Book picks similar to
Playing With Knives by A.J. Merlin
reverse-harem
rh
dark
standalone
Cold Blooded
C.M. Wondrak - 2021
Five families who run the city, a criminal syndicate even the police can’t touch. I used to be one of them, the youngest daughter to a family of hitmen, but then things changed. Just over five years ago, I lost everything. My whole family was murdered, but I managed to escape. But I’m back in town now, only this time I’m not the girl I used to be. The plan? Put on a mask, worm my way in. Destroy the Black Hand from the inside out. Make them pay for what happened to my family, for molding me into the revenge-obsessed monster I am today. Burn it all to the ground. And I’ll start with the Jameson twins, Jett and Dex. They might be cute, they might have smiles and bodies that make me wish things were different, but I’m a girl on a mission, and I won’t stop until those responsible are choking on their own blood. My heart turned cold a long time ago. The Black Hand is about to meet its match in this cold-blooded girl. **Cold Blooded is the first book in a planned trilogy. This series is RH/Why Choose, meaning there are at least 3 love interests. Possibly more as the series goes on. There are mentions of violence, among other things some might find triggering.**
The Pawn
Skye Warren - 2016
He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl's college to take care of the only family I have left.There's one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.My virginity.A forbidden auction...Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he's the only kindness in a brutal underworld.Except he's playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love. It's the first book in the brand new ENDGAME series.
The Land Where Sinners Atone
V.F. Mason - 2020
Mine to destroy. I used to have it all. Successful career. Loving husband who adored me. A future full of possibilities. A perfect fairytale nothing could break. Until one day, life as I knew it was crushed into tiny little pieces. I was charged with a murder I didn't commit. And no matter how much I begged for justice, no one believed me. Least of all the man who promised to stand by me through anything. And the husband of the woman I allegedly killed? He vowed for me to live in a hell on earth–and even then it wouldn’t be enough to atone for my sin. His words rang in my ears every single day as life became an endless nightmare.With time, I grew to hate him so much my heart burned from it. Until three years later new evidence was found. And everyone believed my truth. I might be free but I’m still part of a twisted game the monster is playing. And the only way I can survive in it? Trust a man who I promised to hate till my last breath.
Vendetta
Autumn Karr - 2013
I've decided between life or death, like it was my due. None of it matters, not anymore. These are not my sins.I see her raise her hands, the dark metal she's clutching reflecting the moonlight. Her finger trembles as she cocks the gun pointed at me. Her eyes are cold, determined, but I know.I know her.My name is Devon Andre and I confess my sin. I am not a good man because this is the woman I love.She pulls the trigger.* Standalone contemporary romance.* Mature reader advised due to sexual content and strong language.
East Coast
Vera Valentine - 2021
After a long day of dodging darts and heckling tourists from her balloon game booth on the Wildwood boardwalk, she just wanted to forget her looming housing angst for an hour. When heavy flirtation and a cocktail from a suave substitute bartender shakes up her evening, things are looking up.Until, of course, she catches him making out with a hot college guy not five minutes later.In an attempt to forget the sinfully sexy stranger from the night before, Desi agrees to a dinner date with the eyeful of tall, dark and handsome that shows up at her job the next day. There’s just one little catch: he’s apparently already dating the two guys from the bar.For JD, a shift behind a Jersey shore dive bar was always the same: predictable, boring, a little bit sticky. So what was it about this gorgeous brunette that instantly had him on the rocks? One look at her brought out the beast in him - and a desperate hope that she might be what he and Penn need to save Will for good. After over a century of struggle, they were due for a win - and someone who really believed in them.One night.That’s all they’ll need to get Desi to agree to.But it’s going to be one hell of a night.Carnal Cryptids: East Coast is a paranormal RH monster romance, which means that the female main character is attracted to more than one male love interest, and doesn’t need to (or want to!) choose. The monstrous men that love our heroine - and each other, quite frequently - all bring elements of horror, fear, interesting anatomy, and urban legend / cryptid goodness to the mix.
