Kiss of War


Clara Elroy - 2021
    His eyes fostered demons solely reserved for me. They craved to own my soul.And for the longest time, I took it, I bore his cruelty alone.But then... then I grew thorns of my own.And now?Now it's time for his torment to taste my kiss of war.Kiss of War is a complete standalone and a part of the City of Stars series.

Dirty Angels


Karina Halle - 2014
    Please see the bottom of this description to see if this is the kind of book that you'll love or piss you off**For Luisa Chavez, a twenty-three year old former beauty queen, a better life has always been just out of her reach. Sure, she’s had men at her feet since she was a young teenager but she’s never had the one thing she’s craved – security. Having grown up in near poverty, her waitressing job in Cabo San Lucas can barely let her take care of herself, let alone her ailing parents. Every day is another unwanted advance, every day is a struggle to survive.When Salvador Reyes, the depraved leader of a major Mexican cartel, takes an interest in her, Luisa is presented with an opportunity she can’t afford to pass up. She’ll become Salvador’s wife and exchange her freedom and body for a life of riches – riches she can bestow upon her deserving parents. But Luisa quickly finds out that even the finest wines and jewels can’t undo the ugliness in her marriage, nor the never-ending violence that threatens her every move.Soon, Luisa is looking for an escape, a way out of the carefully controlled life she’s leading. She finally gets her wish in the worst way possible.As it is, being the wife of Salvador makes her an ideal target for rival cartels and there’s one particular man who needs Luisa as part of his cartel’s expansion. One particular man whose quest for power has destroyed lives, slit throats and gotten him out of an American prison. One particular man who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.That man is Javier Bernal. And he wants Luisa. He wants to take her, keep her, ruin her.Unless she ruins him first.***WARNING*** This book deals with drug cartels and as such it contains a lot of sex and violence and some violent sex. It can get pretty ugly, pretty dark and pretty crazy. There is drug use, abuse, a bit of torture and dubious consent. The hero is not a hero and the villains...well, they're even worse. If this sort of thing bothers you, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT. This ain't no cupcake farting unicorn kind of book. If you are even a bit squeamish about violence, brutality and rape, this is your warning to stay away from a book that you certainly will not like (and why read books that you know you won't like?)******While this is a spin-off of The Artists Trilogy, prior knowledge of the books is not needed. DIRTY ANGELS is the first in a trilogy, however each book can standalone and follows or introduces different characters***

Sinners' Playground


Caroline Peckham - 2020
    Because it sure as hell wasn’t for the surf. But what else was I supposed to do when I found myself in Sunset Cove with twenty bucks to my name, the key to my enemies’ secrets hanging around my neck and a mouth full of grave dirt that wouldn’t wash clean?I hate the Harlequin boys.But this is the perfect opportunity to take what they owe me. Because once upon a time, they broke my heart, stole my life and sent me away from everything I’d ever known.Fox, JJ, Chase and Maverick.The four names tattooed onto my heart more permanently than any of the ink on my skin. They don’t just live in this town anymore, they rule it. And the view here may be beautiful, but the sun, sea and sand hide dark secrets.The gangs.The lies.The violence.It all lurks beneath a veil so thin that once you’ve seen through it, you can never close your eyes to the truth again.But I don’t plan on closing my eyes. I have four devils set in my sights. And this dead girl no longer has anything to lose.This is an enemies to lovers contemporary series where the girl will end up with multiple love interests and all of the characters are in their late twenties. Trigger warning: this series features gangs, violence, dark romance and jealous/possessive themes.

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.

Enslaved by the Ocean


Bella Jewel - 2013
    She's done something bad, and the only way to escape it, is to flee her home, and her country. She sets out on a luxury Yacht, to take her to another country with her best friend Eric. But she runs into a problem. The Yacht catches fire. She ends up stranded in the ocean, terrified, and scared of the uncertain. Until they show up. The pirates. Terrified, Indigo and Eric have to face the reality that this might be the end for them. These are pirates, they are the criminals of the ocean. What chance have they got of surviving this nightmare?Then she lays eyes on Hendrix. He's the Captain, he's gorgeous, rugged, and mean. He's planning on keeping her to repay his debt to another man, by selling her. Now Indigo has a crazy ex after her, as well as a pirate she can't seem to get out of her head.Come on this heart wrenching, dark, angsty and dangerous adventure as two people so opposite, find something so beautiful.

Never Have I Ever


August Clearwing - 2013
    Between completing a Master’s degree at Caltech and beginning her fruitful career at a local observatory she has little time for socializing. Until she attends one specific party that is.There, Piper is introduced to a drinking game called Never Have I Ever, and she finds herself admitting to a secret fantasy which challenges her friends’ views of her otherwise prudish nature. Her confession piques the interest of one man in particular, Noah; a handsome stranger with a darkly boyish charm.The resulting spiral of rapture and torture that follows is threatened by the demons of both their pasts. Piper's inability to give her heart to anyone, and Noah's guilt over the death of his former lover claw to the surface to tear Piper away from not only the one man who has ever made her feel like she does not have to be in control of her desires, but also the newly collected list of Nevers they both want to turn into reality.*Contains strong BDSM themes*

Descent


Sam Mariano - 2021
    except let me go.We were strangers, as far as I knew. He saw me once, but didn’t introduce himself like he could have.Calvin Cutler. Nice to meet you.But there’s nothing nice about Calvin Cutler.He’s ruthless and single-minded, and he zeroed in on me—a hapless target for his dark and twisted appetites. In the depths of Hell, I first looked into his sinful brown eyes, felt the greedy touch of his demanding hands for the first time. Not the last time, though.He wanted more. So much more. He wanted me, whether I wanted him or not.WARNING: Descent is a standalone dark romance with an unrepentant bad guy hero. This book is intended for an adult audience only and contains subject matter (such as non-consent) some may find triggering.

