11 Romance Suspense Books Chick-Lit Fans Will Love

If you like the chick-lit genre, you will LOVE romance suspense books. Let me tell you why!

Let’s keep it real, chick-lit novels can get kind of repetitive.

If you’ve read one chick-lit, you’ve read them all!

Main character woman loses ( job, boyfriend, etc). Woman struggles in life for 50 pages, then has a “meet cute” with the man of her dreams. Suddenly the woman and man break up and then (spoiler alert) they get back together. And live happily ever after!

Don’t get me wrong I LOVE a good chick-lit! But sometimes I want to read a book with a little more action and a storyline that keeps me on my toes. And that’s when I turn to the “romance suspense” books.

According to Autocrit.com, “In a good romantic suspense, at least one of the protagonists is in danger (or someone she or he loves, like a sibling or child, is in danger) and the love story builds at the same time that the hero and heroine confront escalating jeopardy, until both the suspense and romance reach a crescendo that leaves the mystery solved, the villain defeated and the main characters ending happily ever after.” Doesn’t that sound like an amazing book to read!

Here are 13 of the best Romance Suspense Books

out there!

These books will give you all the feels! There’s love, comedy, action, and sometimes murder! Happy Reading! I hope you enjoy these romance suspense books, let me know if you do!

1. The Gamble by Kristen Ashley

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.27 out of 5.0)

Nina desperately needs to get away from it all. With a fiancé who can’t even remember how she takes her coffee, Nina wants some distance to rethink her engagement. So she flys halfway around the world from England to a mountain town in Colorado. But she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina’s cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.

The owner of the rental cabin, Holden “Max” Maxwell is surprised by the beautiful woman who turns up at his door. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. These two wounded lovebirds try to take a chance on a relationship, but a dangerous secret from Max’s past emerges and threatens to end their love for good.

2. Tagged for Death by Sherry Harris

(Goodreads.com rating of 3.85 out of 5.0)

Starting your life over at age thirty-eight isn’t easy, but that’s what Sarah finds herself facing when her husband CJ runs off with a 19-year-old. Sarah’s self-prescribed therapy happily involves hitting all the garage sales in and around her small town in Massachusetts. If only she could turn her love for bargain hunting into a full-time career.
But after returning from a particularly successful day searching for yard sale treasures, Sarah finds a grisly surprise in one of her bags: a freshly bloodied shirt…that undoubtedly belongs to her ex, CJ, who now happens to be the chief of police. Now it’s up to Sarah to prove that her cold-hearted ex is not a cold-blooded killer…

3. One for the Money – Janet Evanovich

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.04 out of 5.0)

* Like most books, the book was so much better than the money! Once you read the book you will agree that Katherine Heigal was not the right choice for Stephanie Plum. Love her, but…. lol. 

You’ve lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car’s been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month’s rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do?

Stephanie Plum lost everything ( job, man, car, etc)! Her solution = become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money.  She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie’s virginity at age 16 and then wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries – people who’d rather kill than lose.

4. Split Second by David Baldacci

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.01 out of 5.0)

Michelle Maxwell has just wrecked her promising career at the Secret Service. Against her instincts, she let a presidential candidate out of her sight for the briefest moment and he vanishes into thin air. Sean King knows exactly how Michelle feels. Eight years earlier, the hard-charging Secret Service agent allowed his attention to be diverted for a split second. And the candidate he was protecting was gunned down before his eyes. Now Michelle and Sean must work together to find Michelle’s missing presidential candidate.

Drawn into a maze of lies, secrets, and deadly coincidences, the two discredited agents uncover a shocking truth: that the separate acts of violence that shattered their lives were really a long time in the making – and are a long way from over…. 

5. Naked in Death by Nora Roberts

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.12 out of 5.0)

It is the year 2058, and technology now completely rules the world. But New York City Detective Eve Dallas knows that the irresistible impulses of the human heart are still ruled by just one thing: passion.

When a senator’s daughter is killed, the secret life of prostitution she’d been leading is revealed. The high-profile case takes Lieutenant Eve Dallas into the rarefied circles of Washington politics and society. Further complicating matters is Eve’s growing attraction to Roarke, who is one of the wealthiest and most influential men on the planet, devilishly handsome… and the leading suspect in the investigation. 

