15 Contemporary Romance Books with a Side of Suspense

I’m all about the romance, but sometimes I like a little extra intensity in my reads. Danger lurking in the background, a love interest with a mafia connection, a mystery to solve, or a true antihero finding his perfect match. Suspense can come in so many different forms, and not all of them follow the path of a traditional romantic suspense novel. The vibes can be dark and heavy or light and playful, the romance can be sweet or super spicy. Romance with a side of suspense simply makes for engrossing, bingeable reads.

From rom com to mafia, super spicy to closed door, broody bodyguard to intriguing stranger, there’s a couple for everyone on this list – and plenty of tropes at play too. They’re all 4 or 5-star contemporary romance books that kept me hooked while I was reading. I’ve included the blurbs, links to my book reviews when available, and links to Amazon for easy addition to your collection. Happy reading!

Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

Five years ago, my fiancé disappeared. He left me with a wedding dress I’d never wear. Left me with the kind of scars that can’t be healed. The man I built my future on vanished like a ghost. All that remained were my broken heart and a million unanswered questions.

Until a mysterious stranger arrives in town.

Tall, dark, and dangerous, Kage is as full of secrets as he is sex appeal. Though I know he’s hiding something, I’m drawn to him like a moth to flame.

Heat crackles between us with every look, desire flares into passion, and I fall hard, helpless to resist.

But then I discover he’s been sent to collect on an unpaid debt from my missing fiancé…

And that debt is me.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NvbiPi

My Killer Vacation: A Novel by [Tessa Bailey]

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

A brash bounty hunter and an energetic elementary school teacher become the murder-solving team no one asked for—but they’re stuck together, come hell or high tide, until a killer is found in this spicy rom-com featuring a brand-new bonus novella from Tessa Bailey, #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer.

It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation in sweet, sunny Cape Cod—just Taylor Bassey and her beloved brother—but discovering a corpse in their rental house has really thrown a wrench into their tanning schedule. Now a rude, crude bounty hunter has arrived on the back of his motorcycle to catch the killer and refuses to believe Taylor can be helpful, despite the countless hours she’s spent listening to true crime podcasts. Not to mention her fulfilling teaching career of wrangling second graders.

Myles Sumner is only there to do a job, not babysit an amateur sleuth. Although…it is becoming less and less of a hardship to have Taylor around. Sure, she’s stubborn, distracting and can’t stay out of harm’s way. She’s also brave and beautiful and reminds him of home. In other words, the insatiable hunger and protectiveness she’s awakening is a threat to his peace of mind. Before Myles sinks any deeper into this dangerous attraction, he needs to solve the murder and get back on the road. Only now there are two threats—and the biggest one is to his heart.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/467BLFd

Possession by Brynne Asher

From USA Today Bestselling author Brynne Asher…
An arranged marriage, forced-proximity, thrilling romantic suspense.

I’m nothing but a payment, bartered to the most powerful cartel in the northern hemisphere and forced to marry a man I do not know.

My father sold me to save his own skin. He might as well have ushered me to the gates of hell.

The Marino family is sadistic. If rumors are true, they’ll own me, use me, control me, and strip me of every freedom I’ve taken for granted. I’ll be a shiny new toy in a dark and deadly underworld.

So when my husband drops the bomb that our arranged marriage is only a means to an end, I realize there’s something worse than merely being a possession.

My stupid, stupid heart.

In the end, the last thing I expected to do was fall in love.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SeJwpr

Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score

There was only one woman who could set me free. But I would rather set myself on fire than ask Sloane Walton for anything.

Lucian Rollins is a lean, mean vengeance-seeking mogul. On a quest to erase his father’s mark on the family name, he spends every waking minute pulling strings and building an indestructible empire. The more money and power he amasses, the safer he is from threats.

Except when it comes to the feisty small-town librarian that keeps him up at night…

Sloane Walton is a spitfire determined to carry on her father’s quest for justice. She’ll do that just as soon as she figures out exactly what the man she hates did to—or for—her family. Bonded by an old, dark secret from the past and the dislike they now share for each other, Sloane trusts Lucian about as far as she can throw his designer-suited body.

When bickering accidentally turns to foreplay, these two find themselves not quite regretting their steamy one-night stand. Once those flames are fanned, it seems impossible to put them out again. But with Sloane ready to start a family and Lucian refusing to even consider the idea of marriage and kids, these enemies-to-lovers are stuck at an impasse.

Broken men break women. It’s what Lucian believes, what he’s witnessed, and he’s not going to take that chance with Sloane. He’d rather live a life of solitude than put her in danger. But he learns the hard way that leaving her means leaving her unprotected from other threats.

It’s the second time he’s ruthlessly cut her out of his life. There’s no way she’s going to give him a third chance. He’s just going to have to make one for himself.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/45QyUAG

Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai

Mira Patel’s got a solid accounting career, good friends, and a whole lot of distance between her and her dysfunctional family. All that’s missing is a stable romantic relationship. Armed with a spreadsheet and professional help, she sets out to find her partner in only legal activities, but much to her matchmaker’s dismay, no one is quite right.

