Book picks similar to
Bleeding Heart (Medici Protectorate Series #1) by Staci Troilo


romance
thriller
a-stray-lock-of-hair-behind-ear
paranormal

Cold Fear


Suzanne Brandyn - 2013
    When she regains consciousness, her daughter is missing.As the police widen their futile search, Macy struggles to pick up the pieces of an unimaginable life. Urged to take a break she heads to an isolated cabin with a girlfriend to recuperate so she can continue searching, only to face her worse nightmare - times ten.Trapped by a man she believed dead, he demands she play a game. She runs, he hunts. There is no place to hide...

The Perfect Witness


Iris Johansen - 2014
    But the gift seemed more like a curse as her mob boss father used her to gain the upper hand in his world of corruption and violence. Exposed by her own family to the darkest impulses of mankind, Teresa is alone and unprotected. She realizes that if she is to survive, she has to run.Out of nowhere, or so she believes, a man by the name of Andre Mandak appears. He kills her pursuers—but that's not nearly enough for Teresa to trust him. It is his promise to get her into Witness Protection, along with his mind-blowing ability to help her control her gift before it consumes her, that convinces Teresa Casali to become Allie Girard. Living a normal life with a new family, she shuts the door to the past …although Mandak is clear: when the time is right, he too will benefit from her powers.For years Allie flourishes …until the day her cover is blown and the truth comes tumbling out. Once again she is on the run, with her own life and those of her loved ones at stake. But this time she will not be a pawn. This time she will use her finely honed gift to end the threat that began with her family's betrayal. From perfect target to perfect witness, Allie Girard is ready to take on the past even if it kills her.

Danny


Janice M. Whiteaker - 2020
     He can find anyone. Anywhere. Any time.Doesn’t matter how hard they try to hide. But locating his friend’s lost family is proving to be more of a challenge than he anticipated. Shadow Pine, Washington is Craig’s last lead, one built on nothing but rumor and hearsay. But sometimes that’s all you need.That and maybe a little luck, and Craig’s luck comes in the form of a tall blonde with a knack for bringing the dead to life. Danny is strong. Smart. Driven. Fearless.And hiding secrets of her own. Secrets wound together so tightly even Craig might not be able to unravel them. If he can’t, everything that matters to him is in jeopardy. Wedged between her past, and their future. ****You don’t get to pick your parents. It’s a hard truth to swallow. Especially when your father is crazy.But Danny thought she’d left that all behind her. Then he showed up, looking like nothing she’d ever seen before. Clark Kent in a well-cut suit, with dimples deeper than the Grand Canyon and a voice that could melt the ice off Mount Rainier, Craig is a man who does what he says he will. Makes promises he keeps. Gives more than he takes.Except he wants to dig through a past she has no desire to remember, let alone discuss. Because her past is more than crazy. It’s dangerous. Maybe even deadly.

Lucidity


C.J. Lyons - 2010
    After witnessing her husband’s murder and barely surviving herself, she’s left medicine and become a prisoner of her own house and mind. Until she wakes up in her old hospital, told that she has a brain tumor that can only be treated if she agrees to participate in an experimental treatment.Grace sees her brain tumor as a blessing rather than a curse. It’s a chance for her to die and be reunited with her lost love, her soul mate, her husband.True Love never dies…

Lone


Danae Ayusso - 2014
    After closing the Silent Ripper case, a promotion soon followed. For the first time since running away from home a decade ago, her life was perfect, until a ghost from her past, a mistake that she had fought to forget, calls. Coming home to Haven wasn't something she ever wanted to do again, but her father needed her. A serial killer was loose on the small island her family called home, and trying to pin the gruesome murders on him. Facing her demons won't be easy, but in order to clear her father's name and catch a killer she must.