Born, Darkly


Trisha Wolfe - 2017
    She shattered his reality. They dared each other...to the brink of madness.A dark and twisted maze awaits criminal psychologist London Noble when she falls for her patient, convicted serial killer, Grayson Pierce Sullivan. As she unravels the traps, her sanity tested with each game, she's forced to acknowledge the true evil in the world around her.

Depraved


Eva Charles - 2019
    Wilder, and it takes a lot to shame me, but we’re about to see where you draw the line. Gabrielle Duval once belonged to me. And like it or not, she'll be mine again. In a world where money, power and corruption rule, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes. Although nothing with that woman is ever easy. But believe me when I tell you, I'll enjoy every minute of the fight. Pick-up a copy of Depraved today, and let Eva Charles take you on a deliciously decadent journey. Buckle up. **Those who are sensitive to dark storylines, please proceed cautiously!**

Savage


Michelle St. James - 2016
    Growing up on the mean streets of London, he clawed his way to the top of a criminal empire with nothing but sheer force of will and the determination to need no one. Ever. Then he met Jenna Carver, and all bets were off — until the day she walked out of his life without a backward glance. Leaving him was the hardest thing she’d ever done. As a kid, Jenna knew how people looked at her. Like she was stupid. Worthless. Poor. So she spent her life working to become someone else. Then she met Farrell Black, and their all-consuming passion blew a hole in everything she thought she knew about herself. Until she was forced to make a terrible choice. Now Jenna is back in London for her father's funeral, desperate to avoid the one man who can banish her hard-earned reason in favor of red-hot ecstasy. But when her father’s death is tied to an abuse of power at the highest levels, she has no choice but to ask Farrell for help. As they work together to find answers to a puzzle that could have dangerous implications, desire threatens to undo them both — and forces Jenna to choose between keeping the secret of a lifetime and having the one man who can command her body and soul. ***Approximately 325 pages and 75,000 words. Amazon's algorithms for calculating page count are sometimes incorrect.***

The Brit


Jodi Ellen Malpas - 2021
    Numbing herself to fear and pain is the only way she can survive in this cruel world. So when she’s taken as collateral by the notorious Danny Black in a deadly game of power, she’s thrown by the deep fear she feels rising within her. And, worse than fear, a profound desire. She’s heard tales of The Brit. He’s callous. Coldblooded. But no one ever said he was wickedly beautiful and darkly captivating. He sees past her mask, giving her a cruel sense of hope. But she must fight their twisted attraction or risk losing the one thing she survives for.When Danny Black took an enemy’s beautiful lover as security, he never anticipated the repercussions. Or the warped attraction they would share. Rose Cassidy pushes Danny to the brink of madness with her impenetrable façade and savage allure. He has to remind himself that she’s bait. A solution to a problem. Yet she evokes powerful feelings in Danny, and feelings are risky when you’re wanted dead by endless enemies.The most dangerous game is about to be played.But can either of them win?*This story is gritty, dark, edgy, and contains scenes that some people may find uncomfortable to read. It is NOT for the fainthearted.

Torrent


Gemma James - 2014
    Now, eight years later, he's returning the favor...I've been obsessed with Rafe Mason since I was thirteen. The twisted part of this story is that I still want him even now that he's holding me captive on an island.Rafe has his reasons for doing what he's doing, and if I'm honest, I can't blame him. I'm the girl who sent him to prison for a heinous crime he didn't commit.But now he's free and the tables have turned...now he's the one driven by obsession.NOTE TO READERS: Torrent is a dark romance with kidnapping and other disturbing themes. Intended for mature readers. Not for the faint of heart. You've been warned. Part 1 in the Condemned series.

Beyond Eden


Kele Moon - 2010
    Determined, he waits like a snake in the grass, poised for the right moment to offer them a temptation too delicious to resist.Artist Eve Everton makes the painful decision to leave her true love Paul for the siren call of New York City. Ten years later, with her life in shambles, she returns. When Paul's waiting arms aren't available, Eve falls for Danny's charm and finds herself a willing accomplice in the dangerous games Danny plays.Former college football star Paul Mattling is now a successful attorney with a bright future ahead of him. But behind those brilliant blue eyes are secret desires for a taste of the forbidden. Will he play it safe or give in to Danny and Eve and bite the apple?Reader Advisory: Not for the faint of heart, the pain in this story is vivid and real, the emotions even more so. Haunting and poignant, Beyond Eden presents a darker side of BDSM. You might gasp. You might cry. You might find yourself reading it again and again.

Auctioned


Cara Dee - 2018
    He was just another happy-go-lucky dude, a college student and hockey player, when his ordinary existence was interrupted, and he became a human trafficking statistic.He and seven other young men were taken aboard a luxurious yacht where they were to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Gray was beaten, shattered, and almost defeated by the time his buyer stepped out of the shadows in a swirl of his own cigarette smoke.He was Gray’s new owner.Darius Quinn had vowed never again to find himself in a situation like this. His days as a private military contractor were over. No more missions, no more risks, no more personal attachments. Yet, here he was, after weeks of searching, face-to-face with his broken prize.It was time to get the knucklehead back to his family.Quick and easy was Darius’s plan.Then everything went sideways.----------------------------------------------------Auctioned, book 1. (Does not end with a cliffhanger.)

Junkie


Heather C. Leigh - 2016
    A junkie. A whore. I'll do anything to get my next fix.Anything.Including walking right onto the property of Austin's most ruthless and feared drug lord to beg for some H. I don't know his name, only that people call him Boss. Oh, and that he won't think twice to put a bullet in my head.But like I said, I'll do anything to get my next fix. Even if it costs me my life.Or changes it forever.