Book picks similar to
Playing With Knives by A.J. Merlin
reverse-harem
rh
dark
standalone
Merciless Kings
Becca Steele - 2021
The three guys from the wrong side of the tracks.Saint, Mateo, and Callum.And now that they have me in their sights, I know that there's nowhere I can hide.There's no escape from the Boneyard Kings.
Crooked Crows
Elena Lawson - 2021
Heartlessly cruel. Broken beyond repair.Corvus, Rook, and Grey – The Crows. Bred in a world of gang wars, violence, and secrets, they rule the bloody town of Thorn Valley and all the people in it…too bad for me I’ve never been good at kissing ass or keeping quiet.Even if their savage spirits awaken something inside of me I thought was long dead, I can’t break. I won’t. They think they scare me, that I’ll run and hide, but the joke’s on them. The Crows aren’t the first monsters I’ve faced, and they won’t be the last. There are worse evils out there waiting to take their stab at Ava Jade Mason.I say let them try. I’m tired of running. Tired of holding back my darkness. Thorn Valley isn’t ready for a new boogie man. Too bad I’m already here.Crooked Crows is a dark enemies-to-lovers reverse harem romance, meaning the main character will have more than one love interest.Warning: This series contains foul language, explicit sexual content, graphic depictions of gang violence, and jealous/possessive themes. Recommended for readers aged eighteen and up. Please read responsibly.
Blood of the Saints
Denver Rose - 2021
Saints and Sinners.How do we determine the difference between virtuous and immoral?I found myself asking this over and over as I lay awake at night contemplating the consequences of one fatal mistake.The lines are blurred between reality and my darkest desires while I fight the monsters in the shadows to protect the innocent around me.Now I’m standing face-to-face with the three biggest monsters of all. Three devious, demented, and psychotic men who would do anything to see me break.Ace Lennox, Theon Watson, and Blais Monroe are the definition of sinners.A normal person would see them and run. I’m anything but normal.Their torture and torment bring out the darkness looming under my skin. Wickedness I’ve been trying to keep locked away for years is threatening to escape.If I let it consume me, there’s no turning back.The only question is:Do I fight to be a saint or do I accept that I was born to be a sinner?Blood of the Saints is a dark reverse harem standalone!Trigger Warning: This book contains detailed sex scenes which may include dub-con or rough sex. This book also contains extreme violence, torture, and talk or flashbacks of abuse. This book is dark and recommended for 18+
With Visions of Red
Trisha Wolfe - 2015
Dark and light battle. This explosive first installment of the Broken Bonds series sets the exhilarating pace for a cat and mouse game where no one knows who’s really pulling the strings.Criminal profiler Sadie Bonds knows blood. Her affair with the gruesome, dark world of killers began long before she started applying her analytical skills to investigate gory crime scenes. She gets inside the killers’ heads, breaks them down, relates to them on an arcane level. She prefers it this way—because it’s safer to ally herself with the villain than the victim. At least, that’s how she’s coped ever since she was abducted and tortured as a teen.She will never be a victim again.Now, she’s honed her skills in order to bring justice to these ritualistic offenders. Working alongside her colleagues, armed with sharp wit and a SIG, Sadie always catches her sadist. Until one ruthless serial killer gets inside Sadie’s head, turning the tables. He knows her secrets. Her obsessions. The darkest, most deviant part of her soul.When she meets Colton Reed, dangerous stakes are raised as he threatens to unravel her control and reveal her darkest fantasies. The sexy-as-sin bondage rigger at an exclusive BDSM club pushes her boundaries, forcing her to acknowledge that side of herself she fears. Plunged into a realm of torture and suffering, pain and pleasure, Sadie balances on the razor-sharp edge of two intersecting worlds threatening to swallow her.
Cursed
Andréa Joy - 2020
For that’s where the monsters lurk.”ARLOMy momma always said that my curiosity will get me killed one day, and boy was she right. I just never thought my death would come at the hands of the four men I love.***There’s a reason they call us the Four Horsemen. We warned her to stay away. Now she’ll become our greatest love and our hardest sacrifice.*Please note: The Fallen is a reverse harem duet, and book 1 does end on a cliffhanger. This duet is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.
