Books like 'Contempt'

Readers who enjoyed Contempt by A. Zavarelli also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  dark romance  forced proximity  grumpy sunshine  angst  from hate to love  military  super rich hero  suspense  friends to lovers 

  • Sancte Diaboli: Part Two by Amo Jones

    Sancte Diaboli: Part Two by Amo Jones

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 46 ratings
    He held a darkness that could never be touched. She carried a light that could never be seen. Not by anyone. Only by each other. Simply two halves of the same soul, Brantley and Saint were fused together with equal parts wrath and peace. Nothing could break through their bond. Nothing. Until now...
  • Firefly by Molly McAdams

    Firefly by Molly McAdams

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 24 ratings
    The next captivating installment in New York Times bestselling author Molly McAdams’s Redemption series. As the Princess of the Irish-American Mob, there’s no shortage of men ready to help guard and protect me. To slowly suffocate me to the point of seeking freedom—a place where I can breathe. Kieran Hayes has been saving me for as long as I can remember...
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  • Broken by J.L. Drake

    Broken by J.L. Drake

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 32 ratings
    Who is Savannah Miller?The mayor’s daughter. A wealthy elite. The media’s favorite wild child.But it’s all a lie.I secluded myself to protect my father’s reputation.Then, on my twenty-seventh birthday, I let my guard down.Kidnapped.Beaten.Starved.The men who took me treated me worse than a stray.Days blurred into weeks and left my dignity broken...
  • Pieces of a Life by Jewel E. Ann

    Pieces of a Life by Jewel E. Ann

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    The summer before fourth grade, Colten Mosley moved into the house across the street from mine, and we became inseparable.He played the piano and baseball.I had a penchant for dead things while at the same time imagining what it would be like to kiss Colten.We were filled with curiosity and overly active imaginations.We were also forbidden to be more than friends.But that didn’t stop us...
  • Police Brutality by Gregory Ashe

    Police Brutality by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    For the first time in a long while, Emery Hazard’s life is good. His new business as a private detective is taking off. Things are good at home. He loves his boyfriend, John-Henry Somerset; he loves their daughter. He might even love the new friends they’ve found. There’s only one problem: Somers has been talking about marriage...
  • 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...
  • Dirty Truths by Jaymin Eve, Tate James

    Dirty Truths by Jaymin Eve, Tate James

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 80 ratings
    You know that saying, things can’t possibly get worse? They always can. I thought I’d reached a whole new low the day I ran from Bellerose. The day I was snatched by mafia goons, beaten half to death, and left wishing they’d finish the job. But then an Angel saved me. His kind of salvation wasn’t the freedom I’d been hoping for, though...
  • 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...
  • But I Need You by W. Winters

    But I Need You by W. Winters

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 18 ratings
    Some love stories are a slow burn. Others are quick to ignite, scorching and branding your very soul before you’ve taken that first breath. You’re never given a chance to run from it. That’s how I’d describe what happened to us.Everything around me blurred and all that existed were his lips, his touch… The chase and the heat between us became addictive...
  • 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...
  • If We Disappear Here by Mindy Hayes

    If We Disappear Here by Mindy Hayes

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 38 ratings
    They are marionettes under a concrete sky.Pain shoots through Maeve Campbell’s body when she wakes cold and disoriented, locked in a neglected cement room.Her drowsy eyes sweep the cell and land on a masculine, limp body across the room. Gripping his shoulder, she rolls him to his back, face angling toward her. Only it’s not who she thinks.It’s not her husband.And they aren’t alone...
  • 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...
  • Savage Sin: Bellamy Brothers 1 by Helen Hardt

    Savage Sin: Bellamy Brothers 1 by Helen Hardt

    Rated: 4.78 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Enter a world of mystery, suspense, sin, and heart-wrenching emotion with Helen Hardt's new series!In prison, they called him Savage.Falcon Bellamy spent years locked up for a crime he didn’t commit, which shattered his dream of serving his country as a Navy SEAL. When he's granted early parole to help with a family emergency, he’s determined to reclaim his life...
  • 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...
  • Savage: The Awakening of Lizzie Danton by L.A. Fiore

    Savage: The Awakening of Lizzie Danton by L.A. Fiore

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 29 ratings
    They call him a monster. Pale blue eyes as cold as ice that see right through you. He’s hard. He’s damaged. He’s dangerous. He lives in a castle fit for a fairy tale, but he’s no prince. He’s savage. He’s brutal. He’s a killer. By an act of fate, our worlds collide. They call him a monster, but he is my salvation...
  • Good Trouble by Lani Lynn Vale

