Book picks similar to
Beyond Love Lies Deceit by Melissa Toppen
dark
suspense
romance
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Bullet to the Heart
Lea Griffith - 2013
She has become everything but is no one. Known only as Bullet she was long ago forced to shed the name her parents gave her. Changed, molded and trained to kill with sharp-shooting efficiency she is one of The Collective’s most valuable assets. In a cadre of killers, Bullet is death waiting but her time for vengeance has come.He was loved and then he lost. He has become a hunter in search of revenge.Everything was taken from Rand the day a bullet ended the lives of his beloved wife and daughter. He has searched for their killer seven long years and may have her in his hands. Rand has suffered but now the time has come to make The Collective pay or die trying.Joy and sorrow are two sides of the same coin. Vengeance draws them together but before all is said and done they will learn love can either break you or make you stronger.
Rules of Protection
Alison Bliss - 2014
Unfortunately, she stumbles on the wrong kind, witnessing a mob hit. To protect her, she's entered into the Witness Protection Program with by-the-book Special Agent Jake Ward as her chaperone.When the location of their safe house is compromised, Jake stashes Emily deep in the Texas backwoods. The city-girl might be safe from the Mafia, but she has to contend with a psychotic rooster, a narcoleptic dog, crazy cowboys, and the danger of losing her heart to the one man she can't have.Jake's as hot as he is infuriating, and she can't help but push all his buttons to loosen him up. Their mutual, sizzling sexual attraction poses a dilemma: Jake's determined to keep her safe and out of the wrong hands; she's determined to get into the right ones—his.Each book in the Tangled in Texas series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order. Series Order:Book #1 Rules of ProtectionBook #2 Playing With Fire
Seek
Mia Sheridan - 2018
She's even more heartbroken and confused when a hired private investigator tracks him half a world away, to a seaside town in Colombia. But the country has recently been ravaged by a massive earthquake and deadly tsunami, shutting down outside communication and making travel all but impossible. Still, Olivia is determined to make it to Colombia to find the answers she so desperately seeks. What she needs is a guide—a mercenary.The man named Thomas arrives in shadows, an unmistakable air of danger about him, promising to help lead her through the ruined, crime-infested country. But when Thomas and Olivia find themselves fighting an undeniable attraction, danger takes on a whole new meaning. Then again, in the lush jungles of South America, all the rules are different and Thomas and Olivia are about to discover that sometimes the thing you seek, isn't necessarily the thing you find.Seek is a STANDALONE novel with a small, fun connection to the Sign of Love Collection
Lotus
Jennifer Hartmann - 2021
While there are references, and it does feature a secondary character from Still Beating, this is a standalone novel.
Crave
Jennifer Dawson - 2015
I crave. I give in.I used to be a nice, normal girl. I had dreams. Good, happy dreams of a white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and a fairytale love that lasts forever. Nobody ever warned me that sometimes, the prince dies three weeks before the wedding. Like any addict, I swear this time is the last…. Now, I go through my days, a shadow of my former self. I pretend I’m okay, and the people in my life pretend to believe me. But, sometimes, when I can no longer stand the craving, I roam an underground sex club looking for my next hit. It’s dirty and wrong, but I can’t stop, and my only line of defense between them and me, is the rules I’ve designed to keep me safe. The men always abide by my rules. Until I meet him. And, like any addict, I’m wrong.I don’t question the instincts that tell me to run. One look at him, standing there, power radiating off him in waves, tells me all I need to know. He will make me crave those happy dreams I’ve left behind. And that is not an option.
Because You're Mine
Claire Contreras - 2018
They're the ones with experience. The ones with secrets. The ones that exude sex just by saying your name.From the minute I laid eyes on Lorenzo, I knew he wasn't just bad news. He was the headline.My opinion didn't change on our second meeting. Or our third. But my head and my heart are at war. He’s too mysterious, too gorgeous, too wild, and now, he wants me. I should run far away. So why am I racing toward him? I’m totally going to get burned. I know it. A man like Lorenzo won’t leave me unscathed.He'll make ashes of me.
Love's Taming
Maryann Jordan - 2014
And boring. Between focusing on keeping her small, inner-city clinic running, paying off student loans, and living in the tiny apartment above the clinic she has no time for fun or dating and certainly not for anything adventurous. Then one night, danger and surprise show up in the alley behind her clinic. And Annie is in for the ride of her life. Stoney is a mystery. A man of few words but smoldering looks. She decides to take a risk and after a night of passion finds herself thrown into a world that she never knew existed. A world of drugs, danger and intrigue. Shane is a detective, who vows to keep Annie safe at all costs. Losing his heart to her is the easy part. Keeping her safe and earning her trust will prove to be his most difficult task. **DUE TO ADULT CONTENT, SEXUAL SCENES OF AN EXPLICIT NATURE, AND LANGUAGE THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER CRUDE, 18+ only, please. **NO cliffhanger, HEA, inter-connected stand alone stories in the series**
Blackwood
Celia Aaron - 2017
It’s what I do. I’ll literally use a shovel to answer a question. Some answers, though, have been buried too deep for too long. But I’ll find those, too. And I know where to dig—the Blackwood Estate on the edge of the Mississippi Delta. Garrett Blackwood is the only thing standing between me and the truth. A broken man—one with desires that dance in the darkest part of my soul—he’s either my savior or my enemy. I’ll dig until I find all his secrets. Then I’ll run so he never finds mine. The only problem? He likes it when I run.Author’s Note: This is a standalone mystery/suspense romance with violence and explicit/intense sex. If you need a trigger warning, then this isn't the book for you.If you purchased the book during the first week, Counsellor is included at the end as a bonus. Blackwood is a 67k-word FULL-LENGTH novel that ends at 54%.
