Sweet: An MM Romance Thriller

by Howl Avery

Will wants to meet the perfect man, but it’s easier said than done in such a small town. His crush of over a year has no idea he even exists, and ignoring his best friend’s advice has only made the problem worse. Rather than limiting himself only to who’s available locally, Will turns to the digital world.

Cas is ready to move on after his last relationship ended in death. Right away, he meets the perfect candidate through a new anonymous chatting app, with only one problem—he quickly learns his new friend’s identity in the real world. If this budding relationship continues, it’ll only be a matter of time before Cas is recognized for who he is as well.

As Will and Cas steadily become closer, their attraction cannot be denied. Nor their similarities. Cas embraces the darkness in Will like no one ever has, creating a mutual obsession that needs to be satisfied in the real world. Maybe Will has finally found the perfect man for him—if he can look past Cas’s homicidal tendencies.

Genres: M M Romance, Dark, Dark Romance, Romance, Contemporary, Crime, Queer

378 pages, Paperback

Published September 19, 2024

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't use the word "indirect cannibalism" in your TW list, to get me all excited and curious TO THEN FUCKING GIVE ME



Cannibalism meaning: "the practice of eating the flesh of one's own species."

BRUH, the 'cannibalism' was so fucking 'indirect' that it wasn't even on the same planet as actual cannibalism.
Is the cannibalism in the room with us? No it's not.
But do you know what is in the room with us........

✔️An MC sucking his own cock, okay Mr. spaghetti noodle, but you're meant to be a murderer, not a contortionist.
✔️Sex scenes that made you need an excel spreadsheet to track which way the MC's were facing.
✔️MC's who couldn't choose one personality and stick to it. THIS IS WHAT ULTIMATELY MADE THIS BOOK BAD IF I'M HONEST. I could have overlooked 85% of this shit if the MC's had been consistent, but the personality flip from shy boy to dominant fuck god was stupid.
✔️Public sex where conveniently no one saw (kinda takes the fun out of public sex when they don't even have the thrill of being caught, they just doing reverse cowgirl in the car at the drive in and no one see's somehow??? sure bro)
✔️Man goes from pyscopathic murderer to... "I like dick in my ass so now I won't murder this guy"
✔️Not a single spine was used in the making of these characters. (I know the book is trying to be dark and 'toxic', but walking all over people and their feelings like they don't matter wasn't apart of their 'toxic' thing, it felt like there was no feelings written into this book anywhere)
✔️Fisting, yes it's in the TW, but no, I still don't care for it just because I knew it was coming.
✔️Ripped the MC's buttplug out like he was starting a lawnmower… 🤭 you’re welcome for that visual
✔️MC's fell for each other over an app where all they discuss is Will wanting to fuck like every man in his life, and then having phone sex.
✔️shoving a metal rod down the dude's slit, this is apparently called sounding? I have not come across this before, and it was fine, it just sounded medically unsafe.

This book was DESPERATE to prove that it's a dark and toxic romance without just actually BEING a dark and toxic romance.
I will say for full transparency: this book was fucking terrible, but could I put it down? NOT FOR A FUCKING SECOND. You could have lit my house on fire and I would not have noticed.. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fucking EPIC!!!!

I swear, the reactions I made to the twists in this book had my husband telling me to shut the eff up already 😂😂😂😂 I could not stop talking about it as it was unfolding!!!

Cas is a little psychopathic genius that I would absolutely NEVER want to cross - I will never look at honey in the same way ever again, that's for sure! The way Will just worships him in his own way... ugh, absolute couple goals 😂😂

This was just so insane, so unhinged, so morally bankrupt and I fucking loved every single minute of it.

This has pretty much everything on my dark and twisted preference list: serial killer, extreme possessiveness, intelligence, red herrings, plot twists that you don't see coming until they smack you over the head... I literally have nothing bad to say about this book whatsoever.

I've never read Howl Avery before but now I am supremely curious about what else they have to say!

