Book picks similar to
Deadly Pretenses by Angelique Snowden
paranormal-romance
romance
ghosts
paranormal
The Lunar Effect
C.J. Pinard - 2018
Thankful for the help of her two older brothers, Ayla St. John learns to accept the wolf inside of her. Then she meets Ryder, the swoon-worthy high school football star who is impossible to resist. Despite being thrust into a supernatural world she didn’t know existed, she maintains her resolve to go to college and try to keep up a normal life, in spite of her monthly full moon disruption. As she begins to accept and thrive in her new life, a devastating tragedy rocks Ayla and her family. Now too restless and distraught to finish college, she moves into the big city of Denver to try to figure out how she’s going to go on after her shattering heartbreak. She decides seeking revenge is a good way to spend her time, until she finds herself on the wrong end of a vampire’s fangs. The psychic visions that begin to plague her after her attack are crippling. Her quest for vengeance has just doubled. As she hunts for two vampires, she meets Kellan, an infuriatingly sexy vampire himself—a natural enemy she is supposed to hate—and feels an instant pull to him. And he’s not going away anytime soon. He wants Ayla, but she’s got no time for the silly vampire, no matter how drawn she feels to him. She’s also still got Ryder wanting to build a life with her. Once Kellan finds out she’s become a hunter, will he still continue to pursue her? The Lunar Effect is book one in The Ayla St. John Chronicles, and is a paranormal romance for readers 18 and older.
Captivate Me
S.J. Pierce - 2014
Our blood is why they hunt us.After an incident at school that reveals her powers, Kat's parents ship her off to Midland Pines, a boarding school for the paranormally gifted, where she hopes to finish her senior year in peace. She makes new friends and has the attention of an illusionist name Levi, though something about his easy smile and crowding nature gives her pause.It's not long before the shadows in the woods call to her. There's a pull to them she can't ignore, and she swears one night that a boy watches her from the wood line--the same boy who appears in her dreams while a secret admirer leaves her flowers. One by one, students go missing. The school goes on lockdown, and the place she suspects she'll find the answers is the one place she knows she shouldn't go.What she finds there is more than she's ready for, including Gabe, a dark and captivating Half-breed like her. Their angelic origins mean more than just a source of divine power, it also means their blood is precious to those who need it for their own wicked purposes. He and his adoptive family claim they can keep her safe. Hidden. But because their existence must remain a secret, she'll also have to make an impossible choice to leave her old life behind.But not everything is as it seems, and she quickly learns that not everyone has her best interests in mind. She'll have to sort friend from foe, truth from lies, before time runs out. Her life, and everyone else's at Midland Pines, depends on it.Fans of HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick, FALLEN by Lauren Kate, and the HOUSE OF NIGHT series by P.C. and Kristin Cast will devour this Young Adult Paranormal Romance with plenty of action, danger, swoon-worthy teenage love, and a plot twist you'll never see coming. It has also been nominated for multiple awards for BEST VILLAIN! Complete series available now...