Siren
Jaimie Roberts - 2016
In fact, I’m a real bitch. If the opportunity arises, I will take your husband, give him the best sex he’s ever had, and laugh behind your back once I’m done with him. I do not put on airs and graces. I just take what I want whenever I want it. I am the abused who has become the abuser. I live for power because all power had been stripped from me for years. Now that I have it back, I feed off of it like it’s my primary sustenance, and I don’t care who I hurt in the process.Every woman hates me, but do you know what? I don’t give a shit.You won’t like me. I’m not here to be liked. You want to know my story? I won’t stop you from observing. Just know that once I’m done with you, no shower—no matter how scalding—will ever get me out from under your skin.Warning: If you’re looking for pink, fluffy clouds, rainbows, and HEA’s, then this book is not for you. These pages contain flashback scenes of child abuse in all forms (physical, sexual, and emotional) as well as BDSM and other taboo themes. Love does not live in this book. Only dark, twisted, and sick obsessions thrive here. You. Have. Been. Warned!
The Sect
Courtney Lane - 2014
This is not a love story.Keaton Mara ran away from a life that had become a nightmare to live on the streets. While the location she now calls home is a dangerous place, she is protected by an unlikely friendship. The streets provided her with the education she could’ve never earned from the prestigious university she attended. Regrettably, the term ‘educated fool’ becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Due to meeting a man with whom she shares a captivating chemistry with, her judgement is clouded, resulting in a fateful decision. The consequence of trusting the prepossessing stranger results in her being stolen away to a place unknown. Her deceptive new surroundings are just as beautiful as the people who reside there. She discovers that it’s a place where the culture of sex without limits or morals is their religion. Keaton quickly begins to realize that the beautiful scenery serves to hide a very dark truth. The seductive and enigmatic man—who lured her there—desires to save her soul. His intentions are sinister, because saving her soul is synonymous with breaking her. Because Keaton believes her soul was brutally stolen from her many years ago, she thinks he can’t save (or destroy) something she no longer has. She…was…wrong.
Predator
Michelle Horst - 2017
I'm tortured and beaten within an inch of my life when he walks right into my hell.No one knows who he works for, only that he leaves no one alive. But for some unknown reason, he doesn't end my miserable life.Instead, he takes me, and I don't know which is worse... the death sentence hanging over my head or being at his mercy.Previously published as 'PREDATOR.'(Rewritten with a new cover and title 2021)WARNING:This book contains subject matter that may be sensitive for some readers. There is dark and triggering content between these pages. 18+ only. Please read responsibly.This is Cara's story. Her trauma and her journey of healing are the main focus of this book.
Vendetta
Autumn Karr - 2013
I've decided between life or death, like it was my due. None of it matters, not anymore. These are not my sins.I see her raise her hands, the dark metal she's clutching reflecting the moonlight. Her finger trembles as she cocks the gun pointed at me. Her eyes are cold, determined, but I know.I know her.My name is Devon Andre and I confess my sin. I am not a good man because this is the woman I love.She pulls the trigger.* Standalone contemporary romance.* Mature reader advised due to sexual content and strong language.
A Reason to Breathe
C.P. Smith - 2014
Jack Gunnison has a problem. Well, two, actually. One is 5'5", and the other? . . . A killer. Jennifer Stewart needs a change after losing her husband and sending her daughter off to College. Jenn moves to the high country of Colorado to start her life over and follow her dreams. Unfortunately, she gets more than she bargained for when she attracts the eye of a killer. Together, Jack and Jenn must figure out his identity before he strikes again.Mature readers only due to erotic content and language.
The Wright Brother
K.A. Linde - 2017
But when I returned home, Jensen Wright crashed into my life with the confidence of a billionaire CEO and the sex appeal of a god. Even I couldn’t resist our charged chemistry, or the way he fit into my life like a missing puzzle piece.Too bad he’d forgotten the one thing that could destroy us.Because Jensen Wright doesn’t share. Not with anyone. And if his brother finds out, this could all go down in flames.When it all was said and done, was he the Wright brother?
Mr. X
Clarissa Wild - 2014
X is ready for you, but are you ready for him?USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Clarissa Wild brings you Mr. X, a dark Romance thriller, which is a stand alone without cliffhanger.*Author Note: This is not your average romance story. Some people will kill for love.*He’s come to kill me.I’m a user and abuser of my own body. In my darkest hour I sold my soul to the devil and now I must pay the price. With his gun to my head I have no choice but to listen and obey, but I refuse to go down easily. Nothing is stronger than the will to survive. My instincts kicked into full gear the second he stepped into my motel room.Except when I look at him I see my own heart staring back at me. A history tainted by blood.I don’t know his name, but I know he wants me. To save myself I’ll sacrifice my sanity. My body. My soul. Something tells me the x-shaped scar that marks his eye is the only escape I have. He is Mr. X: the man who comes to claim my life. Can I save myself before he demands my heart?WARNING: This book contains very disturbing situations, strong language, drugs and alcohol, and graphic violence.No Cliffhanger. Complete at 90800 words. Stand Alone.