Book picks similar to
Hard Times by C. Hallman


dark-romance
dark
arc
reverse-harem

Bully King


J.A. Huss - 2020
    And the secret society that meets deep in the woods is even more exclusive. Only a select few will get in during the summer rush--and Cadee Hunter wants to be one of them. Too bad it's Cooper Valcourt's mission to make sure she fails. Bully boys.Arrogant tyrants.Blue-blood bastards.Call them whatever you want.Around here, we just call them Kings.Fancy boats.Lakeside mansions.Luxe watches and bespoke suits.The Kings of High Court College act like Gods.And Cooper Valcourt is the worst of them.He is the bully king.His family owns everything.And his mission is to put me in my place and send me packing.But Cooper and I have a history filled with secrets.And everyone knows that power doesn’t come from having money.It comes from holding secrets.And I’m holding one of his.A very dark secret that can bring him to his knees.***** Bully King is new-adult, dark, bully romance from New York Times bestselling author JA Huss featuring boys with power and girls at their mercy. It’s a campus shrouded in lies and a summer rush into an elite society that can propel a poor girl straight into the ruling class.If… she’s willing to pay the price.

Dirty Therapy


Tara Crescent - 2017
    Two sex therapists are going to help me find it.Two hours after Dennis proposes, I find my fiancé with his d*ck buried in Tiffany Slater’s hoohah, and he has the nerve to suggest it’s my fault.Because I’m frigid.Sure, I’ve never had an orgasm with him, or with anyone for that matter, but relationships are about more than good sex. (Not that the sex was ever good. Adequate is more like it. Okay, who am I kidding? Dennis couldn’t find his way down there with a flashlight and a map.)Now I’m determined to find my missing O with the help of two of the hottest men I’ve ever set eyes on. Sex therapists Benjamin Long and Landon West. If these two men can’t make me come, then no one can.I shouldn’t have slept with them. I shouldn’t have succumbed to their sexy smiles. I shouldn’t have listened when their firm voices promised me all the pleasure I could handle.I can’t get enough of them. But when a bitter rival finds out about our forbidden threesome, everything will come crashing down.

Malice


Coralee June - 2021
    Don't ask any personal questions.2. Don't show up at her house unannounced.3. Don't ever, ever let anyone know you're friends.For three years, I followed the rules. Vicky and I met once a week at the diner where I worked. I was her slice of normalcy, she was the one person I could confide in. It might have been unconventional, but it worked for us.One night, all hell broke loose and I got caught up in a battle of bloodshed where we almost lost our lives. I ended up face to face with Vicky's dangerous older brothers. Anthony, William, and Nicholas Civella--the made men of the Kansas City Mob.After fighting for my life and proving myself worthy, they brought me into their deadly world. It was glamorous but twisted. Torture, death, and crime followed me everywhere I went, chiseling away at parts of me until I wasn't the same anymore.Slowly, I betrayed my best friend, and fell in love.Chances are they'll ruin me. This thing between us has deadly consequences. But in this criminal world, I'm learning that the rules don't apply when you're the boss.*𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 18 +. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.*

For the Thrill


Nora Flite - 2014
    One rule keeps us from destroying each other: Share everything. So when little miss curves and confidence swings her hips into our lives... Well. The rule can't change. I already said it. We share everything. That includes Marina. Even if we help her--the only kind of help two hitmen can offer--we can't let her live. No risks. No mistakes. We want to taste and touch and suffocate on this woman. But our desires don't matter. This ends with her in a cold grave. Author's Note-- Cliffhanger ahead! Book 2 will be released this November. This is NOT a Love Triangle. Contains explicit, erotic scenes and themes of violence/mature situations. The first book in the Beyond Blood Series Approximately 200 pages

Swerve


Sherilee Gray - 2016
    Now his life’s on hold, and the last thing he needs to be worrying about is a distressed redhead in a Poison Ivy costume. He sure as hell shouldn’t be rescuing her in the car he’s just boosted — or asking her to come home with him. But a thief like him can’t offer more, no matter how much he wants to. Everyone either leaves or is taken away, at least that’s all graphics designer Shay Freestone has ever known. And after a confidence shattering, career destroying break-up, she’s sworn off relationships forever. So it’s a good thing this raw, bearded, mountain of a man isn’t her type. Yet as one reckless hot night leads to another, their casual, no-strings affair starts to feel like so much more. Can two hearts with too many secrets dare for a future?

