Book picks similar to
Pretty Little Mess by Carmel Rhodes


dnf
romance
office-romance
contemporary-romance

Temporary Bliss


B.J. Harvey - 2013
    Temporary feelings. Until a late-night encounter creates a permanent longing for bliss of another kind… Makenna Lewis cringes at any mention of the word commitment. Her past experience with the L-word did little more than teach her that anything involving feelings is a dangerous path indeed. She no longer wants or needs a relationship, but she still enjoys men. Even if her attachment to them is only temporary.That is, until a late night encounter with the delicious Daniel Winters turns her preconceived notion of commitment completely on its head. He makes her feel things she vowed to never feel again, and when Daniel pushes for more than she’s willing to give, she falters.What do you do when something that you’ve known to be so wrong in the past feels so damn right in the present?If you’re Mac, you run and hide.Lucky for Mac, Daniel isn’t the type of man who takes no for an answer.

The Intern, Volume 1


Brooke Cumberland - 2014
    Cecilia isn’t your typical college student. Hell, she isn’t a college student at all, but that doesn’t stop her from applying for one of the biggest and prestigious enterprises in the Midwest.She wants it. She takes it.She doesn’t let anything get in her way when it comes to finding out the truth.When Bentley Leighton, soon-to-be CEO of Leighton Enterprises, meets “Ceci,” he’s instantly impressed. He doesn’t have time to train a new intern. However, when he sees her that first day, his intentions begin to change.He’s the boss. She’s the intern.Nothing can happen. It’s against the company rules.Then again, some rules were made to be broken.What starts as innocent flirting becomes raveled up into so much more—secrets, lies, deceit.*The Intern is a three-part romantic suspense serial.*Not suitable for readers under 18.

The Wife Arrangement


Penny Wylder - 2018
    Until I met her. All my life I've been a lone-wolf. My favorite things are fast cars and a glass of brandy after a long day. Things were perfect. Until my father reminded me he controls my inheritance. If I don't bring a wife to the next family vacation, he's cutting me off. I hate having my hand forced... But I've got a plan. I asked my assistant to find me the most non-wife-material girl he can dig up. Once I parade her in front of my father, he'll be begging me to divorce her. I'll keep my inheritance without having to change my life for anyone. It seemed so easy. Then I met her. She's everything I never knew I wanted. And when she finds out I picked her because I thought she'd never fit into my world... It'll break her heart. This novel contains a hot alpha billionaire who NEEDS a wife. He won't rest until she's locked down with his ring on her finger. NO cheating, lots of kindle-melting action, and always a happily ever after!

Hate Crush


A. Zavarelli - 2019
     When I crash-landed into him on my first day at Loyola Academy, I was sure that couldn’t be true. He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in real life. Little did I know he was also the cruelest. I went from starstruck to stunned the moment his cynical eyes cut through me. I can’t tell you what it was that made him want to punish me. But from that day forward the brooding recluse of a man made it his goal to torment me. I want to loathe him, and some days, I do. But good or bad, nobody’s attention has ever tasted so sweet. What do you do when you have a hate crush on your bully? Worse yet, what do you do when he’s also your teacher? Hate Crush is a full length standalone age gap bully romance with a complete ending.

Birds of Paradise


Anne Malcom - 2018
    I was all of the hideous and ugly realities of the world packaged into one broken human being.He came to kill me.That was his business.Death.He ripped me out of my natural environment, the prison I'd created, and locked me away with all of his beautiful dead things.I hated him.I still hate him.But if I was given the choice and the ability to leave this cage, come back to life, I'd stay dead.In all of my hideous splendor.Because my murderer can only possess dead things.And I can only be possessed by someone more broken and ugly than me.

Rush


Maya Banks - 2013
    They’re accustomed to getting anything they want. Anything at all. For Gabe, it’s making one particular fantasy come true with a woman who was forbidden fruit. Now she’s ripe for the picking...When Gabe Hamilton saw Mia Crestwell walk into the ballroom for his hotel’s grand opening, he knew he was going to hell for what he had planned. After all, Mia is his best friend’s little sister. Except she’s not so little anymore. And Gabe has waited a long time to act on his desires.Gabe has starred in Mia’s fantasies more than once, ever since she was a teenager with a huge crush on her brother’s best friend. So what if Gabe’s fourteen years older? Mia knows he’s way out of her league, but her attraction has only grown stronger with time. She’s an adult now, and there’s no reason not to act on her most secret desires.As Gabe pulls her into his provocative world, she realizes there’s a lot she doesn’t know about him or how exacting his demands can be. Their relationship is intense and obsessive, but as they cross the line from secret sexual odyssey to something deeper, their affair runs the risk of being exposed—and vulnerable to a betrayal far more intimate than either expected.