    Good Trouble by Lani Lynn Vale

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 26 ratings
    Bain met Diana, a.k.a. Luce, the night before he was set to deploy to Afghanistan. It’s not every day that you take your brother’s girlfriend to prom because he refuses to put out the effort. That night was one of the best nights of his life and the next day, he leaves and doesn’t see her again. But there are letters. Not many, but enough for them to form a connection...
  • Path to Retaliation by TheFeveredBookaholic

    Path to Retaliation by TheFeveredBookaholic

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Under-the-radar boxer Cameron West loves to get through life in a series of humor and mischief. He'll be there to charm your panties off and give you a good laugh about it right after. But it's true when they say that the happiest people often hold the darkest secrets...
  • A Divided Heart by Alessandra Torre

    A Divided Heart by Alessandra Torre

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 12 ratings
    Can you love two men at once? Is there any future in that?Brant loves me fiercely.A brilliant billionaire who has owned my heart for four years, he keeps proposing, and I keep turning him down.I can’t marry him, not with all of the secrets between us.Lee uses me wildly.As grouchy as he is cocky, he's interested in getting me into his bed and little more...
  • Tormentor Mine: The Complete Series by Anna Zaires, Dima Zales

    Tormentor Mine: The Complete Series by Anna Zaires, Dima Zales

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 15 ratings
    A lethal mercenary bent on vengeance. The innocent woman standing in his way.Dr. Sara Cobakis’s quiet suburban life is turned upside down when a darkly handsome Russian assassin breaks into her home and tortures her for information. But the nightmare doesn’t end there.Because Peter Sokolov returns, and this time, he’s determined to keep the pretty young doctor for himself.No matter what it takes...
  • The Devil's Lair by Penny Dee

    The Devil's Lair by Penny Dee

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Massimo De Kysa.The man who stole my first kiss.And now my boss.I learned early how life can turn on a dime.That’s how it is when you grow up as a mafia princess.One minute you’re rich, spoilt, and betrothed to the most revered man in the city—the next your broke and selling your designer bags so you can eat.But I’m not the kind of girl who gives up without a fight...
  • Elect by Rachel Van Dyken

    Elect by Rachel Van Dyken

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 55 ratings
    Would you die for the one you love? Nixon Abandonato made his choice. And now he has to pay the price. Tracey is the love of his life, but being with him has made her a target of his family's enemies. The only way to keep Trace alive is convince the world she means nothing to him...
  • Let Me Love You by Brittney Sahin

    Let Me Love You by Brittney Sahin

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 31 ratings
    Love is a risk for a woman in danger and a mercenary sworn to protect in a blistering novel of vengeance and redemption by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brittney Sahin. Six years ago, Maria Romano got her birthday wish―a kiss from Enzo Costa. A man she could never take her eyes off, but who seemed as haunted as her favorite book boyfriends and strictly off-limits...
  • Hellfire by Cathleen Cole, Frank Jensen

    Hellfire by Cathleen Cole, Frank Jensen

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    She’s his best friend’s little sister, but he’d risk everything to have her…HellfireSmoke would kill me if he knew all the dirty, depraved things I want to do to his little sister. For years, I’ve been forced to look and not touch.She’s been mine since the first time I saw her, even if she doesn’t know it.But when yet another threat to the club comes out of the woodwork, I decide I’ve had enough...
  • Copper by K. Webster

    Copper by K. Webster

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    From USA Today Bestselling Author K Webster, comes a new MC dark standalone novel!I’m a Fed.Rigid. Rule follower. One of the good guys. I uphold the law…when it suits me.My loyalty lies first with my brother, Koyn, and secondly with his motorcycle club.Jeremy Koynakov was the man I used to be. I’m Copper now. For a decade, I aided my brother in his quest for revenge. We thirsted for vengeance...
  • Erik's Salvation by Nyssa Kathryn

    Erik's Salvation by Nyssa Kathryn

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    She’ll mend his broken heart. He’ll shatter anew to protect her.Hannah Jacobs is intimately familiar with pain. Growing up in foster care, she experienced all of its varying shades, in ways that still impact her as an adult...
  • Bring Me Back by Kristen Granata

    Bring Me Back by Kristen Granata

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 40 ratings
    A contemporary romance about hope, mental health, and the healing power of love.After surviving a suicide attempt, Phoenix Bridges has been given a second chance at life—one she isn’t sure what to do with. When she’s released from a psychiatric treatment center, she moves into her family’s old shore house in New Jersey to figure out how to start over...
  • Erik's Refuge by Nyssa Kathryn

