Picked by Sinners Duet fans

Here are 13 books that Sinners Duet fans have personally recommended once you finish the Sinners Duet series. Shepherd is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Book cover of Ruthless Creatures

Shan R.K Author Of Capo Dei Capi

From my list on crime fiction that will leave you breathless.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was always a peculiar child with no friends, so I found my friends in books. As I got older I turned to writing my own. I wrote many stories, until one night I wrote my first book. It was paranormal fiction. Quite horrid actually. However, it started my obsession with crime romance. I love romance, but I find them a bit dull at times, but a crime novel never leaves me wanting. I decided to join the two worlds, and create my own. It's the reason even after 20 books published, my books are all linked to the biggest crime of all. But that is a secret you need to figure out for yourself.

Shan's book list on crime fiction that will leave you breathless

Shan R.K Why Shan loves this book

When all is not as it seems, and you fall in love with what you don’t know. Faced with a choice, what will you choose?

I chose Ruthless Creatures because it is a crime fiction about love, desire, and growth. Our first choice is not always our best. We sometimes fail to understand why. The more you read, the deeper your understanding grows. 

Personally, I love the thrill of an idea, of loving someone who is dark and mysterious. Kage was that for Nat, and he hid a big secret, whether they overcame it or not. Well, you would need to find out for yourself.

This book taught me that we don’t really know to who we open our hearts to until it’s too late.

By J.T. Geissinger ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Ruthless Creatures as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Five years ago, my fiance 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…


Book cover of Killer Thriller

Rod Kackley Author Of Empty Minute: A Murder Mystery

From my list on cops and reporters bringing bad guys to justice.

Why am I passionate about this?

Crime fiction, true crime, mystery, and suspense books allow us to brush up against the worst society has to offer without getting hurt. There’s a lot to be said for vicarious thrills, isn’t there. I am just a simple man telling simple stories about good vs. evil. And sometimes, in my stories, fiction or not, the bad guys win. But I do love telling stories, and when I find a good one, I can’t wait to tell you aboutit. That’s what I have done here.

Rod's book list on cops and reporters bringing bad guys to justice

Rod Kackley Why Rod loves this book

This is one of the wildest crime thrillers I have ever read. It is a fantastic, hectic, thrill-a-page story in which author Ian Ludlow finds himself in the middle of the plot of one of his best action novels. 

Except this time, it’s not fiction; the madness is really happening to him. Here’s the plot: Chinese intelligence agents have devised a plan to wreck the United States. The CIA figures nobody, but Ludlow can stop them because he’s already done it in one of his books.

Killer Thriller is an excellent example of how an author can take a real-life scenario and, by asking, “what if,” turn the world on its head with the answer and create an incredible story.

By Lee Goldberg ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Killer Thriller as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg's action-packed sequel to the Washington Post bestseller True Fiction, a hapless writer is pitted against an enemy nation mounting a treacherous plot lifted from one of his thrillers.

Everybody loves Ian Ludlow's action novels-especially the CIA-because the spies know something the public doesn't: his fictional plots have a frightening tendency to come true. Ian is in Hong Kong with his resourceful assistant Margo French to research his wildest story yet-a deadly global conspiracy by Chinese intelligence to topple the United States.

What Ian doesn't know is that his horrifying scenario is…


Book cover of Filthy

AK Nevermore Author Of Grimdarke

From my list on motorcycles, shifters, and mayhem, oh my!.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a huge fan of paranormal and dark romance, and these books definitely check all my boxes. Great world-building, plots that engage, and in most cases, a heavy dollop of smut. They also explore the unexpected and take into account real-world concerns in a fashion where you can absolutely justify the decisions the main characters are making.

AK's book list on motorcycles, shifters, and mayhem, oh my!

AK Nevermore Why AK loves this book

I had to throw this series in because it ties in with the author’s Dark & Dirty Sinners MC Series and is sooo frickin’ good!

It revolves around three crime families and the women they will do anything to keep, all while trying to take each other out.

It’s so damned good, and when read in tandem with my first recommendation, the world-building and intrigue are incredible.

By Serena Akeroyd , Wander Aguiar (photographer) ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Filthy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She captivates me the second I lay eyes on her.

Everything about her is pure, delicate beauty, and in my world, those things are commodities.

Even Aoife can be bought and sold. Even Aoife has secrets that will see her getting into bed with the Irish Mob to protect.

The truth won't set her free, it will entangle her deeper in my web.

Exactly where I want her.

One taste was all it took.

She's mine.

Whether she likes it or not...

This is Finn O'Grady's story.


Book cover of White Rabbit: The Fall

K.T. Samois Author Of No Time for Caution

From my list on steamy romances with bad guys who make it look good.

Why am I passionate about this?

