Phobia

by Keri Lake

Phobia is an 18,000 word novella set after the events in Nocticadia. The setting and tone of this short story is a complete departure from Nocticadia, and echoes my gritty contemporary books. Nocticadia was meant to remain a standalone, so please know before diving in that this will not be a full story. It’s merely a glimpse of these two characters and nothing more.

Genres: Dark Romance, Novella, Romance, Dark, Fantasy, Dark Academia, Gothic

70 pages, ebook

About the author

Author of gothic romance who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists.

I love connecting with readers, so feel free to join my reading group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thego...

Reviews

[jenny ౨ৎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

wtf i need more caed

[cherie ^_-★ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star ⭐️
⤷ spoiler-free review!! ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

”He came for me. Watched over me. Killed for me.”

wtaf. this novella was SO UNNECESSARY, and i was grimacing throughout because of how dark and gruesome it was. idk about y’all, but i found the mmc (iykyk) SO CREEPY 😭 now i know i won’t enjoy psychopathic/serial-killer dark romance books. honestly, do yourselves a favour and don’t read this after nocticadia because it’s a waste of time 😭😭😭

[Iqra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Keri lake u crazy crazy girl IHY for ending it like that 🤚

The way I’m actually devastated there isn’t gna be more to their story 😩 it was traumatising but romantic and ykw? I ate it uppp 😌💅

[Lolina ⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

KL deserves jail time for the open ending 😭.

I just didn't understand the point of including Caed and Bree in the epilogue of the last book and giving them such large roles in their respective sibling's characters and lives if not to let have them their own story? 🤷‍♀️ I can'tttttt 😭

[Deni · Rating 1 out of 5]

0.25⭐️
Gods I hated this. I wanted to see more of the two other characters from Nocticadia but not like this. What the hell was this? It was so unnecessary, uncomfortable and vile for no reason. Since the author says she won't continue writing in this world (which I hope it's not true because I was obsessed with Nocticadia and with the university setting) this novella was such a downgrade it was outright ridiculous. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the school, that, I knew, but getting this? Not getting a full length novel even tho she ended Nocticadia that way, AND this novella, constantly alluding to another book even when you don't have any planned? Cruel. This novella was actually terrible. The way they talked, the setting, the blandness of the characters and how annoying the fmc's "good friend" was, what actually fucking went down?? I honestly wanted to puke.
This was NOT how I wanted their story to unfold! Absolutely not. I'll pretend I didn't read this and I'll just imagine another scenario for these two bc what the hell was this? If you couldn't tell I'm in actual disbelief😭

[afy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please, I would like to trade this book with Spencer’s bonus content🫡 I wanted Caed’s book but that was before the epilogue of Nocticadia. See, age gap is a hot thing, but a 33y old teacher with a high-schooler?? Gross. Their connection was more like trauma-bonding than romance.

[Teresa González · Rating 2 out of 5]

naaaah why throw away the chance for an amazing sequel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[•°Dahlia ( hiatus ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

WHYYY am just annoyed u need a full book about them a novel isn't enough .

This could have been really good but ut was rushed (yes I know it's a nkvella) but still I needed more the same yearning and tension with book 1 , I wanted for them to meet I dracadia and sm more 💔😭

--
am kicking my legs thank God that there is a novella about them (please be good)

[luna ୨୧⋆ ˚｡⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i feel like i just got scammed that was not nearly enough. i need more

[joe (hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

Reasons I didn't like this as much as Nocticadia is bc, you can js TELL when an author is js writing for the cash grab/not willingly (almost as the audience FORCED her to). If you were an author, pls make sure to make a complete story for your important side characters, too. Not js leave us hanging.

First off, to take these two points from my Nocticadia review,

i. caed and bee was js so unnecessary. she's not well, and you pair her with someone more f-ed up?? umm..? the only thing she needed was to HEAL. and the only thing caed needed was therapy. end of story. put two fires tgt, and they burn themselves stronger.

ii. if you oppose the idea of caed and bee being apart, then great. that's possible. Make this a BOOK. not NOVELLA. Go deeper into their story, like you did with Lilia and Devryk. Same plot? No problem. Just switch it up in the middle, I'm sure Caed has a much more interesting backstory than Devryk. Is it that hard???🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

iii. there was NO healing or further interactions for either CAED OR BEE in this story. at all. they just sort of met, then part ways. for what? like huh??

