Books like 'Not What It Seems'
Readers who enjoyed Not What It Seems by Nicky James also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance mystery psychological action / adventure mlm lgbtq dark suspense age-gap
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All the Lies by S.T. Abby
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsTo understand the monsters in the world, you have to get inside their heads. It's a dangerous place to be, especially when you start to empathize and lose your own sense of morality.But that's never happened to me...I've never felt conflicted on any case. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It's simple. Black and white. There's no such thing as a gray area.But fuck this case... -
Scarlet Angel by S.T. Abby
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsTo kill a monster, you have to be twice as monstrous. To love a monster, you have to share your soul...Logan Bennett makes me want to have a future not tainted by the constant hunger for revenge. Doesn't mean I can stop. Doesn't mean I want to stop. It just means I want more...one day... -
Sidetracked by S.T. Abby
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsThey always want to break me, but I'm too strong now. Untouchable.Or at least I was...until her.****LOGANI've had tunnel vision for one main goal for so long, that I forgot there was a whole other world just outside. Until Lana.She's everything I never expected, and I love the fact I can never guess her every move or reaction. It's part of the reason I keep falling... -
Forever Mine by Anna Zaires
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsI fought against fate, and I won. I made a deal with the devil to keep her. It was supposed to be over. We were meant to be happy. Too bad my enemies had other plans. Note: This is the conclusion of Peter & Sara’s story. It is strongly recommended that you read Twist Me and Capture Me trilogies before embarking on this book, as there will be major spoilers for those series... -
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The Last Straw by Sharon Sala
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCharlie Dodge may be down, but he’s most definitely not out. He’s still reeling after a series of earth-shattering events, so when a desperate woman hires Dodge Investigations to find her missing sister, the head-scratcher of a case is exactly the distraction Charlie and his steadfast partner, Wyrick, need... -
Reddest Black: A Billionaire SEAL Story, Book 7 by P.T. Michelle
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPassion, betrayal, and heartache collide in an emotionally charged and dangerous chain of events that could unravel everything Sebastian and Talia have worked to overcome... -
UNBREAKABLE by Crystal Daniels, Sandy Alvarez
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFear makes us stronger and we become Unbreakable. As the President of The Kings of Retribution MC, Jake Delane has dedicated his life to his family and watched his Club flourish. Seeing his brothers find strong women to stand at their sides unearthed buried feelings of loss; making the idea of never finding love again more absolute. Until a beautiful, and fierce redhead moved to town... -
Morally Ambiguous by Veronica Lancet
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShe just wants to be loved… by the one man who is not capable of feeling it. A CUTE PSYCHO Charming and unpredictable, Vlad Kuznetsov is known as the joker of the underground world. Known to many yet known by none, he is a true social chameleon. His feigned affability might present him as inoffensive but his inner demons could unleash a bloodbath at any time... -
Famished: Part Two: by Ellie Messe
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsI’m a coward. I just wanted to forget. I just wanted an escape from reality. I didn’t ask for any of this. Hiding the truth just might kill me, but how can I come clean when everything around me is so twisted? Funerals, weddings, secrets…between them all, I’m losing myself. I’m not even sure I know who I am anymore. I missed the memo where families are built on lies... -
The Dollmaker by Mary Burton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDr. Tessa McGowan had never seen anything quite like it. But the mutilated bodies on her exam table tell a stunningly macabre tale: someone with a twisted mind is kidnapping women and altering their faces to resemble real, life-size dolls. As a forensic pathologist, it’s her job to aid the agent leading the case—even if that agent is her estranged husband... -
Blackest Red by P.T. Michelle
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNew York Times, USA Today, and International Bestselling seriesNo matter how hard I've tried to let go of Mister Black, the memories of us together torture me. They're an unforgettable reminder of a life I can't have for many reasons.Burying myself in work mostly keeps thoughts of him to a screaming minimum, until he's thrust into my life under circumstances beyond my control... -
Gulf Lynx by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe road to Hell is paved with good intentions.In this woman’s action adventure, with an explosive psychic twist, USA Today bestselling author Fiona Quinn takes her reader into a world of international crime, terror, spies, and resistance networks... -