His
Aubrey Dark - 2014
Trying to find out his secret. His kiss was intoxicating, and I thought he was harmless.I was wrong.Nancy Drew never ended up in a basement, handcuffed to a radiator, teased to the edge of insanity, begging to be let go.Soon, I stopped begging to be let go.Soon, I started begging to be his.
Asher Black
Parker S. Huntington - 2017
Huntington comes a steamy, slow-burn love story full of unexpected love and banter.It started with my bladder.I didn't mean to witness a shady deal in the restroom hallway.I didn't think twice when I called the cops.And I certainly didn't know who the club belonged to.Asher Black.Former mafia hitman.Billionaire CEO.New York's most eligible bachelor.When he shows up at my college, looking for the girl who called the cops on his business, I know I'm as good as dead.What I don't expect is his offer--he'll pay my tuition and set me up with a cushy job after I graduate.All I have to do is... be his fake fiancée.Asher Black is a 90,000-word standalone novel in The Five Syndicates mafia romance series.
First Comes Blood
Lilith Vincent - 2021
A virgin mafia princess to unite them. But first, there will be blood.On my seventeenth birthday, I learn a terrible secret about my family. My future is in the hands of four brutal men, and what awaits me at their hands is too terrible to imagine. Four men who desire me. Four men who vow to possess me. Four men who think they can destroy me.As the only daughter of Coldlake’s mayor, I should be kept far, far out of their reach. Instead, I’m being thrown to them as a sacrifice. My father insists only one of them can marry me, but all of them vow to secure my promise. A promise in blood. They take. I bleed. Happy birthday to me. AUTHOR'S NOTE: First Comes Blood is the first book in the Promised in Blood series and ends on a cliffhanger. These books contain dark themes, violence, and a Why Choose romance with ruthlessly possessive men. The story is dark, dirty and delicious so please read at your discretion.
Beauty in the Broken
Charmaine Pauls - 2019
He gave his daughter to Jack Clarke in exchange for the excavation rights. Today, I’m walking free, and I’m coming for him with a vengeance. Six years of cruelty make beasts out of men. I’m going to take back what he stole from me, and more. I’m not interested in his properties or shares. I don’t want his small change. I want his biggest asset. Beautiful, mentally unstable, Angelina Dalton-Clarke.Worth billions, she’s the wealthiest widow in the country, and also the craziest. Her self-harming tendencies had Jack declare her incompetent before he put a gun to his head and blew out his brains. Lina isn’t allowed to touch a cent of her riches. Her father manages her finances. He has all the signing power. As her husband, that 'chore' will fall to me. But if she thinks I only want her for her money, she’s sadly mistaken.*This book is a stand-alone. No cliffhangers.
Vigilante
Jessica Gadziala - 2017
But I do them for the right reasons.That’s why I can sleep easy at night even with the smell of fresh blood still in my nostrils. One more scumbag off the streets. One more righting of a wrong.That was all my life was about.Until I came across her…** Triggers for this book can be found on my website under the "triggers" tab on the main navigation bar. Once at the "triggers" page, select "stand alones." **
Sick Fux
Tillie Cole - 2017
Ellis was loud and beautiful – all blond hair, bright laughs and smiles. Heathan was dark and brooding, and obsessed with watching things die.The pair forged an unlikely friendship, unique and strange. Until they were ripped apart by the sick cruelty of others, separated for years, both locked in a perpetual hell.Eleven years later, Heathan is back for his girl. Back from a place from which he thought there was no return. Back to seek revenge on those who wronged them.Time has made Heathan’s soul darker, polluted with hatred and the thirst for blood.Time has made Ellis a shell of her former self, a little girl lost in the vastness of her pain.As Heathan pulls Ellis out of her mental prison, reviving the essence of who she once was, down the rabbit hole they will go.With malice in their hearts and vengeance in their veins, they will seek out the ones who hurt and destroyed them.One at a time.Each one more deadly than the last.Tick Tock.Dark Contemporary Romance. Contains explicit sexual situations, violence, disturbingly sensitive and taboo subjects, offensive language and very mature topics. Recommended for ages 18 and over.
