Books like 'Cruel Beginnings'

Readers who enjoyed Cruel Beginnings by Lili St. Germain & Lyra Parish also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

dark romance  new adult  forced proximity  from hate to love  suspense  abduction  strong heroine  mystery

  • The Body Keeper by Anne Frasier

    The Body Keeper by Anne Frasier

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 34 ratings
    The Thriller Award–winning series continues as Detective Jude Fontaine finds a decades-old connection to missing children that will freeze her blood.A boy’s frozen body is found trapped in the ice of a Minneapolis lake. The horrifying discovery leads Detective Jude Fontaine and her partner, Uriah Ashby, to more bodies in the ice, all of twelve-year-old boys missing for twenty years...
  • Can't Go Back by Debra Webb

    Can't Go Back by Debra Webb

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    The 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...
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  • The Betrayer by Kimberley Chambers

    The Betrayer by Kimberley Chambers

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    From the author of Born Evil this gritty, warmhearted East End family epic is set on a rough and ready council estate in Stepney. The story, which spans four decades starting in 1975, tells of the trials and tribulations of the Hutton family.From the Hardcover edition...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  dark  vengeance  angst  length-long
  • Even When I'm Gone by Nicole Fiorina

    Even When I'm Gone by Nicole Fiorina

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 25 ratings
    The second book in a heart-consuming series. Ollie. Forget everything you thought you knew. Hell, I don't even know myself anymore. For seven months I've been gone only to come back to be tested in every way possible. They say keep your enemies close, and my demons welcomed me back with open arms. My downfall is a necessary evil. But Mia is my endgame. Mia...
  • Seeds of Iniquity by J.A. Redmerski

    Seeds of Iniquity by J.A. Redmerski

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Victor Faust’s new Order is growing. Business is good as there is no rest for the wicked in an underground world of hardcore criminals and contract killing. Relationships among the operatives have changed little over the past year—but things are about to change now, and all six high-ranking members of the new Order will be blindsided by an unlikely enemy...
  • Killman Creek by Rachel Caine

    Killman Creek by Rachel Caine

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 59 ratings
    Every 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

    Beneath Dark Waters by Karen Rose

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Deadly 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...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  contemporary  dark
  • Edge of Nowhere by Freya Barker

    Edge of Nowhere by Freya Barker

    Rated: 4.73 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Open roads and honor meets poke bowls and self-controlI’m a homesick nomad.A protégé, a mountain man, an ally, and a seeker.My name is Wapi.I’m a work in progress looking to belong, and though my road has been a winding one, my heart has found focus.I’m a straightlaced hellcat.A princess, a fool, a target, and a handle.My name is Lindsey...
  • Away from the Dark by Aleatha Romig

    Away from the Dark by Aleatha Romig

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    Nine months ago, Sara Adams awoke with no memory. The man holding her hand told her she’s a member of The Light, a tight-knit religious group led by the terrifying and charismatic Father Gabriel. As a woman in the community of The Light, her duty is to be unquestionably obedient and to submit to the will of her husband...
  • The Elite Kings Boxset Vol. II by Amo Jones

    The Elite Kings Boxset Vol. II by Amo Jones

    Rated: 4.74 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    The Elite Kings books 1-5MADSHIPMadison + BishopThe Silver SwanThe Broken PuppetTacet a MortuisNATILNate + TillieMalum: Part 1Malum: Part 2Riddle me this..
  • Code Name: Pisces by Janie Crouch

    Code Name: Pisces by Janie Crouch

    Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    My code name is Pisces. The stars say I’m independent, wise, and intuitive.Still waters run deep. I’m the leader of Zodiac Tactical’s guardian unit. We’re the bodyguards—the ones who stand toe to toe with danger and refuse to give any ground. We protect people who need it most.But what if who needs it most is a spoiled diva?I don’t normally take on movie stars...
  • Extreme Risk by Jane Blythe

    Extreme Risk by Jane Blythe

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Can 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...
  • Vicious Hate by Thandiwe Mpofu

    Vicious Hate by Thandiwe Mpofu

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Devastation tastes a lot like ash in your mouth. It feels like looming death hanging over your bones. It sounds like the violent shattering of your soul. It has an acrid smell much like that of rotting hearts. . . But most of all, devastation looks a lot like the beautiful, fiery girl with her fake sincerity and lies...
  • Sinner by Sheridan Anne

    Sinner by Sheridan Anne

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 21 ratings
    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...
  • Bed of Roses by D.V. Fischer