The Dominator


D.D. Prince - 2015
    He has 3 rules for me. 1) Obey. 2) Tell no one ANYTHING about him. Rule 3 gives me a peek into just how depraved, alpha and possessive he really is. My life is about to be twisted up in knots. He will hurt me. Love me. Set my body on fire with passion. He will kill for me.Full & complete story - bit.ly/tommyandtia Free in Kindle Unlimited.Book 2 - Dario Ferrano - bit.ly/dareandangelBook 3 - More Tommy & More Dare - bit.ly/dominator3unboundOR box set - bit.ly/dominatorboxsetAnd then Saved, a spin-off that's even darker - bit.ly/lexandholly

American Queen


Sierra Simone - 2016
    It starts with the President sending his best friend to woo me on his behalf, and it ends with my heart split in two. It starts with buried secrets and dangerous desires…and ends with the three of us bound together with a hateful love sharper than any barbed wire.My name is Greer Galloway, and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.This is the story of an American Queen.

Your Dad Will Do


Katee Robert - 2020
    I’ve been fantasizing about my fiancé’s father, thinking filthy thoughts that a good daughter-in-law should not be indulging in. So when I catch my fiancé cheating on me, there’s only one revenge that will fulfill all my needs. I'm going to seduce his father. It’s dirty and it’s wrong, and I don't care. I want him, so I mean to have him.After this weekend, my ex won’t be the only one who calls his father Daddy.

The Land Where Sinners Atone


V.F. Mason - 2020
    Mine to destroy. I used to have it all. Successful career. Loving husband who adored me. A future full of possibilities. A perfect fairytale nothing could break. Until one day, life as I knew it was crushed into tiny little pieces. I was charged with a murder I didn't commit. And no matter how much I begged for justice, no one believed me. Least of all the man who promised to stand by me through anything. And the husband of the woman I allegedly killed? He vowed for me to live in a hell on earth–and even then it wouldn’t be enough to atone for my sin. His words rang in my ears every single day as life became an endless nightmare.With time, I grew to hate him so much my heart burned from it. Until three years later new evidence was found. And everyone believed my truth. I might be free but I’m still part of a twisted game the monster is playing. And the only way I can survive in it? Trust a man who I promised to hate till my last breath.

Dirty Dom


Willow Winters - 2017
    I do what I have to do, and more than often, I f*cking love it. The power, the women, the money. All of it comes easy to me. Until Becca walked into my office. Everything about her was tempting. Her beautiful eyes that pierced into me, her body that was made for sin. She came to pay off a debt, but I wanted more. So I did what I’ve always done, I took what I wanted. She’s a good girl who never should have walked through that door. I never should have touched her, but now that I have, I can’t stop. I’ll push her boundaries, she’ll cave to temptation. We’ll both forget about the danger. And that’s a mistake I can’t afford…

His Keepsake


Cari Silverwood - 2021
    Going to clubs didn’t make me feel anything anymore. I wanted a soul-wrenching, destructive encounter with a stranger.I wanted to be kept by someone… in a basement, or in a cage, like a bird or a treasured object?I could pretend, couldn’t I?As long as we had a code, the beginning was SANE. That would be fine. All good.But when he didn’t say THE word… THAT word.I wonder if he is just messing with me?Maybe this is a real abduction. If so, I should be scared.HIMWho knew that one day I would do what I had fantasized about for years?Or that my best friend would insist on joining me.This is fun. Filthy. Darker than a grave with the hole filled in, except, she isn’t getting killed.I might keep her forever, though I’m not telling her that.Or that I’m not the man she arranged to meet.I open my cellar door and study this precious creature I’ve caught, from her toes to those pretty, tear-filled eyes.This story has a HEA but for some that will not be enough. There are more triggers in this dark tale than stars in the sky.

