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The Penthouse

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What happens in the penthouse stays in the penthouse.

They're gorgeous, rich, and obsessed with me, but they're hiding a dark secret...

The Penthouse is a FAST BURN novella with a virgin heroine and the three men who worship her. A full list of content warnings can be found inside the book.

77 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2023

23 people are currently reading
155 people want to read

About the author

Leila Starling

7 books111 followers
Leila Starling is a lover and writer of many types of romance: mafia, reverse harem, fantasy, paranormal, dark, and contemporary. She can usually be found in front of her computer writing her next novel (or bingeing a show). You can find her on Instagram and TikTok @leilastarlingauthor.

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5 stars
28 (16%)
4 stars
41 (23%)
3 stars
39 (22%)
2 stars
31 (17%)
1 star
34 (19%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
Profile Image for Burning_Desire.
39 reviews
May 31, 2023
Not even 0.01 star

This was disturbing. I went in thinking it will be steamy read with 3 hot billionaires but what i find was so disturbing i don't know how I'll be able to sleep!


🚨Spoilers🚨

• My first issue with the book: it was super super insta love situation. While i didn't mind that and knew it beforehand, I draw the line with the MMC's proclaiming their love to the MFC without knowing anything other than her name — her first name....only, that too the MFC provided herself because it was clear they give 2 shits about the name of the girl they very much claimed as their own.

“You’re ours now,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
Christian steps forward. “It means we’re not letting you go.”
“You haven’t even asked me my name yet,” I point out. “I’m Brianna, by the way. But everyone calls me Brie.”

• My second (MAIN) issue with the book:
They guys are serial killers creeps! And not your typical sexy Mafia serial killer psycho daddies. No. They don't kill their enemies. They don't kill to protect themselves or/and their loved ones. They don't even kill for fun. So... Whom do they kill you might ask? Their ex girlfriend/lovers/fuckbuddies whatever you can them. There was this line where one of the "MMC" said that him and his 2 buddies share girls until they get bored of them and move on. I was like ok no biggie, nothing we've never read before, right? WRONG! What he failed to mention was HOW they move on! By strangling the girls and getting rid of their bodies just like every sane person would! Why throw them out when you can bury them right?

Ugh I'm disgusted.

What disgusted me more was how the MFC SYMPATHIZES WITH THEM after they told her that the reason her co-workers were a no show for the last week was because they are currently buried 6 feet deep!!!!

Oh and if this its not enough to creep anyone out, one of our lovely heroes keep the stuff of their previous girls (whom they killed, might as well i add) because he likes the smell off their cum while he us jerking off. And they say romance is dead 😍
Profile Image for J.L. Quick.
Author 38 books339 followers
April 23, 2023
I was sad this was a novella and not a full novel, because I wanted SO much more of this story!! SO MUCH MORE!! I wanted to learn more about the guys and watch their relationship progress so bad.

It was a quick read with good spice, and I would totally recommend as a RH (especially for someone who is looking for one light on triggers).
Profile Image for Bookreviewsbysusan.
156 reviews24 followers
April 9, 2023
Hot Hot Hot 🥵 . No fr I had to catch my breathe and a cold shower 😉. I was so excited to read and I was not disappointed. It was amazing. It was so beautifully written. Leila did not disappoint. The MMC's are so damn hot. Y'all this is a RH book. It such an addictive romance. RH, dark and so spice.
A must read !!!
Profile Image for Sarah Wentworth.
1 review
March 31, 2023
Also may be a bit biased as the editor, but you won’t want to miss this 🌶️🌶️🌶️ novella!
Profile Image for Lauren Rayton.
113 reviews1 follower
April 6, 2023
This was soo good I was so happy to receive an ARC I’ve been waiting to read this book and can’t honestly say that I was definitely hooked
This a short spice read the spice was amazing 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Would definitely want more on these men and their girl and to find out more about their backgrounds
Profile Image for Rose.
49 reviews
April 10, 2023
This book was so good. Hot and short but lovely at the same time. I really loved the plot twist toward the end and how it made everything much more interesting
Profile Image for Kitty King.
Author 19 books601 followers
May 18, 2023
So hot and spicy, you won't be able to put it down. Read in one sitting! Loved several of the dirty quotes. Would love to see a longer version with more from all the men and their backgrounds. All around a highly enjoyable sexxxy novella. Cannot wait to read more by this author!
Profile Image for Elizabeth Springs.
90 reviews8 followers
November 22, 2024
This book is short and to the point! It’s very spicy and the FMC is unsure how to feel about the MMC’s at first. The FMC is very suspicious of the guys and some of the things she over hears but can her love outweigh those thoughts? You’ll have to read to find out!!
Profile Image for Julia.
516 reviews9 followers
September 27, 2023
Look, I like a short smutty novella just as much as the next person, but this one is weird. To be fair, I'm not always a fan of the insta-love trope to begin with, and I still chose to read that, so it's partially my fault. But on the other hand, this isn't even really insta-love. I don't really know how to quantify it. I don't think I would even consider it to be like...a lust-at-first-sight thing either. She walks into an apartment (the penthouse, obviously) to clean it, and essentially gets sexually assaulted immediately.

