, a beautiful house, and caring friends. Every week, she hosts a book club featuring the sexiest, most romantic stories on the planet, and every week she falls for a new fictional knight in shining armor. Fictional men are perfect, though. They don’t hurt you. They don’t break your heart. They don’t cheat on you after your child dies, and they rarely ever leave the toilet seat up. When Rooke Blackheath shows up at Sasha's workplace, it’s clear he’s nothing like the men who grace the pages of Sasha's favorite books. Dangerous, arrogant, sharp-tongued and sarcastic, Rooke’s not the kind of guy she needs in her life. Not to mention the fact that he’s eleven years her junior. They don’t live in different worlds. As far as Sasha is concerned, Rooke lives in a different galaxy altogether. She’d like to keep it that way, but fate appears to have other plans.When Cinderella lost her shoe, Prince Charming showed up at her door. When Sasha Cross loses her book, an entirely different kind of rogue comes a-knocking.

Forever Never


Lucy Score - 2021
    Especially when they’re all the same woman.Under Brick Callan’s mile-wide chest beats a loyal heart with a few cracks in it. He’s the steadfast, overprotective type. Especially when it comes to the one woman he can never have. It’s a long, complicated history punctuated by fights, friendship, family, and an attraction that strains his iron willpower.When Remi Ford returns to Mackinac Island in the dead of winter with a secret, Brick makes it his mission to find out what put the shadows in those green eyes. Even if it means breaking down the walls he’s built between them. Even if it means falling for the one girl he’ll never get over.The free-spirited artist just needs to lay low for a few weeks so she can figure a way out of this nightmare. She’s definitely not staying. Not when the man who broke her teenage heart into splinters keeps showing up at her parents’ dinner table. Remi doesn’t need broody, bearded Brick riding to her rescue…again. Not when it will put them both in danger, costing them much more than their hearts.Author’s Note: Frenemies-to-lovers. Opposites attract. Slow burn. Girl in danger. Glorious, glorious banter. Fighting as foreplay. Small-town shenanigans. Big, grumpy, pining, overprotective hero. Wild-child, trouble-finding heroine who keeps on pushing the hero’s buttons. Steam Level: Lava. Suspense: Nail-biting. Feels: Big time.

King of Code


C.D. Reiss - 2017
    Step by step, and for every step she'll unlock a piece of his system.Kissing unlocks a partition.Touching unlocks another.Using your mouth to…How far is this crazy woman going to go?They hate each other. They can't keep away from each other. They're decoding each other with every step, until all Harper's secrets are revealed, and Taylor risks losing his heart as well as his company.

Collateral Damage


Jemma Westbrook - 2019
    No promises. One night neither of them can forget. Bess was supposed to be letting loose, taking one more step away from a man she’s ready to leave in her past. But being dragged to a bar is about as far from a night of fun as Bess can imagine. She’d rather be outside, enjoying peace and isolation, instead of crouched on the sticky floor while her best friend loses her lunch. And then abandons her. But when a handsome stranger saves Bess from more than just a night of awkward conversation, she decides to do something bold. Something daring. And it will change her life forever. ***Collateral Damage is the 11,000 word prequel to Loss Recovery and will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat.***

Waiting for my Queen


Georgia Cates - 2020
    I was foolish enough to try to change the rules… and I lost.Luca—She was promised to me years ago.And he dared to take her from me.Dared to touch what was mine.I put an end to that.I hope he’s enjoying the view from his dirt room.Emilia—My beloved’s killer placed a ruby ring on my finger and called me his queen. But that red gem symbolizes something different for me. It represents the blood shed by those I love most.Hell was empty the day we wed.Because the devil was standing before me and said “I do.”Luca—I saw her as a possession.A shiny toy I didn’t want other boys to play with.But she’s so much more.Beautiful and brave and strong and broken all at once.She tastes like everything I’ve ever wanted.Emilia—Hidden and patient.I wait for the perfect time to seek my revenge.But slowly, I feel him possessing me.His heart is full of darkness… and I still want every inch of him.Hard as I try, I can’t escape loving this beautiful monster.Luca—I’m waiting patiently because I already know that she’s mine.Mine in a way that no one will ever understand.Even if she hasn’t yet realized it.For love, I’d do anything. For her, I’d do everything.

