Book picks similar to
Pure Punishment by T.L. Smith
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romance
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dark-reads
Madeleine Abducted
M.S. Willis - 2013
As Maddy learns to save herself… She becomes the one thing that could set the son free. Madeleine Clark was raised to become a concert cellist. Sheltered and naïve, she remains hidden behind her music, a protection from the world around her. On the night of her first solo performance, Maddy accepts the admiration of a stranger and finds herself captive in a cruel and twisted power struggle between a sadistic father and his son, Aaron. Seemingly dangerous and uncaring, Aaron manages the business operations of his father’s estate. Wanting nothing to do with the slaves kept at the Estate, Aaron refuses to take part in the deeper depravities of his father. Despite his resistance, Aaron’s father ‘gifts’ him with a petite, brunette woman he can’t refuse. A bond forged in conspiracy and deceit, Aaron struggles to save Maddy by teaching her to survive in the world in which he’d been raised. An unlikely union, Aaron soon learns that great strengths can exist within small packages, while Madeleine learns that love and light can exist in the darkest of places.
That Which Destroys Me
Kimber S. Dawn - 2014
Love, happiness, and fairy tales… Yeah, they don't live here anymore. The only things residing amongst these thin and baren walls are Dominance, submission, and twisted obsession. Stella gets knocked down over and over throughout her life… Though she is bloodied and battered she stands back up every single time, smirks and nods before asking, "That all you got?". Wesley has shoved his way through the rich life with both middle fingers up. He's also shoved his way through half of the socialite population, but all that vanilla lifestyle has left him a starved man. He knows he can't keep his Dom fed with kinky little masochistic vanilla's anymore. On his mission to find the perfect sub, Wesley stumbles across a broken, shattered angel, only to find when she comes up swinging, that this little angel knows how to fight. He wants to be the one who breaks her… But it's not a question of who breaks her, the question is who destroys her. “We will fight, angel. We’ll fight hard. But it’ll be worth every strike below the belt. Every hateful or spiteful word said, because when we love, when we fuck, when our passion reaches an intensity so goddamn powerful like it has every single time, it’ll extinguish all the bad. I want all your hate, Stell… Just as much as I want all your love. We are doing this. And there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop it, angel. Is that understood?” ***Be Prepared to Expect the UNEXPECTED*** ***This is a story of perseverance, trying to overcome the transgressions that others inflict upon you, it’s a story of love gone wrong and obsession gone mad. This book contains explicit descriptions of violence, disturbing situations, and very strong language. This book is intended for MATURE AUDIENCE MEMBERS ONLY, and NOT intended for the weak at heart.***
Blackbird
Molly McAdams - 2017
I’ve trained for this. I know what to say, what to do, and how to act. I’ve perfected the lethal calm required for this life. Now it’s time to buy my first girl. But all it takes is one look at the brave girl who starts singing mid-auction for that calm to slip.Briar Chapman is going to be the death of me, and I don’t care. I’ll take every day with her until that death comes, and I’ll welcome it when it does.On the outside, Lucas Holt is what nightmares are made of. A man cloaked in darkness, with sin-filled eyes and an enticing grin. A devil so devastatingly beautiful and cruel that his very presence instills fear.But beneath his terrifying, ever-calm exterior is an affectionate man haunted by a past that refuses to stay buried. And Lucas looks at me as though he’s finally found the only person who can make it all go away.We’re a battle of the brightest day and the darkest night—and I want to lie in the wake of our war.