Including Naveen Desai, the very first match she unceremoniously rejected.

Lately Naveen’s been too focused on keeping his sick grandfather’s law firm afloat to think about love, and he’s stunned when Mira walks back into his life to settle her aunt’s affairs. He’s determined to keep things professional…though it’s impossible not to be intrigued by all of the secrets piling up around Mira.

If getting back together with an ex is a bad idea, getting kidnapped with one is even worse.

Suddenly, Naveen and Mira find themselves in a mad dash through Las Vegas to escape jewel thieves, evade crime bosses, and follow the clues to untangle the mess her family left behind. As her past comes back to haunt her, Mira despairs of ever finding someone who might understand her…but maybe, over the course of one wild night, she’ll find that he’s right by her side.

Read the audiobook review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dBV18H

*This couple’s journey continues in other books in the series, but it also feels complete as a standalone.

The Brit by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Pleasure has never been so deadly.

Rose Cassidy doesn’t truly live; she just exists. Numbing herself to fear and pain is the only way she can survive in this cruel world. So when she’s taken as collateral by the notorious Danny Black in a deadly game of power, she’s thrown by the deep fear she feels rising within her. And, worse than fear, a profound desire. She’s heard tales of The Brit. He’s callous. Coldblooded. But no one ever said he was wickedly beautiful and darkly captivating. He sees past her mask, giving her a cruel sense of hope. But she must fight their twisted attraction or risk losing the one thing she survives for.

When Danny Black took an enemy’s beautiful lover as security, he never anticipated the repercussions. Or the warped attraction they would share. Rose Cassidy pushes Danny to the brink of madness with her impenetrable façade and savage allure. He has to remind himself that she’s bait. A solution to a problem. Yet she evokes powerful feelings in Danny, and feelings are risky when you’re wanted dead by endless enemies.

The most dangerous game is about to be played.

But can either of them win?

*This story is gritty, dark, edgy, and contains scenes that some people may find uncomfortable to read. It is NOT for the fainthearted.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3lo1DXH

Canary by Tijan

We were on the front lines in that world, the mafia world.

There was nothing soft or glamorous about it.

Who you were before no longer mattered. Names didn’t exist.

I joined anyway. I had no other choice because they took my sister.

Join. Find her. Try and make it out alive.

Then he won me in a poker game.

I hated him instantly, thinking he was like my other bosses before him.

He wasn’t. He was worse.

He wasn’t just cold. He was dead inside.

It didn’t matter that he was gorgeous.

He was the most lethal thing I’d ever met.

He was also the only person who could keep me alive, if he didn’t kill me himself.

A/N This is a 102k mafia/cartel standalone.
This is the most violent book Tijan has ever written.
Trigger warning: references to sexual violence

“Canaries sing to save lives. I sing and people die.”

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3iIbjfV

Out of the Blue by Kathryn Nolan

There was no way I could protect her and my heart at the same time.

Cope McDaniels is known for two things: His cocky charm and his sterling reputation for keeping high-profile clients safe. Until a security job goes bad, and he suddenly finds his career on thin ice. Cope’s newest assignment comes with serious consequences – he’ll keep his job as long as he makes no mistakes.

Cope isn’t worried…until his new client turns out to be a beautiful blast from his past.

Big wave surfer Serena Swift loves the adrenaline of her sport. And the elite athlete hates being told what to do. That goes double when the orders are coming from the sexy bodyguard-in-a-suit who broke her heart.

But she doesn’t have a choice when a mysterious threat materializes and Serena’s sponsor saddles her with the last man she’d want guarding her body. She’d rather focus on her next surf competition, not on some shadowy danger or the arrogant ex who dared to get even hotter since their breakup.

Cope can’t stop butting heads with his new client. Just like old times, Serena refuses to play it safe, even when it’s clear she’s in peril. Now the intimacy of spending every second of the day by her side is wearing away at his self-control. He can’t afford to lose focus, but everything about the woman is a constant distraction.

Including the fact that their divorce was never finalized…

Author’s Note: One-click this scorching-hot bodyguard romance if you’re a fan of second-chance angst, sizzling sexual tension, thrilling action and mysterious danger set on the warm, sunny beaches of San Diego.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2R966mv

Cruel Saints by Michelle Heard

From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michelle Heard comes a new standalone, full-length romantic suspense novel.

Alliances are made. Loyalty is owned. Love is taken.

Little did I know my love and freedom would be taken to form a new alliance.

Brutal, possessive, and dangerous, Lucian is feared by all. Including myself.
When his father is assassinated, Lucian takes his rightful place as head of the Cotroni family. They rule the Mafia with an iron fist, and he’s set his sights on my family.
Until now, we’ve been the only threat, but when a new one emerges, my father is forced to arrange a marriage between Lucian and myself.

He might be handsome but he’s not the kind of man who loves. He takes what he wants and right now, it’s my body.
I might belong to him in name, but the question remains – will our union be consummated in blood or love?

