Books like 'The American'

Readers who enjoyed The American by Jodi Ellen Malpas also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

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  • Lover in Lingerie by Penelope Sky

    Lover in Lingerie by Penelope Sky

    14 ratings
    I know this has no future.Only heartbreak.Bosco Roth may be the man I've fallen for, but he'll never be the man I marry.He's too dangerous. Too risky.When our three months is over, I'll walk away.At least that's what I keep telling myself..
  • Millions by Pepper Winters

    Millions by Pepper Winters

    19 ratings
    “Love had been given and taken and now…it had been stolen. No one steals from a thief—especially from me—and I will defend what’s mine until my dying breath. It’s not a question of what I’m willing to sacrifice but who to deserve her…” Once upon a time, I stupidly believed if I could make Elder fall for me, everything would be perfect...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  billionaire  crime  dark  drama  kidnapping
  • Unraveled by Helen Hardt

    Unraveled by Helen Hardt

    19 ratings
    Ryan Steel and Ruby Lee are in love, but before they can move forward with a life together, they’re determined to bring resolution to the many unanswered questions they still face. To complicate matters, new threats arise with the arrival of two startling figures from their pasts. As they race against time to find answers, unexpected forces pull them apart...
    Categorized as:
    billionaire  crime  dark  family  kidnapping  steamy  suspense  abuse
  • Bound by Aleatha Romig

    Bound by Aleatha Romig

    14 ratings
    With more revealed, what does that mean for the future? From New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes a brand-new dark romance trilogy bringing us back to the same dangerous underworld as WEB OF SIN. You do not need to read the Web of Sin trilogy to get caught in this new and intriguing saga, Tangled Web...
  • Forever My Saint: All The Pretty Things Trilogy Volume 3 by Monica James

    Forever My Saint: All The Pretty Things Trilogy Volume 3 by Monica James

    14 ratings
    All hope was lost until Zoey Hennessy walked back into my world, shaking it up beyond repair when she uttered two simple words. He’s alive. She speaks of her brother, my Saint, the man who lost everything to set me free. I believed he was dead. I saw it with my own two eyes. But when Zoey proves he’s alive and being held captive by a monster, I know what I have to do...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  kidnapping  multi-pov
  • Beneath These Shadows by Meghan March

    Beneath These Shadows by Meghan March

    21 ratings
    From USA Today bestselling author Meghan March comes a new dangerously sexy alpha hero... The only permanent thing in my life is the ink I put on my clients. I drift from city to city, in and out of beds, from one tattoo shop to the next. Every time I start to put down roots, I rip them up. Until New Orleans. Until her. She’s everything I’m not. Full of fire and life...
  • Hearts Divine by Catherine Wiltcher

    Hearts Divine by Catherine Wiltcher

    15 ratings
    HEARTS DIVINE is the second book in bestselling author Catherine Wiltcher’s dark and thrilling Santiago Trilogy. Eve The FBI is forcing me apart from the man who haunts my dreams. The man who stole me, broke me and made me his forever. Dante Santiago. My deepest, darkest secret...
  • Tallowwood by N.R. Walker

    Tallowwood by N.R. Walker

    16 ratings
    Cold cases, murder, lies, and an unimaginable truth.Sydney detective August Shaw has spent the last decade of work solving cold cases. Since the death of his boyfriend eight years ago, August works alone, lives alone, is alone — and that’s exactly how he likes it...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  cheerful-mc  crime  dark  drama  family  grief
  • Copper by K. Webster

    Copper by K. Webster

    10 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...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  family  kidnapping  multi-pov
  • Thousands by Pepper Winters

    Thousands by Pepper Winters

    18 ratings
    “Love had been stolen from me for reasons entirely my fault. But then a miracle happened, and Pim gave me something I thought was lost forever. She gave me a love I’d earned. Love that ruined me. Love that made me hopelessly hers…”Once upon a time, I didn’t think I’d ever be normal. Now, I’m talking and trusting, and it’s all thanks to Elder...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  billionaire  crime  dark  drama  kidnapping
  • When Heroes Fall by Giana Darling

