Book picks similar to
Rise by Grahame Claire


arc
cliffhanger
contemporary-romance
5-star

Veritas


A.L. Woods - 2021
    š—ŖšØšØšš¬...ā£ā£š˜”š˜¢š˜³š˜Ŗš˜¢ā£It was supposed to be a fling.⁣A one-night stand. ⁣Then Jordan Kovacs asked for more.⁣A date. I don’t date—I f*ck. ⁣While he showered, I left. ⁣The end. ⁣Or so I thought. I have a problem.⁣My ex-f*ck buddy is getting married. ⁣And I can’t get out of going—long story.⁣I need an arrangement I can understand from a man who only had me for a night.⁣But Jordan has other plans for me.⁣Things that will tip the scales in his favor.ā£ā£ā£š˜‘š˜°š˜³š˜„š˜¢š˜Æā£A tryst was what she was looking for. ⁣A date was what I wanted.⁣A chance. ⁣I understand Maria Tavares. ⁣She’s a beautiful lie. ⁣Now she needs something from me: a favor. ⁣So I’ll function in a way she can understand: an arrangement. ⁣Three months. ⁣All in. Strings attached. No interferences. Titles exchanged. ⁣The plan is simple, with only one rule—veritas.⁣Let’s see if Maria’s ex-f*ck buddy understands that, too.

Creole Kingpin


Meghan March - 2020
    That’s exactly what I am, but I can’t stay away from Magnolia Marie Maison for one more day, let alone another year.We’ve already got fifteen of those between us.As it stands, she’ll want to kill me as soon as she lays eyes on me. And knowing her, she’s completely up to the task.But I’m a man on a mission, and I’ve got everything riding on this.So, here I come, Magnolia. This ghost is ready for whatever you got.After all, there’s only one way I want this to end—’til death do us part.

Rewind (ROCK HARD Book 3)


Kat Mizera - 2021
    and fall hard. The sultry drummer isn’t looking for love, he’s looking for a second chance at dominating the charts. Until a clumsy redhead stumbles into his elevator, and life, providing a distraction he didn’t know he needed.Growing up in a family full of addicts wasn’t easy for Brianna Franklin— and living life on the straight and narrow is the only future she can see for herself. The one that’s stable and leads to culinary school. A path that never included someone like Declan and his rocker lifestyle.The more Bri tries to convince herself Declan is Mr. Wrong, the more he keeps saying and doing all the right things. When tragedy strikes, will she learn to trust or is she destined to rock on alone?

Wild Rebel


Laurelin Paige - 2021
    Years passed. I traveled, settled halfway around the world, made enough money that I didn’t have to look back.But I never got over her. Then, out of the blue, she calls. And, what she asks for, the favor that she wants?I never thought I'd be willing to take a life.But the truth is, and always has been: I'd do anything for her. Book one of three in the final trilogy in the Dirty Universe.

To Touch You


Bella J. - 2021
    But I did.I definitely wasn’t supposed to like it. But I did.And now I’m all caught up in the excitement of it. The thrill and the anticipation of experiencing it again…with him.Noah Alexander.But there’s a whole list of reasons I should stay away from him, One - he works for my father. Two - he’s much older than I am. Three - he told me to. Yet there’s only one reason I shouldn’t… because I don’t want to.I’m addicted to the fire that burns between us whenever we’re close. I’m addicted to the way he looks at me as if he desires and hates me at the same time. Call me a masochist, but the sound of his voice when he tells me all the things he wants to do to me right before he asks me to leave—it’s thrilling.No matter how many times he warns that he’ll hurt me, I can’t stay away. I won’t.

The Don: The Oath Duet


Serena Akeroyd - 2021
    How could my Lady be anything other than a silken promise taunting me with every breath she takes?A new Don reigns over Manhattan.But though I won the war, peace isn’t easily brokered.Over a decade of avenging my father’s death, I made many enemies.To each and every one, Jen’s a target.But I’ll paint NYC red before I let them harm her.I just never imagined I’d be in the line of fire first…  A heart broken by grief can feel no guilt or shame with the brutality in which vengeance is delivered.Ā This is the first part of ā€˜The Oath’ duet in The Valentini Family series.

Mister Diamond


Chance Carter - 2018
    He still blames me for my mother’s death during my birth. He’s the quintessential tough Russian father. That’s one of the reasons I’m so happy to be in America. Until I find out he just arranged my marriage to one of our country’s richest heiresses. Valentina. I don’t even like the sound of her name. When I meet her it will be even worse. I know it. I’m practically forced to buy her an engagement ring, so I dutifully go to Tiffany’s and buy the best one I can find. She sends it back. I buy another. And another. All returned. I’m really beginning to hate this bride to be. But there’s a girl behind the counter at Tiffany’s. Gemma. An American. Every time I see her, she makes me smile. She also makes my heart pound, my pulse race, and my … how you say? ... weapon get hard as Russian steel. I can’t stop thinking about her. And getting her to help me pick out diamond after diamond for this spoiled Russian princess is driving me crazy. I want Gemma with a passion that’s making me consider taking some very drastic steps. And believe me, when a Russian says drastic, he means all night, torn bed sheets, covered in sweat, make her scream my name like a banshee drastic.

