Book picks similar to
Ruin by Jolie Vines


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Flock


Kate Stewart - 2020
    I gave into temptation and fed the beating beast, which grew thirstier with every slash, every strike, every blow.⁣⁣Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.⁣⁣Secrets that cost us everything to keep.⁣⁣That’s the novelty of fiction versus reality. You can’t re-live your own love story, because by the time you’ve realized you’re living it, it’s over. At least that was the case for me and the men I trusted my foolish heart to.⁣⁣Looking back, I’m convinced I willed my story into existence due to my illness.⁣⁣And all were punished.

Lord of London Town


Tillie Cole - 2020
    She has never wanted for anything. A comfortable future as a married London socialite ⁣awaits her. But since the age of thirteen, Cheska has harboured a secret—an unshakeable fixation on a boy who could never offer her anything close to ⁣comfort. A boy steeped in sin and draped in depravity. A boy born into the possessive embrace of darkness. ⁣⁣When Cheska’s seemingly perfect world is ripped apart by an unknown but deadly enemy, there’s only one person she can run to. One person in the world ⁣who has the power to keep her safe. The one person her weak and shattered heart craves. ⁣⁣Arthur Adley. The new head of the most feared crime family in London. ⁣⁣Forced too young to take the helm of the Adley firm, Arthur has become even more ruthless, formidable, and cold than ever before. His enemies are circling, and he must fight—and kill—to maintain his family’s place at the top of the London crime underworld. There is no room for weakness, emotion, or loss of control.⁣⁣But then Cheska smashes back into his life with the force of a wrecking ball. She has no place in this dark, vicious, and bloodthirsty world. And worse, she is the solitary chink in his impenetrable armour. He’s already pushed her away once, but this time she desperately needs him. She’s broken, lost, and in danger, and he is the only one who can help.⁣⁣Arthur must protect her. He must destroy those who dare to threaten her, hunt down those who would take what is his. He would raze all of London to the ⁣ground to keep her safe… but can he also protect himself?⁣⁣The infamous Dark Lord of London Town faces his most brutal battle yet—the crippling weight of the past, the unrelenting enemies lurking in the shadows… and the havoc that Cheska’s presence is wreaking on the granite fortress that was once his heart.⁣

Pike


T.M. Frazier - 2020
    Baptized in the gutter. I was raised by the violent laws of the streets, spilling blood without the hindrance of useless emotions or connections.Unfeeling. Unloved. Alone.My life was perfect.Until her.While on a manhunt for a mysterious enemy, one hellbent on taking both my business and my life, I find Mickey. She's covered in mud, rambling nonsense, and clearly out of her mind. She's also a distraction I don't need.That is until I discover a connection between the girl and my enemy.Mickey isn't a distraction anymore.She's the perfect weapon.One I'll use to exact my revenge.The plan is an easy one, but there's something about Mickey that's making it more and more difficult. A familiarity I can't place. A need I can't explain.A want I have to deny.After all, she's not mine to keep. She's a tool. My pawn. My sacrifice.

Kings of Chaos


Eva Ashwood - 2021
    I wear vengeance like a suit of armor.I’ve got a list with six names on it. Six people who wronged me, who hurt me, who took everything from me. Six people who turned me into the monster I am now.And I’ve crossed off every name but one.One more name. One more death. Should be simple, right?Yeah, you’d think so. But it turns out revenge is a messy business, and when I end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, I royally piss off four brutal, twisted, gorgeous men.Gage, Priest, Ash, and Knox.Lucky for me, the last name on my list is someone they’ve got their own grudge against, so instead of killing me, they offer me a deal. They’ll give me a chance to exact my vengeance, and in exchange, all they want is…Me.I’m not stupid. I’ve played this game before. Even though they've agreed to help me, I know they want to punish me too. They want to toy with me. To let their demons loose on me.But maybe these Kings of Chaos have let my pretty face fool them.Because I'm just as vicious as they are. And I’ve got demons of my own.Kings of Chaos is a full length dark new adult romance with enemies-to-lovers/love-hate themes, featuring a slightly psycho heroine and four even more psychotic men. What happens between these pages will be dirty, dark, and delicious, so read at your own discretion.

Still Beating


Jennifer Hartmann - 2020
    This book contains subject matter that may be sensitive for some readers, including rape, as well as strong language and explicit sex. 18+ only. Please read responsibly. When Cora attends her sister’s birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame. She doesn’t anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on Dean—her arch nemesis and ultimate thorn in her side. And she really doesn’t anticipate waking up in shackles in a madman’s basement.To make matters worse, Dean shares the space in his own set of chains.After fifteen years of teasing, insults, and practical jokes, the ultimate joke seems to be on them. The two people who always thought they’d end up killing each other must now work together if they want to survive.But Cora and Dean have no idea their abductor has a plan for them. A plan that will alter the course of their relationship, blur the line between hate and love, and shackle them together with far more than just chains.

