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Darkest Craving

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Victoria Romanov is going to be my wife.
Even if she doesn’t know it yet.


Her father betrayed me.
So I’ll use her as the stepping stone to my throne.
She’s so untouched, so naive…
It’s almost a shame I have to ruin her.

At first, she fights me.
Claws at the cage I’ve locked her in.
I do everything to break my enemy’s daughter.
But I can see the way she loves it…

Under her feisty demeanor,
Her innate submission calls out to the darkness in me,
Begging to be taken, used, and stripped of control.
And soon enough, I begin to crave her.

My wife was always meant to be just a pawn in this game.
But I’m starting to realize she’s becoming queen…
And she might just be my downfall.


Darkest Craving is an enemies-to-lovers, arranged marriage mafia romance with an age gap and a possessive, over-the-top MMC.

237 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2025

335 people are currently reading
2276 people want to read

About the author

Rhea Harp

3 books207 followers
Rhea Harp is a Transylvanian writer who loves creating angsty, jaw-dropping dark romances involving morally-grey and possessive men. When she's not writing, she's usually lost in a book somewhere or playing board games with her friends.

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5 stars
413 (30%)
4 stars
453 (33%)
3 stars
325 (23%)
2 stars
125 (9%)
1 star
44 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 381 reviews
Profile Image for Yelena.
56 reviews7 followers
December 18, 2025
2 ⭐️Feels like a betrayal since I enjoyed it so I'm being generous and giving it a 3 🙃(Edit:turned out I'm not generous) 2.75
Idk what to write so I'll just tell you what I liked and what I hated and definitely starting with stuff I hated : first of all this IS NOT an arranged marriage trope and you can't tell me otherwise okay this is just captor/captive trope which I actually I don't like 😇 Next this mmc pissed me off in the first %50 so bad and I'm just going to show you one quote and you'll understand :

(“Satisfaction, pride, amusement—they all course through me at the same time. Because finally, after so much going on between us, my wife has become my slut. She falls to her knees, starving, desperate, mine. And I fucking love it.”) it's not possessiveness okkk It's jerkiness

also I think the plot had potential and I was waiting for the family drama since he has an evil stepmom but we kept focusing on the couple relationship forgetting all the mafia drama and it felt like there's no plot and even the conflict at the end was for a very stupid reason 🤦🏻‍♀️
Okay enough being a hatter what I liked: it was entertaining , I wasn't bored, spice was good that's all 😭
Oh wait .. WHAT THE FUCK IS "WOLFGANG " WHAT TYPE OF A NAME IS THAT 💀
Profile Image for Kimberlie ౨ৎ.
96 reviews34 followers
September 20, 2025
Interesting 🤔
I’m not writing a review for this but I will say. It wasn’t half bad.’
Profile Image for Dul.
433 reviews260 followers
October 16, 2025
Está más o menos ☝🏽

Aunque siento que le faltó mucho
Profile Image for Shannai.
601 reviews31 followers
July 28, 2025
3.5/375 ⭐

Thank you to Rhea for the complimentary e-ARC. I’m sharing my honest thoughts in this review.

This was a fun read, it kept me entertained. It was rather fast paced, and given how complex both Victoria and Wolfgang were, I’d have liked to have gotten to know more about them and their backgrounds; I thought they were both intriguing though. The romance itself felt a little too sudden. Their dynamic didn’t always feel natural. One moment they were at each other’s throats, the next it felt like we’d skipped a few key emotional moments that would have given them a bit of depth.

Outside of their relationship, the plot was fairly minimal. Aside from the tension between them and their dislike for one another, not much else stood out. Victoria’s love of horses was mentioned early on, which added an interesting touch, but it didn’t come back into play until much later.

Overall, I enjoyed this, even if I was left wanting more in certain aspects. It was a solid introduction to Rhea’s writing, and I’m definitely open to picking up more of her books.



Pre-read May 2024: I’m a simple girl; he’s in the Russian mafia and there’s an age gap, I’m sold 👀🤭 he also crashes her birthday to kidnap her, so there’s that, oh and he’s Maleficent inspired, too, like I’m so fucking SOLDD!!
Profile Image for Beyza.
107 reviews2 followers
August 6, 2025
Bir mafya kitabı ve yine ben.
Mafya kitaplarını çok seviyorum ya maalesef...

Kızın babasının Pakhan'a borcu var bu yüzden kızı istiyorlar ve Pakhan'ın büyük oğlu Wolf ile evleniyor. Konumuz bu diyebiliriz.

