Book picks similar to
Elijah's Whim by Victoria Blue
suspense
contemporary
arc-s
slow-burn
The Guarded Heart
Blair LeBlanc - 2019
I'm the senator's daughter. We can't be together, but I'll risk it all to be with him. Cassian is my silent shadow. A cold, unfeeling giant. A man of few words who undresses me with his bedroom eyes. He's beautifully flawed with a past as mysterious as his scars. It wasn’t what I planned, but Cassian seized me— heart, body, and soul. He's my first. He's my everything. I fell for him. Then I found out his secret. He's not my protector. He's my worst mistake. ----- CASSIAN I'm in love with my enemy's daughter. She was young. She was beautiful. The purple-haired girl looked wild. I'd tame her with a firm hand before taking her to bed. I expected a high-maintenance brat, but what I got was Rain. A kind, selfless woman. A girl whose joy cracked through my armor. I couldn't hurt her. When I met her, my plan shattered. She was mine. She brought light to my endless night. And I was destined to destroy everything that made her shine.
Author's Note: A moody, overprotective bodyguard bends his rules for the girl he's supposed to hate. The Guarded Heart is a full-length, steamy, enemies-to-lovers romance with a heartwarming HEA from debut author, Blair LeBlanc.
Protected
Lexi Blake - 2018
The rodeo star and the shy academic made for an odd pair but their chemistry was undeniable. They made plans to get married after high school but when Genny left him standing in the rain, he joined the Army and vowed to leave that life behind. Genny married the town’s golden boy, and Wade knew that he couldn’t go home again. Could become the promise of a lifetime Fifteen years later, Wade returns to Broken Bend, Texas for his brother’s wedding and walks into a storm of scandal. Genny’s marriage has dissolved and the town has turned against her. But when someone tries to kill his old love, Wade can’t refuse to help her. In his years after the Army, he’s found his place in the world. His job at McKay-Taggart keeps happy and busy but something is missing. When he takes the job watching over Genny, he realizes what it is. As danger presses in, Wade must decide if he can forgive past sins or let the woman of his dreams walk into a nightmare…. **Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
Twisted (Scholarship Mafia #1)
Blair Babylon - 2021
Tristan is twenty-six years old, six-feet-four, wealthy, frighteningly good at day-trading stocks, and lives on a yacht in Monaco. The Prince of Monaco is his buddy from boarding school, and his other friends are billionaires, politicians, CEOs, actors, and rock stars. He dates heiresses, minor princesses, models, and Fortune 50 VPs. He has it all. But a debt has come due, and Tristan needs a large amount of stock of a certain company, GameShack. If he doesn't produce it, he’ll be in debt for the rest of his life. It’s worth far more money than Tristan has. It's more money than anyone has.To get the stock, Tristan has to destroy GameShack. He haunts the stock forum SherwoodForest day and night, looking for a crack in the company's financial armor, until the forum's moderator, QueenMod, suspects his motives and trolls his every move.But he’ll figure it out. He has to. Otherwise, he’ll not only be broke and in debt, but it will probably cost him his life.What Tristan hadn't counted on was meeting Colleen Frost, a perky, funny GameShack employee while on a recon trip. She has no idea what he's up to, or so he thought. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~By day, Colleen Frost works the register at GameShack, but by night, she's a moderator on the infamous stock market activist website SherwoodForest. She's paid back half her student loans by trolling short-traders who tried to make a quick buck by setting companies on fire and selling the ashes.And it's fun, too. When her sub-forum begins to crackle with rumors that someone is trying to crash GameShack's stock, she suspects forum member TwistyTrader might be in on it. So, she dogs him every time he's online, calling out his baloney and making his forum life a living heck.But when a tall, handsome hunk named Tristan King with incredible sapphire eyes walks into her GameShack store and starts flirting with her, all the while chatting about her favorite videogame, she gives him her online contact info, which turns into a coffee date, which turns into more. And that's when things get TWISTED.
