Book picks similar to
Tuff Enough by Samantha A. Cole


military
romance
romantic-suspense
contemporary

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.

Redemption River


Lindsay Cross - 2015
     Until one mission turns his world upside down. He left Mercy to fight for his country and escape a broken heart. Years later, he is hard. Cold. A man without mercy. Part of an elite Task Force, he tracks a brutal terrorist to his home town. And runs into the woman who betrayed him… Evangeline Videl was destroyed when Hunter left. Determined to move on, she finds another man, but discovers too late the monster hidden beneath his smooth smile. Struggling to find the conviction to live, Evie finds her life spinning out of control. Then Hunter returns… Forced to band together to find the terrorist before its too late, Hunter and Evie must learn to forgive or risk losing the promise of redemption and their lives…

Coastal Elite


Kate Canterbary - 2017
    Business problems, political problems, cheating ex-girlfriend problems. He knows that a week away from the Washington D.C. Beltway won't do a damn bit of good for those problems, but his beach house in Montauk is exactly where he needs to be right now. April Veach has plans.Work plans, travel plans, try-everything-once plans. Montauk is keeping her plenty busy this summer between decorating wedding cakes and teaching yoga, and busy is good. But busy is also a lonely bed, and that wasn't part of her grand plan. After a weekend together, his problems and her plans take them in an unexpected direction.

Dungeon Games


Lexi Blake - 2014
    Once he has a target in his sights, nothing can stop him. When he isn’t solving homicides, he applies the same intensity to his playtime at Sanctum, a secretive BDSM club. Unfortunately, no amount of beautiful submissives can fill the hole that one woman left in his heart.UnhingedKarina Mills has a reputation for being reckless, and her clients appreciate her results. As a private investigator, she pursues her cases with nothing holding her back. In her personal life, Karina yearns for something different. Playing at Sanctum has been a safe way to find peace, but the one Dom who could truly master her heart is out of reach.EnflamedOn the hunt for a killer, Derek enters a shadowy underworld only to find the woman he aches for is working the same case. Karina is searching for a missing girl and won’t stop until she finds her. To get close to their prime suspect, they need to pose as a couple. But as their operation goes under the covers, unlikely partners become passionate lovers while the killer prepares to strike.

Agent I1: Tristan


Joni Hahn - 2013
    Now that D.I.R.E. has successfully implemented his scientific enhancements, he’s a walking weapon. Unstoppable, as long as he stays focused. No relationships. When ex-BUD/S teammate, Aidan Monroe, interrupts his long-awaited sabbatical to call in a favor, Tristan reluctantly fills the simple request: take out his sister’s fiancé. One problem: Rachel Monroe - smokin’ hot, kind-hearted, and in desperate need of a protector. After the best sex of his life, Tristan’s afraid unstoppable is just a memory. Knowing Aidan’s temper, Tristan could be, too. Rachel Monroe had a plan to help her mother. Her brother ruined everything when his gorgeous, super-agent friend teleported her to some forsaken island - and his bed. She’s drawn to him despite the fact he’s a professional agent, much like the people suspected of killing her father. Now, his enemies have come to her small town, looking for vengeance. Have they found more than they bargained for? Or, does the past have its own retribution in mind?

Going Down


Shelli Stevens - 2010
    The other wants her dead...Holding Out for a Hero, Book 1Eleanor Owen needs to get out of Chicago and quick. It's not that she doesn't want to obey the subpoena to testify against her drug-trafficking ex-boyfriend. It's making it to the witness stand alive, should a dirty cop make good on his threats.Tiny, remote Wyattville, Oregon, looks like the perfect place to disappear, but it's hard to blend into the woodwork when one of the town's infamous namesakes sends her heart racing. Worse, Mr. Tall, Hot and Packing is the town sheriff, which means she should stay as far away from him as possible.Tyson Wyatt is positive the sexy new girl in town is hiding something. Question is, what? He vows to feel out her secrets--including what she feels like beneath him. Preferably naked. Until then, he's not buying the story she's selling.Their chemistry is sheet-melting hot, and Ellie realizes much too late that the man with the badge is as dangerous to her heart as her ex is to her life...Warning:A city girl on the run, and a small-town sheriff set to seduce. Explicit sex. Dirty talk. A hint of danger. Oral sex with a cupcake.

Forged in Fire


Trish McCallan - 2011
    When events in her dream start coming true, she heads to the flight’s departure gate. To her shock, she recognizes the man she’d watched die the night before. Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters comes from a bloodline of elite warriors with psychic abilities. When Zane and two of his platoon buddies arrive at Sea-Tac Airport, he has a vision of his teammates’ corpses. Then she arrives—a leggy blonde who sets off a different kind of alarm. As Beth teams up with Zane, they discover the hijacking is the first step in a secret cartel’s deadly global agenda and that key personnel within the FBI are compromised. To survive the forces mobilizing against them, Beth will need to open herself to a psychic connection with the sexy SEAL who claims to be her soul mate.

HOT Pursuit


Lynn Raye Harris - 2013
    He broke her heart. He's the only one who can save her life...Evie Baker hasn’t seen Matt Girard in ten years. Not since the night she gave him her virginity. Now the Black Ops soldier is back in town and looking to make things right. Too bad she doesn’t believe a word he says. But when her sister goes missing and Evie’s suddenly a suspect in a murder, Matt’s the only man she can trust to keep her safe.Matt knew Evie wanted forever ten years ago, but all he wanted was escape. He’s older and wiser now, and he knows what matters. He’ll do whatever it takes—break any rules necessary—to protect Evie and find her sister. And then he’ll do everything he can to win his best friend’s heart and prove he’s the man she needs him to be.

