Book picks similar to
Transcending Darkness by Airicka Phoenix


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contemporary-romance

Keeping Lily


Izzy Sweet - 2016
    One night and everything in my life changed. Two words and my world turned dark. “Take her”.Owing the most ruthless crime lord in Garden City five million dollars, my husband chose to trade me and my children away to save himself. I was on the cusp of freedom, so close to divorcing that scumbag I was married to. Now I’m enslaved to a man who is obsessed with me. A man so wicked and beautiful, they call him Lucifer. So alluring, he makes the angels weep with envy. He’s so powerful, I can’t stop myself from bending to his will. He’s determined to master me, and he won’t rest until I give him all. He wants my light, and he wants my dark. He wants my body, and he wants my heart. But most of all, he wants the one thing I can’t give him. The one thing I can’t bear to part with…

Nico


Sarah Castille - 2016
    But when he meets his match in the gorgeous, headstrong Mia Cordano, the daughter of a rival crime lord, all bets are off . . . Sexy computer hacker Mia struggles to break free of her ruthless father's Mafia ties . . . but she can't resist the powerful and seductive Nico, who will stop at nothing to possess her. With their families locked in a brutal war for control of the city, Mia and Nico enter into a forbidden game. Will they surrender to the passion that burns between them and risk tearing apart their families? Or will Nico be forced to betray the only woman who sets his blood on fire? Contains mature themes.

Better When He's Bad


Jay Crownover - 2014
    . . meet Shane Baxter. Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way. Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced. Bax terrifies her, but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.

Taken by My Best Friend


Logan Chance - 2018
    Sometimes not for the better.Xavier is no longer the maid’s son. Or my best friend. Now he’s wealthy and powerful--the dark don, in charge of one of the largest corporations in the world.I never expected the boy who always saved me to be the man who kidnaps me.XavierSome things never change.Rhiannon is still as fiery and beautiful as the day I walked away. Now I'm back, ready to seek vengeance against the one man who wronged me. My rival. Her father.If her father wants war, he'll get a war.Kidnapping his daughter is the key to my ultimate revenge.

Buttons & Lace


Penelope Sky - 2016
     A big one. The payment can't be settled with money or favors. He only wants one thing. Me. Every action gets a reward. A button. Once I fill his jar with three hundred and sixty-five buttons, he'll let me go. He'll let me walk away. But I have to earn every single one. By submitting to the darkest, cruelest, and most beautiful man I've ever known. ** TRIGGER WARNING ** There are some dark and disturbing scenes of abuse and punishment.

For Fallon


Soraya Naomi - 2014
    Fallon’s mask is real, what you see is what you get. Growing up with two loving parents in Chicago, graduating in Chicago, and now working a job she loves, she enjoys her life. Her untarnished world is shaken when Luca crosses her path. Luca’s mask is tightly controlled. Distrust, rivalry, and violence rule his life.When confronted with insecurities, when the one you love wears his mask perfectly, when your life unravels and you don’t know why, do you keep trusting the person you love? Everyone has a façade. Everyone has an ulterior motive.A contemporary romance/ romantic thriller in dual point of view. Contains sexual content and violence.

The Pawn


Skye Warren - 2016
    He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl's college to take care of the only family I have left.There's one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.My virginity.A forbidden auction...Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he's the only kindness in a brutal underworld.Except he's playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love. It's the first book in the brand new ENDGAME series.

The Missing Link


J.M. Sevilla - 2013
    It's intended to be read by mature audiences. Part one of a two part series. There are three things Lily Evans immediately notices about her new neighbor, Jay Lincoln. The first is his monstrous size, the second is the malicious way he glares at her, and thirdly, but most importantly, the three scars that mark his right eye. She knows the smart thing to do is stay away, but she has never met or seen anyone like him. The more time she spends with this frightening yet captivating man, the harder it becomes. He can make her hairs stand on end but he also has a sweetness to him that tugs at her heart. Soon she finds herself merged into his world full of murder, revenge, and deceit.New Adult Romance

Shiver


Suzanne Wright - 2018
    Instead, she has a mother who lives in her head, a stepfather who’s on death row, and the stigma that comes with being the child of an extramarital affair. Writing has always been her escape. Knowing the reception her books receive will be tainted by her personal life, Kensey secretly writes under a penname when she’s not working part-time at her godmother’s bar. Her world might not be exciting, but she likes it exactly as it is. When she meets alarmingly compelling businessman Blake Mercier, the snap of attraction is instant. She doesn’t like it. Doesn’t want to be drawn to this man who is blatantly dangerous, carries dark secrets, and lives life by his own rules. Neither of them make a great first impression on the other, so she’s more than surprised when he begins to pursue her with a single-minded focus that is unsettling, thrilling, and infuriating. Her gut tells her to keep her distance, but Blake won’t let her run. Won’t give her space. There’s another person who won’t give her space. Someone who has discovered the secret of her penname and who seems intent on taunting her. And as Kensey struggles to identify her persecutor, Blake is by her side, determined to keep her safe … because Blake Mercier always holds tight to what’s his. Always.

