Book picks similar to
The Pawn and The Puppet by Brandi Elise Szeker
romance
dark-romance
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Message Not Found
Dante Medema
Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey's, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.To help grieve her loss, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using years' worth of their shared text messages and emails. The more data she uploads to the bot, the more it feels like she's really talking to her best friend. That is, until the bot starts dropping hints that there was more going on with Vanessa than Bailey realized--a secret so big, it may have contributed to Vanessa's death.This compelling puzzle of a story, filled with engrossing twists and turns, is written in alternating prose and text message formats. Teens will gobble up this fast-paced page-turner.
Book Lovers
Emily HenryEmily Henry
Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming…Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Escape The Light
A.R. Thomas - 2021
We are two souls chained to the opposite spectrums of life. Light and dark. Day and night. One cannot exist without the other. I can no longer hide from my demons, but his are far worse. They swirl in his eyes and chase the fear from my mind. He made me a deal, and I sold my soul in the hope of peace. But darkness leaves its mark and Callan Scott is danger personified. He’s my ticket to freedom. My way to a new life. I’ve survived all these years, I can survive one more month. One month is nothing, a mere blink in time. It just leaves one question.Will I survive him?
Model Behavior
Kelsie Rae - 2021
I've hit rock bottom.I just broke up with my manipulative boyfriend and am moving in with my older brother until I can get back on my feet. Which is where I run into his cocky roommate, River. From the second we meet, I want nothing to do with him and his manwhoring ways.Or at least that’s what I tell myself.The guy goes through women like I go through a sleeve of Oreos. But I guess I can’t really blame him for having a big head.He gets paid to be looked at, and has a revolving door of gorgeous women at his beck and call.Once I move in, my brother raises the forbidden stakes and claims me as off-limits.Which only entices River further.After all, he’s a sucker for the things he can’t have.And now he wants me.
Heart of a Monster
Shain Rose - 2021
And he made it clear by being the monster everyone knew him to be:Cruel, ruthless, and cold.My gut told me to leave, but my soul wanted to stay. I gravitated toward the man no one understood because the monster in him risked it all to rescue me.So, I opened the cage where his demons lived. I set them free.And then I took the biggest risk:I handed my heart to the monster to see if he’d rip it apart.This book is the first in a duet. 80000+ words of love, angst, steam, and mafia romance. Their happily ever after will come in the next book set to release this summer.
Lilac
B.B. Reid - 2020
Or so the world keeps telling me. Every so often, gods walk the earth. This time they came as musicians. When Bound loses its lead guitarist, yours truly is chosen to fill his shoes. From dive bars to the big stage, my instant claim to fame is nothing short of a fairytale. The only problem? My new bandmates. Jaded, gorgeous, and ridiculously talented--they're determined to turn my dream into a nightmare. It's no secret I wasn't their first choice. I wasn't even their last. The label wants a new image, Bound wants me gone, but I've got my own agenda.To succeed I have to survive a world tour, public scrutiny, and idols turned enemies. But the biggest threat of all isn't a meticulous front man, a narcissistic bassist, and a drummer with too many secrets. It's me. Somehow, I must resist the temptation of Houston Morrow, Loren James, and Jericho Noble. It seemed easy enough when I boarded their tour bus, but it only took one city for the lines we'd drawn to blur. Only ninety-nine more to go.Lilac is a reverse harem and standalone suitable for ages 18+.
Vibe
Liza James - 2020
No, I should be working on solidifying my ladder of ascension. No matter what the cost or what I had to give up. No matter what they made me do. Their little wildflower, that’s who I am. Quiet, meek, gullible. Until I met the one person who changed all of it and became something more. She’s my filthiest secret. And one I intend on taking to the grave. Ruby Another night at the club I work at—Pandora’s Box. Another dance, another tease, another round of shots and callously thrown dollar bills. Until her. Until the energy shifted and one moment became the only thing that mattered. Because she changed everything, claiming my attention and making it hers. My dangerous little mistake, my favorite enticing regret.My Vibe Girl.Trigger Warning: This book confronts several issues that could be potential triggers. It also contains sexual scenes written in explicit details. It is incredibly dark, please be aware when stepping into this world.
