Fans pick 24 books like Believing In Fate

By Vaya Thorn,

Here are 24 books that Believing In Fate fans have personally recommended if you like Believing In Fate. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rick Simonds Author Of Operation: Midnight

From my list on thrillers revealing government conspiracies.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have long had an interest in government conspiracies and have spent hundreds of hours researching the many experiments our government has foisted upon an unsuspecting populous. When the Church Committee released info on Projects MK Ultra, Bluebird, Artichoke, and others, people were stunned to realize what had been going on. Movies such as The Matrix dealt with mind control and the attempt to create the perfect soldier, and I am convinced such research and experimentation continues today.

Rick's book list on thrillers revealing government conspiracies

Rick Simonds Why did Rick love this book?

This wonderful novel features a journalist, Mikala Blomkvist, searching for a highly respected, long-lost member of a notable family. Once again, government corruption is rampant in the investigation.

A special aspect of this novel is the introduction of Lisbeth Salander, a brash, tattooed young woman with an abrasive personality matched only by her singular skills. I loved this character, who is incredibly unique.

By Stieg Larsson,

Why should I read it?

27 authors picked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly-knit but dysfunctional family.

He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history.

But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and…


Book cover of All Woman and Springtime

Lucy Pussett Author Of Diary of a Contemporary Woman

From my list on bold, sexy, sassy, and inspiring female MC.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised by my Grandmother who escaped Nazi-occupied Germany. A strong, proud, capable woman who eventually, despite arriving in the UK as a refugee, ended up working for Winston Churchill as a war secretary. Not a feminist but rather a true champion of women. I believe a woman's body, her mind, her essence is her own! I write about strong females, sex positive not under the control of an Alpha male. I have a rare gift for writing Erotica with a real story, which will transport you as if in the room with my characters. More than this, I create characters you'll care about and take with you on your own journey path.

Lucy's book list on bold, sexy, sassy, and inspiring female MC

Lucy Pussett Why did Lucy love this book?

This book splits public opinion right down the middle it seems from hateful 1-star reviews to glowing 5-star ones. Well, for me it was a crystal clear five stars! Our protagonist Gi and her friend IL-sun escape North Korea and end up in a horrific sex trafficking ring, eventually finding themselves in America. Even now, years on since I turned that last page, I feel Gi. I visualised with ease every step she took, every breath, every torment and heartache she endured. The book is beautifully written. I'm confused how anyone can give this book a poor rating other than accepting the simple fact not all books are for all readers! I couldn't put it down and cancelled two business appointments having to reschedule them as I wasn't leaving the house. Get the tissues at the ready.

By Brandon W. Jones,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“A gripping novel” of two North Korean teenage girls, and their harrowing journey as they escape the authoritarian state (O, The Oprah Magazine).
 
Before she met Il-sun in an orphanage, Gi was a hollow husk of a girl, broken from growing up in one of North Korea’s forced-labor camps. A mathematical genius, she learned to cope with pain by retreating into a world of numbers and calculations. Gi becomes enamored with the brash and radiant Il-sun, a friend she describes as “all woman and springtime.”
 
But Il-sun’s pursuit of a better life imperils both girls when her suitor spirits them…


Book cover of The Refusal

Lucy Pussett Author Of Diary of a Contemporary Woman

From my list on bold, sexy, sassy, and inspiring female MC.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised by my Grandmother who escaped Nazi-occupied Germany. A strong, proud, capable woman who eventually, despite arriving in the UK as a refugee, ended up working for Winston Churchill as a war secretary. Not a feminist but rather a true champion of women. I believe a woman's body, her mind, her essence is her own! I write about strong females, sex positive not under the control of an Alpha male. I have a rare gift for writing Erotica with a real story, which will transport you as if in the room with my characters. More than this, I create characters you'll care about and take with you on your own journey path.

Lucy's book list on bold, sexy, sassy, and inspiring female MC

Lucy Pussett Why did Lucy love this book?

Eve is a debut novelist just as I am and did a fantastic job in creating a feel for her cast of characters even if the notion of a tech billionaire playboy is perhaps not so original, this did not matter to me at all as well written and the MC was total girl power, in her own unique way. Jo is not your killer blonde, your "stop traffic" beauty but rather a tech geek, with freckles, and ginger. Aces! I like authors which create less obvious heroines. It massively appeals to me. It was refreshingly written showing the real insecurities of both Jo and Janus upon entering a new relationship. Funny, suspenseful, and very steamy yet also real as about sincere emotions, friendships, and public perception.  