    When Heroes Fall by Giana Darling

    18 ratings
    I am the villain of my own story...Jilted by my fiance. A disappointment to my family. Haunted by my childhood traumas. I felt so much all my life that I resolved to feeling nothing at all. Until I met my match. As the most infamous mafioso of the 21st century, Dante Salvatore was madly passionate, unequivocally bad, and entirely too dangerous to know...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  cheerful-mc  crime  dark  family  grumpy-mc
  • Slay by Nina Levine

    Slay by Nina Levine

    18 ratings
    Book 4 in the Bestselling Storm MC Series by Nina Levine BLOOD WILL BE SHED... The ghosts of Donovan "Blade" Brookes' life are closing in on him.   Hardened by an abusive childhood and haunted by the murder of his fiancé, Blade struggles against the dark forces threatening to consume him.  When he helps Layla Reed in her hour of need, he has no idea she will be the light to his darkness...
    Categorized as:
    angst  crime  dark  drama  family  multi-pov  steamy  suspense
  • Ashes by Aleatha Romig

    Ashes by Aleatha Romig

    12 ratings
    “From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire...” ~ Robert Frost Patrick has awakened a fire I forgot existed...
  • Carson by Jane Henry

    Carson by Jane Henry

    12 ratings
    Megan: Carson Flynn is dangerous and brooding.Intensely possessive.Angry, fierce...Haunted.He’s a member of the Clan. A criminal.And a single father who’d burn the world for his daughter.But when he turns his eye on me, I know I should run.I should definitely hide.But it’s already too late...Because when Carson sets his mind on something, he gets what he wants.And what he wants... is me...
  • The Reaper by RuNyx

    The Reaper by RuNyx

    26 ratings
    What happens when the untameable wind and the endless sea collide in the dark of the night?Tristan ‘The Predator’ Caine had been unprepared for Morana Vitalio. After spending his entire life with a vow he broke on a rainy night, he finds himself torn in a battle between his painful past and an uncertain future. The only thing he knows? Her life still belongs to him...
  • Target on Our Backs by J.M. Darhower

    Target on Our Backs by J.M. Darhower

    20 ratings
    The best way to keep your word is never to give it. Not long ago, in a chapel in Vegas, I swore to love Karissa for the rest of my days. But nobody's promised an infinite number of tomorrows. Nobody's promised forever. Sometimes, all we have left is today. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. It should've been over, we should've been happy, but people are making it hard for me to live in peace...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  billionaire  crime  dark  drama  family
  • The Fallen One by Brittney Sahin

    The Fallen One by Brittney Sahin

    6 ratings
    From Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author Brittney Sahin, comes a sizzling love story between a morally gray hero who doesn’t believe in second chances, and the woman who will make him question everything. Five years ago, a phone call forever changed my life as I listened to my wife being murdered half a world away...
  • Bad Deeds by Lisa Renee Jones

    Bad Deeds by Lisa Renee Jones

    14 ratings
    Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy in Bad Deeds , the smoldering, scorching next novel in the explosively sexy Dirty Money series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones. Would you bleed for the one you love? To save his family empire from the grip of the drug cartel, Shane is pushed to the edge of darkness, forced to make choices he might never make...
  • Property of Drex #2 by C.M. Owens

    Property of Drex #2 by C.M. Owens

    18 ratings
    *This is the conclusion of Drex and Eve's story, but there will be other books in the series featuring other couples.*What’so the most selfless thing you’ve ever done? What price tag would you put on the ability to save the ones you love?They say the worst decisions are made by the desperate or the fools. I was desperate enough to make a foolish decision to save my family. The cost? Me...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  family  friendship
  • Blood of My Monster by Rina Kent

    Blood of My Monster by Rina Kent

    18 ratings
    From the USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a new dark mafia romance.I’m out for revenge. He’s out to rule the world.Kirill and I are as different as day and night. We shouldn’t have been in the same frame or universe.But we meet under the strangest circumstances.He’s my superior in the military and the man who’ll introduce me to carnage...
  • Flame by Aleatha Romig