My Redemption (The Elite Securities Series, #1)
Jennifer Hanks - 2018
Quietly suffering in a life filled with loneliness and regret, he’s accepted his punishment for not protecting the only person he’s ever loved.In his experiences, he’s learned to always expect the worst.He never expected to meet a woman who would bring light into his life, who would show him forgiveness and the beauty in acceptance.He never expected a chance at redemption.He never expected Isabella Hampton.This is the first book in a spin-off series of The Dimarco Series. Can be read as a standalone. Many characters from The Dimarco Series will appear in this story.
Fighting for Marcy
M.J. Nightingale - 2021
A lying, cheating, soon-to-be-ex-husband and his newest “girlfriend” won’t stop her from pursuing a happy life. The last thing she's ready for is a new relationship with the sexy addition to the Banderas Sheriff’s Department. But when crazy things start happening in Tarpley, around her and her children, she comes to depend on the gorgeous man she met in the produce department more and more.Former Detective Blake “New York” Levine comes to Texas to continue his career of catching criminals and putting them behind bars. As a new deputy and member of the Tarpley Volunteer Fire Department, Blake's determined to unravel the mysteries of the cold cases he is asked to solve. His first one, a murdered artist whose skeletal remains were found in the desert, has him stumped. So far, the best thing to happen to him is meeting the strikingly beautiful Marcy.Juggling his caseload becomes a whole lot harder when he is tasked with bringing down a heinous criminal attempting to hire MC members to kill a local. When he finds that Marcy and her kids are in the crossfire, will he be able to solve the crime in time to save them?
Sinner
Romi Hart - 2018
Sinner. Heartless monster. I don’t care what anyone calls me. I did bad things in my past and served time. 8 years in prison made me harder and colder. But there’s one woman who can change me.
The moment I saw her, I knew I had to commit another sin. Mina’s heart, mind, body and soul… I want everything of her. She makes me feel alive. Again.
But my MC brothers don’t care about that. They don’t care about Mina. And I can’t stand that. They want to steal her fathers’ rare art collection. And I’m not going to let that happen. I will protect her, no matter what. It doesn’t matter how many more sins I have to commit. I will go through everyone like fire just to save Mina. I love her. Nobody stands a chance against this ruthless Sinner! Sinner is a steamy 60,000+ words full length novel with no cliffhangers, no cheating and a guaranteed HEA! Free bad boy romance books included inside for a limited time as bonus.
Grab your copy.
Die for Her
R.B. Hilliard - 2020
As president of the Steele Raiders MC, he doesn’t have the time nor the desire to get tangled up in a relationship. But then a beautiful woman—one who has no idea who he really is—steps into his life and makes him want more.Luciana Ferina is not a risk-taker. She’s steady and dependable; a woman who knows what she wants out of life. With a job she loves and a good head on her shoulders, she has everything she could ever need. But then she meets a man who makes her want to risk it all.She’s the woman of his dreams.He’s not who she thinks he is.When secrets unfold, it will be up to Steele to not only protect her but to prove he's the man worthy of her heart.Sometimes you have to fight for love, but sometimes you have to die for it.
Justified
Jay Crownover - 2019
So as the sheriff of Loveless, Texas, he's determined to do everything by the book--until he's called to Aspen Barlow's office after a so-called break-in. The last thing he wants to do is help the woman who cost him custody of his son. But Aspen isn't the heartless lawyer Case remembers, and he starts to question his long-held grudge...Aspen is scared for her life, and Case is her last hope for protection. But to get him on her side, she'll have to reveal the painful truth from all those years ago. Now, as they work together to track down a dangerous criminal, Case and Aspen learn to trust each other. And as the threats escalate, it becomes clear there's a thin line between love and hate... because there's nothing Case wouldn't do to keep her safe.Includes It's All About That Cowboy, a bonus novella by Carly Bloom!
Protected by the Monster
B.B. Hamel - 2020
I’m supposed to keep her safe.Instead, I’ll satisfy her darkest desires.At first I think Clair Riva is just another spoiled mafia princess. Gorgeous, pouty, but pissed-off at the world and not worth the trouble.Until I realize that girl has more fire in her than a full on made man.Her long legs drive me wild, and those lips make a man want to drop to his knees in praise.So when the Jalisco Cartel wants to take her away, I’ll kill a thousand of them to keep her.Too bad she hates my guts. I’m just another monster to her. She lost everything to the mob, and she’s not ready to give herself up to me.Doesn’t matter. I’ll fight off a cartel to get my girl.In the end, this monster always gets what he craves.