By Eve M. Riley,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR 29 ROMANCE BOOK AWARDS!

WINNER: The Pinnacle Book Award

WINNER: Los Angeles Book Festival

WINNER: Global Book Award

WINNER: Beach Book Festival

WINNER: National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award

DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE: Independent Press Awards

"Have you ever found yourself reading a really exceptional book and you find that you’re forcing yourself to slow down on your reading because you simply don’t want the book to end?” Shannon Kuhn, Author and ARC reviewer

Quiet boyfriends. An organised life. It’s all about to be upended.

Driven, workaholic Janus Phillips has glamorous tastes. Tech billionaire, red carpet events, a new model…


Book cover of The Evolution of a Girl

Lucy Pussett Author Of Diary of a Contemporary Woman

From my list on bold, sexy, sassy, and inspiring female MC.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised by my Grandmother who escaped Nazi-occupied Germany. A strong, proud, capable woman who eventually, despite arriving in the UK as a refugee, ended up working for Winston Churchill as a war secretary. Not a feminist but rather a true champion of women. I believe a woman's body, her mind, her essence is her own! I write about strong females, sex positive not under the control of an Alpha male. I have a rare gift for writing Erotica with a real story, which will transport you as if in the room with my characters. More than this, I create characters you'll care about and take with you on your own journey path.

Lucy's book list on bold, sexy, sassy, and inspiring female MC

Lucy Pussett Why did Lucy love this book?

So, a totally underrated, amazing writer and poet. I don’t know much about poetry. I was told by a friend to read this book and I’m so pleased I listened to her. Love the poems in here as some really spoke to my soul, my heart. Beautiful, relatable, powerful, original, heartfelt, heart-warming. I mean I could list adjectives until the cows come home people! Any book which helps women to understand and inspire them on how to grow and become happy in what is sometimes a world full of toxic masculinity gets my thumbs up, esp when it doesn’t read like a feminist on a power rant!! Read it, you can thank me on Instagram after.

By L.E. Bowman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Evolution of a Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Evolution of a Girl is a collection of poetry and prose taking the reader from girl to woman; from heartbreak and anger to transformation and rebirth. It speaks of the strength we find when learning to accept ourselves and the unbreakable softness that comes from unyielding self-love. The Evolution of a Girl is a book for those who are hurting, for those who are healing, and for those who are ready to try again.


Book cover of Lucca

Liz Ashlee Author Of Moving Forward

From my list on romance novels with pet names that will make you smile.

Why am I passionate about this?

Pet names in romance can make or break a book, in my opinion. Sometimes, they can be offputting, but other times, pet names make me smile. They elevate the chemistry between characters–turn the heat up a notch on a steam scene, make you blush, and make you fall in love with the characters. When I read a pet name I can imagine the tone, level, and timbre. It makes me feel like I'm there in the pages with the characters. I think it's because a pet name or nickname is special. A person assigns it to you because they care–or, better yet, within the pages of a romance, they love.

Liz's book list on romance novels with pet names that will make you smile

Liz Ashlee Why did Liz love this book?

This was the first book I've read in a long time that I finished and immediately re-read. Lucca and Chloe's romance was gradual but star-crossed, safe but challenging. I ate up every word of it and melted whenever Lucca referred to Chloe as Darlin’.

What I loved most is that in previous books in the series, Lucca called other women Darlin’, but in Lucca he promises Chloe that she'll be the only he calls that. That heightened the importance of the nickname, but also proved the lengths Lucca would go to for Chloe, even if it was something that might not matter to anyone else.

By Sarah Brianne,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Lucca was made the underboss, being what nightmares are made of.Chloe was scarred by her past, learning too young that nightmares are real.He has waited long enough to claim her soul, but he must take it from the devil first.Her soul might have been better off claimed by the devil.The only way to save her from her past is to delve into his.The world as she knows it will come crashing down.I'm the fu**ing boogieman.I'm just a fu**ing freak.


Book cover of Prizzis Honor

Richard Vetere Author Of Champagne and Cocaine: A Novel

From my list on the darkly insane world of NYC in the 1980s.

Why am I passionate about this?

