Books like 'The Darkness of Perfection'
Readers who enjoyed The Darkness of Perfection by Michael Schneider also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary dark romance suspense cruel hero horror
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The Fallen: Genesis by Tillie Cole
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsTHE FALLEN: GENESIS (A Deadly Virtues Prequel) IN THE BEGINNING... They told them they were evil. They told them they were possessed by demons. They told them that darkness ran in their veins. Holy Innocents Home for Children is a haven for orphaned boys who have nothing and no one. The priests watch over them, educate them, raise them in the family of the church...Categorized as:
suspense horror new adult contemporary tortured hero bad boys angst disabilities and marks -
Can't Go Back by Debra Webb
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe past and the present collide in the final installment of USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb’s Devlin & Falco series, threatening everything these two detectives care about.Birmingham detectives Kerri Devlin and Luke Falco arrive at the scene of a double homicide to discover that nothing makes sense... -
Tool by K.L. Savage
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsBeing the VP of the Ruthless Kings has made me jaded and scarred, a savage bloodthirsty beast.Grit, pain, blood, the three constants in my life.Love?I wouldn't burden anyone with loving me. I'm a hard man to love.Until she walks through the garage doors, looking perfect in her little blue dress and high heels.She's neat and clean and too damn good for me, but I'm determined to get her filthy... -
Bitter Falls by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsShe’s investigating a cold case no one else could—by going places no one else would dare.In spite of a harrowing past still haunting her, Gwen Proctor is trying to move forward. Until a new assignment gives her purpose: the cold-case disappearance of a young man in Tennessee. Three years missing, no clues. Just Ruth Landry, a tortured mother in limbo... -
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Killman Creek by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 59 ratingsEvery time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away.Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband, serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices. But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since she received a chilling text…You’re not safe anywhere now... -
Beneath Dark Waters by Karen Rose
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsDeadly secrets lie beneath the murky waters of the Louisiana bayou in this pulse-pounding new romantic suspense novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose. There's no safe place for a child to hide when danger comes from every direction. Public prosecutor J.P... -
Rebellious Rook by Brooklyn Cross
The rook’s heart is as cold as stone, but when the rock crumbles, the spoils are twice as sweet. Death follows me around like a dark cloud just waiting to strike. First, it stole my mother, then my aunt, and now my father is missing. Even though I’m told to walk away, and even though finding him shouldn’t be my top priority, the memory of him begging me to talk to him haunts my dreams... -
Sinner by Sheridan Anne
Death surrounds me.Every step I take, there’s someone waiting for me in the shadows.There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and now, I’m out here on my own, my hands stained with the blood of those I’ve killed to survive.Zade DeVil was my executioner, my most feared enemy, but he was also my protector. I wasn’t willing to cross that line with him, despite how much I may have wanted to...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero new adult from hate to love forced proximity contemporary dark length-medium -
Extreme Risk by Jane Blythe
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsCan she accept an offer of help from a patient she’s attracted to?Dr. Piper Hamilton is used to keeping on the fringes. She knows what it's like to be responsible for the death of someone you love and she'd do anything to protect herself from feeling that pain again... -
Destructive King by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA mafia romance about love and loss by Rachel Van Dyken, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series.…When you awaken in the morning's hushI am the swift uplifting rushOf quiet birds in circled flight.I am the soft stars that shine at night.Do not stand at my grave and cry;I am not there. I did not die. — Mary Elizabeth Fyre "I'm sorry for your loss... -
Summer and Smoke by Coralee June
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsSummer Bright is just a name on a tombstone. A whispered mystery on the long-forgotten Woodbury Lane. Her ghost teases me with fear and perfection. She knows I’m not strong enough to do what I should’ve done years ago. The Bullets are united once more, bonded by their demand for blood. There’s a vulnerability in their friendship, though. Gavriel craves control. Blaise fears losing me... -
Chasing The Dragon by T.K. Leigh
