My sweet, innocent stepsister awakens something dark inside me—something I can’t control. Her smile, her scent, that body I shouldn't be craving. Each forbidden thought, every stolen touch, drives me deeper into the abyss. I thought I knew who I was, but that one little taste changed everything. Now, with my soul at stake, I’m teetering on the edge of ruin—tempted, and dying to resist.
The Forbidden
He thinks he knows me—his guard down, just how I want it. But I’m not the girl he believes I am. I’m on a mission, and he’s my prize. My big bro—my escape from the lies I’m buried in, my obsession. He’s my salvation, my undoing, the love he doesn’t know I’m willing to die for. The world says we can never be together, but I’ll tear it apart if I have to. Nothing will stand in my way, not even the lives I’ll destroy to get what I want.
Endley Tyler writes over-the-top, pitch-black dark romance for readers who like their love stories toxic, obsessive, and impossible to put down.
Her books are intense, taboo, fast-paced, and unapologetically messy, featuring morally gray men, damaged heroines, possessive obsession, jealousy, dominance, danger, and relationships that should probably come with warning labels.
If you like dark romance that pushes limits, ruins your sleep, and makes you question your own standards, welcome home.
End of year, adding in some reads I meant to shelf earlier… I was fortunate to receive an arc. I haven’t read the version that was published but did scan through to see how the author made the changes.
I did not enjoy this. While I decided not to leave a rating for the author’s dark hockey romance that was published right before this one since I was a little disappointed, I am leaving a 3-star rating here. I think the author is trying to serve her existing fanbase who prefers this writing style and content which is not as dark/angst-y/messed up as the author can go. Pretty Ugly Girl was probably one of my fav reads, and likely to be an outlier for the author.
Yes, even though this story’s plot has some twists and features a taboo attraction, the writing style was too casual for me. I miss the intensity, the longing, the realness of Pretty Ugly Girl. That’s just me tho!
A forbidden romance with a twist, the plot line captured me with rapt attention and wouldn’t let go. I read Kira and Corbin’s love interest unfold with trepidation as the author wove a creative step-sibling romance ripe in innocence, turmoil, and uncharacteristic taboo.
Kira was sweet, vivacious, a good girl, but cunning? Corbin was generous, protective, devoted brother. There were lots of reference and talk of their brother-sister relationship even as they referred to themselves.
This was not the typical step-sibling romance and in fact, felt uniquely deviantly and deliciously perverse, unlocking critical “ah-ha” keys at each advance of the storyline. I vaulted between suspicious and optimistic until diving into the darkness of climatic events while coddled in passionate spice (four chilis).
It also contained other person drama — they remained true to each other, which lended to some neon-green jealous possessiveness, unbidden sexy talk, and fervent spice doused with a bit of regret. Hot! The taboo was tabooing.
This wasn’t a long story though full-bodied, with a progressive pace; a climax, to a complex denouement, unpredictable (and appreciated) in how it arrived to a happy ever after.
I loved the character depictions; flawed, they were simply “regular” people: family, friends, cousins, in a small town where everyone knew each other — or they thought they did until discovering what lurked underneath. This was juxtaposed with a little big town aspirations.
If there is anything I would have added, it would have been more revelation on their familial relationship, their origins on what made them not related, though not knowing added that element of unresolved mystery.
Entertaining, unexpectedly dark, another great story by this author.
I thought this was good, less errors than other works I’ve read, but darker than I expected or wanted, I just need one book without female suffering please.
This book has an HEA but what we have to wade through to get there is emotional.
Kira and Corbin are step siblings from a very young age. They grew up together, call both parents "mom" and "dad" and have the normal relationship siblings have. That is, until Corbin comes home from college for Thanksgiving and all of a sudden, Kira is a 19-year-old woman. With womanly curves.
Kira has always loved Corbin more than just a brother. When he comes home, she decides it's time he knows it. She seduces him during a drunken encounter, and his guilt eats him up. He says they can never do that again. But when they get caught kissing with his hand down her pants, he's kicked out and forced to go back to school early. But he can't stop thinking about her. He comes home for Christmas, and they continue their trysts in private. Corbin hates himself for it, but he can't deny that he loves Kira more than a sister too. But he can't love her in public because everyone will turn against them. Kira doesn't care and she wants to be with him. Corbin can't.
After he graduates, Corbin moves back to his hometown. Their obsession with each other continues until secrets are revealed. Dark secrets that make Corbin question everything he thought he knew. He realizes just how much Kira needed him to save her. They face all the unburied secrets together and find that they can't be apart.
Was this taboo? Yes. Was this kind of cringe? Yeah. But the story was told so masterfully written that you can kinda be like, "Yeah, I get it. Not blood related. It's cool." The secrets are awful and emotional. You kind of get the feeling that something is going on but you don't really know the depth until it smacks you in the face. Then I was all emotional for what this girl went through. All the feels!