Mafia Captive


Julia Sykes - 2021
    Our intense connection seems too impossible to be real, like a wonderful dream.Until it becomes a nightmare.Drugged. Kidnapped.When I wake up, I find myself trapped in the arms of the man who was supposed to be my fierce protector. My sweet first love is a criminal, the son of a powerful mafia boss. And his best friend Marco—the terrifying, heavily-muscled man who abducted me—is a brutal enforcer.They say they can't let me go, or their enemies might hurt me.Despite everything, my heart still belongs to Joseph, and I can’t help surrendering to the fiery chemistry between us.Marco’s rigid rules infuriate me, but his steady onyx stare and stern orders make something darker than anger burn low in my belly.They swear they’ve kidnapped me for my own protection, but will staying close to my alluring criminal captors put me in more danger than ever?

Finley's Claim


Atlas Rose - 2021
    We take the money. We control the war.So when our ‘launderer’ decides to run with one hundred million dollars of our money, you can bet we’ll hunt them down.Only they’ve run to a place they think they’re safe.A place that’s heavily guarded.An island in the middle of nowhere.Where the son of my family's enemy promises me a bloody and violent end. Only I don’t care about him…My sole focus is her.Pretty, plain Annalise Eden. I’ll hunt her. I’ll corner her. I’ll claim her too.She’s the one they secretly call ‘the Ghost’.The woman who’s made my family millions.Millions we want back…Finley's Claim is a FULL LENGTH dark mafia romance standalone. This series can be read in any order but it is recommended to start with Finley's Claim.

Sloth


Ella James - 2015
    – I am writing to express my gratitude for your gift. There are no sufficient words, but please accept my sincerest thank you. Yours, R. She writes me back. I didn’t expect that. She tells me she’s a lover of chicken pizza and video games, a hot sorority girl with the nickname Sloth. She wants to know something about me in return. She says I owe her. This is how she saves my life. She doesn’t even know it. We’ve never even seen each other. But I need a reason. Just one reason to continue. She becomes mine.The anonymity is good. She doesn’t need to know me, but I need her kindness. We both live our lives: a letter here, a post card there. For three years, I escape my demons. And then one day I’m pulled back in. I’ve resigned myself to what I know is coming. Until the girl I’m spanking gives her safe word: Sloth. And then the lie I’m living starts to unravel. --Sloth is a 500-page, 150,000-word stand alone novel with many twists, one huge secret, and a non-cliffhanger ending. It will wreck you, but you'll like it. BTW: Part of the fun of reading this book is trying to guess the secret. I would appreciate it if you could avoid spoilers in reviews and review headlines, so others will be able to enjoy the guessing game.*Sloth is part of a collection of stand-alones inspired by a sin, and centered around a terrible secret. The second stand-alone, My Heart for Yours, is inspired by the sin of murder, and is the story of Kellan's oldest brother, Barrett Drake. It's free via Kindle Unlimited and also for sale here in the Kindle Store.*This book was updated and re-edited in fall 2017, and now includes a bonus story.

Dangerous


Nora Ash - 2016
    Heartbreaker. Husband…? Blaine I hurt, break and kill for a living. The Family point, I deliver. But this time, they ask too much. This time, they want me to marry the one woman who knows my secret. She has reason to hate me, I know, but I'll take her, I'll break her, and I'll make her mine. That's the only way I can keep my secret. Mira When I ran away eight years ago, I thought I’d escaped the underworld I'd always known. I made a life for myself. I thought I was free. Then my past came knocking at my door. Now I’m marrying the son of London’s biggest crime family. A man who hates me as much as I hate him. He’s ruthless, brutal, and dangerous—everything I’ve always feared. He's taken away the life I built, he's taken my freedom. And now, I fear he's taken my sanity, too. How else could I have ended up pregnant with his baby? **Dangerous is a full-length romance novel with a guaranteed HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger!**