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsHe’s trying to protect his heart… She’s a shell of the girl she once was… Can he chase away the demons threatening to destroy her? Mackenzie Delano craves control. After tragedy strikes during her freshman year of college, she compensates for the helplessness she felt by micro-managing every aspect of her life, from her business life to her social life…to her love life... -
Unholy Bonds by Maya Raine
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThree serial killers connected by an unholy thread, tangled in a twisted chase for revenge and blood. In this game of hunters, who will become the ultimate prey?***He is every sin she wants to commit. Yara West spends her day as a Medical Examiner. At nights, she dons the mask of a twisted killer to satiate the demons in her head... -
Love and Lead by Coralee June
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne. We’re alive, for now. Two. Gavriel’s totally lost control. Three. Santobello is hunting us. Four. Someone will die... -
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Damaged by Sheridan Anne
Play with fire; you’ll get burned.Play with me; I’ll get even.Dynasty came roaring into my life, bringing four of the most incredibly delicious men I’ve ever laid my eyes on, but along with it came a life that I was never expecting.This world is filled with corruption. There are secrets and lies around every corner...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero reverse harem from hate to love dark poly length-medium contemporary -
Never Look Back by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsExpect the unexpected in this gritty, tense, and page-turning mystery from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute... -
Luca by Eden Summers
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLuca dragged me from hell and delivered me to salvation.At least that's what I thought.I hoped this would be a new life. A fresh start.But the pain followed.I'm certain the monsters did, too.I'm told it's paranoia. Trauma. PTSD.Nobody believes my truth.But they'll soon learn.We all will.Because as much as I want to forget the mantra from my nightmares, it hasn't stopped being true... -
Big by L. Wilder
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHow much would you risk to save the one you love? From NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author L. Wilder comes book six in the Satan's Fury Series, a standalone MC romance. Big: I don't use a knife or a gun to get the guy I'm after. I find that my weapon of choice has a much longer, more crippling effect. With just a few keystrokes, I can have him scrambling for his life... -
Condemned Soul by Emma Creed
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratings**The Final Instalment Of The Dirty Soul MC Colorado Series**'Bound not by blood but loyalty.We live, we ride, and we dieby our own laws'Being President isn’t easy.I’ve loved.I’ve lost.But through it all I’ve always had my club.We’ve gone through hell and come out fighting.Relied on each other and never gave up hope.Now, our biggest threat of all is closing in... -
Counterfeit Love by Jessica Gadziala
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFinch can spot a fake a mile away.Raised in the Bayou with crime in his veins, he managed to turn his talent into a career. Making money. Racking up a few enemies along the way.On the run from one of those, he starts overin a new town. Where he meets her. Full of lists and guards and attitude.Someone beautiful enough to make even blackmail seem sexy.Chris has lived through hell... -
A Dark Mind by T.R. Ragan
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsA serial killer is terrorizing Sacramento, preying on happily married couples and unleashing unspeakable cruelties upon his victims. The ordeal rekindles disturbing memories for private investigator Lizzy Gardner, who barely escaped a serial killer clutches only years ago... -
30 Days of Shame by Ginger Talbot
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe monster draws pleasure from my pain. Now, it's time to fight back.SERGEI30 days of pain have pushed Willow to her limits.My pretty prisoner is no longer meek. She's trying to resist.But my precious prize doesn't know what I know.Nobody has ever won a war against me.Nobody has ever bested me.And she's not going to be the first.Good luck, little Willow.. -
Pacific Prep: A Dark Academy Reverse Harem by R.A. Smyth, Michelle Lancaster
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 10 ratings⭑⭒⭑ A TOP 100 AMAZON BESTSELLING SERIES ⭑⭒⭑My name is Hadley Parker, and today I take control of my life.Today I start school at Pacific Prep.This is my new lease on life, and I won’t be wasting it.I need this, now, more than ever.I need the education, the promise of a future that I wouldn’t get anywhere else.These rich kids don’t like me though... -
Savior by Eden Summers
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsI was stolen. Hidden. Trapped in a hell beyond salvation. Until him. Luca. The man who changed everything with his soothing words and vows of protection. I shouldn't trust him. What he promises is something I gave up on long ago. And yet here I am, falling under the spell of a reality I crave. I want him to save me. I need it... -
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The Last Party by A.R. Torre
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection... -
Manik by Amo Jones