Richard Vetere’s screenplay Caravaggio won The Golden Palm for the Best Screenplay at the 2021 Beverly Hills Film Festival. He co-wrote The Third Miracle screenplay adaptation of his own novel. The movie was produced by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Ed Harris and Anne Heche and directed by Agnieszka Holland released by Sony Pictures Classics. His teleplay adaptation of his stage play The Marriage Fool starring Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett is the most viewed CBS movie ever and is currently running on Amazon. He also wrote the cult classic film Vigilante called by BAM as one of the “best indies of the 1980s.”

Richard's book list on the darkly insane world of NYC in the 1980s

Richard Vetere Why did Richard love this book?

Richard Condon shows the mob as a family of degenerates, violent felons who are still human beings who also fall in love. The focus on the novel is how a hit man, looking to embellish his career, dates a big mob guy’s daughter, only to fall in love with another killer who is a woman. She has been hired to kill him but she also is in love with him. Published in 1982 , the novel captures the entanglements of a soap opera with real bite. The movie with Jack Nicholson is also top rate.

By Richard Condon,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A darkly funny novel of mobsters, murder, and marriage: “The surprise ending will knock your reading glasses off.” —The New York Times
 
Charley Partanna works as a hitman for the Prizzis, New York’s most dangerous crime family. When he meets Irene Walker, an LA-based tax consultant, it’s pretty much love at first sight.
 
But Irene also moonlights as a hit woman—and had a hand in a big-money heist in Vegas. Now Charley has been told that she’s got to go. Faced with divided loyalties, he must make a choice—between the only family he’s ever known and the woman he loves.…


Book cover of Taken by the MC

Kim Schubert Author Of Dead Shifter Walking

From my list on panty damping books with badass female leads.

Why am I passionate about this?

Well, that’s a deep ask, can we rain check that for when I feel the need to deep dive my jacked-up psyche? I feel grossly unprepared.... What I do love, are romance novels. I have fairly strict requirements in what books should be allowed into that category. There needs to be, at least one, panty-dampening, heart-racing, mouth-watering sex scene. More than that, I'm a firm member of bitches who are too much. It should be no surprise my reading taste trends to similar loudmouthed female leads. If you've happened upon my personally curated list of my favorite panty-dampening books with badass female leads, I welcome you and rejoice in the companionship. 

Kim's book list on panty damping books with badass female leads

Kim Schubert Why did Kim love this book?

Do you ever have that moment while reading, when you look up at normal life happening blissfully, while you are balls deep in a dirty scene? Yeah, me too. This one is one, of many books, I’m eternally grateful for a privacy screen protector on my phone. Don’t have one? Highly recommend, so that you too can enjoy deliciously naughty scenes while at your children’s jiu jitsu class. What? There’s no judgment here.

While my other recommendations have included females who are literally kicking ass, taking names, and leaving a trail of dead bodies, this book reminds me that badassery takes on many forms. And finding a happily ever after is unique to each and every person.

By Devyn Douglas,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Taken by the MC as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sometimes you have to get dirty…

There’s no one dirtier than the local MC.

Harmony's used to her mom's BS hitting her doorstep. She's mastered saving her mom's ass, but her latest stunt might get them both killed. The local drug dealer, as well as the Mexican Mafia, want blood. Unfortunately, the sexy MC President wants more from Harmony. To keep them both breathing, she'll work off the debt—on her knees. A slave to the MC.

No one was ever supposed to find out about Harmony’s darkest fantasies—but the Penetrators MC has, and they intend to fulfill every dirty detail.…


Book cover of Destroyed

Stacy Kristen Author Of Jax: An Age Gap, Second Chance at Love MC Romance

From my list on unforgettable spicy romance reads.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an indie romance author obsessed with all things romance, the spicier the better! I’m all about the happy ending, so all my books feature a happy ever after (HEA) or happy for now (HFN).

Stacy's book list on unforgettable spicy romance reads

Stacy Kristen Why did Stacy love this book?

Although this is book 4, I recommend starting with the first book of the series. I chose this book because it ended the American Street Kings with a bang and it’s my favorite out of all the books in the series, even though it’s super dark (readers should note the trigger warnings). Throughout the book, there were so many twists and turns that I wasn’t sure how, or even if, Ink and Neon would get their happy ever after (HEA).

By Bella J,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Her revenge starts...now.

Rage. It’s toxic. It poisons you. Corrupts you. Smothers your heart until it no longer beats.
You can’t run from it. There’s no escape. Once it seizes control, it won’t stop until revenge bleeds the tears of justice.

