Their Darkest Desire

by Amaya Jax

Evelyn

All I wanted to do was help a friend out, but I should never have said yes. Now, I'm locked in this house with him. I don’t know if I’ll survive—but even if I do, what will be left of me?

Felix

She's my obsession and my undoing. I came here to torment her, but it turns out I'm not the only one. This thing wants us. Will it get to us, or will we get to it first?

Content
This book is a horror romance. It contains horror elements, graphic violence, and sexual content, so it's not suitable for readers under 18. Check your triggers

Genres: Dark Romance, Horror, Romance, Adult

92 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2025

About the author

Amaya Jax is a dark romance and fantasy author who weaves tales of passion, danger, and intrigue.
When she's not immersed in her writing, Amaya is often found curled up with a good book or indulging in her love of historical and sci-fi movies. A proud cat mom to three furry companions, she finds inspiration in the quiet moments spent with her pets and the worlds she explores both on the page and on the screen.

Reviews

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, that's over.

Felix is painted as this sort of badass, hot power dom, but he intentionally endangers his sub multiple times, has no respect for consent, doesn't practice good aftercare or safety, frequently roofies and rapes the FMC before they're even in a relationship (including literally drugging and raping her immediately after the death of her parents?), replaces her bc with placebos, and is generally an obnoxious asshole. The writing was not great in general, and Evelyn frustrated me to no end. I have literally nothing good to say about this book except that the descriptions of a couple of the ghosts were decent.

[Darkacademiareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

If You Love Haunted Houses & Obsessive MMCs—Read This.

If you love spooky, haunted houses and you’re obsessed with the Conjuring Universe—but wish it had a little extra spice—then this book is an absolute must-read.

Jax delivered on the eerie atmosphere, filling every page with secrets, suspense, and so much delicious spice 😋.

The suspense? Palpable. Every chapter had me on edge, never quite knowing what was lurking around the corner. It’s fast-paced, deliciously eerie, and heart-poundingly sexy—the perfect mix of chills and heat.

And the MMC? Deviously obsessive. And we love them like that. You already know I’m here for a little unhinged energy 🤭. He is possessive, dangerous, and completely devoted—the kind of MMC that makes you question your sanity for loving him.

As for the FMC? Stubborn as hell. And that’s exactly why he adores her—and why we do, too. You know I live for a strong FMC, and she absolutely holds her own in this one.

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves:
✔ Haunted mansions with dark, eerie secrets
✔ Serious spice with an obsessive MMC
✔ An atmosphere that keeps you looking over your shoulder

And let’s not forget—the ending?! Phenomenal. If you love dark, haunting, and sinfully addictive romance, this one belongs on your TBR. Highly, highly recommend!

[kelsie. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes. I kind of get what Their Darkest Desire was trying to do, and maybe with a longer novel and more of a backstory it could have been something fun. But this just did not do it for me.

I hate insta-orgasms and unfortunately that was the majority of the smut. Not to mention Felix was just an absolute creep and a flatout rapist, with no redeeming qualities in sight, so I didn’t get the appeal. I honestly got whiplash from his “I’m so obsessed with her, no one else can have her, she’s so intoxicating, but I hate her/don’t care about her” moods. And Evy’s emotions were equally as chaotic.

On top of the major ick factor, the writing just felt so clunky and all over the place. It could have benefited from some refinement. The dialogue was bizarre, the general acceptance of whatever was going on in the house was baffling, and the ending felt so rushed and unfinished.

I really wanted to love this, but unfortunately I just didn’t really like anything about it. ):

[littlesmuttyone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Novella was just amazing, the creepy factor ,when evy would hear and feel like someone watching her ,absolutely loved that .

Brittany didn't seem so bad from how Felix would talk about her .

And Felix, oh my goodness, I love him

What can I say? I love my men unhinged

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean….I guess

[Jesse Lemire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, the dark haunted house vibes are there...but Felix is just a flat-out rapist.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.75🌶🌶🌶🌶

Tropes
✅️Dark Romance
✅️Haunted House
✅️Ghosts
✅️Posession
✅️Posessive MMC
✅️Age Gap
✅️Best Friend's Brother

Triggers
☑️Rape
☑️Murder
☑️Death
☑️Violence
☑️Gore

Kinks
✴️Blood Play
✴️Bondage
✴️Choking
✴️Somnophilia
✴️Degradation
✴️Dub-Con
✴️Breeding

Alright, I'm always down for some dub-con, but drugging your little sister's best friend and raping her while she's unconscious for YEARS is way out of my comfort zone. Oh, and he also replaces her birth control with placebos to get her pregnant. 🙄

I understood where the author was going with the plot, but man was the writing clunky. The spice scenes were thorough and well written, but whenever the main story was engaged, the flow felt so rushed.

