Of two things I'm certain: When something sounds too good to be true, it is; and when Alexius Del Rossa makes you a deal, you run far away and never look back. Me? I didn't run. I stayed. I opened that envelope, and I accepted his offer. Why? Because my life was a mess and on a downward spiral to a big, fat nothing. And he just offered me everything in exchange for six months of my life. It was supposed to be a simple arrangement, but I learned the hard way that nothing is simple when it comes to Alexius.

He's a killer. A monster. A thief. He stole me; ripped me from a life I thought was mine, and forced me into his. There was no negotiating. No choice to be made. No way out. He says once I give him what he wants, he'll let me go. But I don't believe him. Taunting me, humiliating me, hunting me...it thrills him. He's addicted to my tears, and amused by my suffering. I know he won't stop until he breaks me. But I won't go down without a fight.

I was never a beloved daughter. Only a prized possession to be kept in a gilded cage until my father was ready to trade. It was my duty, carved in stone and written in my blood that one day my virtue would be exchanged for an alliance. And now, that day has come. Gian Silvestro, heir to the Silvestro empire, will accept me as his wife. He will seal my fate with a kiss that holds a thousand promises. But to him, our vows only mean one thing: I am bound to him...and shackled to his hate.

I’m not supposed to fall in love with my husband. It’s not part of my plan. Forgive me. Those were the first words Santos Augustine spoke to me before we sealed an unbreakable oath. A contract signed in blood binding me to him as payment for my father’s sins.

Drowning in the murky waters of the mafia, I’m determined to find a way out. I have my sights set on becoming a film producer and won’t let anything or anyone stand in my way. Then my mother marries a retired Godfather, and I get the head of the Greek mafia as a stepbrother. Nikolas Stathoulis is set on ruining my well-laid plans. His ruthless reputation has me running for the safety of my apartment. But he’s always there. On campus. In my apartment. Expecting me to play by his rules.

One wardrobe malfunction. Two people who don’t belong together. Three awful words: “Be my wife."

Working as Ruslan Oryolov’s personal assistant is the job from hell. After a long day spent tending to the billionaire’s every whim, I need some stress relief. So when I get home that night, that’s exactly what I do. Problem is, my thoughts are still stuck on the bosshole, who’s ruining my life. That’s fine—because of all Ruslan’s many sins, being gorgeous might be the most dangerous.

Konstantin wasn’t the type to be ignored. He commanded his criminal empire with an iron fist but he had secrets of his own. But I was Tatiana Nikolaev. I’d never bend to a man’s will or be used as a pawn. Not again. The moment I tempted the fates and played with fire, life spiraled out of control. My only way of survival was to trust again. But could I?

Eleven years ago, I met him. A year later, I was betrothed to him. Now he’s come to claim me, slaughtering anyone standing in his way. My husband-to-be is a monster from a family as ruthless and powerful as mine, a man who deals in violence and destruction...a man terrifyingly like my father. For more than a decade, he’s stalked me, shadowing my life. I fear him. I hate him. Worst of all, I want him. My name is Alina Molotova, and Alexei Leonov is a fate I can’t escape.

Belles and Mobsters were never meant to be together. And I still fell in love with him, only to be torn apart. Lesson learned.

Charming. Devastatingly handsome. Ridiculously rich. Kristoff Baldwin came without warning. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and before I could even realize the impact he was making, I was too far gone, despite knowing the consequences of falling. A future together was the impossible dream. My past haunted me and even he had ghosts of his own. Then everything changed when his past came after me and my daughters.

An ancient curse. Two families bound. A forbidden love. When the Wildbloods presented their daughters to me on the night of the Tithing, they knew what was to come for the chosen girl. The crescent moon that marked Willow made her mine. I had no choice but to take her. Destiny determined our fates long before we were born, laying our roles out for us. A Sacrifice would be made. A Tithe paid. Only then would our families be free, at least until the next payment came due. I would have done my duty as Penitent. I tried.

Sold to the mob. Four words I never thought I'd utter. Worse, it was my father who did the unthinkable. When the creditors come to collect, I'm handed over to the most ruthless man in New York City—Luca Valentino. The head of the notorious Kings is as gorgeous as he is lethal. Dark, possessive, and violent. Nothing like the boy I grew up with, my dead brother's best friend.

To be fair, I didn’t know he was my boss when I slept with him. I thought he was just the kind stranger offering me a place to stay. But one night in Misha Orlov’s hotel room got me way more than I bargained for.