    Erik's Refuge by Nyssa Kathryn

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    The choice is simple…surrender or perish.In the blink of an eye, he became her everything. Her hero. Her savior. Her whole world. Hannah and Erik are finally building the future she’s longed for…but it doesn’t include a family. Erik’s already felt the pain of losing a child before he even experienced the joy of holding them in his arms. It’s not something he’ll risk again...
  • Deviant Princess by Tracy Lorraine

    Deviant Princess by Tracy Lorraine

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 21 ratings
    USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you the next installment of her new dark mafia, high school bully romance series.I should have known better than to play with fire...I’d been burned by Theo Cirillo enough to know that I should have seen this coming.He loved to show me his merciless side, but I couldn’t stay away from the deviant even if I wanted to...
  • Fixate by K.E. Osborn

    Fixate by K.E. Osborn

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    She’s a part of me.Even though I don’t know her name.The woman I’ve been exchanging letters with and developed feelings for over the past five years. But I can’t help feeling torn in two when I’m suddenly pulled toward another. Maxxy, the club’s horticulturalist, is strong, sassy, and she gives me so much lip the aggravation is exasperating.She infuriates me. She ignites me...
  • Texas Bodyguard: Chance by Janie Crouch

    Texas Bodyguard: Chance by Janie Crouch

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    She has secrets she prefers to keep hidden.Too bad he’s so good at getting to the truth.When a violent attack puts Maci Ford in the hospital, security expert Chance Patterson learns that she’s carrying his baby. Even though she ended their relationship, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to protect her and their child...
  • Opal: A Wolfes of Manhattan Novel by Helen Hardt

    Opal: A Wolfes of Manhattan Novel by Helen Hardt

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    She lashes out with spite and venom. He fights back with anger and passion.Being held captive on a South Pacific island and forced to submit to the depravity of strange men was horrific, but it wasn’t the worst experience of Kelly Taylor’s life. Abused as a child and abandoned once she turned eighteen, Kelly is now free…except for the threatening text messages she’s receiving...
  • Last Resort by Janie Crouch

    Last Resort by Janie Crouch

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Janie Crouch. Previously published as Texas ChanceShe has secrets she prefers to keep hidden.Too bad he’s so good at getting to the truth.When a violent attack puts Maci Ford in the hospital, security expert Chance Patterson learns that she’s carrying his baby...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  pregnancy  military  dark  contemporary
  • Captive Rival: Armani by Stella Gray

    Captive Rival: Armani by Stella Gray

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    I thought I could walk away…but Armani Bellanti wants me for keeps.My intentions were good.I thought I was on the side of angels.But all my plans led me straight to hell.There’s nowhere for me to turn.My whole world is his cage.I have no one.No one but him.He silences me with cruel kisses.I taunt him with his desire for me.We don’t trust each other, but we can use each other...
  • Cruelest Vow by Piper Stone

    Cruelest Vow by Piper Stone

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    He was my forbidden fantasy. Now, he's my greatest enemy. D'Artangan Conti was born into poverty, a stable boy in my family's savage regime. I was born into the life of luxury yet tormented by my father's brutal actions, longing to escape. Our friendship forbidden, the young man with the piercing sapphire eye and the voice of an angel became my everything...
  • Black and Brown by A.E. Via

    Black and Brown by A.E. Via

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Grace’s composed, yet lethal disposition balances his partner Mirage’s impulsive nature, creating a duo—the second-generation Brown Ravens—with the potential for greatness. Grace was one of the most decorated sharpshooters in the Marines. He’s fiercely committed to righting the wrongs that plague the world and protecting the innocent...
  • A Reckless Note by Lisa Renee Jones

    A Reckless Note by Lisa Renee Jones

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    “I can chase you, and I can catch you, but there is nothing I can do to make you mine.” ― Morrissey It all started with a note, just a simple note hand written by a woman I didn't know, never even met. But in that note is perhaps every answer to every question I've ever had in my life. And because of that note, I travel thousands of miles. I look for her, but find him...
  • 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...
  • Deception and Chaos by S.M. Soto

    Deception and Chaos by S.M. Soto

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 20 ratings
    Sophia Cova lived a quiet, normal life, shadowed in sadness after the loss of her parents in a tragic airline accident. With her older brother being her only living relative and her anchor, Sophia is sure she’s destined for a brighter future. But that was until she was taken. Stolen from her mundane, orderly life, she was drugged, and woke to every woman’s worst nightmare...
  • Sapphire Scars by Nicole Fox

