Book picks similar to
The Pirate by Jayne Ann Krentz


romance
jayne-ann-krentz
contemporary
contemporary-romance

Stolen Fury


Elisabeth Naughton - 2008
    And charming. And sexy as all get out. Dr. Lisa Maxwell isn’t the type to go home with a guy she barely knows. But, hey, this is Italy and the red-blooded Rafe Sullivan seems much more enticing than cataloging a bunch of dusty artifacts.After being fully seduced, Lisa wakes to an empty bed and, worse yet, an empty safe. She’s staked her career as an archaeologist on collecting the three Furies, a priceless set of ancient Greek reliefs. Now the one she had is gone. But Lisa won’t just get mad. She’ll get even.She tracks Rafe to Florida, and finds the sparks between them blaze hotter than the Miami sun. He may still have her relic, but he’ll never find all three without her. And they’re not the only ones on the hunt. To beat the other treasure seekers, they’ll have to partner up—because suddenly Lisa and Rafe are in a race just to stay alive.

Full House


Steffie Hall - 1981
    She represents everything he's so artfully avoided. Happy in her home life, a divorced mother of two, Billie is the epitome of stability. They have nothing in common.To his horror, Nick is fascinated-- and irresistibly attracted. When Billie generously offers to share her home with Nick's crazy cousin Deedee for a while, Nick finds himself visiting-- often. And while each is slowly seduced by the other's charms, and both are wildly encouraged by devious Deedee, Billie and Nick find out that what they have in common is most important of all. But neither one knows that danger is lurking where they least expect it and a killer is closing in on them.

The Mercenary


Cherry Adair - 1994
    Not that the sensible bookkeeper was accustomed to lying—or anything else that would have disrupted her safe, dull existence. But her world took a terrifying turn when her twin brother, Alex, an agent for T-FLAC, the elite antiterrorist task force, went missing.Now she'll do anything to find him…lie, cheat, even subject herself to the predatory advances of Alex's T-FLAC partner, Marc Savin, if it will help get her brother home safe.But trusting the sexy, brooding operative might just be the risk of a lifetime.The Mercenary is back, and better than ever!

Running Scared


Lisa Jackson - 1995
    . .The newborn baby boy is beautiful, perfect, and hers for the asking. All Kate Summers has to do is agree to one condition--she must disappear from Boston and never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone.Or How Far You Go. . .Fifteen years later, Kate has built a good life for herself and her son, Jon, in Hopewell, Oregon. Still, she is haunted by the fear that he will somehow be taken away. Then Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town and strikes up a friendship with her and Jon. But Daegan has his own past to hide--one with shocking ties to hers.A Killer Will Always Find You. . .Someone is watching Kate, watching her son, and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him. And the one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever. Soon the past Kate thought she could outrun will explode, unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery, and a fury powerful enough to kill. . .

All the Lies We Tell


Megan Hart - 2017
    They’d grown up on a remote stretch of Quarry Street, where there were two houses, two sets of siblings, and eventually, a tangled mess of betrayal, longing, and loss. Tragedy catapulted Allie and Ilya together, but divorce—even as neighbors—has been relatively uncomplicated.Then Ilya’s brother, Nikolai, comes home for their grandmother’s last days. He’s the guy who teased and fought with Allie, infuriated her, then fled town without a good-bye. Now Niko makes her feel something else entirely—a rush of connection and pure desire that she’s been trying to quench since one secret kiss years ago. Niko’s not sticking around. She’s not going to leave. And after all that’s happened between their families, this can’t be anything more than brief pleasure and a bad idea.But the lies we tell ourselves can’t compete with the truths our hearts refuse to let go…

Chosen for Power


Kathleen Brooks - 2014
    As the CEO of a corporate conglomerate, Elle is used to fighting off challengers. However, this new threat comes at a time when she finally lets her guard down to meet Prince Charming. And it’s unlike anything she’s been up against before. Drake Charles’s work on mobile technology has made him a wealthy, powerful man. But he quickly sheds the fame and publicity for a more private life, which earns him the label as a man of mystery. Drake adds to that mystery every year when he hosts a masquerade ball for charity. It’s also his best chance to find the one thing he really wants . . . true love. Having met behind masks of anonymity, Elle and Drake enjoy a whirlwind night of romance that leaves them both wanting more. But Elle must question everything and everyone as she battles to save her life and career. Can Elle trust Drake to help get her life back or will she lose everything?

Long Road Home


Maya Banks - 2007
    Manny is shocked by the change in the woman he once knew. Kidnapped by a shadowy organization, Jules has been forced to become the very thing he’s pledged his life to defeat—a terrorist assassin. Knowing her testimony will finally bring down the organization, Manny races to get her to Washington, D.C. in one piece. Just when there’s a glimmer of hope of overcoming her past, Jules must pull off one last job or Manny’s life will be forfeit. It’s a mission she must complete…even if it means betraying the only man she has ever loved. Warning, this title contains the following: Explicit sex, adult language, violence.

