Book picks similar to
A Kiss Of Venom by Beena Khan


mafia
dark-romance
mafia-romance
dark

Tramp


Mary Elizabeth - 2020
    After fleeing a tragic past, Lydia’s determined never to go back to the life she left behind at any price. She lands in Grand Haven, California—a city booming with billion dollar corporations and tech money—and everything changes. Armed with the only lesson she learned from her mother, Lydia builds a life of routine, solitude, and success. Nothing is out of reach when you’re beautiful. Nearly a decade after her arrival, Lydia's the highest paid escort in the city, and only the most influential people in Grand Haven can get near her. She's a goddess among her clients, and out of reach to everyone else. Lydia's created the perfect illusion, and no one will take it from her again.Until a misunderstanding lands her in the office of the city’s most eligible bachelor. Talent Ridge is Grand Haven royalty. Despite running in the same circles as Lydia’s clients, he’s scandal-free and on his way to being the most powerful man in the area. Their chemistry is undeniable, but a relationship has the potential to destroy everything they’ve worked for. Especially when Lydia is running from her past, and Talent is running toward a future she can never be a part of. Beauty and money can’t save them this time. Are Lydia and Talent willing to give it all up for each other, or will their differences cost too much?

Last Hit


Jessica Clare - 2013
    For years I savored the fear caused by my name, the trembling at the sight of my tattoos. The stars on my knees, the marks on my fingers, the dagger in my neck, all bespoke of danger. If you saw my eyes, it was the last vision you’d have. I have ever been the hunter, never the prey. With her, I am the mark and I am ready to lie down and let her capture me. Opening my small scarred heart to her brings out my enemies. I will carry out one last hit, but if they hurt her, I will bring the world down around their ears. Daisy I've been sheltered from the outside world all my life. Home-schooled and farm-raised, I’m so naive that my best friend calls me Pollyanna. I like to believe the best in people. Nikolai is part of this new life, and he’s terrifying to me. Not because his eyes are cold or my friend warns me away from him, but because he’s the only man that has ever seen the real me beneath the awkwardness. With him, my heart is at risk... and also, my life.

Space Mercenary's Prize


Lynnea Lee - 2022
    Jenny brings out my instinct to guard and protect. Drunk and eager for a fight, I knock out her attacker and vow to take her home to Reka 5.There’s only one problem: Jenny’s owner wants her back.We wake the next morning with an enormous bounty on our heads. New Rhea is chock full of no-questions-asked mercenaries eager for the credits, but a promise as a promise, and I will get her to freedom.Besides, Jenny is mine. And anyone who wants her will have to get through me first!This is a novella-length stand-alone story set in the Tallean Mercenaries universe. Sweet and steamy scenes ahead. HEA guaranteed!

Out of Love


Jewel E. Ann - 2020
    Corruption. Serial killers.You name it—I'm fascinated by it. My mom always blamed my overly curious and highly suspicious mind on my dad.My incredibly overbearing dad.Mr. No One Is Good Enough For My Daughter has been terrifying my dates since I turned fifteen.College is my chance to be free from his control and date any guy I want. I'm absolutely certain he would hate Slade Wylder—almost as certain as I am that I do too.Since when have I shied away from trouble? Slade fascinates me. He lives in a house I'm certain is haunted. His dog is trained as well as any guard I've ever seen. Rumor on campus is that he deals drugs. It would explain a lot.But it doesn't explain why he saves me from my darkest moment.It doesn't explain why I can't stop thinking about him.And the explanation I finally discover is far more dangerous than any rumor.

Dark Protector


Celia Aaron - 2017
    Charlie shone like a beacon in a world that had long since lost any light. But she was never meant for me, a man that killed without remorse and collected bounties drenched in blood.I thought staying away would keep her safe, would shield her from me. I was wrong. Danger followed in my wake like death at a slaughter house. I protected her from the threats that circled like black buzzards, kept her safe with kill after kill.But everything comes with a price, especially second chances for a man like me. Killing for her was easy. It was living for her that turned out to be the hard part.Author's Note: This is a full-length romance novel. It's not a super-dark read, no trigger warning. Explicit violence and hot sex included. HEA, no cheating.

Beast


Measha Stone - 2018
    After all, Ellie Stevens has been her father’s keeper for as long as she can remember.However, Ashland Titon isn’t a man of mercy. If you owe, you pay. End of story. His unrelenting control has built his empire, and he’s not going to give over that power now. But when Ellie charges into his life with her demands and possibilities of sweet surrender, her offer proves too tempting to pass up.Yet there’s more at play here than just working off a debt. There are secrets buried in the shadows, and dangerous desires to be explored. While the two of them dance to an erotic beat, outside forces threaten Ashland's empire and Ellie must decide where her heart truly lies - and what she's truly willing to risk for love.

Black Hearts


Karina Halle - 2017
    The son of an infamous drug lord, Vicente was born to help run the family business, which means he’s been raised on a throne of sordid pasts and dirty laundry, violence and pride. But when Vicente stumbles across someone he’s not supposed to know about – a woman from his father’s checkered past – he sets out to California to find her behind his father’s back.What Vicente doesn’t expect to find in San Francisco is Violet McQueen, the woman’s twenty-year old daughter. Beautiful and edgy with a vulnerability he can’t resist, Violet tempts Vicente from afar and though he promised himself he’d stay away from her, curiosity and lust are powerful forces. Besides, Vicente has always gotten everything he wants – why shouldn’t he have Violet too?Soon his wants turn into an obsession, one that sweeps Violet into his games as they fall madly, deeply in love with each other, the type of first love that can drive a person mad.But it’s a love with tragic consequences.Both the truth – and the lies – not only threaten to tear them apart, but threaten their very lives.Someone has to pay for the sins of the fathers.And they’ll be paying the price with their souls.