Stripping Bare by Kelsey Browning
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBad Boy... Billionaire... Baby Brother... Who is the real Jonah Steele? Video game mogul Jonah Steele may be a billionaire , but as the youngest brother in a family of alphas, his struggle to prove his worth is all-consuming. Although he saved his hometown from ruin, he can’t forgive himself for the biggest failure of his life... -
Pretty Nightmare by J.A. Huss
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsINDIE I have them all now. Just the way I want them.McKay, the one who loves me deepest.Adam, the one who protects me fiercely.Donovan, the one who tells the truth.They are my friends, they are my lovers, they are my world.And Maggie belongs to all of us—no matter who her father is.This is the family I’ve always wanted.This is the family I deserve.And I will do whatever it takes to keep them... -
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Subverted by Lori Matthews
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of the Callahan Security Series.Meet Finn Walsh of the US Coast Guard’s TEAM RECON. As in reconstructed. As in broken and needs fixing.After an abandoned ship is found in international waters, Team RECON is summoned by Homeland Security to find answers. Finn Walsh has massive reservations about boarding the empty US Navy ship...Categorized as:
suspense crime contemporary mystery military law-enforcement insta-love psychological -
Twist Me: The Complete Trilogy by Anna Zaires
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAll 3 books in the New York Times bestselling trilogy, available for the first time in one convenient, discounted bundle. Over 1000 pages of addictive, thrilling dark romance at 30% off the individual books’ prices. “Will you ever let me go?” “No, Nora,” he replies, and I can feel his smile in the darkness. “Never... -
Concealed Affliction by Harlow Stone
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 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... -
Dark Ambitions by Irene Hannon
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFormer Army Night Stalker Rick Jordan usually has his camp for foster children to himself during the winter months. But someone has visited recently--leaving a trail of blood. One of the two clues left behind tips Rick off to the identity of his visitor, who soon turns up dead. The police deem it an accident, but Rick isn't convinced... -
Spiders in the Grove by J.A. Redmerski
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 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... -
Obsessed by Aleatha Romig
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEverything 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... -
You Can Hide by Rebecca Zanetti
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet against the atmospheric backdrop of rural Pacific Northwest, New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti’s thrilling suspense series follows FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow as she strives to navigate her complicated family life when her newly discovered sociopathic half-sister becomes the target of a dangerous killer... -
Hills of Shivers and Shadows by Pam Godwin
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAbducted and taken to a remote cabin in Alaska, Frankie finds herself at the mercy of four feral men, each with his own dark secrets and twisted desires.With nowhere to run, she must rely on her wits to survive the harsh winter, trapped with them.As she delves into their mysterious pasts, she uncovers an insidious evil that feeds on loyalty and uses love as a weapon.Nothing is as it seems... -
Behind The Hands That Kill by J.A. Redmerski
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEven professional killers need vacations, but for Victor Faust, his vacation in Venezuela is about more than relaxation and time alone with Izabel Seyfried. It is a chance for him to come clean to Izabel: to tell her the truth about why he sent her to Italy with his brother, the truth behind his interest in Nora Kessler, and about his knowledge of Izabel’s child with her former captor... -
Forged in Flames by Ivy Smoak
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsI remember when I thought my life would be like the fairy tales I read about. I'd do anything to go back in time when everything was so simple. When my knight in shining armor had a face and a name. When my biggest secret was that I snuck out at night to watch the stars.I'm worried that there's a sickness in me, swallowing me whole. I don't understand what's happening to me... -
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Four Score by Lili St. Germain
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsLove and hate aren’t all that different. Two sides of the same coin, the yin and the yang. Once upon a time, Jason Ross loved me. And now that he knows what I’ve done, I see the love and the hate warring within him. I see the way he looks at me. The way he wonders how I could do the things I’ve done. I hear it in the way he begs me to stop, to leave this life and run away with him... -