Wolf'un üvey annesi kendi oğlunun pakhan olmasını istiyor ve bu uğurda entrikalar çıkarıyor. Kitap bu konu ve Victoria'nın ailesi yönünde ilerledi.

Adam kızı görür görmez etkilendi, ona çekildi. En başta zor kullansa da aralarındaki etkileşimi, dinamiği sevdim. Bence ikisi hep birlik olsa onları kimse yıkamaz.

Smut sahneleri bir tık fazlaydı bence. Bir mafya kitabında bu kadarına gerek var mıydı? Bilemiyorum. Aralarinda bir itaatkar ilişkisi var gibi ama çok fazla değil.

Kızın ailesini sevemedim açıkçası. Victoria'yı hep dışlamışlar bence. Wolf'un ailesi de bence kötü. Annesi 4 yaşında iken ölmüş, babası 2 sene sonra başkası ile evlenmiş ve ona kötü davranmış. Babası beş para etmez, üvey kadını demeye gerek yok. Erkek kardeşi Mikhail de annesinin baskısı altında kalan birisiydi. Umarım araları daha iyi olur. Onun kitabı gelecek gibi hissettim.

Sonlara doğru olan olaylarda kızım sen salak misin dedim. Adamla aralarındaki iletişim ilerledi, o adam bunları yapar mı?
Biraz saf davrandı.

Kitap benim için gayet keyifli bir okuma oldu. Aşırı akıcıydı. Bir mafya kitabından beklenecek her şey vardı. Gayet yerli yerindeydi. Beni rahatsız eden olaylar da olmadı genel manada. Tekrar da okunur.

Bu arada kapağı görür görmez Neva mi diye sorguladım. Aşırı benziyor😅

Mafya seven herkese kitabı öneririm. Bir tık smut olayı fazla bunu da göz önünde bulundurun.
Keyifli okumalar....
Profile Image for destiny.
530 reviews163 followers
July 20, 2025
if i could take that men in black memory eraser flash light thingy and flash myself just so i could read this for the first time again … i fucking would 😩

thank you so much to rhea for trusting me in arc reading this book 🫶🏼 i absolutely love rhea’s writing. the way everything flows perfectly, the emotions being ripped out of you through her words, the squirming and blushing. i simply can’t get enough 😍

this is a mafia romance, arranged marriage, forced proximity, angst, yearning, betrayal, “my wife,” touch her and die (literally … in a church too), duo pov, standalone 🖤

victoria grew up yearning for the same love her parents show and give to her sister. she never felt welcomed in her own home. she always saw herself as a backup plan who loves riding her horses and dreaming about being free. free from her household. free from the looks and stares. free from her family’s nagging. when she was riding one of the new horses being trained one day, she catches someone watching her. she immediately feels something inside her flair to life but she just can’t put her finger on it. and when she doesn’t back down from this stranger’s eyes, she goes toe to toe with him not thinking about who he could be or what brought him there. wolfgang is the new and rising pakhan. he is ruthless and frankly doesn’t give a fuck about anything but securing his birthright. but to get there, he needs to form a plan and everything must work out. he found his newest obsession and addition to his plan when he found victoria riding on his horse. what started out as a revenge plan quickly turned into something he’s been trying to run from ever since he was young. but he can’t stop himself from taking her and making her his 🤭

please … the way i sobbed while reading this was actually criminal behavior ✋🏼😭 i literally was not expecting my heart to actually SHATTER !!! but yo fucking lo this book was too god damn good 🤩

victoria and wolfgang are two people with very similar backgrounds. they are two souls yearning for the same love they see others have. they silently hope for that to swoop in one day. they just didn’t realize it was right in front of them the whole time 🥹 i love them so much !!

the way i would willingly hand myself over to this man 🤤 this man FUCKKKKKKSSSSS 😍 no like if i was victoria i too would’ve folded so fast because hello ??!!! i need more of them so bad i might combust for real

🌶️🌶️🌶️
16 reviews
August 15, 2025
Evet arkadaşlar bu benim ilk yorumum doğru yere yazıyor muyum onu bile bilmiyorum �

Kitap 2.5'ten 3 benim için🫶

Aslında başlangıcını sevdim tam sevdiğim tropeler mafya ve anlaşmalı evlilik🫶

Ama anlaşmalı evliliklerde de önce hoşlantı sonra cinsel yakınlık yakınlık yahu

Burda adamımız (Wolf) kızıma (Victoria) vücudun beni istiyor diyerek yakınlaşmaya başlıyor bu beni tamamen kitaptan soğuttu..

