LitQueuelitqueue

After

In His Keeping

Maya Banks2015

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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    Kristen Proby2020

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Denser prose

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  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

    A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

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  • Paradise Logic

    Sophie Kemp2025

    A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

    earnest → epic

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  • Mad Mabel

    Sally Hepworth2025

    An eighty-one-year-old woman with a history of killing people tries to hide her past when a curious young girl moves into the neighborhood.

    earnest → dark

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To recover

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  • Megan's Mark

    Lora Leigh2006

    A sheriff's deputy with psychic empathy tracks a killer alongside a genetically engineered feline-human hybrid who claims her as his mate.

    Same earnest register, still romantic suspense

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  • Just a Hint - Clint

    Lori Foster2004

    A man rescues an heiress from a group of kidnappers and must protect her while they are on the run.

    earnest → playful, still romantic suspense

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  • Mystery Man

    Kristen Ashley2011

    A woman has a series of anonymous late-night encounters with a man. When she gets caught in a crime investigation, his identity is revealed.

    earnest → playful, still romantic suspense

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Faster

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  • Sidetracked (Mindf*ck #2)

    S.T. Abby2016

    As Lana continues her revenge killings, she is targeted by a new threat. Her boyfriend, an FBI profiler, tries to protect her from himself.

    earnest → propulsive, still romantic suspense

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  • Ill Wind

    Rachel Caine2003

    A weather warden on the run from the law uses her ability to control storms to protect people from rogue elemental forces.

    earnest → propulsive, still paranormal romance

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  • Ruthless People

    J.J. McAvoy2017

    The heirs to the Irish and Italian mobs marry to end a war. They compete for dominance while eliminating shared enemies.

    earnest → propulsive, still romantic suspense

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Slower

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  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    earnest → playful

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  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    earnest → elegiac

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  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    earnest → meditative

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Heavier

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  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles

    Thomas Hardy

    A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

    earnest → elegiac

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  • Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx1997

    Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

    earnest → elegiac

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  • Bright Side

    Kim Holden2014

    An optimistic college student moves to Minnesota for a fresh start while hiding a terminal diagnosis from her best friend.

    earnest → tender

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