Book picks similar to
Beautiful Scars by Ariana Black
dark-romance
dark
mafia
dnf
Perfect Chaos
Nashoda Rose - 2014
Have since I was sixteen and my world fell into chaos. But I found a way to endure, or rather it found me. Now I’m a prisoner of my own doing, hiding behind a false mask so no one sees the truth. Not even the man I want but can’t have—Deck. But I messed up and the lies are spilling over, out of control. Deck is unrelenting and will settle for nothing less than the truth. He demands everything from me—EVERYTHING—even if it rips me apart.DECKI kill for a living.Unyielding—It’s how I survive in my line of work. I bend people to my will…except Georgie.But that ends now.I've played her game for far too long. Now I think it's time we play mine.
The Initiation
Nikki Sloane - 2019
But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything—the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents’ mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he’s the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it. I’ll make a deal with the devil to save my family and sell myself to the Hales. But Royce will never own my heart.
A Love of Vengeance
Nancy Haviland - 2014
Vasily needs someone he can trust in Seattle to protect his estranged daughter, Eva Jacobs, while he avenges the murder of the young woman’s mother. Gabriel is unstoppable in a fight, whether he’s using fists, blades, or bullets; but innocent, onyx-haired Eva may just be the most dangerous—and beautiful—thing he’s come up against.Intense sparks fly between the two, tempting Gabriel to mix business with pleasure while in the Emerald City. But once word gets around that Gabriel has shown up in New York, Stefano—his vengeful brother and the de facto head of the family—decides that Eva is the key to ending the feud between them…permanently.In this pulse-pounding romantic thriller set against the backdrop of New York City’s storied underworld, loyalties will be tested, secrets will be told, and mob justice will be served.
Beautifully Cruel
J.T. Geissinger - 2020
I didn’t know his name or where he was from. All I knew was that the only place I’d ever felt safe was in his arms. But safety is an illusion. And not every savior is a hero. And—as I’d soon find out—having an alpha save your life comes with a price. Liam Black wanted something from me in return.
Slashes in the Snow
M. Never - 2019
Away from our MC club, all his responsibilities, and me. We haven’t spoken since the day he handed me the keys to the kingdom. Shoved them down my throat was more like it. I hate him, and the new family he’s playing house with. He left his entire life behind for a woman he barely knows. But I’m strong, resilient, and don’t need a damn soul to survive. At least, that’s what I thought...until she walked into my bar. Kira Someone is watching me. I can feel it. I wake up in the middle of the night freaked out of my mind, paranoid a stranger is there. My skin prickles every time I leave my house, because I know someone is following me. I’m afraid. Alone. And there’s only one person left to turn to. The stepbrother I never met. The man my stepfather speaks so highly about, but never sees. He’s the president of a notorious motorcycle club, and exactly the kind of person I need to protect me. Little did I know, Ky Parish, freakin’ hates my guts. Slashes in the Snow is an enemies to lovers, stepbrother romance, romantic suspense (emphasis on romance) with dark elements. Reader discretion is advised.
Deliver
Pam Godwin - 2014
Now it's whatever she wants it to be. She is a Deliverer. She lures young men and delivers them to be sold. She delivers the strikes that enforce their obedience. She delivers the sexual training that determines their purchase price. As long as she delivers, the arrangement that protects her family will hold. Delivering is all she knows. The one thing she can't deliver is a captive from slavery. Until him. And her stubborn slave thinks he can deliver her...from herself.DELIVER series (HEAs with no cliffhangers - must be read in order):Deliver #1Vanquish #2Disclaim #3Devastate #4Take #5Manipulate #6Unshackle #7Dominate #8Complicate #9
Kings of Quarantine
Caroline Peckham - 2020
Heartless. Quarantined.The ruthless boys of Everlake Prep never saw lockdown coming.But the virus isn’t their number one enemy.I am.And as if being confined to a boarding school for the elite wasn’t bad enough, now I’m stuck in isolation with the boys who hate me most too.Saint, Kyan and Blake. The Night Keepers. Or so they call themselves. They’ve embodied the Native American legend which lives in this valley, taking on the role of the monsters who lurk in the forest. And though they act like beasts, they may also bethe most tempting creatures I’ve ever seen.With the virus escalating and my dad’s name splashed through the news, my entire world is falling apart. What he did has cast a dark shadow over me. And the Night Keepers want to make me pay for his crimes.Then things went from bad to worse when I touched the sacred rock. A rock which supposedly holds a curse to bind me as the Night Keepers’ slave. And as crazy as it sounds, I decided to play along. Because there are things about me they don’t know. Things my dad has hidden from me for years. All I can be sure of is that I have to find a way to escape this school. But until then, those savage boys are making my life a living hell.As the virus sweeps through the country and the world twists into something ugly and unknown, the kings of this school become true monarchs. Even the teachers bow to them now. And I’m kinda glad about that ‘stay six feet away from one another’ rule, because without it, I know they’d rip me apart.At least there’s a silver lining. I’m cosying up to Coach Monroe. My hot as hell, brooding P.E. teacher who has a vendetta of his own against the Night Keepers. And with his help, I may succeed at doing more than escaping the clutches of these heartless fiends. I might even destroy them along the way.My father taught me how to be strong.How to prepare for the end of the world.So this isn’t going to be the end of my world, mark my words.But if I’m able to use my mind and body to bring these assholes to their knees, it might just be the end of theirs.This is a high school bully RH series with off the charts angst, dark themes and is not for the faint of heart. Prepare to enrol at Everlake Prep. Bring your hand sanitiser, face masks and toilet paper to barter with, but don’t expect to hold onto them for long. Because it’s time to go into quarantine with the Night Keepers. And everything you own now belongs to them.
