Books like 'Hard Game'
Readers who enjoyed Hard Game by Linzvonc also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary dark romance vengeance suspense heroine sleuth
-
Lie To Her by Melinda Leigh
Lies from the heart lead to a dangerously intimate case for Sheriff Bree Taggert in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of revenge and fatal deceptions.When a digital marketer is found murdered in his backyard—hands bound and face smothered by plastic wrap—Sheriff Bree Taggert and criminal investigator Matt Flynn respond to the call...Categorized as:
suspense heroine sleuth contemporary mystery dark behind-doors length-medium audiobook -
The Body Keeper by Anne Frasier
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe 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...Categorized as:
suspense heroine sleuth mystery contemporary dark abuse strong heroine length-medium -
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... -
Heartbreak Bay by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThey’re hunting a killer so silent, so invisible, that his unspeakable crimes are the only proof he exists.A car submerged in a remote pond. The bodies of two girls strapped into their seats. The mystery of their mother, vanished without a trace, leads Gwen Proctor and Kezia Claremont into dangerous territory... -
-
Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsDisgraced, ex-detective Harper Adams is perfectly content wallowing at rock bottom. She’s lost her job, house, and reputation, and it only gets worse when she’s forced to move back home to Jackson Creek, Arkansas, the one place she swore she’d never return. But everything changes when she gets chilling news... -
Bitter Falls by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 42 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... -
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... -
The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsShe’s come back to solve the mystery of her father’s death and confront her own dark past. When Detective Rebecca North left her rural hometown, she vowed never to return. Her father’s apparent suicide has changed that. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself...Categorized as:
heroine sleuth suspense mystery contemporary dark independent heroine length-long audiobook -
The Body Counter by Anne Frasier
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFrom a New York Times bestselling author comes the chilling follow-up to the Thriller Award winner The Body Reader. Months after discovering the mastermind behind her own kidnapping, Detective Jude Fontaine is dealing with the past the only way she knows how: by returning to every dark corner of it... -
Spiders in the Grove by J.A. Redmerski
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIzabel and Naeva find themselves right where they wanted to be in Mexico: captured and held in the slave compounds owned by the Ruiz family. But the two are soon separated and forced into very different—but equally dangerous—situations... -
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... -
Shane by Nicole James
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsShane—I live at the end of this dark deserted dead-end street for a reason.I don't like neighbors coming around my place. There's only one other house down here. It sits across the street from me, and has been deserted for years.I like my privacy, so I'm pissed to learn that that vacant house just got un-vacant... -
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... -
Winston by Lane Hart, D.B. West
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsWinston Prescott has been a grumpy SOB for the past ten years. None of his brothers in the Savage Kings MC knew why, not until the day one of them made the mistake of posting a sexy centerfold on the wall of the clubhouse.The gorgeous model posing topless on sports cars and motorcycles isn’t just any girl. Her name is Zoe Donahue, and she also happens to be Winston’s stepsister... -
-
Cold Silence by Toni Anderson
Read the next edge-of-your-seat Romantic Thriller from New York Times bestselling author, Toni Anderson.FBI Hostage Rescue Team member Shane Livingstone is frustrated when an injury sidelines him during an operation to catch a sadistic killer. A killer who auctions off vicious ways to torture his victims and screens the events for money on the dark web...Categorized as:
suspense heroine sleuth contemporary dark mystery military length-medium third-person-pov -
Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsA small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear...Categorized as:
heroine sleuth suspense contemporary dark mystery tall-heroine length-long audiobook -
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... -
Haven by K.A. Merikan
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 9 ratings— Not the same river, not the same man. —After seven years away, Seth and Domenico are back in Sicily with one goal in mind.Revenge.The man who’d hounded their family is still alive, and as untouchable as he’s always been. While they wait for the right moment to strike, reality clashes with fond memories of home... -
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... -
The Drowned Girls by Loreth Anne White