Blinded by Fate by Harlow Stone
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"Nothing is as it seems. What you believe you know is all a lie"Book Fairy ReviewsI'm kneeling on the floor at the hands of a monster. My choices along with my dignity are about to be taken and there's little I can do for myself.How did I get here?Of course I know the answer, but if those bastards Fate and Karmatruly hold the cards then I wish I knew where the hell I went wrong... -
Stolen Life by Charmaine Pauls
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA DIAMOND MAGNATE NOVELIan Hart stole a night of my life but he took so much more. His obsession pinned a label on me. His lust put me in an impossible situation. Now I have to choose sides. I have to decide between right and wrong. Only, no matter what choice I make, each comes with dreadful consequences. There’s only one way this can end—how every tragedy ends... -
United Reign by Kylie Kent
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDark Mafia RomanceTheoEverything we’ve built is crashing down around me.I’m consumed by the darkness, my blood boiling with the need for revenge.My wife is the only light in my life; she’s the very reason I keep on fighting.They’re coming after me. And worse yet, they’re coming after her.But let them come…I’m waiting. We’re waiting.To send them all back to the hell they crawled out of... -
Arrangement in Black and White by Fred Misurella
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsShe's white; he's black. But their conflicts are more than racial. Margy's from Iowa, an artist, the product of an abusive mother and neglectful father. Everet's from Connecticut, a civil rights lawyer on the rise toward greater recognition, and their lives take a tense turn when he decides to run for political office just as Margy moves forward in her own career... -
Black Contract by Charlotte Byrd
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsI don’t belong with her. Born into darkness, life made me a cynic incapable of love. But then Ellie waltzed in. Innocent, optimistic, kind. She’s the opposite of what I deserve. I bought her, but she she stole my heart. Now my business is going up in flames. I have only one chance to make it right. That’s where it happens…something I can never take back... -
Gold Shimmer by P.T. Michelle
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHow far would you go to be with the man who stole your heart but doesn't know your real name? GOLD SHIMMER is the first book in Cass and Calder's epic love story in the BLACK SHADOWS duet. STEEL RUSH is the explosive conclusion to their love story and it is now available. You do not have to read books 1-3 in the IN THE SHADOWS series to enjoy GOLD SHIMMER and STEEL RUSH... -
Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe day Danielle Harding takes her 11-year-old son, Simon, and flees from her abusive husband, is the same day Kurt Harding dies. A relieved Dani believes she and her son are finally safe--but in reality, the danger has just begun. When Kurt was alive, he took something important to a mysterious person. That person wants the item back and believes Dani now has it... -
Tell Me to Lie by Charlotte Byrd
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThere was a time when my debt was the only link we had. There was a time when I couldn’t tell him how much I loved him and he couldn’t tell me. There was a time when I thought I could never have enough money. Now, everything is different. Nicholas Crawford is a stranger who is becoming more strange with every moment. I used to think I could make a life with him, but now I’m not so sure... -
A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe gripping new thriller featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling authorEvery mother's worst nightmare . . .When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart.Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side... -
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Come Back by J.A. Huss
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDirty, Dark, and Deadly, #2This is a SERIES. This is BOOK TWO.“Secrets keep the darkness alive,” Harper tells me. But that’s not how I see it at all. Secrets keep me alive. The truth is overrated. Honesty is never the best policy. And everything you know absolutely can hurt you.The contracts I fulfill are just agreements. Death is a business deal. Secrets are currency in my world... -
Scream For Me: A Novel of the Night Hunter by Cynthia Eden
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNothing is deeper than the desire they can’t fight—or deadlier than the evil they can’t escape. They were only supposed to have a professional relationship, but FBI agent Kyle McKenzie has been fantasizing about his sexy partner, Cadence Hollow, from the moment they first moment. It takes the darkest case of their careers to finally bring their hidden desire bubbling to the surface... -
Alone In the Dark by Karen Rose
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of Closer Than You Think returns with a breathtaking new novel of suspense that crosses the line between danger and desire, and justice and revenge. Homicide Detective Scarlett Bishop has seen enough bad guys slip through the cracks and too many innocent victims go unavenged to know good doesn't always prevail... -