    Bed of Roses by D.V. Fischer

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 13 ratings
    I never thought I'd fall for a murderer. As an old employee at a funeral home, Tegan's life had been full of corpses. When her parents died, she couldn't take being surrounded by death anymore. She had to get away, and to do that, she moved to a small, sleepy town in Utah. When Tegan rented a house sight-unseen, she had been told it would need a lot of work...
  • Drew by Siobhan Davis

    Drew by Siobhan Davis

    Rated: 4.65 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    The explosive finale in the highly addictive Rydeville Elite series. Mistakes and secrets. My life is littered with them. And it’s not always me who pays the price. So, I do something I swore I wouldn’t do—become the monster my father raised me to be. To shield my loved ones from the predators I hunt, I keep family and friends in the dark, but I won’t apologize for protecting them...
  • Chasing The Dragon by T.K. Leigh

    Chasing The Dragon by T.K. Leigh

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    He’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...
  • Murder Girl by Lisa Renee Jones

    Murder Girl by Lisa Renee Jones

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones returns with the second book in her electrifying series featuring Lilah Love, an FBI profiler who doesn’t fight her dark side—she embraces it. It’s Lilah Love’s job to inhabit a killer’s mind. The unapologetically tough FBI profiler is very comfortable there. But her latest case is making her head spin...
  • Unholy Bonds by Maya Raine

    Unholy Bonds by Maya Raine

    Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Three 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...
  • Emerald Bruises by Pepper Winters

    Emerald Bruises by Pepper Winters

    Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    “I made a bargain with a monster. A vow to save both our lives. I thought our commitment would stay true. It didn’t.” I’ve spent my entire life alone. I’m well used to loneliness and the endless pain of having no one. Sure, we made a bargain. We shared our secrets and made a vow. But I warned her not to do one tiny thing. One very important thing. For a while, she obeyed me...
  • Behind My Words by J.L. Drake

    Behind My Words by J.L. Drake

    Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    SpencerMy entire life vanished the day I found my parents’ bodies.It changed me, broke me, and I went from a bestselling author to a ghost writer hiding behind my words…Then an assignment pairs me with a new detective on a high-profile murder case.But things spiral out of control as bodies start piling up—a cruel reminder of a past I’m desperate to forget...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  dark  length-medium  m-f
  • Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

    Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 71 ratings
    When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever.Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store...
  • Never Look Back by Mary Burton

    Never Look Back by Mary Burton

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 38 ratings
    Expect 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...
  • Home Town Knight by Hannah Shield

    Home Town Knight by Hannah Shield

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    He's a cowboy with a sheriff's badge. And the last man she wants as a Protector.Investigative reporter Genevieve Blake rolls into Hartley County, Colorado on a mission. She's determined to expose the Last Refuge Protectors as vigilantes and the local sheriff as corrupt. The last thing she needs is a distraction—especially in the form of a handsome stranger at the hotel bar...
  • Heads You Lose by Bea Paige

    Heads You Lose by Bea Paige

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Beast…Beast in name. Beast in nature.Once upon a time Tales was my home.I was the second in command and the best goddamn fighter the club had ever seen.I fought. I won.Every. Damn. Time.Until one day I lost trying to protect the princess from the true monster of this f*cked-up fairy tale.She shunned me, sent me away.Now I’m back to tell her the truth, not some tale full of half-truths and lies...
  • Pearl by Freya Barker

    Pearl by Freya Barker

    Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    a privately-funded organization operating independently in the search for-and the rescue and recovery of-missing and exploited children. Although at times working in conjunction with law enforcement, GEM aims to ensure the victims receive justice...by whatever means necessary.____Operator Pearl; layered, mysterious, a protector. She masks as delicate, analyzes, and moves stealthily...
  • Find Her by Lisa Gardner

    Find Her by Lisa Gardner

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 53 ratings
    * This is an updated cover of this Kindle edition. *Lisa Gardner's runaway New York Times bestseller—a fast-paced thrill ride featuring Detective D. D. Warren.Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora Dane was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure...
  • Hear No Evil by Ivy Fox

    Hear No Evil by Ivy Fox

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Evil cannot take hold of an unconsenting soul.Do not be amazed that hell is empty, since all the devils live here.One by one, they will meet their hellish fate.One down…Three to go.EastonA tyrannous society has discovered our most atrocious secret and decided to wage war on us.They’ve had their fun with Finn, and now it’s my turn to be their little puppet...
  • A Fractured Reign by Veronica Eden