Twisted Bargain


Alexandria Bishop - 2021
    Between his drug and gambling addictions, it seems like whatever I do, we’re always drowning. Until he does the unforgivable.Trading me to the tortured billionaire in our small town. His debts are erased and I have to do whatever Marco Blackstone demands. I should have run screaming when the first task he gave me was to clean the blood stains from his expensive five piece suit.When I overhear a conversation I shouldn’t, our bargain becomes even more twisted when Marco fakes an engagement to save my life. And I become even more trapped in this world I never wanted any part of.I don’t know who I can trust. But I’m running out of time when my fake engagement turns into anything but and I just might have to say ā€œI Do,ā€ for real.

Cruel Sanctuary


Tara Leigh - 2019
    Not with me. Ever.In this city full of thugs and thieves, I’ve kept Aislinn safe.From my enemies.From me. Until now.

What If I Never?


Lisa Renee Jones - 2021
    I'm the wrong Allison.That misplaced gift places in a man in my path. A man who instantly consumes me and leads me down a path of dark secrets and intense passion. Dash Black is a famous, bestselling author, but also a man born into wealth and power. He owns everything around him, every room he enters. He owns me the moment I meet him. He seduces me oh so easily and reveals another side of myself I dared not expose. Until him. Until this intense, wonderful, tormented man shows me another way to live and love. I melt when he kisses me. I shiver when he touches me. And I like when he's in control, especially when I thought I'd never allow anyone that much power over me ever again. We are two broken people who are somehow whole when we are together, but those secrets—his, and yes, I have mine as well—threaten to shatter all that is right and make it wrong. What If I Never is the first book in the Necklace Trilogy

Inked


Tracy Lorraine
    I say I’m embarking on the life I’ve always dreamed of. It’s all I have left.LA is everything I hoped it would be—a distraction from the life I’m desperate to escape. Fresh air and a fresh start. A chance to rediscover myself.But before I can do that, I discover her.Harlow Winters. She falls into my lap, and everything changes.The artist in me recognizes her beauty. The broken man relates to the darkness threatening to consume her.Suddenly, the future isn’t quite as daunting.I’m trying to escape my past... but she refuses to let hers go.With the scars of our past inked onto our skin and tattooed on our hearts, can we salvage a future under the weight of our memories, or will they crush us both?

Wild North


J.B. Salsbury - 2021
    To the world, I would learn, he’s someone else completely.I should have died on that mountain. But he rescued me.More animal than man, he’s cold, distant, and fiercely territorial. He seems to hate me for simply breathing, and yet, he brought me back to life. After my return to the city, I can’t stop thinking about him. His rough hands, intense glare, and the way he cared for me as if I meant something to him. He tells me he’s dangerous. That I’m not safe around him. I would eventually understand why he warned me away. But by then it’s too late. My heart is his.

Firestorm


Ellie Masters - 2020
    Asher La Rouge is forging his future. A firestorm will unite them, but will they survive the burn?Asher La RougeAs CEO of La Rouge Vineyards, eldest of the infamous La Rouge triplets, and volunteer firefighter, I can have any woman I want.People think my life is perfect.It’s not.I’ve been burned before.By my ex-girlfriend. By the demands of running the family business. And by a wildfire which threatens the wine harvest.With my livelihood on the line, I rush into action in my role as a woodland firefighter.The last thing I expect to find in the inferno is a beautiful woman struggling to survive.When sparks fly between us, they ignite a firestorm too strong to resist.After a shoddy arson investigation implicates Evelyn in setting the destructive blaze, I’m determined to prove her innocence.But sinister forces are determined to keep us apart. Can our love survive, or will it be extinguished along with our lives?FIRESTORM is an angsty, steamy contemporary romantic suspense set in K. Bromberg's Everyday Heroes World that will tug at your heartstrings and have your heart racing.

Everest


S.L. Scott - 2017
    Dynamic green eyes. Utterly irresistible. Ethan Everest stole my breath the first time I saw him. He romanced me with skill, dazzled me with his charisma, and proceeded to steal my heart right after. I might have fallen for his easy-going smile the first time we met, but I fell for him the second time.Honey-colored hair. Cherry-kissed lips. Captivatingly gorgeous. Singer Davis was the first, and only, woman to ever intimidate me. She spoke to my heart with her wit, seduced me with her eyes, and became the only thing that made sense in a world that made none. I let her slip through my fingers once. I won’t make that mistake twice.Secrets broke us apart. Can a second chance bring us back together? From New York Times Bestselling Author, S.L. Scott, comes a ROMANTIC SUSPENSE STANDALONE that will have you on the edge of your seat and swooning over this new ALPHA BILLIONAIRE.

When It Rains... He Pours


Leah Holt
    I told them no.But after someone breaks into my gallery, destroying everything I own, and threatening me; I start to question how I'll ever come back from this.Until a stranger comes to my rescue, risking his own safety for mine.He saved me.Bold and charming, his muscles were hard as rock and his strength was fierce; he made everything right.Life began to fall back into place, and for a brief moment, I was able to forget about everything else. I wish that moment could have lasted a little bit longer.Because everything I thought I knew about my hero was a lie. He wasn't my savior, he was my enemy.I heard that bad things happen in threes.The break in, the lies... I didn't know what was next.I guess it's true, when it rains—he pours.And this man laid it on thick in all the right places.So how do I let him go?