Book picks similar to
Forbidden by Catherine Palmer
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Mexican Heat
Laura Baumbach - 2008
One red-hot sexual encounter in a bar’s back room has put two years of deep undercover work in jeopardy—two years of danger and deception as he worked his way into crime boss Ricco Botelli’s inner circle. Gabriel can’t afford emotional entanglements. Hell, he can’t afford emotions. But that was before he had a name to pin on that anonymous one-off—Miguel Ortega.Miguel Ortega doesn’t trust anyone, but tough, street-smart Gabriel brings out the conquistador in his Spanish blood. But distractions are nothing short of deadly right now, not with his boss’s impending marriage to Botelli’s sister, which will ensure peace—and massive drug profits—for both families.On a trip to Mexico to set up drug supply lines, a violent confrontation proves they’ve got each other’s backs—to a degree.Then one savage act changes everything, testing not only their fragile bond, but Gabriel’s will to live.
The Haunting
Nicole Garcia - 2014
Six people will enter the contest, but not everyone will win. In fact, there can only be one winner. A drug dealer, an exotic dancer, a drug addict, an entrepreneur, a district attorney, and a rich kid, are all desperate in some way. Whether they need the money, or are looking for something different and need a break from their boring everyday life. It may seem that these contestants have nothing in common, but that's not the case. They have one very important thing in common, their desperation to win the prize . But, winning the money is going to be anything but easy. Not only will they have to spend a full twenty-four hours together in a haunted mansion, but they will have to overcome their weaknesses and make alliances with their competitors just to survive. The many people who have visited Waverly Mansion have gone missing and never returned home to their loved ones. Are these contestants so desperate that they would risk their lives just to win money? A million dollars can mean the difference between life and death to some people, but there are many questions you need to ask yourself. Is the money worth the torment and anguish you will have to endure in order to win? What about your life? Is dying the price you are willing to pay in order to win that amount of money? Can these people survive long enough to claim their prize? Or will their desperation take hold of them and sabotage the other's chances at winning the game? Who deserves to win the money when no one is really the person they appear to be?
Blue Diamonds
Antonia Marlowe - 2014
Now he wants her dead.After a failed attempt on her life by vengeful ex-SAS captain John Stratton, a young British woman takes on a new identity and life for herself in Australia as Chloe Clarke. When a chance encounter leads to a whirlwind romance with the charming and wealthy businessman Tom Wentworth, it seems her fortunes have taken a turn for the better. But as her past life quickly catches up with her and her secrets are revealed, will Tom be able to save her from the danger of Stratton’s murderous intentions?Antonia Marlowe is the author of Strange Bodies, a futuristic crime thriller also available from The Book Folks on Kindle. http://www.amazon.com/BLUE-DIAMONDS-A...http://www.amazon.co.uk/BLUE-DIAMONDS...
One Step After Another
Bethany-Kris - 2020
Well, she should be—a piece of her certainly is. The broken girl she once was no longer exists. Now a trained assassin for The League, she’s turned into the worst nightmare for the monsters who once haunted her every waking moment. She has to be … it’s the only way to keep her past safe. That is if she can keep it from catching up. Luca Puzza is chasing a ghost. He’s never once been able to catch her in the five years that he spent searching. Until now. The promise he made to find the girl who disappeared without a trace turned into an obsession that changed his life. But the woman he was looking for is only a shadow of who he finds. She’s dangerous … for his heart and life, and so are the secrets she’s protecting. One can only play with monsters for so long before they start to notice you’re not the same. In this world, predators can just as easily become prey. Except she stopped being a victim long ago. And it’s time for this to end. *Note: One Step After Another is book one of the After Another trilogy following the same couple over a journey that takes them from present, to past, to future. The books should be read in order. The trilogy discusses triggering topics that may be uncomfortable for some. Please be advised and read at your own discretion.
