Book picks similar to
Cold Deception by Dori Lavelle


dark-romance
dark
freebie
author-is-so-messed-up

Gun Shy


Lili St. Germain - 2017
    The second girl in nine years. Identical cases. Identical conditions. Only last time, the girl was found. Dead, stuffed in a well beside the creek that feeds the town's water supply. The killer was never found. As the small town mobilizes and searches for newly vanished Jennifer Thomas, one suspect comes to the fore. But did he do it? Or is there something else at play? Something nobody could have anticipated? For Jennifer's friend Cassie Carlino, the worst is yet to come. As she pins MISSING posters to store windows and joins the search, she begins to suspect that Jennifer's disappearance might be much closer to her than she could have ever imagined.

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.

Fearscape


Nenia Campbell - 2012
    She trusted him because she wanted excitement. There's a saying that curiosity can kill … but Valerian Kimble is beginning to learn that satisfaction might just be worse.Fourteen-year-old Valerian lives in an age where antiheroes and bad boys are portrayed as the romantic ideal, and good guys are passe and boring. So when Gavin Mecozzi, the school's brilliant but twisted loner, begins to show an interest in her after a chance meeting in a pet store, Val is intrigued. He's charming and poetic and makes her feel things that she thought were only possible in books--Fear.Because somebody is stalking Val. Somebody who wants to hurt her. Own her. Possess her. Maybe even kill her.As her meetings with Gavin unravel into a more complex and frightening relationship, Val can't help but wonder if the new boy in her life is her depraved and obsessive stalker.And whether he's capable of murder.Time is running out.

Slaughter


Shantel Tessier - 2018
    It is about revenge and hatred, misery and violence. I wasn’t always this way even though it was in my blood. I grew up happy and in love with my best friend until she betrayed me and walked away. After that, I fell into the deep, dark world I was meant for. Presleigh Clarke's actions turned me into the ruthless man I am today. Too bad for her, I believe people should pay for the things they have done. The more painful and messy, the better. I get off on making people bleed. It feeds my inner demon, and right now, he is starving. She crossed me once, so now she’ll know what it’s like to fear me. But not all stories end the way you think they will … mine certainly didn’t.

Royal Blood


Amity Cross - 2014
    It was black or blacker. And I was the blackest of them all."Xavier "X" Blood only remembers the last few years of his life.Trained as an emotionless and deadly assassin, he goes through each day crossing out names on a never-ending list, not once asking why they deserve what he delivers. Death.Then one day, his programming starts to unravel and it's all because of her.Mercy Reid has a secret. A big one. The kind that will get her killed if it gets out.Looking to get lost, she runs from one hopeless situation and falls into the clutches of a monster. A monster that was programmed by the worst of the worst to kill without remorse. A man who is looking for her.When X is given his latest target, things become muddy. He knows his mark is right in front of his eyes, but he doesn't want to acknowledge it. He's literally losing his mind after all.Will he defy his programming and save the woman who has made him feel again?Or will he pull the trigger?

Eden I


Georgia Le Carre - 2015
    At thirty Jake Eden has everything: looks to die for, money, power and a never-ending line of twisted, fucked-up women willing to do anything to get with him. Love? Love was for pussies…until a woman with the stage name of ‘Jewel’ arrives on the scene. She alone is different from all the others.Oozing pure, unadulterated sex, strong, intelligent and independent, she is everything he should stay away from, but she makes him itch to tame her and keep her for himself. Her lure is addictive and undeniable and soon he is hooked. But when the line between betrayal and loyalty is put to test…Will love be stronger than revenge? Book 1 of a new trilogy.

Provocative


Lisa Renee Jones - 2017
    They change us, mold us, maybe even save us. But some are darker, dangerous. If we allow them to, they control us. Seduce us. Quite possibly even destroy us. The moment I walked into Sonoma’s Reid Winter Winery and Vineyard and made eye contact with Faith Winter for the first time was one of those moments. Provocative because I know at least one of her secrets, of which, I suspect she has many. Provocative because she believes I was a stranger to her when we met, but I am not. Provocative because I sought her out, with no intention of touching her. But now I have. Now I want her. Now I have to have her. But that changes nothing. It doesn’t change why I came for her.

Jezebel


K. Larsen - 2015
    Mandated to community service at an assisted living facility for early onset dementia she meets Jezebel, one of the residents. This is the story that unfolds over the course of Annabelle's court ordered six month sentence. Nothing is what it seems.

Revenge


Dana Delamar - 2012
    And I want Kate Andretti with a fire that burns me to ash.Carlo Andretti wants Kate too… and my fortune, my estate, my empire. Most of all, he wants my death. Just as I want his.The vendetta between our families is old and deep. Only one of us can win, and only one of us can have Kate. Carlo believes that he can take what’s mine, that he can break me and make me crawl.But I’m Enrico Lucchesi.And a Lucchesi always gets what he wants.KATE ANDRETTIMy mother always said my impulsiveness would get me into trouble. She was right. Marrying a man I barely knew, letting him take me to Italy… not my best decisions.Especially when I now know what the “family business” really is.I want out of this life, and I want out of Italy. But the only person willing to help me escape the Andrettis is Enrico Lucchesi. And he wants me to stay in this world that I can’t bear to be part of.The vows these men take talk about “blood and honor.”But I know what this life is: it’s blood and danger. It’s blood and death.And I’m not ready to be a Mafia don’s wife.

