Cut & Run

Deal with the Devil

Meghan March2019

A woman in debt to a dangerous man agrees to a high-stakes deal with a billionaire to save her family. They travel together under duress.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert1856

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

propulsive → tense

pace0·prose+3·bleak+1

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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → dark

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Second Sight

Jayne Ann Krentz2006

A photographer fakes a death and assumes a new identity after her employer, with whom she spent one night, is reported killed.

propulsive → wry, still romantic suspense

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Simply Sensual

Sandra Brown2001

A private investigator is hired to secretly watch a wealthy heiress. She attempts to seduce him while he tries to hide that he is on her payroll.

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The Lion's Lady

Julie Garwood1988

A woman raised by Native Americans enters London society and attracts a nobleman who tries to uncover her hidden past.

propulsive → warm

pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

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.

Same propulsive register, still romantic suspense

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Savage Prince

Meghan March2018

A powerful man in the New Orleans underworld becomes obsessed with a woman and pursues her despite the danger of his lifestyle.

Same propulsive register, still romantic suspense

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Burn for Me

Ilona Andrews2014

A private investigator with the ability to tell truth from lies is hired to find a fire-user. She is forced to work with a dangerous billionaire.

Same propulsive register, still enemies to lovers

pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → elegiac

pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2

Either/Or

Søren Kierkegaard1992

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

propulsive → meditative

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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.

propulsive → elegiac

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

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.

propulsive → elegiac

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Bright Side

Kim Holden2014

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

propulsive → tender

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