What do you think?
Rate this book
Mr. Mercenary: A Dark Cheating Romance
THIS IS A VILLAIN GETS THE GIRL ROMANCE
When newlywed Starling Lennox finds out her husband Nicky has been cheating on her, she determines to annul the wedding and forget her foolish infatuation with him. After confronting Nicky with the evidence of his infidelity, she expects him to let her go. But she's very much mistaken. . .
This is a spicy novella length unrepentant cheater romance, with on-page cheating and dark content, including toxic obsession. Please check the Author's Note at the back of the book.
When newlywed Starling Lennox finds out her husband Nicky has been cheating on her, she determines to annul the wedding and forget her foolish infatuation with him. After confronting Nicky with the evidence of his infidelity, she expects him to let her go. But she's very much mistaken. . .
This is a spicy novella length unrepentant cheater romance, with on-page cheating and dark content, including toxic obsession. Please check the Author's Note at the back of the book.
82 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 2, 2025
184 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
Read
January 3, 2025WTF did i just read?
No ratings because I knew what I was getting into ... but at the same time I didn't.
(spoilers Incoming)
The heroine has a crush on her boss, they hardly know each other and when he unexpectedly asks her to marry him, she doesn't ask any more questions and accepts the proposal 🙃.
the hero is actually ... gay, he uses the heroine as a ‘beard’ and in the meantime he spends his time cheating on her with other men.
A sort of weird relationship develops between the two of them where he more or less forces her to have sex with him (yes, he still defines himself as gay) and continues to cheat on her with other men.
As the book progresses, he becomes more and more crazy, obsessed with her and super possessive.
Then, for some reason, he ends up declaring himself bi (but only for her) and in love with her.
The end and they lived happily ever after 🤡
No ratings because I knew what I was getting into ... but at the same time I didn't.
(spoilers Incoming)
The heroine has a crush on her boss, they hardly know each other and when he unexpectedly asks her to marry him, she doesn't ask any more questions and accepts the proposal 🙃.
the hero is actually ... gay, he uses the heroine as a ‘beard’ and in the meantime he spends his time cheating on her with other men.
A sort of weird relationship develops between the two of them where he more or less forces her to have sex with him (yes, he still defines himself as gay) and continues to cheat on her with other men.
As the book progresses, he becomes more and more crazy, obsessed with her and super possessive.
Then, for some reason, he ends up declaring himself bi (but only for her) and in love with her.
The end and they lived happily ever after 🤡
April 12, 2025
I went into this blind only seeing it said dark and cheating. There’re several reviews out there, so this will be quick. I didn’t realize this was the same author as THIS until I wrote the review, or I would’ve known what I was getting in to.
In a nutshell,
In a nutshell,
January 10, 2026
3.5 listen this is some crazy shit and it’s written crazy as shit. I found it highly entertaining and lmao. It was like watching Darcy and Hugh Grant have that kick fight in Brigette Jones. So Nicky is a suave and sophisticated LA director who Owns a playhouse. He’s gay and needs a beard so his billionaire father won’t disinherit him. He marries his star struck office manager. On day 3 of marriage she is Informed at the local sex shop that her husband is gay and shown video of him at said sex shop getting a bj by the most recent leading man in his current play. Well this sets little miss ray of sunshine off and the games begin. Starling turns serial cheater Nicky Into a one woman man after he discovers he has a kink including g a breeding kink just for her. I’m 4 starring it because this author is a breath of fresh air right now and she makes me laugh… and I so love to laugh😜
February 26, 2025
He was gay. I normally LOVE gay romance, dark or fluffy makes no never mind to me. But in this book the MMC was gay. He only had sex with his beard FMC because he has a kink that she triggered. The kink the MMC has is stupid IMO. Or I should probably say it’s pointless. It’s up there with the other kinks that I find stupid, pregnancy kink and feet kink. Feet is stupid for me because I find it gross, but if that’s your deal then go do you, just far, far away from me. lol. But this books kink for wanting to force people to do what you want against their wishes in ALL things and the pregnancy kink are stupid because they are unsustainable. Having a kink that is so prohibitive in time or accessibility makes no sense to me. So this books kink was working my nerves on the stupid spectrum of what’s the point of this story.