Which, again, I have no problem with fictional depictions of triggering/upsetting material, that's not the problem here. The problem here is that the whole "concept" of this novella makes the main character seem like an idiot. She doesn't seem to realize what's happening to her, these men know nothing about her, she knows nothing about them, nothing really even happens in this book.

They have some good (questionable, because it seems to last about seven minutes) sex, and then they confess their "dark secret" (which is, to be fair, genuinely pretty fucking dark) and then they live happily ever after?

Aside from the sex, we don't even really know what they like about her, or what she likes about them? There is a shocking lack of information in this book, despite being like 90ish pages.

In fairness to the author, I do realize that for the most part, short novellas like this really only exist to be a quick sexy read. I know this. I understand this. While they're not usually my favorites, I still like them and have a fun time reading them, getting swept away in a fun spicy read for a little bit that doesn't feel like a big commitment to a book. I get it.

But I would like them to have a little bit more depth than this. I don't even mind the whole "innocent girl falls for the big bad serial killer" thing. That's fun, and I've seen it done really well in the past. But the reason that trope usually works so well is because there's so much "good" that underpins the character and their choices.

This book has none of that. There's no "we only kill bad people," or even "we kill indiscriminately but we are kind and gentle and big old softies with you, our one true love." We simply do not see enough about any of these characters, (especially Brie) to understand why this is seemingly no problem for her and everything is gravy.

I just don't get it???
Profile Image for Catina Lewis.
57 reviews3 followers
April 22, 2023
•𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗽
•𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘅
•𝗗𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗢𝗩
•𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲
•𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻
•𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗺

⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Not my cup of Cocoa
🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️🌶️- Spicy 🥵🥵🥵

The female lead is a hotel cleaning lady who is left to pick up the slack of her coworkers who just up and left. Little did she know there was more to the story than that. She ends up being left to clean the penthouse on the top floor which is home to 3 very sexy and single bachelors.

This book is just hot, steamy and just all about smex. It’s just a quick book in the form of a porno video.

Totally get that it was a novella which was just short and filled with just straight steamy smex lol. I was a little turned off for the fact that she just let these men lay on her. She is a virgin and let these men essentially take that away from her and she was ok with it. They called her “theirs” and she called them “hers” but they only known each other for a few hours. It was a strangers to “lovers” kind of trope.

If you are just in need of a quick steamy read then this is definitely a book you would want to pick up. I did love the writing style, the details of the scenes were written well, you could definitely imagine what is going on. This book definitely is open to more with some backstories and relationship building and questions to be answered, especially about the men!
Profile Image for Amanda Gruber.
152 reviews
April 16, 2023
Female lead is a young hotel cleaning lady who has to clean the penthouse apartment of 3 hot and single and horny guys.

The book is pure sex. Steamy. Well described.

But that’s it. It’s just sex. There’s not relationship building. No back stories. Nothing. So it plays more like a porno than a novel.

Now I know this is a novella but I still left in need of more detail. I have no clue what the female lead even looked like. The men we were only given minor clues.

She is a virgin who is essentially raped by three men eating her out. And all she questions is “I don’t even know your names.” Really? That’s all you’re asking.

And then they claim they own her and she’s like okay that sounds right. And when another woman flirts with them she wants her to back off her men. Wait what?

The ending leaves a lot to be desired as well. It all just needed more.

If you’re looking for a fast, easy, hotter than hades read then I highly recommend.