Cursed


S.J. Harper - 2013
    He's damned. Together, they make one hell of a team. Emma Monroe is a Siren, cursed by the gods and bound to earth to atone for an ancient failure. She’s had many names and many lives, but only one mission: redemption. Now that she works missing persons cases for the FBI, it could be just a rescue away. Unless her new partner leads her astray. Special Agent Zack Armstrong just transferred into the San Diego Field Office. He’s a werewolf, doing his best to beat back the demons from his dark and dangerous past. As a former Black Ops sniper, he’s taken enough lives. Now he’s doing penance by saving them. Emma and Zack’s very first case draws them deep into the realm of the paranormal, and forces them to use their own supernatural abilities. But that leaves each of them vulnerable, and there are lines partners should not cross. As secrets are revealed and more women go missing, one thing becomes clear: as they race to save the victims, Emma and Zack risk losing themselves.

Monster Exchange Program (MXP): A Choose All Fantasy Adventure


Mark Albany - 2019
     Well, definitely not ordinary... and totally not average. You see, Nate’s a Troman—a nearly seven-foot-tall guy who’s half war troll, half human—and he’s working undercover as part of a secret government project, the Monster Exchange Program, to investigate crimes that involve the occult. Once on campus, Nate tries to lay low, struggling to navigate college life while also unraveling a mystery involving the disappearance of several beautiful co-eds. If he misses a clue, it could threaten the entire planet. No pressure, right? All Nate has to do to defeat the bad guys and save the world is harness powers he never knew he possessed, kick the crap out of demons—and find a way to satisfy a small army of sorority chicks. Harem amazingness

Prior Sins


D.J. Gross - 2011
    Understanding the dark impulses that drive men to maim and kill comes easily to him. When he temporarily swaps teaching positions with a University of Michigan colleague, Hadrian assumes he’ll be on a sabbatical from crime. Then a series of disturbing assaults occur on campus and the Ann Arbor police ask him to consult on the case. Pursuing a link between the perpetrator and ancient mythology leads Hadrian to Sarah Roth. His reaction to her challenges his long held assumption that emotional intimacy is beyond him. She believes she’s a monster University of Michigan Classics Professor Sarah Roth dreams of blood and death. Her mother warned her to never share her dreams or she’d be locked away. Sarah pours her passion into teaching as a relationship is out of reach. When Hadrian approaches her for information, she is shocked by her attraction to him. Hadrian is dangerous to her but the demons inside her like to live dangerously. As Sarah struggles to keep her distance from Hadrian, her dreams become more vivid and violent. The real monster is hunting her Someone on campus is secretly obsessed with Sarah. He is recreating the Labors of Hercules, violent feats of power and strength, to prove worthy of her love. Once he’s completed his quest, Sarah will be his forever. Praise for the Novels of DJ Gross:“I was super glued to my Kindle for two days...The balance between the suspense-filled action and romance is spot on." The Romance Reviews on Stolen Justice "Seriously top-notch." Romance Junkies on Stolen Justice "DJ Gross made it so you just had absolutely no idea what would happen next!" Shameless Romance Reviews on Stolen Justice"For anyone who enjoys Romantic Suspense - this is a must read." The Book Pimp Blogs on Stolen Justice

Wild Ride


Jennifer Crusie - 2009
    Nor does she expect to find that Dreamland, the decaying amusement park she’s been hired to restore, is a prison for the five Untouchables, the most powerful demons in the history of the world. Plus, there’s a guy she’s falling hard for, and there’s something about him that’s not quite right. But rocky romances and demented demons aren’t the only problems in Dreamland: Mab’s also coping with a crooked politician, a supernatural raven, a secret government agency, an inexperienced sorceress, an unsettling inheritance, and some mind-boggling revelations from her past. As her personal demons wreck her newfound relationship and real demons wreck the park, Mab faces down immortal evil and discovers what everybody who’s ever been to an amusement park knows: The end of the ride is always the wildest.