6. Extreme Exposure by Pamela Clare

(Goodreads.com rating of 3.91 out of 5.0)

It’s been years since her child’s father dumped her, and since then Kara McMillan has kept men at bay – although every day she aches more for a lover’s touch. But to get that, the hard-boiled journalist must become vulnerable – a feeling she vowed never to have again.

With his dangerous good looks, charm, and power, Senator Reece Sheridan could have just about any woman he sets his piercing eyes on. But he’s intrigued by only one. This Kara, this gutsy investigative reporter, has a sensuality that arouses him to no end. If she’s a firebrand in print, he guesses, she must be just as fiery in bed…

But this is no fling. A sudden political scandal – and attempts on Kara’s life – could very well drive them apart. Or maybe, just maybe, adversity could draw them into a bond even more intense than their steamy sexual embraces.

7. Heartbreaker by Julie Garwood

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.04 out of 5.0)

In the still shadows of the confessional, a madman tauntingly reveals his plan for a murder he is going to commit, pulling Father Thomas Madden into a twisted game by disclosing his next intended victim: Tom’s sister, Laurant. In a frantic race to protect her, Tom calls upon his best friend, elite FBI agent Nick Buchanan, to track the predator who is closing in on Laurant. Now, as an electrifying attraction grows between Laurant and Nick, so does the danger — and one false move will cost both of them everything that matters.

8. To Die For by Linda Howard

(Goodreads.com rating of 3.99 out of 5.0)

Blair Mallory lives the good life. She’s pretty, confident, and the owner of a thriving up-scale fitness center. But in the shadow of success, a troubled member of the club develops a strange fixation on Blair, imitating her style and dress. Matters take a darker turn when the look-alike is shot dead–and Blair witnesses the horror.

As the media speculates on the tawdry details of the homicide and pushes Blair into the harsh spotlight, she locks horns with police lieutenant Wyatt Bloodsworth. He wants to lead an investigation without interference, while Blair is determined to probe the dead woman’s life on her own. But when someone begins to menace Blair with mounting threats, Wyatt takes notice: Was this murder indeed a lethal case of mistaken identity–and was Blair the intended victim?

9. The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.05 out of 5.0)

After a near-fatal head injury, navy SEAL lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton-the sweet “girl next door” who has grown into a remarkable woman. The town’s infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day .

10. Don’t Tell by Karen Rose

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.05 out of 5.0)

It was a desperate plan. But Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive cop husband was to stage their own death. Now all that remains of their former life is at the bottom of a lake. Armed with a new identity in a new town, she and her son have found refuge hundreds of miles away. As Caroline Stewart, she has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. She is even taking a chance on love with Max Hunter, a man with wounds of his own. But her past is about to collide with the present when her husband uncovers her trail and threatens her hard-won peace. Step by step, he’s closing in on her—and everything and everyone she loves.

11. The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks

(Goodreads.com rating of 4.15 out of 5.0)

It’s been one year since ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly last saw his wife Rachel alive. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt over his failures as a husband, Ethan shuts himself off from everything and everyone.

His brothers have tried to bring Ethan into the KGI fold, tried to break through the barriers he’s built around himself, but Ethan refuses to respond… until he receives anonymous information claiming Rachel is alive.

To save her, Ethan will have to dodge bullets, cross a jungle, and risk falling captive to a deadly drug cartel that threatens his own demise. And even if he succeeds, he’ll have to force Rachel to recover memories she can’t and doesn’t want to relive—the minute by minute terror of her darkest hour—for their love, and their lives, may depend on it. 

Romance Suspense is a rollercoaster ride you won’t want to get off. And lucky for you, most of the romance suspense books recommended below are part of a series! I know, I know, …. I’m the best! You can thank me by sharing this blog article with your book lover friends! Let’s convert more chick-lit readers to romance suspense books.

 

These books are available on:

Audible.com  (sign up and get two free audiobooks)

Sign up for Kindle Unlimited

Your local library

 

Are you already a fan of this genre? Share your favorite romance suspense books in the comments!