Book picks similar to
Say Yes (CULTured Series Book 2) by Ashleigh Giannoccaro
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The Elephant Tree
R.D. Ronald - 2010
Scott is a dejected 24 year old struggling to make ends meet working for his brother and supplementing his income with a small-scale drug dealing operation. Angela is an attractive 23 year old, raised by her father, a career criminal and small time drug dealer who supplies Scott with cannabis. This is a chilling tale spanning a few months in the lives of Scott and Angela, where realizations about the present combine with shocking revelations from the past leading to an apocalyptic climax where they no longer know whom they can trust.
The Cement Garden
Ian McEwan - 1978
"Possesses the suspense and chilling impact of Lord of the Flies." Washington Post Book World.
False Witness
Karin SlaughterKarin Slaughter - 2021
She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised - her life is just as unremarkable as she'd always hoped it would be.HIDES A DEVASTATING PASTBut Leigh's ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average... a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence.BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UPThen a case lands on her desk - defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It's the highest profile case she's ever been given - a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it's no coincidence that he's chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running.AND TIME IS RUNNING OUTIf she can't get him acquitted, she'll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Calli, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice...
Mort(e)
Robert Repino - 2014
The instigator of this war is the Colony, a race of intelligent ants who, for thousands of years, have been silently building an army that would forever eradicate the destructive, oppressive humans. Under the Colony's watchful eye, this utopia will be free of the humans' penchant for violence, exploitation and religious superstition. As a final step in the war effort, the Colony uses its strange technology to transform the surface animals into high-functioning two-legged beings who rise up to kill their masters. Former housecat turned war hero, Mort(e) is famous for taking on the most dangerous missions and fighting the dreaded human bio-weapon EMSAH. But the true motivation behind his recklessness is his ongoing search for a pre-transformation friend—a dog named Sheba. When he receives a mysterious message from the dwindling human resistance claiming Sheba is alive, he begins a journey that will take him from the remaining human strongholds to the heart of the Colony, where he will discover the source of EMSAH and the ultimate fate of all of earth's creatures.
Vacant
Ker Dukey - 2015
I left her alone so she could live a normal life but I was weak, how can she live a normal life after so much sinister chaos invaded her world, summoning her own darkness to the surface?The depraved devil that is me now had an anchor, someone to venture into the black abyss with. Normal wasn’t a path ever set for Cereus. She was her Father’s daughter but my soul mate, even if I disputed ever owning one. She was struggling without me in her life, the vacant ache inside her leaking out. I can’t not go to her, the need is too strong and like with all of my urges I embrace it.
Rape: A Love Story
Joyce Carol Oates - 2003
Not after midnight, not through Rocky Point Park. Not the way she was dressed in a tank top, denim cutoffs, and high-heeled sandals. Not with her twelve-year-old daughter Bethie. Not with packs of local guys running loose on hormones, rage, and alcohol. A victim of gang rape, left for dead in the park boathouse, the once vivacious Teena can now only regret that she has survived. At a relentlessly compelling pace punctuated by lonely cries in the night and the whisper of terror in the afternoon, Joyce Carol Oates unfolds the story of Teena and Bethie, their assailants, and their unexpected, silent champion, a man who knows the meaning of justice. And love.
Of Sorrow and Such
Angela Slatter - 2015
The locals of Edda's Meadow, if they suspect it of her, say nary a word—Gideon has been good to them, and it's always better to keep on her good side. Just in case.When a foolish young shapeshifter goes against the wishes of her pack, and gets herself very publicly caught, the authorities find it impossible to deny the existence of the supernatural in their midst any longer; Gideon and her like are captured, bound for torture and a fiery end.Should Gideon give up her sisters in return for a quick death? Or can she turn the situation to her advantage?
More Than One Truth
Matt Benson - 2018
MTOT is the story of an idealistic young attorney who must defend a childhood acquaintance from murder while receiving guidance from his mentor's ghost. After his client and lover exposes their illicit affair, the unnamed narrator is forced to resign his position as an attorney in the Navy JAG Corps. He takes a job with a charismatic criminal defense attorney known for reckless behavior, which reunites him with his hometown of Chico, California. After tragedy strikes and John dies, he must take on his first felony murder case alone. His client is Scotty Watts, a former high classmate and sports superstar turned jail bird. Scotty professes his innocence and remembers nothing about the night in question other than waking up in a pool of blood to sheriff's deputies pounding on his door. Despite a mountain of evidence pointing to Scotty's guilt, Narrator works earnestly to exonerate him. But while he investigates the case, it becomes harder and harder to separate fact from fiction, and his mind starts to unravel. Filled with conspiracy theories, twists, turns, and eleventh-hour evidentiary discoveries, More Than One Truth leads to a climax that shocks to the core. A unique take on the legal thriller, a story about the conflicted emotions of returning home, shattered idealism, and the pernicious effect of loneliness. "...will keep many readers guessing until the end." -Kirkus Reviews "...spooky..." -Kirkus Reviews "The groundwork (is) laid early on, but with such a light touch that clues are easy to overlook..." -Kirkus Reviews
Wife Number Seven
Melissa Brown - 2014
Bright, red lipstick. Nothing but lipstick. Even though it’s against our faith to wear a color that screams of sexual promiscuity and deviant behavior, I’m not allowed to protest. But, I want to. So badly. You see, there’s more to me than the braid that spills down my back. More to me than the layers of heavy fabric that maintain my modesty. And so much more than the oppressive wedding band that adorns my finger--the same band that each of my sister wives wear. So much more. To protest would be sinful. I must keep sweet, that is my duty. So I’ll wear the lipstick. I’ll do as I’m told. And I’ll do my best to silence the resistance within me, to push him from my mind. If only my heart would do the same.
