Books like 'Merciless Queen'
Readers who enjoyed Merciless Queen by M.L. Philpitt also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
dark romance arranged marriage mafia forced proximity from hate to love dual-pov suspense
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The Savage by Stella Andrews
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIvan may be my name but I am best known as The Savage.Born and bred Bratva heir and loving every delicious minute of my life. That's why it was easy to kidnap the entitled Charlotte Richmond from her finishing school in England. It was my pleasure to hide her away while her depraved father searched for her.I have no heart, no emotion, and no morals.She is a bargaining chip, a means to an end...Categorized as:
mafia from hate to love forced proximity suspense contemporary dark alpha male age difference -
The Nomad by Amelia Shea
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsBroke and bitter, Karia Mitchell is just done. So damn tired of it all. After spending a decade in a loveless and toxic marriage, she’s finally breaking free and rebuilding her life. The prospect of starting over at forty-one is gut wrenching, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes as long as she’s rid of her ex... -
City Of Thieves by Cora Kenborn, Catherine Wiltcher
From Cora Kenborn and Catherine Wiltcher comes a new mafia romance where love is the most dangerous crime of all... This city tells a story of a man seeking vengeance… Renzo Marchesi gives me two choices when he walks into my art gallery: Help him find his brother’s killer or suffer the consequences. He’s a mafia prince… Heir to the Marchesi throne. A man consumed by his demons.Beautiful...Categorized as:
suspense mafia from hate to love dark age difference length-medium m-f explicit-open-door -
Savage by Stoni Alexander
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsREVENGE SERVED HARDMy friends call me Jericho. My enemies know me as Reaper. Ain’t nothin’ more important than family. So, when my baby bro is gunned down in front of me, I go on the hunt to settle the score. Fury drives me forward. Sleep becomes my enemy. I’m out for blood.I work alone. No spotter. No backup. I get you in my sniperscope, you’re already dead... -
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Deviant Princess by Tracy Lorraine
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... -
Save Me by Ariana Nash
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe third and final book in the outstanding mafia/priest MM Forgive Me series. Vitari Angelini knows selling a cache of Battaglia guns to a drug lord is not what Francis would call legal, but he’ll never find out. Besides, it’s for a good cause: Francis’s happy ever after... -
Torian by Eden Summers
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom International bestselling author, Eden Summers, comes a seductive forbidden romance destined to leave you breathless. I fell for the enemy.A man whose actions resemble the devil so closely it frightens me.We were meant to hate each other.To despise and detest.But his appeal is so much greater than the playboy smile and body built for sin.What I'm doing is wrong.What I'm feeling is immoral... -
Protective Phlox by Brooklyn Cross
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsI‘d let her walk out of my life once before, but this time, she wasn’t getting away. Savannah Freeborn was mine. I was a mafia boss’s son and she was an FBI agent, so I should’ve kept my distance. But, I didn’t. The moment I touched her I knew that my fate was sealed. We were never meant to be and as hard as I tried to get Savannah out of my blood, I couldn’t do it...Categorized as:
mafia from hate to love suspense arranged marriage dark vengeance super rich hero length-medium -
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:
mafia suspense forced proximity from hate to love dark alpha male contemporary vengeance -
A Fractured Reign by Veronica Eden
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe 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...Categorized as:
suspense mafia from hate to love forced proximity new adult cruel hero bad boys college -
Captive Heart: Armani by Stella Gray
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNothing lasts forever… except the Bellanti’s hatred for the Bruno family.My family prepared me to fight.My best friend taught me loyalty.My husband showed me who I am.And now I’m caught between them all.The thing about secrets is that they always come out.The past is never gone.No one expected it to explode.I finally understand why my life led me here... -
Wicked Secrets by K.B. Winters
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCharlie Ellison found me broken, beaten and bruised. Another biker in a long line of bikers in my life. Except he’s not like the others,And he has me questioning everything. He’s tough, strong and hotter than hell. Could he be my knight on a chrome stallion?Or the devil in a leather kutte?All I know is, he’s different. He makes me feel things I never thought possible... -
