Book picks similar to
Rival by M.C. Cerny
01-books
age-gap-16-yrs-plus
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Beast, Part One
Ella James - 2014
He had more money than God and more women than any man could need. But when a night of debauchery ends in tragedy, he forfeits a life of luxury for a ten-year prison sentence at La Rosa, California’s most violent prison. TO A BRUTAL BEASTEight years later, a ruthless, cunning man runs La Rosa from the inside. He is known simply as BEAST. All the wardens fear him. All the gangs obey him. He speaks to no one but his inner council. What he says is law. NOW ONLY SHE CAN SAVE HIMAnnabelle Mitchell’s father is the warden at La Rosa. He deals as dirty as his trustees, and after years of smooth relations with Beast and the gangs he runs, Holt lands on the powerful prisoner’s hit list. That very afternoon, Annabelle pays a surprise visit to her father’s work, hoping to use her new counseling license at a place she thinks she could make a difference. When she catches Beast’s eye, he releases the warden and grabs the daughter. The price for the warden’s error is not death. It’s his precious Belle.
Second Time Around
Kelli Walker - 2021
I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. The way he left. The way he broke my heart when we were still teenagers. It’s still surreal to think about.Surreal… and pathetic. I still wear the bracelet he gifted me. Still miss his gentle touch. And the look in his eyes that said he loved me. But a lot has changed since we broke up. Ryan is a billionaire. He has women swooning over him. There’s no reason for me to think that he feels the same way about me. Seeing him back in town is going to be hard. Keeping my distance from him… even harder. Mending my heart was never easy. And doing it a second time around will be near impossible?Read as part of this series or as a stand-alone book. No Cliffhangers and a HEA!
Nico
Sarah Castille - 2016
But when he meets his match in the gorgeous, headstrong Mia Cordano, the daughter of a rival crime lord, all bets are off . . . Sexy computer hacker Mia struggles to break free of her ruthless father's Mafia ties . . . but she can't resist the powerful and seductive Nico, who will stop at nothing to possess her. With their families locked in a brutal war for control of the city, Mia and Nico enter into a forbidden game. Will they surrender to the passion that burns between them and risk tearing apart their families? Or will Nico be forced to betray the only woman who sets his blood on fire? Contains mature themes.
Better When He's Bad
Jay Crownover - 2014
. . meet Shane Baxter. Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way. Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced. Bax terrifies her, but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.
Manwhore
Katy Evans - 2015
Don’t be fooled by that last name though. There’s nothing holy about the man except the hell his parties raise. The hottest entrepreneur Chicago has ever known, he’s a man’s man with too much money to spend and too many women vying for his attention. Mysterious. Privileged. Legendary. His entire life he’s been surrounded by the press as they dig for tidbits to see if his fairytale life is for real or all mirrors and social media lies. Since he hit the scene, his secrets have been his and his alone to keep. And that’s where I come in. Assigned to investigate Saint and reveal his elusive personality, I’m determined to make him the story that will change my career. But I never imagined he would change my life. Bit by bit, I start to wonder if I'm the one discovering him...or if he's uncovering me. What happens when the man they call Saint, makes you want to sin?
Married to the Bad Boy
Vanessa Waltz - 2015
A man-whore. Whatever the hell you want to call it, I get around. During the day, I crack heads and extort businesses. At night, I find girls to f*ck. I live to hear them moan for me, but one night is all they get. No one ever made me want more. Until her.Elena.The moment her lips wrapped around me, I was done. All day, I think about running my tongue all over those curves. Too bad those curves are off limits. She's running from a man who will kill me for touching her.Well, she's tired of running and needs my help.She thinks I'm doing it for money.I'm doing it to make her mine.
Blood & Rust
Skyla Madi - 2015
I met him in the shadows first. He was tall and broad-shouldered, a man walking a dangerous path of rage and revenge, barreling toward certain death. The more time we spent together, the more he showed me who he was. Captivating… Charming… Ferocious in his own way… I had no right following Jai into the abandoned industrial site, but I did, and that stupid mistake was all it took to rip me from my world of semi-normalcy and thrust me headfirst into the gritty criminal underground with Stone as my only ally. Above ground, I'm a student nurse painfully dragging herself through an unfulfilling life, but down here, where men wear tattoos on their faces and kill without remorse, I'm a fraud living on borrowed time... ...and not much of it.
Kill Me
L.P. Lovell - 2016
The Kiss of Death, a hired killer, revered by some of the greatest criminal organisations in the world. Trained by the bratva themselves, without conscience, without mercy, the perfect soldier. I’ll kill anyone… for a price. Death doesn’t discriminate, she sells to the highest bidder, but even I have a weakness.Nero I want one thing—power. But power is merely a game of strategy. The pieces are on the chess board. Death is my queen, and also my pawn. She’ll paint this city red in exchange for the one thing she wants. Now all I have to do is watch it all play out. She’s nothing more than a weapon, and yet, I find myself wanting to dance with death, to possess her. And I always get what I want.A game of power. A risk that could cost her everything. An obsession that would see the world burn at their feet. A bloodied king. A broken queen. Kill me or kiss me?
Retrieval
Aly Martinez - 2016
Two couples.I proposed on our first date. She laughed and told me I was insane. Less than a day later, she said yes.It was a whirlwind, but we were happy… Until we got greedy and wanted a family.It was a life I couldn’t give her, not for lack of trying. Fertility just wasn’t on our side. We sought out doctors and treatments. Spent money we didn’t have. Lied to our families. Smiled for our friends. Put on a brave face for a world that didn’t understand.Finally, we were successful…Until we were forced to bury our son.We were left broken, battered, and destroyed.They say love is in the details, but it was the details that ruined us.This is the story of how I took back what had always been mine.The retrieval of my wife and our family.