The writing style is great. The bit of language and steamy scenes are all written great. I will read more of Leila’s books, but this one left me wanting more.
Profile Image for Wishy Reads.
373 reviews21 followers
May 7, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Novella
Spice: 🥵yes
Series: Standalone


Thoughts - this was just what I needed after a book hangover to cleanse the palette, because let’s be honest who doesn’t love a why choose, then you make it a billionaire one with a surprising touch of darkness in there, Amazing! I definitely want to know more about the guys before this story. A why choose but add murder *adds to TBR 😂. Definitely recommend if you’re after an anything but sweet, dark, why choose billionaire, with if I can’t have you no one can vibes.

Plot - Brie goes to work as a cleaner and goes home. Not an exciting life but she’s content… maybe. That is until she’s asked to clean the penthouse suite and finds three men who can’t get enough of her, who won’t let anyone else have her… ever.

* ⚠️ Trigger Warnings
* Virgin trope
* Reverse harem/ why choose
* ‘Mine’ vibes
* Insta love
* Dark vibes

“How can a dick make me happier?… “You’ll understand once you’ve had one.”
Profile Image for Laverne Brewster.
1,384 reviews18 followers
September 10, 2024
0.50 Stars. (BW/ 1 (WM,BM, AM)=3M). $2.99 Kindle Edition 77 page novella e-book.

Setting: New York City, NY ?

Trope: Why chose/Reverse harem. Insta-lust. Non-consensual & consensual sex.

Characters:
1. Bree is a 21-year-old regular housekeeper on her first penthouse cleaning assignment
The three males in this story grew up in the same orphanage and became multibillionaires by investing the money they made for operating a dinner bequest to them:
2. Josh is the 34-year-old White man.
3. Michael is the 30-year-old Black man.
4. Christian is the 35-year-old Asian man.

This story is ridiculous. There's no rhyme or reason to this plotless story. I have read and enjoyed reverse harem romances; however, this is not that. Josh sees Bree and tosses her on the bed they others Michael and Christian enter and the group of they proceed to grope and have oral sex with her. I DNF'F this book after about 20 pages.
Profile Image for MorallyDarkReadz.
132 reviews16 followers
October 27, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

The Penthouse by Leila Starling was short, hot, and completely addictive. I need more of this story…..like a full novel-length more. The spice hit from the start and didn’t let up, and the chemistry between the characters had me fully hooked.

This book gave me everything I love in a reverse harem read temptation, tension, and men that make it impossible to pick a favorite. The setup was fast-paced but still managed to pull you into the characters’ world. I was so curious about each of them that I could’ve easily read 300 more pages just to see how it all plays out.

That plot twist at the end? Totally unexpected and made me want to start the whole thing over again. It’s the kind of story that leaves you grinning, blushing, and begging for more. Who doesnt love a spooky MMC , now we have 3 of them.

💫 5/5 stars
🔥 5/5 spice
Quick, steamy, and unforgettably fun. Reverse harem lovers this one’s a must-read.

what happens in the penthouse, stays in the penthouse
Profile Image for CHARIFA.
116 reviews4 followers
April 15, 2023
This was a short book but it felt like it won't end from how much I just hated it :/

What I didn't like about it :

-No chemistry

-No getting to know each other, I mean just knowing their names before all that fuckery stuff would've been tolerable!!!!!

-h is a virgin and one of the H says "virgins are fun" " we like them this way"!! This was a huge turn off for me!!!!

-One of the H (Josh) went down on her and things got messy etc... and the other H (Christian) tells her "He's a bit of a messy eater", meaning that they are used to going down on all the girls they bang!! and this right here is not sexy and a huge turn off in my opinion!!

I think I'm gonna stop here, because the list of what I disliked is longer than the book :/

I'm sorry Miss Leila but this book was not for me :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Carrie West.
463 reviews13 followers
January 7, 2024
One the fence of an okay read and a good read.

Not mad about it, but this left me with a lot of questions. Maybe because there is so much about the boys that need to be told. How many? How long? What if Brie sets them off by accident like that first girl? Were the last two a package deal? Were the last two handled because one or both were at fault? My guess is one was at fault and that set of a snowball effect.

