Book picks similar to
Quiet Lies by R.L. Griffin
dark
abuse
mental-illness
favorites
I See You
Ker Dukey - 2015
I capture you in your vulnerability; that smile, your laugh, those tears. I document you and sell your secrets. When I watch you through my lens you’re mine until I pass you to the buyer. I, like most people, have a fetish for pretty things and in my job I get to be around a lot of pretty things. They pay me to watch them and capture them in a frame for many purposes, and sometimes I like my profession a little more than I should. I took a job to capture her… I wanted to capture and keep her in more than just the image. This time I will take myself away from the lens and become the client because I cannot resist her, she reminds me too much of my first, I need to have her.Traumatised from a vicious attack, Nina Drake finds herself shut off from the world until her neighbour brings her out of more than just her nightmares. Even after moving and changing her name, she still can’t shake the feeling of being watched. The memories are so close. And so is the shadow of the creator of them all.
The Sordid Promise
Courtney Lane - 2014
She thought she'd left her "baggage" behind her on the opposite coast, only to find that it never left her side. As her self-destructive thoughts begin to consume her, her mother -- realizing Nikki's torment -- pushes Nikki to complete her last wishes.Eric Brenton, Nikki's new neighbor, lives in a dark, chaotic world that is easily hidden behind his model good looks and cocky demeanor. Unapologetic about his dirtier intentions, he sets his sights on Nikki with an offer to help her. But his help comes with very unorthodox conditions and a huge price.And Eric...comes with an extensive black box warning label.
Chosen
Barbara Elsborg - 2011
She chose her apartment with care—a safe district with a good neighbor—a place where she can live a quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar existence. Then she makes one mistake and opens her door to accept a delivery of flowers from a secret admirer and her life will never be the same again. A guy she’s never seen before bursts into her apartment and asks her to marry him. Jack Thompson won’t take no for an answer and drags Kate on a cross country journey to hell.Invalided out of the police, Nathan Beranson works as a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas where he spends too much of his time following unfaithful spouses and delivering the bad news to their partners. When his fiancée cheats on him with Jack Thompson, the half-brother Nathan’s only just met, he becomes obsessed with Jack in the same unhealthy way as his revenge-seeking clients. By the time Nathan finally realizes putting the ghosts of the past to rest is a wiser option than settling an old score, it’s too late. He’s already been drawn into his sibling’s latest deadly game and Nathan and Kate find their nightmare is only just beginning.
Smother
Lindy Zart - 2015
I am not the nice girl. I am not your friend. I don't care about you, but most of all, I don't care about me. Go ahead, hate me. We all have secrets. I have them as well—dark, terrible secrets. The only time I can breathe is when I forget. I need to be numb. You don't want to know how. But as long as I can breathe, the past cannot smother me.
That Which Destroys Me
Kimber S. Dawn - 2014
Love, happiness, and fairy tales… Yeah, they don't live here anymore. The only things residing amongst these thin and baren walls are Dominance, submission, and twisted obsession. Stella gets knocked down over and over throughout her life… Though she is bloodied and battered she stands back up every single time, smirks and nods before asking, "That all you got?". Wesley has shoved his way through the rich life with both middle fingers up. He's also shoved his way through half of the socialite population, but all that vanilla lifestyle has left him a starved man. He knows he can't keep his Dom fed with kinky little masochistic vanilla's anymore. On his mission to find the perfect sub, Wesley stumbles across a broken, shattered angel, only to find when she comes up swinging, that this little angel knows how to fight. He wants to be the one who breaks her… But it's not a question of who breaks her, the question is who destroys her. “We will fight, angel. We’ll fight hard. But it’ll be worth every strike below the belt. Every hateful or spiteful word said, because when we love, when we fuck, when our passion reaches an intensity so goddamn powerful like it has every single time, it’ll extinguish all the bad. I want all your hate, Stell… Just as much as I want all your love. We are doing this. And there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop it, angel. Is that understood?” ***Be Prepared to Expect the UNEXPECTED*** ***This is a story of perseverance, trying to overcome the transgressions that others inflict upon you, it’s a story of love gone wrong and obsession gone mad. This book contains explicit descriptions of violence, disturbing situations, and very strong language. This book is intended for MATURE AUDIENCE MEMBERS ONLY, and NOT intended for the weak at heart.***
Shhh... Gianna's Side
M. Robinson - 2014
McKenzie and I were best friends, soul sisters. We shared everything…or so she thought. To everyone I was perfect and happy. No one knew the real me. That was until I saw him. Everything changed the second we laid eyes on each other. The world stopped moving and only we existed in it. But it just added to the secrets and lies, it became too much and I couldn't tell apart what was real and what wasn’t. This story is for anyone, who has ever lied and lived to regret it… Dark Erotic Thriller. Mature audiences.
Jezebel
K. Larsen - 2015
Mandated to community service at an assisted living facility for early onset dementia she meets Jezebel, one of the residents. This is the story that unfolds over the course of Annabelle's court ordered six month sentence. Nothing is what it seems.