K is an INTJ, 5w4, and a cat person. She loves a pulse-thudding plot and a heat level hotter than a gun barrel on a battlefield. She enjoys accurate action sequences, scary villains, and smokeshow heroes with redemption arcs. T is an ENTJ, an 8w7, and a dog mom. She writes villains who square up, heroes who step up, and heroines who level up. She prefers her romance with a side of high-stakes geopolitical brinkmanship, because the only thing better than saving the world is celebrating the win afterward. K and T are long-time readers of high heat dark romances and look forward to sharing their writing with other spice aficionados.

K.T.'s book list on steamy romances with bad guys who make it look good

K.T. Samois Why K.T. loves this book

He’s heir to a violent legacy. She’s on the hunt for a story that’ll launch her career from Page Six to the six o’clock hour. When their paths cross, she knows she’ll follow this lead anywhere. I love it because Miller’s really good at writing dark romance. It’s a tricky genre to get right because of the subject matter, but if you can nail it you get a sort of grim satisfaction from the underworld justice. But then one has to ask: what happens when someone comes around asking questions? What happens when emotions get in the way of objectivity or professionalism? And what do you do when someone you’re falling for is revealed to be a monster amongst monsters?

By London Miller ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked White Rabbit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Karina Ashworth is willing to pay any price to be with the man she loves—a notorious fixer and the only man capable of making her walk away from everything she has ever known.

But power corrupts the soul too easily, and once Uilleam Runehart has his taste of it, there’s nothing he craves more. And when it comes to what he wants most, there is no line he won’t cross to get it.

With secrets plaguing them, and truths becoming harder and harder to tell, the things left unsaid between them might be their ruin.

Merciless.
Shameless.
Remorseless.

How much…


Book cover of Whiskey River

Rod Kackley Author Of Empty Minute: A Murder Mystery

From my list on cops and reporters bringing bad guys to justice.

Why am I passionate about this?

Crime fiction, true crime, mystery, and suspense books allow us to brush up against the worst society has to offer without getting hurt. There’s a lot to be said for vicarious thrills, isn’t there. I am just a simple man telling simple stories about good vs. evil. And sometimes, in my stories, fiction or not, the bad guys win. But I do love telling stories, and when I find a good one, I can’t wait to tell you aboutit. That’s what I have done here.

Rod's book list on cops and reporters bringing bad guys to justice

Rod Kackley Why Rod loves this book

You have to love this book if only because the author, Loren D. Estleman, pounded out the words on a manual typewriter. Why would he do that in the 21st century? So he can keep working during power outages, that’s why.

There’s not a single one of Estleman’s books or stories I would not recommend. However, I chose Whiskey River for this review because it is historical crime fiction, taking place in the days of Prohibition. 

Whiskey River is the story of a young, ambitious reporter who risks his life to expose police and city hall corruption.

As always, Estleman brings his characters and settings to life in a way few others can.

By Loren D. Estleman ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Whiskey River as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Detroit in 1925 prohibition has been in force for a year longer than the rest of the States, police corruption is so rampant no-one notices the stench in City Hall. Into this scene comes Constantine Minor, a young and ambitious reporter. The author has twice won the Shamus Award.


Book cover of The Story of O

Kai Storm Author Of That One Voice

From my list on fiction novels that will make you believe they’re real.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m Kai Storm, author of reality-based urban fiction and erotica, erotica blogger, YouTuber, and Podcaster. I love reading books that feel real, that make you feel, and that teach you something as they entertain you.

Kai's book list on fiction novels that will make you believe they’re real

Kai Storm Why Kai loves this book

This book was given to me as a gift, and the lessons it taught me as I read those ancient pages.

It had me clutching my pearls, and it disgusted me at other parts, but at the same time, I wanted/needed to read that book in order to write a book in that style. 

By Pauline Reage ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Story of O as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The classic French erotic bestseller that preceded Fifty Shades of Grey

A beautiful young French woman, known only as 'O', is taken by her lover Rene to a splendid mansion near Paris. Here, she is initiated into an elite secret society, where she must learn to serve the sexual fantasies of Rene and his fellow members. But she must also explore the nature of her own darkest desires - and confront just how far she is willing to go for love...


Book cover of The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Sara Davis Author Of The Scapegoat

From my list on detective novels that keep you page turning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love reading mysteries, ever since I started back in junior high with Hercule Poirot, I have loved an atmospheric murder and ensuing investigation. As I’ve gotten older and started writing my own books, though, I’ve gotten pickier about what kinds of detective novels I can stick with—I now require that they also be excellent on the sentence level, which isn’t always easy to find. I also find that I gravitate towards books that have pockets of dry humor from time to time and a unique investigator.

Sara's book list on detective novels that keep you page turning

Sara Davis Why Sara loves this book

I am in awe of this book! I think it’s close to perfect, if not perfect. The detective here is Meyer Landsman, who “only has two moods: working and dead.” The novel is set in an alternate history that imagines Sitka, Alaska as a sprawling, Yiddish-speaking metropolis where all the Jews have fled after World War II.

The dead body is a mysterious young drug addict with connections to Sitka’s seedy underbelly. The story is a page-turner, but the sentences are truly incredible. It’s also very funny. I keep returning to this book year after year and every time it blows me away.