If you're into the taboo, sexy taboo, and messy family secrets...this is for you!
A dark, intoxicating tale of forbidden love where desire and destruction collide. At its core is a dangerous romance that should never happen—but does anyway—pulling the characters into a world of obsession, secrecy, and consequences they can’t escape. From the start, the story simmers with tension, making every stolen moment feel like a risk too tempting to resist.
The chemistry between the main characters is electric, fueled by forbidden attraction and emotional conflict. Their relationship is messy, passionate, and impossible to ignore, making it easy to become invested even when they make questionable choices. Endley Tyler doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of love, crafting characters who are flawed, vulnerable, and willing to risk everything for a chance at happiness.
The emotional tension is just as compelling as the romance. Twists, hidden motives, and simmering suspense keep the pages turning, while the emotional stakes continue to rise with every chapter. It’s the kind of story that pulls you into its shadows and refuses to let go until the very end.
Sorry DNF @ 8%. I’m sorry, but this was not doing anything for me. It feels like a completely different person wrote this compared to another book I read by the author. Didn’t flow well, didn’t read as natural or “real” and overall didn’t drawl me in. 🤷🏻♀️
RATINGS: Overall ⭐️⭐️ Characters ⭐️ Plot ⭐️ [the amount of plot bunnies in this book is unreal 🥴] Ending ⭐️ [felt forced] Spice 🌶 [hardly any - 4 short scenes I think?]
📚Genre📚 Tab00 Forbidden love Small town romance Country*ish romance Dark*ish romance [although..... not really]
✨️Tropes✨️ New York college step-brother x small-town step sister Tab00 relationship Forbidden love J/P/OTT MMC Take-charge FMC Step-siblings Small town country*ish romance Touch her and ☠️ Age gap [not a significant amount] Grumpy/Sunshine Forced Proximity Secret relationship Secret life
⚠️Trigger Warnings⚠️ [The comprehensive TW link in the book doesn't work... so... this list is mostly mine; some of these are shared by the author in the beginning of the book] Tab00 Step-siblings [not🩸related] [Kira's mom married Corbin's Dad] Abuse Familial relations Psychological abuse Some serious psychological themes Past abuse Past Sêxual abuse & 🍇 [not MMC] Recordings posted online [specifically the dark web] Pedophilia [not MMC] False reporting - child molestation [FMC against MMC] Murder Violence [involving a 🔫 and a 🔪] Suicide Alcohol consumption FMC stars in theatre/plays Other woman drama Bullying Slut shaming Dub-con + non-con Body betrayal Emotional trauma Family shaming Depression Mentions of the Bible Centered around the holiday [Thanksgiving + Xmas] Mentions of car accident [hit & run involving a person] Mentions of arson Mentions of physical abuse [both present & past] Mentions of domestic violence [not between MCs] Mentions of mental instability & psychiatric facilities [FMC] MMC & FMC being arrested & questioned by police; MMC goes to jail
💁♂️Pairing💁♀️ M/F
💫Book Summary💫 MMC, Corbin, comes home for Thanksgiving after about 3 years up in NYC for college. FMC, Kira, is MMC's younger step-sister & she's on a mission to make Corbin hers. He, being a dude, notices that she's *filled out* at her 19 years of age & well... he starts thinking with the wrong head. During one of their smexy moments [at home, mind you], they end up getting hot & heavy on the couch & get caught in the act by their father figure. The mom & dad "banish" Corbin & send him back to NYC, on the terms he's to have no contact with Kira. Kira convinces her parents to forgive Corbin so he can come home for Christmas. Corbin is seriously torn between his "wanting" Kira on a lover-type level when he realistically knows things can never be that way between them. Kira, in the other hand, is convinced she will make Corbin see things her way & they can find their happily ever after. Do they? Don't they? 😉
✅️What I liked✅️ - the obvious sexual tension between Corbin & Kira. Their spark is delicious! 🥵💦 - Corbin's dirty f*g mouth 🥵💦
❌️What I didn't like❌️ - a lot of the story isn't centered around Kira & Corbin. To me, that's irritating. I don't care about Mia [the other woman]. Yes, it's a dual POV & I understand the need for the jealousy aspect, but.... a lot of the story includes interactions with friends & family & their weird-ass family members. I don't care about any of this stuff! Get back to Kira & Corbin! Summary: this book isn't 100% smut & it's p!§§!ng me off! - this book needs serious editing. Quote, "She refused to cooperate afterword and stopped speaking." Afterward??? - the lullaby on page 221: there are boxes behind the words of each line; were those supposed to be emojis?
My feelings about this book: 👉 I've read better ones 🤷♀️
Would I read this again? 🤔 👉No...