    A Fractured Reign by Veronica Eden

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    The Crows are more than nightmares lurking in every shadow.They’re a brotherhood. Family. When threats creep in, they’ll protect what belongs to them.QuinnDoes a wrong make a right?In my case, it has to.The Kings gave me no choice, no chance to fold.I betrayed the guy who believed he was protecting me while I gave his secrets away.Now we’re enemies once more...
  • Opal by Freya Barker

    Opal by Freya Barker

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    GEM: A PRIVATELY-FUNDED ORGANIZATION OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY IN THE SEARCH FOR—AND THE RESCUE AND RECOVERY OF—MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN. ALTHOUGH, AT TIMES WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, GEM AIMS TO ENSURE THE VICTIMS RECEIVE JUSTICE…BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY. ____GEM Operator Opal; multifaceted, versatile, a chameleon.She hides in plain sight, adapts, and infiltrates...
  • Beautiful Prey by Lora Darc

    Beautiful Prey by Lora Darc

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 9 ratings
    Emery Blakmor is a monster.One night. One savage act. And he ripped my life away.Years later, I’m still running from him in my nightmares.Except, Emery’s not lurking in the shadows anymore. He’s locked away, staring at the same four walls. Silent. Lethal. Unpredictable.And the only person he wants to talk to... is me.I swore I’d never forget what he did. I vowed to make him pay...
  • Harder Betrayal by Penelope Sky

    Harder Betrayal by Penelope Sky

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 29 ratings
    I knew a relationship with Cauldron wouldn't be easy.But I underestimated just how challenging it would be...
  • Naked Truth by Lisa Renee Jones

    Naked Truth by Lisa Renee Jones

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Jax North. He's handsome, brutally so, and wealthy. Our first encounter is intense and sex is my escape. I go with it. I go with him and what a ride it is. And then, I say goodbye. Only you don't say goodbye to a man like Jax if he doesn't want you to. I've challenged him without meaning to. He wants me. I don't want to want him, and yet, I crave him. And he tears me down, my resistance, my walls...
  • Kisscut by Karin Slaughter

    Kisscut by Karin Slaughter

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 50 ratings
    Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton--the town's pediatrician and medical examiner--finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy...
  • Amos y mazmorras: Segunda parte by Lena Valenti

    Amos y mazmorras: Segunda parte by Lena Valenti

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Chegou a hora de encarar o tão aguardado torneio Dragões e Masmorras DS. Entregue-se aos combates. Liberte seus desejos. Na busca pela irmã desaparecida, a agente Cleo Connelly conseguiu se infiltrar no ultrassecreto torneio de práticas BDSM, o Dragões e Masmorras DS...
  • Priest and his Anarchist by Amo Jones

    Priest and his Anarchist by Amo Jones

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    People said he was emotionless. Cold. But he burned her to the ground every chance he got. Priest Hayes thought he knew everything there was to know about the society of outlaws who ran by their own set of rules, and right now, he’d just taken the gavel. It didn’t feel heavy. It felt like it belonged there all along.In his hand.Just like her.But Luna Nox was the one girl he could never have...
  • Vengeful Hearts by S. Lexi

    Vengeful Hearts by S. Lexi

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Erika grew up on the streets of New York City. When her baby sister got kidnapped by the most extensive human trafficking ring in the area and eventually murdered, she swore to avenge her death. Blaise grew up in the Italian Mafia; his father was the don...
  • Vengeful Hearts by S. Lexi

    Vengeful Hearts by S. Lexi

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Erika grew up on the streets of New York City. When her baby sister got kidnapped by the most extensive human trafficking ring in the area and eventually murdered, she swore to avenge her death.Blaise grew up in the Italian Mafia; his father was the don...
  • Stolen by J.M. Johnson

    Stolen by J.M. Johnson

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Dante wasn't looking for a woman. He was content with being a single dad, and slowly but surely taking his place as leader of his club, Devil's Disciples.His life was busy, and he didn't need women complicating things.Fuck them, leave them. Don't catch feelings.But Dante had never met a woman like Rachel.Rachel has a past. One she has worked hard at erasing...
  • Summer Sparrow: by Emmerson Hoyt

    Summer Sparrow: by Emmerson Hoyt

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    Rylee Adder left Eden thinking she’d put the worst day of her life behind her.She was wrong.Separated from her new family and Colton—the man she never thought she’d have to live without—Rylee finds herself in Boston facing her biggest challenge yet: surviving the Vipers’ Den...
  • The Saint by Kimberly Kincaid

