Books like 'Refrain'
Readers who enjoyed Refrain by Lana Sky also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary dark romance young adult mafia suspense bad boys multicultural new adult virgin hero
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Empire by Rachel Van Dyken
I have lost everything. My purpose. My love. My soul. Death knocks on my door, I want to answer, but every time I reach for the handle--the promise I made her, brings me back. So I breathe. I live. I hate. And I allow the anger to boil beneath the surface of a perfectly indifferent facade. I am broken, I dont want to be fixed... -
Elude by Rachel Van Dyken
This book is the sixth book in the internationally bestselling Eagle Elite Series. It's an interconnected stand alone novel with no cliffhanger. Twenty-Four hours before we were to be married--I offered to shoot her. Ten hours before our wedding--I made a mockery of her dying wish. Five hours before we were going to say our vows--I promised I'd never love her... -
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Inferno by Catherine Doyle
Romeo and Juliet meets The Godfather in the second installment of Catherine Doyle's Blood for Blood series. Sophie's life has been turned upside-down, and she's determined to set things right. But Nic, the Falcone brother who represents everything she's trying to forget, won't give up on their love - and it's Luca's knife she clutches for comfort... -
Ember by Rachel Van Dyken
Everybody Loves A Bit of Darkness. .Until It Consumes Them. .. I am a Killer. A Rapist. A Monster. I know only pain and survival. That is until the Cappo's sister walked into my life. And changed everything...Categorized as:
suspense bad boys mafia new adult young adult pregnancy friends to lovers alpha male -
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Made by J.M. Darhower
Corrado Moretti. The world knows the notorious Kevlar Killer, but few have ever seen what lies beneath his armor. The abused child. The neglected teenager. The broken man. He always did whatever he had to do in order to survive. It's kill or be killed. Throughout his life, he has been there in the shadows, a witness to everything from beginning to end...Categorized as:
suspense virgin hero bad boys mafia new adult contemporary friends to lovers forbidden love -
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 207 ratingsCheck out the #1 New York Times bestseller Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, called “a surefire hit” by Entertainment Weekly. "The secrets burrowed in this seemingly placid small town. .. are so suburban noir they would make David Lynch clap with glee. . -
Elicit by Rachel Van Dyken
Cursed, numb, rejected, scorned, wicked, sinister, dark, twisted. .. my name is Tex Campisi and this is my legacy. I killed my father in cold blood and lost my soul right along with him. I crave war more than peace, and I'm about to take my place in history as the youngest Capo dei Capi in the Cosa Nostra. .. that is until someone stops me, saves me from myself... -
Real Girl by Sheridan Anne
Lucien Valentine must die. It’s the thought that’s kept me going for four long years. I’ve imagined it, dreamed about it, relished in it. I want it so bad, but the question is, do I have what it takes to make it happen? Taking a life isn’t for the faint-hearted. Just ask Lucien, he knows. He’s taken me back to where it all started and I know exactly how it’s going to go... -
The Complete Twisted Series Set by Ana Huang
Twisted Love. Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can't escape. Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart. But when he's forced to look after his best friend's sister, he starts to feel something in his chest. A crack. A melt. Twisted Games...Categorized as:
suspense new adult multicultural young adult contemporary dark from hate to love forbidden love -
Always Crew by Tijan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFor the longest time, I was Bren Monroe. I lived in Roussou, California. I had no parents, no brother, but I had a crew. Then things started to change. I never planned for any of it. I didn’t think I’d fall in love. I didn’t think I’d have a relationship with my brother again. I didn’t think that he’d come back. Now I’m in Cain. My crew is in college... -
Emancipation Proclamation by Kharizzmatik
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsThe tale of a Principe Della Mafia and his Bella Ragazza, two souls. connected in a world full of chaos. Quella destinata per te, nessuno la. prenderà. True Love Waits. Sempre. Republished as Sempre under the name J. M. Darhower. -
The Sainthood by Siobhan Davis
A complete dark romance trilogy from USA Today bestselling author Siobhan Davis. Includes Revere, a bonus novella set twelve years after the end of Reign. Everything changed the night my dad died. The night I met Saint, Galen, Caz, and Theo. Those manipulative a-holes set out to ruin me after our hot night together, but they didn’t realize you can’t destroy something that’s already broken... -
Heart of Marley by T.K. Leigh
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTo the moon and back…. From the stars to the ocean…. That was Marley and Cameron Bowen’s secret code. Twins born just five minutes apart, they have the perfect life… Until tragedy strikes just weeks after their eighth birthday and their father is killed by a drunk driver... -