STANDALONE: Romance Suspense full-length novel.
If you need a warning before reading a book, then this book is not for you.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3i4ezCl

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

A friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice, unlike anything you’ve read before.

Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.

But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love.

Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves?

Or have they finally met their match?

Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.

***Butcher & Blackbird is a DARK ROMANCE intended for an adult audience – please see Brynne’s website for a comprehensive list of CWs***

Read the audiobook review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QE2nch

Rook to King by Carina Taylor

A romantic adventure

Being an antique expert and authenticator isn’t as glamorous as it seems.

Not nearly the amount of excitement I’d hoped for—at least not until I have some competition looking for the missing pieces of an engraved chess set.

My competition is dashing—but more likely to swoop off with the chess set than me.

Bodie King. Alias Sullivan Keene, Robby Landon, Captain Sexy Pants, The Trade King, and I’m sure many, many more that he would never admit to.

To make it simple: he’s a con man.

Bodie shows up in my antique store with a smile and promise of things to come

I don’t trust him. And I definitely don’t want him to end up with the chess set. Which means I’m going to have to keep those pieces safe—and hopefully find them before he does. But more people than just Bodie and I are interested in the chess set, and we’re forced into a tentative alliance—at least until I’m out of danger.

But as we race against the clock and across the globe to find the missing pieces, Bodie surprises me by being real. Authentic. Dare I say loveable?

But can you ever really trust a con?

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yPnKxy

Darkest Sin by J. Saman

Everyone has an ex who haunts them.

Mine shot me in the arm and told me to run or he’d kill everyone I ever loved. And then he’d kill me.

Years later, he’s made good on that promise. I’m the only one left.

He’s got his sights set on finding me, and my options on places to hide are quickly running out.

Until I meet a gorgeous assassin with an agenda of his own…putting not only my life, but my heart in danger.

With piercing green eyes and irresistible confidence, Gavin tells me not to be afraid. Promises he’s on my side. Swears he’s here to protect me instead of doing what he does best…kill.

The desire to trust him is tempting. The passion between us, even more so.

But when everything I thought I knew is suddenly flipped upside down, and all that’s dangerous and forbidden comes to light, I have to make a choice.

Continue to run and hide…

Or risk it all, including the man who somehow captured my heart.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Vb9Vq2

Drop Dead Gorgeous by Lauren Landish

I see dead people.
No, not like that movie.

I’m a coroner, and yes it’s the kiss of death on my dating life. When men find out what I do, I’m lucky to hear “it was nice meeting you.”

Until I almost accidentally kill Blake Hale with my car.
Instead of being freaked out by me, he’s intrigued.
No matter how much I try to scare him off, he keeps coming back for more.
And for a follow-the-rules guy, he’s breaking them all for me.

We couldn’t be more different.
He’s all goodness and light, with a brain that’s even sexier than his six pack.
I’m danger in a pretty package, and no amount of knocking on wood is going to make the happily ever after he’s promising come true. But…

With each word we exchange, my resolve weakens.
With each heated look, he gets further into my soul.
With every kiss, he consumes me by accepting me just as I am.

I deal in death all day. He sells life… insurance. What could possibly go wrong when I start believing in Mr. Right?

Drop Dead Gorgeous is a full-length meet-cute Romance… with a twist! It is a standalone.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2N5waw4

My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

Loving him could kill us both…

I thought the days of fathers selling their daughters were over.
Apparently, I thought wrong.
Because, in a few short months
I’m supposed to marry Johnny Maldonado.
His record is squeaky clean,
but anyone who’s been to Boston knows who he really is
and what he controls.
There’s only one problem:
I’m not interested in Johnny.
I’m interested in the man charged with his protection.
Maxon Holt. His Bodyguard.
When I ran away, he was the one to find me.
He’s not friendly and we don’t get along.
But, I find myself drawn to him.
Max is cold, dark, and distant.
And he’s harboring a secret.
One that could get us both killed.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2VxT3ws

*This is book one in a duet, and it’s a Kobo Original, so it’s not available anywhere else.

The Spy in 3B by Nana Malone

Sometimes, romance is (also) hiding in plain sight.

It’s hard to fill out a dating profile when everything you write is a lie. But in her line of work, Lyra can’t exactly tell the truth. And she’s determined to get over the man who broke her heart by moving on, so here she is, lying on a dating app. Then again, so is he.

Lyra is no marketing consultant, but a plucky undercover operator. Marcus isn’t really a videogame designer, but he is obsessive over codes. Both of them are elite undercover agents, and unknown to each other, are each tracking down the same dangerous double agent. As the case heats up, so does their chemistry…but their mutual desire to come clean becomes more impossible with every lie.

From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Nana Malone, The Covert Affairs duet is an action-packed, sexy romp for anyone who ever wondered what really happens behind closed doors.

Read the review here

Download today on Kobo! (It’s a Kobo Original)
Kobo: http://bit.ly/30R00bF

Read the review of the sequel here