Dark Mafia Prince
Annika Martin - 2016
So trusting.
Like you think I’m not a monster.
Like I won’t wrap your hair in my fist and bend you to my will.
Like I won’t sacrifice you, piece by piece, to save my brother.I’m the most dangerous enemy you’ll ever have because every time you look at me, you see somebody good. That friend who died.And when you look at me like that, I die again.MiraI spent years making myself invisible.A good girl, apart from the noise.
Then you came back, beautiful and deadly in your Armani suit.
Don’t look at me like you still know me, you say.
But I remember your smile and those sunny days.Before they lowered your small casket into the ground.
Before they told us the prince was dead.
Dark Devotions
Nichole Greene - 2021
But this is no fairy tale and I have nothing left to lose.Beaten, bruised, scarred, emotionally traumatized. Olivia finally found a way to escape her sadistic husband. Now broken and penniless, with nowhere else to turn, she seeks out the four men who always protected her when they were younger. But can they come together and help her heal from the damage wrought? She loved them all once, will she again after being held by the devil’s embrace?Sawyer, Nolan, Lake, and Grant share more wealth and power between them than the majority of the civilized world. But when an old friend comes back into their lives, they find themselves sharing more than a substantial plan full of revenge for the man that tried to break her. Each with their own set of skills but none able to resist the woman that needs them most. Vowing to protect her, the lines are blurred into murky shades of gray as secrets unfold and five hearts are on the line.Reader beware: this is a dark reverse harem with triggers (SA, domestic violence, death) none of which the heroine suffers at the hands of her four men or in great detail.
Wishing Well
Lily White - 2018
Given three days to hear his sordid confession, Meadow seeks to learn why a wealthy hotel owner killed four people, including her twin sister.Sensually exotic and enigmatic, Vincent details his deception while bragging about the amusement he took in manipulating Meadow’s sister.Their interview is a battle of wills. His story is a twisted web of coercion and lies. And the tragedy is too perfect to be real.Will Meadow discover all of Vincent’s secrets while she fights to protect her own?
Merciless
Willow Winters - 2018
Women like her are made to destroy men like me. I couldn’t resist her though. Given to me to start a war; I was too eager to accept. But I didn’t know what she’d do to me. That she would change everything. She sees through me in a way no one else ever has. Her innocence and vulnerability make me weak for her and I hate it.I know better than to give in to temptation.A ruthless man doesn’t let a soul close to him.A cold-hearted man doesn’t risk anything for anyone.A powerful man with a beautiful woman at his mercy… he doesn’t fall for her.
Dynasty
Sheridan Anne - 2021
Fearless. Destructive. They’re everything a girl shouldn’t want. Too bad this foster girl never had a daddy to chase away the monsters because I’m a sucker for a bad boy … or four.
Carver, King, Cruz, and Grayson—the Kings of Ravenwood Heights.
When I was forced to come here, I was expecting just another run-down town to add to the ever-growing list of unwanted homes. What I wasn’t expecting was them. They’re dangerous and they're keeping one hell of a secret—a secret that's going to change it all.Boys of Winter is a Dark, Enemies to Lovers, Reverse Harem Romance. It contains explicit sexual content, detailed violence, and coarse language.