The Wager
Krista Wolf - 2020
Three gorgeous studs, looking to share. Can Payton win the ultimate wager? Or will love get in the way?When Payton takes a Corruption Quiz with her friend Kennedy, she scores abysmally low. So low she decides to spice up her life a bit -- especially when the two friends place a bet as to who can most improve their score over the next thirty days.It starts with Jackson, the gruff, chiselled foreman in charge of renovating the Brooklyn apartment building Payton owns. It continues with Gabriel and Ethan - the sizzling hot guys in unit three. The men work both together and alone, competing hard to check off the many boxes on Payton's provocative bucket list. Bringing her to all new heights of overindulgence, along with Cameron, the big teddy bear who rounds out Payton's harem of strong, fiercely-competitive men. If there's a winner at all ... it's certainly her. But the situation is not without obstacles, and forces may be aligning against Payton from within her own apartment building. Can her four beautiful saviours make everything right again? And will Payton push far enough into her own secret fantasies to beat out her friend at their fiery, sultry bet?THE WAGER is a scorching, stand-alone reverse harem love story filled with suspense, humour, romance, and smouldering bet-winning action hot enough to turn your kindle into a puddle of molten slag. HEA guaranteed!
Out of Love
Jewel E. Ann - 2020
Corruption. Serial killers.You name it—I'm fascinated by it. My mom always blamed my overly curious and highly suspicious mind on my dad.My incredibly overbearing dad.Mr. No One Is Good Enough For My Daughter has been terrifying my dates since I turned fifteen.College is my chance to be free from his control and date any guy I want. I'm absolutely certain he would hate Slade Wylder—almost as certain as I am that I do too.Since when have I shied away from trouble? Slade fascinates me. He lives in a house I'm certain is haunted. His dog is trained as well as any guard I've ever seen. Rumor on campus is that he deals drugs. It would explain a lot.But it doesn't explain why he saves me from my darkest moment.It doesn't explain why I can't stop thinking about him.And the explanation I finally discover is far more dangerous than any rumor.
Because You're Mine
Claire Contreras - 2018
They're the ones with experience. The ones with secrets. The ones that exude sex just by saying your name.From the minute I laid eyes on Lorenzo, I knew he wasn't just bad news. He was the headline.My opinion didn't change on our second meeting. Or our third. But my head and my heart are at war. He’s too mysterious, too gorgeous, too wild, and now, he wants me. I should run far away. So why am I racing toward him? I’m totally going to get burned. I know it. A man like Lorenzo won’t leave me unscathed.He'll make ashes of me.
The Heir
Ivy Clyde - 2020
Cruel. Merciless. A demon wearing the face of an angel.He is on a purge to rid the gang of every deceitful follower, paving the way to his succession with a trail of corpses. It won’t be long before the city turns into a battlefield.He is recruiting new blood into his ranks and I am the rookie agent being sent to breach them. After all, no one has studied him and the movements of the Sokolov Clan as obsessively as me. My department doesn’t just give me a fake ID. I am also disguised as a man. Soon, I’m plunged into a world unlike anything I could have ever imagined. Every moment spent with Victor makes me question everything I know about myself. I’m torn between fear and desire, right and wrong, pain and pleasure as I struggle to win his trust. My body and mind are betraying everything I’ve been taught to abhor. Can I still remain one of the good guys or will the devil devour my soul completely?The Heir is a RH dark mafia romance between mobsters and a disguised female agent. If you enjoy romantic suspense with organized crime, then this is for you. This book contains dark themes and steamy m/m and m/m/f scenes.