Book picks similar to
Trial by Heist by Kel Carpenter


fantasy
kel-carpenter
paranormal
magic

A Class Apart


Stephen Henning - 2011
    Many of their friends are killed. When the twins wake up in hospital, their lives have changed forever.The doctors are amazed at the speed with which James and Sam recover from their injuries and, when the twins begin to exhibit extraordinary powers, it is obvious that something incredible has happened.As James and Sam attempt to overcome their fears and embrace their new abilities, a series of murders and disappearances start plaguing the hospital. The twins aren’t the only ones with special abilities and it becomes apparent that someone is coming for them.Will James and Sam be able to survive the nightmare into which they have been plunged? Who, or what, is behind the murders at the hospital? And was that terrorist incident quite so random after all?

Curse of the Vampire


Stephanie Mirro - 2020
    If only her mother had lived to see her succeed. But after Sera unearths the find of a lifetime on her summer dig, her dreams of drinking blood and violent magic leave behind an eerie sense of foreboding.Something bad is looming on the horizon. Something ancient and evil.When a well-known antiquities collector takes an obsessive interest in the Roman amulet, Sera suddenly finds her life in chaos. She’s thrown into a supernatural world that shouldn’t exist, where vampires and witches alike claim ownership of the mysterious amulet. Her amulet.But as her connection to the relic grows, so does Sera’s fear for her life. If she doesn’t figure out the amulet’s secret soon, then she may just follow her mother’s footsteps straight to the grave.If you can’t get enough of Anne Rice, Anne Bishop, Faith Hunter, Annette Marie, or anything paranormal fantasy, then dive on in and get ready for a vampire origin story unlike any other, with twists you’ll never see coming.Note: This is not paranormal romance and only offers a very minor romantic subplot.

Cursed


Grace White - 2018
     Isolation is all nineteen-year-old Terra Materson has known for the last six years. Hiding from the cruel whispers and judgmental stares of society, she suffers the pain of the world around her in silence. The air that moves … the water that flows …the fire that burns … the earth that grounds, Terra feels it all. Despite her grandmother’s insistence it’s a gift, she knows it is nothing more than a curse in disguise.When her grandmother dies, leaving her alone and guideless, she is forced to step out of the shadows and into the light. Atchison College is the perfect place for Terra to learn to live again. Until she meets four guys with strange connections to the elements that torment her.Together they lead her on a journey to the answer she’s always craved: Who is she? But as Terra quickly realizes, the truth is far more than her head, and heart is prepared for... Cursed is the first book in an urban fantasy reverse harem series from Grace White

The Graveyard Shift


Darynda Jones - 2020
    They vanished after stopping a catastrophic event and left him, a mere mortal, in charge of protecting their gift to mankind. But when she disappears as well, he needs the help of another breed of hellion. One who can see past the veil of space and time. One who betrayed him.She will get a truce in the deal, but she will never earn his forgiveness.Marika Dubois’s son—a warrior in the coming war between heaven and hell—was foreseen long before his birth. But to create a child strong enough to endure the trials that lay ahead, she needed a descendant of powerful magics. She found that in Garrett Swopes and tricked him into fathering her son. A ploy he has never forgiven her for. But when he knocks on her door asking for her help, she sees the fierce attraction he tries to deny rise within him.And Marika has to decide if she dares risk her heart a second time to help the only man she’s ever loved.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.

Jack of Thorns


Amelia Faulkner - 2016
    Psychic. Addict. Laurence Riley coasts by on good looks and natural charm, but underneath lies a dark chasm that neither heroin nor lovers can fill. Sobriety is a pipe dream which his stalker ex-boyfriend is pushing him away from. Luckily, Laurence has powers most can only dream of. If only he could control them. Aristocrat. Psychic. Survivor. Quentin d'Arcy is the product of centuries of wealth, privilege, and breeding, and is on the run from all three. A chance encounter with an arresting young florist with a winning smile could make him stop. Laurence is kind, warm, and oddly intriguing but Quentin's wild telekinesis and his fear of sex make dating a dangerous game. When opposites attract, they collide. Desperate to fix his rotting life, Laurence prays for aid and accidentally summons a fertility god who prefers to be called Jack. Jack is willing to help out for a price, and it's one Laurence just can't pay: he must keep Jack fed with regular offerings of sex, and the florist has fallen for the one man in San Diego who doesn't want any. If they're to survive Jack's wrath, Laurence and Quentin must master their blossoming feelings and gifts, but even then the cost of Laurence's mistake could well overwhelm them both. How exactly are mere mortals supposed to defeat a god? Jack of Thorns is the first book in the award winning Inheritance series and contains mature themes and events which may be distressing to some readers.