Provocative


Lisa Renee Jones - 2017
    They change us, mold us, maybe even save us. But some are darker, dangerous. If we allow them to, they control us. Seduce us. Quite possibly even destroy us. The moment I walked into Sonoma’s Reid Winter Winery and Vineyard and made eye contact with Faith Winter for the first time was one of those moments. Provocative because I know at least one of her secrets, of which, I suspect she has many. Provocative because she believes I was a stranger to her when we met, but I am not. Provocative because I sought her out, with no intention of touching her. But now I have. Now I want her. Now I have to have her. But that changes nothing. It doesn’t change why I came for her.

The CEO Buys In


Nancy Herkness - 2015
    His company may be thriving, but he can’t find a woman who sees him for more than his wealth. With his love life in the red, he meets two other billionaire bachelors at the ultra-exclusive Bellwether Club. The three of them make a wager of the heart: they must find women who love them for who they are, not their money.Savvy office temp Chloe Russell is trying to scrape together the money she needs to support her grandmother. So when a flu epidemic strikes Trainor Electronics and she’s promoted to Nathan Trainor’s assistant, she jumps at the lucrative opportunity. But then Nathan himself falls ill, and he and Chloe must work from his penthouse while he recuperates. Before long, it’s clear there’s genuine heat between them, and it’s more than just a fever spike. Will Nathan win Chloe’s heart—and the bet? Or will their differences destroy any chance for love?

Masterson


Lisa Lang Blakeney - 2015
    That was my first mistake…A dangerous professional fixer. A sweet computer nerd. A passion that borders on the possessive. An attraction that’s completely off limits to explore… After Elizabeth Hill is brutally attacked in her apartment by an intruder and then unceremoniously dumped by her ex-boyfriend, she moves in with family that she barely knows for protection. All she remembers about her aunt’s stepson, Roman, is that he was the moody, mean boy who played a cruel trick on her when she was just six years old; but soon learns that he is now a complex and multi-layered man who has the ability to protect her, ignite her, and challenge her like no one ever has before. Wealthy Roman Masterson makes his fortune by fixing celebrity problems for big money and by any means necessary. He is a foul-mouthed, bad-tempered, manwhore who doesn’t have the time or inclination to babysit a gullible little brat from the suburbs…until he unknowingly spots her in the middle of a crowded dance floor and decides right then and there to claim every one of her orgasms from that moment on. Little does he know that the woman he’s laid claim to is the same girl he’s been sworn to protect. Author Note: Please note that this book was previously published under the title of Cousins and ends on a cliffhanger.

Don't Lie to Me


Stacey Lynn - 2013
    What do you do when the man you love leaves, and the only man you’ve wanted since is the one you can’t have?When Emma’s first love walked away after learning she was pregnant, she was forced to pick up the pieces, re-evaluate her priorities, and change the course of her dreams all for the sake of her son, who became the only one who mattered.It also meant taking a job with Jack McMillan; powerful, sexy, controlled, and CEO of McMillan Holdings. Emma has spent the last several years keeping her dreams and fantasies of Jack to herself, but one night, and one encounter, changed everything.Once the walls between them are dropped and the truth is laid bare, will Jack and Emma’s new relationship be able to survive? When they are forced to confront their pasts, will they learn to finally put their trust in someone else, or will the lies that are told destroy them both?

To Have and Hate


Donna Alam - 2019
    Let me count the ways I loathe him. 1. He’s the bane of my existence. 2. A thorn in my side. 3. I’m pretty sure he’s the devil in disguise Or he at least has him on speed-dial. So why am I standing here, bouquet in hand, about to become his wife? He calls it a business proposition. I call it blackmail. He says our fighting is foreplay. I say he should be on meds. He says he has the power to destroy my company, I say with a husband like him, who needs enemies. But I can survive this six-month calamity. All I have to do is keep hating him . . . To Have and Hate includes an older hot Brit, a marriage of convenience, and is a hate-to-love fest, full of fire, fun, and smexytimes!>

