EyebrarianPrize winnersGet the app

Books › Misconduct

Cover of Misconduct

Misconduct

Penelope Douglas

385 pages

A high-stakes, tension-soaked collision of forbidden desire and closely guarded secrets.

Where to buyBooks like this

What it feels like

Reading this book feels like standing too close to a fire—dangerous, consuming, and impossible to step away from. The narrative pulls you through a gauntlet of simmering glances, sharp banter, and the heavy, suffocating weight of keeping secrets. Douglas writes with a visceral intensity that makes the emotional stakes feel life-or-death, wrapping the reader in a sultry, tension-filled atmosphere where every interaction crackles with inappropriate attraction. It is a deeply angsty, emotionally charged experience that thrives on the friction of a boardroom-meets-classroom power struggle. This is a story designed for readers who love the delicious agony of a taboo romance, where control is constantly negotiated, fiercely guarded, and ultimately surrendered in the pursuit of a hard-won connection.

Mood
  • charged
  • sultry
  • tense
  • steamy
Tone
  • intense
  • angsty
  • passionate
  • direct
Pace
brisk
Themes
forbidden desire · power dynamics · weight of the past · taboo romance · emotional surrender
The writing
Direct and emotionally visceral, focusing heavily on internal monologue and the sensory details of physical attraction.
The arc
Moves from guarded resistance and simmering tension to explosive surrender and hard-won emotional vulnerability.
Who it's for
Readers who crave high-angst, taboo contemporary romances with sharp power dynamics and deeply flawed, intense protagonists.
Content notes
  • explicit sexual content
  • past trauma
  • age gap dynamics
  • power imbalance

About the book

"From the author of the Fall Away series who never fails to deliver a "powerfully written contemporary love story. Former tennis player Easton Bradbury is trying to be the best teacher she can be, trying to reach her bored students, trying to forget her past. What brought her to this stage in her life isn't important. She can't let it be. But now one parent-teacher meeting may be her undoing. Meeting Tyler Marek for the first time makes it easy for Easton to see why his son is having trouble in school. The man knows how to manage businesses and wealth, not a living, breathing teenage boy. Or a young teacher, for that matter, though he tries to. And yet...there is something about him that draws Easton in a hint of vulnerability, a flash of attraction, a spark that might burn. Wanting him is taboo. Needing him is undeniable. And his long-awaited touch will weaken Easton's resolve--and reveal what should stay hidden"--

Description from Open Library.

Books like Misconduct

See why they match