Book picks similar to
The Luck Deciding Factor by Z. Stefani


contemporary-romance
contemporary
virgin-heroine
celeb

Hidden Truths


K. Webster - 2019
    Light.Until I got wrapped up with the wrong people.Nothing but a piece of property to pay for the sins of my father.I’m to be married off to a handsome monster.I see his truths every day, and it’s hard not to fall for the enemy.He won’t let me escape, but I’m not sure I want to.I wanted to marry for love, but it looks like love is a lie.*Hidden Truths is book one in the Truths and Lies Duet*

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.

The Red Ledger: Part 1


Meredith Wild - 2018
    Days. Weeks. I measure mine in kills. A covert military mission gone wrong robbed me of my memory and any link to my past. This is my existence now. I execute and survive. Nothing more, nothing less. I was ready to write Isabel Foster’s name in my ledger of unfortunate souls until she uttered the one word that could stop the bullet meant for her. My name. She knows my face. She knows me. She’s the key to the memories I’m not sure I want back. Now nothing is simple. I still have a job to do, and my soul isn’t worth saving. I’m not the man she thinks I am. I can’t love her. And sparing her life puts us both in the crosshairs.

Accidental Witness


Sam Mariano - 2017
    We’d never spoken, but of course I heard the stories about his family. I know they’re dangerous. I know he’s dangerous. Vince never had a reason to notice me, anyway—until I inadvertently witnessed his first mob hit. His family doesn’t believe in leaving witnesses alive, but Vince seems different. He knows the best thing he can do for me is stay away, but something keeps drawing us together. Despite knowing the risks of getting mixed up with him, I can’t resist. Only problem is, Vince is a package deal—you don’t get him without getting swept up in his family’s dark games. Now entangled with a notorious Chicago crime family, will my life ever be mine again?**Obligatory trigger warning: While not wholly dark, this is a mafia romance with elements of DARK ROMANCE. There are no knights in shining armor to be found here.Sensitive content not recommended for those under 18, or those who loathe the dark romance genre. **This is a continuing story series. The story continues and evolves in each book until you get to the end.

Lash


Sam Crescent - 2013
    They’re the local bikers and the club that helps keep the town safe, but they have their own kind of rules. They party hard and do whatever the hell they want. But her father’s debts to the club mean Angel has no choice.Lash loves his club, but he wants a woman who hasn’t slept with all the crew. Angel is just what he’s looking for. She’s sweet, young … and a virgin. He wants her more than anything and has already staked his claim on her.When Lash touches her, Angel can’t help but melt. He sets fires inside her body with his wandering hands and sinful lips. She can’t say no, and she wants him desperately.But when all seems to be going so well for Angel and Lash, their pasts catch up to them. The Skulls have enemies who want the town and their women. Lash must decide who to put first, the club or his woman. Is Angel strong enough to stand by his side when the going gets tough? And what will happen when tragedy and pain both hit at once?

Transcending Darkness


Airicka Phoenix - 2015
    But it was the only way to keep her family safe and all she had to do was sell her body and soul to the devil.Killian McClary wasn’t called the Scarlet Wolf for nothing. He’d been the head of the McClary Organization since he was fifteen and had built a reputation for being a ruthless son of a bitch when it came to running the city’s underbelly, not to mention merciless when it came to punishing those who betray him. He didn’t believe in weaknesses. Only results. Juliette, with her shy smiles and hot little body was a weakness unlike any other and yet he was powerless to resist one more taste of her sweet flesh.Two: Become his for a year.When given the choice between her life or her body, what could Juliette possibly do, but submit to a man whose very name invoked fear in the hearts of others? She just never anticipated falling for his dark, hungry eyes and clever hands, or the way the beast in him made her feel oddly safe and cherished.But what will happen when Killian’s dark past finally catches up to him and threatens the woman he can no longer imagine himself without? What will happen when both sides find themselves caught in a web of passion, lies and broken promises? Can Juliette tame the wolf or will her love for him devour them both?Three: Don’t fall in love.Boundaries will be crossed, loyalties will be tested and lives will be changed forever.

Tell Me Lies


Carola Lovering - 2018
    The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating. Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart. Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, Tell Me Lies follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. Deep down, Lucy knows she has to acknowledge the truth about Stephen. But before she can free herself from this addicting entanglement, she must confront and heal her relationship with her mother—or risk losing herself in a delusion about what it truly means to love. With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.

Bad Blood


Cora Kenborn - 2021
    A Carrera bleeds for revenge.Thalia Santiago is the daughter of my enemy. A beautiful rebel with a single cause.Impulsive. Fearless. And ripe for her father’s undoing.I recognized her the moment she stepped into my casino.I watched her start the fires that burned her pretty fingers, and then I poured gasoline on the flames. Now she’s in my debt, and her dues are a shiny gold ring and a vow of deception. I’ll bend her. I’ll break her. I’ll turn our mockery of a marriage into a battlefield.And that river of bad blood that flows between our two families? I’ll make it an ocean of hate. *This is book 1 of a new dark romance duet, releasing May 12th. Tainted Blood, book 2, releases June 9th. **Bad Blood is set in the Santiago and Carrera worlds, but it is not necessary to have read either trilogy beforehand.

