13 Best Books Like Credence That Filled the Credence Void

If you just finished Credence and immediately started searching for books like Credence, you’re not alone. This is one of those books that ends and leaves you a little rattled, in the best way, and nothing else on your shelf feels like it’ll hit the same.

Part of what made Credence so popular comes down to how far Penelope Douglas was willing to take it. Isolation, blurred family lines, a slow burn between characters who shouldn’t work together but do anyway.

It’s the kind of book that gets passed around in reading groups because everyone has an opinion on it.

So if you’re chasing that same feeling, taboo dynamics, remote settings, morally gray men, and a heroine finding her footing in an impossible situation, this list has you covered.

Some picks lean darker, some soften the edges a little, but each one captures a piece of what made Credence impossible to put down.

Last updated: 25 July 2026

CONTENT WARNING: These books contain explicit spice, dark themes, taboo relationships, emotional trauma, and other mature content. Please check individual trigger warnings before reading.

What Makes Books Like Credence So Addictive?

Readers usually aren’t looking for another book with the exact same plot—they’re chasing the same feeling.

Credence stands out because it blends emotional isolation, morally gray love interests, forbidden attraction, and a remote setting that traps the characters together.

Those elements create constant tension and force every relationship to develop under pressure.

The books below don’t all copy that formula, but each captures at least one of the things that made Credence so difficult to put down. For more detail- Credence Spicy Chapters Guide

Books Like Credence: Best Dark & Taboo Romance Reads

1. Flock by Kate Stewart (The Ravenhood Series)

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Dark Romance
Publication Date: May 21, 2024 (Kensington paperback edition)
Pages: 416
Goodreads Rating: ~4.20/5
Spice Level: 4/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ explicit romance with emotional and suspenseful themes.

I reread this last year because I wanted to see if it held up outside the hype, and it did, easily.

Flock follows Cecelia Horner, a nineteen-year-old who moves to the small town of Triple Falls for one year, working off a deal with her estranged father in exchange for her inheritance.

On her first day, she meets Sean, and through him, his tight circle of friends, including the guarded Dominic. What starts as a summer of freedom turns into something layered with secrets, loyalty, and a society none of them talk about openly.

The Credence comparison holds up here too: morally gray men, a woman caught between loyalties, and a slow unraveling of secrets that changes how you see everyone involved.

What I liked is how addictive the pacing feels, hard to put down once Sean and Dominic both start pulling Cecelia in different directions.

My real complaint is the ending; it cuts off mid-story with a hard cliffhanger. Worth knowing going in, this is book one of a trilogy, not a standalone, so you’ll need Exodus and The Finish Line to get the full picture.

2. The Wild by K. Webster

Genre: Dark Romance / Reverse Harem / Survival Romance
Publication Date: March 30, 2021
Pages: 430
Goodreads Rating: ~4.13/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ very explicit with dark, survival, and taboo themes.

I was expecting a dark romance, but it ended up giving me much more than that. The story drops you into a survival situation where every decision matters, and that pressure makes the romance feel even more intense.

Instead of relying on big twists, the book builds tension through the characters and the difficult choices they have to make.

What makes this one stand out is the wilderness setting. Being cut off from the outside world creates the same sense of being trapped that made Credence so addictive, but the survival element gives it a different flavor. You never know who to trust, which keeps the pages turning.

If what you loved most about Credence was the forced proximity, forbidden attraction, emotional push and pull, and possessive romance, you’ll find many of those same elements here.

It is dark, spicy, and full of complicated relationships, making it an easy pick for readers who want another romance that keeps them hooked from start to finish. For Books like Credence, The Wild is one of the first recommendations I’d make.

Related: 25 Dark Fantasy Romance Books Worth Every Page I Read

3. Torment by Dylan Page

Genre: Dark Romance / Psychological Romance
Publication Date: September 24, 2023
Pages: 478
Goodreads Rating: ~4.39/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ graphic, emotionally intense, and explicit.

Torment by Dylan Page is one I went into expecting typical dark romance, and came out needing a breather afterward.

Mina Westberg grew up inside the Celtic Beasts, a motorcycle club that raised her more than her own mother did.