Knockout Queen by E.M. Moore
I came to the Heights with a purpose. Join the Heights Crew. Move up the ranks. Make it implode from the inside out. But more than anything, make them suffer as much as I’ve suffered over the years because of them. I planned everything…or so I’d thought. I had a contingency plan for my contingency plan, but that was before I met them... -
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Reckless Dynasty by Tracy Lorraine
USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you the next installment of her dark mafia, high school bully romance story set in the Knight's Ridge Empire world. My life has been full of half-truths tangled in lies—I’d been to hell and back more times than I could count... -
Out of the Dark by Danah Logan
Lilly. My name is the only truth they didn’t take from me. Betrayed by my family, my desperate need for answers put me back on his radar. The one person who was never supposed to find me. Again. I was unprepared for the world I got thrust into—the connection we shared. The deeper I dug, the more unstable my future became. With Rhys as my anchor, I will fight to bring my past out of the dark. Rhys... -
Enforce by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThere’s two sides to every story…. And ours? Isn’t pretty… Then again,. what’s pretty about the mafia? Trace Rooks, that’s what. But she only wants one of us, and I’ll kill him before I let him have her. The only problem ? We’re cousins . And she may just be our long lost enemy. Whoever said college was hard, clearly didn’t attend Eagle Elite University... -
FALL by Cora Brent
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsFrom NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author Cora Brent comes a new epic crossover novel. Jenny. .. I was a lost girl, a child bride. Now, to most people I appear to be just an average college student. They would never guess my strange history. But secretly I'm still held down by my past. I cannot bring myself to trust men... -
Tame by Coralee June, Raven Kennedy
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI’ve got a secret. I’ve got bruises no one can see and the devil’s blood running through my veins. If I want to end my father’s reign, I’ve got to help Rocco Nomar with his daughter. She’s broken, jaded. A sad, pretty little thing with a big heart and eyes that make me feel like I’m drowning. She’s not swayed by the social politics of Savannah, but she has my heart doing double takes... -
Ghostgirl by J.B. Salsbury
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe was brainwashed into believing she could save mankind. Now, she’s the one who needs saving. Abandoned with his two younger brothers, Milo Vega was placed in foster care. Now a twenty-year-old high-school senior covered in gang tattoos and working as the school’s janitor, he is living a life vastly different from the one he was destined for... -
Before I Break by Portia Moore
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsOut of the past six years of my life, I only remember about half of it. After a dozen doctors and thousands in medical bills, I was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder--one that causes me to lose track of time. Sometimes it’s hours, days or even weeks with no recollection of anything. The good thing is it's been almost two years since I had my last ‘black out’...Categorized as:
suspense new adult young adult contemporary mystery love triangle dark other-man-woman -
Shame by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsEverything done in darkness, will eventually be brought into the light. I ran, but all it did was keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you can't change your soul. A fresh start at college was just what I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that seemed confident, but it was a lie. When guys kissed me--I felt only pain... -
Collateral Damage: A Second Chance Mafia Romance by Amy McKinley
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe spark is real, but the timing’s wrong. When Mafia surgeon, Trey La Rosa, met the one woman who could bring him to his knees, grief from his girlfriend’s recent death loomed between them. He forced himself to walk away. Months later, she’s been kidnapped—and he’ll do anything to save her... -
Revenge by J.L. Weil
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsWelcome back to Elmwood Academy. The conclusion begins. And the drama continues. The Elite of Elmwood Academy have twisted up my world, but they are mine now. My family. My vengeance. My only way out of hell. Four guys who have become more than just a pain in my ass. And they all want the same thing as me. Revenge... -
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Vendetta by Catherine Doyle
When it comes to revenge, love is a dangerous complication. With a fierce rivalry raging between two warring families, falling in love is the deadliest thing Sophie could do. An epic debut set outside modern-day Chicago. When five brothers move into the abandoned mansion in her neighbourhood, Sophie Gracewell's life changes forever... -
Just Like Heaven by Trilina Pucci