Final Scream
Lisa Jackson - 2005
When she was only 16, Cassidy Buchanan fell for the 19-year-old bad boy in town, Brig McKenzie - who'd had his share of run-ins with both the law and the local women. Then a terrible fire killed Cassidy's sister, and Brig was the chief suspect. Seventeen years later, an eerily similar fire seriously injures Cassidy's husband Chase, who happens to be Brig's brother. With the earlier fire still an open case, suspicion turns to Cassidy, the only person connected to both tragedies.
The Mistaken
Nancy S. Thompson - 2012
~ All Tyler Karras wants is to enjoy life with his expectant bride. What he gets instead is a graveside seat at her funeral. With the woman who killed her uncharged and still free, all Ty wants now is revenge. His brother, Nick, has dangerous connections and suggests a sadistic plan: grab the woman responsible and hand her over to his associates--sex-traffickers in San Francisco's Russian Mafia. They offer Ty more than he dreamed possible. In exchange for the woman, they'll finally let his brother leave the business for good--with his debt wiped clean and his heart still beating. There's just one problem: Ty kidnaps the wrong woman. Now he must protect Hannah Maguire from the very enemy he's unleashed, but the Russians are holding Nick as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal. Caught in a no-win situation, Ty must find a way to save himself, his brother, and the woman, but with the Russian Mafia, even two out of three makes for very long odds. AWARD WINNER! Best Thriller & Best Audiobook - 2014 Best of the Independent eBook Awards
Crossed by the Stars
L.J. Evans - 2021
A life full of love will always be worth it.”
Dax Armaud has spent the last decade haunted by feelings for the one woman he can never be with. Family secrets mean just being seen with a Mori is a dangerous dance let alone dating one. But a desperate call sends him spinning back into Jada’s life, and now he can’t walk away without leaving half his soul behind.For years, Jada Mori fought the ties to her father’s world while healing a broken heart. She thought she’d finally escaped both until a shadow creeps out of her past seeking retribution. When Dax shows up trying to protect her, she’s determined to send him away before her mistakes destroy them. Forced into hiding, the tantalizing desire hovering between them refuses to be ignored, and in the end, they’ll have to decide what matters most―family allegiances or a chance at a forever after. Inspired by Imelda May’s “Falling in Love with You Again,” comes an emotional, second-chance romance with deep, relatable characters and a story you might never forget.
The Prey
Allison Brennan - 2005
Then a killer made it real.Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu beach house while her bestselling novel is made into a Hollywood movie. A former FBI agent with a haunted past, Rowan thinks she has outrun her demons. But fiction and reality collide when a dismembered body is found in Colorado: the real-life victim had the same name, occupation, and looks as a character in Rowan’s novel. By the time the FBI, the LAPD, and her own private bodyguard gather around her, another person is killed–again, the murder ripped from the pages of Rowan’s book.In the company of a former Delta Force officer with secrets of his own, Rowan faces an excruciating dilemma: the only way to chase down the tormenting killer is by revisiting the darkness of her past–and by praying for some way out again.After the prey is chosen, the hunt is on and the kill is certain.From the author's website:Each book stands alone. The story is complete (no continuing mystery) and there is a separate hero, heroine and villain. However, I do have recurring characters throughout my books, so someone may be introduced as a minor or major secondary character in one book, then come back as the hero or a secondary character in another book.THE PREY (12/27/05)Setting: Malibu, CaliforniaHero: John Flynn, former Delta Force turned mercenary/DEA drug informantHeroine: Rowan Smith, former FBI agent turned crime fiction writer
Her Mafia Valentine
Flora Ferrari - 2020
Her dad, Hudson does his taxes, but she’s calculating more than that happening between them both. The problem? Dad’s also a hitman for the mob and doesn’t like the idea of his only daughter mixing business with pleasure. Can Mickey really have her? Or is Hudson on an all- out mission to bring down not only Mickey Valentine, but the entire Family itself? *Her Mafia Valentine is a SHORT insta-everything standalone instalove romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
Enemies like You
Annika Martin - 2017
Absolute enemies. And totally hot for each other.Will has never met anyone like Kit. He’s arrogant. Gorgeous. Lethal. The most expensive bodyguard money can buy. And Will can’t seem to resist him. A simple command in Kit's cut-glass accent makes Will want things he’s never wanted, do things he’s never done. Their red-hot chemistry is off the charts. Just one problem: Will has vowed to kill the billionaire that Kit is hell-bent on protecting.And Kit has secrets, too—his own reasons for sacrificing his soul, piece by painful piece, to keep one of the worst men on earth alive.This is a stand-alone hot contemporary M/M bodyguard/spy romance.