[Smuttybookoholic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible! For this authors first debut, she blew it out the park!! I was hooked from the first page and just kept wanting more! I love Erotic Horror and this book ticked all of my boxes! This story follows Felix and Evelyn! I enjoyed their story so much! I could feel the tension coming off of the pages! The spice was spicy and the plot was amazing! The mystery was good, driving your feelings all over the place! The ending was absolutely perfection and brought this whole story together! I cannot wait to see what else this author has in store for us, because I just know it’s going to be AMAZING! 10/10 recommend!

[laureadswhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know those sci fi/thriller smutty books? Hi. Hello. Meet your new favorite novella. I enjoyed the heck out of this goodness. &&& I’m still sitting here asking myself questions. I love a good thriller that leaves me sitting here afterwards.

Please reads the triggers. & buckle up for a fun ride.

[Ally-Chaos Demon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy smokes!

This novella was such a ride!!! It's spooky, spicy, and delicious. It just gets better as you read. I love how the creepy parts just came out of nowhere and then BAM spicy..

If you love gory, erotic, horror, definitely check this novella out but please check TWs.

I need more!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is soo good!!

The whole time I thought I knew what was happening, and then boom, insert twist. I love the way that the characters came together, literally lol.

The way the whole book came together was soo good!! I am left wanting to know more about Felix and Evy.

I need a whole book!!!!

[A .Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 and a half stars!

I NEED MORE I WISHED IT WAS LONGER
i absolutely loved the haunted house/ thriller sci-fi, it gave me strong haunting adeline which I LOVED. if you loved haunting adeline then this novella is for you!

[Andreea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book review “Their Darkest Desire” 👻🖤

Rating: 4.5✨

If your best friend asked you for help to clean up a haunted house (they don’t know that at first) what are you going to say?

Evelyn drove over 10 hours to help her bff, Brittany, to clean her aunt’s mansion. There is also Felix Hayes, Brittany’s brother, to help. But the house has an eerie feeling, like someone is watching them everytime. I swear I wanted to scream at every single character just to run away from that weird house.

They keep cleaning, while Felix is absolutely unhinged about Evelyn, he wants to hate her but they are still getting close. The spicy level is really high and this book it’s not for everyone since it’s horror erotica.

I didn’t think about the plot twist at all at that scene I was really shocked. I really love Amaya’s writing style and since I dropped 0,5 from the rating, let me explain why: I can’t past through Felix’s moments being that way with Evelyn when she doesn’t know so I keep an eye on him. But overall I loved this book more than The Darkest Needs because haunted houses get me everytime. ❤️‍🔥

Bookstagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOA26a4DP...

[Dominique · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great novella!
It was creepy, spooky, haunted and had great spice!
It kept me guessing on what was going to happen next and I loved Evelyn and Felix.
I loved that the setting was a haunted house.

Make sure to check trigger warnings!

Rating ⭐️: 3/5
Spice 🌶️: 3/5

🖤 Horror
🖤 Paranormal
🖤 Forbidden romance
🖤 Morally black MMC
🖤 Forced proximity
🖤 Best friend’s brother
🖤 Touch her & 💀
🖤 Dark romance
🖤 Haunted house
🖤 🩸play
🖤 Dub-con

Thank you so much to the author for the arc!

[Hailey Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Their Darkest Desire by Amaya Jax

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was a super short and action filled novella. It had an anxiety inducing haunted house, characters I was not sure I could trust, and some great smut scenes!

Thank you for the ARC Amaya and happy release day!!

[Sylvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars!!

Book: Their Darkest Desire by Amaya Jax

In for a short, yet very spicy and spooky read?! You should definitely check this out!!

"𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦."

First of all, let me tell you how proud I am to see @author_amayajax_ writing her first novella and blessing us with her spicy haunted story! I loved every minute of it. It got hot 🔥

“𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

This novella is a perfect mix of spookiness and delicious spice. The haunted mansion vibes reminded me of the Haunting of Hill House or Bly Manor series. When there's no way of escaping a haunted mansion, why not make the most of it 😏

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰.”

Loved the banter between these two! Evelyn is such a fun yet badass character, I laughed out loud at some of the relatable inner dialogs and thoughts she had!! And don't get me started on Felix, he's hot and he knows it. I may or may not have highlighted a lot of what Felix was saying, thinking or doing

"𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 – 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥! – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥."