    Flame by Aleatha Romig

    12 ratings
    “What matters most is how you walk through the fire.” ~ Charles Bukowski No longer simmering and crackling beyond our realm, the fire smoldering in the distance roars to life. The blaze has the capacity to scorch and destroy everything and everyone in its path. All that I’ve known and believed was obliterated the moment Madeline spoke a truth I’d never suspected...
  • This is the End, Baby by K. Webster

    This is the End, Baby by K. Webster

    12 ratings
    ***This is the seventh and final book in the series. First six books must be read in order to fully understand this story line. THIS STORY IS A NOVELLA AND SHORTER THAN THE REST.*** They say the king is the most powerful piece on the board. However, they haven’t met me. This queen knows all the rules. She plays the game better than him...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  multi-pov  steamy
  • Entangled by Bethany-Kris

    Entangled by Bethany-Kris

    12 ratings
    Gian Guzzi has everything a mafia boss could want, but it comes with strings. He shouldn’t be wasting time on a redhead he can’t have, when men like him are not allowed to be affected by silly things like love. A boss’s job is never done, and Gian has far better things to worry about—what with someone wanting him dead, and someone else wanting him in prison for good...
  • Where the Snow Falls by London Miller, Bethany-Kris

    Where the Snow Falls by London Miller, Bethany-Kris

    14 ratings
    Blood always leaves the brightest stains where the snow falls. Fresh out of lockup, Kazimir Markovic is focused on two things only—having Violet Gallucci back at his side, and putting his father in the ground. With his plans already in motion the very second he’s free, Kaz goes after what’s most important. Violet first. Vasily second. The Russians are out for blood...
  • Where the Wind Whispers by Bethany-Kris, London Miller

    Where the Wind Whispers by Bethany-Kris, London Miller

    14 ratings
    There is death where the wind whispers. Left for dead by his own father on a snowy sidewalk, Kazimir Markovic finally understands what true betrayal really means, and just how far one will go to keep a secret. He only needs to survive, to make it home alive to his wife, and then everyone else will know what it means, too...
  • Obsessed by Aleatha Romig

    Obsessed by Aleatha Romig

    14 ratings
    Everything changed the night our eyes met across the room. His green gaze upon me prickled my skin with uncustomary warmth while my peek beneath his cuff—of a riot of color on his wrist—sparked my insatiable curiosity. Tall and mysterious, Kader was a man whose secrets I longed to know...
  • Sergio: a Dark Mafia Romance by Natasha Knight

    Sergio: a Dark Mafia Romance by Natasha Knight

    14 ratings
    I’m the first-born son of the mafia king. The favorite. Destined to rule, I’m a dangerous man, a ruthless one. But in my world, you have to be. Then Natalie stumbles into my life. Wrong place. Wrong time. Twice, fate put her in my path. Twice, fate placed the innocent lamb at the mercy of the monster. I gave her a chance to walk away. Told her it would be better for her if she did...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  family  kidnapping
  • Avenging Angel by Naomi Porter

    Avenging Angel by Naomi Porter

    15 ratings
    The mayhem continues for the Knight's Legion MC…Storm. My protector. I need his darkness, like he needs my light. After surviving an abusive relationship, I swore off men. Until the President of the Knight’s Legion MC crashes into my life, holding me captive with his haunted gray eyes. Storm is a force to be reckoned with and I welcome the chaos— it makes me feel alive. He owns me. Body and soul...
  • Carter Reed 2 by Tijan, Christian Fox

    Carter Reed 2 by Tijan, Christian Fox

    24 ratings
    Carter bought his way out of the mafia to protect Emma, but when an old ghost returns to the Mauricio Family, a chain of events starts that can harm everyone. While Carter must decide to return to the Mauricio Family or not, a face that is oddly familiar to Emma comes into her life...
    Categorized as:
    angst  anti-hero  billionaire  crime  dark  drama  family  kidnapping
  • Bennett Mafia by Tijan

    Bennett Mafia by Tijan

    24 ratings
    There were always whispers about my roommate at Hillcrest Academy. The wealthiest of the wealthy sent their kids to our boarding school, and Brooke Bennett had been at the top, though I never quite knew why. She was fun and outgoing, but she kept quiet about her family. The only things she showed me were photographs of her brothers. I became fascinated with her second-oldest brother...
    Categorized as:
    angst  anti-hero  billionaire  crime  dark  drama  family  kidnapping
  • Broken Anchor by Ella Miles