Collared
Nicole Williams - 2016
. .Brings her home. Jade Childs spent ten years in captivity, but now that she’s back, the real battle for survival begins. The media shadows her. Flashbacks haunt her. Her old life evades her. Her so-called new life rejects her. She spent too many years in the dark to recognize the light. She spent too long repressing her feelings to remember how to express them. She spent a decade abandoning hope and cannot dare letting it back into her life. Jade’s not just defined by what happened to her—she’s collared to it.When the twenty-seven-year-old woman is found,A community wants to know the story,Parents want to forget the story,Friends want to be a part of the story,And the man who still loves her faces the greatest challenge yet: letting her go.
Unravel
Calia Read - 2014
I was simply Naomi Carradine. One month ago, I was admitted into a psych ward. Yesterday, Lachlan visited me. Kissed me. And told me that I’m starting to lose my mind. Hours later, Max haunted my thoughts, reminding me I’m not crazy and that he needs my help. A few minutes ago, I drifted further from reality, trying to unravel the past. And now...everyone thinks I’m insane. But, I know he's real, and I know he needs me. Do you believe me?
Nocte
Courtney Cole - 2014
I'm eighteen years old, and I'm one half of a whole. My other half—my twin brother, my Finn—is crazy. I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I'm terrified he'll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me. I'm doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I'm drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline. Dare DuBray. He's my savior and my anti-Christ. His arms are where I feel safe, where I'm afraid, where I belong, where I'm lost. He will heal me, break me, love me and hate me. He has the power to destroy me. Maybe that's ok. Because I can't seem to save Finn and love Dare without everyone getting hurt. Why? Because of a secret. A secret I'm so busy trying to figure out, that I never see it coming. You won't either.
The Five
Lily White - 2019
Having lived a life of sex, drugs and manipulation, she is a temptation with far too many secrets.When psychologist, Justin Redding, is assigned to Rainey's case, he has no way of knowing the tale of debauchery he will encounter.On a twisted path of love, loss and murder, Rainey leads Justin through the events of her life.Death follows Rainey...Justin fights to discover her secrets...But will he discover the secret of THE FIVE in time to resist Rainey's ultimate seduction?***DISCLAIMER: This book deals with sensitive subject matters that may be upsetting for some readers.
Comfort Food
Kitty Thomas - 2010
As part of his conditioning methods, her captor refuses to speak to her, knowing how much she craves human contact. He's far too beautiful to be a monster. Combined with his lack of violence toward her, this has her walking a fine line at the edge of sanity.Told in the first person from Emily's perspective, Comfort Food explores what happens when all expectations of pleasure and pain are turned upside down, as whips become comfort and chicken soup becomes punishment.DISCLAIMER: This is not a story about consensual BDSM. This is a story about “actual” slavery. If reading an erotic story without safewords makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you. This is a work of fiction, and the author does not endorse or condone any behavior done to another human being without their consent.
The Lonely
Tara Brown - 2013
Emalyn Spicer has lived with it for a long time. She thinks it goes back further than her memories do. She knows it goes back further than the OCD.When she arrives at college, her OCD's and the lonely refuse to let her have her wish to be normal. When she meets Sebastian and starts to fall for him, she lets herself believe it's possible to outrun the things chasing her from the past. But how to you get away from the things inside of you? How do you run from yourself?Just as she gives up and succumbs to the lonely, the unthinkable happens. She finds herself once again trapped in the dark, once again held against her will.This time she meets the lonely head on. In the darkest corners of her mind, she discovers there is more to her world than she ever imagined. She discovers that the lonely was there for her, protecting her from herself and her secrets.How far would you go to find yourself?This is a dark and captivating novel, tread lightly
Black Lies
Alessandra Torre - 2014
Has been in a relationship with me for 3 years. Has proposed 4 times. Been rejected 4 times.Lee:Cuts grass when he's not banging housewives. Good with his hands, his mouth, and his body. Has been pursued relentlessly by me for almost 2 years, whether he knows it or not. Go ahead. Judge me. You have no idea what my love entails.If you think you've heard this story before, trust me - you haven't.**This is a STANDALONE full-length novel. It is not part of a series, and does not contain a cliffhanger.**
Scars
Jaimie Roberts - 2016
At least, that’s what I thought. But you changed all that. You are always there ... Always watching ... Always waiting in the shadows. You send me flowers and messages. You stalk me, trace my every movement... Until that one day, in a silly game of Seven Minutes in Heaven, when I finally get to feel you—have a taste of you ... It left me wanting more. One catastrophic day, my wish is granted. Just past my eighteenth birthday, tragedy strikes and I watch my family die before my eyes. You are there. You rescue me. You choose my life over my older sister’s, and I hate you for that. I hate you for taking me and imprisoning me. You say it’s for my sake, but I know it’s for your own. You make me see that my life could be much worse without you in it... You make me see true darkness. It is in that darkness you make me desperate for your presence, your touch, your caress. You make me need you... You make it impossible for me to live without you… And then, eventually… You make me fall in love with you. Secrets will always wound the ones twisted within their web of lies... But the ones I’m tangled in ... are deadly. WARNING: Although this book (overall) is not a dark read, one chapter is an exception, and contains the following triggers: childhood sexual/emotional abuse with some intensity in one particular scene.