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsI’m Beatrice Kennedy, but everyone calls me Beat. I live a low-key life, fresh out of college and drifting from town to town until I find my home. I love music, and how it stirs even the deepest and untouched parts of your soul. Depending on what you choose to listen to, would depend on what it touches. It’s the drug we all damper in, only different strains. My strain is Jazz... -
Whitlock by Alaska Angelini, A. A. Dark
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsThe Complete 24690 and Welcome to Whitlock 24690 White Out (24690 series, book 2) 27001 (Welcome to Whitlock, 24690 series 2.1) 27009 (Welcome to Whitlock, 24690 series 2.2) 27011 (Welcome to Whitlock, 24690 series 2... -
Because of Me by Katie Pearson
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsShe aspires to be the girl he deserves.Becca Mills is desperate to give her son a better life. To do that, she heads to a new town where nobody knows her, except her mother and her mother’s dealer. When Becca meets Dereck, a tatted mechanic who enjoys making her blush and earning her smile, things get complicated...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero dark contemporary forced proximity friends to lovers length-epic -
Deceitful Truths by A.R. Breck
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKidnapped. Broken. Hopeless.Confined into a dark, abandoned basement with nothing but the clothes on my back.There's no escaping obsession, especially one honed by a serial killer who's bound and determined to call me his. Forever.Every day grows more dire with death circulating my existence.I believe all hope is lost until I'm saved by my own monster, the man who enslaves my soul... -
Glass Heart Savage by Lindsey Iler
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 17 ratings𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘖𝘊. 𝘋𝘌𝘊𝘌𝘐𝘛. 𝘗𝘙𝘐𝘝𝘐𝘓𝘌𝘎𝘌.The elite come to play on the campus of Glass Heart Academy.𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐫My sister was their everything. I’m their nothing.They waited three hundred and sixty-five days after her disappearance to acknowledge I’m alive.Their wicked games should scare me.Except they don’t know I’m not much different than her...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero new adult mystery dark from hate to love contemporary high-school -
Bully Me: Class of 2020 by Shantel Tessier, Siobhan Davis
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsLoving your tormentor isn’t easy, especially when they collect broken hearts and parade them around like trophies. They’re the bad boys, the alpha a**holes, and the thorns in our sides. They push us past our limits, turn us on, and break us. They’re our bullies. They’re the class of 2020...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero new adult contemporary anthologies from hate to love dark alpha male -
The Lucky One by Jessica Payne
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsTen years ago, I survived a serial killer. They called me the lucky one, but they don’t know the truth I’ve been hiding ever since…Then: We danced together that night, our dresses glittering in the swirling lights. We couldn’t have known that for one of us, it would be our last night alive... -
Destructive Truths by Shauna Mairéad
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsLies, Saoirse. It was all lies.Those were the last words I heard before my attacker held me under.Left shattered by deceit, with a past I couldn’t outrun, Killybegs destroyed the girl I used to be.But here’s the thing, this queen was born to rise, and those who hurt me will pay for the sins they committed...Categorized as:
cruel hero suspense mafia alpha male new adult contemporary from hate to love love triangle -
Pleasure & Prey: vol. 1 by A.J. Merlin
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsDepravedThere’s nothing out there.That’s what I keep telling myself while I walk back from a campfire to my isolated cabin.BrutalNothing bad happens at summer camp.That’s what my fellow camp counselors have convinced me of when the nights around the lake get a little eerie.ViciousOne, two, he’s coming for you... -
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Black Widow by Sheridan Anne
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWho said prison was going to stop me from getting what I wanted?I thought breaking out of there was going to be the hardest thing I ever did. I should have known. Being the leader of The Black Widows is never that easy. Someone should have warned me that the woman I was about to kidnap was going to bring me to my knees... -
Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsEdwin Allen Mercer I want them all to read my words. And they do. Every last blood-stained sentence, they've read and praised me for. They love the gore and violence, the realness. And I get a sense of power with it all because I know a secret: the victims in my books—they’re real and have all died on my table. And maybe that’s why the last book had such awful reviews... -
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsWhen young, pretty Catherine Bailey meets Lee Brightman, she can't believe her luck. Gorgeous, charismatic, and a bit mysterious, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. But what begins as flattering attention and spontaneous, passionate sex transforms into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon discovers that Lee's dazzling blue eyes and blond good looks hide a dark, violent nature... -
Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsWhen reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat... and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found... -
Royal Bully by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsSomething dark this way comes. He's gorgeous, mean, and mine. He catches me dreaming about him, and then just like my dream, he decides to make me his. I should have said no when he asked me to swear fealty to him. The knife clued me in first. The blood second... -
Deadly Games by Faith Summers, Khardine Gray
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWe were supposed to be two passing ships on an unforgettable night…I accepted a foolish dare that changed everything-pretend you’re someone you aren’t until sunrise.I chose to be normal and free.Not bound by the duties my father forced on me.The sinfully gorgeous god-like man staring at me in the club with the I’m-going-to-devour-you smile was who I picked to be normal and free with...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero dark contemporary mafia dual-pov virgin heroine from hate to love -
The Wrong Drive: A Suspenseful Holiday Romance by Annie Wild
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsWelcome to a holiday from hell. Emersyn All I want is a secluded getaway.Instead, I get a wrong turn, a fortnight blizzard, and...A malevolent, enticing, and unstable stranger. Merry Christmas to me.Here's to unwrapping his insanity...And trying not to lose mine.TurnerI come here when I lose my grip.I come here so I can wreak havoc alone.Instead, I get an unplanned and unwanted gift... -
Chill by AJ Merlin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne month. That’s all it takes for everything to unravel.For weeks, I try returning to normal, to forget the men who turned me into a killer against my will. At first, I convince myself I could be happy—at least I think I should be.But I’m not. I can’t be.When I find them, I realize what they’re doing. If I want them—if I want this—I have to accept what they truly are.Monsters... -
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Serial, Volume Three by Lily White, Jaden Wilkes
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWith Donovan closing in, his feelings growing for Ronnie, and the sudden realization where their paths crossed before, Jude's composure might be cracking... -
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A Destiny of Carnage by Mallory Fox
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeath isn’t the end. Surrender is overrated.Killing for love is the only cure…I fear nothing, no one.Not even the boys who loved me that I lost. Dead. Buried. Gone. One by one. I am alone.I need to be stronger. I have to evolve If I’m to survive. If I’m going to save us all.Jude is my rock. Lorcan is my faith. Dante is my blade. Dino was the light to my darkness... -
Melodic Madness by Natalie Bennett
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsThere’s a method in his madness. Alaric is as brilliant as he is beautiful, and twice as deadly. He’s been watching me. Studying me. He’d planned to keep me long before I arrived on his doorstep. His chaotic world is now the prison I’m forced to call home. A place where nightmares and reality are indistinguishable... -
Deviant Deception by Selena .
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsI’d do anything for her.When she was sixteen, I stole her innocence.When she was seventeen, I convinced my cousin to break up with her so I could dry her tears and promise I’d never leave her.When she was eighteen, a terrible accident scarred my face. I couldn’t sentence her to a life with a hideous monster, so when she left town to chase her dreams, I watched her go...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero dark new adult alpha male contemporary friends to lovers forced proximity -
Satan's Spawn by Jenna Styx, Danda K.
It's scary how much life can change in an instant.One minute I'm preparing for a new school year in my San Diego town,and the next I'm being ripped from my childhood home.Making the cut from my father's death two years ago that much deeper...Categorized as:
suspense cruel hero contemporary dark mental illness virgin hero dual-pov length-epic -
Evil Deeds by Selena .
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsYou can run, pretty girl. You can hide in another state, under another name.But not forever. Not from me.Everyone knows her as Gloria Walton, the reigning queen of Willow Heights Prep Academy. But I knew the real girl, before she gave up everything for the throne.Her beauty tempted me. Her wildness seduced me.Her leaving broke me.Now it’s time to repay the favor... -
Opaque Melodies by Natalie Bennett
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlaric Schuyler.Enigmatic, cocky, and my new brother-in-law.He had cerulean blue eyes and a smile so beautifully devious it could entice the devil to do his bidding.We were never supposed to happen.One night changed everything, tying him and me together in a sordid twist of fate, trapping me in his dark, chaotic world.The lucid dreams and sick fantasies followed...
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