    Sapphire Scars by Nicole Fox

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    He’s my ex’s brother.A terrifying mob boss with a past too dark to share.And when he finds out I’m pregnant, he becomes something else, too:The husband I never asked for.Kolya Uvarov crashed into my life at a funeral and saved me from a mega-creep.Classic meet-cute, right?Not exactly—because it was his brother we were burying.A.k.a., my ex-boyfriend.A.k.a...
  • When We Lied by Claire Contreras

    When We Lied by Claire Contreras

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 40 ratings
    A brand new hockey romance from New York Times Bestselling Author Claire Contreras set in the same world as Until I Get You...Finneas Alexander Barlow is a walking thirst trap. Tall, hot, and broody. Tousled brown hair, chiseled jaw, alluring green eyes, perfect teeth, well-groomed beard, broad shoulders, and lips good enough to bite...
  • Secret Vendetta by Kathy Lockheart

    Secret Vendetta by Kathy Lockheart

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 13 ratings
    LUNABaptized in blood, I’m marked for death.Each time it comes, he appears. My masked protector.Saving me for reasons only known to him.But the Vigilante is playing a deadly game.One I must stop before he claims another soul.My new boyfriend, Hunter, vows to keep me safe.But what if we become the final casualties in the Vigilante's secret vendetta?VIGILANTEI’m the most dangerous man in the city...
  • Wickedly Betrayed: Jaded Hollow by Alex Grayson

    Wickedly Betrayed: Jaded Hollow by Alex Grayson

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    The vow that Mac and Mia made as children, to save themselves for each other, was broken the night of Mia’s eighteen birthday. Betrayed by the man she never expected to hurt her, Mia’s no longer the sweet and innocent young girl she once was. She’s cold and hard, letting no one except family get close to her heart. In Jaded Hollow, things aren’t what they seem...
  • The Rogue by Kimberly Kincaid

    The Rogue by Kimberly Kincaid

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    The scars that cut deepest are the ones beneath the surface…Detective Addison Hale is a survivor. The armor she uses to hide her scars keeps her safe on the job, and holding people at arm’s length is a small price to pay when there’s a stalker on the loose.Especially since he’s after the sister of impulsive firefighter Ryan Dempsey, who she had a scorching-hot fling with two months ago...
  • Phoenix by Helen Hardt

    Phoenix by Helen Hardt

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Don't miss the gripping conclusion to the Wolfes of Manhattan/Gems of Wolfe Island series!A threat. A ghost from the past. A murder.And two tortured souls who find solace in each other.Ex-Navy SEAL Leif Ramsey—known as Phoenix—has fallen hard for spitfire Kelly Taylor, but the first order of business is to protect her from whoever is sending her threatening texts...
  • Damaged Kingdom by MJ Crouch

    Damaged Kingdom by MJ Crouch

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    Mari Marcosa always knew she would die young, so being left to bleed out on a warehouse floor is no shock to her. But as the blood seeps from her body, her thoughts aren’t of the Marcosa empire she's ruled for years, or the city she's given everything to protect. It's on the three men who’ve stood by her Greyson: her soul, her foundation. So hard and reserved, showing emotion only to Mari...
  • Consumed by Truths by Ella Miles

    Consumed by Truths by Ella Miles

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Enzo is my heart. My soul. My breath. I never thought I could be so dark. Never knew love meant losing myself and getting reborn. The lies and truths have finally caught up with us. We may have stolen an empire, but we aren’t ready to give it up. It’s ours. He’s mine. And our love will find a way to the truth. Consumed by Truths is book 6 and the final book in Enzo and Kai's story...
  • Reaper by Rachel Leigh

    Reaper by Rachel Leigh

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    They call me the reaper.Saying I have no soul. A heart that’s charred black. I tell them it’s true,because it is. I’ve been hiding in the shadows.Stealing secrets, destroying the lives of those who deserve it. But there’s one story to be told before this book closes. My story. Don’t be fooled, it’s not a fairytale. I’m no prince.And I certainly don’t want a princess...
  • The Night Blossoms by Leylah Attar

    The Night Blossoms by Leylah Attar

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    New York Times bestselling author Leylah Attar returns with a page-turning romantic suspense/thriller that careens down an emotional highway toward a chilling finale. Dark, thrilling, and ingeniously unpredictable...
  • 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...
  • Gabby's Protector by Janie Crouch, Regan Black

    Gabby's Protector by Janie Crouch, Regan Black

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    After a heart-shattering tragedy, Tony Marino bottled up his emotions and gave more than twenty hard years to the SEAL teams. Now, he’s enjoying a later in life career in paradise in the Ellington Cove special security office.The best part? Working with their research expert, Gabby Ladd...
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