Midnight Lily
Mia Sheridan - 2016
At least he was before he lost it all... or more to the point, before he threw it all away. Now he's out of a job, out of the public's good graces, and perhaps just a little out of his mind. So when a friend offers up his remote lodge in the wilds of Colorado, giving Holden some time away to get his life back on track, he can hardly say no. The last thing he expects is to see a beautiful girl in the woods—one wearing a white, lace dress who appears in the moonlight, and leaves no footprints behind. Is she a dream? A ghost? A product of his muddled imagination? Or something entirely different? Midnight Lily is the haunting love story of two lost souls reaching for each other in the dark. A tale of healing, acceptance, and the worlds we create to protect our own hearts. It is a story of being lost, of being found, and of being in the place between. This is a stand-alone Sign of Love novel, inspired by Virgo Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
You Loved Me At My Darkest
Evie Harper - 2014
Kidnapped by a rich madman, Sasha is sold into slavery, while Lily is forced to join The Collection, a unique bevy of exotic beauties enduring frequent horrors at the hands of elite bidders. However, no amount of pain and suffering will break Lily, who will stop at nothing to save her younger sister. Possibly with help from an unlikely ally.Love is stronger than loyalty…Attempting to prove his allegiance to his employer, Jake is tasked with guarding the unruly and uncontrollable Lily. He can’t afford to help her in her quest to free Sasha—not if he hopes to fulfill his own agenda. But in their dark, gritty, tension-filled world, solace is taken wherever it’s found. Bonds are formed and hearts engage despite Jake’s resistance and both their attempts at self-preservation.When certain secrets come to light, the resulting explosion has breathtakingly bittersweet consequences that, by the end, may not leave everyone whole…or alive.
Indebted
J.L. Beck - 2014
That all changed in a blink of an eye the moment Bree came home for break. She didn't expect to find her dad strapped to chair, a gun pointed at his head. Alzerro “Zerro” King wasn't a man to be messed with. Women flocked to him and men ran from him. He ruled the mafia with an iron fist and no one ever crossed him unless they wanted to pay the price. He believed the only way to pay for something, if unable to do so, was to do it in blood. Nothing got him harder than stringing someone up, and putting a bullet in their head. That is until Bree. One look is all it took for him to know she could pay for her father’s debt in many other ways… Ways that could get him hard. Could a big city mafia king fall in love with the small town country girl? Would she be able to handle his dark and demanding ways? When push comes to shove, would Bree end up running only to be killed? Or would she sacrifice herself for love?
Irrevocable
Skye Callahan - 2014
” (Everything Marie) Book 1 in the Irrevocable Duet Stripped of everything she knows--even her real name--Silver is forced to adapt, to obey, and to do anything she needs to do to survive. Sometimes when you can’t go back, the only way out is to descend into the darkness. my Captor When I woke in that place, I just wanted to survive. But survival came at a cost, for which they demanded my will and body. my Master With pain came acceptance. Fully-dependent on the man who claimed me, I learned to appreciate what I had-life and relative safety. my Protector I watched him spill blood and tend my injuries. With betrayal came a revelation. “Not only did Irrevocable gut me, it took me on a roller coaster ride full of emotions that I usually don’t experience while reading romances…. You start to hate, you start to sympathize, and you begin to fall in love in every way. Ms. Callahan has turned my world upside down with her writing. Dark, sensual, and at times overwhelming, Irrevocable will bring you on a dark journey that you will never forget..” (Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads, TOP PICK of 2014!) IRREVOCABLE is a dark romance intended for adult readers 18+ only. Not intended for those easily offended by dark subject matter.
The Bourbon Kings
J.R. Ward - 2015
Their sustained wealth has afforded them prestige and privilege—as well as a hard-won division of class on their sprawling estate, Easterly. Upstairs, a dynasty that by all appearances plays by the rules of good fortune and good taste. Downstairs, the staff who work tirelessly to maintain the impeccable Bradford facade. And never the twain shall meet.For Lizzie King, Easterly’s head gardener, crossing that divide nearly ruined her life. Falling in love with Tulane, the prodigal son of the bourbon dynasty, was nothing that she intended or wanted—and their bitter breakup only served to prove her instincts were right. Now, after two years of staying away, Tulane is finally coming home again, and he is bringing the past with him. No one will be left unmarked: not Tulane’s beautiful and ruthless wife; not his older brother, whose bitterness and bad blood know no bounds; and especially not the ironfisted Bradford patriarch, a man with few morals, fewer scruples, and many, many terrible secrets.As family tensions—professional and intimately private—ignite, Easterly and all its inhabitants are thrown into the grips of an irrevocable transformation, and only the cunning will survive.
