Book picks similar to
Ruin by Jolie Vines


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Confess


A. Zavarelli - 2018
    Two signatures. A marriage of inconvenience. Lucian West is one of the most hated men in America. He’s a ruthless attorney who gets what he wants in the courtroom, and outside of it. Now, he wants me. For reasons I can’t fathom, he’s determined to make me his wife. He makes it clear he’s not above blackmailing me to put a ring on my finger. But he should know I can’t be domesticated. I don’t know how to love men. I only know how to leave them… with everything I want. ***I don't do love. I don't even do relationships. But all of that changes when I stumble upon the tragic, beautiful woman confessing her sins in the dark of night. She’s a thief. A con. The essence of everything I loathe. And yet she lures me in with her lying eyes.I want to protect her. I want to bring her to heel. I want to teach her a lesson she’ll never forget. She belongs to me, she just doesn’t know it yet. I've already made her mine in name. Now it’s time to claim the rest of her.

Make Me Lie


C.R. Jane - 2021
    And I may have been his accomplice.But no one knows for sure except for me.The dangerous, cruel men of the Sphinx secret society intend to uncover my secrets…and break me.Stellan, my childhood crush who lost his sister to the Demon.Cain, the boy with the face of an angel to who manipulation comes as easy as breathing;Remington, the playboy soccer star full of secrets.Pax, the dark psycho who hides behind his fists.I hoped for a second chance at Darkwood University, only to have my dream ripped away the first time I kissed one of the handsome bastards.They know who I am.And they're determined to make me pay.They should have thought twice about who they were playing with.Because I am the demon’s daughter. And just because they have the power, the connections, the faces and bodies of gods… do they really think they’ll win?I wanted a new life, not a war.But if they insist, we’ll see who ends up playing.

Fable of Happiness


Pepper Winters - 2021
    A man who’s lived alone for a decade.A woman who trespasses on his solitude. A love full of hate as well as hunger. The thing about my life is... I was never in control of it.I just I thought I was.I thought I had everything figured out—a good career, fun hobbies, a bright future, but everything changed when I found an ivy-cloaked house, tucked in a forgotten valley, hiding the man who would corrupt my world forever.I thought I was successful, until he showed me fortune and happiness could be snatched away in an instant.I believed I was blessed, but really, I was cursed.Cursed to become a plaything for a monster.Cursed to become a prisoner just because I trespassed.Now, I know nothing.I am nothing.I’m just his.It’s the start of something huge. From New York Times Bestseller, Pepper Winters, comes a new Dark Romance full of decadent angst, monstrous heroes, and pages chock-full of lust.

The Psycho


Nikki J. Summers - 2021
    She didn’t agree, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.She was all I thought about. She was my obsession.So, I watched. I studied.I toyed with her and I played my games. In her I’d found my perfect match, because she met every single one of my challenges with one of her own. She fought back and I loved it. All good things are worth fighting for, right?Trouble was, she thought it was all a game, but I would never give up. I saw something in her that made me crave more. What did she see in me?Cruelty.Savagery.A street soldier with a thirst for vengeance.I was a virus and she was immune. Or was she?Where I come from, they call me The Psycho.And I’m about to show the world exactly why.The Psycho is a Dark, New Adult standalone romance from Nikki J Summers. There are scenes of a violent and sexual nature in this story, therefore it is intended for readers of 18+ years. Please take note of the trigger warnings.

Prisoner


Annika Martin - 2014
    He’s dangerous. He’s wild. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.So I hide behind my prim glasses and my book like I always do, because I have secrets too. Then he shows up in the prison writing class I have to teach, and he blows me away with his honesty. He tells me secrets in his stories, and it’s getting harder to hide mine. I shiver when he gets too close, with only the cuffs and the bars and the guards holding him back. At night I can’t stop thinking about him in his cell.But that’s the thing about an animal in a cage—you never know when he’ll bite. He might use you to escape. He might even pull you into a forest and hold a hand over your mouth so you can’t call for the cops. He might make you come so hard, you can’t think.And you might crave him more than your next breath.

Heartless Hero


Mary Catherine Gebhard - 2019
    with cruel protection.Love is off limits with Abigail Crowne, but no one said anything about hate.Heartless Hero is the first book in the Crowne Point universe. You do not need to read any of the others to enjoy it, though it is recommended. It will enhance your reading experience as you will catch easter eggs and the timelines overlap.

My Kind of Monster


Lilith Roman - 2021
    I traded one captor that broke my body and soul, for one that threatens to break not only my heart, but the walls that contain the darkness that lives inside of me. He is a beautiful monster, everything I searched for before my capture, the only one that understands my secrets and I fear my heart and mind will not survive him.𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫… 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫…𝗦𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘅𝘅 hides a legacy of blood and I will drown her in it myself if that’s what she needs to embrace it. I wanted to use her — no limits, consequences or remorse — but when I set my eyes on her, broken and abused, her enemy became mine. Now I can’t let her go, not until I break her open. Her darkness calls to mine, her demons dance on heathen songs sung by my own and sometimes… prey wants to be prey.𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧. 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝.𝐀 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧.__________________Content WarningThis book contains material that is suitable for ages 18+, with dark themes that may be triggering to some, including dub-con. My Kind of Monster is a standalone Contemporary Dark Romance with a HEA.