He surfaced two years ago. Then he disappeared ... But Detective Angie Pallorino never forgot the violent rapist who left a distinctive calling card—crosses etched into the flesh of his victim’s foreheads. When a comatose Jane Doe is found in a local cemetery, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and nearly drowned, Angie is struck by the eerie similarities to her earlier unsolved rapes...Categorized as:
heroine sleuth suspense mystery dark contemporary independent heroine office open-door -
Murder Girl by Lisa Renee Jones
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsNew 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...Categorized as:
heroine sleuth suspense mystery strong heroine dark contemporary length-medium audiobook -
Never Look Back by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 40 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... -
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.. -
A Fine Line by MercyAnn Summers
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis book is an interconnected standalone within the Ends World. While you don't have to read the Ends Duet before reading this book, it is recommended that you do in order to understand the entire Ends World up to this point.CarolinaI didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.That wasn’t my intention.And I knew he would come for me... -
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... -
Cold Deceit by Toni Anderson
A tenacious forensic anthropologist needs protection from an elite FBI HRT operator as they search for a ruthless killer in this Romantic Thriller by New York Times bestselling author Toni Anderson.When forensic anthropologist Zoe Miller stumbles across a murder victim in the blisteringly hostile Sonoran Desert, she triggers a chain of events that puts her in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer...Categorized as:
suspense heroine sleuth contemporary military forced proximity mystery dark length-medium -
Layered Lies by Kaylie Hunter
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsTwo years after her son was abducted, Kelsey Harrison rebuilds a new life for herself. She opens a store, makes new friends, and settles into a peaceful existence. At least, that’s what she hopes the world believes.Behind closed doors, Kelsey hunts her enemies, living a life of lies. She hasn’t forgotten, hasn’t forgiven. She searches for answers still... -
Illicit Captor by Maggie Cole
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsHe kidnapped me to avenge my husband. The husband I’ve never loved. The cruel man my father forced me to marry to teach me a lesson. My husband didn’t think twice about how to carry out those lessons. Now, I’ve gone from one prison to another. My captor is just as ruthless as my husband. He’ll kill, torture, and do everything to hurt my family until no one is left. Except for me...Categorized as:
suspense vengeance mafia dark alpha male contemporary forced proximity from hate to love -
Knight's Bright Eyes by Ciara St James
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKnight’s life completely changes once he finds out he has a daughter. The months he spends learning to be one and forming a relationship with her have been bumpy but good. He loves her and his club. The only thing his life is missing is female companionship. He has doubts he’ll ever have anything permanent, but he’s come to accept his daughter is his priority, not his love life... -
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 95 ratingsGina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake... -
Desperate Lies by Ella Miles
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsI lied. He lied. His search for answers is unrelenting.It makes me hate him, but I also want him. No, I can’t want him. I want to kill him, but I’d also die for him. I’m done relying on men to protect me.I’m the huntress, about to become the killer. Desperate Lies is Book 2 in the Lies Series. Ends on a cliffhanger... -
Into Temptation by Monica James
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsMonsters are real...and that monster is my father.Ten years ago, I surrendered. I thought I was doing the right thing. But lies and greed have once again destroyed my life, leaving me to deal with the aftermath.This life has always been a curse, but the world as I know it has changed. Belfast isn't what it used to be.Alliances are broken. Kingdoms have fallen... -
-
Key to Hell by Alex Grayson
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe highly anticipated conclusion of the Hell Night Series. Emo's story.Death. Destruction. Pain. A soulless void. It's his life. It's his reality.Emo doesn't feel. Anything. His soul is dark and filled with hatred. People in the small town of Malus watch him with fear, with reverence. Exactly the way he prefers it.Guilt surrounds him, caging him in an ominous past he refuses to let go... -
Blackout by Janine Infante Bosco
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEvery fairytale is just a tragedy with a twist. And happily-ever-after is a fantasy.Give me the real, ugly love of two people battling their demons to make it work. Two people like us. When the stakes have never been higher, I turn to my past. After all, it's our favorite sins that always do us in.But even in the midst of my blackout, there she is. The beacon of light I don't deserve... -
Dip's Flame by Andi Rhodes
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDip…I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended otherwise. As the Road Captain of Satan’s Legacy MC, I’ve seen and done things most wouldn’t be proud of, but me? I couldn’t care less. Good, bad, or indifferent, I am who I am, and you either accept me or don’t. That has always been the way I lived my life. Until the night I walk into a bar and see her... -