Corrupt Gods Collection by Cora Kenborn, Catherine Wiltcher
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA thrilling arranged marriage mafia romance collection where every choice has a consequence…A Santiago is a lesson in ruin.A Carrera bleeds for revenge.Thalia Santiago is the daughter of my enemy.A beautiful rebel with a single cause.Impulsive.Fearless.And ripe for her father's undoing.I recognized her the moment she stepped into my casino... -
Angel of Darkness: An Italian Mafia romance by Stephanie Amaral
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBlood runs thicker than water, mine thicker than most. But my heritage weighs heavily on my sense of self, a misfit in a circle of Men of Honor.A Mafia princess without a crown. A queen without a reign.Great lessons come from ruin, as unraveled truths and shattered illusions break me beyond repair.But from ruin came bold decisions... -
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Once A Villain: A Dark Assassin Romance by Saige Parker
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMorally grey? Try pitch black so dark they nicknamed him The Reaper.Axel Hawthorne—Axe, is more monster than man. A bloodthirsty assassin with no mercy, no heart, no soul.The nightmare lurking in the underworld my father commands. No one escapes his wrath.And now? I'm his.Trapped in his sick game of revenge.There's no escape. No hope... -
Captive Rival: Armani by Stella Gray
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsI 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...Categorized as:
suspense mafia from hate to love forced proximity arranged marriage dual-pov contemporary dub-con -
Cherished Union by Brooke Summers
When the woman he cherishes above all else has been hurt… his inner demons come out to play. Adelina Gallo’s life changed in the blink of an eye. She always knew that she’d be used to further her family’s connections. Hayden Gallagher is portrayed as a monster. Someone that Adelina should be fearful of...Categorized as:
suspense mafia arranged marriage from hate to love dark alpha male marriage of convenience abuse -
Harder Betrayal by Penelope Sky
I knew a relationship with Cauldron wouldn't be easy.But I underestimated just how challenging it would be...Categorized as:
suspense mafia from hate to love contemporary super rich hero dark new adult explicit-plentiful -
Vengeful Lies by T.L. Smith, Kia Carrington-Russell
Dear Kitten,Marry me and I’ll give you the world.Refuse, and I’ll burn yours to the ground.Sincerely,Your soon-to-be husbandIt started out as a hit. One bullet. One man.My orders are clear—get close to the mafia heir, Eli Monti, play with his head, and wait for the signal to end it. End him.I thought he would be my easiest mark yet. But somehow I’m the one being played...Categorized as:
from hate to love mafia suspense arranged marriage forced proximity dual-pov super rich hero dark -
Naked Truth by Lisa Renee Jones
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsJax 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...Categorized as:
suspense dual-pov from hate to love contemporary dark mystery super rich hero length-epic -
Annoyed At First Sight by Lani Lynn Vale
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe first time Cassius Ulysses Costas met Alice Paradis, she was in a string bikini and filling up a long line of boats that were there just to see her. She was eighteen and every man’s wet dream. Even his. For the longest time, he went out of his way to stay as far away from her as he could get without actually taking his eyes off of her. For years, he was the better person... -
Greed by Eva Charles
An arranged marriage, warring families, a criminal enterprise, a ruthless antihero, and a heroine with a secret so devastating it could topple an empire. Dark Temptations—where a dangerous billionaire and a young heiress play a high-stakes game of love and lust. Wealth, power, and greed. A modern-day, steamy, romantic suspense series... -
Priest and his Anarchist by Amo Jones
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsPeople 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... -
Deadly by Suzanne Steele
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSome people say she's a machine and maybe she is when it comes to Born Bratva business. When her father gifts her with a new bodyguard named Oleg she does everything she can to torment him. Through the years of watching over the Pakhan's daughter Oleg finds himself wrapped up in a dark, sadistic, out of control love. It is the only weakness he has ever known... -
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Vengeful Hearts by S. Lexi
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsErika 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...Categorized as:
suspense from hate to love mafia contemporary vengeance strong heroine dark length-long -
Vengeful Hearts by S. Lexi
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsErika 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...Categorized as:
mafia suspense from hate to love contemporary vengeance strong heroine dark length-long -
Eclipse Heart by Mya Grey
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratings💋Hating him should be easy—he killed my brother.He’s my sworn enemy… Instead, I'm fighting the urge to rip his clothes off. Every inch of me remembers that night—how his hard body felt claiming mine.Now, I’m living under Leonid’s control, Trapped in his house as his captive. Playing by his rules. It wasn’t supposed to go like this – Every day, every night, under the same roof... -
Summer Sparrow: by Emmerson Hoyt
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsRylee 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...Categorized as:
from hate to love dual-pov suspense contemporary new adult dark small town length-epic -
Boss's Vendetta by Via Mari
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsA ruthless mafia boss with a score to settle. A sassy heroine who’s not getting away. Will any chance at love survive the aftermath?We knew the bloodbath was possible, just not when or how our enemies would strike. In a heart-wrenching minute of blazing guns, the responsibility of getting retribution for the savage Italian Crime Family falls to me, Salvatore Larussio...Categorized as:
mafia from hate to love dual-pov suspense dark contemporary alpha male age difference -
Distracted by A.K. Evans
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMarriage 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...Categorized as:
suspense forced proximity dual-pov mystery dark friends to lovers military length-short -
Ruined by A.K. Evans
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHanna 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
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHanna 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... -
Mine to Shield (Protection) by Kennedy L. Mitchell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCan this broken FBI agent and young professor work together to take down a dangerous cult despite their rocky past or will their true identities be exposed, threatening their lives and future together.Going undercover with the FBI to infiltrate a dangerous cult was the last thing I expected during my week off from teaching. But here I am...Categorized as:
forced proximity suspense dual-pov office friends to lovers age difference dark length-medium -
Vengeful by Kristen Luciani
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOne single gun shot threw my life into upheaval. An assassination that will bring my family to its knees.It’s up to me to avenge the murder.An eye for an eye…that’s my MO.I have one job to do, and it may be my last.Find my father’s killer and make him payBefore he finds me.But there’s one problem - one incredibly sexy obstacle I never saw coming.Tali Severinov.I’ve met my match with this woman... -
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Mafia Crown by L. Steele
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsMine to destroy. Mine to ruin. She belongs to me...He’s my second chance.The man with the face of my first love.A terrifying and magnetically gorgeous man with brutal blue eyes.An outlaw whose very presence sucks the air from my lungs.A monster who doesn't remember his past, whose soul is shrouded in scars, pain, and darkness.A villain who refuses to acknowledge my very existence...Categorized as:
mafia arranged marriage from hate to love contemporary multicultural vengeance dark length-medium -
Captive Bride: Armani by Stella Gray
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsI was supposed to get close to him…but Armani keeps his secrets closer. Everyone knows that Armani is the most dangerous Bellanti brother.No one knows what he’s capable of. I do know there is nothing he won’t do for his family. For months, I’ve interacted with the dark, broody man.The way he looks at me moves the earth under my feet.His touch makes my skin tingle.But I’ve had my own agenda... -
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His Perfect Little Hacker by Everly Raine
Getting hacked into wasn’t on Betsy’s list of things she wanted to happen to her. Getting kidnapped a couple hours later and being held against her will wasn’t either. But both of those happened to her. Finding out the man who kidnapped her was a Daddy Dom, something she had been longing for her whole life... -
No Promises, No Lies : A crossover mafia hockey romance by A.J. Wilding
I took her to get revenge, but now I want so much more. Rory Kostalova was never part of the plan. Kidnapping the Russian mafia princess was a move for control, a way to gain the upper hand in a brutal war. She was meant to break, to bend to my will like everyone else.But Rory is different—strong, fiery, untouchable...Categorized as:
mafia arranged marriage from hate to love suspense forced proximity dark found-family new adult -
Angel's Promise by Aleatha Romig