    Broken Anchor by Ella Miles

    6 ratings
    I’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...
  • Indestructible by Charlene Namdhari

    Indestructible by Charlene Namdhari

    6 ratings
    ***THIS STANDALONE TABOO LOVE TRIANGLE, IS BEST ENJOYED WHEN YOU DON'T READ ANY REVIEWS OR SPOILERS BEFOREHAND. GOING IN WITH AN OPEN MIND IS BEST.***(Book 4 features Zayne and best read after Book 2)"Forgiveness is an art only love can paint”My Past:I loved onceI was abused twiceI was betrayed thriceI faced death four timesMy Present:I survived...
  • Haven by K.A. Merikan

    Haven by K.A. Merikan

    6 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  crime  suspense  drama  organized-crime  anti-hero  angst  steamy
  • Motorcycle Daddy by Laylah Roberts

    Motorcycle Daddy by Laylah Roberts

    16 ratings
    She’s the shy, quiet girl next door. He’s the bad ass biker with an attitude.It’s never going to work. . .Sunny knows she should steer clear of her neighbor. He’s rough, gruff and quite possibly, dangerous. So why can’t she keep her mind off him? Or her body from reacting around him? Or her Little side from wanting to appear and beg him to cuddle her, kiss her, spank her. .
  • The Damaged by Tijan

    The Damaged by Tijan

    16 ratings
    The world knows about Kash.Both Bailey and Kash were used to living in the shadows, but now they must live in the public eye.Kash is figuring out his new found role against his grandfather, and Bailey is starting her graduate program late. At university, everyone is watching Bailey, and some are wondering if her legendary father, Peter Francis, bought her way into the elite program...
  • Nikolai by Roxie Rivera

    Nikolai by Roxie Rivera

    18 ratings
    After a brush with death as a juvenile delinquent, Vivian swore she'd never stray across that line again—but there's just one problem with her plan to stay on the right side of the law. She's completely, irrevocably and unabashedly in love with Nikolai, the Russian mob boss who saved her life...
  • Gilded Agony by K.A. Merikan

    Gilded Agony by K.A. Merikan

    8 ratings
    “We are two halves of the same rotten apple.”Deep in the Amazonian jungle, there is a mansion with a rose garden and a hen house where juicy tomatoes are the perfect shade of red, and marble countertops glisten.Inside, where even the shadows don’t reach, something is rotting, and the perfect facade can only hold the stench for so long...
    Categorized as:
    angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  organized-crime  steamy  suspense
  • Marcus by Bethany-Kris

    Marcus by Bethany-Kris

    8 ratings
    When falling is easy, people often forget about the crash.The time has finally come for Marcus Guzzi to step into his birthright. He’s the firstborn—the next boss to take over his family’s mafia and he’s never been more ready...
  • Burned Cinder by Jagger Cole

    Burned Cinder by Jagger Cole

    10 ratings
    The monster from under my bed is now the one in it.First of all, this is not a fairytale. There’s no Prince Charming.But there is a villain.An insidiously gorgeous devil with eyes that pierce through all my secrets, and a cold black heart pumping pure venom and conquest.But seven years after Noel Ransom scorched-earthed my life, I’ve come for my revenge.Except Noel’s come for something, too: me...
  • Bossy Brothers: Johnny by J.A. Huss

    Bossy Brothers: Johnny by J.A. Huss

    10 ratings
    She wasn’t supposed to be the princess I wasn’t looking for. When my father ‘died’ five years ago I took over the ‘family business’. But when I say business, I really mean secret society. Or cult. Or militia. Hell, let’s keep it simple and call it the mob. It’s just not that mob. It’s much darker, much dirtier, and much more dangerous than any old everyday mob...
  • Buttons & Pain by Penelope Sky