📢Review📢 This is my first book by this author and will most definitely be my last. I picked this book with high expectations - dark romance & step-sublings. Uhmmm... duh! I was left severely disappointed. This book was a rollercoaster of plots & random events you'd never see coming. I didn't sign up for that & I won't read any other books like this. All-in-all, this book felt like losing terribly at a chessgame that you didn't realize you were even playing. Two stars was being generous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3⭐️ - 2🌶 ☆ Taboo romance ☆ Step siblings ☆ Small town ☆ Unhinged FMC ☆ Trauma and healing
I wanted to love this book. I've seen a lot of hype on this author and I was excited to finally read one of her books, but I think I may have picked the wrong one. As soon as it started, it felt as though we had been dropped in the middle of the story. There was no buildup, everything was just happening right then and there.
And it was obvious from the start that the FMC was the unhinged/deranged one, which is not my jam. I'm not yucking anyone's yum, that's just not for me. Especially the scene in the theater, even with the roles reversed, that was not my vibes. I don't like when one of them is drunk.
I also thought the story was a bit all over the place, we kept going from one person to the next and it all felt very disjointed. We knew other things were happening in the background, but it wasn't mentioned until the very end. It was like reading through the mind of a severely mentally ill person. But maybe that was the goal. Not sure. I would recommend this with caution, go into it knowing what you're in for.
Kira and Corbin have been stepsiblings since Kira was an infant, and when Corbin returns home during his senior year of college, their relationship crosses into forbidden territory in a deeply religious Southern small town where being together could destroy everything. Corbin is determined to keep their relationship hidden while Kira wants to stop pretending, forcing them to navigate mounting obstacles, buried childhood trauma, and impossible choices. While the premise and eventual twist helped explain some of the questionable behavior throughout the story, the writing felt choppy in the beginning and only found its rhythm in the final stretch. I also wish some of the side characters had been given more page time, and one late reveal felt more like shock value than a natural progression of the plot. Overall, the concept had a lot of potential, but the execution and characters didn't leave a lasting impression—and despite the trope/tw of degradation, it came across as rather childish.
This book only got this high of a rating because of how funny I found it while reading. The whole time I kept thinking “wth am I reading right now?” The storyline??? Not really one until the end. The constant time jumps. A chapter is 6 months away from the previous and everything is just kinda glossed over. It was a nice refresher between the heavier books I’ve been reading but if I hadn’t had needed that easy read to cleanse the palate there’s no way I wouldn’t have DNF’ed it. This is such a shallow book in the sense that there’s no depth to it at all and the writing itself wasn’t great but it was okay. My poor best friend has had to deal with me constantly sending videos of me laughing my ass off throughout this book because of how it is structured and things that happened and described. What a ride, honestly 😂
I really loved the unexpected plot twist at the end. I really like the whole step sibling trope and that's what drawed me to this book. I read a lot of dark books and wouldn't consider this terribly dark. It would be dark to someone just starting out in dark romance though. The main characters are pretty young and you can definitely tell by the way they act which isn't a bad thing I just prefer my main characters to be a little older. Overall though it's definitely a great book and it was nice to read a shorter book since Ive been reading some longer ones lately.
Besides the FMC and MMC relationship being “taboo” this was so good 😭 oh my god poor Kira. Who could blame her for being the way she was. She’s kind of messed up, crazy, and unhinged but it’s a miracle she’s not worse after what happened to her. Corbin never ever judged her or gave up on her. He loved her through it all. He was scared for people to know, understandable.
Side note…. Fuck her whole family. God the poor girl
Die Geschichte um Kira und Corbin, Stiefgeschwister, konnte mich nicht ganz abholen. Das hin und her zwischen den beiden zog sich für meinen Geschmack zu lange hin. Der Plot-Twist hat mir gut gefallen, hätte aber für mich aber deutlich früher kommen können und vor allem mehr Raum einnehmen können, denn dann wäre die Geschichte deutlich spannender gewesen.
I absolutely love this book. I adored the characters I was surprised and shocked by the ending. I’ve gotta say it kept me gripped, and I love the romance between those two and how much they loved each other, despite the craziness.
Was the most unhinged book I've ever read!! Totally ridiculous!! One example: having sex in the next room knowing that you could be caught (after being caught before by your parents!!). Immature writing! Not a fan of this author! What a waste of time!
This was a strange dark twisted tale that starts out a little taboo but then just jumps off the deep end and ends up in pure darkness. Not what I expected at all but a read worthy for darkness lovers. Left me very keen to see what else this author has to offer.
Wasn’t a huge fan.. the story was deep and there was a lot of love between the characters but I just felt it was too deep, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped.
Didn't love it/didn't hate it. - started out promising. -lost me -found me -spice 🌶️ meh -labeled "dark romance- pitch black" good starter book for someone but pretty generic and PG for me.
There was twist and turns. Really didn’t know where it was going. Love Endley writing. It has a way to drag you in and keep your attention. Great read with my HEA