Now my thoughts on this story. Besides the above questions, it was good. For me personally, an extra maybe 30-50 pages to give just a little more depth to the boys would have been great. Not completely necessary, but it would have been appreciated. Without giving too much away, my one issue with the story is how fast Brie let the events play out. That’s not how it works. Nope. Slow down there killer. There is time for all of that.
Profile Image for Ana.
519 reviews6 followers
November 8, 2024
This book is a quick smutty novella. It's definitely fast burn with more smut than plot, which is exactly what I was looking for. I really liked how it was multi POV so I could see into each character's head. I will say that the guys' dark secret was really unexpected and not really my vibe. However, the spicy scenes were delicious, and I was eating them up! The epilogue really tied everything together. I love Leila Starling's writing, but I will say that this book may not be for everyone (DARK secret, instalust, very fast burn, age gap).
Profile Image for Ebony Rose.
75 reviews1 follower
February 12, 2025
Book Review THE PENTHOUSE BY LEILA STARLING
⭐️ 4.5 🌶️ 3

This was a short spicy read that left me wanting so much more but at the same time was right on point.
They could not deny the girl that could be the one to fix them.
3 boys brought together by the foster system that found friendship and brotherhood and a obsession they couldn’t shake till her!

Despite what they are hiding she found an unknown trust in the 3.
A great short story that I have added to my ever growing collection 🤩 of Leila books
Profile Image for Alexandra.
172 reviews
February 25, 2025
I need to find me guys like this

⭐️4/5
🌶️5/5

Holy moly. Leila, dang girl… This is HOT. Listen, this Stockholm syndrome like situation ain’t going to be for everyone… but I LOVE it.

All I’m going to say, is that if 3 hot billionaires with questionable extra curricular activities wanted to sweep me off my feet from my 9-5 and treat me the way they treat Brie… I’d be happy too.

If you’re looking for a quick, hot read with lots of spice, insta-love like vibes with 3 MMC’s who are OBSESSED with, and possessive of the FMC then this is for you.
Profile Image for Nita.
719 reviews10 followers
May 5, 2024
Was this 98 percent smut and 2% plot...yes..yes it was. Did I enjoy it absolutely. Three handsome billionaires set their depraved eyes and minds on Brie the housekeeper who cleaned their penthouse. They share her and show her pleasures she never knew existed. They are determined to keep her at all costs. After finding out what happened to the girls before her Brie is faced with the decision to stay or run from them.
Profile Image for Lila.
142 reviews10 followers
August 24, 2023
What did I just read??

I knew this was a novella, so I expected insta lust. But the guy literally pushes her on his bed within the first seconds of meeting her.

And she decides to stay with them after knowing they’re serial killers ! I kinda like dark romance but not that dark. They kill innocent people and she’s okay with that, how ??
Profile Image for Therese.
83 reviews
February 16, 2025
Like a bad fever dream. It’s not just fast paced it’s bloody warp speed. The smut imo is badly written, the ”plot” is so full of blanks it makes blank paper seem crowded. This feels like all your little ideas for scenes and dialogues you want in a novella and you got lazy and just smushed it together without proofreading it before sending it off.
Profile Image for K.M. Rogness.
Author 19 books983 followers
April 6, 2023
Omg!! I read this spicefest in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. The first chapter definitely sucks you in and the detail throughout the story was incredible. The steam was off the charts and the characters were so fascinating I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I just wish it was longer!! 🌶🌶🌶🌶🙌
Profile Image for Just_A_Few_More_Pages_ .
64 reviews5 followers
June 7, 2023
A great read for someone wanting a quick read. This book has insta love, banter and spice! 🌶 Absolutely loved the main characters! I was hooked from the beginning and I would have loved the book being longer! 😍
114 reviews15 followers
December 1, 2023
What a delicious dirty read

This novel is short but it packs an amazing story with lots of spice and very dirty scenes. I love how the pace of the storyline flows and the h is strong minded even when she scared of the guys overall I really enjoyed this.
Profile Image for Lindsey  Olson.
144 reviews3 followers
July 30, 2024
75 pages of sm\/t

Okay so this book was essentially 75 pages of really questionable sm\/t but I mean…I liked it 🤷‍♀️ I read the entire thing in a day so super short and easy to get through if you’re looking for a quick dark romance
Profile Image for Bailey Ackerman.
360 reviews8 followers
November 19, 2024
3 men and a maid!

Ok this was super short and spicy! I love that she was the maid and they just come in and pretty much jump her and make her theirs! The end was surprising with what happened with the ‘others’ I definitely wanted more of this! Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Profile Image for Mariel Rodriguez.
125 reviews
March 5, 2025
Welp

Definitely the twist was crazy! I did not think the secret was THAT secret! It’s a quick good read even at times funny. If you want something easy and fun definitely try this! It was a good palette cleanser!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews

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