Yani hiç bir hoşlanma olmadan olunca duygusal bir şey kalmıyor benim için. Kitabın sonlarında kız öyle saçma şeyler yaptı ki az bile süründü.. Ama adam da baştan başa hiç bir zaman haklı olmadı 👎

Çok çok çok ortalama bir kitap çok bir beklenti olmadan çerezlik okunabilir💅🏻
Profile Image for Camii.
720 reviews11 followers
November 1, 2025
"Pero entonces te vi, hablé contigo y supe que tenías que ser tú. Tenía sentido. Tú tenías sentido para mí"

No entiendo porque no encontre este libro ANTES. Es de mafia, matrimonio forzado, los protagonistas SE ODIAN y el drama fue tan buenooo.

Victoria es hija de un mafioso y se sintió toda la vida despreciada por su familia ya que su padre y madre siempre tuvieron como favorita a su hermana y a ella la trataban como alguien con poco valor y nunca le dieron amor ni importancia a sus sueños ni a nada que hiciera en su vida y su dolor mas grande fue cuando dejaron que un hombre extraño se la llevara sin derramar una lágrima ni rogar por su libertad.

Wolfgang es un mafioso que siempre se sintió despreciado por su familia y después de la muerte de su madre tuvo una infancia horrible en manos de su madrastra quién solo lo maltraba, porque decía que el no merecía ser el sucesor de su padre y que ese era el puesto de su hijo y se paso toda su vida escuchando que era insuficiente y viviendo con la sombra con el "miedo" de que algún día le quitarían su puesto como cabeza de la familia.

Wolfgang fue como todo lo que esta mal en el mundo pero a la vez tan atractivo y dominante que me encanto jajajaja. Al principio daba como miedito porque parecia alguien que solo veía por el y que no le importaba lo que pasara con Victoria ya que su matrimonio era solo en papel pero con los días ella logro entrar a su corazón porque el no podía ser indiferente a su dolor y también descubrió que ellos no eran tan diferentes porque ambos sabían lo que se sentía sentirse despreciados por su propia familia.

A ver yo ame a Wolfgang y era muy dulce con Victoria, sinceramente me enoje cuando ella lo traicionó porque en todo momento el le demostró que estaba de su parte y que nunca haría nada para lastimarla Y ELLA FUE Y ABRIÓ LA BOCA 😭. Era innecesaria pero también sufrió el y fue agradable porque por lo general el sufrimiento es para la mujer acá fue todo lo contrario.... Aunque también fue culpa de Wolfgang porque el sabía que ella se iba a enterar y en vez de contarle lo que pasó decidió callar eso fue todo ✨FALTA DE COMUNICACIÓN ✨ y admito que Katerina fue una perra manipuladora que sabía lo que hacía (igual no voy a negar que disfrute todo) EL FINAL AME♥️
Profile Image for Tara ✨booksbeersbattlestargalactica✨.
111 reviews11 followers
July 23, 2025
There’s just something about Rhea’s writing that owns me every single time 💯 but this one…This one wrecked me! She has a way of threading intensity with vulnerability and Darkest Craving is her best yet! I laughed, I swooned, I ached, I held my breath…And when it was over, I wanted to feel it all again 🖤

Wolfgang and Victoria’s dynamic was dark, delicious, and everything I crave in a mafia romance. He steals her away and still I was rooting for them HARD. I loved that they both were outcasts in their own ways, never good enough for their families. And my god, the chemistry! They really heated things up and my heart rate went through the roof 🥵😆

If you like spicy reads that rip out your soul…you’ll devour this one!

➷ Dark Romance
➷ Russian Mafia
➷ Age Gap
➷ Revenge
➷ Forced marriage
➷ Enemies to lovers
➷ Virgin FMC
➷ SPICE SPICE SPICE
Profile Image for COURTZ.
84 reviews93 followers
July 15, 2025
As soon as I started the book, I couldn’t stop reading it! It’s a dark mafia romance, I just wish we saw more romance and scenes between Vic and Wolf. I can’t wait to read Mikhail and Cecilia’s book if she decides to write one!

I received an arc for a honest review.
Profile Image for iremucka.
319 reviews18 followers
August 5, 2025
Darkest Craving (En Karanlık Arzu).