He’s a criminal—an abomination. We’re wrong in every way. If only I could’ve convinced my heart. His lips whispered promises of all the stars in the sky. I dreamt of a love that would last forever. We were gorgeously young and desperate for one another. But we're star-crossed. Fate had decided our course. Leaving us to cling to each other as we crumbled to ash. His need became possession... -
Wreck Me by Jessica Sorensen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen Avery Hensley met Conner Wellings, she thought she’d found the guy she was going to spend the rest of her life with. She got married young and had the most beautiful son in the world. Life seemed perfect. But not everything is what it seems. Turned out Conner had another side to him, a darker side that Avery didn’t see coming... -
Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii Vol. 4 by Asuka Konishi
SOME THINGS YOU DO FOR MONEY, SOME YOU DO FOR LOVE. Love can make you do some crazy things. For Kirishima, they're all for Yoshino, even an affair with an idol arranged by a spoiled rich kid for blackmail purposes. He's a tiger who has managed to trap the hunters in the cage with him... -
Salvation and Secrets by L A Cotton
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsChastity Falls was supposed to be Ana Parry’s fresh start. But what started as her salvation soon became her undoing. Four months after losing the very thing that gave her reason again, Ana is back at Chastity Falls. Holding on by a thread and trying hard to forget about Jackson isn’t easy when she’s determined to uncover the Donohue’s biggest secrets... -
Unchained: The Dorms by J.L. Weil
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAinsley. Grayson Edwards is my best friend’s brother and so off-limits. There are a hundred reasons why we don’t make sense. Not my type. Moody AF. Popular. He’s bad. During the day, it all seems so clear, but at night…my dreams paint a different picture. He’s so damn serious, and I don’t care about anything except getting out of Elmwood until I get an unsettling text... -
Echoes by Dylan Page
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsBlurb & cover to come! ! Release date is a placeholder.Categorized as:
new adult suspense bad boys dark young adult high-school strong heroine contemporary -
Savage Kind of Love by Nicole Snow
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsSAVAGE LOVE: FIERCE, SEDUCTIVE, AND LIMITLESS. .. Shelly “Saffron” Reagan's life is in shambles, and it's about to get worse. Keeping up a broken home and a brother in the vicious Grizzlies MC is more than any woman can handle. Remembering the tough talking biker who nursed her after a savage attack is all she has, a bad boy who's impossibly out of reach. Or so it seems... -
Trust by Kylie Scott
Being young is all about the experiences: the first time you skip school, the first time you fall in love…the first time someone holds a gun to your head. After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen-year-old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered... -
Better When He's Brave by Jay Crownover
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover’s third novel in her sexy, thrilling Welcome to the Point series, a woman’s search for repentance leads her to the one man from her past she can’t forget as they join forces to save their city—and the explosive love neither can live without. Titus King has always seen his world in black and white...Categorized as:
suspense bad boys new adult young adult tortured heroine alpha male contemporary dark -
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Hidden Gem by Skye Warren
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsOf all the girls in Paris. .. he picked me. I was studying the Mona Lisa, and he was studying me. Not my sister. Me. He turned me upside-down. I hardly recognized myself through his eyes. Beautiful. Interesting. But it was all a lie. -
Yakuza Fiance: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii Vol. 2 by Asuka Konishi
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsDepuis la disparition de la fille d’un yakuza allié au clan Miyama, et le meurtre d’un de leurs hommes,Yoshino est contrainte à passer tout son temps avec Kirishima pour sa propre sécurité. Situation compliquée pour ses nerfs ! À l’occasion d’une sortie, elle aperçoit la soi-disant disparue dans un quartier branché...Categorized as:
mafia new adult contemporary young adult dark marriage of convenience mystery length-short -
Remember Me Forever by Sara Wolf
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIsis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, forty-three weeks, and two days. Or so she thinks. The boy she maybe-sort-of-definitely loved and sort-of-maybe-definitely hated has dropped off the face of the planet in the face of tragedy, leaving a Jack Hunter–shaped hole. Determined to be happy, Isis fills it in with lies and puts on a brave smile for her new life at Ohio State University... -
Friends by J.M. Darhower
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsFriends:. One moment. One wrong choice. That was all it took to destroy a friendship. *takes place before Sempre*. Forever:. Halloween. With a three year old. 'Nuff said. *takes place after Sempre: Redemption*. -
Pretty When You Lie by Anne Roman