Texas Bodyguard: Chance by Janie Crouch
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShe 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... -
Guarded from Danger (Police and Fire: Operation Alpha) by Gia Cobie, Operation Alpha
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsI wrote romance stories. But I never expected to be living in one.At least, it started out that way.In the kind of meet-cute I’d put in my own books, I met Xavier by the romance section in a bookstore. Within the first five minutes, I knew he was someone I wanted to see again. And in some stroke of luck, he felt the same way, asking me out on a date before he left... -
Last Resort by Janie Crouch
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom 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... -
Concealed Affliction by Harlow Stone
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsRyder has done his best to break my armor. It’s been a slow process but he’s reminded me what it’s like to feel again. I could never thank him enough for the toe curling and life altering experiences. He’s been my light in a hurricane-but even I know the sun can’t shine all the time. I have a big decision to make and it’s not as simple as just going left or right, forward or backward... -
Tangled Promise by Ella Miles
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsI can’t keep my promises. I’ve made too many, to too many people. All the promises have tangled into a web of sin and truths. But there is one thing I’m certain of…I have to end this—us. This is Book 4 in the Sinful Truths series... -
Fallen Love by Ella Miles
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsI’ve fallen in love, then out. In… Out… Now, I’m more confused than ever. I always thought falling in love would be easy. It would feel right when I fell for the right woman. With Siren, does it feel so right, yet so wrong? This is Book 5 in the Sinful Truths series... -
Broken Anchor by Ella Miles
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsI’m broken. He’s broken. We are broken. But sometimes you have to shatter to pick up the pieces. To start over. To overcome our enemies. And find out if we can love again. He’s my anchor, but can our love be repaired? This is the final book in the Sinful Truths series... -
-
Inferno: Part 1 by T K Leigh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsI never believed in fate. That was something for the dreamers, the romantics, not someone as practical and pragmatic as I. Fate had nothing to do with me walking in on my soon-to-be husband in a compromising position with his secretary. Fate had nothing to do with me hopping on a plane to Rome, effectively standing up my former fiancE on our wedding day... -
Taken by Him by S.R. Jones
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHe took me like a thief in the night, but I was already his from the moment I laid eyes on him. Maxim Volkov. A name I had never heard before but one that my heart now beats for.He’s not an easy man to love. He’s hard. Brutal. Unforgiving. A weapon forged in the fire and pain of his early life. I will take that weapon and use it to bring down all who betrayed me...Categorized as:
vengeance suspense mafia contemporary dark super rich hero bad boys forced proximity -
Duty by Bethany-Kris
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThey say heavy is the head that wears the crown … Andino Marcello’s world is turned upside down when he becomes the next heir apparent to the Marcello empire. He was comfortable in his place as a Capo, but comfort is for the weak in the world of mafioso. The boss’s seat is waiting... -
Unlawful Justice by K.C. Lynn, K. Langston
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsSeek the truth and you will find justice. The peaceful town of Harmony Falls, Texas, has been rocked to its core by an unspeakable crime. One that harbors revenge and injustice. Schoolteacher Olivia Bradshaw can’t remember what happened that horrific night, but it’s easy to see the effect it’s had on those around her... -
Ace by Brooke Summers
All she’s wanted is to be loved… He only wants fun...Andromeda Peters lives her life in the shadows.Being dealt trauma at such a young age, she steeled her heart against everyone.She never thought she’d find someone she could trust.Until Ace.She’s the daughter of his enemy… He’s the man that she loves…Ace made a vow months ago. He would take out all those that harmed his sister... -
Trident's Enjoyment by Ciara St James
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsTrident gave thirty years of his life to his country. He enjoyed that life and after searching for two years, he thinks he’s found a new family. However, it isn’t just a new family he finds, but a woman who affects him like no other. He finds love. If only the woman in question will give him the time of day.He’s battled for months to get her to see him as something more than a player...
Fantastic book recommendations by romance book lovers for romance book lovers.
Find out more about romance.io.
Find out more about romance.io.
Get recommendations by genres & tropes
Use the romance book finder to mix and match over 100 content keywords to find the books that match your preferences

Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.