The Professional
Kresley Cole - 2014
Ordered to protect her, Aleksei will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.Rules are made to be broken…Grad student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the dark and breathtaking Sevastyan before the professional enforcer whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. Every day under his protection leads her 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...
King of Lies
Whitney G. - 2020
That I'm a mere pawn in his twisted game of chess.Despite the fact that my heart is still tethered to his, or the fact that he's still the most gorgeous and beautiful man I've ever met in my life (he can still make me wet with a single sentence), I have to focus on getting away from him.I have to accept that he's no longer the man I fell in love with.He's the king of lies...
Beautifully Damaged
L.A. Fiore - 2012
A little tomboyish from being raised by her father, Ember packs a punch when a stranger gets pushy with her in a bar, catching the steely blue eyes of a tall, gorgeous tattooed man—Trace Montgomery. Still damaged from her last disastrous relationship and warned off the bad boy by friends, Ember fights the smoldering heat that Trace sparks in her when he begins shadowing her like a dark angel.Burdened by a lifetime of horror and heartbreak, amateur fighter Trace doesn’t want to want Ember. His deep self-loathing keeps him from having any meaningful relationships, but Ember is an itch he can’t scratch. The two push and pull, slowly crumbling their walls, seemingly brought together by fate, because the turmoil that haunts their pasts is interlinked in undeniable ways. But can these two fighters finally lay down their arms?In Beautifully Damaged, L.A. Fiore delves into deep scars and lets love and forgiveness uncover redemption.
Rough Edge
C.D. Reiss - 2018
He has a surgical residency, and she has a psychiatric practice in the basement of their Manhattan brownstone.Everything is going to be fine.Caden loves his wife more than he can measure. But soon after she comes home, he starts hearing whispers. Someone else loves her. Someone else wants her. There's someone else, and though whoever's behind the whispers will move mountains to have her, Caden will move heaven and earth to keep her.Everything is going to hell.Greyson will never break her vows, even as their marriage snaps apart one piece at a time; even as the line between dreams and reality blurs. Even as Caden demands control, and Greyson cedes it, she will never, ever turn her back on him.When their marriage crumbles, love becomes the one thing holding them together.The Edge series:Cutting Edge (free prequel)Rough EdgeOn the EdgeBroken EdgeOver the Edge
Giving It Up
Amber Lin - 2012
Hey, it’s not rape if she wants it. Instead she finds Colin, who looks tough but treats her tenderly, despite her protests.He tempts her, but kindness and a few mindblowing orgasms aren’t enough to put her back together again. Two years ago her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way; she’d be stupid to trust a man again. Especially one like Colin, whose criminal past threatens them both.When her rapist returns, Allie must fight for the man she loves—and her life—hoping her newfound power will be enough to save them all.
The Bratva's Heir
Jane Henry - 2021
Mine to protect. And mine to control…
Broken by Lies
Rebecca Shea - 2015
He changed everything.
The way I breathed.The way I thought.The way I loved.He brought me back to life. He gave me strength and a safe place to land.
And then he broke me.
Finding Emilia was a chance to do something good for once in my life.
I wanted to change.
She believed I was her savior.I ached to be.She found her way into my heart and claimed it as her safe place.I should be telling her the truth about me…instead I break her with lies.This book is a New Adult Romance and contains mature subject matter. It is not intended for those under 17 years of age.
Craving
Helen Hardt - 2016
Her humiliation still ripe, she doesn't expect to be attracted to her friend’s reticent brother, but when the gorgeous cowboy kisses her, all bets are off.Talon Steel is broken. Having never fully healed from a horrific childhood trauma, he simply exists, taking from women what is offered and giving nothing in return...until Jade Roberts catapults into his life. She is beautiful, sweet, and giving, and his desire for her becomes a craving he fears he'll never be able to satisfy.Passion sizzles between the two lovers...but long-buried secrets haunt them both and may eventually tear them apart.