Book picks similar to
Deadly Obsession by J. Lea


romantic-suspense
suspense
dark
contemporary

Beg for Mercy


Jami Alden - 2011
    . . And once he has you, all you can do is. . . Beg For Mercy Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn't just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn't have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother's life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO. Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can't stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city's elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey.

Six of Hearts


L.H. Cosway - 2014
    Mentalist. Trickster. I think in triangles. You think in straight lines.I show you a table and make you believe it’s a chair.Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, misdirection. I trick and deceive.But most of all, I put on a good show.The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn't. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.I want it for all six of us.She doesn't remember me, but she’s the reason for everything. She’ll be my prize at the end of all this–if I can hold onto my willpower, that is. Maybe I’ll slip up a little, have a taste, just a small one.So go ahead and pick a card. Come inside and see the show. Look at my hands, look so closely that you can’t see what’s happening while you’re so focused on looking. I’ll be destroying your world from right here in the spotlight.You’ll never see me coming until it’s too late.I've only got one heart, and after I've pulled off my grand deception I’ll hand it right to her.So, sit back, relax, and let my girl tell you our story. You’re in for one hell of a ride.

Nixon's Promise


Riley Edwards - 2019
    After twelve years of service and twice as many deployments, all Nix wanted was quiet. He’d sought the solace of the land he’d grown up on and found the peace he needed to silence the noise and figure out his next move. Nixon’s stay was supposed to be temporary. He wasn’t supposed to meet a feisty, head-strong woman who made his pulse race and set his body on fire. Falling in love hadn’t been part of his plan. Taking a government contract to stop a homegrown terrorist group hadn’t been either, but when the organization threatens to attack Philadelphia, he had no choice but to accept. McKenna Wilson was living. Every day was the same. Raising her two teenage siblings didn’t leave time for much else. Most days, she was okay with that. Then she bumped into the sexy war hero and, in an instant, her world changed. She had no idea falling for Nixon would be so dangerous. Now she was going head-to-head with the small-town’s dirty sheriff who was hell-bent on ruining Nixon and avenging a fifteen-year-old grudge. She’d lost her heart, but losing her life wasn’t part of the plan. Nixon Swagger had learned a few things as a Navy SEAL—adapt, improvise, and overcome were among the many. In the middle of an inferno, so ominous even Dante wouldn’t buy a ticket, Nixon must adapt to his new surroundings and overcome multiple threats before he loses the woman he loves.

The Safe Bet


Brittney Sahin - 2015
    No attachments, no relationships — he's too busy transforming his knack for military intelligence into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. But when headstrong event planner Kate Adams comes barreling into his life, everything changes.From the moment she arrives in Charlotte, Kate is tongue-tied by Michael. She's never fallen for a client before, but then she's never had a client like him — sleek, hard, and impenetrable as steel.While Kate struggles to keep her distance, a stalker sends her tumbling more deeply into Michael's world. The former Marine is equipped and willing to protect her, and yet Kate finds herself growing more terrified than ever in his care. For as they grow closer, she realizes that Michael has his own secret past. And while he might save her life, he will surely break her heart.Author's Note: Previously titled: Silenced Memories. This is a STAND-ALONE romantic mystery novel. Hidden Truths: Former Marines. Strong female leads. No cliffhangers.

Obsidian Liquor


Scarlett Dawn - 2014
    But when she’s caught red-handed by a man who kills for a living, her enmity rapidly turns to fear. Daniil Kozar isn't a man to trifle with, and Elizabeth is forced to strike a deal with the mafia king. Her every action is watched, and she needs to decide how to handle the gun-toting criminal--and his seductive charm.Daniil may be the devil her father warned about. Or he may be the sensual awakening Elizabeth never knew she needed. Somewhere, Elizabeth's dad is screaming a prayer...*Originally published in The Obsidian Collection**This work contains sexual material intended for readers 18+*

Owned by the Hitman


Alexis Abbott - 2016
    I will not hurt you, unless you want me to.”I'm in deep to the Mafia. My father was the one who made the deal, and when I inherited his club, I also inherited his troubles.Ivan wants to save me, or so he says. More like he wants me to be his slave for a year. After the one-night stand I had with him, though, would that be so bad? With his impossibly hard body, and the way he always makes me scream...But he's still a monster. He's a criminal, and something so much worse.And yet I can't stop the tingling in my body every time I think of how he touched me, and those dark but delicious words rolling off his tongue, tinged with his Russian accent.He knows what I'll say, even before I do. "I'll take your offer."