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsJuniper Wild is a liar. With her full lips, pretty blue eyes, and angelic face, she might have fooled everyone else in our small town, but not me. I know the truth about her - that she's a spoiled, selfish liar. Five years ago, she shattered my dreams with a single lie. And just when I thought she was gone for good, she shows up again, still hiding something... -
Hometown Girl Memories by Kirsten Fullmer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"I was crying one minute and laughing the next. A definite must read! ". Winnie is content in her role as the reining matriarch of Smithville, but when a letter arrives from a long-lost friend, the door to her past is reopened. Memories come flooding in, drawing her back to 1968, her college days; a time filled with people and events she hasn’t allowed herself to recall... -
Broken: The Dorms by J.L. Weil
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsKenna:. Growing up, everyone thought I was in love with my brother’s best friend. They were right. They just had the wrong friend. Fynn Dupree broke my heart, and he didn’t even know it. Well, as much as a fifteen-year-old girl’s heart could break. The night Fynn rejected me, my entire life changed... -
Meet Me in the Dark by J.A. Huss
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHe’s empty, inhuman, dishonest, and cruel. She’s never wanted anyone more. Sydney has lived in fear for eight years after freelance assassin, Merc, failed to rescue her from a cult-like militia group. Left in the hands of a sadistic man, she did whatever it took to survive. But Merc’s last words gave her hope. Hope he’d be back to finish the job... -
Yakuza Fiance: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii Vol. 3 by Asuka Konishi
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsYoshino's life with Kirishima grows increasingly heated after he meets her adopted brother Shouma. Kirishima doesn't recognize his own jealousy until Yoshino points it out to him. .. and soon, he's not the only one burning up. It seems Osaka's temperatures have followed Yoshino up north when she catches her traditional summer cold... -
Bang Bang by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsHe was my best friend. Until he became my enemy. All within the span of one night. Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang. The rapid fire of gunshots became the soundtrack to my life. This is the Mafia. Lines are blurred. Choices are never black and white. And the life you thought you knew is. .. one giant lie. He was dead. And I didn't want his life to be in vain, so I tried to make something of myself... -
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Naked or Dead by A.E. Murphy
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsSmall town, small-minded people, small expectations, and big A-holes. Lilith Deville is the new enigma at Lakeside Preparatory Academy, a prestigious high school by a river and not a lake, which makes sense, not. Already she hates it despite its beautiful landscape... -
Interim by S. Walden
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 16 ratings~A lot can change in the space between devising a plan and carrying it out. That space is called the INTERIM. ~. High school seniors Jeremy Stahl and Regan Walters aren’t friends. Not even close. He’s a picked-on, picked-apart loser outcast. She’s a cool kid running with the popular crowd. It’s unlikely they’d ever speak to one another. Too bad he’s madly in love with her... -
Ruthless Princess by Rachel Van Dyken
A mafia romance about best friends turned enemies by Rachel Van Dyken, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series. The enemy of my enemy is my friend…. I never thought my father would ask this of me, to become the second generation at Eagle Elite University, to rule with an iron fist, and to take care of anyone who gets in our way. But ever since the incident...Categorized as:
new adult suspense mafia bad boys contemporary from hate to love college tearjerkers -
Tough Luck by C.M. Stunich
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 25 ratings* This is NOT the last book in the series. There will be later books featuring Turner and Naomi again, and they also appear in this volume quite a bit. ;). Ronnie McGuire is my target. But I wish he wasn't. I didn't sign up for this destruction, this pain. In his music, I hear his soul crying out for me... -
Scarred, Part 3 by Kylie Walker
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAfter agreeing to attend a Gala in New York with Derek, Chloe stumbles into her worst nightmare. Vince Donovan. .. District Attorney of New York. .. Jesse Donovan's father. RUN. .. is the only thought firing in her head. When Derek finally catches up with her, she realizes that her world has been flipped upside down and out of control. Chloe now decides to let the flood gates open... -
Ava: A Dark Bully College Romance by Leslie Luckie
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAva The minute we walked through the gates of Blackheath Academy I knew we weren’t welcome. It was us against them. The Club Brats against the Elite. Bastian de Trafford was their ringleader, but I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Only - that fight would be so much easier if he didn’t look like a god of old...Categorized as:
suspense new adult dark contemporary from hate to love cruel hero high-school alpha male
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