Find Me
Ashley N. Rostek - 2021
My parents. My twin sister. All of them murdered by the man who has stalked me for years. He nearly killed me, too. But I got away and he’s still out there, searching for me. He won’t find me. At least, I hope not. Thanks to WITSEC, I’ve been given a new life with a new identity.The present…My uncle, my only living relative, has helped me glue myself back together and given me the tools I’ll need to survive. I’m not fixed and my grief is heavy, but I’m at a point where I can put one foot in front of the other to try to move on.I know my future will be hard and lonely. I must stay strong and focus on the good. I’m getting a second chance at life. I am safe. My new home is beautiful. The four brothers who live next door are even more so. Little do I know that Colt, Creed, Keelan, and Knox will soon become my everything. It’s as if my lonely heart screamed out for someone good to find me. Four answered back.***WARNING This is a reverse harem romance. Contains violence, graphic killing, foul language, and sexual content. Some parts may be triggering.***
Boucher House: Book 1
B.C. Morgan - 2021
It was supposed to be easy; follow the rules, and take the meds they give you so you can become better. But what if they're not trying to cure us? Everyday I feel like I'm changing more and more from the person I used to be. I'm not quite sure who I've become throughout the torturous treatments and sessions with Dr. Boucher and his staff. But whoever it is, I'm praying she's strong enough to survive this hell. If they really are out to get you, is it still paranoia? The problem is, everyday I feel as though I’m losing myself more and more. Boucher is stepping up his game and it’s hard to tell the difference between paranoia and the truth. Is the darkness only within these walls, or is it seeping into my bones?This is a why choose romance, where the fmc will have more than one love interest without having to choose. This is a dark, forced proximity romance. It touches on sensitive matters and scenes that may trigger some people.
Shelter in Place
Nora Roberts - 2018
Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at the video-game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed, one would dedicate himself to a law enforcement career. Another would close herself off, trying to bury the memory of huddling in a ladies' room, hopelessly clutching her cell phone--until she finally found a way to pour her emotions into her art.But one person wasn't satisfied with the shockingly high death toll at the DownEast Mall. And as the survivors slowly heal, find shelter, and rebuild, they will discover that another conspirator is lying in wait--and this time, there might be nowhere safe to hide.
Deviant
Natasha Knight - 2015
A deviant by all accounts. I never pretended to be the good guy. She was the opposite.But the minute she pulled the curtains back and saw my face, watched me screwing the blonde who happened to be my next mark, she sealed her own fate. There could be no witnesses, ever. Imagine my surprise when I turned up to take care of her only to find two goons breaking down her door, weapons in hand. Turned out she had a price on her head. Her stepbrother wanted her and he wanted her alive. I'd never been one to pass up an opportunity to collect the kind of money he was offering, especially if I could have some fun while I was at it. It just never occurred to me she’d be anything more than my next mark.Mia“Curiosity killed the kitten.” I'll never forget the look in his eyes when he said those words. When I watched them from the window, I didn't suspect for a moment that he'd seen me, that he was watching me back. Not while he was doing what he was doing to the woman on her knees before him. But then she turned up dead, and he turned up in my hotel room, waiting for me in the dark. I didn't think for one second him being there that night would save my life. I'd been on the run for two years, but my stepbrother had finally caught up with me. Or his two thugs had. Finding out I had a quarter-of-a-million dollar bounty on my head convinced Julien I was more valuable alive than dead. But to collect it would mean returning me to my stepbrother, who had sworn to make me pay for what I'd done. Julien was cruel. He was merciless. He scared the crap out of me. But there was something else, something he never wanted me to see. Inside, he was broken, like me.My stepbrother was wrong if he thought I'd ever let him get his hands on me again. I had no intention of allowing that to happen, even if it meant I'd have to sleep with the devil to survive. And I had no doubt Julien was the devil.
Dark Soul Vol. 1
Aleksandr Voinov - 2011
All the old hands have gathered—of course sharks will circle when there’s blood in the water—but it’s a new hand that draws Stefano’s eye.Silvio “the Barracuda” Spadaro is protetto and heir to retired consigliere Gianbattista Falchi, and a made man in his own right. Among his underworld family, being gay is a capital crime, but the hypersexual—and pansexual—young killer has never much cared for rules. The only orders he follows are Battista’s, whether on the killing field or on his knees, eagerly submissive at Battista’s feet.But Silvio has needs Battista can’t fill, and he’s cast his black-eyed gaze on Stefano. A fake break-in, an even faker attack, and Silvio is exactly where he wants to be: strung up at Stefano’s mercy, driving the older Mafioso toward urges he’s spent his whole life repressing. Stefano resists, but when the Russian mob invades his territory and forces him to seek aid, Gianbattista’s price brings Stefano face to face once more with Silvio—and his darkest desires.