    The Saint by Kimberly Kincaid

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    His partner’s most trusted informant is his only hope…and his only weakness.When Detective Liam Hollister is assigned to an assault-turned-murder, he brings his signature three “C”s: control, calm, and composure. The “C” he wasn’t counting on? His partner’s informant, Carmen Desoto, who’s not only the key to unlocking his case...
  • Distracted by A.K. Evans

    Distracted by A.K. Evans

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Marriage of convenience? More like marriage of inconvenience. Especially when it turns deadly.Ellery Cross did what she had to do to save her family from ruin. She married a man she wasn’t in love with. Worse, she married a man she knew nothing about.But Ellery eventually learns all she needs to know about her husband. And sticking around is not an option...
  • Ruined by A.K. Evans

    Ruined by A.K. Evans

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Hanna Briggs was just as riveted to the news as the rest of the town when a seemingly innocent man was murdered. The difference was that while they all prayed for justice, Hanna felt relief.But then someone else Hanna knows is murdered. And another. And another.Leo Webb is the lead investigator on the case, helping the local police department to find the person responsible for the deaths in town...
  • Ruined by A.K. Evans

    Ruined by A.K. Evans

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Hanna Briggs was just as riveted to the news as the rest of the town when a seemingly innocent man was murdered. The difference was that while they all prayed for justice, Hanna felt relief.But then someone else Hanna knows is murdered. And another. And another.Leo Webb is the lead investigator on the case, helping the local police department to find the person responsible for the deaths in town...
  • The Three Week Deal by Hannah Shield

    The Three Week Deal by Hannah Shield

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    He’s a smoking-hot firefighter with a wild side.And now, my obnoxious new roommate. When my apartment catches fire, I know I’m in for a hell of a day. It only gets worse when I meet my temporary new roommate—the same grouchy firefighter who just yelled at me. Matteo De Luca is a tattooed, loud-mouthed, alpha hunk of a man...
  • MARCUS: Sins of the Father by Nicole James

    MARCUS: Sins of the Father by Nicole James

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Nicole James, comes aSTEAMY, FORBIDDEN MC ROMANCE! The SECOND GENERATION has arrived!This is the first book in her spin-off from her bestselling Evil Dead MC series.Brandy--When a bunch of bad-boy bikers walk through the door to the bar, one catches my eye.He's got a killer smile, and an air of wickedness about him that draws me in...
  • Kiss Her Goodbye: The Complete Series by Rebecca Royce

    Kiss Her Goodbye: The Complete Series by Rebecca Royce

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    I'm Everly Marrs, and my life has been a whirlwind of chaos and revelation. The men who kidnapped me, known as The Letters, upended everything I believed in. They showed me a world beyond my control, one where I'm not just a victim but a player in their dangerous games. From the day they took me, my neatly outlined plans for a future in social work, for love, for a normal life, all vanished...
  • Wicked Little Island by Rhea Ryan

    Wicked Little Island by Rhea Ryan

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Trapped in snow, bound by grief, captured by an illusion.In the days following a devastating loss, winter takes hold in the Arctic. I’m stranded with the man who turned my world upside down. His secrets are the reason we fell in love, and our trauma is now what binds us. As we cling to each other to survive, I begin to peel his darkest layers and find he’s exactly what I need to stay alive...
  • Where Souls Collide by Delaney Foster

    Where Souls Collide by Delaney Foster

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    He's not the Prince Charming in my fairytaleHe's the big, bad wolf. Fierce. Brutal. Seductive, like the snake in the garden. His secrets will destroy me. If I don't destroy myself first.The angel wants to know what it's like to dance with the devil, and I'm about to show her the way.I don't deserve her. But I crave her. I'll devour her. I'll fight for her. I'll own her...
  • MARCUS: Sins of the Father by Nicole James

    MARCUS: Sins of the Father by Nicole James

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Nicole James, comes aSTEAMY, FORBIDDEN MC ROMANCE! The SECOND GENERATION has arrived!This is the first book in her spin-off from her bestselling Evil Dead MC series.Brandy--When a bunch of bad-boy bikers walk through the door to the bar, one catches my eye.He's got a killer smile, and an air of wickedness about him that draws me in...
Cruel Beginnings by Lili St. Germain, Lyra Parish
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