Bitter Vows


Dani René - 2021
    A slightly twisted retelling of an age-old favorite. A contract had been signed. An agreement had been made. She was mine. And I never lose my possessions. However, my Little Red is not what I was expecting—sweet and submissive. She’s fire to my ice, and together, we will detonate. My heart has been locked away for so long. I don’t feel. I can’t. And she is certainly far too innocent for me to have. But one taste, one touch, and one soft whimper is all it takes for the rabid wolf inside me to bare its teeth. But fairy tales don’t always have happy endings. Please note: This is book one of two, and ends in a cliffhanger. The second book will release shortly after the first.

Devil’s Lair


Anna Zaires - 2021
    Must be willing to relocate to a remote mountain estate. $3K/week cash.On the run from ruthless killers, I’m down to ten bucks in my wallet and a half-tank of gas in my ancient car when I spot the ad. The job sounds like the answer to my prayers, but there’s a catch.The child’s father is the most beautiful, most dangerous man I’ve ever met.Darkly seductive and filthy rich, Nikolai Molotov is a tantalizing mystery, a lethally alluring contradiction. Bruised knuckles and tailored suits, tender endearments and dirty promises—my new employer draws me in like a magnet, even as my instincts scream for me to run. I should’ve heeded them… because I’m not the only one with secrets.My safe haven just might be the devil’s lair, and once he’s claimed me, it will be too late to run.

Savage Love


Nichole Greene - 2021
    Every plan. Every time. This girl is going to be the death of me. Or herself. Maybe we’ll go down in flames together.Elle isn’t the prize. She’s the penance.My first year of college should be amazing; freedom on a level I’ve never experienced. But one night of vengeance has led me to a prison sentence with a stern and sexy Russian mobster as my babysitter. He’s my ever-present shadow, and I vow to become his living nightmare. A car won’t be the only thing I set on fire.

Gilded Cage


Nicole Fox - 2021
    I’LL LOCK HER IN A GILDED CAGE AND THROW AWAY THE KEY.The night we met, she thought she was tasting freedom.I devoured her once and left before I even knew her name.Four months later, Bratva business leads me to the house of my enemy with one objective:Burn it down and kill everyone inside.That’s exactly what I plan to do…Until I find her cowering before me.The innocent girl from the club.My beautiful caged bird.I’m not here to save her—I’m here to ruin her.But something stops me in my tracks.Something I never expected.Did she say that’s my baby in her womb?

Bad


L.P. Lovell - 2017
    And she and I are both villains… I stole her from her precious cartel, and now she's my pretty little pawn. She should fear me, but she doesn't. I'll have to teach her… I put a gun to her head and she holds a knife to my throat. Round and round we go, inviting the sickness that consumes us both. We play our twisted game with sweet threats and cruel promises, neither backing down. I crave her madness in the most depraved ways. Only a woman as ruthless as Camilla could ever make me weak, and she'd love to watch me crumble. Two very bad people who want very bad things are never safe together. Some love stories have no heroes.

Nico


Sarah Castille - 2016
    But when he meets his match in the gorgeous, headstrong Mia Cordano, the daughter of a rival crime lord, all bets are off . . . Sexy computer hacker Mia struggles to break free of her ruthless father's Mafia ties . . . but she can't resist the powerful and seductive Nico, who will stop at nothing to possess her. With their families locked in a brutal war for control of the city, Mia and Nico enter into a forbidden game. Will they surrender to the passion that burns between them and risk tearing apart their families? Or will Nico be forced to betray the only woman who sets his blood on fire? Contains mature themes.

Misconduct


Penelope Douglas - 2015
    What brought her to this stage in her life isn’t important. She can’t let it be. But now one parent-teacher meeting may be her undoing…Meeting Tyler Marek for the first time makes it easy for Easton to see why his son is having trouble in school. The man knows how to manage businesses and wealth, not a teenage boy. Or a young teacher, for that matter, though he tries to. And yet…there is something about him that draws Easton in—a hint of vulnerability, a flash of attraction, a spark that might burn.Wanting him is taboo. Needing him is undeniable. And his long-awaited touch will weaken Easton’s resolve—and reveal what should stay hidden…(*STANDALONE, NO CLIFFHANGER*)

Things I Wanted To Say (But Never Did)


Monica Murphy - 2021
    Dark and thunderous, furious and fierce. Cold, heartless and devastatingly beautiful, like the statues in our prep school gardens. The school with his family name on the sign. He can do no wrong here. This is his domain. He’s a menace on campus. Adored and feared. Hated and respected. His taunting words carve into my skin, shredding me to ribbons. Yet his intense gaze scorches my blood, fills me with a longing I don’t understand. When I stumble upon him one night alone, I find him broken. Bleeding. My instincts scream to leave and let him suffer, but I can’t. I sneak him into my room. Clean him up. Fall for his lies. Let him possess every single part of me until I’m the one left a gasping, broken mess. When he leaves me alone in the dead of night, he takes my journal with him. Now he knows all my secrets. My hate. My truth. And he promises to use my words against me. I’ll be ruined if my darkest secret gets out. That’s when I strike a bargain with the devil. I’ll let Whit Lancaster ruin me behind closed doors instead.