I never wanted a wife. No one is safe with me. No one is good enough for my daughter. But if I want to rule over the wealthiest crime family in New York City, I only have two weeks to find one. When Elsie broke into my home, I saw an opportunity, so I forced her into a marriage she didn't want. No one crosses me, not even someone as beautiful as Elsie. She may fight me with that smart mouth, but she will obey me–or return to the hell she came from. I told her she was mine for a year. Then she'd be free.

They'll tell you I seduced them. Used my looks and body to lure them into my playground. They'll tell you I'm a sinner. A demon who held them captive with temptation and lust. They'll tell you I'm evil. A monster obsessed with the both of them. They'll tell you they made a deal with the devil. What they won't tell you...is how much they liked it.

In a world where women are seen as a commodity to barter, Alaska promised a sanctuary. But to stay, I have to enter the wife lottery. Six men, one wife. And I have no say in who those men will be. It's more than a game of chance - it's my life falling into the hands of strangers. But the men who win my hand are ruggedly handsome and promise to protect me until death do us part.

Being in lust with my dead brother's wife pretty much guarantees that one day I'll be the devil's bitch. But Eden Gordon works with me, so it's getting harder and harder to stay away. I promised my family - and him - I would, though. My days as an MMA champion are behind me. But whenever I see her, with those wicked curves and soft mouth created for dirty deeds, it's a knock-down fight to just maintain my distance. "Hard Knox" becomes more than just the name of my tattoo shop. However, surrendering to the forbidden might be worth losing everything...

There's an animal in me that I keep hidden. Beth calls to him. She tempts the monster and lures him to the surface. I'm obsessed with her. I can't stay away, even when doing so puts my entire club in danger. Her blood is on my hands. I formed her to fit only me. I was her first and if I have to kill everyone in our way. So be it. I will be her last. She is mine.

Alexander Roman wants nothing to do with the controlling rulers of his vampire breed or the family he escaped from a hundred years ago. But as a new threat to the pureblood vampires emerges, Alexander's ties to the past are forced upon him again, and without warning, he finds himself - disoriented, terrified, and near death - at the door of a stranger. Dr. Sara Donahue is dedicated to removing the traumatic memories of her patients - like those of the stranger at her front door.

Dominic Valetti is only interested in two things: getting paid and getting laid. He's a bookie for the Valetti crime family, and he knows his shit. Dom's busy doing business, no time to dabble in social niceties. The women that chase after him wanting more than a dirty, hard f--k are only gonna get their hearts broken. That is, until Becca stumbles into his office to pay off her ex's debt. A hot brunette who's just as guarded as he is and has a body made for sin...and for him.

I trust no one. I thrive with control and I've learned to be ruthless and coldhearted. A love life? I'm not interested. But I still have desires. That's where Dahlia came in; my treasure. She had never been a submissive before and I was eager to train her. When I saw her on stage at the auction, dressed in gold, I knew I had to have her. She's mine for an entire month. I own her. But one lie changed everything.

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond - beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain, and beyond her stiflingly restrictive existence as a councilman's daughter. But only ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms decades earlier. The sectors surrounding Eden house the corrupt, the criminal-men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter.

They call me Girth for a reason. I’m a damn giant. The muscle in the MC. It’s why I get sent out on loan when some of our brothers down South need some help. And by help, I mean crush some guys' skulls. That’s what the Marked Skulls are good at. Name fits, right? But when I get there, I’m tasked with protecting the President’s daughter, Lila. She’s petite and gorgeous, and all I can do is look. The Pres made it clear; I can’t touch. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right? Until he finds out.

Nothing can end before it begins. My beginning started with the death of my best friend. And the kid he left behind...I had no idea what to do. But I made a promise. Jenkins was my responsibility. But he wasn't the only one I had. Raising a kid while being the president of the Ruthless Kings MC? The club had as much influence over him as I did.

To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay.

The Mackay cousins - Natches, Rowdy, and Dawg - would do anything for family, so when former DHS agent Timothy Cranston drops off four sisters that Dawg never knew he had, there is no question: The cousins will protect and care for the girls, and their mother, because they’re family.... Five years later, Eve Mackay, the eldest sister, has graduated from college and settled in to life as a Mackay in Pulaski County, Kentucky. She works hard as a cocktail waitress and helps out at the bed-and-breakfast that Dawg bought for her mother.

