Book picks similar to
Gwendolyn vs. the Band of Barren Hearts by Mary E. Palmerin
dark
abuse
favorites
dark-romance
Enthralled
Giana Darling - 2019
I know most people say that about something joyous; a graduation, a wedding ceremony, the birth of their first child. My situation was a little different. Sure, it was my eighteenth birthday, but it was also the day that I was sold. Sold to a man with hair like a crown of gold and eyes blacker than the darkest pits of Hell. He bought me to own me, to control me, and to use me as a means to an end. I was his tool and his weapon. And through it all, somehow, I also became his salvation.
Screaming in the Silence
Lydia Kelly - 2010
While hitchhiking across the country, she and her companion are struck by a car. Her friend is killed but Raleigh survives and her life is thrown into the hands of the three men involved in the accident. Bruised and in shock, Raleigh is locked in the basement of their remote country house, unsure of her fate. Kaden, one of her captors, is handsome and at times protective, and he convinces his friends to spare Raleigh’s life to ransom her. But the safety he provides is only from his friends, and Raleigh must face his sinister intentions. Agreeing to become his lover in return for continued protection, she begins to see a tender and caring side of Kaden despite their short but violent history. As the ransom payment begins to unravel and Raleigh's life hangs in the balance, she wonders how much she can trust Kaden. Are the feelings she has developed for him genuine or a result of her situation? Does he truly care for her, as he claims, or does he just see her as a ransom payment?
Blaire
Anita Gray - 2016
Conditioned. Sold to the enemy.My name is Blaire. I'm head of security to a man who controls the Russian underworld in Europe. His name is Maksim and he's my master. He bought me ten years ago and conditioned me with brutality to worship and protect him. And I have protected him. I've slain everyone who has tried to do him harm. Everyone but a man he loans me to; a man who threatens to break me and everything I believe in. You're going to need a strong stomach and a strong heart to follow my story, because take my word for it, it's no fairy tale.
Revival
M.K. Gilher - 2014
I feel as if I know him, yet I'm sure I don't. Dr. Jacade J. Jordan, my mystifying sex god on a stick.Damn, she's delectable. My sweet Ivy. I want to eat her alive. But how can I possess her when she doesn't even know me? When the deception runs too deep? When I've killed for her and would do it again in a heartbeat? How can I watch her submit so perfectly when I am the one at her feet?Enjoy the ride in the Windy City as Ivy and Jacade's timeless love story unfolds in the Return to Us Trilogy.55,700 words (approximately 222 pages)
Max
Bey Deckard - 2016
Crane takes on a new patient who both intrigues and unnerves him. Charming, manipulative, and amoral, Max has exactly the sort of mind Crane finds himself drawn to with fictional characters.As Max weaves himself into Crane's life, Crane realizes that while fiction might be safe, Max certainly is not.When the professional line between them thins, who gets to define where one man ends and the other begins?
Waiting in the Throes
Maddox Grey - 2014
Told in one novel, two parts. Part One deals almost entirely with the abduction and is complete. Part Two deals with the aftermath, and is a WIP. (Last update March 17 2014)Words: Approx 265,000READER ADVISORY: This story contains potentially triggering scenes of abuse and graphic rape. Full warnings available at the source of the story.
Door One
Jasinda Wilder - 2016
No fantasy--however dark and dirty and depraved it may be--is forbidden. You have no past, no inhibitions, no morals...and no memory.All you have to cling to is the memory of a scorching touch, a searing kiss, the wet slide of skin on skin, and the heat of breath across your flesh.Step forward...Turn the knob...Step through into THE BLACK ROOM.
Devil You Know
Max Henry - 2015
Love can be a sweet gesture of flowers on your anniversary. Love can be a meal waiting at home after a long day at work. Love can be a gentle caress. Or the unspoken words in your lover’s eyes.Love isn’t a backhand, given because of a warm beer. Love isn’t wearing long-sleeves to hide bruises from the ladies at the supermarket.I thought I’d never experience love. Such emotion didn’t seem to fit with what I had—who I was.But he stepped in, and showed me his.He pulled me from the dark abyss I had lost myself to, and showed me the simple things which could bring such joy. Sun on my face. The smell of fresh coffee. Colours in the autumn leaves. All the little things.He shows me these things, but he doesn’t share in them. He knows happiness, but he doesn’t feel it. He will give love, but never accept it. He saved me. Now it’s my turn to return the favour …
Perversion
T.M. Frazier - 2018
New/alternate cover edition here.USA Today bestselling author of the King Series, T.M. Frazier, brings you an all-new trilogy with a sexy anti-hero you're going to love to hate, and a ballsy heroine with more up her sleeve than just tricks. Love is supposed to be a fairy tale.Ours is a death wish.I'm the executioner for the Bedlam Brotherhood. She's a con artist working for my greatest enemy. I use her. She manipulates me.We find ourselves on opposite sides of a bloody war. My heart and head tell me I have to stay away. My lust for her doesn't give a sh*t. Nothings fair in love and gang war.