Lost Secret
Emily Reed - 2019
She’s dead. After months of fighting, Megan finally...I hadn’t felt it though. Wouldn’t I know if the only person I ever loved—I stumbled out of bed, tangling in my blankets, then raced to her room. Empty. The sheets were folded aside. She must be close. I moved down the hall toward our shared bathroom. The door stood open, but Megan wasn’t there. Backtracking, I checked the living room with its slouchy couches, and the kitchen with its worn countertops. No Megan. I pushed through the French doors out onto our balcony. The music district of Crescent City, a night owl’s paradise, lay still in the soft morning light. Megan’s flowers overflowed their boxes, spilling riotous colors down the wrought iron rail. I stood alone, a gentle breeze lifted a lock of my hair, and tears stung my eyes. Megan was gone.The police assumed she left of her own free will—there was no evidence of a break-in or struggle. "Maybe she was done fighting and couldn't tell you," the detective said, his brown eyes sympathetic."You didn't know her, she would never give up.""Often when people go missing, the loved ones they leave behind come to realize," he paused and took a breath, "that they didn't know them as well as they thought. Everyone has secrets, Darling," his voice drawled over my name. "Megan could barely walk," I ground out. "Somebody must have taken her.""But who would kidnap a dying young woman? How did they leave no evidence? Why didn't you hear them?" He asked. I didn't have any answers.It didn’t make sense. Nothing did anymore. Strange, exhilarating dreams began haunting my nights. A new hunger, an unquenchable thirst that felt almost…dangerous...ruled my days.Scared and alone, I couldn’t imagine the dark secrets my hunger hid. They’d been lost for so long—locked away, buried by time, and twisted by whispered lies—but when Megan was stolen everything began to unravel… Before it did, before I saw the dead rise, witnessed vampires feed, or visited the warlocks’ library, before I held a life at the edge of my lips, I was just Darling Price—a musician like so many others in this vibrant city. I struggled to pay bills, practiced with my band, and grieved for my missing sister. I was innocent and naive.I’d barely even been kissed. **Beware: This series is for adults who enjoy steamy paranormal romance with strong urban fantasy vibes and who don't mind a few f-bombs.**
The Awesome
Eva Darrows - 2015
She's also not like other girls her age, but then, who would be when the family business is monster hunting? Combat boots, ratty hooded sweatshirts, and hair worn short so nothing with claws can get a grip, Maggie's concerns in life slant more toward survival than fashion or boys. Which presents a problem when Maggie's mother informs Maggie that she can't get her journeyman's license for hunting until she loses her virginity.Something about virgin blood turning vampires into pointy rage monsters. Blood and gore and insides being on the outside and all that. Maggie's battled ghosts and goblins and her fair share of house brownies, but finding herself a boy - fitting in with her peers - proves a much more daunting task than any monster hunt. Did you know normal girls don't stuff their bras with holy water balloons? Nor do they carry wooden stakes in their waistbands. And they care about things like "matching" and "footwear." Of course, they also can't clean a gun blindfolded, shoot a crossbow, or exorcise ghosts from a house. Which means they're lame and Maggie's not. Because Maggie's awesome. The Awesome, in fact. Just ask her. She'd be more than happy to tell you. After she finds herself a date.
Night Beach
Kirsty Eagar - 2012
You crave them in a way that's not rational, not right, and you're becoming somebody you don't recognise, and certainly don't respect, but you don't even care. And this person you like is unattainable. Except for one thing... He lives downstairs.Abbie has three obsessions. Art. The ocean. And Kane.But since Kane's been back, he's changed. There's a darkness shadowing him that only Abbie can see. And it wants her in its world.A gothic story about the very dark things that feed the creative process.
The Mind Readers
Lori Brighton - 2010
Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth... that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.
Black Dog
Rachel Neumeier - 2014
Pure magic can protect humans against the supernatural evils they only half-acknowledge--the blood kin or the black dogs. In rare cases--like for Natividad's father and older brother--Pure magic can help black dogs find the strength to control their dark powers. But before Natividad's mother can finish teaching her magic their enemies find them. Their entire village in the remote hills of Mexico is slaughtered by black dogs. Their parents die protecting them. Natividad and her brothers must flee across a strange country to the only possible shelter: the infamous black dogs of Dimilioc, who have sworn to protect the Pure. In the snowy forests of Vermont they are discovered by Ezekiel Korte, despite his youth the strongest black dog at Dimilioc and the appointed pack executioner. Intrigued by Natividad he takes them to Dimilioc instead of killing them.Now they must pass the tests of the Dimilioc Master. Alejandro must prove he can learn loyalty and control even without his sister's Pure magic. Natividad's twin Miguel must prove that an ordinary human can be more than a burden to be protected. And even at Dimilioc a Pure girl like Natividad cannot remain unclaimed to cause fighting and distraction. If she is to stay she must choose a black dog mate. But, first, they must all survive the looming battle.