*****

I received an ARC of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review

[Emna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF@82%
I'd rather be boiled in oil than read another word of this nonsense.

Trash, and I stand by it.

Soooo many people rambled on about this book, and my hopes were sky-high. I genuinely thought I was about to read something life-changing. At first, I thought I was enjoying it I REALLY DID . But then…OH MAN . I was shocked, to say the least. Everything started getting weird AF and not in a fun, quirky way. Just weird.

And the characters?? I HATE these characters sooooo much I can't even. They were either painfully annoying, ridiculously unrealistic, or just plain insufferable. I kept waiting for some kind of redemption arc or depth or something but no. Just vibes (bad ones) and chaos.

Sorry not sorry, but this was the truth.
This book? Pure trash. No plot, no vibes, NOTHHHHHHHING.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️ 5 stars ⭐️

♪ 𝒮𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 ⥅ 𝒩𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓈 𝒷𝓎 𝒞𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑀𝑒 𝒦𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓏𝓂𝒶 ♪

// I'ma leave you bruised and bloody
Use me 'til my use is nothing
You don't wanna leave
So I can tell that you're not used to cumming //

“Sounds toxic and codependent.”
“No, more like you and I were made for each other, baby.”

This book made me go CRAZY. I don’t think I’ve ever yelled at my kindle as much as I did with these two unhinged lovebirds.

I think Howl Avery should explore more of their dark twisted side, ‘cause holy shit can they write a dark thriller romance.
The plot twists were insane, the build up in fucked up-ness [is that a word? It should be nvm, the more I repeat it the less it makes sense, just go along with it] amazing, the tension, the smut — if a book has me guessing what is going to happen up until the very end, I know it’s a winner for me.

I wasn’t kidding when I said you’re mine now. If you want to get rid of me, you’re going to have to kill me.
Until then, I own you, baby.”

I love how unexpected it all was, from Cas’ identity, to the dynamic between him and Will.
Right from the first chapter I was hooked, and the way the story unfolded was so addicting.

I also didn’t expect for Cas to be such a subby baby, to accept being dominated by Will, to let him to do whatever he wanted. So hot.
And for those who have read this insane book, how fucking perfect is that song quote?? I screamed when I remembered that lyric.

I do kind of wish there was more backstory to the characters, a bit more of an explanation for why they are the way they are. Especially Cas, who remains a mystery till the very end.
Other than that, this was awesome and different and wild. My favorite kind of stories.

“Sounds like someone’s fallen in love,” he says with a smirk. “No. You fucking came along and tripped me.”

I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review.

CW and tropes (spoilers):
- Childhood trauma (not specified)
- Mild stalking
- Violence & murder
- Dub-con
- Rough sex
- Possessiveness & jealousy
- On page sex with others (not cheating)
- Indirect cannibalism (not explicit, it’s in the author’s CW list but seemed more implied, or at least I missed it lol)
- MC w/ sexual dysfunction (difficulty in getting aroused, touch aversion)
- CNC
- Light Daddy kink (no age play)
- Strict top/bottom
- Phone sex
- Exhibitionism
- Frotting
- Toys
- Humiliation & degradation kink
- Cockwarming
- Fisting
- Sounding

[Drusilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last few pages of this book have left me with a tummy ache, the coffee is like a corrosive lump in my stomach, and my heart feels like it's clamped in a vice.
I rate it four stars even though I'm leaning more towards three. Most of the time I had the feeling that it was more like three stars. But I can appreciate that the basic theme is not standard and it takes courage to write something like this, knowing that the story will not be well received.
Based on trigger warnings that the author so nicely provides and reviews I had already read, I honestly expected more darkness. One reason why it took me a little longer to read the book. I need to be in a certain mood to enjoy darker stuff. That's why the sweetness of this story unfortunately hit me a bit negatively.
There's so much sweetness in here, and I don't just mean the honey, even though it's bitter for a reason, I was a bit bored.
At the same time, I was confused for most of the story because the characters of Will and Cas are so hard to grasp.
It's logical that Cas is a mystery and may not be understandable to “normal” people. But it's different with Will. His character wasn't coherent for me at all.
If the author's intention was to confuse the reader as much as possible and not to provide a stable basis, then this was successfully achieved. Unfortunately, I personally find it too fickle.
Will is more of an ass with Jesse and you can see sociopathic tendencies in him. Which I honestly thought was super great, that's exactly what I wanted and it would have suited the serial killer Cas wonderfully. Only with Cas, Will is such an insecure and then extremely sweet character that it completely threw me out of the story.
Still, there's something about this book and I can't quite get it out of my head, which is why I gave it a higher rating. And Cas is perfect. I love him. Even though he turned out pretty cute at the end too. Must be the title.
As for the sex scenes between Cas and Will. Very interesting. I like different things.
And the sex scenes between Jesse and Will ... ouch and yummy.
However. I'm not sure if the fisting scene was really necessary, especially as it seemed so extremely short and meaningless. The sounding scene, on the other hand, is better and more fitting, but also rather short. The “normal” sex scenes were better worked out.

Pro tip: 97% of the population will become uncomfortable around someone crying and immediately want to flee or comfort them. That’s assuming they have any sense of empathy. The 3% that don’t are probably like me. 🖤🖤🖤

“Let me put it this way. I will fuck you bloody if that’s what I want. Is that messed up? Probably. I don’t deny it, but I also don’t fight it. I know what I want and what I want more than anything is knowing that you’re letting me do it.” 😲😲😲

With a hurried and shaking movement, Cas whips his cock out right before he splatters the door of his truck while he comes. He’s not going to be totally devoid of a mess in his pants, though. Within a few more thrusts, his clenching ass has me finishing in him. I hurriedly pull out as soon as I’m done and reach back into the car, grabbing the plug and shoving it back in him like a cork. 😳😳😳



✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Minor spoilers probably ahead

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨


Content warnings: deaths, murder on page, indirect cannibalism, unhealthy and dysfunctional people or relationships, stalking, unsafe sex practices, alcohol use
Cheating between MCs: No
Other person drama: Yes (Will and Jesse are together if not clear boyfriends, while Will has interest in two others, no cheating, everyone is in the loop on everything)
Breakup: No
Kinks: consensual non-consent, exhibitionism, sadism, humiliation, degradation, docking, cock warming, fisting, sounding, phone sex, toys

[kaye taz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5
Format: ebook

I truly had no idea what I was getting into with this book but I will say the last sentence of chapter one had me gagged and I was so excited to get through it.

Will and Cas begin chatting anonymously on a dating app because they both have reasons for why meeting people in person isn’t an option. For Will, it’s because he’s socially awkward and finds it difficult to make conversation with someone new, especially if he’s attracted to them. For Cas, it’s because he’s a serial killer and looking for his next victim that won’t be linked back to him.

The issue is, Cas figures out after a few weeks of chatting who Will really is and knows he has to back off because they are somewhat connected in their real lives. But Will brings out a hidden side of him he didn’t know he had and now his priorities might be changing from needing to kill someone, to just needing that someone.

I don’t know if it was supposed to be obvious who Cas was, but I called it in chapter two. And then I was bummed when I learned I was right. Maybe the author didn’t want it to be a surprise, but for some reason the “reveal” just left me feeling kind of meh.

Also I thought it was a lot easier to connect with Cas, the serial killer, than it was to connect with Will. Will gave me the ick a lot. From the way he was pursuing three men at once (which, side-note—I thought he was supposed to suck at flirting and that was the whole point of the dating app? Then all of a sudden he’s entertaining two other guys he’s known for years?), to the way he treated one of his conquests when they were intimate. He was gross and I didn’t like him, and I really don’t understand how multiple people did.

But I did really enjoy Cas’s character. I enjoyed the back and forth of him trying to decide whether he wanted to kill Will or date him. I liked the demisexual representation.

