Book picks similar to
He Who Is a Friend by Love Belvin


romance
african-american
love-belvin
dnf

Beautiful Chaos


Keta Kendric - 2020
    Being a member of the Evans family had never been easy. By the time I was sixteen, I’d been snatched twice, shot at, and knifed in the back. Yet, I’d turned out to be the tame one, the one that had been smart enough to stay away from my family business…until my father dragged me back in.Animals were what the Vallin family were known to be, and my father had offered me up like a juicy steak, not only to save his own skin but also to bridge a gap between two groups set to engage in a merger that would only end in bloodshed.Khane: ‘The Kannibal.’ That’s the name they had chosen for me. I’d been groomed to take on the role of executioner. Strike down those who stood against us, punish those who threatened us, destroy those who needed killing. I did my job well. I did it with no mercy. I did it because I loved feeding my animalistic urges.There was one thing that quieted the animal inside, but Desiree Evans had no idea I existed. My secret obsession with her had been my only source of therapy. Her lure had the ability to quiet my beast even at a distance…until she became my brother’s fiancée.

The Kingmaker


Kennedy Ryan - 2019
    In a world of haves and have nots, my family has it all, and I want nothing to do with it.My path takes me far from home and paints me as the black sheep. At odds with my father, I’m determined to build my own empire. I have rules, but Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of them. From the moment we meet, something sparks between us. But my family stole from hers and my father is the man she hates most. I lied to have her, and would do anything to keep her. Though she tries to hate me, too, the inexorable pull between us will not be denied.And neither will I.

Ditching the Dream


Isabelle Peterson - 2011
    A successful husband. Three amazing children. A beautiful home in Napa, California. However, several months after their youngest child heads off to college, Elizabeth, who has been a stay-at-home mother for the past twenty-some years, realizes that she’s not sure who she is or what her passions are. Her husband is more married to his job than ever before. And Elizabeth doesn’t know what she wants to do. But she knows that she needs some space to figure it all out. Some distance from her seemingly perfect life.One impulsive flight later, clear across the country, Elizabeth finds herself in New York City. If she can make it there, she can make it anywhere!At first, her husband was livid. Who will cook him dinner? How is laundry going to get done? Is she having an affair? He decides to give Elizabeth a hall-pass, which only serves to further enrage her. How could he think such a thing after being married for over twenty years?But then she meets Jack Stevens. Sinfully gorgeous. Confident. Successful. And his eye on Elizabeth. There’s also something familiar about him.And then... Kevin Parker. Ruggedly handsome. Witty. A teacher. He makes her feel as young as he is.Both men show Elizabeth different sides of herself. Each gives her a new perspective.Enthralled and enlightened by her sanctioned affairs, she feared her entanglements could be less than temporary…Will the new Elizabeth embrace her scorching future, or will playing with fire leave her heart burned?Ditching the Dream is the first book in the steamy Dream Series of romantic page-turners. If you like sizzling chemistry, complex heroes, and endings that leave you craving more, then you’ll love Isabelle Peterson’s passionate page-turner. And you can keep turning the pages as Ditching the Dream is Book 1 in a 6 Book series.

The Initiation


Nikki Sloane - 2019
    But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything—the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents’ mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he’s the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it. I’ll make a deal with the devil to save my family and sell myself to the Hales. But Royce will never own my heart.

Show


Joy Blood - 2020
    Every part of the club is embedded deep in his roots, but he will go against them and his President for the woman he loves. When Cammy is banished from the club she is forced to go back to where she came from, with Show as her escort. Only when they get there, things aren't as they seem. Even with his orders Show knows he can't leave her there so he comes up with an idea. The only way for Cammy to be accepted back into the club.Marriage.A happily ever after couldn't be too far off, right?If only things worked that way.

Sinful Seduction


Ann Christopher - 2012
    Secrets. Seduction. Just home from the war, billionaire former soldier Alessandro Davies craves the solitude of his Hamptons estate as he mourns his fallen twin. The last thing he needs? An unexpected visit from beautiful veterinarian Skylar Lawrence, his dead brother’s former fiancée. Sandro remains determined to honor his brother’s memory. But what happens when his forbidden passion for Skylar flares one dark and stormy night? If you enjoy sexy and emotional contemporary romance novels—especially when they include love triangles—grab SINFUL SEDUCTION today!

Kiss Me Like You Mean It


J.R. Rogue - 2018
    His kiss is mine. “The first time he saw me I was shattered glass, and he was a shadow. If I had stayed, he would have just faded away.”It’s strange how easy it is to tell our stories to a stranger’s eyes. The truth about Connor Stratford and I had always been a sad tale. Over ten years of chasing, tears, lies, vows, and leaving. Two people who never loved each other at the same time, but couldn’t let each other go.Now here I was telling our story over drinks midday in an airport bar with my old diary clutched in my hand. Telling some version of our story, anyway.I left him once with no goodbye. Now I was returning home to give him what he needed to move on.“It’s important. It’s what you’re thinking.”I knew what his message meant, sent in the middle of the night after I woke from a fever dream. He was finally ready, and so was I. I just needed to finally give him the kiss he begged for. The one that meant goodbye.