I was therefore hating on this book until the 70%’ish area when he FINALLY gave up his gayness for his kink. The kink never stopped being stupid for me because the FMC was eventually going to fall into wanting him in every way. Especially as she married a virtual stranger, all because her fairytale love glasses were on that week. Smh. Anyway, it worked for this very short story, as it was the only realistic way for the story to go. I actually believed he was “straight” for the FMC only, all due to his kink making him stupid.
Besides that, it was actually funny. The MMC was such a snob that it was cute. I have to say even though I hated how the book started I ended up really enjoying this well written toxic short kink story. I can definitely see myself rereading this. Enjoy.
I’m looking forward to more from this new author.
I was therefore hating on this book until the 70%’ish area when he FINALLY gave up his gayness for his kink. The kink never stopped being stupid for me because the FMC was eventually going to fall into wanting him in every way. Especially as she married a virtual stranger, all because her fairytale love glasses were on that week. Smh. Anyway, it worked for this very short story, as it was the only realistic way for the story to go. I actually believed he was “straight” for the FMC only, all due to his kink making him stupid.
Besides that, it was actually funny. The MMC was such a snob that it was cute. I have to say even though I hated how the book started I ended up really enjoying this well written toxic short kink story. I can definitely see myself rereading this. Enjoy.
I’m looking forward to more from this new author.
June 16, 2025
This shit was hysterical….literally farcical. Read it with that intention and it’s a mad romp.
Also, once again….4 star read cause I laughed all the way through. And please note, this is not a 4 star read…lmao.
Also, once again….4 star read cause I laughed all the way through. And please note, this is not a 4 star read…lmao.
March 14, 2025
Her pussy cat made his dick turn straight that’s what, hehehe 🤭
Read
June 29, 2025Big fan of these toxic cheating dark romances
February 4, 2025
Well that was certainly... psychotic...
I honestly don't know how to rate this. One star fits because the MMC felt like a gross fetish from a girl who has said the phrase, "I can change his mind" regarding a hot gay man's sexuality. But I had fun (or at least was engrossed) reading it, so in that sense, it could be rated higher.
I absolutely did not get the draw between the characters, but maybe that was the point since they didn't either?
Basically, my point is, I would recommend this to no one, ever, and dear lord, was it disturbing (sometimes I wonder if these "breeding" fetishists in books actually consider that beyond the 9 months, an actual person happens). But I also couldn't stop reading it.
I honestly don't know how to rate this. One star fits because the MMC felt like a gross fetish from a girl who has said the phrase, "I can change his mind" regarding a hot gay man's sexuality. But I had fun (or at least was engrossed) reading it, so in that sense, it could be rated higher.
I absolutely did not get the draw between the characters, but maybe that was the point since they didn't either?
Basically, my point is, I would recommend this to no one, ever, and dear lord, was it disturbing (sometimes I wonder if these "breeding" fetishists in books actually consider that beyond the 9 months, an actual person happens). But I also couldn't stop reading it.
March 10, 2025
I swear this book took a turn for the worse. Idk what the author expected from the characters, but I didn’t like them both.
January 2, 2025
Huge Miss
Since the blurb misses key details, this is less a review and just a straight-up summary:
I was a huge fan of Mr. Causal. So much so that I decided to give this a whirl as a pre-order. I rarely do pre-orders, but finding a Dark Cheating Romance author is rare, and Mr. Casual was soooo good. I dived right in and was immediately thrown off my square.
Here, we have the MMC who is gay. He's a gay man. He identifies as gay. Cheating on his recent wedded-never really dated-whirlwind romance wifey with a dude-- well, lots of dudes because he's gay and everyone knows. Everyone but his wife. She had no idea. Cue her tears and wanting to leave.