Total Surrender
Opal Carew - 2017
Surrender to your deepest desires in Total Surrender.
PLAYED BY THE MASTER
Jacqueline will do anything she can to save her brother-in-law. Race Danner is the only one with the power to help. In this game, Race holds all the cards. Played by the Master an exciting and humorous story of Domination and submission, where breaking the rules of the game is where the fun begins, when Jacqueline crashes a billionaire’s exclusive poker game in order to seduce him into granting a favor to save her sister, but instead finds herself Played by the Master.Warning: This story has Domination, submission, bondage, punishment, and a lot of other fun things, plus explicit, wild sexual encounters. After all, if you’re going to play, play hard! ;)
THREE
Hot steamy dreams...a handsome stranger...and his two brothers... all add up to an exciting adventure she'll never forget.Warning: This intriguing story is scorching hot, and not for the faint of heart
THE OFFICE SLAVE
Her ultimate sexual fantasy brought to life... Sylvia loves to read erotica, and after her latest read, she’s developed a sizzling fantasy about submitting to the sexual whims of four incredibly hot business partners. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d have the opportunity to live out her fantasy... until her friend decides to make it happen. Now she’s about to become an office slave… to four hunky men she’s never even met. But faced with the reality, can she actually go through with it? Warning: Ditto!
Iced
Winter Travers - 2021
With the death of Nessa and Hannah's parents, life is anything but a fairytale.Bad choices and secrets risk tearing Hannah and Nessa even further apart than they already are.Hannah literally runs into Ice, a member of the VII Knights MC, and a plan to save not only the family business, but also her relationship with Nessa is hatched.Can Hannah fix everything, or will she just have to let it go?
Reckless Envy (The Seven MC, #2)
A.R. Breck - 2021
For better or for worse, till death do us part…
Those are the vows I’ve promised to uphold.I’ll stand by those vows, even if it means enduring a living hell filled with abuse and misery.There’s no escape, and my suffering runs deeper than the scars on my skin. My torment seems endless, and the depression begins suffocating me like a wool blanket, scratching at the surface and burrowing deep within the fibers of my being.Until he appears. My mystery man.He watches me. Follows me. Stalks me.He descends beneath my scars and strips the despair from my bones.With his cruel features and leather cut, my mystery man should scare me.He comes alive from inflicting pain, from drawing blood, from death.I should be running away from a man so ruthless, so brutal. A man who wants to cause pain.So, why do I end up running towards him?RECKLESS ENVY is a full-length novel that contains adult content and violent situations that may be offensive to some readers.
Beautifully Damaged (Beautifully Damaged #1)
J.A. Owenby - 2022
A thing—a car, a house, or expensive jewelry.But in my world, that object is me.My guardian owes a lot of money to his dealer, and now they've come for me.On the run with only a few dollars in my pocket, I have no place to live until I meet a stranger—sexy, rich, and more intent on saving me than protecting his fancy car or home.A billionaire like Holden Alastair doesn't belong with a girl from the other side of the tracks. I'm not capable of love or anything but running until fate intervenes. But with a broken leg and nowhere to go, I'm forced to accept his help, to live with a man I hardly know. One who has dark secrets.I'm suddenly immersed in a world more dangerous than the one I left, swept up in Holden's big heart and hidden life—lies, betrayal, and threats behind every corner.Now, I'm on edge, looking over my shoulder, biding my time to see who comes for me first. I think I'm ready, but nothing could prepare me for the twisted games that I'm about to play.Follow River into Holden's world of power, wealth, and lies. Beautifully Damaged is a secret billionaire/forced proximity college romance featuring a dominant, wealthy jock and the feisty heroine who brings him to his knees. Enough intrigue to keep you turning pages and enough steam to melt your Kindle!***This book contains dark and mature content and triggers.
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?
Drowning Erin
Elizabeth O'Roark - 2017
She and Brendan have waged a war of mutual disdain for years, but when Brendan picks up the pieces after her world unravels, they’ll be forced to admit that beneath their dislike is something else entirely—something they’re not supposed to feel. Because Brendan isn’t just her nemesis…He’s also her fiance’s best friend.