I want to thank Amaya Jax for sending me an eARC to read and review 🖤 can't wait to see what else you've got in store for us, you badass woman!!

[Layna Leighann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy with some Spice

Their Darkest Desires is a paranormal horror romance novella and boy, oh boy, was it creepy! I obviously enjoyed every second of it.

Evelyn is our FMC, who was only trying to help a friend, Brittany, move ... which goes to show that you should steer clear of helping people move into a house that gives you a creepy vibe. But she's a good friend, so here we are.

Felix is Brittany's older brother, whom Evelyn despises. Little does she know, Felix is more invested in her than she knows. Unhinged? Yes. Protective? Also, yes. So do with that what you will.

I read this book in only a couple of hours as it had me yelling, "WTF is going on?!" And I wasn't going to put it down until all questions were answered ... and Lord Mercy, they were!

Looking for some creepy, paranormal, spicy vibes in a quick read? This one is for you.

For those who enjoy:
Horror romance
Haunted House
Obsessed/Morally Grey MMC
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity

[Cojay Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always intrigued when an author presents a story that prides itself as a horror romance. I tend to lean a bit more critical of the horror genre in general due to my extensive exposure history (Hello Mary Lou, I grew up in the 90’s where a horror movie was only as good as it’s full frontal shot and you knew who was going to die based on the characters who had sex). Amaya Jax must have got the memo… her short but fun novella reads with the eery suspense of an overnight stay in Amityville deliciously intertwined with the tension only a forced proximity enemies to lovers could provide. When you sprinkle in the evocative sensations associated with an obsessed morally grey MMC provides, you have yourself a story that will leave you quivering for one reason or another.

4⭐️ / 4🌶️

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always sold the moment an author adds horror to an erotic book. This was just the perfect blend of such! A little creepy, a little smutty with a morally black MMC you want to both hate AND love at the same time. I only wished there was a little more fluff between the characters and that the haunted house aspect was dragged out a little longer! Felix seemed a little off putting for me at times. But the book was still enjoyable. It’s also great as a first read especially if you are just easing yourself into the dark romance world!

[Sarah Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy h€ll!!! This was so freaking creepy and I just loved it! It has made my dark little horror side very happy lol.

It’s a well written, tense read and kept you guessing what was going to happen next. Throw in an old spooky house, strong characters and spicy scenes and it’s definitely a page turner. The ending is great and I’m a sucker for a book that has a playlist so that little extra is cool.

Looking forward to reading more from this author.

[thekatz_meoww · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this novella. I felt the bones of the story were there it just needed to be fleshed out a little more,and a few tweaks could be made to the dialogues between characters to give them more depth in their interactions. I feel like this story would be a fantastic read for a rainy afternoon or to get you into the spooky season vibes.Definitely interested to see what this author has planned for future works 💜💜

[jor · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ This was short, deliciously spicy, and honestly leaves you wanting more from the characters and Amaya's writing in general! I love thrillers and the suspense and spice it gave me was amazing on top of the good smut. Im so excited to read more from Jax!!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A debut book by this author. This book is a short, spicy, mysterious, and such a fast paced plot which keeps you guessing all the way until the end.
Highly recommend reading if you like dark horror romance.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to give this a chance, but the writing style is just poor. There are run on sentences and commas in the wrong places or missing. The story is a little choppy even for a novella. The concept and tropes were there but just not well executed. I will say the spicy scenes were decent.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creepy spooky smut!? Say less! This was fantastic. Depraved and mysterious all at the same time. Gets your heart pumping for multiple reasons. Great novella!

[Lauren Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story! I got the haunted house movie vibes. Not fully a horror book to me but definitely smutty and loved it!

[bookish1.sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just no!

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dark tale, and it takes place in a haunted home. Make sure you check triggers for this one and definitely read through the end.

[c.kingreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ☆.

the plot twist like WHAT ?????

[justreads0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is one of the best ones I’ve ever read. This was my first erotic horror book that I’ve read and needless to say I’m waiting for Amaya’s next book release. Like Evy this book left me questioning everything. I never knew what was going to happen next. Felix was top tier unhinged and I absolutely loved it.

[xbabygirl_2223x · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella was an interesting take on a spicy horror novella. And for this being her debut book, she did very good job with the storyline, characters and spice.
I thoroughly enjoyed the haunted house aspect of it. You don’t get very many books like that anymore. And the ending? Very very intense and crazy twists. I really liked this horror novella and if you want a man who likes to be in control and a literal freak in the sheets, Felix is your guy.