We spend 78% of the book with the MMC cheating with men on his wife, who wants to leave, while he forces her to stay, has weird noncon smex with her, tells her he controls her body....but don't forget he's gay and he'll sleep with men if he wants ::cue evil cackle:: sleeps with her after sleeping with lots and lots of dudes, refuses she goes or moves anywhere without him and gets over the top jealous if she even glances at another dude. He admits he tricked her into marrying him so he could get his inheritance, but he likes being able to control her and her body. He gets a rush from it. So why not put a baby in it to further control her and get her to stay.
Finally, we have a breakthrough at 80%, and he admits he can't have smex with anyone else because her 😻 has ruined him. Umm, ok. And by 94%, he mentions being bi, but she's the only woman he wants but changes it to she's the only woman or man. Sigh. What a great romance. I think the author tried to give hints that he always noticed her and picked her as his beard because he knew she liked him and she would be meek and tame to control into not having smex or seeing each other but it falls flat.
All the good dark romance tropes we love, kitty cay slaps, tight hand necklaces during dubcon con, forced breeding, trackers, etc is kind of wasted. The MMC felt like a stereotype fetish fill-in and that made me cringe.
Since the blurb misses key details, this is less a review and just a straight-up summary:
I was a huge fan of Mr. Causal. So much so that I decided to give this a whirl as a pre-order. I rarely do pre-orders, but finding a Dark Cheating Romance author is rare, and Mr. Casual was soooo good. I dived right in and was immediately thrown off my square.
Here, we have the MMC who is gay. He's a gay man. He identifies as gay. Cheating on his recent wedded-never really dated-whirlwind romance wifey with a dude-- well, lots of dudes because he's gay and everyone knows. Everyone but his wife. She had no idea. Cue her tears and wanting to leave.
We spend 78% of the book with the MMC cheating with men on his wife, who wants to leave, while he forces her to stay, has weird noncon smex with her, tells her he controls her body....but don't forget he's gay and he'll sleep with men if he wants ::cue evil cackle:: sleeps with her after sleeping with lots and lots of dudes, refuses she goes or moves anywhere without him and gets over the top jealous if she even glances at another dude. He admits he tricked her into marrying him so he could get his inheritance, but he likes being able to control her and her body. He gets a rush from it. So why not put a baby in it to further control her and get her to stay.
Finally, we have a breakthrough at 80%, and he admits he can't have smex with anyone else because her 😻 has ruined him. Umm, ok. And by 94%, he mentions being bi, but she's the only woman he wants but changes it to she's the only woman or man. Sigh. What a great romance. I think the author tried to give hints that he always noticed her and picked her as his beard because he knew she liked him and she would be meek and tame to control into not having smex or seeing each other but it falls flat.
All the good dark romance tropes we love, kitty cay slaps, tight hand necklaces during dubcon con, forced breeding, trackers, etc is kind of wasted. The MMC felt like a stereotype fetish fill-in and that made me cringe.
February 23, 2025
Crazy good
Wow! This one was so good it made me wish there was more. I REALLY love a strong fmc and that is exactly what Starling is. Which is coincidentally what made her toxic mmc fall in love with her.
I kept on wishing and hoping she could get away, but like every good obsessed fake husband, he was so intune to her that she could never get a chance, and let's be honest, she didn't really want out to begin with.
Love this quick read
Wow! This one was so good it made me wish there was more. I REALLY love a strong fmc and that is exactly what Starling is. Which is coincidentally what made her toxic mmc fall in love with her.
I kept on wishing and hoping she could get away, but like every good obsessed fake husband, he was so intune to her that she could never get a chance, and let's be honest, she didn't really want out to begin with.
Love this quick read
March 18, 2025
I'm not gonna lie, I had the best time reading this🤣
It works cause the cheater chase her relentlessly with no remorse and it was fun 🤭 Especially when he came out as Bi to his dad just to shut her up🤣
Plot:
H is gay and married h to get his inheritance. h found out he was gay, pissed off and ask for annulment. But H hate fuck her instead and he's suddenly a Bi. He kept fucking other men (multiple) but still couldn't get enough of her.