This book was entertaining for sure. A quick, fun read. Unfortunately the romance aspects didn’t work for me and I kind of wish Cas had decided to kill Will after all.

*I received a free advanced copy of this book from the author and this is my voluntary, honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like it was trying really hard to be dark and manipulative but got too distracted ticking off the authors kink checklist. It started off promising but then the plot seemed forgotten about and it descended into a sex fest and not a good kind, more a jumbled mess of poorly written kinks with each scene feeling rushed and not that accurate (in my humble opinion).

The checklist consists of: rough sex, no lube, sex with others, phone sex, dubcon, cock-warming, sharing toys, car sex, docking, sucking own cock, fisting, sounding, Daddy talk, public sex and anal plugging, but oddly no sex featuring honey which is what I was anticipating.

Also weirdly written where you can’t tell how their body’s are actually doing that and one second they are backwards then magically they are facing another way.

Will goes from meek to manwhore AND I DIDN’T LIKE IT. His personality switches around so much, I needed him to stick with just one. It felt like the author was trying to make him an equally sociopathic match for a serial killer but I don’t think it worked. His intense obsession on turning the murderer into a bottom made me cringe.

I liked the murderer more but these two because sweet mush quickly and the insta-love from Will was a bit sickening. I don’t understand how their relationship even developed when Will is either sleeping with someone else or talking about sleeping with someone else for most of their interactions.

It’s possibly a bad sign that I was hoping Will would get killed off in the end 😬

My favourite part of this is a police investigation scene and I was genuinely hoping that maybe this would turn into a duology where next we can follow the detectives on a hunt to put the MC’s in prison to live out their weird bottom obsessed dreams forever and suffer for their crimes. I would definitely read that.

Just so that no one gets disappointed - the tag for accidental cannibalism appears to just be a marketing ploy - there is no cannibalism here (we even Googled it, there is no consumption of own species flesh). Maybe the term cannibalism adjacent could be used instead??

3 stars for entertainment as I buddy read this with Chelsea and had a fun time but the actual romantic thriller part I found to be lacking.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall concept of this book was great and I liked several things in it, but there were also a few things that were really bothersome to me.

In the beginning, over messaging, Will seemed very unsure of himself and timid and then all of a sudden in person he comes out and he’s like Mr. Suave, Mr. Very Sure of Himself and Mr. Dominant. So I was expecting one thing and then got another.

Then he’s having sex with not only Jess, but Bailey as well and they never use any sort of protection or discuss it or anything. And prep seems like an after thought almost. These things bothered me.

Will was also very pushy that everyone bottoms for him. It kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

I received an ARC of this book from GRR and this is my honest opinion.

[Ditte]

Dnf @ 77%

I can excuse indirect cannibalism but I draw the line at fisting.

(that's on me though for only noticing the indirect cannibalism in the CWs and not the fisting)

[Evelyn220 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just didn’t work for me. If you’re new to dark romance/thrillers then maybe give this a try. But I guessed the twist in chapter 2, it was all so very predictable unfortunately.
And Will is not likable at all. His character is wishy-washy and contradictory—insecure and rambley one minute and aloof and cocky the next. Feels like the author didn’t have a clear picture of who he was.
Plus he gave me ick vibes the way he treated Jesse. (there is a sort of love triangle with on-page s3x with several men). Even the s3x was lackluster for an avid MM reader.
Cas was an interesting character but not enough to carry the romance.

[m · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am feral for these toxic boys! JFC 🤯

This is so twisted and toxic - sexy AF - and captivating. My reread was just as enjoyable as the first time and I will definitely read again.

Will is a bit of a player, at one point he’s got 3 guys on the go (kind of but it’s spoilers to explain more than that). His best friend, a cute beekeeper, and an online anonymous relationship with a guy who only signed up for the app to find his next victim.

Will’s no saint though. Manipulative with some light stalker tendencies. He and his murder boyfriend are a match made in hell and not everyone is going to survive their relationship.

