Here are 100 books that Betrayal fans have personally recommended if you like
Betrayal.
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I’ll admit I’m a terribly picky reader. My specific taste doesn’t seem to fit in one genre and is sometimes hard to nail down—literary prose with genre tropes, softly-integrated worldbuilding, adventure that leaves room for reflection, and a love story subplot that’s more mental than physical. I love anti-heroes and angst and stories that get a bit dark—but not too dark. When I find it, I’m hooked and obsessed, and I feel like I’m twelve years old again, reading late into the night with a flashlight under the covers. That exprience is what I’m always hunting for, and what I attempt to recreate in my own writing.
I love books that start in the world we know and gently transport the reader into the supernatural. The magic in The Scribe is ancient and the war is underground, but everything feels so natural and real. And how the hero and heroine interact—the reluctance, the tension, the life-or-death alliance. This isn’t instalove, it’s the inescapable love that connects them soul to soul. And when it’s not just the hero who’s haunted but also the heroine, there’s an added dimension to the story that feeds what I crave. The dialogue feels true to life, and the characters come alive on the page. The blend of these elements—fantasy, adventure, and romance—is perfect here, and how they play off one another is like magic.
"Sexy, well-written, and suspenseful." Hidden at the crossroads of the world, an ancient race battles to protect humanity, even as it dies from within.
To the outside world, Ava Matheson is a successful travel photographer from a privileged background. But Ava's spent a lifetime battling voices in her mind she can't understand, and her fractured family has convinced her she'll never belong.
Malachi is an Irin scribe, descended from an angelic race and sworn by blood and magic to defend humanity from the Grigori, the sons of fallen angels who could ravage the world. A chance meeting in Istanbul will…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I’ll admit I’m a terribly picky reader. My specific taste doesn’t seem to fit in one genre and is sometimes hard to nail down—literary prose with genre tropes, softly-integrated worldbuilding, adventure that leaves room for reflection, and a love story subplot that’s more mental than physical. I love anti-heroes and angst and stories that get a bit dark—but not too dark. When I find it, I’m hooked and obsessed, and I feel like I’m twelve years old again, reading late into the night with a flashlight under the covers. That exprience is what I’m always hunting for, and what I attempt to recreate in my own writing.
Song of Scarabaeus is sci-fi, not fantasy, but it definitely has that perfect blend: just enough adventure, just enough sci-fi/fantasy, just enough of a love story. The relationship between the two characters, a scientist and her bodyguard, creates instant on-page tension. I can’t spoil why, but it’s an interesting life-and-death situation that kept me turning pages. With this captivating plot, great characterization, realistic dialogue, and expert worldbuilding, I wish I could erase my memory of this book and experience it all over again.
“A powerful debut….Gripping characterization, non-stop action, fascinating biological speculation, and a dash of romance. Don’t miss it!” —Linnea Sinclair
Remember the name: Sara Creasy. With Song of Scarabaeus she takes her place alongside Ann Aguirre and Linnea Sinclair, staking her claim as one of the most exciting new writers currently rocketing across the science fiction universe. Seamlessly blending action, romance, intrigue, technology, and a tough, complex, and unforgettable heroine in the vein of Elizabeth Moon, Creasyboldly goes where few have traveled before. No wonder author Vonda N. McIntyre declares that “Sara Creasy is a new writer to watch, and Song…
I’ll admit I’m a terribly picky reader. My specific taste doesn’t seem to fit in one genre and is sometimes hard to nail down—literary prose with genre tropes, softly-integrated worldbuilding, adventure that leaves room for reflection, and a love story subplot that’s more mental than physical. I love anti-heroes and angst and stories that get a bit dark—but not too dark. When I find it, I’m hooked and obsessed, and I feel like I’m twelve years old again, reading late into the night with a flashlight under the covers. That exprience is what I’m always hunting for, and what I attempt to recreate in my own writing.
The Gaslight Dogs is a powerful story with expert prose and characters that moved into my heart. Their troubles, their reluctant unions, how human and authentic they feel... despite at times not being very human at all... built such sympathy I had to take breaks from this book just to breathe. This is not a romance, but a different kind of human relationship—one of the most interesting I’ve ever read. The characters’ journey from the comfort of their known worlds into each other's moved me deeply. The blend of adventure in this very unique fantasy world, with these two amazing characters, makes this one of my favorite books of all time.
At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war.
A young spiritwalker of the Aniw and a captain in the Ciracusan army find themselves unexpectedly thrown together. The Aniw girl, taken prisoner from her people, must teach the reluctant soldier a forbidden talent -- one that may turn the tide of the war and will surely forever brand him an outcast.
