Book picks similar to
Checkmate by Lindsey Powell
mafia
romance
dark-romance
spicy
Zel
Roxie Rivera - 2016
If he wins, he’ll clear the debts he incurred trying to save his young son’s life and earn his freedom.But one chance encounter with a luscious burlesque performer in Vegas threatens all those carefully laid plans…Ten years ago, Sara Contreras fled Houston with the help of her mobbed-up friends. Since barely escaping with her life, she’s built a multi-million dollar empire, but she’s always looking over her shoulder, wondering if the dark, dangerous secret she left behind in Houston is going to catch up with her.When Sara’s past threatens everything Zel has worked so hard to achieve, she has to make a painful choice. She can sacrifice her love for Zel and let him go—or she can fight for him, facing the secret that nearly buried her back in Houston and the loan shark who owns them both.
The Roommate
Rosie Danan - 2020
The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet... Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.
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.
Bennett Mafia
Tijan - 2019
The wealthiest of the wealthy sent their kids to our boarding school, and Brooke Bennett had been at the top, though I never quite knew why. She was fun and outgoing, but she kept quiet about her family. The only things she showed me were photographs of her brothers. I became fascinated with her second-oldest brother. Kai Bennett. He was the most of them all. Smoldering. Hypnotic. Alluring. Kai had eyes that pulled me in and a face that haunted my dreams. Then I met him. He came to our school with their father, and that’s when I learned what kind of family Brooke came from. They were mafia, and Brooke’s oldest brother was dead. Her father said accident, but Brooke said murder. Three months later, her father died, and Kai became the head of the Bennett Family. Brooke left Hillcrest for good, and that was the last time I saw her. Fourteen years later, I’m staring at her face on the television. Brooke is missing. Two days later, Kai Bennett kidnaps me. ** This is a 120k complete standalone. ** There is a bonus chapter from another book at the end.
I Need You To Hate Me
Genicious Fox - 2021
When they collide, will there be light at the end of a tunnel…or will they spiral towards despair?Two years after a heart-wrenching accident, Calla is still full of guilt.She’s hopeful for a fresh start. A new beginning. She’s in for an unruly surprise when her path aligns with Ace’s—a rude, arrogant, and impulsive asshole.What happens when fate comes out to play?One thing is certain. There’s no fighting it, no matter how cruel or unfair it seems.I Need You To Hate Me is the first book in the I Need You series.
Peep Show
Isabella Starling - 2018
She's the it girl of the moment, a partygirl nobody can stop in her path of self destruction. Bebe Hall isn't the star of her own story.She's the star of mine.My name is Miles O'Reilly. I'm a photographer. An agoraphobic. A millionaire. A womanizer. I'm confined to my apartment. I don't leave. Ever.But when she sees me with my latest online conquest in the window of my apartment, my attention shifts to Bebe.And once I see something I want, I don't give up until it's mine.Forever.Peep Show is a 90,000 word novel with themes of voyeurism and dark scenes that may be upsetting to readers. If you are brave enough, come meet Miles. He's been waiting for you.
Stone Cold Notes
Julia Wolf - 2021
He was an up and coming rock star, afterall, and I was just a shy seventeen-year-old. He did write back though, and through hundreds of emails, we became best friends.Until the day we unknowingly broke each other’s heart.It’s been three years since our last email. I’m all grown up with a new job at Good Music, and finally have my act together. But then Callum Rose walks in the door, and I’m instantly thrown back to the days when he meant everything to me.The thing is...he doesn’t know who I am. He’s never seen my face. And this Callum Rose lives up to his stone cold reputation.That is, until one night, he sees me in another man’s arms, and decides to claim me. Then there is nothing cold about him.Callum becomes a man on fire for me, introverted, awkward, chubby Wren Anderson. He’s obsessive, possessive, and kind of stalker-y—and I like it...a little too much. The problem is, he still doesn’t know I’m the girl who walked away from him or the reason behind it, and I’m afraid when he finds out, I’ll be right back in the cold again.
Violent Delights
Jessica Hawkins - 2019
An untouchable among thieves. Heiress to a life others have killed for, and one I'd do anything to escape. I vowed not to leave without Diego, my first love and best friend, but if his ruthless brother has his way, I won’t leave at all.Cristiano de la Rosa is a man as big and bold as his legend. Once upon a time, he was our cartel’s best soldier . . . until he became my family’s worst enemy. And a man like Cristiano will bend fate to his will to get what he wants—even if it means tearing me from another's arms.Because in the de la Rosa family, old grudges run deeper than loyalty, and betrayal is a three-letter word: war. But this feud isn’t between enemies—it’s between brothers. And I’m the prize.
Trouble
Tia Louise - 2021
But his naughty eyes flashed, his full lips curled into a knowing smile, and I should have run.I didn’t. I kissed him instead.Then he gave me a job when I needed it the most.I never get involved with clients, but Spencer Carrollton is wickedly handsome in a bespoke suit. He’s devastatingly sexy out of it. He’s possessive, demanding, and the best sex I’ve ever had. He’s an arrogant billionaire, who thinks I’ll fall at his feet, but I’m not going down that road again.Until he pulls me out of danger and insists I move in with him to be safe.As the nights pass and we grow closer, I know I’m losing this fight.Spencer Carrollton always gets what he wants.The trouble is, he wants me.(TROUBLE is a STAND-ALONE, enemies-to-lovers, billionaire-boss romance. No cheating. No cliffhanger.)
The Professional
Kresley Cole - 2014
Ordered to protect her, Aleksei will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.Rules are made to be broken…Grad student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the dark and breathtaking Sevastyan before the professional enforcer whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. Every day under his protection leads her deeper under his masterful spell.Are you ready to play?Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true...
Chasing Love
Kat T. Masen - 2020
So when the ever-so-perfect Julian Baker proposes marriage, I'm ready to forget the past and move on with my new love.In a cruel twist of fate, my past and future collide. I'm forced to face the man who destroyed my heart back in high school.Lex Edwards, turned billionaire tycoon, is ruthless, cunning, and will not stop until I'm his.A complicated love triangle was never something I imagined when Julian proposed to me. Especially not involving Lex.Hearts and egos are bound to be broken.But whose heart will capture mine when the darkness fades? **This title was previously published as Into the Darkness. It has been extensively rewritten, re-edited, and has a steamy new cover**
Kingpin's Foxglove
Bree Porter - 2020
Determined never to return to her hometown, Elena makes a deal with the devil: Heal a sick woman and be granted her freedom...or fail and be returned to her family.Konstantin Tarkhanov has done whatever it takes to build his empire. Now the king of Staten Island, his power has never been greater. But one more obstacle lies ahead of him before he has everything he wants–the wild and intelligent Elena Falcone. Caught up in a complex plot in the world of poisons and gangsters, Elena and Konstantin must overcome many adversaries all whilst dealing with the undeniable connection they share. But not everybody can be trusted and sometimes even those you love are not who they seem.A plot-driven mafia romance, Kingpin's Foxglove ends on a cliffhanger and it sure to leave you wanting more.
Founded on Goodbye (Mixtape Series, #1)
Kat Singleton - 2021
That sentence would change my life after my dream job was dished to me on a shiny, silver platter. All I had to do? Hurt Nash Pierce enough to get him writing good music again. The pop icon’s songs were no longer the phenomena they used to be. His team needed another breakthrough album—like the first he’d penned, using his heartbreak as fuel. The plan was simple: I’d go on tour with him as a backup dancer…and make him fall in love with me. I was hired to inspire—to become embedded into every lyric he wrote. Then, I was to set fire to it all—to destroy every feeling we hoped he’d develop for me. It seemed simple enough. Easy, even. I didn’t expect to be consumed myself—to see so much in the man displayed in the tabloids. I didn’t foresee falling for him. It didn’t occur to me that, while attempting to break his heart, I might just shatter my own. Most of all, I never thought I’d fight so hard to hold on to a relationship that had always been founded on goodbye.
Darling Venom
Parker S. Huntington - 2021
Huntington comes a broken love story laced with angst and forbidden romance.I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day.Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak.We met on the verge of ending our lives.Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond.We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended.Same time.One roof.Two restless souls.We kept our promise for three years.On the fourth, Kellan made a decision, and I was left to deal with the consequences.Just when I thought our story ended, another one began.They say all love stories look the same and taste different.Mine was venomous, disgraceful, and written in scarlet scars.My name is Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Venom.
Altered by Fire
Kate Morgan - 2018
Just like me. I’m a broken, damaged soul on the run from a very real sort of darkness. My father, a notorious mob boss, either wants me back or wants me dead. I find solace in the arms of his enemies. Five deliciously dark men that tempt me to do things I shouldn’t. Arsen, Colt, Weston, Mace, and Hawke. They’re just as dangerous as the men they’re hunting. So, will they save me, or burn me to ashes? Either way, in their arms, I catch fire. I burn. And I love every second of it. **NOTE: This book was originally published as Five Fathers by Kate Morgan. It has undergone a rewrite but the core story remains the same.**