“I find it interesting how all the times I’ve gotten you off, a lot of those happened after I threatened you,” Will says with a smirk, followed by another kiss.

This book has some pretty intense smut scenes: fisting, self-fellatio, and sounding! It’s mostly pretty rough but always consensual.

It’s my first book by this author and I’m definitely going to check out more!

[Leigh Gaskill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 👏🏻 book 👏🏻.

Cas and Will are absolutely not the definition of a healthy relationship. But who am I kidding, that’s why I moseyed on over to sign up for this ARC in the first place!

There are quite a few surprises in this book. I can’t even put everything here in my review bc I don’t want to spoil anything for new readers. At the end I was giggling so hard at Cas. He is such an unapologetic f*cker. I love his character so much. Their dynamic is interesting.

*𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.*

[melancholy_reader [hiatus] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know what to say about this book?? I’m even uncertain about the rating — 2.5 ⭐️ I guess?

I wasn’t invested as much as I thought even if the idea was good enough to keep me reading until 70%. Then I got bored, skimmed a little and got to the end. Somewhat enjoyable but forgettable.

I mean, it could’ve been worse -- but it definitely could’ve been better. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Bettina · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Reread October 2025: Listen to this again for spooky season, and the narrators did a great job making the characters come to life! I also think I liked this book even more the second time, and appreciated it more for how creepy and crazy - in the best way - this story is! Definitely a great read for Halloween, and lovers of dark, twisted love stories with a great mystery!

Original review: So crazy, yet very entertaining! Sweet is a dark, MM romance that has tons of TWs, but also a very cool and exciting story. I really liked the mystery of it all, and I thought the different characters were very well written. Where it maybe fell a bit short for me was that thing felt a bit rushed at times. This story had so many good elements that I really wanted more of, but then they seemed almost «forgotten». But overall it was very entertaining, and I can understand that a lot of fans of dark romance would love this story!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that is difficult to review without giving away some of the mystery. If you like the look of the laundry list of kinks and dark MM romance, you'll like Sweet. If that's not for you, then you may want to pass. There is a lot of unhinged, bonkers energy here and it was a super fun read. I was a big fan of the ending and the vibes of the book. To be honest, I picked it up for the sounding because you don't see that in too many books.

The only thing I didn't care for in the book was Jesse's character. He's a bit of an indecisive fuckboy and has ways of justifying his decisions that make him feel like he's doing the right thing, but really he's kind of a jerk. Midway through I was hoping someone- literally anyone- would unlive him so the rest of the town could go about their best lives. He somewhat redeemed himself by the end, but overall I was not a fan.

Rating: 3.5 stars
Angst: 3/5
Steam: 3/5

I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.

[Megan (feral hearts club) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those books I started at midnight, and then stayed up until 4am reading. Oh man was it wild! I couldn’t put it down, literally - I fell asleep with it jn my hands. I woke up and had to finish it. This was such a unique book and it was just so fun, but in a dark way? Hahahah. I loved it though. And I always appreciate a book with Demi rep!

[Audi♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I do care about Will. I do. I still care about myself more. most. Always have. always will.
-Cas at the end...

This was wild! Cass was such a sneaky, manipulative mfer (we love him). That ending was an absolute trip. He played that out so well 😭 I'm impressed.
The secret identity part was juicy. I had a feeling of who he was. Kept me guessin for a bit, tho. I just love how/when Will found out who Cas was.
We know he starts to care for Will, but will he kill him? He was wishy-washy on it for the longest time.
stressed me out.
Heck, even at the end, when he brought Will to see his exotic killer bees.
He pretty much said, "Love me or die." 🤣💀

Omg yall!! the spicy scenes 🥵
The Peehole poker?! I'm into that.
Chefs kiss.