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsEverett Ramses came into my life like a hurricane on a dark New Orleans night. With a deep voice and penetrating gaze, his mere presence tingled my nerves and twisted my insides much like the city’s legendary stories of spirits and ghosts. As the ruler of New Orleans, Everett Ramses lives life hard and takes what he wants without apology.He wants me to be his queen...Categorized as:
suspense from hate to love mafia arranged marriage contemporary dark alpha male age difference -
The Wolf and the Sheep by Penelope Sky
Till death do us part. My father married me off to one of the most powerful men in Italy. Maverick DeVille. But I call him the wolf. He calls me his sheep. The arranged marriage was detested by us both, but we had to make sacrifices for the right reasons. He needed to avenge his mother and I needed protection from the mobs that want to torture me...Categorized as:
suspense mafia dual-pov from hate to love forced proximity arranged marriage contemporary dark -
Chained Hands by T L Smith
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSailorMy husband sold me.Not only did he sell me, but he told me he loved me while doing the deal.What lies he tells.Only fools believe him.Unfortunately, one of those fools was...me.KeirI'm not in the habit of buying women.I didn't need to.I was a king of my realm, the devil you whispered about in your sleep.So, when his debt fell due, he sold me his wife... -
Persephone & Hades by Lee Savino, Stasia Black
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsI’m king of the criminal underworld.I always get what I want.And she’s my obsession.Cora is new to the city of sin.Her innocent blue eyes beg for me to claim her.But I’m not the billionaire she thinks I am.There’s a darkness within me.And Cora is a shining light.She’s beautiful. A virgin.I’m ruthless. A beast.She found me for a reason.She’ll be my queen... -
Fall by A.J. Merlin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt didn’t feel real until they showed up at my door—without their masks.When they knock, I let them in. Even though I know I should slam the door in their faces and call the cops. I know I shouldn’t be this curious, especially after what happened at the warehouse.But I can’t bring myself to turn them away... -
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Dark Throne by Shanna Handel
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsI want him. And I hate him. I've known him my whole life.He's the boy who loved to torment me,pulling the ends of my braids. But when he catches me on his family's property,He does worse than that. I plan to pay him back for his punishments,but my little prank goes awry.I've made a terrible mistake, angering our family's deadly rivals. My obedience is demanded to make amends... -
Stalking Ginevra by Gigi Styx
Ginevra: A masked man killed my fiancé, so I offered him anything in exchange for my life.He demanded my mouth, but he’s taken my body... and my soul.At night, he comes to my room to degrade and humiliate me for fun.When he murders my date, I turn to the only person strong enough to defeat my stalker.My ex-fiancé, Benito—the man I ruthlessly dumped for another guy... -
Wrathful Souls by Anne Malcom
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe survived the deadliest serial killer of her generation.Or so everyone thought.No one knew how many pieces of her he took to the grave with him. She hid her scars, her nightmares. She hid everything until she couldn’t.Then she ran.But Colby followed her.He’d follow her to the ends of the earth. To hell and back. Sariah knew he would…Because Colby had already wrenched her out of hell once... -
Protective Vows by B. B. Hamel
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsI crave freedom and his marriage bed.But I can’t have both.I’m all that’s left of the powerful Greek Florakis mafia. My father and my older brothers were murdered in a yacht explosion off the coast of Crete, and now my family is in tatters.That’s when Luca Valverde comes for me. He’s six-foot-four, covered in scars and muscles, a hardened killer, and my sworn enemy... -
Sixth Sin by Cora Kenborn, Mollie Stark
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsPreviously published as Starlet by Cora KenbornHollywood. Mafia. Love. Lust. Secrets. Corruption.From USA Today best-selling author Cora Kenborn comes a dark and twisted enemies-to-lovers retelling of Anastasia.They call me America's Sweetheart. Hollywood royalty. The last of an era. Sole survivor of LA's most infamous crime. I'm not any of those things.He forced me into the spotlight... -
Savage Prince: A Savage Kings MC Spin-off Novel by Lane Hart, D.B. West
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWhen my best friend dumped her fiancé on their wedding day, I thought it served him right.After all, the first time I met Kellen Hawthorne, he offered to buy my panties before he even knew my name.But of course, the rich prick’s enormous ego can’t handle being rejected.He threatened to hold everyone in the church hostage unless I agree to marry him right then and there...
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