Submissive Lies


Shane Starrett - 2019
    Smart, sweet, gorgeous... but that first spark I’d felt between us had fizzled. There’s something wrong with me, something broken. Or... at least I thought it was broken. Then I met Steve. We went from spark to raging inferno with one flick of his eyebrow, one dangerous smile, and now all I can think about is the side of myself I’d tried so hard to lock away. He’s everything Thomas isn’t. He’s everything I’ve been missing. Fire and passion... and dominance. If I was a good girl, a vanilla girl, I could have been happy with Thomas. But now that I’ve met Steve, I know that’s impossible.My name is Jen. I am a submissive.I’ve deceived everyone around me about who I am, and I’ve lied to myself. But this time I won’t.This time I will choose happiness... even if it hurts.

Deklan


Shay Savage - 2017
    I am his currency.I’m supposed to marry the recently crowned mafia king of the Foley family as repayment for my father’s transgressions. I don’t understand why the Foleys would want me, but I’ve grown up in a crime family, and I know the ugly consequences of not doing what you’re told. But as the wedding date approaches, the deal changes, and I’m about to be wed to a man I know nothing about. In fact, I don’t even know his last name.Instead of becoming a mafia princess, I’m marrying the henchman.Deklan.After one look at him, I’m not sure I’ll survive the wedding night.

For the Fight


Leah Ashton - 2018
    He’s a SWAT team operator who broke her heart.The gunman holding them hostage? He’s got no idea who he’s dealing with...Luella Brayshaw doesn’t think when she sees Nate Rivers, twelve years since he walked away. She just feels – all the hurt, and all the heat – and she runs. But by the time her brain clicks into gear she’s on a random train, with Nate – and that’s when it all goes very, very wrong.Driven and dedicated, Elite SWAT tactical operator Nate Rivers knows he made the right decision all those years ago. Although it’s hard to remember why with Lou right in front of him, all strong, gorgeous and justifiably furious with him.But then a gunman takes their carriage hostage… and suddenly the past doesn’t matter. Now it’s up to Nate and Lou – unarmed - to save everyone on that train.When their past and present collide, passion ignites – as hot and as powerful as a decade before. But can the mistakes of the past be forgiven? Or will they destroy any chance of a future together?** For the Fight is the first book in the Elite SWAT series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliff-hanger endings. For the Fight was previously published as Undaunted (WASP Team #1).

Darkest Perception


Shari J. Ryan - 2018
    However, it turned out I was in the wrong class, with the wrong professor, at the wrong time. One decision to become an apprentice changed my entire life.After being left with nothing, including my true identity, money, family, and friends, I was evicted from my apartment. I knew I’d have to run and hide while struggling with starvation, but then a shady job offer became an appealing option in the midst of my desperation. I was fully aware of the risks involved, but I’m well versed in reading people and assuming their intentions. Therefore, I was confident I wouldn’t end up being that woman who ran into a trap that was decorated with luxurious accommodations and high-class amenities. I also wasn’t the type to reach for bait disguised as a gorgeous man with lust pooling in his eyes.As it turns out, though … I was wrong about everything—almost everything. I fell into the rabbit hole where nothing was as it seemed from the outside, and I had no clue I was the puppeteer of it all.

Take a Breath


Jaimie Roberts - 2013
    Feelings which had been bottled up for so long are now bursting to get out. I can no longer hide the overwhelming emotions that flow through me.Unfortunately, neither can a serial killer on the loose dubbed “The Blonde Killer.” I am his obsession.And Jake, the senior detective in charge of the Major Investigations Unit, is responsible for catching the murderer.I’m scared, but I know Jake will do everything in his power to protect me.I feel things can’t get any worse.Until they do.