Mafia Mistress


Mila Finelli - 2021
    Not many have the courage for what needs to be done to maintain power . . .but I do.And I always get what I want—including my son's fiancée.She's mine now, and I'll use Francesca any way I see fit. She's the perfect match to my twisted desires, and I'll keep her close, ready and waiting at my disposal.Even if she fights me at every turn.FRANCESCAI was stolen away and held prisoner in Italy, a bride for a mafia king's only heir.Except I'm no innocent, and it's the king himself—the man called il Diavolo—who appeals to me in sinful ways I never dreamed. Fausto's wickedness draws me in, his power like a drug.And when the devil decides he wants me, I'm helpless to resist him—even if it means giving myself to him, body and soul.He may think he can control me, but this king is about to find out who's really the boss.MAFIA MISTRESS is a full-length mafia romance written by a USA Today Bestselling author. It's the first book in the Italian Kings duet, **not** a standalone.

Promises and Pomegranates


Sav R. Miller - 2021
    Hades incarnate.They say he stole me.Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises.Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free.They’re not wrong, per se.Except it was my choice to stay.KalTo most, Elena Ricci is an innocent.Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares.Little one. Persephone personified.They say I ruined her.Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate.Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free.They’re not wrong, per se.Except it was she who ruined me.**Promises and Pomegranates is a full-length, standalone, dark contemporary romance based loosely on the framework/characters from the Hades and Persephone myth. It features mature themes, explicit scenes, triggers, and strong language. If you’re not a reader of the genre, this book may not be suitable for you. Reader discretion is advised.

The Lies we Steal (The Hollow Boys, #1)


Monty Jay - 2021
    All of us were dressed to the nines, one of us wearing a wedding dress, a day that was supposed to mark the beginning of a new adventure. It marked the bitter end of our vengeance. We have done things that have marked our souls for eternity.But before we get there, we have to go back.Back to where it all started. The place I could find in my sleep. Hollow Heights University in the macabre, somber seaside town of Ponderosa Springs.A college for prestigious, wealthy children to receive the highest education. A town drowning in treachery and secrets that became our damnation.But it wasn’t the forest surrounding the grounds or even the mysterious hidden mausoleum that haunted me. It was them. The ones that lurked in the night, things so wicked, so twisted, so evil, they would become the rulers of my nightmares. The Hollow Boys. One wrong move and I landed myself directly in their line of fire. This is not a story about love, it is not a story of happy endings. Love just happened to blossom in our sorrows, in our pain, our fear, our blood. Every terrible thing they ever did, we watched, we helped, we loved them anyway. Some run from their monsters, we fell in love with ours.

Grand Lies


J.C. Hawke - 2021
    While the city of London slept, he made good on our promise. Only to cut me with his words as the sun broke.I ran from him—I always ran. But Mason Lowell was different, and he wouldn’t let me go without a fight, finding my flaws and embedding himself into them. My push was strong. I spent my whole life perfecting it. But his pull was unashamedly stronger, and the rope he bound around my heart was his to pull at will.Love was shared—so much love. Promises were made—he broke every one. And then just when I think we are playing in the same key...The music stops.Grand Lies is book one of The Promise Duet. It is a Billionaire Contemporary Romance and contains themes suited to mature readers.This book is part of a Duet and is not a standalone.

Last (Copperslane, #1)


Garnet Christie - 2021
     BiancaI heard “nothing lasts” when my father first said it.I understood “nothing lasts” when my mother died and my dreams of becoming a romance author also withered away.Now, I find myself begging that “nothing lasts” with the arrival of the town’s newest alphahole, Brett. Every word out of his foul mouth and every smirk on his handsome but cruel face, ignites contempt. I dish the misery right back at him, and in those few moments of triumph, I relish those gritted teeth, and the red glow on his face. But beneath the biting comments, there’s something we share. A yearning for something to endure and to hurt those who have wounded us.However, it may be too late.Our rough start might override our new fire filled connection, and when he starts to challenge all my beliefs, I might be too scared to give myself over. But if we do work past it all, something unusual may happen––we might fall in love. Now if he can only make me believe that it will last.Last is a new adult romance intended for readers 18+Content warning includes strong, frequent language, mature situations, explicit sexual scenes, mentions of alcoholism, abuse, and suicide.