The Girl in 6E
A.R. Torre - 2013
That seems like it would be a difficult task, but it's not. Not anymore, thanks to the internet.I am, quite possibly, the most popular recluse ever. Not many shut-ins have a 200-member fan club, a bank account in the seven-figure range, and hundreds of men lining up to pay for undivided attention.They get satisfaction, I get a distraction. Their secret desires are nothing compared to why I hide... my lust for blood, my love of death.Taking their money is easy. Keeping all these secrets... one is bound to escape.What if you hid yourself away because all you could think of was killing? And what if one girl's life was depending on you venturing into society?Enter a world of lies, thrills, fears, and all desires, in this original thriller from A. R. Torre.
The Mister
E.L. James - 2019
Life has been easy for Maxim Trevelyan. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, he’s never had to work and he’s rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his family’s noble title, wealth, and estates, and all the responsibility that entails. It’s a role he’s not prepared for and one that he struggles to face. But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman who’s recently arrived in England, possessing little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. Reticent, beautiful, and musically gifted, she’s an alluring mystery, and Maxim’s longing for her deepens into a passion that he’s never experienced and dares not name. Just who is Alessia Demachi? Can Maxim protect her from the malevolence that threatens her? And what will she do when she learns that he’s been hiding secrets of his own? From the heart of London through wild, rural Cornwall to the bleak, forbidding beauty of the Balkans, The Mister is a roller-coaster ride of danger and desire that leaves the reader breathless to the very last page.
The Scotch King
Penelope Sky - 2017
He took my intelligence without paying for it. And thought he could get away with it.Think again.Now I’ll take something from him—something irreplaceable.His sister.Collateral.But even when Joseph doubles the amount of money he owes me, I don’t give her up.Nope. I have an image to maintain.So I keep her.And I’m not giving her up.
Giving It Up
Amber Lin - 2012
Hey, it’s not rape if she wants it. Instead she finds Colin, who looks tough but treats her tenderly, despite her protests.He tempts her, but kindness and a few mindblowing orgasms aren’t enough to put her back together again. Two years ago her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way; she’d be stupid to trust a man again. Especially one like Colin, whose criminal past threatens them both.When her rapist returns, Allie must fight for the man she loves—and her life—hoping her newfound power will be enough to save them all.
Beautiful Addictions
Season Vining - 2014
An experience that left her broken, damaged, and clinging to drugs and meaningless hook-ups to numb her pain.When Josie disappeared years ago, she took a piece of Tristan with her. She’s the girl he thought he lost forever—the one he’s never been able to forget. Now a twist of fate has brought them back together, and he never wants to let her out of his inked arms again. But Tristan is haunted by a dark past of his own. On the run from ruthless criminals that shattered Josie’s world years ago, reentering her life puts them both in danger.As Josie and Tristan’s lives become tangled once again, they find themselves unwilling and unable to escape the relentless pull that draws them together. But in Season Vining's Beautiful Addictions, will the past leave their love in ruins—or bind them together for a lifetime?
He Loves Me Not
Christine Kersey - 2011
After all, she's barely met the two men it could be referring to. But as she begins to fall for the man with the striking blue eyes, the disturbing messages increase.Refusing to believe warnings from an anonymous sender, and trusting her own heart, Lily presses forward with her relationship, eventually coming to understand the meaning behind the messages as she fears for her life.He Loves Me Not does not contain any profanity or sexual content.
Defaced
Marissa Farrar - 2015
Now, having taken over his father's business, he has all the money and power he could dream of, yet still he refuses to let himself be viewed by the rest of society.LilyTraumatised by an event in her past, Lily Drayton has a phobia of being touched. Though she helps people externally with her skills as a laser therapist, she refuses to let anyone in, emotionally or physically. When Lily is kidnapped on the way home from work one evening, she discovers she's not the only person who keeps themselves cut off from the rest of the world.DefacedA man owns her now--a man both dangerous and enigmatic. Drawn by his dual beauty and hidden pain, he awakens something inside her, something she believed was long dead. Brought to a room without windows, she's given an impossible task: to make her owner acceptable to the outside world.Can altering his face change who he is as a man, or is he truly a monster, both inside and out?