Her stepbrother Shay was the one steady thing in that rough world, her protector, her constant. That protection shifts into something much darker once she’s older, and the story doesn’t ease you into it, it drops you straight into the discomfort.

If you liked how Credence blurs the line between protector and threat, this one hits a similar nerve.

What worked for me was the tension, it barely lets up, and Shay ends up more layered than your typical bad boy archetype.

What didn’t work as well was the pacing in the second half, a few scenes felt repetitive, circling the same emotional beat instead of pushing forward.

Heads-up before you start: this one covers heavy topics like abuse and violence, so check the warnings first. It’s also part one of a duet, the story continues in Part Two.

4. Does It Hurt? by H.D. Carlton

Genre: Dark Romance / Romantic Suspense
Publication Date: September 10, 2024 (Zando paperback edition)
Pages: 432
Goodreads Rating: ~4.18/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️very explicit, dark romance with mature themes.

I’ll be honest, Does It Hurt? took me completely off guard, in the best and worst ways. Sawyer Bennett is running from an abusive past, stealing money and identities from men just to survive one more day.

Enzo Vitale, a shark researcher with his own dark edges, catches her in the act, and instead of turning her in, he corners her for himself.

What follows is a shipwreck, an abandoned island, and a slow, twisted trust between two people who probably shouldn’t trust each other at all.

If Credence pulled you in with its intensity, this one hits a similar nerve: isolation, power struggles, two people circling each other under pressure with nowhere to run.

What I loved is how unpredictable it stays; this isn’t a typical dark romance; there’s a real thriller pulse running underneath. My one gripe is the pacing sags a bit in the middle, and Enzo’s obsession sometimes tips past believable into just uncomfortable. Still, a wild, addictive ride.

5. Five Brothers by Penelope Douglas

Genre: Dark Romance / Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: July 30, 2024 (Berkley edition)
Pages: 560
Goodreads Rating: ~3.80/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ very explicit with taboo themes and mature content.

Same author, and I still think Five Brothers might be Penelope Douglas at her most unhinged, in the best way.
Krisjen comes from the wealthy side of town, where everything looks polished, and everyone’s already planned out her future.

The Jaeger brothers live on the other side, rough, loyal to each other, and completely unbothered by the rules Krisjen grew up following.

When her home life falls apart, she ends up crashing on their couch, and one late-night encounter with a brother she can’t identify pulls her deeper into their world than she ever planned.

This one leans into taboo territory hard: five brothers, one girl, and a slow build that keeps shifting who she’s actually falling for. If Credence pulled you in, this hits a similar nerve, just with more chaos and more men involved.

For the full reading order and how this connects to her other worlds, check our Penelope Douglas Books in Order guide.

6. Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

Genre: Dark Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: October 8, 2024 (Bloom Books edition)
Pages: 432
Goodreads Rating: ~4.43/5
Spice Level: 4/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️explicit romance with heavy emotional and traumatic themes.

Still Beating messed me up in a way I wasn’t ready for, and I mean that as a compliment. Cora and Dean have hated each other for fifteen years, mostly because Dean is dating her sister and never lets an opportunity to annoy her slide.

Then a stolen wallet leaves Cora stranded with him one night, and they both end up chained in a stranger’s basement, forced to survive together before they can even think about escaping.

What happens in that basement changes everything between them, and getting out doesn’t mean the story’s over.

The Credence comparison makes sense here: captivity, forced closeness, and two people who have to rebuild trust from nothing. Jennifer Hartmann doesn’t rush the healing either, which I appreciated.

My honest gripe: the sister subplot dragged for me, and a few scenes lean heavier into trauma than romance.

Good news is you don’t need to stop at one book, Still Beating kicks off a loose series, with Lotus and The Stars Are on Our Side continuing the story.

7. Hills of Shivers and Shadows by Pam Godwin

Genre: Dark Romance / Romantic Suspense
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Pages: 492
Goodreads Rating: ~4.25/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ very explicit with dark survival and taboo themes.

If you’re searching for books if you like Credence, Hills of Shivers and Shadows might be the darkest match on this list.

Frankie Novak is abducted and dropped into a remote cabin in the Alaskan wilderness, trapped with four dangerous men who each carry their own secrets.