Dream On
Angie Hockman
The only problem? Devin doesn’t exist. But everything she remembers about him feels so real, like the precise shade of his coffee-brown eyes; the texture of his favorite hand-me-down scarf; even the slightly crooked angle of his pinkie, broken after falling off a trampoline in third grade. She knows he’s a figment of her imagination—friends, family, and doctors confirm it—but she still can’t seem to get him out of her head.So when she runs into the real Devin a year later in a Cleveland flower shop, she’s completely shocked. Even more surprising is that Devin actually believes her story, and soon they embark on a real-life romance. With her dream man by her side and an upcoming summer job at a prestigious law firm, Cass’s future seems perfect. But fate might have other plans...
Love Unexpected
Q.B. Tyler - 2020
One kiss, under the dark of night, in a city where no one knew us. One kiss fueled by my hormones and alcohol and the blinding grief over losing my mother. One kiss from the man I told myself was untouchable. But, it didn’t stop at one kiss. And now we are running full speed down a road with no intention of stopping. His touch disarms me. His kiss revives me. But, our love, could destroy me. *This is a taboo novel and is intended for mature audiences only.
Sweet Obsession
Callie Rose - 2020
I risked my life for a man I didn’t even know and nearly died for it.I’ve tried to forget him. To forget that whole night.But he hasn’t forgotten me.He’s been watching.Obsessing.Craving.And when he crashes back into my life like a wrecking ball, accompanied by two dark shadows—men he calls his brothers—the life I’ve been trying to rebuild for myself shatters into a thousand sharp-edged pieces.He believes our souls are bound by blood, and he’s come back to claim what’s his.Two years ago, I saved Marcus Constantine’s life.Now I wish I hadn’t.This is the first book in the Ruthless Games series, a dark reverse harem romance. It contains sexual situations, violence, and dark subject matter.
Kiss Me
Willow Winters - 2021
She stares back, daring and tempting me. It calls to a side of me that’s darker and longs to tame her.We both have secrets, we both have a past we’re not ready to face. More than that, we both want to get lost in each other, falling into a forbidden game of control and power. Of submission and dominance.The moment she agrees to my terms, I know I’ve crossed a line. One of many rules I’m willing to break. No one can know, not a soul, but secrets in the life I lead never last for long.
Follow
Tessa Bailey - 2017
Too bad she already sold it. Family is everything to gambling den darling, Teresa Valentini. Blood comes first, especially before men. So when her brother lands himself in hot water, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to save him. And showing up topless in her unwitting savior’s motel room is turning out to be the furthest thing from a hardship…Will Caruso is the bad boy of New York’s financial scene…and he just found out the very thing that drives his success is a damn lie. Now, he’s exchanged his high-stress life for the open road, no one but his Great Dane…and half a million Instagram followers to keep him company. When a mysterious beauty arrives, her secrecy prods his suspicions, even while she tempts his lust to the breaking point.Teresa met Will under false pretenses, but the bond consuming them is real. They’re strong enough to overcome a little betrayal…aren’t they?
Sweet Cruelty
Zoe Blake - 2020
Mine. If I were a better man, I would've just let her go. But I'm not. I'm a cruel bastard. I ruthlessly claimed her virtue for my own.It should have been enough. But it wasn't. I needed more. Craved it. She became my obsession. Her sweetness and purity taunted my dark soul. The need to possess her nearly drove me mad. A Russian arms dealer had no business pursuing a naive librarian student. She didn't belong in my world. I would bring her only pain. But it was too late…She was mine and I was keeping her.
The No-Show
Beth O'LearyBeth O'Leary
Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth.These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They've all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up--Valentine's Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they've all been stood up by the same man.Once they've each forgiven him for standing them up, they let him back into their lives and are in serious danger of falling in love with a man who seems to have not just one or two but three women on the go....Is there more to him than meets the eye? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?
Chasing Love
Kat T. Masen - 2020
So when the ever-so-perfect Julian Baker proposes marriage, I'm ready to forget the past and move on with my new love.In a cruel twist of fate, my past and future collide. I'm forced to face the man who destroyed my heart back in high school.Lex Edwards, turned billionaire tycoon, is ruthless, cunning, and will not stop until I'm his.A complicated love triangle was never something I imagined when Julian proposed to me. Especially not involving Lex.Hearts and egos are bound to be broken.But whose heart will capture mine when the darkness fades? **This title was previously published as Into the Darkness. It has been extensively rewritten, re-edited, and has a steamy new cover**