Let Me In: A Dark Daddy Romance

by Isla Reeves

He’s her shelter. Her shadow. Her Daddy.

Emilia didn’t come home to be seen. She came home to disappear.

But the moment she crosses Calder Shepherd’s land—shaking, soft, too tender for this world—she’s not invisible anymore.

Calder was a name whispered in the shadows, a man who walked away from his brutal past. But for her, he’ll burn it all down.

She’s his to protect. His to claim.

And he’ll destroy anyone who dares hurt her, just to keep her safe.

Let Me In is a possessive, age-gap Daddy romance with touch-her-and-die energy, wounded heroes, tender discipline, and a slow-burn heat that builds to a deeply earned HEA.

Tropes you’ll find
• All Daddy, no age-play
• Discipline & spankings
• Cinnamon roll... but only for her

Emotional
• Escape from toxic family
• Found safety
• Guaranteed HEA

Tension /
• Age gap (10 years)
• Touch her and die
• Slow burn to full heat

525 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 18, 2025

Reviews

[Samma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-ish ⭐️

Idk how to categorize this tbh.
It is not remotely dark.
It is…flowery and poetic with some editing issues. (Typos and repeated paragraphs)

Emmy, the FMC doesn’t read as an adult near 30. She’s timid and almost childlike.

Cal is stoic and protective etc etc etc.

If you’re looking for an extreme slow burn that eventually segues into Daddy Dom that’s 75% excessive internal dialogue then sure. Give this a go.

If you’re looking for morally grey anti-hero in an actual dark romance, skip this one.

[Kimberlee Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written

I found this book to be thoughtful and well written. The connection between the main characters is almost tangible. I like how not rushed they were with each other. Good job Isla Reeves.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very hard to stick with, let alone finish. I ended up skimming a lot and then having to jump around in the book. I kind of get what the author was trying to do with the writing style but the short sparse sentences and overall vague feeling of it came off cold and overdramatic at the same time. Every single thing is over analyzed and/or compared to something else. She compares every small detail to a feeling - that half empty mug of tea is like my half empty soul. Just ugh enough already. And the entire book from beginning to end was like this.

Emmy is a thirty year old woman who has ended up back at her parents’ house and is working on finishing a college degree. I guess that she is also a writer. She encounters Cal while on her way through his property to use a dirt bike trail that she grew up using but had not been to for a while due to a dirt biking injury. The dirt bike stuff felt kind of random.

Cal is mysterious and calm and of course can see everything about Emmy without even knowing her. Oh yeah, he’s also hot lol. He’s clearly some kind of ex-military or something along those lines. She could also tell from the road while still on her bike that he has gray eyes. Really?

I did like MMC Cal, which is supposed to be short for Calder. I like the quiet broody strong character idea but at some point, we need some personality introduced. I like that he sees her and instantly wants to take care of her. It felt less like instalove and more like two people connecting and that I know from experience, can be very real. I feel like he had more to offer than she did but for him, that is what he actually needed, so it makes sense.

Emmy was lacking in personality aside from that she likes dogs and rides dirt bikes and hates her toxic family. I mean I think that one would want to get away from the toxic family situation by getting a job and moving out? There was such a lack of information and backstory that I don’t feel like we were getting the full picture. Not that it justifies her father being a jerk but maybe she should have been giving him money considering that she is 30 and living in his house?

Once again, the vagueness just made this so hard to get into or care about. This could have been so much more interesting and soooo many less words. I also have a real issue when there is so much inner monologue or thoughts that it interrupts the flow of the actual dialogue and it pisses me off to have to look back past pages of inner monologue to see what the dialogue had started as. It throws off the rhythm and flow of the story so badly.

So this one was not for me. I see potential here but the writing style was too distracting. I also would definitely not call this dark romance. I read dark romance, this is not it.

[vixen ‹𝟹 reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖘/𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜 ↴

𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘: ✘
𝖍𝖊𝖆/𝖈𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖋𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗: hea ღ
𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖗𝖊: dark daddy romance

𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖕𝖑𝖊: Emilia & Calder (Emmy & Cal)
𝖕𝖊𝖙 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖊: “little one” “sweet girl”

♥️ 𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖘 - slow burn, possessive, protective, age gap (10 yrs), escape from toxic family, finding safety, size difference, haunted mmc

🧨 𝖘𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖊 - daddy dom, discipline, spanking, lots of tlc, comfort feeding, safe word, after comfort/care, praise, anti-nodding, commands, rules

🚩 𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖑𝖆𝖌𝖘 - touch her & 💀

⛔️ 𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖘 - toxic family + themes, triggers and content in line with dark romance genre.

────── ⋆⋅ 𝖒𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 ⋅⋆ ──────

When the author mentioned this would be healing, I didn’t realise how deep it would reach. I felt it down to my core. It gave me hope, restored my faith.

The burn is slow but the wait is worth every second, at first it’s the kind of burn that warms your body, then it intensifies to protect your body and soul in the flames.

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢ ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢ ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢ ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢ ⌢⌢
⇉ 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.

[James Gets Annoyed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The female character is very childlike. I don't know how to say this nicely, but like she's almost a little learning disabled. There's an issue with all genres of romance writers where the writer will inadvertently dumb the female characters down to make them seem innocent. Overshot the mark here.

There's also a miscategorization as this isn't really dark. Cal is certainly daddy dom vibes; he's protective, he disciplines. But nothing morally grey or violent.

Emmy's family are toxic, I fully agree with the other review that states that aspect of the story.

As for the writing, a lot of repetitious text, slow burn to the point of glacial. I feel like you could knock out about 10 chapters and still have the same book. This appears to be a new author so I'm not trying to dogpile on them here. You can see what they were going for, and it could be a good book. Will check back later to see how they develop but, as it is, really regretting this purchase and will not make more from this author.

[Cherie Alvaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Dark Daddy romance is a great read. Though being a slow burn it was still enticing enough to keep me reading. The story is well written though, it took me a bit to get engrossed in it. The characters were interesting and and I found myself enjoying their journey from strangers to lovers. The light kink plot was subtle but enjoyable.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Elle Saylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emmy and Cal are so perfect for each other. They were so connected and it was beautiful reading about their love. This is a slow-burn romance and develops very gradually. I love that Cal was so tender and patient with Emmy because of her trauma. I definitely think that everyone needs a Daddy, like Cal, calling them "sweet girl."

[Jaimie Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a dnf at 32% there was nothing dark about this book just very timid characters who don't like themselves very much.
Emmy is 30 but she reads like she is maybe 20 & Cal is a broody vet who doesn't talk much.
the dialog is mostly their internal thoughts, which would be fine if Emmy didn't hate herself so much.

[Ella Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow-burn, beautifully written, and full of moments that made me hold my breath. It’s not just spicy or dark. It’s devastatingly intimate.

If you need me, I’ll be over here, thinking about Cal whispering “sweet girl” forever.

[Mylene Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emilia and Calder were a good read. Well written story. Emilia lives in her family who are toxic. She wants and needs out but does not have the means. Calder sees her, the real her and has every intention of saving and protecting what is his. A good read.