Be honest, would you live dangerously in real life if you can? If you nodded, our said yes in your heart…. this list is for you. To be fair, if you want to only read dark, spicy books, with exciting twists keep reading too. I have a list of mafia romance, slow burn, YA, kinky spicy scenes, etc. But before you start to read any of these books, make sure to check out and trigger warning. Because this list is dangerous and not for everyone. Have fun!
Promises and Pomegranates (Monsters & Muses Book 1)
”If Elena is even half as divine as the fruit in the Garden of Eden, I absolutely understand Eve’s surrender.”
She’s the sweetest sin he’s ever committed…
Doctor Kal Anderson assumes his heart worked at some point. But now his cold, emotionless existence gives him an edge as a fixer and in-house physician for the Mafia, while his judgment is impartial and complication-free.
Until Elena Ricci, his boss’s twenty-year-old daughter.
After admiring the heartless doctor from afar most of her life, Elena catches him in a moment of weakness, and the pair shares a night of passion as they attempt to work each other from their systems. Only, the night seems to have the opposite effect. Elena is no longer a simple temptation to Kal, but a necessity.
An obsession.
One he won’t let anyone stand in his way of―even if that means crashing her wedding to another man, forcing her hand in marriage, and stealing her away to the corrupt island he resides on.
Neon Gods: A Divinely Dark Romance Retelling of Hades and Persephone (Dark Olympus 1)
“Zeus is notorious for not wanting what he considers tarnished goods.” I take a deep breath. “So…tarnish me.”
Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that’s ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade.
With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed a myth…a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.
Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he’s spent years craving, it’s all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he’ll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close…
Hooked: A Dark, Contemporary Romance: A Never After Novel: 1 (Never After Series)
“You want to watch the world burn?” “Let me guess, you’ll set it on fire?” I ask. He chuckles, the sound vibrating through me and settling into my bones. “No, darling. I’ll hand you the match, and stand at your back, watching you become queen of the ashes.”
James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game.
Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook.
Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet)
“One day, you will realize that you are not trapped in a prison,” he murmurs roughly. “You are in my church where I am your God, and you are my equal. I’m not a jail, little mouse, I am your sanctuary.”
The Manipulator
I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me.
I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh.
But my words don’t affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave.
He’s always there, watching and waiting.
And I can never look away.
Not when I want him to come closer.
The Shadow
I didn’t mean to fall in love.
But now that I have, I can’t stay away.
I’m mesmerized by her smile, by her eyes, and the way she moves.
The way she undresses…
I’ll keep watching and waiting. Until I can make her mine.
And once she is, I’ll never let her go.
Not even when she begs me to.
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Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight
“Diesel’s face splits with a grin. “I think I’m in love. Do you think she would shoot me if I ask?”
Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel—The Vipers. They run this town and everyone in it. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses.Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant. These men, they look at me with longing. Their scarred, blood-stained hands holding me tight. They want everything I am, everything I have to give, and won’t stop until they get just that. They can own my body, but they will never have my heart.The Vipers? I’m going to make them regret the day they took me. This girl? She bites too.
Scream for Us’ by Molly Doyle
“You’re safe,” he promises, and even with his deep, menacing-like tone, he eases my fears. “And ours.”
Good girl Quinn didn’t expect her night to turn to mayhem once she stepped into a legendary Halloween party. After needing a quick rescue from a stranger, she finds herself locked in a captivating game of infatuation with three masked men. Her one demand? The game ends at dawn.
As desire collides with danger, how much can Quinn take before the sun comes up? Will her condition of only one night be enough? Or will her masked men leave their mark?
‘Black Sunshine’ by Karina Halle
“Black Sunshine gives vampire romance Halle’s signature plot twists, anti-heroes, and incredible chemistry. I fell in love with Solon and this dark vampire romance!” – Giana Darling, USA Today Bestselling author
All Lenore Warwick wants for her 21st birthday is to hang out with her friends, finish her second year at Berkeley with flying colors, and maybe catch the eye of a hot musician playing a show at a club that she can now (legally) get into.
Unfortunately, fate has other plans for her.
A week before her birthday, she’s kidnapped by the brooding and dangerous stranger with cold eyes and a lethal touch, who has been stalking her on San Francisco’s fog-shrouded streets. Absolon “Solon” Stavig isn’t your average criminal though. He’s a centuries-old vampire who’s caught between wanting to kill Lenore and wanting to save her.
You see Lenore, too, is a vampire.
She just doesn’t know it yet.
Taken by a pair of vampire slayers when she was just an infant, Lenore was raised never knowing her true nature. All Lenore knows is that she has (normal) parents who love her, that she’s exceptionally smart, and she’s squeamish around blood. But once she turns twenty-one, she’ll fully turn into a vampire, and Solon hopes he’ll be there to guide her, opening her eyes to her deepest hunger…both sexual and otherwise.
But this turning can’t be kept a secret. Soon both slayers and vampires are hunting Lenore, with only Solon and his unpredictable motley crew of vampires to save her.
If they don’t kill her first.
Dark Queen’ by Ker Dukey
“A dark and dangerous Mafia romance with a slow burn story, this book will keep you glued to every page. Ker Dukey is at her best when she writes these dark, brutal dangerous men that I love.”
He was my boss. Rich, ambitious, dominating. I was a waitress, struggling to pay the fees for ballet school. Poor, talented, desperate. He needed to marry to appease his dying father, to inherit the family empire. It wasn’t supposed to be real, or forever. Until he changed the rules. What Mafia king Luca Leto wants, he gets, and he’s crowned his queen. Me. I’m under his rule now. And his reign is cruel and toxic. They call him the dark king and to gain my freedom I’m going to have to become a dark queen.
Birthday Girl’ by Penelope Douglas
“It’s always the same wish. Every candle. Every time. I want a life I never want to take a vacation from. That’s my goal.”
Jordan has nowhere else to go when her boyfriend offers to let her move in with him and his dad. Working a dead-end job, with her relationship sputtering, she jumps at the opportunity, expecting to help out around the house in exchange. What she doesn’t anticipate is for her heart to race every time Pike pulls into the driveway, or to burn when their eyes meet over the breakfast table. He’s kind and listens to her and protects her in a way no man ever has before. Her sister once told her there are no good men, and if you find one, he’s probably unavailable. Only Pike isn’t the unavailable one…she is.
As the days go by, Pike’s finding it anything but simple to have his son’s girlfriend living in his house. He can’t stop thinking about her and holding his breath every time they cross paths. It feels like she’s becoming a part of him. Except he knows they’re not free to give in to this. How could they when he’s her boyfriend’s father?
Deviant King’ by Rina Kent
“But that’s the thing about hearts, isn’t it? They can’t help beating despite the pain.”
I have a simple plan.
Finish Royal Elite School and get into my dream university.
One glance from the school’s king blows my plan up in smoke.
One glance and he suffocates my air.
One glance and he issues his death sentence.
His first words spiral my life into irreparable chaos.
“I will destroy you.”
Everything about Aiden King is black.
Black mind.
Black heart.
Black soul.
I should’ve remained quiet and endured the time I have left.
I didn’t.
I made the irrevocable mistake of provoking the king on his throne.
The devil in his hell.
And now, I’ll pay the price.
Being hated by Aiden King is dangerous.
But being wanted by him is lethal.
Hope you enjoyed this list. Let me know in the comment, which one stuck with you….
If you feel this list is not for you, let me recommend you another article. You might find your current favorite here: https://fannidonath.com/2024/07/16/best-books-to-read-if-you-are-a-fantasy-romance-fan/