Wraith
Edie Claire - 2011
Until she saw him... Sixteen-year-old Kali has always seen two sets of people: those living now, and those who lived before. But on her spring break in Hawaii, she is suddenly surrounded by more shadows than ever. Including one who, unlike the others, can see her too. Zane remembers nothing besides surfing the monster waves of Oahu's North Shore. He doesn't even know how, or when, he died. He only knows that Kali's "gift" could be his last chance to find the light--before the mysteries of his past plunge them both into darkness...
His Hideous Heart
Dahlia AdlerMarieke Nijkamp - 2019
Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining “Metzengerstein”), Rin Chupeco (“The Murders in the Rue Morge”), Lamar Giles (“The Oval Portrait”), Tessa Gratton (“Annabel Lee”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“The Cask of Amontillado”), Stephanie Kuehn (“The Tell-Tale Heart”), Emily Lloyd-Jones (“The Purloined Letter”), Hillary Monahan (“The Masque of the Red Death”), Marieke Nijkamp (“Hop-Frog”), Caleb Roehrig (“The Pit and the Pendulum”), and Fran Wilde (“The Fall of the House of Usher”).
Cowboy's Cupid
Niki J. Mitchell - 2018
Cami Calypso receives her first assignment on Earth just in time for the Valentine season. As a newbie Cupid archer, her life is perfect until her arrow accidentally strikes the wrong man. She has sixty days to secure a job as the confident cowboy’s housekeeper and find him his soul mate—not keep him for herself. Rhett Holloway needs a housekeeper and cook. He doesn’t need an adorable blonde to distract him. He doesn’t need her to fix his love life. But here she is, and he finds her irresistible.
Spark
R.K. Close - 2020
But trying to stay out of the spotlight and track a killer may bring their own secret into the light.When a beautiful reporter starts digging into the deaths, Liam tries in vain to keep his distance. He's strangely drawn to the one woman in town that he should avoid at all costs.Jessica, a tenacious young reporter, is looking for her big break and exposing the mysterious deaths for the murders they are might be the catalyst to launch her career. But what is Captain McKenzie hiding behind his permanent scowl—reserves only for her? If she could stop losing herself in his captivating blue eyes, she might get some answers.While Jessica is determined to find the truth, Liam is challenged with the task of protecting the unsuspecting woman from a vampire who is hell-bent to make her acquaintance.
The Devouring Gray
Christine Lynn Herman - 2019
The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?
Intricate Obsessions (Intricate, #3)
Jennifer Rayes - 2019
Dominique has lost his mother, his crew, and his purpose, and is trying not to lose his sister, while playing a dangerous game with the Governor. Salim has confessed his treason and has threatened to eradicate Kayamato with the release of a deadly disease, unless he's given reigning power. Beneath it all, Antione's obsession simmers as he moves his final pieces into place. Will the players be able to fight their individual threats by coming together, or will they be picked off, one at a time, one after the other?
The Afterlife of Holly Chase
Cynthia Hand - 2017
They tried to convince her to mend her ways.She didn't.And then she died.Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.But this year, everything is about to change. . . .
The Phantom Forest
Liz Kerin - 2019
Though each of those souls will return to the mortal world for many future lives, not all of them deserve to.Seycia's father told her this story as a child -- a story of the most holy place in the Underworld, The Forest of Laida, where all souls go to rest before embarking on a new life. But Seycia's father is dead now, and his killer has put a target on her back.After being chosen for her village's human sacrifice ritual, Seycia is transported to the Underworld and must join forces with Haben, the demon to whom she was sacrificed, to protect the family she left behind from beyond the grave. In this story of love, survival, and what it means to be human, Seycia and Haben discover that the Underworld is riddled with secrets that can only be unlocked through complete trust and devotion, not only to their mission, but also to one another.