It works cause the cheater chase her relentlessly with no remorse and it was fun 🤭 Especially when he came out as Bi to his dad just to shut her up🤣
Plot:
H is gay and married h to get his inheritance. h found out he was gay, pissed off and ask for annulment. But H hate fuck her instead and he's suddenly a Bi. He kept fucking other men (multiple) but still couldn't get enough of her.
January 27, 2025
I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first book. It didn’t sit right with me that the MMC was gay, had only ever slept with men before he married the FMC and throughout the early days of their marriage, but then he suddenly becomes hetero/bi? after he starts sleeping with his wife to punish her and realizes that he enjoys it. So now we’re led to believe that he’s not truly satisfied by men anymore. He tries to test out this shocking epiphany by fucking several different male actors from his theater company while his wife is nearby, only to realize that his wife has, in fact, truly ruined him for other people. Awww, how romantic. Amirite?! 🙄 He then impregnates her and promises to never cheat again. LMAO!!!
I could’ve suspended my disbelief if he’d consciously chosen to only sleep with men even though he’d always been bi/pan/omni/poly. Or even if he’d been attracted to the FMC as soon as they met and they had off-the-charts chemistry because that can happen. But nope. He had always only been gay, had only ever slept with men, had never been attracted to women, and wasn’t attracted to the FMC when they met or even when they got married. He only married her because his father was uber conservative and supposedly wouldn’t accept his sexuality. The FMC was unknowingly his beard.
I don’t have a problem with the marriage of convenience trope, or dark romances, or even stories where the FMC is purposely a beard. But not when the gay man she marries is the MMC who miraculously starts preferring hetero sex. Look, I’m aware that sexuality is fluid for many people who can switch it up, but this story sends a terrible message to those who think that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and that gay men can be converted straight if they meet the “right girl”.
The story is meant to be a bit of fun fiction, but it pissed me off because it smacks of homophobia masking as dark romance.
I could’ve suspended my disbelief if he’d consciously chosen to only sleep with men even though he’d always been bi/pan/omni/poly. Or even if he’d been attracted to the FMC as soon as they met and they had off-the-charts chemistry because that can happen. But nope. He had always only been gay, had only ever slept with men, had never been attracted to women, and wasn’t attracted to the FMC when they met or even when they got married. He only married her because his father was uber conservative and supposedly wouldn’t accept his sexuality. The FMC was unknowingly his beard.
I don’t have a problem with the marriage of convenience trope, or dark romances, or even stories where the FMC is purposely a beard. But not when the gay man she marries is the MMC who miraculously starts preferring hetero sex. Look, I’m aware that sexuality is fluid for many people who can switch it up, but this story sends a terrible message to those who think that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and that gay men can be converted straight if they meet the “right girl”.
The story is meant to be a bit of fun fiction, but it pissed me off because it smacks of homophobia masking as dark romance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2025
DNF....so bad, like really not even entertaining bad too
free-on-amazon-today
February 26, 2026Free 26 February 2026
May 8, 2025
This is a weird one…
Nicky is gay but he needs to present as hetero so that his father doesn’t disinherit him. So he marries Starling, who doesn’t know about him until she catches him cheating with a guy. He hasn’t consummated the marriage so she wants out. He’s a dominant and starts spanking her and stuff, and by the end of the book he’s decided he’s bi.
This did nothing for me. KU read fortunately. Now I can give it back without getting a refund processed.
Nicky is gay but he needs to present as hetero so that his father doesn’t disinherit him. So he marries Starling, who doesn’t know about him until she catches him cheating with a guy. He hasn’t consummated the marriage so she wants out. He’s a dominant and starts spanking her and stuff, and by the end of the book he’s decided he’s bi.
This did nothing for me. KU read fortunately. Now I can give it back without getting a refund processed.
May 23, 2025
If you like a dark romance with cheating then this is your book. Nicky marry's Starling for convenience but she marry's for love. She soon realizes who she married and he's not who she thought he is. Nicky doesn't apologize or grovel for cheating. He's not a nice mmc so if you want that, this isn't for you. Please read TW as they are heavy.
Read
January 27, 2025Not rated for obvious reasons.