The Owl Killers
Karen Maitland - 2009
The tiny village of Ulewic teeters between survival and destruction, faith and doubt, God and demons. For shadowing the villagers’ lives are men cloaked in masks and secrecy, ruling with violence, intimidation, and terrifying fiery rites: the Owl Masters. But another force is touching Ulewic—a newly formed community built and served only by women. Called a beguinage, it is a safe harbor of service and faith in defiance of the all-powerful Church. Behind the walls of this sanctuary, women have gathered from all walks of life: a skilled physician, a towering former prostitute, a cook, a local convert. But life in Ulewic is growing more dangerous with each passing day. The women are the subject of rumors, envy, scorn, and fury…until the daughter of Ulewic’s most powerful man is cast out of her home and accepted into the beguinage—and battle lines are drawn.Into this drama are swept innocents and conspirators: a parish priest trying to save himself from his own sins…a village teenager, pregnant and terrified…a woman once on the verge of sainthood, now cast out of the Church.…With Ulewic ravaged by flood and disease, and with villagers driven by fear, a secret inside the beguinage will draw the desperate and the depraved—until masks are dropped, faith is tested…and every lie is exposed.*New York Times Book Review**Marie Claire
Harmony Black
Craig Schaefer - 2016
In addition to being a practicing witch, she’s also an operative for Vigilant Lock, an off-the-books program created to battle occult threats—by any means necessary. Despite her dedication to fighting the monsters threatening society, Harmony has become deeply conflicted about her job. Her last investigation resulted in a pile of dead bodies, and she suspects the wrong people are being punished for it.While on a much-needed vacation, Harmony gets pulled back into action. This time, though, she’s gone from solo work to being part of a team. Their target: the Bogeyman, a vicious and elusive figure…and the creature that destroyed Harmony’s childhood.Surrounded by quirky, fascinating characters as dedicated to one another as they are to their new partner, Harmony must learn to trust her team—and a new romantic interest—on a dangerous and deadly mission that conjures up memories she’d much rather forget.
Hell Night: A Dark & Bloody Anthology
Nikki Winters - 2021
One town. What happens on Halloween night when the Devil comes to play?Raw Tendencies: Devil's Gate Fairgrounds. A place no one will ever forget. The night Kainan St. Clair unleashed his true self; letting his demons come out to play. A dark serial killer romance full of blood shed, gore, and suffering.They shall reap what they sow.Nikki WintersNight Stalker: A taboo dark/age-gap romance that follows Macie and her allusive former teacher, Emmet Graham. One night on Halloween was meant to be fun, but it changed Macie’s life forever. There is nowhere to hide from him.M. ReedsPurge: The Hunting Ground: A thrilling reverse harem full of carnage, mayhem, and blood lust that follows the dysfunctional lives of Reagan, Bishop, Kingston, and Maximus on the tenth anniversary of the famous Devil’s Gate Funhouse Massacre. There Will Be Hell To Pay. Liley Cruz
Animals Eat Each Other
Elle Nash - 2017
The liaison is caged by strict rules and rigid emotional distance. Nonetheless, it’s all too easy to surrender to an attraction so powerful she finds herself erased, abandoning even her own name in favor of a new one: Lilith.As Lilith grows closer to Matt, she begins to recognize the dark undertow of obsession and jealousy that her presence has created between Matt and Frances, and finds herself balancing on a knife’s edge between pain and pleasure, the promise of the future and the crushing isolation of the present. With stripped-down prose and unflinching clarity, Nash examines madness in the wreckage of love, and the loss of self that accompanies it. Nash's work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire and others.
Sebastian
Anne Bishop - 2006
In one land where night reigns and demons dwell, the half-incubus Sebastian revels in dark delights. But then in dreams she calls to him: a woman who wants only to be safe and loved-a woman he hungers for while knowing he may destroy her.But a more devastating destiny awaits Sebastian, for in the quiet gardens of the Landscapers' school, evil is stirring. The nearly forgotten Eater of the World has escaped its prison-and Sebastian's realm may be the first to fall.