Ruthless King


Meghan March - 2017
     New Orleans belongs to me. You don’t know my name, but I control everything you see—and all the things you don’t. My reach knows no bounds, and my demands are always met. I didn’t need to loan money to a failing family distillery, but it amuses me to have them in my debt. To have her in my debt. She doesn’t know she caught my attention. She should’ve been more careful. I’m going to own her. Consume her. Maybe even keep her. It’s time to collect what I’m owed. Keira Kilgore, you’re now the property of Lachlan Mount. *Ruthless King is book one of the Mount Trilogy*

The Devil's Eyes


Jennifer Loren - 2011
    Her only saving grace was her sister, Braylin. When Braylin dies, Kayla goes on a mission to avenge her death. Nick is the mysterious stranger with the alluring devil’s eyes. He is attractive, powerful, and dangerous. If not for her obsession for revenge, Kayla would never dare go near him. To lure Nick into her trap, she has to become what he needs while trying to fight against her growing desires. On a destructive path, Kayla enters a secret world of underground crime.

Torn from You


Nashoda Rose - 2013
    It hits hard, fast and without mercy. At least it did for me when Sculpt, the lead singer of the rock band Tear Asunder knocked me off my feet. Literally, because he’s also a fighter, illegally of course, and he taught me how to fight. He also taught me how to love and I fell hard for him. I mean the guy could do sweet, when he wasn't doing bossy, and I like sweet. Then it all shattered.Kidnapped. Starved. Beaten. I was alone and fighting to survive.When I heard Sculpt's voice, I thought he was there to save me.I was wrong.(It is highly recommended to read "With You" the novella first).*Warning: This book contains some disturbing situations, strong language and sexual content. Over 18 years.This is a love story with some dark elements. Dark contemporary romance. No cliffhanger and next in the Tear Asunder series is Ream's story (the band's lead guitarist).

Six


K.I. Lynn - 2016
    It wasn’t my first, but it would be my last.A gun to the head.A trained killer.A deadly conspiracy.Kidnapped and on the run, my life and death is in the hands of a sadist captor who happens to be my one-night stand. Armed with countless weapons, money, and new identities, the man I call Six drags me around the world.The manhunt is on and Six is the next target. Can we find out who is killing off the Cleaners before they find us?Two down, seven to go.When it’s all over he’ll finish the job that dropped him into my life, and end it.Stockholm Syndrome meets bucket list, and the question of what would you do to live before you died. The questions aren’t always answered in black and white. Gray becomes the norm as my morals are tested.Death is a tragedy, and I’ll do anything to stay alive.Are you ready for the last ride of your life? Six has a gun to your head—what would you do?This isn’t a love story.It’s a death story.**Due to the dark and explicit nature of this book, it is recommended for mature audiences only as some scenes may be particularly disturbing.**

'Til Death: Volume One


Bella Jewel - 2014
    There is. I married a douchebag.I didn't know it at the time. He came in like a handsome stranger and blew me off my feet. I fell madly in love, like the naive girl I am. Then he left me high and dry. Turns out, I was nothing more than a business plan for billionaire playboy, Marcus Tandem. He needed to be married in order to obtain his grandfathers business, and I was the poor victim in his path. I believed in what we had, until the truth reared its ugly head. I never meant anything to Marcus. Not a damned thing. With my world spinning on its axis, the girl I once was has long since died. Instead he left me as this empty, emotionless shell.I may have made a vow before God to love and cherish him ‘Til Death do we part, but it’s time for me to give back to Marcus, exactly what he gave me. He has to pay.And pay he will. This is part of a two book series and it will contain a HEA – Readers over 18+

Fighting for Flight


J.B. Salsbury - 2013
    Liberated from the neglectful home of her prostitute mother, she finds solace as a mechanic. With few friends, she’s content with the simple life. Flying under the radar is all she knows, and more than she expects.Until she catches the eye of local celebrity, UFL playboy Jonah Slade. Weeks away from his title fight, Jonah is determined to stay focused on everything he’s trained so hard to achieve. Undefeated in the octagon, he’s at the height of his career. But resisting Raven’s effortless allure and uncomplicated nature is a fight he can’t win. Jonah trades in his bad-boy reputation and puts his heart on the line. But when her father contacts her, setting in motion the ugly truth of her destiny, Jonah must choose. In a high-stakes gamble where love and freedom hang in the balance, a war is waged where the price of losing is a fate worse than death.Will the hotheaded Jonah be able to restrain his inner fighter to save the woman he loves? Or will Raven be forced into a life she’s been desperate to avoid?Word Count: 112,406