Resilience
Marcia D.M. - 2018
Until one day she’s rescued, she thought her nightmare was finally over only to find out that her torturer was also her savior posing as a double agent ready to spring her free.She thought her simple and normal life was hell while captive, but now, out here, back in society, she’ll have to face tougher situations. Such as finding love in dark and forbidden places.Sometimes love; terror and desire wear the same mask.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A New Adult Dark Contemporary Romance, not suitable for people sensitive too hard to read subjectsThis book contains strong language, violence and nudity intended for mature audiences.Reader discretion is advised.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Review:“Resilience by Marcia DM is an exciting dark romance story filled with intrigue, suspense and emotion. I was captivated from the very first chapter and turned the pages quickly to find out what would happen next. This book has a very original storyline that readers will be enthralled with. There are twists and turns that kept me fully mesmerized. Author, Marcia DM, weaves together the characters with the plot in an intelligent brilliant attempt to entice readers from beginning to end. It truly is one of the most unique narratives that I have read in a long time. I can’t stress it enough-this book is a must read.”- Chick Lit Café Blog."What a ride! What a read! this author has a unique voice that somehow defies all rules and makes new ones”.- Amazon Reader.“I literally could not put it down.” – Amazon reader.“Fast-paced dark read with plenty of drama, suspense and emotion. The characters are amazing and the story has you hooked from beginning to end. Can’t wait or more!” –Amazon Reader.
Topping from Below
Laura Reese - 1995
Only one returns.
Successful, attractive, and in control, Nora seemed so different from her shy, terribly vulnerable younger sister. Grieving for Franny, Nora reads her diary and is stunned when it reveals a secret sadomasochistic affair with a mysterious professor known only as M. Nora vows to seek justice for the sister she never really knew and undertakes a daring scheme to seduce this lethal and manipulative man in the hope of uncovering information about the murder. Instead, she finds herself in thrall to his bizarre sexual magnetism, trapped in a passion so dark and perverse, and yet so compelling, that she is willing to risk her life. And she is in danger, although it may be from someone much closer to her than M., someone so close she might not see it until it is too late. With an ending as startling as it is haunting, Topping From Below is unlike any novel you’re ever read. Ever.
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.**
Beast
A. Zavarelli - 2017
But then he took me. And he taught me that life isn’t a fairytale. He is scarred. Broken. A dark and wild thing. His beauty is violent and his words are cruel. His heart is a shadowed landscape where nothing can grow. He tells me he could never care for me, and he proves it every day. He’s destroyed my life. Tortured me. And worse… He’s trained me to beg for his affection. This prison is a place where sunlight doesn’t reach. He taught me that hate is born in darkness. And then he taught me that sometimes love is too.
I Am Her...
Sarah Ann Walker - 2012
She is every name everyone has ever called her. She is nameless. She has a good job, a beautiful home and a wonderful husband. She is everything she was supposed to be. She has structure and stability, but she is lost.She is trying. Her whole life is spent trying; yet her whole life has been nothing but an apology. She is so tired of trying and failing.In just one week, she learns her entire life is a series of brutalities. She learns intense, consuming passion for the first time with a beautiful stranger. She learns love within this passion, and she learns heartbreak while without.Slowly her breakdown overcomes her. She tries to rise above her circumstances, but when she has nothing left to fight with; she tries to ease the pain forever.Desperately, she fights her way through the agony of life, and she returns with a gentle hope. She wants to live, and she wants to love, for the first time in her life. Now, she has a name. Now, she can be 'her'... Any HER that she wants to be.
Savaged
Shay Savage - 2014
An executive in need of some temporary release. A Dom looking to cleanse his soul. A twisted college encounter. A PA and a terrorist’s unlikely meeting during an office building takeover. Four alpha males just waiting to fulfill your fantasies in these hot short stories. Are you ready to be Savaged?Includes:Same Time Tomorrow: Executive Julian Reddick is tired of his brand of hand lotion but doesn’t have time to date. What’s the solution? Call in a “nooner” from a high-class company of ill-repute. Valerie Woods is exactly the distraction he needs.Cleansing Bonds: A Dom who had hurt the one he loved and an abused sub looking for release. Both are sure they will never be able to find what they need, but they find healing with each other.Encounter: On a weekend night near campus, a college girl walks home alone from the local bar. Who is watching her from the shadows, waiting to take advantage of the situation?Want No More: Olivia’s new job takes an unexpected turn when terrorists take over her office building. Olivia is taken hostage, but Adam, the sexy head henchman, seems to be exactly what Olivia desires.BONUS STORYWhat I Want (Want No More from Adam’s POV): Adam Lebourn’s life for the past three years has lead up to this point, but to exact his revenge on the man who ruined his life, he is going to have to rely on a decent amount of luck. He never expected his good luck charm to appear in the form of a beautiful, submissive PA.