Five Miles by Lili St. Germain
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMy father taught me the importance of an eye for an eye—a cardinal rule, ingrained in every club member.A life for a life.Seven lives in payment for an unimaginable list of sins.People might wonder why I’m doing this. If this vengeance is borne from some noble cause. If I’m trying to prevent others from suffering at the hands of Dornan Ross and his sons.But I’m no selfless vigilante... -
Unforgiven by Rebecca Zanetti
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRun: Gemma Falls never expected to use her game theory expertise to outrun a killer. But for years, that skill is all that kept her one step ahead of a deadly stalker. When Gemma gets the chance to teach at D.C. University, she hopes she and her young daughter have found a safe harbor... -
Before He Vanished by Debra Webb
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHis disappearance changed her life forever.Twenty-five years ago, Halle Lane’s best friend vanished from their Tennessee town. When a childhood photo brings Liam Hart to Winchester, Halle is certain the man is the same child who vanished. Now Liam seeks out Halle to help him investigate the circumstances of his mysterious past... -
Tortured Skye by Gwyn McNamee
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings***Tortured Skye is not a standalone and is best enjoyed after reading Savage Collision***Falling in love with Gabe Anderson was as easy as breathing. Fighting my feelings for my brother’s best friend was agonizingly hard. I never imagined giving in to my desire for him would cause such a destructive ripple effect... -
A Vivacious Little Valentine by Meredith O' Reilly
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlways on the outside looking in.At least, that's how Quinn Barkley feels, living and working at Rawhide Ranch, surrounded by men and women who have found their perfect match.Then Ryder Moore shows up, and for the first time in years, Quinn finds herself believing she can have everything she's ever dreamed of. The sweet, loving Daddy her heart needs.. -
Wrath by Gwyn McNamee
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll I see is red.Blood.Pain.Rage.It consumes me.The moment he took her, wrath invaded my soul.I only have one purpose. End him and take back what’s mine. Love isn’t always clean, and wrath is the deadliest sin... -
Marriage Lynx by Fiona Quinn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHer happily ever after is so close…and somehow still out of her grasp…Lexi “Lynx” Sabado is no stranger to stressful situations. She can handle the fact that the CIA won’t let her divorce her previously presumed dead husband. She can even figure out a way to legally marry ex-NAVY SEAL Striker Rheas, the love of her life... -
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Talk to Me by Heather Long
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 15 ratings“Patch online…”Five years ago, I disappeared from the life I had and built this one. I spend my days, and most of my nights, on the line helping my clients achieve their goals. They call me when they are in a jam or are getting ready to move on a target.I’m their information specialist.The woman in the chair.I’m their switchboard.Intelligence, electronic eyes, computer hacking—I do it all... -
Hero's Flight by Janie Crouch
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAir Force Combat Controller Derek Bollinger knows what it is to feel that every breath might be his last. Enduring hell in an enemy prison for five weeks taught him that.The only thing that got him through it was the thought of his family, his hometown of Oak Creek, Wyoming, and especially of Becky Mackay.He survived, but with blood on his hands. His own. His friends’ who died beside him... -
Reviving Izabel by J.A. Redmerski
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDetermined to live a dark life in the company of the assassin who freed her from bondage, Sarai sets out on her own to settle a score with an evil sadist. Unskilled and untrained in the art of killing, the events that unfold leave her hanging precariously on the edge of death when nothing goes as planned... -
Justice Served by Radclyffe
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe hunt for an informant in the ranks draws Lieutenant Rebecca Frye, her lover Doctor Catherine Rawlings, and Officer Dellon Mitchell into a deadly game of hide and seek with an underworld kingpin who traffics in human souls... -
Stolen Love by Charmaine Pauls
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA DIAMOND MAGNATE NOVELOnce upon a time, a thief stole me in the middle of the night. He took what he wanted, gave me an illusion, and ripped it all away to claim his ultimate trophy. My heart may be physically weak, but fighting to live made me stronger. I won’t perish as easily as that. I’m turning the tables on him. After all, I learned from the best. I’m robbing him of what he stole from me...
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