April 2, 2025
I actually like this premise, it was only the second time I’ve read a story line like this and I love rare storylines. But I had to take off two stars for the 11 year age gap. I love dark romances. I love weird storylines. I love a mmc that is bad and remains bad til the very end. And I didn’t mind the typos all that much, because I was interested more in how this story would play out.
What I dislike more than anything else is age gaps over 10 years in any type of romance book, especially dark romance books. Why is the age gap so large. This story would have been the same if the age gap was 7, 5 or 4 years. Why do authors think an old man with a young woman is sexy? It’s not sexy, it’s creepy. Often times it’s pure grooming. I will never understand why authors think large age gaps is somehow romantic. ANYTHING over 10 years is unacceptable if one of the characters are still in their 20s.
My biggest turn off in books is a blonde female main lead if and only if the male is not blonde as well and age gaps over 10 years. I will literally be down to read anything, but as soon as I see one or both of those things in a book, I will ALWAYS deduct stars.
What I dislike more than anything else is age gaps over 10 years in any type of romance book, especially dark romance books. Why is the age gap so large. This story would have been the same if the age gap was 7, 5 or 4 years. Why do authors think an old man with a young woman is sexy? It’s not sexy, it’s creepy. Often times it’s pure grooming. I will never understand why authors think large age gaps is somehow romantic. ANYTHING over 10 years is unacceptable if one of the characters are still in their 20s.
My biggest turn off in books is a blonde female main lead if and only if the male is not blonde as well and age gaps over 10 years. I will literally be down to read anything, but as soon as I see one or both of those things in a book, I will ALWAYS deduct stars.
December 23, 2025
quick great read
Writing was excellent and flowed nicely! I wouldn’t go into this not too seriously even though I do believe their HEA.
He married her as his beard unknowingly to her so she’s obviously upset when she catches him. Although it seems he’s not entirely gay, he’s just attracted to dominating someone like extreme dominance, dubcon vibes. It works for them in the end though. She loves being a brat and had a bit of masochism while he definitely has some sadism vibes during sex. So after he finds this about himself nobody else satisfies him like she does since he can do whatever he wants to her; feeds his inner monster. I think that’s probably why he thinks he’s gay - he just likes the act of dominating someone which does correlate better with being with men for his needs. He really just thrives on that power balance and she gives it to him tenfold. I liked it!
Writing was excellent and flowed nicely! I wouldn’t go into this not too seriously even though I do believe their HEA.
He married her as his beard unknowingly to her so she’s obviously upset when she catches him. Although it seems he’s not entirely gay, he’s just attracted to dominating someone like extreme dominance, dubcon vibes. It works for them in the end though. She loves being a brat and had a bit of masochism while he definitely has some sadism vibes during sex. So after he finds this about himself nobody else satisfies him like she does since he can do whatever he wants to her; feeds his inner monster. I think that’s probably why he thinks he’s gay - he just likes the act of dominating someone which does correlate better with being with men for his needs. He really just thrives on that power balance and she gives it to him tenfold. I liked it!
January 3, 2025
MMC is gay! He is not bisexual or pansexual. He admits it. He has only been with men in his entire life, and he only married FMC to provide cover in order to receive his inheritance because his grandfather is traditional. FMC discovers this after the wedding and because they haven't "been together" yet, she tells him she wants an annulment, which he denies. And to punish her for asking, he screws her (but he's admittedly gay). And every time thereafter she mentions a divorce, he does the same thing but also decides to impregnate her so she can never leave. And he stops sleeping with other men (again, he's supposed to be gay) and stays faithful to FMC as he is now addicted to her, thus deciding he's now bisexual.
I don't think this is how sexuality works, and it gives people a negative idea about people being able to change their preferences, which is not true.
I don't think this is how sexuality works, and it gives people a negative idea about people being able to change their preferences, which is not true.
March 24, 2026
Um… yuck
This is by far the worst of the Gable Jones Mr. series. Turning a gay man straight is truly some conversion therapy shit. Although, I have to admit, if you’re going to have the hero end a book saying that he’s bi now but “only for one woman” that’s probably the most believable way to do it, ie. he found his person, the one individual that transcends sexuality and satisfies his basest nature.