By Michael Chabon ,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked The Yiddish Policemen's Union as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The brilliantly original new novel from Michael Chabon, author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY and WONDER BOYS.

What if, as Franklin Roosevelt once proposed, Alaska - and not Israel - had become the homeland for the Jews after the Second World War? In Michael Chabon's Yiddish-speaking 'Alyeska', Orthodox gangs in side-curls and knee breeches roam the streets of Sitka, where Detective Meyer Landsman discovers the corpse of a heroin-addled chess prodigy in the flophouse Meyer calls home. Marionette strings stretch back to the hands of charismatic Rebbe Gold, leader of a sect that seems to have drawn its…


Book cover of In Cold Blood

Paul J. Heald Author Of Courting Death

From my list on capital punishment from an insider perspective.

Why am I passionate about this?

I came to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1988 to serve as a law clerk for a prominent federal judge (played by Martin Sheen in the movie Selma). I was convinced that the death penalty could be justly administered, and seeing Ted Bundy’s final appeal did little to change my mind. Subsequent cases, however, slowly worked a change in my attitude as I saw an execution’s effect on everyone involved in the process. My passion comes from this behind-the-scenes look at capital punishment in America.

Paul's book list on capital punishment from an insider perspective

Paul J. Heald Why Paul loves this book

I was shaken to my core not only by Capote’s character study of two different yet partnered killers but also by his behind-the-scenes depiction of the death penalty process. For the first time, I began to see how capital punishment affects all those involved in its machinations.

By Truman Capote ,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked In Cold Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The chilling true crime 'non-fiction novel' that made Truman Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative published in Penguin Modern Classics.

Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly…


Book cover of Tempted By The Devil

Helena Newbury Author Of Lying and Kissing

From my list on falling for a mafia boss.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved the blend of drama and romance that mafia romance brings ever since I read my first one. It’s the larger-than-life heroes: rich, powerful, morally gray but ultimately human and flawed, that draw me in. But it’s the heroines who act as these men’s sweet kryptonite that keep me reading. I’m also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romantic suspense author, including the mafia romantic suspenses The Double, Lying and Kissing, Kissing My Killer, and Kissing The Enemy.

Helena's book list on falling for a mafia boss

Helena Newbury Why Helena loves this book

Even though it’s not all that old, this is what I think of as the classic mafia romance and one that puts the romance front and center. It has all the classic elements: Cosa Nostra (Sicilian rather than Russian or Irish Mafia), a forced marriage, an innocent heroine, and a cold-hearted hero who melts for her.

I took to Tori immediately: she’s very relatable and I could imagine her as a friend. I loved the sweetness of the romance, especially when this is a genre that often leans towards the dark, and I just ate up Angelo’s big, bold statements of love. This is the book I often recommend as a first mafia romance, especially for romance readers who aren’t sure if they’ll like the genre. 

By Michelle Heard ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tempted By The Devil as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michelle Heard comes a new STANDALONE, full-length MAFIA ROMANCE novel.

Attending a party with my stepbrother, I’m in for the surprise of my life.
It’s not a regular party, but instead, my wedding.
To Angelo Rizzo.
A coldhearted man who’s feared by all. Including me.

Turns out my stepbrother owes the Cosa Nostra money, and I’m being used to repay his debt to Angelo Rizzo.

Do I have a choice?
No. Not when it comes to matters concerning the Cosa Nostra.

Three hours later, I have a new shiny wedding ring…


Book cover of Dante

Helena Newbury Author Of Lying and Kissing

From my list on falling for a mafia boss.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved the blend of drama and romance that mafia romance brings ever since I read my first one. It’s the larger-than-life heroes: rich, powerful, morally gray but ultimately human and flawed, that draw me in. But it’s the heroines who act as these men’s sweet kryptonite that keep me reading. I’m also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romantic suspense author, including the mafia romantic suspenses The Double, Lying and Kissing, Kissing My Killer, and Kissing The Enemy.

Helena's book list on falling for a mafia boss

Helena Newbury Why Helena loves this book

Dante is the mafia romance that most made me want to throw my arms around the heroine and give her a huge hug. Kat is such a strong character with a traumatic past that made me want to weep. At first, I was worried she’d entered a new circle of hell when she became Dante’s captive. But the escalating dance these two weave turns into something wonderful, and once they fight through their problems, they become an unstoppable couple I rooted for.

This book is raw and sometimes dark, with plenty of heat, and you should check the trigger warnings before reading. But if it falls within your boundaries, it’s a fantastic, all-consuming journey.

By Sadie Kincaid ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dante as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

I hate Dante Moretti. He is cold, calculating and vicious. It’s no secret that he wiped out his former fiancée and her entire family on the eve of their wedding. He’s the kind of evil that makes even devils cry.

But that’s not why I hate him.

I hate him because he has taken the only thing I have left in this miserable world – my freedom. He has chained me to him because of a debt that I don’t owe. I just have the misfortune to share the bloodline of the man who does.

And now I’m trapped in…