I know a lot of my GR friends don't like reading when the MCs hook up with other people...so I have to mention it.
Will gets freaky with his best friend multiple times on page (detailed), but once Cass and Will commit, there's no cheating/sharing.
Lots of jealousy / OM drama. like a love triangle, but with 4. A love square? Kinda. I can't spoil it. It's good. You'll see.

Thank you for the ARC!
Release date 9/27.

"Well fuck, new kink unlocked"

[Adelaide Blaike · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me over an hour to work out what the trigger warning for "indirect cannibalism" was referring to, hah (for anyone else having a hard time figuring it out: Cas feeds his vulture bees the corpses of his victims and then the humans eat the bees' honey in the great circle of life) and that has distracted me from properly digesting this book (pun not intended).

I adored the first 50-60% or so. Will and Cas' interactions through the app were delicious (pun maybe intended that time), and the anticipation building up to their meet (with Cas as properly Cas) was beautiful. The second half of the book didn't rivet me as much as the first, and the climax/conclusion felt like it whizzed by. But boy do I love some dirty talk, hidden identities, and different personas between streets and sheets...and this book DELIVERED.

As other reviewers have commented, Will was icky in how he treated Jesse (including how he condescendingly thanked him every time they slept together and thoroughly disregarded his feelings and wants...not to mention shunting him aside at the end as if their years of friendship meant nothing)...and pretty much everyone else, but I don't think it's fair to knock the book for that. Avery was upfront that these are toxic characters, and Will himself acknowledges his flaws. Does that self-awareness make him a good person? That very question is discussed by the characters themselves, and while I would veer on the side of 'no', there's nothing wrong with writing an imperfect or unlovable character. How boring would books be if we only had heroes in the spotlight? Nah, Will and all his ickiness were great. And Cas, other than the times he was ruminating on murder, was adorably sweet (pun 100% intended).

Great cover, great characters, great concept.

I will have to check out Avery's other books!

[Alanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were words. I read them. But I’m hoping just like the fever dream this book was I will forget them expeditiously.

[AALIYAH: aaliyahreads1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

i actually really enjoyed this! It was wild and unhinged and for the most part, I didn’t actually have a clue wtaf was going on.. Will was a very complicated guy and a few times i was like sir.. what are you doing!! Will + Cas were just perfect for eachother! so dark, so filthy, so unhinged -it was hot af.

will was all over the place for a little while, had poor Jesse going, Cas, Bailey.. he definitely had a side to him that he just absolutely loved the feeling of being needed, to control and dominate all of these men.

the twists and turns were so interesting! had me constantly on the edge of my seat determined to know what the hell was happening and who was cas!!

i love crazy and wild characters like cas and his internal thought process was so interesting to read! to be fair the same could be said for will, gahhh just love crazy babies like these men.

four and half stars for this wild ride <3333

[martina (the life of a chaotic reader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

i unfortunately understood who cas was super early and i had to sit through the sex sex sex sex sex sex sex before getting to the reveal and i almost fell asleep.

i’m an insomniac.

[Jennifer (sobrietyandbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just amazing.

:: “𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙢. 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙀𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩.”

The way I devoured this book! The suspense, the mystery, the spice…everything had me hooked from the very first chapter. This book only has 4 characters & yet they fully consume you.

Cas is a serial killer looking for his next victim, Will is looking for a way to build his confidence, Bailey is the man Will has been secretly in love with for a year & Jesse is Will’s best friend. Will joins an anonymous dating app to help correct his awkwardness around talking to men, one man specifically; Cas joins the app to find his next thrill & matches with Will. As the two begin to build a connection Will finds out Cas is someone he knows & the mystery begins. Who is Cas? Is he someone close to Will?

This story reels you in & keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is not a conventional love story but our characters do get a HEA. I’ll let you leave it up to your own interpretation but I personally love the way it ends.

“𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮.”