My real issue is that his love was so gross. This is definitely a book for people with fluid kinks and domination of course, with a soupçon of blood kink. Something about this hero saying he’s effed “hundreds of men” gave me full body STI shivers. All of these books are insane, but this one was particularly unbelievable. He was so mean and so gay. If he’s not already cheating again, I give it a week from when the book ends.
This is by far the worst of the Gable Jones Mr. series. Turning a gay man straight is truly some conversion therapy shit. Although, I have to admit, if you’re going to have the hero end a book saying that he’s bi now but “only for one woman” that’s probably the most believable way to do it, ie. he found his person, the one individual that transcends sexuality and satisfies his basest nature.
My real issue is that his love was so gross. This is definitely a book for people with fluid kinks and domination of course, with a soupçon of blood kink. Something about this hero saying he’s effed “hundreds of men” gave me full body STI shivers. All of these books are insane, but this one was particularly unbelievable. He was so mean and so gay. If he’s not already cheating again, I give it a week from when the book ends.
December 19, 2025
Cheating = h has been married to H for 3 days, still no consummation of the marriage which happened after a very short courtship/engagement. h goes to shop to find things to spice it up and instead shown a video of H getting blown by another dude. Others and later the H explain to h that H is gay and she is a beard. H ends up f*cking the h as punishment finds it to be the best sex he's ever had and then goes through 3-4 guys in a row to confirm to himself that he still prefers guys...spoiler, nope, he only wants the h now and is resentful. So he cheats a bit more to either punish the h or to confirm to himself that he's still gay, but later says he is now bisexual. H is not a nice guy, more of a psycho.
h sees H with OM = see above
h sees H with OM = see above
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
Dark, twisted, fun!
This book is red flag after red flag and I adore it! Love the dark themes, toxic romance, and all the smexy times. I’ve read this a couple times now and truly love it.
Don’t read if you can’t stand cheating, cruel, anti-heroes. But I can and do! So I recommend!
This book is red flag after red flag and I adore it! Love the dark themes, toxic romance, and all the smexy times. I’ve read this a couple times now and truly love it.
Don’t read if you can’t stand cheating, cruel, anti-heroes. But I can and do! So I recommend!
September 26, 2025
Five stars
I didnt know if I was going to like this one, but I gotta admit, I loved it. So ill probably be rereading crap outta of it, lol.
I cant wait to read what you write next.
I didnt know if I was going to like this one, but I gotta admit, I loved it. So ill probably be rereading crap outta of it, lol.
I cant wait to read what you write next.
December 26, 2025
This is a DARK CHEATING ROMANCE, which means the MMC is a violent controlling villain. He cheats and doesn’t apologize for it. The H likes men but after he married and bedded Starling suddenly he doesn't like them anymore and only loves her, but only after he acts horrible to her...
December 27, 2025
no notes
If you saw my review on my Goodreads, and the little detour of reading I did today - no you didn’t. Let me enjoy my toxic crazy novella in peace.
New favorite crack line unlocked - kudos Ms. Gable Jones.
If you saw my review on my Goodreads, and the little detour of reading I did today - no you didn’t. Let me enjoy my toxic crazy novella in peace.
New favorite crack line unlocked - kudos Ms. Gable Jones.
December 30, 2025
I didn’t mark this when I read it, but just know, it’s only a two because it’s bad for me. I still think about this story sometimes. There’s something compelling about an asshole gay man realizing he likes pussy, lmaooo. It’s so dumb and bad and terrible.
January 11, 2026
This pleasantly surprised me! There are some grammar and editing errors but for how short it is I thought the author really packed a bunch and did a great job. I loved seeing him getting so angry and melting down because of how obsessed he was becoming about the h. Pure entertainment.
January 20, 2025
Give me more
If you like dark and kinky, short and sexy this book is for you. I liked reading something different. Five stars.
If you like dark and kinky, short and sexy this book is for you. I liked reading something different. Five stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews