Book picks similar to
Escaping the Blackness by Norma Jeanne Karlsson


contemporary-romance
abuse
alpha-male
alpha-males

Edge of Reason


Freya Barker - 2019
    Brotherhood and beer meets single mom and apple pie.I am a riding contradiction.A scholar, a cynic, a brother, and a biker.My name is Trunk.I'm smart enough to recognize the chip on my shoulder, and cautious enough to keep it right where it is.I am a misguided romantic.A mom, a daughter, an agent, and a survivorMy name is Jaimie.I'm strong enough to look after my family alone, and too stubborn to accept I don't have to.We make an odd couple--our differences obvious--but when hatred and danger threatens to destroy everything of value in our lives, we only get stronger.Together.

Dash


Teagan Brooks - 2018
    I couldn’t let that happen. I had to escape. My only friend agreed to help me. She helped me get away. She changed my appearance. She sent me to see the President of the Blackwings Motorcycle Club. I needed a new identity, so I could start a new life. I walked up to the gate. I was taken inside. And everything changed. Dash: She appeared out of nowhere. Standing at our fence. Asking to see the President. Scared, but determined. And beautiful. I wanted her from the moment I saw her. When she told us her story, I vowed to protect her. And then, she was going to be mine. Dash is Book One of the Blackwings MC series. It is a full-length standalone novel. No cheating. No cliffhanger. HEA. Intended for audiences 18 and over due to explicit language, sexual content, and violence.

Be the One


Nina Levine - 2015
    He wants her heart, but she only wants his body. Presley I don’t care that he’s a smooth talker. He can sweet-talk me all he likes, so long as he backs it up with an orgasm or two. But I’m not looking for a relationship. God, no. Not with a rockstar. Jett I don’t care that she argues with me and throws up walls like she’s building a fucking house. Presley Hart will be mine. I’ll make sure of it. An Alpha Bad Boy novel. Each book in this series features new couples and can be read as a standalone. This story contains all the panty-melting sexiness and alpha goodness that Nina Levine books are known for.

Love's Taming


Maryann Jordan - 2014
    And boring. Between focusing on keeping her small, inner-city clinic running, paying off student loans, and living in the tiny apartment above the clinic she has no time for fun or dating and certainly not for anything adventurous. Then one night, danger and surprise show up in the alley behind her clinic. And Annie is in for the ride of her life. Stoney is a mystery. A man of few words but smoldering looks. She decides to take a risk and after a night of passion finds herself thrown into a world that she never knew existed. A world of drugs, danger and intrigue. Shane is a detective, who vows to keep Annie safe at all costs. Losing his heart to her is the easy part. Keeping her safe and earning her trust will prove to be his most difficult task. **DUE TO ADULT CONTENT, SEXUAL SCENES OF AN EXPLICIT NATURE, AND LANGUAGE THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER CRUDE, 18+ only, please. **NO cliffhanger, HEA, inter-connected stand alone stories in the series**

Draw


Cora Brent - 2014
    A set of fraternal triplets born to a depraved family, they were rough, sexy and wild as wolves."Saylor... I don’t even know if love is real. After running from the bastard who brutalized me, I limped back to Arizona, choosing a vibrant college town in the hopes of starting over. I never expected to find him there. Cord Gentry. He and his brothers were tough, lusty forces of nature I’d known since childhood. Years ago, Cord seduced me as a sick game. I’ve hated him ever since. Now here he is again, a man who beats other men bloody for money. Cord has always been heartless, dangerous, not to be trusted. And I want him so much I can’t think. Cord...They called us ‘those white trash Gentry boys’ until we believed that’s what we were. Our people squatted at the edge of a hellhole prison town for generations. The childhood we endured was the stuff of nightmares. I’d learned early on that my brothers, Chase and Creed, were the only people on earth worth my time. They all told us we were bad, that we’d always be bad. The horrors of the past have scarred my soul. But now I need to be better. For her. Warning: This book contains explicit language, sexual situations, and violence which may be upsetting to some. Draw is the first of the Gentry Boys series, however this New Adult Romance novel can be read as a stand alone.

Ten


Ker Dukey - 2015
    The forbidden love between his best friend and me was just that… forbidden. Our families were from different walks of life and as a sheriff’s daughter being with a Moore’s kid would never be tolerated. To my parents their son and Dalton Moore were on different paths and their friendship would end as soon as college began but it was my brother who had a craving for trouble. He was always looking for danger, committing petty crimes and getting away with it because Dalton would take the fall, blackening his already stained name. When Jonah found out we broke the rules by loving each other, his consequences impacted us all with immeasurable suffering. Betrayal comes with a debt and it would be paid by all of us. One with their heart, one with their mind and one would pay in blood.

Married to the Bad Boy


Vanessa Waltz - 2015
    A man-whore. Whatever the hell you want to call it, I get around. During the day, I crack heads and extort businesses. At night, I find girls to f*ck. I live to hear them moan for me, but one night is all they get. No one ever made me want more. Until her.Elena.The moment her lips wrapped around me, I was done. All day, I think about running my tongue all over those curves. Too bad those curves are off limits. She's running from a man who will kill me for touching her.Well, she's tired of running and needs my help.She thinks I'm doing it for money.I'm doing it to make her mine.

Unsuitable


Samantha Towle - 2016
     Daisy Smith has spent eighteen months of her life paying for a crime she didn’t commit. Now out of prison, she has only one focus—to get back custody of her younger brother, Jesse, who is deep in the foster care system. Desperate to rebuild her life and show the system that she is responsible enough to care for Jesse, she takes on the only job available to her—working as a maid at the Matis Estate. On day one of her new job, Daisy meets Kastor Matis, the only son of the owners and her new boss. An enigmatic, handsome Greek god of a man, Kas is closed off, cold, and…well, kind of a bastard. The more time Daisy spends around Kas, she starts to see there might be more to him than just his cold, bastard ways. He may actually have a heart beating in that frozen chest of his. But Kas has secrets, too. Secrets that he’s determined to keep. Secrets make Daisy curious. And you know what curiosity can do…

Saved


Angel Payne - 2013
     Garrett Hawkins is the most valuable asset to his Special Forces unit, because, frankly, the guy doesn’t care if he lives or dies anymore. Since the love of his life, Sage Weston, was kidnapped and killed with her medical unit a year ago, Garrett has turned the shell of his soul into the armor of a finely tuned fighting machine. Being the first tapped for the unit’s craziest missions is just fine by him. The less time for memories and the agony they carve into his soul, the better. It’s a plan that works, until Garrett’s world is upended one night in the jungles of Thailand. Memories become reality when the unit is called to rescue a group of kidnapped aid workers, and they discover Sage and her teammate among the retrieved women. Now that Sage is back in his arms, Garrett doesn’t know what to do. He has changed in dramatic ways, especially in the darker tastes of his passion. If he touches Sage again, he’ll want to claim her, restrain her...dominate her. Is Sage’s love strong enough to let Garrett back in, not only as her fiancé but her Dominant? Can she trust that visiting the new shadows of his life will lead her to ecstasy and not ruin? Or can Garrett’s discipline be exactly what her soul needs to find its way back to life—and love—again?

Otherwise Alone


Shay Savage - 2012
    Other than his loyal Great Pyrenees, there's no one around to break up the monotony. The tedium is excruciating, but it is suddenly interrupted when a young woman stumbles up his path. He has two choices - pick her off from a distance with his trusty sniper-rifle, or dare let her approach his cabin and enter his life.Why not? It's been ages, and he is otherwise alone...