Disavow
Bella Di Corte - 2021
A walking nightmare. He belonged to an organization that valued money over life; power over free will; codes over love.And if that wasn’t enough of a deterrent, he was strictly forbidden.I, Rosalia Lombardozzi, solemnly vow…no fraternizing with the men who belong.I worked for the same organization, and even with that oath forever marking my tongue, I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Something existed between us that not even the fire of disloyalty could turn to ash.Some called it obsession. I called it love.The world we lived in called it an act of betrayal. To disavow meant certain death.When the heart takes an oath, though, it is more sacred than any vow spoken—it’s the one thing worth living and worth dying for.
Watching
Calle J. Brookes - 2012
That thought drove Dr. Georgia Dennis in every decision she made, personal and professional. A profiler with the Complex Crimes Unit of the FBI, she was tired of being second-guessed by her boss Michael “Hell” Hellbrook. Once they caught the sociopath responsible for stoning teenaged girls, she was gone from Hellbrook’s team faster than the ink could dry on the transfer papers. Georgia and Hellbrook are hot on the trail of a sadistic killer targeting women and girls with brown hair and brown eyes—women with a striking resemblance to Georgia. Hellbrook will do anything to protect his team, even the woman he never wanted on it in the first place. By keeping her at his side, he grows closer to her until the flame between them erupts and consumes them both. As they get deeper involved with the case and with each other, they do not realize someone else is watching, someone whose descent into madness threatens everyone around them. Is this watcher their killer, or someone much closer? PAVAD: PREVENTION & ANALYSIS OF VIOLENT ACTS DIVISION: PAVAD—the Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division—is a special directorate of the FBI located in St. Louis. PAVAD was formed by Edward Dennis to combat today’s modern crimes in a modern nation. PAVAD consists of only the best of the FBI’s best, and addresses cases involving everything from kidnapping, money-laundering, extortion, all the way up to RICO violations. The PAVAD directorate has more than a dozen teams ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice to every corner of the United States…
Wanted
Amanda Lance - 2013
Desperate to rid the crime of its only witness, one of the thieves kidnaps Addie. Yet surprisingly, when a renegade thief attempts to silence her for good, Addie is saved by the very man who abducted her. Now, forced on board a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, Addie finds herself surrounded by international smugglers who want nothing more than to throw her overboard. All except the artistic and intriguing Charlie Hays, whose strange protectiveness convinces Addie to trust him, even when common sense tells her otherwise. Yet, despite her doubt, and his unrelenting temper, their relationship develops into something much more. But, Charlie’s scorned colleague has stowed away, and as he seeks revenge against his coworker, Addie and Charlie are forced to put their new love—and lives—at risk.
Bound by Lies
Hanna Peach - 2014
He contacts me only through notes − unpredictable and untraceable. When we meet, he can touch me, but I’m not allowed to touch him. When we make love, it’s only after I have been bound and blindfolded. It’s the only time I truly feel alive. Which is why I play along with it. For now.Caden Thaine is the most sinfully beautiful man I have ever seen. But more than that, his touch sets me on fire. And dear God, do I ache for him. I don’t know where he lives or even what he does. But this doesn’t scare me. My only fear is that one day his messages will stop. I know he’s hiding something. But that’s okay. I am hiding things too. Like my real name and... who I really am. But the deeper I fall for him, the stronger my curiosity becomes. I could never have imagined just how much our lives are bound. And that pulling at his tangled web of secrets would cause my own dark past to come back to try and reclaim me. Will we survive? Will our love?Adult romantic suspense. +18 years.
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.