The Accidental Demon Slayer


Angie Fox - 2008
    For Lizzie Brown, that's just the beginning. Soon her hyperactive terrier starts talking, and her long-lost biker witch Grandma is hurling Smuckers jars filled with magic. Just when she thinks she's seen it all, Lizzie learns she's a demon slayer -- and all hell is after her.Of course, that's not the only thing after her. Dimitri Kallinikos, a devastatingly handsome shape-shifting griffin needs Lizzie to slay a demon of his own. But how do you talk a girl you've never met into going straight to the underworld? Lie. And if that doesn't work, how dangerous could a little seduction be...?

Ghost Seer


Robin D. Owens - 2014
    Apart from the ghosts…...   When her eccentric aunt passes away, no-nonsense accountant Clare Cermac inherits more than just a small fortune. She receives the gift of communicating with ghosts. While Clare may not believe in spirits, it’s hard to overlook the shadowy talking dog appearing on her bed or spectral cowboys tipping their hats to her in the streets of Denver. And when she locks eyes with sexy—and living—Zach Slade, there’s certainly no ignoring him either.   A former deputy sheriff, Zach is leaving a painful past behind in Montana for a new life in Denver as a private investigator, a job that has him crossing paths with beautiful Clare. Not that she minds. After the restless ghost of a Wild West gunman demands her assistance, Clare finds herself needing Zach more and more—and not just for help.

The Huntress


Dorothy McFalls - 2009
    Her prey, ex-special forces officer Grayson Walker, is ruthless, a killer. She shouldn't feel attracted to him. Even so, the closer she gets to finding Grayson, the louder her instincts shout that things are not what they seem.It's only murder...Grayson Walker is dangerous...and determined. Someone is killing those closest to him, and he's desperate to find out why. When a firecracker of a bounty hunter comes close to capturing him, he fights back and ends up shooting her. Yet not even a gunshot wound can cool the sparks that fly between them whenever they're together. Soon, his life turns into a deadly race to earn Vega's trust, track down a killer, and avoid falling in love.

Skin Game


Ava Gray - 2009
    She steals with a touch, but she only takes one thing: her target’s strongest skill. Which means she can be a fighter, an athlete, a musician, an artist—anything she wants… for a limited time. Heartbroken, she turns her gift toward avenging her father’s murder; with deadly patience, Kyra works her way into casino owner Gerard Serrano’s inner circle. After pulling off the ultimate con, she flees with his money and his pride.A hit man who never misses the mark.Reyes has nothing but his work. Pity for Kyra, he’s the best and mercy never sways him once he takes a job. He’s been hired to find out where Kyra hid the cash—and bring her back to face Serrano’s “justice.” Dead will do, if he can’t locate the loot. He’s never failed to complete a contract, but Kyra tempts him with her fierce heat and her outlaw heart. So Reyes has a hell of a choice: forsake his word or kill the woman he might love.

Just Evil


Vickie McKeehan - 2011
    No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect.Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?

Obsidian Son


Shayne Silvers - 2012
    Cure a reptile dysfunction.My name is Nate Temple, and I’m secretly a wizard. I ride a foul-mouthed unicorn, I drink with Achilles, and I’m pals with the Four Horsemen. I’ve even cow-tipped the Minotaur. I understand the theory of following the rules…I’m just not very good at the application.Because rules were meant to be broken.Especially when I find out a monster just murdered my parents. Now all I can hear is the sweet, soothing song of vengeance in my ears, playing on repeat.But when shifter dragons come to town, I’m forced to step away from hunting down the scumbag murderer. Because I know the cure for a reptile dysfunction, and the dragons aren’t going to like it.This fight soon opens up Pandora’s Box, and suddenly every flavor of supernatural thug is after me. The only way out of it—to save my city—is to murder my best friend.I didn’t want, ask for, or start any of this. But I will finish it. It’s time I show St. Louis that magic is very, very real. And that an angry wizard is truly something to see—at least once in your life.You know, right before he puts you and everyone you've ever met in the grave...