Saved


A.M. Arthur - 2017
    His older brother Kell mated a cruel alpha who abuses him daily, and Braun is terrified of that seemingly inevitable future. When Braun’s father dies in a car crash, leaving Braun an orphan, he’s sent to a halfway house for omegas. But on his fourth night there, he witnesses a horrifying crime that sends him fleeing to the streets alone—and edging into his first heat. Tarek Bloom is settled in his workaholic, single lifestyle, even if it is somewhat embarrassing to be a twenty-eight year-old unmated alpha. He enjoys his job as a constable, helping people and solving problems, so he isn’t prepared for his life to flip upside-down when he walks into his beta friend Dex’s apartment to help with “a problem.” The problem turns out to be an unmated, nearly in-heat omega orphan who Dex and his husband rescued off the street last night. The even bigger problem is that Tarek feels the mating bond for this terrified omega immediately—and he’s pretty sure the omega feels it, too. But Braun hates alphas as a general rule, and no way is he giving in to the bond. All mating leads to is violence and suffering, so no thank you. But Tarek’s gentle kindness slips under Braun’s emotional shields, and Braun begins to want. To dream. All Braun has ever known is violent alphas, but Tarek is determined to make Braun trust him—and to trust in the idea of their happily ever after. NOTE: This is a non-shifter Omegaverse story with alpha/omega/beta dynamics, heats, knotting, and mpreg. In this world, omegas are second-class citizens with few civil rights and almost no protections under the law. Trigger warnings for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. 67,000 words.

Shadow's Edge


J.T. Geissinger - 2012
    Bound together by ancient bloodlines and a ruthless code of secrecy that punishes traitors with death, the Ikati send their leader Leander on a mission to capture one raised outside the tribe before she can expose their secret. When Leander tracks the unsuspecting outsider to Southern California, the hardened warrior is prepared for a fight—but not for the effect the sensual young beauty has on his heart.Jenna spent her childhood in hiding, on the run from someone—or something—her parents refused to discuss. She trusts no one, not since her father’s mysterious disappearance, not since her mother’s sudden death, and definitely not since she began exhibiting strange, superhuman abilities. When handsome, enigmatic Leander appears, promising answers to the mysteries that shroud her past, she knows she shouldn’t trust him either. But their connection is undeniable, and as powerful as the enemy hell-bent on destroying every one of their kind…

Shadow Scars: Rogue Wolf


Zoe Perdita - 2013
    He wants to solve crimes and keep to himself - unable to trust anyone since his pack betrayed him six years before. But Seth Alwen, his new partner, is different. He excites the wolf's animal instincts - waking up the passion Conner buried long ago. Seth's not only beautiful and alluring; he's also haunted by the death of his former partner. And despite his better judgment, Conner aches to relieve the man of his guilt.Seth's a seer, but ever since his old partner died his powers have been on the fritz. Enter Conner Sharp, Seth's sexy and mysterious new partner. While the dark-haired stranger ignites Seth's desire, he also awakens the seer's power with every touch. Seth sees their future together - a future rich with lust and danger - but is it a future the enigmatic Conner wants?As the two men solve a series of murders, their sizzling attraction overflows into the bedroom. Is the overwhelming passion just a fling or is it forever?Contains graphic M/M sex scenes.

Rebels


Everly Frost - 2019
    My choices are simple. I've been sent to Bloodwing Academy because I'm one of the magically repressed. I should have magical powers, but I don't. Not yet. One day I'll wake up and my powers will be out of my control. I'll be a threat to everyone around me, but that doesn't mean they should lock me up.Especially with someone like Striker Draven. As heir to the Draven fortune, he thinks he can have whatever he wants. He wants to pull me apart, rip out my power, and take my heart with it.That's if I don't rip his out first.My name is Peyton Price. My freedom is going to come at a cost. Body and mind, I have to decide if I'm willing to pay it.This is a full length, 100,000 word dark academy romance, the first in the Assassin's Academy series. An enemies to lovers romance for fans of action and intrigue. Set in the Assassin's Magic world.**Recommended reading age is 17+ due to language and heat level.

