Book picks similar to
The Devil's Bastard by Charlsie Russell


southern-gothic
books-i-owen
erotica
family-drama

New Beginnings in Greece


Ian Wilfred - 2021
    She knew she had important decisions to make and a holiday on the beautiful Greek island of Holkamos with her Nan would give her time to think things through.Kostas and Eleni’s traditional Greek restaurant didn’t draw in the holidaymakers. Financially struggling, tired and looking forward to the end of the summer, how would they continue to make ends meet? How would Yannis, their adult, yet socially shy, son cope with changes to his lifestyle?Demetrious had arrived from Athens to help decorate a friends gift shop.Carmela, a reputable French artist who lived on Holkamos each summer had recently died leaving secrets, upsets and an important legacy.How do all their lives entwine?Set amongst the backdrop of the picturesque Holkamos harbour, NEW BEGINNINGS IN GREECE is an endearing tale of how long-lasting friendships, romances and business partnerships are created from chance encounters.

The Viscount and the Witch


Sahara Kelly - 2015
    Rhys, Viscount Hadley, is the practical sort. A true gentleman of the Ton, he leaves London at his Uncle’s request to render counsel to the daughter of an old friend. Riding through the country to a small Hampshire village, he has no idea where this journey is headed. Lady Alice Korte-Giddenhurst senses his imminent arrival. She has strange gifts — talents for which there are no rational or scientific explanations. She knows, in that mystical place within her mind, that Rhys will be more than just a visitor. So much more. And she finds herself eager to begin their dance of desire. When Rhys arrives, he’s thunderstruck — the woman welcoming him seems to be glowing. Or maybe it’s just the immediate and powerful attraction he feels toward her. Whatever it is, he’s intrigued enough to stay for dinner…and thus the adventure begins.

Manuscript 512


Rick Chesler - 2018
    Thought to be buried somewhere within the Mato Grosso region of the Amazon rainforest, the lure of the vanished riches has long proven deadly to treasure-seekers who brave the forbidding wilderness and mysterious creatures in search of it. Disgraced historian Dr. Hunter Winslow, fired from a lucrative professorship for stealing rare documents in order to gain a competitive edge over his colleagues, thinks the key to Manuscript 512 lies not in its words, but in its paper itself. The only problem is that to confirm his hypothesis means to destroy the document, something the Brazil National Library in Rio de Janeiro will never allow. But old habits die hard, and Hunter knows his way around a Special Collections room. After a brazen theft that triggers an international manhunt, the rogue historian is able to reveal the document’s secrets in a way no one else can, or ever will be able to again—by using its physical properties to reveal missing sections that had supposedly been irreversibly damaged. Armed with this new information, Hunter embarks on an expedition to the deepest Amazon to put to rest the mystery of the lost city once and for all. But while Hunter is looking for the fabled treasure, the long arm of the law is looking for him. Will they catch up to him before he can locate the treasure of a thousand lifetimes, or will he become as lost as the city he seeks?

NightShade Forensic FBI Files: Vol 1


A.J. Scudiere - 2021
    . . Eleri Eames didn’t think she’d ever be allowed to work for the FBI again, so the special FBI division of NightShade seems like an amazing opportunity. But all too soon, her chance to start over starts to disturb her. When the FBI offers Donovan a chance to leave his job as a medical examiner and try his hand at something new, he takes a chance on the NightShade division. Somehow, he has to try to escape from his shadows, but can he trust Eleri with the truth? Thrown together on their first case, Eleri and Donovan must deal with a charismatic cult leader and his true-believers. The cult is mixed up with several decade-old kidnapping cases and the missing daughter of a prominent FBI Agent. As Eleri and Donovan dig deeper, they discover that NightShade’s mysteries aren’t coincidence. Their secrets will save them . . . or destroy them. Fracture Five - Book 2 NightShade’s newest agents are in L.A. to bring down a burgeoning terrorist cell. To make things worse, it’s not just one terrorist cell, it’s two. Or is it three? There is little to go on, only links between missing Army munitions and a veteran named Cooper Rollins. With his special ops training and severe PTSD, it's impossible to tell what kind of game Rollins is playing. Eleri and Donovan will have to use their unique skills to stop the attack before it happens. But in the crowded city, there are too many people who might reveal what Donovan is if he dares to make the change. And Eleri is starting to show signs of powers she didn’t know she had, and can’t control. On the surface the cells seem unrelated, each with separate perpetrators and different motives. But they are all linked by Rollins and the very disturbing passcode: “Fracture Five.” The Atlas Defect - Book 3 Eleri wanted a different kind of case. She should have been careful what she wished for. When an odd human skeleton in Michigan’s Manistee-Huron National Forest triggers a NightShade investigation, Eleri and Donovan arrive to find it missing. But two other skeletons are a little too easily uncovered—each displays different anomalies that raise alarming questions. The bones aren’t from the area or probably even the continent. A decades-old abandoned building doesn’t register on satellite images. Files detailing genetic experiments on children are even more disturbing, and most of the children are unaccounted for. Who were the test subjects and where are the bodies? If the case itself wasn’t enough of a problem, someone is watching. Someone with a particular interest in Donovan’s own skeletal anomalies . . . Echo and Ember - Book 4 FBI agents Donovan and Eleri left their last case with a sense of unease. Unable to close the investigation, they've been thrown into their next assignment far too fast. A string of strange arson-based murders are just part of the trouble. Not only is former agent Wade de Gottardi on their team for this one, so are two other NightShade agents: Dana Brantley and Christina Pines. The problem is, Eleri is no longer the senior agent, Dana is. Maybe their boss no longer trusts them, or maybe it s simply because four people have already died.