    Buttons & Pain by Penelope Sky

    21 ratings
    When I saw my escape, I took it. Now I'm in New York City and trying to get my life back on track. Despite the tracker in my ankle, Crow hasn't come for me. He hasn't even called me. I told him the depth of my feelings but he cruelly rejected them. Maybe he's forgotten about me. One day, I walk into my apartment and spot the pile of buttons on the counter...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  billionaire  crime  dark  drama  family
  • Savage Storm by Naomi Porter

    Savage Storm by Naomi Porter

    15 ratings
    Mayhem is coming for the Knight's Legion MC…Madeline. My Angel. The light to my darkness. As President of the Knight’s Legion MC, death and destruction come with the territory—this club is my life. Then she comes along and casts a spell on me with her innocent blue eyes. A healing balm to my soul. Powerful enough to chase away my demons...
  • Scarred Regrets: A Dark Mafia Romance by Adelaide Forrest

    Scarred Regrets: A Dark Mafia Romance by Adelaide Forrest

    12 ratings
    Broken men don’t fall in love.We linger in the darkness, consumed by the sins that define us.Irina is the sole reason my heart beats. She’s everything that matters in a world filled with evil that a woman so good and pure should never have to see.She’ll add another scar to my collection — this one engraved on my heart.When she’s taken by our enemy to use for his vengeance...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  angst  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  kidnapping  multi-pov
  • Black Limit by Charlotte Byrd

    Black Limit by Charlotte Byrd

    12 ratings
    Is this the end of us? I found a woman I can’t live without. We’ve been through so much. We’ve had our set backs. But our love is stronger than ever. We are survivors. But when they take her from me at the altar, right before she is to become my wife, everything breaks. I will do anything to free her. I will do anything to make her mine for good...
  • The Emperor by RuNyx

    The Emperor by RuNyx

    24 ratings
    What happens when a legacy of ruin mates with a realm of blood?Heir to the notorious Tenebrae Outfit, Dante Maroni has been trained since birth. A silent rebel in the shadows, he has learned to hide his ruthlessness under his charm, his brutality under his suits, and his love for one woman under his silence...
  • The Skeleton King by Lauren Gilley

    The Skeleton King by Lauren Gilley

    14 ratings
    His club brothers call him the Money Man. Vice President Kingston Walsh is one of the most trusted members of the Lean Dogs MC. He’s thoughtful, quiet, and he’s all business. Who better to serve as guardian of the club’s skeletons? He never counted on the girl, but he’s not letting her go...
    Categorized as:
    age-gap  anti-hero  crime  dark  drama  family  kidnapping  multi-pov
  • The Babysitter by Jessica Gadziala

    The Babysitter by Jessica Gadziala

    14 ratings
    He went to the woods to get away from it all. His past, the demons ever at his heels. And, perhaps most importantly, people. One million miles away from anyone. Save for the occasional visit from a client he had to endure. And that was exactly the way he liked it. Until one night, he finds her. Battered, scarred, tortured by the memories, in need of a safe haven. So he does the unthinkable...
  • Where the Sun Hides by Bethany-Kris, London Miller

    Where the Sun Hides by Bethany-Kris, London Miller

    14 ratings
    In places where the sun can hide, the darkest betrayals are made. Violet Gallucci and Kazimir Markovic have grown up in the same city, but on opposite sides of the game they call life—Violet, an Italian principessa della mafia, and Kaz, a Russian Bratva heir. Lines have been drawn, and they know not to cross them...
  • An Obsession with Vengeance by Nancy Haviland

    An Obsession with Vengeance by Nancy Haviland

    14 ratings
    Maksim Kirov is a mobster who gets what he wants, both at his posh gentleman’s club in Hell’s Kitchen and in the bedroom. Sexy, dangerous, and obsessed with control, he’s risen through the ranks to become a highly respected leader in the tight-knit Tarasov crime syndicate. He rules with an iron fist…until he meets Sydney Martin...
  • Damage Control by Lisa Renee Jones

    Damage Control by Lisa Renee Jones

    14 ratings
    Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy in Damage Control, the smoldering, scorching next novel in the explosively sexy Dirty Money series. The only thing more dangerous than a dark secret is a damaged heart… Shane Brandon has been pushed to the brink, torn between his corrupt family and his explosive, all-consuming desire for Emily Stevens, who he now knows is not who, and what, she seems...
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