From the rippling curtains of light in an Arctic sky, to the gaslit cobbled streets of the city, war is coming to the frozen north. Two people…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
I’ll admit I’m a terribly picky reader. My specific taste doesn’t seem to fit in one genre and is sometimes hard to nail down—literary prose with genre tropes, softly-integrated worldbuilding, adventure that leaves room for reflection, and a love story subplot that’s more mental than physical. I love anti-heroes and angst and stories that get a bit dark—but not too dark. When I find it, I’m hooked and obsessed, and I feel like I’m twelve years old again, reading late into the night with a flashlight under the covers. That exprience is what I’m always hunting for, and what I attempt to recreate in my own writing.
A fan recommended this book to me, and after reading it I added it to my “Favorite Love Stories” list. It’s a slowly built love story integral to a larger plot, making this much more than a “will these two fall in love.” The characters feel like real people and the interesting historical setting and skillful prose pulled me in even more. It has all the pieces of the perfect blend, with an added gothic vibe that I loved.
New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston transports readers to the windswept mountains of Wales in The Winter Witch, an enthralling tale of love and magic.
In her small early nineteenth century Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana. She is small and quick and pretty enough to attract a suitor, but there are things that set her apart from other girls. Though her mind is sharp she has not spoken since she was a young girl. Her silence is a mystery, as well as her magic—the household objects that seem to move at her command, the bad…
Has anyone ever said that someday they would eat you? Well, I used to be able to say no to that question too… until the day someone did. The blood-thirsty declaration of a madman reawakened a game of “what if” that my brothers and I used to play when we were kids. What if the world was swallowed in a zombie outbreak? Who would survive? Were the creatures shufflers or runners? Did they only want brains or the whole body? Was the disease airborne or only transferrable through a bite? As mad as the man with the munchies had been, my writer’s mind couldn’t stop running with the question. What if zombies…
Stony Mayhall is not like other boys. Discovered as a baby with a still heart but a moving body he is, as you may have guessed, among the undead. Nevertheless, the introspective witty youth will win your heart in the end.
I personally love this zombie story’s deep dive into zombie politics and Stony’s anti-hero arc as he tries to discover the meaning of his own existence. And despite the heavy weight that puts on a zombie, Daryl Gergory still manages to have a lot of fun with the characters, the premise, and the plot.
From award-winning author Daryl Gregory, whom Library Journal called “[a] bright new voice of the twenty-first century,”comes a new breed of zombie novel—a surprisingly funny, vividly frightening, and ultimately deeply moving story of self-discovery and family love.
In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda—and he begins to move.
The family hides the child—whom they name Stony—rather than turn…
I’ve adored reading a good snarky first-person story since I first read Bloodlist, so long as the snark doesn’t go too far and become total unlikeable jerk… It can be a fine line!I hope I stay on the right side of it, but having read it enough and written in it for years with my Blood Rights Series, I feel qualified to say I’m a…snark connoisseur. (If you ask my family, this is how my own internal/life narrator speaks! My mother says that my character Dakota is me if I “said everything aloud that I think in my head.” She’s probably right, and I’m okay with that.)
Gotta love a hero/antihero with a great wit and a fast mouth. Most Wanted is the first book in a sci-fi series that may remind you a bit of Firefly, and I don’t use that comparison lightly. The narrator’s wit definitely puts this book on this list, but “that’s us, out here on the raggedy edge” is the soul of the book that makes the series for me. Not the best, not the brightest, not the richest or strongest, but a group doing what they can to get by and be there for each other. Maybe accidentally right some wrongs along the way.
They’ve plundered their way across the galaxy and just found the score of a lifetime.
All they have to do is steal from the most ruthless crime lord in the galaxy. What could possibly go wrong?
Yan and his band of rogues are intent on plundering their way to fame and fortune. When they stumble across the score of a lifetime, they quickly go all in for one last job. With everything on the line, there’s no way they can fail. At least that’s what they’re hoping. In the end, they just might have gotten into something bigger than they…
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
I’ve been fascinated by how people behave and how in-group bias can change who they are. That interest led me into computational sociology (I study human behavior for a living), with my work appearing in The New York Times, USA Today, WIRED, and more. But my deepest fascination has always been with people’s propensity for the horrific. I LOVE the liminal space where fear, secrecy, and belonging collide. Being neurodivergent, living in a small Virginia town with my wife and our neurodivergent, queer son, I see how communities can both shelter and suffocate. That tension is why I’m drawn to stories saturated in dread, beauty, and what lives in the shadows.