From Here to You


Jamie McGuire - 2018
    She's never been able to stand up for herself, but she'll sure as hell stand up for her baby. With just the cash she has on hand, she runs to get a bus ticket to the farthest place she can afford. Between her sheer grit and pageant-queen smile, she lands a job as a front desk clerk at the Colorado Springs Hotel. It's not a glamorous life, but she and her baby are all that matters.A former Marine, Scott "Trex" Trexler has worked in the most dangerous, corrupt, war-torn places on earth. Now he finally has a chance to return to the last place he'd felt at peace--Colorado Springs, Colorado, to take a new job with the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a top-secret military installation buried deep within the granite.The moment Trex walks into the inn, Darby knows he's dangerous. There's no way she wants to get involved with another man who seems to be keeping way too many secrets. As charming and devastatingly gorgeous as Trex is, he clearly isn't telling her everything. But as wildfires rage on the mountain and Darby's ex-fiancé shows he isn't so willing to let her go, both she and Trex are soon to find out that what you don't know absolutely can hurt you.

Undercover Love


Lucy Score - 2015
    Do you want me to spy on my fiancé or get naked with you?”“Both. I thought that was obvious.”Revenge. It’s the only thing Ashley can think about after finding her supposed fiancé, Steven, with his tongue down the throat of the worst human being in the history of the world—his colleague, Ice Queen Victoria. Turns out it’s not the only body part he’s betrayed her with.Humiliated and furious, Ashley finds herself being propositioned by security expert and ridiculously sexy Jason Baine. But he’s not just looking to get her into bed. He needs her help taking down Steven and Victoria and rescuing his family’s company before it’s too late.Ashley’s a regular girl, a normal person. She doesn’t dabble in corporate espionage or illicit affairs. At least she didn’t until Jason… But now she’s in too deep and things are getting dangerous.

Fatal Destiny


Marie Force - 2011
    In the aftermath of a tragic loss, they struggle to reconnect as the big day draws near and their work keeps pulling them apart. When a new clue in a cold case surfaces, Nick asks Sam not to take any foolish chances before the wedding and to leave it alone for the time being. Sam agrees, but she can’t let it go entirely and winds up trapped in an explosive situation. Then an unwelcome visitor from her past threatens her future happiness. With trouble at every turn, will Sam survive long enough to walk down the aisle?

Locked


Maya Cross - 2013
    The wine is bad and the decor worse. But when a sudden attack of curiosity leads her to sneak past security and into the back room, she discovers something unimaginable. The most lavish party she’s ever laid eyes on, in the most unlikely of places.But that’s nothing compared to what comes next, to the man she meets back there. Sebastian Lock. Gorgeous, commanding, and radiating charm, he is exactly the sort of silver-tongued rake Sophia has sworn to avoid. Unfortunately, he doesn’t care much for her promises.Every instinct tells her to run, but the chemistry between them is as inescapable as gravity. Soon, he’s opening her eyes to a whole new world of pleasures, pleasures she never thought she’d enjoy.There’s just one problem. Sebastian is more than he seems. Between the famous company he keeps and the almost paranoid secrecy of his employers, he’s a puzzle Sophia can’t quite solve, and his insistence on keeping things casual forces her to confront the demons of her past.Can she learn to trust again? Or will Sebastian’s privacy tear them apart?Contains light BDSM, including spanking, restraint, and anal playNote: This book is the first part of a trilogy that is designed to be read together, much like The Blackstone Affair. Sebastian and Sophia will get their happily ever after, but not until the last book.

Talon


Sybil Bartel - 2016
    I fuck. I pretend to smile. Two years ago my life was perfect, until it wasn’t. I scattered my wife’s ashes then walked away from the Marines. I didn’t think I had anything left to lose. I was wrong. The blonde showed up on my doorstep beaten and stabbed. I did what I was trained to do — I stitched her up. I didn’t have a clue who she was and I told myself I didn’t care. Until they came looking for her. I swore I’d take my last breath before I let anyone else hurt her, except I didn’t know she was keeping a deadly secret. Now I had two choices, her life or mine. Marriage and combat taught me the same thing — I was no one’s hero. And I was about to prove it. Warning: This book contains offensive language, violence and sexual situations. Mature audiences only.

The Professional: Part 2


Kresley Cole - 2014
    Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.Rules are made to be broken...PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.Are you ready to play?Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true...

Forgotten Secrets


Robin Perini - 2016
    Fifteen years later, she’s channeled the pain of her past into a career as an FBI profiler. Riley devotes her life to bringing violent criminals to justice…and secretly uses government resources to search for her sister, who was never found.When Riley gets a call from the only man who’s ever swept her off her feet with a killer two-step and dangerous smile—ex-Navy SEAL Thayne Blackwood of Singing River, Wyoming—it stirs up dark memories. Thayne’s sister, Cheyenne, has been kidnapped. There are no leads, and the only witness is the victim’s Alzheimer’s-afflicted grandmother.Desperate to find Cheyenne, Thayne needs Riley’s expertise. With time running short, they delve into dangerous small-town secrets while fighting against an increasingly ruthless adversary. But when her past and his present collide in a shocking revelation, can they overcome the secrets that have kept them apart?