💛 MM
💛 Dual POV
💛 Serial Killer/Victim
💛 Secret Identity

[ʚ⋅ɞ .ᐟㅤem. · Rating 4 out of 5]

₊˚⊹ | 4 ★ read .ᐟ

I was soooo reluctant about this book until now, but I have no idea why. Probably the cover? I don't know, but now I get what a messed up story I would've missed. WHAT WAS THIS????????????

You know what? EPIC, BUT WHAT THE FUCK?????? 😆🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

I'm not even gonna say anything else about it, just go read it at your own risk!!!

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m pretty sure I suspected every human mentioned in this book to be cas at least once. I even at one point decided that maybe will is just batshit and they’re all just him in his head 🤣

My point is… this was a wild ride. And I was here for every second of it.

[Michelle Elman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didn’t do anything for me. Pretty predictable and not dark enough for my liking. The review makes it sound so good and it definitely had me intrigued but…. Meh

[Audiobook S1ut · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 million stars. I haven't read a dark mm romance like this since Dysfunctional by Isabel Lucero. Top 5 dark mm romance books of all time!!

Both characters are unhinged crazy people, and they're written so well. I loved the Necessary Evils series, for example, but those books feel like a dark rom com compared to this. It's like What We Do In The Shadows vs. Silence Of The Lambs.

This is not silly, it's not flippant or pandering.. This is real blood and gore, 'can we get past the fact that you're a psychopath because it's very relevant rn'.

As much as I love a light hearted dark romance, which is very common in queer romance, books like this are much more my style. See Alabaster Penitentiary..

It's not always an easy read, the characters aren't easy to love, and the violence is very real. Any giggles it might inspire are uncomfortable (should I be laughing at this??) and the violence makes you question why you like the MCs at all.

What a fabulous smack in the face. This may or may not be my favorite read of the year!

[b · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my god. i didn’t even expect that to end that way, lol!
this book was literally like you and cas was joe goldberg, and id say will was more like love.

this book was AMAZING especially with the suspense of not knowing who cas was. Though, i guessed it pretty early on and only one scene threw me off.

One of the things that confused me was in the TWs one of them was “Indirect Cannibalism” so I thought it was going to be another B&B where they eat ice cream made from cum but… nothing was cannibalistic. now i’m not complaining about the story whatsoever because it didn’t need that but im still confused on why that TW existed if it didn’t happen??

anyways, 10/10 read. will be recommending this to everyone

[Alyssa]

I don’t even know😂 this is the first book I’ve ever read that I did not enjoy…like at all, but I couldn’t stop reading it. The only character in the entire book that was likable was a side character who got treated horribly. The MCs, especially Will, were unbearable and had no redeeming qualities. I don’t even know how to rate because I couldn’t put it down but like…not in a good way. I think it just wasn’t for me.

[꧁•Zakiyya•꧂ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 🌟's

Started a bit slow for me but the intrigue and mystery was absorbing enough for me to continue, unfortunately about half way through you already know pretty much how it’s all going to turn out.

I liked Cas a lot – felt as though his character was a little more fleshed out than the others.

Couldn't really connect with Will though. 

The description reads ‘serial killer meets stalker’ but there wasn’t enough of the stalker theme IMO.

I liked the plot twists, it definitely keeps you going just to see how things play out.

The only thing that could have been better was if we got some sort of background for Cas.
Altogether it's quite a surface-level read - no deeper meaning into actions and characters.

[Chenell Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so happy to have been able to arc read this book! The way Will was pinning over Bailey was too cute but I needed him to man up and talk to him! I kinda felt that Jessie was jealous but didn’t understand why until he basically jumped Wills bones!!! I didn’t really like the fact that Jessie and Will fell so hard but Will was still pinning over Bailey and the guy from on line. I wanted him to make up his mind. I’m not going to lie I was routing for Jessie & Will. Until the twist of all twist!! And we found out Bailey was the online guy all along! Their love was intense and spicy 🌶️ 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ the twist and turns in this book game me whiplash. The ending I knew was gonna happen they were both made for each other. They were what the next one needed.🐝🍯 the book was Sweet 😏😂