Restoring Hope


C.P. Smith - 2014
    Determined not to make the same mistakes with his son he made with his daughter, Nic Beuve is single-minded . . . until Hope walks into his life. Hope Delaney, a woman with a past that almost broke her, tries to keep people at bay for their own protection. Fortunately for her, no one listens when she says she wants to be alone. Burning desire, a deep need to protect, and a woman who looks like an angel break down Nic's defenses until he can’t ignore them any longer. He wants Hope and what Nic wants . . .

Deliverance


Jane Henry - 2018
    No strings attached. Until the night he meets the one woman who challenges him, practically begging to be taken over his knee.As a single mom to a child with special needs, Diana McAdams does things her way. She's in control and doesn't have time for love. Happily-ever-afters aren't for her. Then she meets the man who demands her submission...

Sinister Kisses


Adriana Noir - 2013
    Then again, after seeing what Sebastian Baas was capable of, she felt she had little choice. The guy did just save her life, and the feel of his partner’s assault rifle pressed against her cheek still lingered in her mind.What she discovers surprises her. Beneath the armor and fatigues, is a smart, attentive, and sophisticated man. Unable to resist, Taylor finds herself drawn in by the Special Agent’s charm. Everything about Sebastian, from his imposing presence to his hypnotic eyes, pulls her under his spell. When a drive by shooting leaves her apartment riddled with bullets, she falls under his command as well—not to mention the shadow of a lethal, underground organization known as SKALS.Her lover has a dark and dangerous side he tries to keep hidden, but when a series of events sends their lives spiraling out of control, she realizes there is much more to him than meets the eye. Whether she wants to leave or not doesn't matter. Taylor soon learns, when it comes to Sebastian and SKALS, there is no escape.**DISCLAIMER** This is NOT your average romance. It's not a feel good story. It's a dark, gritty, sometimes erotic psychological thriller with a heavy emphasis on plot. It also contains elements of dominance and discipline with dubious consent, psychological conditioning, and mental manipulation. There’s also gunfire and violence. If any of this offends you, this may not be the book for you.

Vulnerable


April Wilson - 2015
    Both books can be read standalone, and both books end in an HEA, but to get the most enjoyment out of them, they're best read in order. The second book - Fearless - is due out early 2016.)Beth Jamison had a rough start in life. She survived a childhood abduction, but her traumatic past still haunts her, and she suffers from anxiety and issues with intimacy. Beth doesn't know it, but the man who kidnapped her has just been released early from prison. When Beth’s brother hires McIntyre Security, Inc. to protect Beth and conduct surveillance on her kidnapper, Beth has no idea she has secret bodyguards keeping her safe 24/7. With his money and good looks, CEO Shane McIntyre has never been short on feminine company, and he’s developed a reputation as a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” kind of guy. But that changes when Shane meets Beth. Their mutual attraction is instant and intense, and Shane falls hard for Beth. Shane has his work cut out for him if he’s going to gain her trust and get past her fears. This alpha protector is determined to keep Beth safe, but he’s also determined to make her his.

Degradation


Stylo Fantome - 2014
    Twenty-three-year-old Jameson Kane is smart, seductive, and richer. They come together for one night, one explosion, one mistake, and Tate is hurled into space—no family, no money, and no Jameson.Seven years later, life is going pretty good for Tate, when she runs into Jameson again. This time, she thinks she's ready for him. She doesn't have a naive bone left in her body, and she can't even remember what shy feels like. Jameson has evolved, as well—sharp words, sharper wit, and a tongue that can cut her in half. It all sounds like fun to a woman like Tate, and she is ready to play, determined to prove that she isn't the same girl he conquered once before. A series of games start, each one more devious than the last.But as the line between games and reality becomes blurry, Tate quickly learns that Jameson has most definitely earned his nickname, “Satan.” Can she beat him at his own game before someone gets hurt? Or will he leave her soulless, making him the winner, once and for all?WARNING: contains a wannabe B-rate porn star, an impersonal personal assistant, and the F-word, A LOT. Also graphic sexual situations and sadomasochistic themes.