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Dirty Filthy Rich Men

Laurelin Paige2017

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Nauti Nights

    Lora Leigh2007

    A man in a small town uses blackmail to force a woman into a relationship. The story follows their sexual tension and his possessive behavior.

    Same propulsive register, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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+2·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

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

    Akwaeke Emezi2022

    A widow five years into her grief begins a new romance, only to develop feelings for her partner's father.

    propulsive → tender, still contemporary romance

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To recover

propulsive → playful, still contemporary romance

3 more ↓

  • Carried Away

    Donna Kauffman2002

    A former Special Ops commander accidentally kidnaps the wrong woman from her bed. The two are forced together as he tries to correct the error.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Marriage Bargain

    Jennifer Probst2012

    A bookstore owner enters a one-year contract marriage with a billionaire to save her family's land. They must follow a set of rules to stay platonic.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Beautiful Bitch

    Christina Lauren

    A career-focused woman and her boyfriend struggle to find time for each other until a trip to a French villa forces a confrontation.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Victory at Prescott High

    C.M. Stunich

    A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

    Same propulsive register, still contemporary romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Quantum Radio

    A.G. Riddle2023

    A scientist at CERN discovers a signal from a parallel universe. He must flee a conspiracy while exploring the implications of the data.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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 enemies to lovers

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

    An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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+2·bleak+2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Wuthering Heights

    Emily Brontë1846

    Two families on the Yorkshire moors deal with the arrival and subsequent revenge of an adopted orphan. The story is told through nested narrators.

    propulsive → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway1929

    An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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+1·bleak+2