Lavender Morning


Jude Deveraux - 2009
    Her mother grew up attending private schools and afternoon teas, but she married the local handyman. After her mother died when Joce was only five years old, her father remarried into his own class, and Joce became an outsider -- until she met Edilean Harcourt. Although she was sixty years Joce's senior, Miss Edi was a kindred soul who understood her like no one else ever had. When Miss Edi passes away, she leaves Joce all her worldly possessions, including an eighteenth-century house and a letter with clues to a mystery that began in 1941. In the letter, Miss Edi also mentions that she has found the perfect man for Joce -- a handsome young lawyer. Joce is shocked to learn that the mystery, the house, and the future love of her life are all in Edilean, a small town in Virginia that Miss Edi never told her about. Hurt that the woman who meant so much to her kept so many secrets, Jocelyn moves to this tight-knit village in an attempt to understand the legacy that has been left to her. As she begins to dig into Miss Edi's mystery, she soon discovers some shocking surprises about her family's history and her own future -- and she meets a man with his own mysterious past.

Forget Me Not


Elizabeth Lowell - 1984
    Not all of it - just six days out of a lifetime. When her brother needs her help, Alana is forced to return to the place of her husband's death and confront the memories that hover on the edges of her consciousness.

Trust Me on This


Jennifer Crusie - 1997
    "I bet that smile gets you everything you want...."As soon as Alec Prentice spotted the spicy brunette in red silk, he vowed that the tempting con woman would not escape him! Dennie Banks was prepared to do anything to get her story, even flirt her way into the arms of a man who promised to help; but when the feisty reporter dared him to kiss her, his mouth scorched hers with wildfire yearning.Could two passionate partners in crime get their man and each other?In a deliciously fast-paced and funny romance, Jennifer Crusie proves without a doubt that everyone's guilty of something; and it might just be love! Drawn into a reckless charade by a man whose dangerous charm was hard to resist, could she uncover his mysteries without surrendering her own?

Forged in Desire


Brenda Jackson - 2017
    Bold enough to love her. When good girl Margo Connelly becomes Lamar "Striker" Jennings's latest assignment, she knows she's in trouble. And not just because he's been hired to protect her from an underworld criminal. The reformed bad boy's appeal is breaching all her defenses, and as the threats against her increase, Margo isn't sure which is more dangerous: the gangster targeting her, or the far too alluring protector tempting her to let loose. Though Striker's now living on the right side of the law, he's convinced his troubled past keeps Margo out of his league. But physical chemistry explodes into full-blown passion when they go on the run together. Surrendering to desire could be a deadly distraction—or finally prove that he's the only man qualified to keep her safe, and win her love.

Breath of Scandal


Sandra BrownSandra Brown - 1991
    Robbed of her youthful ideals and at the center of scandal and tragedy, Jade ran as far and as fast as she could. But she never forgot the sleepy "company town" where every man, woman, and child was dependent on one wealthy family. And she never forgot their spoiled son, who, with his two friends, changed her life forever. Someday, somehow, she'd return, exact a just revenge -- and free herself from fear, and the powerful family that could destroy her.

Lay It Down


Cara McKenna - 2014
    But when Fortuity’s slick new mayor invites a casino development to town, greed isn’t far behind—and it claims Vince’s good friend as its first casualty. With the law turning a blind eye to the mysterious death, Vince must seek his own brand of justice. The pretty photographer hired by the developers might be the key to uncovering the truth. And she’s a temptation too good to pass up.Finally free of a controlling ex, Kim Paget’s not looking to be taken for a ride—not on the back of some tattooed roughneck’s bike and definitely not in his bed. But when she uncovers evidence supporting Vince’s suspicions of murder, Kim must entrust her safety to a man whose body threatens danger of a whole different kind.

Bound and Determined


Shelley Bradley - 2006
    May be armed (with bad intentions) and dangerously seductive… Kerry Sullivan is running out of time—and patience. With her brother wrongfully accused of embezzling millions, she can’t face one more humiliating hang up from the man she’s begging for help. Rafael Dawson may be one of the top electronic security experts in the country—and the only man who can prove her brother’s innocence—but his phone manners are appalling. Damn Yankee. Too bad kidnapping the man isn’t an option. Or is it? There’s nothing Kerry wouldn’t do for her brother. There are lots of things she longs to do to Rafe Dawson when he’s lying tied up and naked in Kerry’s secret hideaway. Rafe is certainly something to look at, but her brother’s life is riding on her pulling off the impossible: getting this man who’s always in control to lose it. But when the tables are turned, Kerry finds herself at Rafe’s mercy. And the only way to get her way is to let him have his way—with her… MATURE AUDIENCE

Midnight Rescue


Elle Kennedy - 2012
    Ruthless. Savage. And she's the good guy.Abby Sinclair had a desperate childhood until she was rescued and adopted by a retired army ranger who molded her into a master of self-defense. Now, she's a cunning and fearless assassin thrust into assignment after dangerous assignment, using everything she has-nerve, resilience, strength, sex-to come out on top. Her only rule: trust no one.Abby's latest assignment is in Columbia: go undercover and snuff out a dangerous arms dealer active in the underground sex trade. But when Abby purposely blows her cover in a last-ditch attempt to free the helpless victims, deadly mercenary Kane Woodland is recruited as back-up. His mission: get Abby out of that hell hole.The last thing Kane expects is to feel a primal attraction for Abby. But when she convinces him to join her on her perilous mission, their newfound passion could put the lives of their whole team at risk.