Pakhan ' a yanlış yapan adamın kızı bir nevi ceza olarak Pakhan' ın oğluna verilir ve olaylar gelişir. Evet aynı hikayeyi 155. kere okuyuşumuz. Anlaşmalı evlilik, düşmandan aşığa, Bratva, dövmeli eller, kocaman evler, silahlı adamlar, bilinen/ bilinmeyen düşmanlar hatta atlar.. Bu dünyada her şey var. Erkek karakterimiz Wolfgang 148 IQ ' su ile baya komik diyaloglara sahip. Kadın karakter Victoria (22) uyumlu ama yumuşak, garip enerjisiyle sarıp sarmalıyor.

Bir mafya hikayesinde olabilecek her şey hikayeye güzelce dahil edilmiş ama benim üzerinde durmak istediğim nokta karakterlerin arasındaki uyum. Beraberken onları kendilerinden başka kimse kıramaz. 😍😍

Yazardan okuduğum ilk kitap ve tarzını sevdim sadece +18 sahnelere bu kadar gerek var mıydı orası sıkıntılı. Bir mafya kitabından bundan daha fazlasını da beklemem zaten 😊😊😊
Profile Image for Kaitlyn Kirby Kirby.
173 reviews5 followers
July 22, 2025
I was counting down the days for this ARC, and boy was it worth the wait!

“you’d be wise to come to me when I call for you. Because why?” I scoff. “Because you own me?” A dark, wicked smile. “Because I own you, Victoria”

❤️‍🔥 Rhea Harp might be a newer dark romance author but she is coming in hottt ❤️‍🔥 (if you haven’t read her last duet yet, run to download it, it was also fantastic)

In Darkest Craving we follow Wolfgang (our broody MMC) and Victoria (our innocence FMC) the story really starts at Victorias birthday party where Wolfgang crashes the party and makes his demands clear. Whether Victoria (or her family for that matter) know it or not, Victoria was always going to be his.

I cannot say enough about how high the angst is in this book! If you want angst, betrayal, and groveling look no further! (Without stooping to OWD) The lust, hate and even love in this book leaves you rescheduling your day plans for “Just one more chapter!” level addiction!

Tropes:
Standalone 📖
M/F
Mafia Dark Romance
Forced marriage
Enemies to lovers
Angsttttt

Spicy 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Profile Image for Malin.
191 reviews11 followers
July 18, 2025
Another intriguing, suspenful, charming, hot piece of art from one of my favourite authors. I can always trust Rhea Harp to deliver perfection, stories that I struggle to put down.

“It was always going to be you. You know that.”

Victoria starts out as a fragile, but fierce woman. She’s used to being alone, having to stand up for herself and not being listened to. This slowly changes when Wolfgang comes and sweep her away. He steals her and make sure she knows she belongs to him, but he somehow still manages to make sure she’s (somehow) comfortable.

It’s been so fun to see how their dynamic changed, and how Victoria made him softer, while Wolfgang made her stronger. The absolute perfect match.

“I’ve been hated all my life, Victoria. It’s what I know. In fact, the only way you might be able to get my guard down is if you did, somehow, end up loving me.”

I really appreciate the early ARC for this, thank you so much Rhea Harp! 🖤

Some favourite quotes and scenes:
🖤 “This woman has been testing me every day since I brought her here, and it’s only made me want her more.”

🖤 “She’s already made a home in my heart, and she won’t be going fucking anywhere.”

🖤 “I would drown this fucking world in blood for you.”
Profile Image for Kayla Corey.
11 reviews
July 20, 2025
ohhhhh what a book. what a love story. what a roller coaster. you’re mad. you’re in love. you’re excited. you’re nervous. what a ride 😮‍💨 a wonderful ride
Profile Image for Cristina.
1,579 reviews276 followers
July 29, 2025
2.5 Stars

The h was too… naive for me. I get she’s innocent but hasn’t the H shown her that he cares for her? Why betray his trust by going to his evil stepmom? Anyway, it was more than that, but the h annoyed me at times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for (betts) ⚜.
464 reviews203 followers
August 4, 2025
1⭐ / 3🌶️
[📱] ebook

— vibezz
organized(?) crime
succession but make it mafia
forced marriage
he's got a high IQ but he's dumb AF
she's just dumb

mini blurb — ✍🏻
Her father did something shady against the Pakhan and the P's son takes her and marry her for revenge(?)

//

I should have dnf, don't live with the same regret as me.