Every Dead Thing / Dark Hollow (Charlie Parker, #1-2)


John Connolly - 2003
    

The Last Bus to Wisdom


Ivan Doig
    

The Wedding Cake Wish : (Little Duck Pond Cafe, Book 17)


Rosie Green - 2021
    

The Watchman: Preventing the Apocalypse One Bullet at a Time


Arthur Bradley - 2020
    Loved it!"★★★ A clever mash of X-files, Tombstone, and Dresden Files! ★★★In 1885, President Grover Cleveland commissioned a special group of agents to investigate paranormal activities plaguing the nation. Unwilling to accept failure, he granted each the authority to operate outside the law. His directive was simple. No rules. No excuses. Just get it done.Remy Kincaid and his cynical steed, Fable, head to the town of Wharton, Texas, to investigate the disappearance of several young children. As clues lead them from a decrepit old house to an abandoned silver mine, they soon learn that an ancient evil is trying to release itself upon the world.★★★ If you enjoyed The Survivalist Series, you'll love The Watchman! ★★★

The Case of the Lamp That Went Out


Auguste Groner - 1899
    Joseph Muller, Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian police, is one of the great experts in his profession. In personality he differs greatly from other famous detectives. He has neither the impressive authority of Sherlock Holmes, nor the keen brilliancy of Monsieur Lecoq. Muller is a small, slight, plain-looking man, of indefinite age, and of much humbleness of mien. A naturally retiring, modest disposition, and two external causes are the reasons for Muller's humbleness of manner, which is his chief characteristic. One cause is the fact that in early youth a miscarriage of justice gave him several years in prison, an experience which cast a stigma on his name and which made it impossible for him, for many years after, to obtain honest employment. But the world is richer, and safer, by Muller's early misfortune. For it was this experience which threw him back on his own peculiar talents for a livelihood, and drove him into the police force. Had he been able to enter any other profession, his genius might have been stunted to a mere pastime, instead of being, as now, utilised for the public good.

The Widows of Braxton County


Jess McConkey - 2013
    She leaves the big city and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. Instead of something out of Country Living, Kate finds life on the farm a struggle. She hears gossip from the unfriendly neighbors about the connection between the Krause family and a mysterious death decades before. As the past creeps into Kate’s present, she’s caught in a web of dangerous, unexplainable events. Jess McConkey, who is also published under the pseudonym Shirley Damsgaard, is an award-winning writer of short fiction.

The Tigresse and the Raven


Julia Donner - 2012
    By then, it's too late--her family hovers on the brink of financial ruin with another social catastrophe about to explode. But neither can resist an attraction that burns stronger than society's dictates and their lack of trust--his of women--hers from fear of discovery.

The Willow Pool


Elizabeth Elgin - 2000
    But before Meg can take her first steps into the unknown alone, she must look to her past. Why, she wonders, did her mother wear a wedding ring but never marry? Why, for instance, does the tallyman never call at No. 3 Tippet's Yard to collect any rent? He does everywhere else. With Ma gone, Meg must go back to her roots to uncover her 'family tree'. However, the process of simplfying her life leads to unforseen complications. But there's always Kip, reliable and loving, to pick up the pieces of her unsolved life and love.

Vertigo


Lauren Baratz-Logsted - 2006
    What happens next in this brilliantly crafted novel of literary suspense will change Emma Smith’s life forever—and ignite a dark, erotic drama of suspicion, loss, and awakening.In the year 1898, Emma makes a New Year’s resolution: to become a better person. So, under the tutelage of her novelist husband, she begins an innocent correspondence with Chance Wood, a man serving his sentence for the murder of his wife. But from the beginning, in words that shock and intrigue her, Chance dares Emma to unveil her unspoken thoughts and desires. And when Chance receives a pardon, Emma is set dangerously free. She will use her freedom—and Chance’s—to pursue the fantasies that have been swirling dizzily around her. Slowly, recklessly, Emma exchanges all that was familiar and safe for her new, dangerous double life. As the risks mount and a friend turns blackmailer, Emma cannot stop her fall. For once she has given in to her truest, basest desires, she cannot avoid the ones that come next.…

A Wartime Wife


Jeannie Johnson - 2006
     Struggling to make ends meet, Mary Anne Randall is offered no help by her drunk and abusive husband. A pawnbroking business run from the wash house at the back of her home is the only way she can hope to keep her three kids fed and clothed. But, as storm clouds gather over Europe, can Mary Anne break free from her loveless marriage for what might be a last chance at love...? Previously published as LOVING ENEMIES

Don't Come Looking for Love 3: Family Ties (DCLFL)


Natavia - 2015
    Leodonis has a spot for him on the throne. Kenjay has a choice of accepting the crown or losing Latavia forever. Latavia is fed up with Kenjay’s secrets. She makes a decision that might end them for good. The twins are back! Sameer and Jameer turn against each other because of Jameer’s betrayal. Events take a turn into the deep end. Will forgiveness be too late before tragedy strikes? Shine has a new love interest but there is one problem. Caroline doesn't think anyone is good enough for her successful son. What lengths is a mother willing to take to keep her son from falling in love? Once Kenjay’s family meets the FAM his world is filled with twist and turns. When the families ties together they stick together, they become unstoppable. In this final installment more secrets, lies, and betrayal reveals. Hearts are broken and everyone has a past that will catch up to their future.