The Heart of Midnight

by Kady Ash

Avery
Only light can defeat darkness. It’s something I’ve lived by whether I was walking into a dark room or staring into the eyes of a monster. What I didn’t expect was to move next door to a man who would put that to the test. A man who would protect me from the world, even if the darkest thing in my life was him.
He has secrets, and I won’t give up until I discover every single one of them. Because underneath his mask is someone worthy of love. I refuse to believe otherwise… even if my curiosity will eventually be my undoing.

Scar
Every predator has a weakness. For me, mine came in the form of a bratty little neighbor with submission in her blood and a heart too big for her chest. She stared directly into the void inside of me and didn’t flinch, and I knew then I was finished.
There are only two ways to deal with weakness. Give into it, or snuff it out forever.
I know which one I have to do if I want to keep playing my twisted little games, but am I capable of following through?

Genres: Dark Romance, Novella, Romance

137 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2024

Reviews

[Trinity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beta Read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

TW - serial killer / assaulter MMC (incl rape), MMC is a psychopath, stalking, kidnapping, blackmail, non-con, necrophilia (mentioned / implied), childhood abuse (past, mentioned), graphic violence, murder (on page), manipulation, gaslighting, drugging / drugged sex, suicidal comments

CW - CNC, hidden cameras, degradation, somnophilia, blood play, knife play, fear play, pain play, masks, marking, impact play (incl belt play, spanking, slapping), breath play / choking, bondage, spitting, primal play / hunting

Tropes - serial killer, dark, novella, touch her and die, who did this to you? (he did), they shower together

Kady Ash states in her CW that Scar (MMC) is morally black and no lies detected, this MMC has literally no redeemable qualities but Avery (FMC) believes she can fix him despite maybe not knowing what exactly it is that needs to be fixed lmao.

Scar is quite literally insane. He acknowledges this, he is a diagnosed psychopath off the rails with Avery as his latest obsession. He presents as multiple different people unbeknownst to her, breaking into her house, murdering, and comforting her based on the mask he wears. He doesn't know why he can't shake her and she is starved of affection; they're quite literally a match made in heaven (hell? 💀)

The smut delivers as always with a Kady Ash book. This is HEAVY on the CNC so if that's your thing, you'll eat this up. Side note, the cover of this book is absolutely stunning

Heed the TW, happy reading 💋

Scale:
⭐️ - would've DNF'ed / continued out of spite
⭐️⭐️ - shit, but whatever
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - meh, could've been better
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - lit 👅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - loved it, inject this shit into my veins 🤪

🫑 - no smut
🌶 - no point
🌶🌶 - mediocre at best
🌶🌶🌶 - standard smut, hot
🌶🌶🌶🌶 - 🥵 okay, some CW
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 - fuck me 🥵🥵 CWs / filthy with a side of filth - see Poison / Room Twenty-Two: Hide and Seek/ The Naughty List

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this so much😭😭😭

It was so messed up and dark, but I loved it. I love them🤧♥️💜🦋 They’re so perfect for each other and I’m so happy they got their happy ending. I love Scar. He’s a psychopath but a hotttt one. The bond Avery and him have is so special and it was lovely to see them finally come together and create that inseparable bond that will tie them together forever. Avery was just as messed up but she was perfectly messed up for him. I’m so happy for them, they deserve each other♥️ Thank you Kady for creating this. It was perfect and amazingly smutty and hot with a great plot. I loved every detail and will be thinking about this story for a while. I’ve loved all of your stories so far and I’m sure I’ll love the future ones too🦋


⭐️4
🌶️5
HEA✅

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hottest st@lker and serial ki//er read for me this year, probably ever! 🥵

Tropes: M/F
St@lking
Serial ki//er
Rough sex
Bondage
Captivity
🔪play
🩸play
Pain play
Masks
Sp!tting
Slapping
Primal play

TW’s: Blackmail
Non-con
CNC
Necr0philia
Violence
Manipulation
Gaslighting
Drugging/drugged sex
Hidden cameras
🍇ape

If you would not be okay with an MMC who 🍇’s other women, do not read this one. This one definitely pushes the boundaries when it comes to things like that and an FMC who can look past it isn’t for everyone.

With that being said, this is a seriously filthy book and I LOVED every second of it. It’s short, the spice starts quick and it’s fast burn with a HEA!

[Kye | Dark Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scar is a morally black unredeemable MMC. I say unredeemable because he r*pes and murders females who look like our FMC, Avery… all because he believes he can’t have her the way he wants. He wants to protect her from himself but also wants to kind of kill her too.

Scar plays the role of 3 men in Avery’s life and she doesn’t know it at first. 1) Her neighbor who is sweet, handsome, helpful, and protective. 2) Her masked “Midnight” visitor who breaks in and forces himself on her, and she’s not even mad about it because she has a r*ape kink. 3) Another masked but notorious serial killer who she is petrified of. I won’t say his name because Scar hates the name the public gave him.

This is a fast paced masked serial killer/stalker novella (200pgs) where the FMC enjoys things on the darker side and isn’t really afraid to go after she wants. Luckily for her, she wants the man who is obsessed with her.

Overall I enjoyed this. There are some uncomfortable moments given Scar’s extracurricular activities where he doesn’t really deserve the HEA he gets, but the author did a great job manipulating you to still root for the bad guy. I don’t know what that says about me but here we are.

Remember- UNREDEEMABLE MMC. If you want a bad guy turn sweet, eh might not be for you. If you go into this knowing Scar is a total psychopath and he’s only partially good to Avery then you’re probably like me and will enjoy it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering the length of it, this book had a good plot to smut ratio in my opinion. It’s fairly obvious to me that while the MMC does some very disturbing things to other people, everything between him and the FMC is consensual in a way.

[kat reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was super short, I read it in one sitting.

The writing wasn’t that great and the characters were super bland and one dimensional. I had a hard time reading this cause they sounded like robots half the time. I liked the idea of this book but it was executed well in my opinion..

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a spoiler as it's explained from the start.

Basically MMC keeps breaking into FMCs house and raping her. Except she wants it. When she puts together her rapist and neighbor are the same person it makes her happy but makes him literally feel the need to kill her to stay out of prison.

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

🥵🥵

I love Kady Ash books!
Had my heart racing! Loved the characters & the trope. Something I've never read before, I absolutely devoured this! 🤌🤌

[María · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusa historia de amor ?
Scar por un pretexto tonto empieza a matar y considera aún al final matar al objeto de su deseo.
Avery es solo un objeto que desea Scar