Survival becomes the only option, and trust becomes something she has to earn one day at a time, not something anyone hands her for free.

What makes this one blend perfectly with the Credence vibe is the isolation, the forced closeness, and morally gray men who protect her one moment and unsettle her the next. Pam Godwin doesn’t hold back either; this is one of her darkest books yet.

My one warning: check the trigger warnings before starting; this one goes further than most books on this list. It’s also book one of the Frozen Fate trilogy, so be ready for a cliffhanger ending.

8. Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Age Gap Romance
Publication Date: April 17, 2018
Pages: 416
Goodreads Rating: ~4.09/5
Spice Level: 5/5 — very explicit age-gap romance.

Birthday Girl trades the mountain isolation of Credence for something closer to home, and honestly, that makes it hit different.

Jordan is nineteen, broke, and stuck with a boyfriend who barely shows up for her. When he forgets her on her own birthday, she ends up at Pike Lawson’s door instead, his father, the one person who’s actually shown her kindness.

Moving in with him only makes the attraction between them harder to ignore, and neither of them is prepared for how far it goes.

Same author as Credence, same willingness to sit inside a relationship most people would call off-limits. The age gap and family tie do a lot of the heavy lifting here, tension built entirely on what shouldn’t happen but does anyway.

It’s less intense than Credence overall, no captivity, no survival plot, just two people slowly giving in to something forbidden.

If you want Penelope Douglas’s taboo energy without the heavier trauma, this one’s an easier entry point.

9. The Ritual by Shantel Tessier

Genre: Dark Romance / Secret Society Romance
Publication Date: January 15, 2024 (Bloom Books edition)
Pages: 576
Goodreads Rating: ~4.06/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ very explicit with dark themes, BDSM, and mature content.

The Ritual pulls you into a completely different world than Credence, but the intensity feels just as heavy.

Blakely Anderson gets swept into the orbit of the Lords, a secretive and violent society running underneath Barrington University.

Ryat Archer, one of its most dangerous members, chooses her as his own, and what follows is less romance and more a slow, brutal claim over her autonomy. Shantel Tessier doesn’t ease into any of it, the very first chapter makes that clear.

If you’re building a list of books like Credence, this one belongs near the top. Same power imbalance, same possessive intensity, just wrapped in a dark academia setting instead of a family dynamic.

What stood out to me was how unapologetic Ryat is as a character, there’s no redemption arc softening him early on.

My one complaint is the world-building leans heavy at times, slowing down the momentum between Ryat and Blakely. Still, it’s the first of six books, so there’s plenty more if you get hooked.

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10. Immoral Steps by Marissa Farrar (The Immoral Series)

Genre: Dark Romance / Why Choose Romance / Survival Romance
Publication Date: February 7, 2023 (Latest paperback edition)
Pages: 310
Goodreads Rating: ~4.23/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️very explicit with taboo themes, why choose romance, and mature content.

This one takes the “trapped together” setup and pushes it even further than most books on this list.

After her mother’s death, Laney is forced to leave everything behind and move in with a stepfather she barely knows and his two adult sons, Darius and Cade, where old secrets and forbidden attraction begin to surface.

None of them want her there. She doesn’t want to be there either. Then a private plane crash strands all four of them in the Canadian wilderness, and survival forces them together in ways none of them saw coming.

The isolation, the blurred family lines, the slow shift from resentment to something else entirely- it all echoes the same tension that makes Credence work.

This one leans even further into taboo territory, though, so go in knowing that upfront. It’s also the first book in a trilogy, so the story doesn’t wrap up here.

11. Lessons in Sin by Pam Godwin

Genre: Dark Romance / Age Gap Romance / Forbidden Romance
Publication Date: June 29, 2021
Pages: 592
Goodreads Rating: ~4.21/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ very explicit with forbidden romance, age-gap dynamics, and mature themes.

Tinsley Constantine is the youngest of a wealthy, image-obsessed family, and after one too many scandals, her mother ships her off to a Catholic boarding school to straighten her out.

What she finds instead is Father Magnus Falke, the headteacher who’s spent years suppressing every dark impulse he has, until Tinsley makes that impossible.

