11 angsty tortured romance heroes you’ll absolutely LOVE

9/28/2018

In the mood for an angsty, brooding, tortured hero? (No judgement here...I totally get the appeal) Then this list is just for you. Enjoy!

The Scars I Bare by JL Berg

I am a man adrift...

Born the son of a fisherman, I had a predestined purpose. The ocean was my life until one fateful day... it wasn’t. After an accident at sea ripped away my love of the water, I was left with nothing.

Until she arrived in our sleepy town.

Cora Carpenter was my nurse those first few days after they’d dragged me from the water. She’d seen me at my worst. She’d been there when I lost my arm. When I lost everything.

That was three years ago.

Now she’s everywhere and I can’t get her out of my head. I see pain in her eyes. The kind of pain that leaves deep scars. I also see truth and beauty and passion. After all these years of wandering this little island town in search of something, I think I may have found exactly what I’m looking for.

But am I what she needs? Can two broken hearts make a whole?

Reaper by A Zavarelli

Sasha.

He’s dark and mysterious. Quiet and lethal.
An Irish mobster.
Pure sin wrapped up in a beautiful package.
But there’s also something off about him.
He doesn’t feel anything. He shows no emotions.
Sometimes I question his humanity.
He hasn’t spoken to me in two years. Not a single word.
But we share a secret, he and I.
And if it ever comes out, I have no doubt in my mind…
He won’t have a problem killing me too.

Ronan.
I’ve slain for her. I’ll do it again.
When it comes to Sasha, there isn’t a line I won’t cross.
I watch her. She doesn’t know it.
She thinks I hate her. Sometimes, I think I might too.
But I’m always there, lurking in the shadows.
Craving her. Trying to keep the beast within at bay.
I’ll keep her safe. I’ll slaughter anyone who tries to hurt her.
The only thing I can’t do… is protect her from myself.

Dark Protector by Celia Aaron

From the moment I saw her through the window of her flower shop, something other than darkness took root inside me. Charlie shone like a beacon in a world that had long since lost any light. But she was never meant for me, a man that killed without remorse and collected bounties drenched in blood.

I thought staying away would keep her safe, would shield her from me. I was wrong. Danger followed in my wake like death at a slaughter house. I protected her from the threats that circled like black buzzards, kept her safe with kill after kill.

But everything comes with a price, especially second chances for a man like me.
Killing for her was easy. It was living for her that turned out to be the hard part.

Clipped Wings by Helena Hunting

Their body art is hot. Their chemistry is even hotter.

From her dark hair sweeping below her waist to her soft, sexy curves, Tenley Page intrigues tattoo artist Hayden Stryker in a way no one else ever has…especially when she asks him to ink a gorgeous, intricate design on her back. Yet for all her beauty, there is something darkly tragic and damaged about Tenley that Hayden is everything.

Covered in ink and steel, Hayden is everything Tenley has never dared to want, awakening a desire to explore more than the art adorning his stunning body. Trapped by a past that leaves her screaming from nightmares, Tenley sees Hayden as the perfect escape. Although he has secrets too, if they both keep themselves guarded perhaps their intense physical connection will remain only that.

But nothing, not even passion, can keep them safe from their pasts…

Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan

I wanted to lose myself in the small town of Pelion, Maine. To forget everything I had left behind. The sound of rain. The blood. The coldness of a gun against my skin. For six months, each breath has been a reminder that I survived---and my dad didn't. I'm almost safe again. But the moment I meet Archer Hale, my entire world tilts on its axis . . . and never rights itself again.

Until I trespass into his strange, silent, and isolated world, Archer communicates with no one. Yet in his whiskey-colored eyes, something intangible happens between us. There's so much more to him than just his beauty, his presence, or the ways his hands communicate with me. On me. But this town is mired in secrets and betrayals, and Archer is the explosive center of it all.

So much passion. And so much hurt. But it's only in Archer's silence that we might just find what we need to heal . . . and live.

NOTE: you can check out our review here!

Captured by Jasinda Wilder

Love is never easy. It's especially difficult when you love a Marine. I knew the risk when I said "I do", but I chose to love anyway.

In a flash, he was taken from me, and now I'm alone. Struggling and desperate. There's no hope, no future. Just the endless cycle of day-to-day survival. But a letter returned could change all of that.

Hope and love often come from the last place you'd think to look, when you least expect it.

* * *

I was a lost, broken soul, tortured by the memories of what I'd endured. When I visited that old farmhouse in rural Texas, all I wanted to do was return the letter. Keep a promise to a friend.

What I got was healing. Understanding. The chance to find a measure of peace when all I've ever known is war.

We both lost everything. But in each other, we found something worth fighting for.