Quill Me Now


Jordan Castillo Price - 2019
    At least, it should. Unfortunately, Dixon Penn failed his Spellcraft initiation. Instead of working in his family’s shop, he’s stuck delivering takeout orders in his uncle’s beat-up Buick.Winning a Valentine’s Day contest at the largest greeting card company in the tri-state area would be just the thing to get his life back on track—but something at Precious Greetings just doesn’t add up. And despite numerous warnings to quit pestering them about his contest entry, he just can’t stop himself from coming back again and again.It doesn’t hurt that the head of security is such a hottie. If Dixon had any common sense, he’d be scared of the big, mysterious, tattooed Russian.To be fair, no one ever accused him of being too smart….Quill Me Now originally debuted in the Bad Valentine collection, with Love Magic by Jesi Lea Ryan, Hidden Hearts by Clare London, and Temporary Dad by Dev Bentham.

The Cursed Key


Miranda Brock - 2019
    Her reward? A mysterious key she has no idea is cursed. Soon, Olivia realizes she’s brought home more than just an ancient rarity.Malevolent visions begin to plague her. Unnerved by what they reveal, she casts away the key…unknowingly placing it into the waiting hands of a dark mage bent on destruction. Only when a shifter agent from the Paranormal Intelligence and Tracking Organization arrives searching for the key does Olivia realize what a huge mistake she’s made. Forced to team up with the ill-tempered shifter, her journey to reclaim the cursed key leads down a twisting path of dark histories, dangerous magic, and deadly obstacles. But Olivia’s efforts to take back the ancient relic before the dark mage can destroy the lives of humans, shifters, witches, and fae alike are thwarted by her own dark past…and a price steeper than what she’s willing to pay.

The Council of Dark Root: Armand


April Aasheim - 2015
     This is the origin story of Dark Root's most notable warlock: Armand. A natural magician, Armand uses his abilities to indulge in pleasurable pursuits with little regard for others. But when a beautiful woman, a skeletal ghost rider, and a powerful witch enter his life, Armand must choose between remaining alone or lending his talents to save the world.This novella is a stand alone prequel to The Daughters of Dark Root Series.

In This Iron Ground


Marina Vivancos - 2018
    What should have been the worst moment of his life begins a journey shadowed by loneliness and pain. The night of a full moon, four years and seven foster homes later, Damien flees to the forest, desperate to escape everything. Instead, he finds the Salgado pack, and the earth beneath his feet shifts. Damien has seen the Salgado children in his school: Koko, who is in his class, and Hakan, two years older and infinitely unreachable. Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon. He meets creatures that look like monsters, but Damien knows that monsters have the same face as anybody else. Over the years, Damien and Hakan grow closer. First, just as friends and foster brothers in the Salgado house, and then into something heated and breathless when Damien joins Hakan at college. Despite what he may yearn for in the darkest part of the night, Damien knows, deep down in that bruised and mealy part of his core, that he’s not good enough to be part of the Salgado family, their pack. He’s not worthy of calling Hakan his home. Even though he knows in the end it’ll hurt him, he’ll hold onto this for as long as he can. CONTENT WARNING: This book contains themes of emotional and (nonsexual) physical child abuse and the subsequent emotional, cognitive, and behavioural impacts. This story contains sexually explicit scenes between consenting adults and is meant for an adult audience.

Driving Mr. Dead


Molly Harper - 2011
    Miranda's assignment? Driving Collin Sutherland, the world's most fastidious vampire from Washington to Kentucky, so he can deliver a mysterious black case to Council official Ophelia Lambert. Collin, a paranoid, aristocratic vampire with a debilitating fear of flying, refuses to let the case out of his sight. Miranda needs this time on the road to decide whether to permanently cut her ties with the fiance that had an "emotional affair" with a childhood pal, but Collin’s neatnik tendencies are driving her around the bend. The man acts as if leaving a fast food wrapped on the passenger seat is reason for a full-on CDC de-contamination scrub-down of the car. All she can do is promise to stop intentionally doing the things that make his stiff upper lip twitch with irritation. As more and more mishaps occur on the road trip from hell, Miranda and Collin work together to meet his delivery deadline. Hotel rooms are destroyed. Beloved cars are defiled. And somewhere along the line, client-driver hostilities become snarky flirtation. Will Collin and Miranda make it to the Hollow in one piece? And if they do, will Miranda leave old, safe relationships behind for something new and well, just plain weird?

Charmed Spirits


Carrie Ann Ryan - 2012
    Now she’s returned to Holiday, Montana to find that not much has changed—except everything she hadn’t wanted to leave behind.Matt Cooper isn’t pleased to see Jordan back in town. Not only did she break his heart when she left, he’s been keeping secrets from his family and friends and he knows the moment he’s left alone with his ex, he won’t be able to keep them in anymore.Only one look and he knows he’s lost. Again.But magic has a way of turning on a dime and if they’re not careful, they might lose everyone once more—even before they have a chance to make it theirs.