Chased


Felicity Brandon - 2021
    Brutal, Ruthless and Charming.Chase Benedict takes pleasure in inflicting suffering on enemies and observers alike.Cambridge graduate, leader of the largest criminal organization in Britain, calculating lawbreaker, he doesn’t take no for an answer.Until me.I won’t bend to his will.I won’t be manipulated by his menace.He’ll discover what it means when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

I Didn't Mean To Fall In Love


AshleyNicole - 2020
    When you find the right one, though, celestial bodies will literally line up to smooth your path. Siani’s mercury has been in retrograde for what seems like forever. She loves her job, but her boss is a lazy jerk. Family is a foreign idea, and her love life sucks. There’s also a new tenant in her house… but we won’t go there. Tris has spent the last five years paying for a mistake he didn’t make. Going forward, all he wants to do is get his life back on track and stay out of Siani’s way. However, things don’t always work out the way we want them to. He’s sort of a hero, and she kinda needs saving. Can they hold each other up without falling in love?

Hard to Love


W. Winters - 2019
    I was too much of a bastard to push her away.I grew up in this life, and now I run these streets. Blood and violence taint everything I touch.Everything but her. She was my constant through it all.Just a touch would singe and soothe.Just a look would tempt and torment.She became my escape and my addiction.I only survived because she was by my side.I should’ve known better than to indulge.I should’ve known better than to let her fall for me.It was only a matter of time before the danger bled into what we had.I was Laura’s downfall. Problem was, she was mine too.

The Perfect Find


Tia Williams - 2016
    When she’s dumped by her longtime fiancé and fired from Darling magazine, she begs for a job at StyleZine.com from her old arch nemesis, Darcy Vale. But Jenna soon realizes she’s in over her head. She’s working with digital-savvy millennials half her age, has never even “Twittered,” and pretends to still be a Fashion Somebody while living a style lie (she sold her designer wardrobe to afford her sketched-out studio, and now quietly wears Walmart’s finest). Worse? The twenty-two-year-old videographer assigned to shoot her web series is driving her crazy. Wildly sexy with a smile Jenna feels in her thighs, Eric Combs is way off-limits – but almost too delicious to resist. Written by the bestselling author of The Accidental Diva, The Perfect Find is a scandalously sexy, laugh-out-loud saga of star-crossed love and starting over.

Dancing With Lies


Summer Cooper - 2021
    until he appeared.Lincoln-the swim team captain turned tech billionaire.Gorgeous, clean-shaven, and... oh so vanilla. There's no space for him in this dark world of hers.Especially if she wants to leave the past where it belongs and her secrets hidden.DANCING WITH LIES is a full-length novel containing mature language and adult scenes. It's the first book in the Barre To Bar series.

Playing Games


Candace Wondrak - 2019
    Free spirit. Troublemaker. That’s me.I never thought I’d meet my match, but I was wrong. Levi Harlen is an unstoppable force just like me, and together we make something truly amazing. Hot, heated, passionate. He does things to me no other guy ever has. I love the way it feels, but I hate it, too.Levi’s a liar, you see, and I stepped into his web unknowingly.This frat boy is about to find out that I’m not going to play his games, I’m going to play my own. He thinks he can hurt me by doing the sh*t he does? He’s wrong. Nothing can hurt me, even as my life spirals out of control.My name is Kelsey Yates, and I’m about to show this liar what it feels like to be rejected and beaten at his own game.Game on.Playing Games is the first in a M/F duology, and it includes steamy scenes. There are some mentions of self-harm, along with some bullying. Kelsey and Levi are both forces to be reckoned with, and neither one will back down. If you’re looking for a story with perfect characters who don’t make mistakes, look somewhere else.

Follow Me Darkly


Helen Hardt - 2020
    But he’s a master of control. Skye Manning knows what she wants. Her job as assistant and photographer for a major social media influencer isn’t perfect, but it’s a rung on the ladder to bigger and better things. She’s confident she’ll one day take feature photos for National Geographic.Self-made billionaire Braden Black didn’t get where he is by taking no for an answer. When a chance encounter with the refreshingly innocent and beautiful Skye piques his interest in more ways than one, he’s determined to make her submit.Dating a billionaire soon has Skye in the middle of a Cinderella story…until the clock strikes midnight and Braden reveals his dark side. Heat sizzles between them, and Skye finds herself falling hard.But Braden Black is no Prince Charming, and his dark desires are far from his only secret.Start this amazing series off with Darkly, Follow Me Darkly told from the hero's point of view, or spice up your reading with Braden's story any time while enjoying the Follow Me series.Darkly (Book #1 in the hero's POV) can be read and enjoyed in any order!Reading order of Follow Me trilogy:Book #1: Follow Me DarklyBook #2: Follow Me UnderBook #3: Follow Me Always

The Catch


Lauren H. Mae - 2020
    They can each be read as stand-alones, or read in order to experience the story chronologically. More rom than com, they're perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez, Kate Clayborn, or Helena Hunting's single-titles!With Catia Roday has learned the hard way that love always disappoints, so when she finds herself falling for Josh Rideout—the handsome, charming, seemingly-perfect guy she just met on vacation—only to find out they hail from neighboring towns, she has one question: what’s the catch? Unwilling to let love make a fool of her again, Cat tries desperately to ignore the chemistry between her and Josh, but it isn’t easy when their vacation plans keep overlapping. With the universe constantly throwing them together, and her friends practically staging an intervention to tell her she’s making a huge mistake, she decides to prove her point once and for all. On the way home, she makes a bet. She’ll take her budding vacation romance back to the real world, and when she proves Josh is too good to be true, she wins! (And she avoids another heartbreak.) What ensues is a series of tests and games with Josh one step ahead of her the whole time, until Cat realizes the friendly wager has her betting against the one man who may be able to revive her faith in love. Worse yet, it turns out Josh might not be the gambling type.Book two, The Rules, Now available!