Skin Deep by Pamela Clare

Broken on the inside

Megan Hunter has worked hard to get back on her feet, leaving the nightmare of her teenage years behind. The last thing she wants or needs in her life is a man. But when she is attacked by someone from her past, a scarred stranger intervenes, saving her life and that of her little girl. Looks can be deceiving, for despite the man’s rough appearance, she feels safe with him. And for the first time in her life, she knows the stirrings of desire.

Broken on the outside

Nathaniel West paid a high price serving with the Marines in Afghanistan. He returned to his family’s ranch in the Colorado mountains to heal—and be alone. Disfigured as he is, he has put all thoughts of sex and romance aside. But something about Megan brings him back to life, heats his blood, makes him feel like a man again. As danger pursues her, and the truth about her past is revealed, he vows to protect her—and to heal her wounded spirit. But confronting the past is never easy—especially when it’s carrying a gun. Megan will have to learn to trust Nate to survive and to claim a passion that is much more than … Skin Deep.

Tied by Carian Cole

Two lost and damaged souls.
Two hearts tied together by hope and tragedy.
An unexpected smile. A touch on scarred flesh. A kiss on waiting lips.

Me...
My childhood was stolen when I was kidnapped at five years old. I've forgotten what love, happiness, and hope feels like. I am numb and lost, clinging to a childhood fairytale of a happily ever after.

Him...
He's possibly as damaged as I am. Maybe even more. He's scarred just as much on the inside as the outside. Just like me. Haunted by his own tragic past, he doesn't speak or smile. He saved my life that day he found me in the woods, and no words or smiles were needed.
The moment our eyes met I knew he was the one - my knight in shining armor. My prince.
The one I knew would someday save me.
Together, we found love, hope, and a closeness that once felt impossible to have.

But can I save him from himself, and the twisted past that ties us together?

NOTE: you can check out our review here!

Disgrace by Brittainy Cherry

Each day I prayed for my husband to love me again.

After fifteen years together, he walked away from me, and into the arms of another.

I didn’t know how to cope. I didn’t know my worth. I didn’t know how to exist without him by my side.

All I wanted was for him to come back to me.

Then, Jackson Emery appeared.

He was supposed to be a distraction for my mind. A summer fling. A confidence boost to my bruised heart.

We were perfect for one another, because we both knew we wouldn’t last. Jackson didn’t believe in commitment, and I no longer believed in love. He was too closed-off for me, and I was too damaged for him.

Everything was fine, until one night my heart skipped a beat.

I didn’t expect him to make me laugh. To make me think. To make my sadness somewhat disappear.

When our time was up, my heart didn’t know how to walk away.

Each day I prayed for my husband to love me again, yet slowly my prayers began to shift toward the man who wasn’t right for me.

I prayed for one more smile, one more kiss, one more laugh, one more touch…

I prayed for him to be mine.

Even though I knew his heart wasn’t destined to love.

NOTE: you can check out our review here!

Love in the Light by Laura Kaye

Two hearts in the darkness…

Makenna James and Caden Grayson have been inseparable since the day they were trapped in a pitch-black elevator and found acceptance and love in the arms of a stranger. Makenna hopes that night put them on the path to forever—which can’t happen until she introduces her tattooed, pierced, and scarred boyfriend to her father and three over-protective brothers.

Must fight for love in the light…

Haunted by a childhood tragedy and the loss of his family, Caden never thought he’d find the love he shares with Makenna. But the deeper he falls, the more he fears the devastation sure to come if he ever lost her, too. When meeting her family doesn’t go smoothly, Caden questions whether Makenna deserves someone better, stronger, and just more…normal. Maybe they’re just too different—and he’s far too damaged—after all…

Rush by Emma Scott

To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable. —John Milton

Charlotte Conroy, Juilliard-trained violinist, was on the cusp of greatness when tragedy swooped down on dark wings, crushing her hopes and breaking her heart. The music that used to sing in her soul has grown quiet, and she feels on the verge of setting down her violin for good. To pay the bills, she accepts a job as a personal assistant to a bitter, angry young man who’s been disabled by a horrific accident…

Noah Lake was an extreme sport athlete, journalist and photographer. He roamed the world in search of his next adrenaline high, until a cliff-dive left him in a coma. He awakes to find his career gone, his dreams shattered to pieces, his world an endless blackness that will never lift.

Charlotte begins to see that beneath Noah’s angry, brittle exterior is a young man in pain. She is determined to show him that his life isn’t over, that he has so much to live for, never dreaming that she would become the only light in his darkness, or that he would help her find the music in hers.

The life he knew is over. The life she wants is just out of reach.

Together, they must face their fears and rediscover what it means to really live.