The day he took her, he destroyed my humanity, turning me into a bloodthirsty savage. Now, I’m driven by my hunger to see the snake bleed. To hear his screams and relish his cries.

He should have known she wasn’t his to take. By touching her, he dared the beast, sealing his fate to breathe his last breath while…


Book cover of To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia

Joe Pappalardo Author Of Red Sky Morning: The Epic True Story of Texas Ranger Company F

From my list on that give the outlaws a say.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a journalist and author of history books who's lived in Texas for most of my adult life, I've found myself unavoidably steeped in Texas Ranger lore. I didn't understand how such a small force could enter unfamiliar areas of Texas and get any results as law enforcement officers. This central question led to me the operations of Company F during 1886-1888. I found the showdowns were just one part of the story. Researching these topics meant learning about the Rangers' outlaw targets - following another journalistic impulse to give both sides of this story an equal hearing. What resulted is a nuanced, complex tale that hopefully will open eyes instead of pointing fingers.

Joe's book list on that give the outlaws a say

Joe Pappalardo Why did Joe love this book?

Danny Greene is a bad role model but a great protagonist. A former US Marine and union boss convicted in federal court of embezzling, he transitioned into organized crime by doing enforcement work for the Cleveland Mafia. However, he soon branches out on his own in the most brazen ways possible, incurring the wrath of his former associates. Murders, an extended bombing campaign and Greene’s work supplying intel to federal agents all culminate in a conclusion that has real consequences – the downfall of La Cosa Nostra in Cleaveland in 1977. It’s hard not to empathize with the crazy-brave Greene, standing shirtless in plain sight in front of his headquarters as the Mafia plots his death. When a criminal is this kind of character, it’s easy for a reader to lay polite society aside and immerse inside that world, enough so to root for a bad guy.      

By Rick Porrello,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked To Kill the Irishman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Be sure to see Kill the Irishman-the major motion picture based on Rick Porrello's true-crime masterpiece!

A modern warrior known as Greene
Was very quick and smart, and mean.
He scrambled hard and fought like hell,
And led a charmed existence.
They shot him down and blew him up
With most regular persistence.
-From The Ballad of Danny Greene Clevelan d, the 1970s:

A fearless Irishman boldly muscles in on the Italian-American Mafia-intrepid, charismatic, shrewd, cunning, and armed with a master plan to take over the rackets under the auspices of the Irish banner of which he was so fiercely…


Book cover of Transnational Art Crime

Noah Charney Author Of The Devil in the Gallery: How Scandal, Shock, and Rivalry Shaped the Art World

From my list on art crime.

Why am I passionate about this?

Back in 2006, a New York Times Magazine feature article about me announced that I had essentially founded the field of the study of art crime, while still a postgraduate student. I’m often mentioned as the world’s leading authority on the history of art crime and I’ve been a professor teaching the subject for more than a decade (I’m not actually that old). I also founded ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, the world’s first think tank and research group on art crime. We launched the first academic journal on the subject, The Journal of Art Crime, as well as the first academic study program, the ARCA Postgraduate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection, which runs every summer in Italy. I’m also the author of more than a dozen books, many best-sellers, and one a Pulitzer finalist. I write on art crime for TED Ed videos, I host TV programs on the subject, and I recently curated a virtual exhibit of lost art called Missing Masterpieces.

Noah's book list on art crime

Noah Charney Why did Noah love this book?

When I first started out, there were very few books ever written about the study of art crime. Tijhuis was one of the few authorities, approaching it from a criminological perspective. This is a really strong academic survey of the phenomenon, perfect for those interested in the intersection of criminology and art.

By Edgar Tijhuis,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

How does transnational crime interact with legal companies andgovernments? Are legal actors primarily victimized by transnationalcriminals or are the two connected by collaborative relationships? Andhow are these crimes often transformed into legitimate activities?This book seeks to answer these and related questions. Its main topicis the translational illicit art and antiquities trade, based on a thoroughempirical study of data gathered in France, Italy, the Netherlands andother places around the world. The reader will encounter a large numberof case studies, from auction houses selling looted antiquities to violentrobberies of museums and castles, and much more.Added to this is an analysis of the…


Book cover of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Book cover of All Woman and Springtime
Book cover of The Refusal

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Interested in mafia romance, presidential biography, and organized crime?

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