Fallen Snow


Aven Jayce - 2014
    Some readers may find it offensive or disturbing.Sophia My story begins in St. Louis with my best friend and former college roommate, Mera. I'm twenty-three, not the romantic type, and convinced that I can mistreat my body however I see fit. I'm not worried about any consequences, only my therapist is. I see her twice a week as requested by my father. He believes my lack of motivation, foul-mouth, and immaturity all stem from my mother's neglect. But my therapist? She thinks I'm a sex addict. All of this is about to change... because of him. Cove Everton holds secrets that are far darker than mine. The demons he carries are destroying him, and his connection to my family is tragic. He distances himself, but our attraction is too powerful for that to last. Once his private life is exposed, there's no turning back. We fall fast and hard, both virgins to love and troubled by the unknowns of a future together. Can we erase the scars of one another's past and move forward? Or will we be consumed by our former lives? You'll spend time in shallow water getting to know me before you advance into the deep end with Cove. And it is deep, be patient. The unexpected is coming. ~ Sophia Jameson

The Sordid Promise


Courtney Lane - 2014
    She thought she'd left her "baggage" behind her on the opposite coast, only to find that it never left her side. As her self-destructive thoughts begin to consume her, her mother -- realizing Nikki's torment -- pushes Nikki to complete her last wishes.Eric Brenton, Nikki's new neighbor, lives in a dark, chaotic world that is easily hidden behind his model good looks and cocky demeanor. Unapologetic about his dirtier intentions, he sets his sights on Nikki with an offer to help her. But his help comes with very unorthodox conditions and a huge price.And Eric...comes with an extensive black box warning label.

Ruthless


Vanessa Waltz - 2014
    Against all odds, I picked myself up. Became sober. Got married. But then he found me. Now I belong to Cain—a ruthless, loveless man who’s intent on making me his obedient slave. He’s done unspeakable things to my body, tortured me, and broken me down so that I’ll never betray him. And I wouldn't have... Until Spike came along. He’s rough around the edges, but warm. When he kisses me, I feel alive. I’ve never been in love, but Spike is all I've ever wanted. When I’m around him, all bets are off. I’m falling for him and I can’t hide it anymore. If Cain finds out, he’ll kill us both. Author's Note: This is a dark romance novel, it contains themes of violence and mature situations that could make readers uncomfortable.

Shiver


Suzanne Wright - 2018
    Instead, she has a mother who lives in her head, a stepfather who’s on death row, and the stigma that comes with being the child of an extramarital affair. Writing has always been her escape. Knowing the reception her books receive will be tainted by her personal life, Kensey secretly writes under a penname when she’s not working part-time at her godmother’s bar. Her world might not be exciting, but she likes it exactly as it is. When she meets alarmingly compelling businessman Blake Mercier, the snap of attraction is instant. She doesn’t like it. Doesn’t want to be drawn to this man who is blatantly dangerous, carries dark secrets, and lives life by his own rules. Neither of them make a great first impression on the other, so she’s more than surprised when he begins to pursue her with a single-minded focus that is unsettling, thrilling, and infuriating. Her gut tells her to keep her distance, but Blake won’t let her run. Won’t give her space. There’s another person who won’t give her space. Someone who has discovered the secret of her penname and who seems intent on taunting her. And as Kensey struggles to identify her persecutor, Blake is by her side, determined to keep her safe … because Blake Mercier always holds tight to what’s his. Always.

Escape from Paradise


Gwendolyn Field - 2013
    One spontaneous choice whisks Angela across the world to the pseudo paradise of Spain’s Mediterranean Riviera where she has another choice to make: live cooperatively as one of billionaire Marco Ruiz’s slaves, or die.* * *Colin Douglas’s future was seized and choked when deliberate tragedy struck his Scottish family at the age of sixteen. He spent his remaining youthful years infiltrating the U.K.’s crime world, seeking power, control, and revenge, all leading to a position as an undercover agent. With nothing to lose, Colin accepts the seemingly impossible job of rescuing America’s famous missing girl, Angela Birch. Colin knows that to enter a snake lair, one must become a snake. It turns out to be a mission which will put his desire for control to the ultimate test, and make him wish for things he never knew he wanted.*AUTHOR'S NOTE* Escape from Paradise is a work of fiction intended for adult readers, containing graphic sexual scenarios and strong language.

Like a Fox


J.M. Sevilla - 2015
    Every day is the same, but it has never bored me; I’m content with my life. Or I was, until the day he walked in at approximately nine that morning. He was poised, enigmatic, and carried himself like a man who knew who he was and what he wanted. Unfortunately, what he wanted wasn’t me, or so I thought from the way he always remained remote and aloof towards our encounters. What I didn’t know was that he did want me, even before he stepped foot into Brennan’s Novel Tea Café. I quickly became consumed by him. The problem was, he was hiding a secret; one that would turn my existence upside down and take me into a world I wasn’t ready for. I should be clear that he told me he would never lie to me, and he didn’t, I just never asked the right questions. This is my journey of falling hard and fast for a man I knew very little about, and the downfall that went with it. I won’t tell you how it ends; some things are worth not knowing. After all, half the fun is the fall; it’s the landing that’s unpredictable. This book is intended for mature audiences due to language, violence, and sexual content.