Love at First Fight


Carrie Aarons - 2020
    Since the moment Smith Redfield laid eyes on me, he’s hated my guts. I’m serious, I think the raven-haired restaurateur gets physically sick just being in my presence. And he’s never been shy about hiding that fact. There was the time he cackled when I landed face first in a pile of Manhattan trash bags. Or the night I tried to throw my ex-boyfriend a surprise party, and Smith had strippers crash the bash. Or maybe it was New Year's Eve, when he got in my face and called me a sheltered goody two-shoes who wouldn’t know passion if it smacked me in the lips. He’s rooming right next door for the summer months, and I don’t think more animosity could exist than in the hallway of our vacation rental. As if I wasn’t already sporting a bruised ego and broken heart from the way his best friend left me. But the more midnight run-ins we have, the more I can’t help but think about the way his mouth would feel against mine. With each heavy-eyed glance over the dinner table, I’m starting to wonder if the damaged alpha male doesn’t harbor more than just loathing towards me. After all, they say hate is the closest emotion to love. And with the way we’re skating that thin line, it’s bound to burn this whole house down.

A Bullet Between Us (The Moretti Crime Family)


K. Dosal - 2021
    Terrified under the brittle moon, I’d been left behind as blood swept into the pristine snow. I’d closed my eyes and waited for the afterlife, welcoming it.Death had never come for me, but it ended the life I once knew. Now, I lived in fear, running from a world ruled by vicious men. An organized world where power and violence had no limit. And I was in the middle of it all. It’d led me to him, Ilias. But in this world, my nightmare was etched in the face of every man I stumbled upon. I didn’t trust anyone, but my heart trusted him.Even while my mind kept a bullet between us. ILIASI was given an assignment, an order. Failure wasn’t an option. Not when it meant her, Davina. But how could I keep her alive? I was no hero. Just a man dressed as one, with a heart as corrupted as the same men I grew up with.

Laces


Tempi Lark - 2021
    Not because of their impressive rap sheets, but because of how they look.And when I arrive, they take notice. Especially their king: Lincoln “Laces” Caster.He’s dark and disturbed.He’s controlling and possessive.Exactly the kind of boy I should stay away from if I want to clear my name and get out of here.*LACES is not intended for readers under seventeen. This book does have strong language/cursing and triggering scenes (that might not be suitable for everybody).

Sweet Mercy


K.A. Tucker - 2019
    Tucker comes the dark and steamy Empire Nightclub series.One visit to my father in prison—convicted for a murder he didn’t commit—and I’ve attracted the attention of the last man I’d ever want knowing that I exist.Gabriel Easton.Son of an infamous crime boss. Deplorable womanizer. Scoundrel to the core.Worse, he has figured out how desperate I am to protect my father from brutality behind bars. He has the power to grant that protection, and he has offered it … for a price.Me.I'll do anything for my father, including agree to Gabriel's cruel game. But I won't comply with his every whim and wish. Unfortunately for me, I think my loathing for him is what he’s enjoying most.That's fine. By the time I’m through with him, he’ll be crying my name.Mercy.

Suffer in Silence: A Dark Mafia Romance


Kelsey Clayton
    Monsters don’t hide in dark alleys.They lurk in plain sight, clawing into your soul with cordial smiles.They wear Armani, they drive Cadillacs, they attend fundraising balls...And they rule the city with a merciless fist.The Familia is a mystery to most,and sitting on its throne is Kage Malvagio.Vile.Sadistic.Painstakingly beautiful.Some say: Ask for forgiveness, never permission.Kage asks for neither.Especially when he gets his hands on me.I should hate him.I should run at the first chance I get.But how could the devil be so bad when he looks at me like that?

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.

Lilac


B.B. Reid - 2020
    Or so the world keeps telling me. Every so often, gods walk the earth. This time they came as musicians. When Bound loses its lead guitarist, yours truly is chosen to fill his shoes. From dive bars to the big stage, my instant claim to fame is nothing short of a fairytale. The only problem? My new bandmates. Jaded, gorgeous, and ridiculously talented--they're determined to turn my dream into a nightmare. It's no secret I wasn't their first choice. I wasn't even their last. The label wants a new image, Bound wants me gone, but I've got my own agenda.To succeed I have to survive a world tour, public scrutiny, and idols turned enemies. But the biggest threat of all isn't a meticulous front man, a narcissistic bassist, and a drummer with too many secrets. It's me. Somehow, I must resist the temptation of Houston Morrow, Loren James, and Jericho Noble. It seemed easy enough when I boarded their tour bus, but it only took one city for the lines we'd drawn to blur. Only ninety-nine more to go.Lilac is a reverse harem and standalone suitable for ages 18+.

Craving


Helen Hardt - 2016
    Her humiliation still ripe, she doesn't expect to be attracted to her friend’s reticent brother, but when the gorgeous cowboy kisses her, all bets are off.Talon Steel is broken. Having never fully healed from a horrific childhood trauma, he simply exists, taking from women what is offered and giving nothing in return...until Jade Roberts catapults into his life. She is beautiful, sweet, and giving, and his desire for her becomes a craving he fears he'll never be able to satisfy.Passion sizzles between the two lovers...but long-buried secrets haunt them both and may eventually tear them apart.