Sometimes you don't mean to become another person. Sometimes the choice is made for you, and pretending is the only thing that keeps you going. When Alexis Romera is taken and her kidnappers find her fake ID in her purse, she must become Sophia in order to keep her family safe. Revealing her real identity to the man she's sold to would be easy enough, but can she trust him? Hell-bent on avenging the murder of his uncle, Rebel doesn't seem all that interested in playing things safe.

Engineering genius, billionaire icon, and consultant to kings, the gorgeous Cassian Court is a legend before he even steps foot on the remote island of Arcadia. But when Mishella Santelle locks eyes with him, she doesn’t see that power - she sees the man behind it and the bruised soul hers has been destined for. But destiny isn’t a luxury for a woman of the Arcadian court.

Las Vegas Mafia boss Nico Toscani is used to getting what he wants, whether it is having the City of Sin under his rule or a beautiful woman in his bed. But when he meets his match in the gorgeous, headstrong Mia Cordano, the daughter of a rival crime lord, all bets are off.... Sexy computer hacker Mia struggles to break free of her ruthless father's Mafia ties...but she can't resist the powerful and seductive Nico, who will stop at nothing to possess her. With their families locked in a brutal war for control of the city, Mia and Nico enter into a forbidden game.

Of two things I'm certain: When something sounds too good to be true, it is; and when Alexius Del Rossa makes you a deal, you run far away and never look back. Me? I didn't run. I stayed. I opened that envelope, and I accepted his offer. Why? Because my life was a mess and on a downward spiral to a big, fat nothing. And he just offered me everything in exchange for six months of my life. It was supposed to be a simple arrangement, but I learned the hard way that nothing is simple when it comes to Alexius.

He's a killer. A monster. A thief. He stole me; ripped me from a life I thought was mine, and forced me into his. There was no negotiating. No choice to be made. No way out. He says once I give him what he wants, he'll let me go. But I don't believe him. Taunting me, humiliating me, hunting me...it thrills him. He's addicted to my tears, and amused by my suffering. I know he won't stop until he breaks me. But I won't go down without a fight.

No one knows the real me. The ruined girl. The scarred woman. Not even Sebastian knows how many broken pieces I have to keep together. But he does. The stranger who doesn't pry or care about my past. The masked man who helps me escape my troubled mind by taking me down a forbidden path. A dark path. Just when I think my life can't get any more complicated, I meet Gabriel King. My future father-in-law. That's when a truly twisted journey begins, and the consequences are darker than I ever imagined.

I curate art for a living. This big show was supposed to pay my bills for the next year. Oh, and did I mention the star artist is my unfaithful ex? So I try to put on a brave face—after all, the clientele are worth billions. But my ex is doing everything in his power to rub it in. Holding his new girl a little too tight. Hanging around me a little too close. What I did next was a teensy bit impulsive. I grabbed the closest revenge hookup I could find... who just happened to be the billionaire dropping five mil at the auction.

My whole life was mapped out, designed for me, before I was even a twinkle in my old man’s eye. I am the heir to the Valentino throne. A kingdom built with blood and dirty money. But one I’ll rule all the same. My father was the youngest Don to ever be crowned king. However, with any luck, the controlling bastard will drop soon, allowing me to beat his record by a few years.

Steal back a lost painting and risk the wrath of a powerful mafia boss? Yup, I did that. In the seductive and shadowy underworld of Venice, one man rules with an iron fist. Ruthless mafia boss. King of Venice. Antonio Moretti. I stole his priceless masterpiece, intent on returning it to the museum it was stolen from. And Antonio caught me.

Roman Melnikov is a deadly man in an expensive suit. I know what lies beneath the façade—the scars and tattoos that hint at the man he really is. He came here to find his sister, and his search led him to my dad and his friends. We both want to take them down, and the only way to do that is together. I had no idea how dangerous it would be, or that by the end of it, we'd all be covered in blood. Loving Roman is dangerous, but I can't let him go. His path is leading him straight to hell, and it looks like I'm coming along for the ride.

Tearing off the gilded veneer of elite privilege exposes the sordid scandals, dark secrets, and taboo desires of New York's jaded high society in this dark romance series from best friends and USAT bestselling authors Zoe Blake and Alta Hensley, writing under their new pen name, Blake Hensley.

I was stolen away and held prisoner in Italy, a bride for a mafia king's only heir. Except I'm no innocent, and it's the king himself—the man called il Diavolo—who appeals to me in sinful ways I never dreamed. Fausto's wickedness draws me in, his power like a drug. And when the devil decides he wants me, I'm helpless to resist him—even if it means giving myself to him, body and soul. He may think he can control me, but this king is about to find out who's really the boss.