The Sweetest Oblivion
Danielle Lori - 2018
. . Nicknamed Sweet Abelli for her docile nature, Elena smiles on cue and has a charming response for everything. She’s the favored daughter, the perfect mafia principessa . . . or was.Now, all she can see in the mirror’s reflection is blood staining her hands like crimson paint. They say first impressions are everything . . . In the murky waters of New York’s underworld, Elena’s sister is arranged to marry Nicolas Russo. A Made Man, a boss, a cheat—even measured against mafia standards. His reputation stretches far and wide and is darker than his black suits and ties. After his and Elena’s first encounter ends with an accidental glare on her part, she realizes he’s just as rude as he is handsome. She doesn’t like the man or anything he stands for, though that doesn’t stop her heart from pattering like rain against glass when he’s near, nor the shiver that ghosts down her spine at the sound of his voice.And he’s always near. Telling her what to do. Making her feel hotter than any future brother-in-law should. Elena may be the Sweet Abelli on the outside, but she’s beginning to learn she has a taste for the darkness, for rough hands, cigarettes, and whiskey-colored eyes. Having already escaped one scandal, however, she can hardly afford to be swept up in another.Besides, even if he were hers, everyone knows you don’t fall in love with a Made Man . . . right?This is a standalone forbidden romance.
Torment: Part One
Dylan Page - 2021
The one I knew I could always rely on.For many years, I accepted everyone and everything around me. But as I grew up, the veil was lifted, and I slowly came to understand how f*cked up it all really is. These men, who I considered uncles and close family friends, are members of the dominant MC, The Celtic Beasts. Shay is not only a proud member. He is the one they send in to do their dirty work. For some reason, this tough, muscled, terrifying guy, needs me to ground and comfort him.But I have always had bigger plans. Bigger dreams. I don’t want to be trapped here, in this life that is dark, bloody and violent. I want to get out, escape… but Shay has other plans for me.What do you do when your protector becomes the very root of your torment?**Warning: This book is meant for mature readers, 18+.Torment Part One is a dark romance and contains scenes and situations that may be upsetting for some readers. Includes several triggers and sensitive material such as: domestic abuse, profanity, gang violence, PTSD, depression, anxiety disorders, and sexual assault.Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with any of the above. Thank you.
Driven
K. Bromberg - 2013
Bromberg comes the first book in an unforgettable series about lust, love, redemption, and healing . . .Colton Donavan lives on that razor thin edge toward out of control. Whether it’s on the track or off of it, everything he wants is at his fingertips: success, willing women, media attention.Everything that is, but me. I’m the exception this reckless bad boy can’t seem to win over. My heart is healing. His soul is damaged. We both know the two of us could never work. But he crashes into my life without apology—disrupting my world, testing my boundaries, and uncovering the darkness of my past. Our chemistry is undeniable. Our attraction is magnetic. Our ability to help each other heal obvious. And even though he won’t let me in, there’s something about Colton I can’t walk away from. This is the beginning of our story.Our fight.Our perfectly imperfect love.
Diamonds in the Dust
Charmaine Pauls - 2020
Then she came along like a pretty wildflower pushing through the cracks on a dirty pavement—fragile yet resilient, a breath of beauty among the filth. She was supposed to be just another job, a nameless person I was to pluck from her life and hand to my brother, nothing but a pawn in the gamble of our diamond business. There’s a psychological label for men like us.We lack empathy and guilt.We do things to have what we want, things that make flowers wilt.(This is Book 1 of the Diamonds are Forever Trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Diamonds in the Rough (Book 2) will be released on 14 July 2020, and Diamonds are Forever (Book 3) on 15 September 2020.)
Harmony
Addison Jane - 2015
For the past few years she’s been living as a club girl for the Brothers by Blood MC. The club girls are there for a purpose - to cook, to clean and to keep the men happy. She respects the club, respects the men and she follows the rules. Watching the men walk in and out of her life is strangely comforting, and a feeling she’s grown accustomed to. With a history of disappointments and false promises, all she wants is to have fun, play music and finish college. Being associated with the club, she can do that without having to risk her heart. That was until he showed up.When Kit's father stepped down as president, he took the title with pride. The Brothers by Blood MC is his family, his home. Deciding to celebrate his new title with his brothers from a neighboring chapter, the last thing he expected was to find Harmony - a club girl with all the makings of a perfect old lady. The stunning blonde is beautiful, strong and fiercely independent. Harmony refuses to lower the walls she’s created around her heart, but the fire inside her and her love for the club fuel his need to have her by his side, and on the back of his bike.When Harmony’s safety is threatened, Kit is determined to do whatever it takes to protect her and prove that she can trust him. But after a lifetime of broken promises, will it be enough?
The King
Skye Warren - 2017
My father gambles every night, falling deeper and deeper into debt. When he hits the bottom, he places a new bet: his daughter. I'm his entry bet to the biggest underground poker game. Every kind of danger circles the velvet-covered table, but only one man makes me tremble. A trailer park princess. The son of a criminal king. We don't belong together, but I'm caught in a twisted game. His eyes meet mine with dark promise. And when he puts down his cards, I know I'm going to lose more than my body. I'm going to lose everything.