The match to Credence comes through clearly here, a power imbalance built into the relationship from day one, a slow build where both of them resist what’s happening before giving in, and a possessive, controlling love interest who isn’t easy to root for but somehow works anyway.

The isolation is there too, just swapped from a house to a school, cutting Tinsley off from the world she knew.

Where it splits from Credence is the tone; this one leans more into forbidden romance than dark survival, and it’s a standalone, so there’s no cliffhanger waiting at the end.

12. Little Stranger by Leigh Rivers

Genre: Dark Romance / Psychological Romance / Taboo Romance
Publication Date: October 23, 2025 (Piatkus/Sourcebooks trade edition)
Pages: 272
Goodreads Rating: ~3.87/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ very explicit with taboo, obsessive, and psychological themes.

If you’ve been asking yourself what book will make me feel the way Credence did, Little Stranger might be the closest answer, and honestly, the most unsettling one.

This one follows Olivia and Malachi Vize, foster siblings whose bond forms in childhood and turns into something far more twisted by the time they’re adults.

Betrayal sends Malachi away for years, and when he comes back, he’s not looking for closure; he’s looking to claim what he’s always believed was his.

Like Credence, this book blurs family lines and leans hard into obsession and control, but it pushes even further into taboo territory. The tension between Olivia and Malachi never really lets up, sometimes to the point of being genuinely hard to sit with.

Fair warning: this one carries heavier content warnings than most books on this list, so check those before diving in. It’s the first in a duet, so the story continues in Little Liar.

13. Neon Gods by Katee Robert

Genre: Dark Romance / Contemporary Romance / Greek Mythology Retelling
Publication Date: August 6, 2024 (Sourcebooks reissued edition with redesigned cover)
Pages: 432
Goodreads Rating: ~3.67/5
Spice Level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Persephone Dimitriou is set to marry Zeus, the most dangerous man in the city of Olympus, until she flees into the forbidden undercity and strikes a deal with Hades, a man most people believe is a myth.

What starts as a strategic arrangement- protection for her, leverage for him- turns into something neither of them planned on, and Persephone finds a strange kind of freedom in giving up control to someone she should probably fear.

It shares that same Credence pull, power imbalance, a woman stepping into a world she doesn’t fully understand, and a slow surrender that feels earned rather than rushed.

It’s spicier and less family-centered than Credence, but the tension hits the same nerve. This one closes out the list, but landing last here isn’t a ranking; every book on this list earned its spot.

Which Should You Read First?

With this many dark, twisted options, here’s how to pick based on what you’re actually craving right now:

• Want the closest thing to Credence itself? Start with Flock. Same slow reveal of secrets, same morally gray men, same feeling of not knowing who to trust.
• Want survival and isolation over romance? Go with Hills of Shivers and Shadows or Immoral Steps. Both strand the heroine somewhere remote with no easy way out.
• Want something even darker than Credence? The Ritual or Little Stranger will push past where Credence stopped. Read the content warnings first.
• Want forbidden romance without the survival angle? Lessons in Sin gives you taboo tension in a school setting instead of the wilderness.
• Want a fresh, less family-centered read? Neon Gods trades the taboo family dynamic for a power-imbalance romance instead, still intense, just a different flavor.

Which one should I read tonight?

Flock. No contest. It’s the easiest one to fall into on a random weeknight, addictive pacing, a mystery pulling you forward chapter after chapter, and it doesn’t demand the same emotional toll some of the darker picks on this list do. Save Little Stranger or The Ritual for a weekend when you’ve got nowhere to be after you finish.

Conclusion

If I had to pick just one from this list, it’d be Flock. It captures that same slow unraveling of secrets Credence does so well, without pushing quite as far into taboo territory, which makes it easier to recommend to more readers.

None of these books copies Credence, and that’s actually why this list works. Some lean harder into survival, others into psychological tension or forbidden romance, but each captures a different part of what made Penelope Douglas’s novel unforgettable.

Some go darker than Credence ever did, others soften the edges, but all of them chase that same feeling, isolation, tangled loyalties, and characters who shouldn’t work but somehow do.

If Credence left a hole in your reading list, one of these will fill it.

Already picked your next read? Drop a comment and tell us which one made your TBR first.

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