Underneath It All


Kate Canterbary - 2014
    It's all the little things--the action plans, the long-kept promises--that started falling apart when my life slipped into controlled chaos. After I fell ass-over-elbow into Matthew Walsh's arms, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to run screaming or rip his pants off, and most days I wanted a little of both. If I was being honest with myself, it was rip his pants off, ride him like a workhorse, and then run screaming. Meet Matthew Walsh. A rebellious streak ran through Lauren Halsted. It was fierce and unrelentingly beautiful, and she wasn't letting anyone tell her what to do--unless, of course, she was naked. She wasn't looking for me and I sure as shit wasn't looking for her, but we found each other anyway, and now we were locked in a battle of wills, waiting for the other to blink.

Enter the Black Oak


Monique Edenwood - 2022
    He was also damaged and dangerous. Our love was a cosmic collision of lust and obsession that left me scorched by exquisite flames of desire and domination.Jack possessed me. He educated me. Loving him was the greatest pleasure I'd ever known... up until the moment I discovered the dark secrets he had been hiding.I could never have imagined that pulling myself out of the agony of betrayal would lead me to reconnect with a former friend, Cameron O'Neill, scion of one of Manhattan's wealthiest and most powerful dynasties, and sworn enemy of Jack.Cameron's craving for me was acute. The relentless force of his devastating masculine beauty and his powerful, controlled virility was dizzying. Desire colored his fierce gaze. I knew it was wrong. Jack would never allow it. I had to do everything within my power to resist him, even when he pulled me down the rabbit hole where I uncovered dark truths about Manhattan's most secret society that led me to the brink of madness...Enter The Black Oak is a thrilling romantic suspense set in Manhattan's high society. It won the International Book Award for 2021 in the category of Fiction-Romance.Enter The Black Oak will take you on a dangerous journey through lust, desire, betrayal and obsession that will leave you breathless by the end and desperate for more.Mature Audience.Enter The Black Oak features a love triangle between the heroine and two highly dominant and damaged men who are also sworn enemies. The novel is an homage to radical female strength and stunning masculine beauty. If depictions of powerful, beautiful, dominant but damaged men are not your thing, this may not be for you!Approximately 134,000 words.

Bite & Release


Cory Cyr - 2014
    Somewhere along the way her dreams of stardom crashed and burned, along with her life. Thirteen years later she is forced to return to Fairbanks because her unforgiving and emotionally-distant father has suddenly died. Ryan seizes the opportunity to not only escape her abusive husband but to be able to attend her best friend's wedding. What could go wrong? It's only Fairbanks, Alaska... While wishing she was anywhere but her father's funeral and wake, Ryan is struck senseless by a stunning, drop-dead gorgeous man. Her thoughts turn carnal and she desperately wants to know him in every way and position possible. There's only one problem... He's the devil's spawn. He's the one who marked her for life. He's the kid she used to baby-sit. And he's hotter than hell! Shea Michaels has loved Ryan Chase for most of his life. After surviving an unspeakable childhood, he became a man of whom she could be proud of...if she ever came back. Now that she's returned, Shea pursues her with a vengeance, undaunted by the thirteen year age difference that Ryan uses as the shield between them. Confusion, guilt and lust bombard Ryan as she battles the memories of the little boy she used to know while still being drawn to the heart-stopping man he has become.

Owned


M. Never - 2014
    Please pay close attention to the use of the words dark, erotic, and romance. It has intense sexual situations, a Master/slave relationship, mild abuse, and some violence. Reader discretion is advised. "I like you collared, baby. I like you naked, I like you mine.” Ellie Stevens has lusted over Kayne Roberts since he first walked into the import/export company she works for a little over a year ago. As Expo’s most important client, Ellie has always kept a safe distance from the man with the majestic blue eyes — until temptation finally gets the better of her. Impulsively, Ellie invites Kayne to one of Expo's infamous company parties her flamboyant boss is notorious for throwing. Unbeknownst to Ellie, the god in the Armani suit isn’t just the suave entrepreneur he portrays himself to be. Underneath the professional exterior is a man with a secret life, dark desires, and nefarious contacts. In a hidden corner of a trendy New York City lounge, the spark kindling between the two of them ignites. Unable to resist the sinful attraction, Ellie agrees to leave with Kayne, believing she is finally bedding the man of her dreams. Little does she know when she walks out the door, she’s about to be Owned.