To be honest, I found it hard to find positives so there are js none (so far) in this book. I intially wanted to read this novella to fill the caed-and-bee-hole in my heart or smtg after nocticadia, but after reading this I felt like it was better I didn't read it at all.

Check out my Nocticadia review, here.

➡️ the only positive is the okay writing style tbh, so there's 2.5⭐️ for that

[zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

this should’ve been at least 300 pages long

[Cristiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[Val~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

2026 RE-READ: Soooo good!

————————————————————————————————

2024: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I would love a second book!!! 🙂‍↕️

[EM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven hells. Caed is definitely an antihero who walks the line of good and bad. Reading this novella feels like I’ve taken a bite of my favourite ice cream before it’s taken away from me.

And why is he not getting a book? He deserves one 😭

[⋆Isaᵕ̈ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say this, but what was the point? I mean, it was fun and all, but... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[giulsxx · Rating 2 out of 5]

➼ 2★

”He came for me. Watched over me. Killed for me.”

this is the novella set after the events of nocticadia.
what can i say… i read it in 30 minutes and i think it’s useless😃 just read nocticadia, it’s WAY better!

[jocelyn ⊹ ₊ ˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

THIS IS NOT WHAT THE FANS WANNA SEE. literally so pointless

[Steph ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I wish this was a full-length novel, I would love more of this story.

[hope s. · Rating 3 out of 5]

UGH this had so much potential—CAED had so much potential. I had a lot of interest in his character after being introduced to him in Nocticadia and I was like “he would make for such a good story”, tracking down the secret society that harmed him for all those years, coming across a damsel in distress, his likeliness for obsessive and deranged behavior??? So much potential wasted on this novella 😫🤧 I would give this 2 stars because of how much of a let down it was, but since it was well written and I love Caed I'll give it a generous 3.

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Notable features
⭑ significant age gap
⭑ very minor spice from some side characters (she walks in on them) but nothing crazy. Some spicy inner talk.
⭑ read content warning before reading!
⭑ gore and body horror
⭑ immature naive FMC

[Yelena · Rating 2 out of 5]

if only it was a full book... I had fun and ate it up but what was this??
Super DARK check trigger warnings it was such a gory and bloody read 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this novella thinking it was bonus scenes of dev and lilia but i never really thought this would be about caed and bee. Now I'm so disappointed we won't get a book for them

[Paperbackstoriess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my god, am I disappointed with the ending? Yes. Am I disappointed that Keri ended Nocticadia in hopes of having an entirely different book for Caed and Bee and have no intentions of writing a book? Yes.
This novella has been amazing until Keri didn't give a closed ending to this book. She could have done that and Caed's and Bee's story would have ended. She warned us in the beginning that we shouldn't expect more since she wrote Nocticadia as a standalone book. But, but, but... why did you ended Nocticadia in hopes of having a 2nd book?
Guys, I loved this novella, but I'm not going to write more about it. You should read it but here are tropes and trigger warnings of this book.

Tropes & T/Ws:
>> Professor x student
>> Serial killer
>> Age-gap
>> Murd3r / Viol3nce
>> Kidn@pping / Past tr@uma
>> Bike guy / Stalk3r
>> Mention of self-h@rm
>> Open-ended ending
>> Spiked drink

If you are into a handsome english lit. professor, guys, what are you waiting for, read this book now but don't get your hopes high because you won't be getting what you want.

[Sina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars cause I liked her writing and the storyline was kinda good but it was way too short, a possibly good story wasted and rushed on 70 pages.
The relationship between Caed and Bee (I don’t even wanna call it that) didn’t do it for me at all.

[Catbytheseareads ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get novella, only made me wish for more of it.
Bee and Mr. Caed.
I'll dream of one in the future should Keri decide to write more about them.

[fatima · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected so much more

[Shelby Lynott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author needs help.

[Penelope DeWeerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough! This could have easily been a full novel. It felt very rushed. 😩 if only there was more from Caed & Bee!

[juliet♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like it was more of a snippet than a short story, needed more Caed!

[Nata Oleksandrivna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 🐝

[Kseniia · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly i wanted bigger story about Bea and Caed💔