Hate F*@k: Part 1


Ainsley Booth - 2015
    This doesn't end well. And it's going to get much worse before it ever gets better.Cole:I push her buttons. I want to push them in the good way. Dirty, up-against-the-wall, my-hand-in-her-pants kind of way.But that’s not possible, because I’m dark and she’s light, and we both know it.So I push her buttons in the bad way, making her hate me. Hailey:If a genie granted me three wishes, I’d ask for Cole Parker to never look at me again, that I’d forget the dark promise in his eyes, and that just once, before he vanished from my life completely, that he’d push me up against a wall and fuck me.Then I’d go wash my mouth out with soap.

Love Beyond Words


Emma Scott - 2014
    A passionate reader, she uses the writing of the world-famous and reclusive novelist Rafael Melendez Mendón to assuage her grief. His words are her refuge, his characters better company than anyone she could meet in real life… until Julian Kovač walks into the café one summer evening. He is a handsome, quiet young man and Natalie feels an instant connection. But Julian has a secret that is both the most wonderful revelation Natalie could possibly imagine…and the very thing that could tear them apart.

The Kingmaker


Kennedy Ryan - 2019
    In a world of haves and have nots, my family has it all, and I want nothing to do with it.My path takes me far from home and paints me as the black sheep. At odds with my father, I’m determined to build my own empire. I have rules, but Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of them. From the moment we meet, something sparks between us. But my family stole from hers and my father is the man she hates most. I lied to have her, and would do anything to keep her. Though she tries to hate me, too, the inexorable pull between us will not be denied.And neither will I.

Where We Began


Nora Flite - 2018
    I'm a hostage. The food is fancy, the carpets are lush, but this bed isn't mine. I'm only here because of my father's enemies. I hate all of them. Except for him. The first time I meet Dominic Bradley, he saves me without a second thought. This kind boy is nothing like the rest of his family. Our friendship comes easy. When he leaves for six years it shreds my soul. It's nothing compared to when he comes back. He's turned into a hardened soldier with hungry eyes; a man that makes my heart race. A man that wants to hate me while also aching to be my first kiss. My first everything. He acts like we're enemies, like he's forgotten our past. But I can't. It's impossible to forget the moment I fell in love. I know where we began. I'm not sure where we'll end. Filthy... heart-stopping... you'll become obsessed with knowing how it ends.

Verity


Colleen Hoover - 2018
    Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Buried Secrets


Emme Rollins - 2010
    But Nick is dead, found murdered in their local cemetery, and Dusty simply can’t rest until she finds out who–or what–has killed her brother.Sure the local authorities aren’t being straight with her–or anyone else–about what’s been going on in their little upper Michigan town, Dusty delays going off to college for a semester, defying her father and stepmother and taking a job in the local bar to start doing some digging.Her focus soon fixes on Shane, her brother’s best friend and the town bad boy. The tension and rivalry between Dusty and Shane has always been palpable and sparks fly as the two collide. Dusty finds herself sinking in deeper with Shane and the mystery of what happened to her brother–and a lengthening list of victims–grows even stranger.When everything comes to a head, Dusty focuses on one thing: What happened the night her brother was killed in the cemetery? She’s sure Shane is keeping a secret and she’s determined to find out what it is, one way or another.

Debt


Nina G. Jones - 2014
    Maybe I was bored, or lonely, or there was a void so deep inside of me that I needed something explosive to fill it. It was supposed to be safe. A thrill. A way to break through the monotony of everyday life. It was an illusion of danger that I could walk away from as soon as it was over. Except that it wasn’t. Because I had been in danger long before I ever invited it into my life. ———————My mission is almost complete. The bubbling boil of vengeance that heats my blood might finally simmer. She is the last piece of the puzzle. Once I destroy her, everyone who ever hurt me will have paid their debt. It was supposed to be quick and easy, but as soon as I met her it got complicated. Very complicated.DEBT is a standalone novel. 118k words. Adult/graphic content that may be difficult for some readers.

The Watcher


Jo Robertson - 2011
    Working with a single-minded tenacity, she sets out to prove it.Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater hides his personal pain behind the job, but Kate's arrival in his county knocks his world on its axis. He wants to believe her wild theory, but the idea of a serial killer with the kind of pathology she proposes is too bizarre.Together they work to find a killer whose roots began in a small town in Bigler County, but whose violence spread across the nation. A Janus-like killer, more monster than man, he fixates on Kate. The killer wants nothing more than to kill the "purple-eyed girl again."

King


T.M. Frazier - 2015
    Hungry. Desperate.Doe has no memories of who she is or where she comes from.A notorious career criminal just released from prison, King is someone you don’t want to cross unless you’re prepared to pay him back in blood, sweat, pu$$y or a combination of all three.King’s future hangs in the balance. Doe’s is written in her past. When they come crashing together, they will have to learn that sometimes in order to hold on, you have to first let go.