I love this book because it made me laugh when I probably shouldn’t have.
The way sickness seeps into ordinary moments, the way your mind can twist itself into something unrecognizable. I remember laughing at the absurdity of some scenes and then realizing how close they were to the way fear really works.
It’s incredibly elegant, disturbing, and oddly funny in the absolutely best ways. That combination is addictive for me, and I still talk about it.
Virginia Feito's Mrs. March was hailed as "a brilliant debut . . . [by] a writer who keeps pace with the grandees she invokes" (Sarah Ditum, Guardian)-from Daphne Du Maurier and Shirley Jackson to Patricia Highsmith. Now, Feito returns with her "silver-polish sentences and her eerie psychological acumen" (Constance Grady, Vox) to unleash an entirely new antihero on us all.
Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess-she'll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate's…
I’m a writer of all genres that’s found a lot of love, particularly in fantasy and thrillers. My love for epic fantasies first began when I was young, and like all young readers, was introduced to Harry Potter and the Magic Tree House series. The idea of being whisked away to a magical world captivated me, and so, I started to create my own stories to keep that magic alive.
In Grey, Gabrian doesn’t believe in magic. She’s a psychologist, and proud to be one. She bases her life on logic, but when things start to happen that she can’t explain, she finds herself in a whirlwind of magic. The way that Gabrian slowly comes to the truth is probably my favorite part of this book. As a Borrower, she’s considered not just a magical being, but a dangerous one. At first, she doesn’t handle this well and takes on the role of an anti-hero, nearly villain which was an interesting way to not only build Gabrian’s character but to introduce the truth of the magical world as well.
And skeletons—all dressed in their finest secrets—will come out to dance.
Raised in urban downtown New York, Gabrian holds no grand illusions of how life really works. And legends of magic and vampires, nothing more than a bunch of hocus pocus stuffed within book pages or painted on the big screen.
But when a woman, no one else can see, enters her office and delivers a riddle filled warning about her intended fate, Gabrian's grip on sanity takes a big hit—terrified she is falling into madness.
I am a British writer and avid reader of a wide range of genres who’d harbored a life-long ambition to be an author. It wasn’t until I became addicted to seductive romance that I found my own writing flow. I love books that have the power to transport you. Indulging in an adult ideal for a few minutes (or hours) in a day, when your body reacts viscerally to the words on a page, makes you swoon, your cheeks flush and your heart race is my reading and writing heaven. I hope you will experience the same delicious escapism in my book choices as I have.
I want to include a fellow British writer in my list and JEM is my favorite for suspenseful steamy stories. The Brit is the first in the Unlawful Men series. Dark and broken, mafia anti-hero Danny Black is brooding and bad. He is not supposed to fall in love with the women he takes as ‘collateral’ in a deadly game of power. Rose Cassidy has learnt to be tough to survive. Danny sees her as the mirror of himself. Their twisted attraction is not for the feint-hearted but I loved it!
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…
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
I've spent my life feeling out of place in this world which had me diving into novels since I was a little girl able to read. I was increasingly drawn to the supernatural dynamic in shows and novels. On top of that I am neurodivergent which means that I have spent years in and out of my own forms of darkness and self-doubt. As an author I wanted to create a world for characters that struggle with the same issues I struggle with and help them heal and grow through their trials. My hope has always been that in the course of my stories I can help a reader heal as well.
This is the John Constantine series. I am constantly enthralled with the nit and grit of this series.
There are a great deal of historical and biblical references in this series as well as their own twists. I found when writing my book that this was the same feeling and style I wanted. I didn’t want a world that was fluffy and beautiful but I wanted to show a world tortured and used as a battleground for angels and demons.
I couldn’t recommend this series more. The magic in this series is power from supernatural being. It's definitely the closest form of magic we could gain for ourselves as we learn the rules of our dominion over the earth.
London's savviest street sorcerer is a foul-mouthed, cynical, chain-smoking con man, but sometimes he's also our only hope. All of these facets of Constantine's character have made him one of the most popular figures in graphic literature. John Constantine, Hellblazer: 30th Anniversary Celebration collects some of the antihero's greatest stories from some of comics' greatest writers, including Alan Moore, Jamie Delano, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Brian Azzarello, and Mike Carey, and also features a foreword written by worldwide musical icon Sting!
When all the chips are down and everything's on the line, what would you do to come out on…