Torrent


Gemma James - 2014
    Now, eight years later, he's returning the favor...I've been obsessed with Rafe Mason since I was thirteen. The twisted part of this story is that I still want him even now that he's holding me captive on an island.Rafe has his reasons for doing what he's doing, and if I'm honest, I can't blame him. I'm the girl who sent him to prison for a heinous crime he didn't commit.But now he's free and the tables have turned...now he's the one driven by obsession.NOTE TO READERS: Torrent is a dark romance with kidnapping and other disturbing themes. Intended for mature readers. Not for the faint of heart. You've been warned. Part 1 in the Condemned series.

Little Black Book


Tabatha Vargo - 2014
    I could have any woman I want, but I choose you. NO RELATIONSHIP, JUST SEX. Here’s my offer… I’ll put your name in my LITTLE BLACK BOOK, and when I want you, I’ll call you. When I call, you’re going to come, in more ways than one. It will be mutually pleasurable for both of us. There are only two rules: DON'T EVER DENY ME. DON'T FALL IN LOVE. If you do either, I’ll remove you from my book and payment stops. Do we have an understanding?

Mugs of Love


Norma Jeanne Karlsson - 2014
    He stood like the man he is and took his punishment. Eight years later, he finds himself in a new life. It’s not the life he grew up believing he would live, but it’s a life all the same, albeit numb and empty. Well, not entirely.Every day across the street from his furniture store, Garrett steals moments full of warmth from Emily Garner. As she floats happily through her coffee shop, Emily provides him glimpses into her soul. She’s pure and full of life in a way Garrett’s never experienced. He’s never heard her voice and doesn’t know the color of her eyes. But he knows she lights up like a beacon when she serves coffee to couples on their first dates. Emily can feel the tingles of new love even when she’s not the one experiencing the thrill. And Garrett can feel Emily’s joy from across the street.When Emily finally enters Garrett’s store for the first time six months after he opens, both their lives change. Garrett must battle the demons of his past to be a man worthy of the woman he’s fallen for from afar. Emily has to move beyond her ex-boyfriend and his betrayals to find trust again. If it were only the past challenging Emily and Garrett, their story would be easy. Life is never easy.

Storm


Nina Levine - 2013
    Her father is the President and her brother is the VP. She grew up surrounded by bikers, crime and violence. Two years ago she walked away from her family and the world they live in. Her soul was shattered, her heart was broken and she had an addiction she couldn't shake. She picked up the pieces and put herself back together. Now her family wants her back. The club is being threatened and they send a club member to return her home to safety—the one person that could destroy everything she has worked so hard to build.Jason Reilly has sacrificed a lot for the motorcycle club he calls family. Two years ago he made the biggest sacrifice of all—he gave up the woman he loved for them. Now he is being sent to bring her back and he is conflicted. He thought he was over her but discovers their connection is as strong as ever. Their love was all-consuming, passionate and fiery. It was also their undoing and he doesn't know if either of them is strong enough to battle the demons that ripped them apart, to find love again.Madison and Jason are brought back together by a force out of their control, one that pushes them to a breaking point. Can they overcome their past and discover a love worth fighting for or will the harsh reality of their world finally and completely break them both?This story contains all the panty-melting sexiness and alpha goodness that Nina Levine books are known for.

El Diablo


M. Robinson - 2016
    ROBINSONI was ruthless. I was feared. I had sacrificed. Myself. Her. Everything... Living in a world where I was worth more dead than alive was a choice. I was a bad man, never claimed to be anything else. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Seen things that can’t be unseen. I’ve caused pain that I can’t undo. It was all my choice. Every decision. Every order. Right and wrong never mattered. Until her. She was under my protection, until she became my obsession. But who was going to save her... From. Me. The devil himself. Fate brought us together. Destiny destroyed us. STANDALONE: Romance Suspense full-length novel.

The Scene


Roxy Sloane - 2015
    The city of sex, sin — and secrets.I came here with one mission: solve the mystery behind my brother’s death.Somebody’s got answers.Somewhere, I’ll find what I’m looking for.I didn’t bet on Xavier. He’s my way into the scene — and my biggest threat.I should keep my distance, but I can’t stay away.I'm playing with fire, and I just pray I don't get burned.

Take Me Under


Rhyannon Byrd - 2013
    Back then, she was married and living in Boston—two very good reasons for the Miami detective with a bad boy reputation to stay away. But that was then…Now Reese is divorced and moving to Florida, where her mother has rented her a small beach house—one that happens to be owned by Ben. Living right next door, he can’t get Reese’s soft curves out of his mind. He’s waited three long years to touch her in all the ways he’s been dreaming about, and this time he won’t let anything get in his way.For Reese, Ben’s sudden advances are thrilling, but leave her stunned. With her limited experience in the bedroom, she never expects a man with such a wicked reputation to go after her. She knows she should be on guard, but he’s a temptation she can’t resist. And when trouble follows her down from Boston, threatening her life, Ben may be the only one who can help her.