Voyeur


Fiona Cole - 2018
    Once she walked into my classroom, another smiling college freshman, I knew I should stop going. Stop watching. But I couldn’t do it. Everything about her makes me want more, and once I realize she wants me too, the temptation becomes irresistible. The worst part is that she has no idea her professor is the one watching behind the glass. I just have to hope that once she finds out the truth, she wants the same thing I do. Because now that I've seen all of her, I can't look away.Stand-alone.

Vines


Brynne Asher - 2016
    When the opportunity arose, she settled in horse and wine country. Experiencing more than her fair share of tragedy and loss, she had plans for her future, one where failure wasn’t an option. And not just because people and cows were counting on her. She’d poured everything she had into her struggling vineyard, because once she’s in, she’s all in. After giving himself wholly to the job for ten years, Crew Vega was done. He’d fulfilled his commitment, done his duty, gone above and beyond to settle the score. And the score was high. All he had to do was train his replacements and he’d be out for good. He had a plan, one that didn’t include getting involved with his new neighbor, a woman who not only kept cows for pets, but treasured her employees as family, and understood him better than anyone ever had before. But when he learned a high level CIA target being investigated for treason was keeping tabs on her? No, he never planned on that. And like everything Crew Vega did in life, when he goes in, he’s all in. Warning: I’m a devout member of the mama club and don’t want to get kicked out by angry mamas. If you aren’t eighteen, turn around, go drink your milk and eat your veggies, it’s good for your bones. And go to bed early, you’re still growing, your body needs sleep. And don’t text and drive. And be nice, sit with the kid who sits alone at lunch. And read a PG-13 book, it’s good for your brain. And go tell your mama you love her. Chop-chop, run along now. I’ll see you back when you’re eligible to vote.

Follow


Tessa Bailey - 2017
    Too bad she already sold it. Family is everything to gambling den darling, Teresa Valentini. Blood comes first, especially before men. So when her brother lands himself in hot water, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to save him. And showing up topless in her unwitting savior’s motel room is turning out to be the furthest thing from a hardship…Will Caruso is the bad boy of New York’s financial scene…and he just found out the very thing that drives his success is a damn lie. Now, he’s exchanged his high-stress life for the open road, no one but his Great Dane…and half a million Instagram followers to keep him company. When a mysterious beauty arrives, her secrecy prods his suspicions, even while she tempts his lust to the breaking point.Teresa met Will under false pretenses, but the bond consuming them is real. They’re strong enough to overcome a little betrayal…aren’t they?

The Predator


RuNyx - 2020
    As the only non-blooded member in the high circle of the Tenebrae Outfit, he is an enigma to all - his skills unparalleled, his morality questionable, and his motives unknown. He is lethal and he knows it. As does Morana Vitalio, the genius extraordinaire daughter of the rival family. What Caine does with weapons, Morana does with computers. When a twenty-year old mystery resurfaces, Morana infiltrates Caine's house, intent on killing him, unaware of a tie that binds them together. Hate, heat, and history clash together with unexpected sparks. But something bigger, something worse is happening in their world. And despite their animosity, only they can fight it down.

Brutal Heir


Eden O'Neill - 2020
    The arrogant a-hole I love to hate.His name may be Knight, but that armor is black as coal. He’s a beautiful god with a wicked heart. I know because my mom used to work for his family. An act of brutal violence in the woods and he gets my mom fired, ultimately leaving us homeless. That was the last time I saw him face-to-face.At least, until recently. He’s frat boy royalty at my new university, a campus god amongst the rich and elite. There’s little interest in a freshman like me.But then I cross him, putting an end to me being invisible here in his world. At a party, I see something I shouldn’t have seen. Now, suddenly, the campus god has me tackled on a bed with his hand around my throat. He tells me to forget what I witnessed. Do that or the end result will be bad for me. He’s hellbent on crushing my little dove wings and all I see is that cruel boy from the woods that day.When it comes to Knight, I can’t seem to stay out of his way or keep my trap shut around him, no matter how hard I try. He tells me my little mouth will get me in trouble, but I think he’s wrong.I’m not afraid what will happen if I spill his secrets. What terrifies me is how badly I want to see what might be beyond all that coal-black armor...It’s possible that, to some small measure, I’m tempted to give in to the only devil I’ve ever known.The dark knight himself. Warning:  Brutal Heir is an NA bully romance that contains dubious content and situations some may find triggering. It’s recommended for readers 17+ and is a standalone novel with no cliffhanger. It’s book one in a series of standalones titled Court University, which is a spin-off series about characters featured in Eden O’Neill’s Court High books. Reading the Court High books first is not necessary for the enjoyment of Court University. The characters' origin stories merely begin in Court High and can be referred to at any time if the reader so chooses.