Plot is shit but the writing was good, I just wanted to justify that 1 star.
Profile Image for beca.
111 reviews10 followers
July 29, 2025
I can’t believe it’s already 2025 and there are still authors using diminutives during spicy scenes. ☠️☠️ It was torture having to read "little pssy" and "tiny hle" over and over again. It's honestly embarrassing
Profile Image for Megan’s Library xo.
20 reviews
July 20, 2025
Now this is the mafia romance I’ve been looking for 😍😍
The books I’ve been reading lately just didn’t have that wow factor. But I honestly couldn’t put it down.
Wolfgang is the perfect dominant mafia boss we all need. My only note was I wish there was a bit more kink and action towards the end. Some of the threats Wolfgang made i wanted to read. I don’t mind being a guinea pig for his desires 🫠😍😍 I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE
Profile Image for Taylor.
3 reviews
July 17, 2025
Everything was fine until the miscommunication trope came into play. It’s definitely an instant ick for me, but if you can handle it then you’ll probably like the book.
Profile Image for Sam.
422 reviews63 followers
July 21, 2025
4⭐️/2🌶️

This is your classic mafia romance, with all the good stuff we love.😉
A morally grey MMC and a strong but innocent FMC? Yes, please. Wolfgang and Victoria were written beautifully, and their chemistry really carried the story.

I’ll be honest, it took me a minute to get into the writing style. But once I settled in, it pulled me in. The emotional moments hit, the tension was there, and the romance had just the right amount of intensity.🙌🏼
Profile Image for bookishy.
197 reviews35 followers
July 20, 2025
This was my first proper dark romance and damn, it was definietly hot. I ended up giving it 3,5 stars because, while it was binge-worthy, hot and super easy to read, the characters were so dumb with each other - no spoilers, but one of the major issues they have could've just been solved by Wolfgang telling Victoria the truth (which he already intended to do?), and then he blamed her for it (like blamed, blamed because what he did makes me wanna punch him in the face). Wolfgang was definietly obsessed with Victoria, and I like my men obsessed and willing to go to war for her.

I liked Wolfgang's storyline a lot! Like, instead of having a cute, lovely family, we got backstabbing, and I'm all here for that! Anyway, I feel like it was a good choice for my first dark romance, though Victoria was too submissive for my taste (I mean, being submissive is fine with me, but when you're submissive and pretending to be feisty, then I don't like you).

Thank you to the author for the eARC!
Profile Image for sam | sammylou.reads.
210 reviews85 followers
July 24, 2025
4.5⭐️

I DEVOURED this book, but I’m not surprised. I can always count on Rhea to deliver a deliciously dark & spicy romance.

“My apologies for the short notice, love,” he murmurs. “But you’re coming home with me tonight.”

"This woman has been testing me every day since I brought her here, and it’s only made me want her more."

“It was always going to be you. You know that.”

What to expect:
- Russian mafia
- Forced marriage
- Virgin FMC
- Age gap
- Revenge
- Spice
Profile Image for Kay.
51 reviews2 followers
July 25, 2025
ARC Provided
Thank you <3

I absolutely loved this book! It was hot, steamy, and filled with tension and emotions. The characters were well written even though Victoria's family were barely mentioned. However, Victoria, Wolf, Katy, and even Alaska I personally thought, were well established.

Wolf is a to sum it up, not a good person. He essentially is a villain for a lot of the book from Victoria's perspective. But who could blame him?
Dead mum ✓
Evil stepmum ✓
Evil half brother ... ✓
Rough childhood trauma ✓
High IQ check (148) ✓

And Miss Victoria... has terrible parents who didn't stand up for her, and she constantly lived in the shadow of her sister. However, if they treated her better, there would be no book so...

The first time Wolf and Victoria interact is not pleasant and let's just say, right from the beginning it was hot 🔥 and then the necklace scene in chapter 3...ooooooh I genuinely think I was kicking my legs squealing! It was so HOT!

Wolf SCREAMS touch her, you die. Or well, talk shit about her, you lose a hand. Iykyk

I have many thoughts, feelings and honestly favourite moments from this book but for now, I am going to share my favourite quotes

"I have so many delicious things to teach her" OOOOOOOHHHHH I am deAD! That's hot.

"I may dictate that I own her, but the truth is..., I, too, belong to her now." Sobbing on the floor. I am not ok.

"All I crave...is you." End credits. Thank you. See you. I am not ok! AH!
Profile Image for Michellelovesreading.
1,485 reviews177 followers
July 28, 2025
This is a book I could read every year and I would never get bored of it. I love this book so much, I 10/10 recommend.

Stars:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Profile Image for Kate Lyn Broom.
163 reviews3 followers
July 29, 2025
Very fun and quick dark romance inspired by Sleeping Beauty! There were some small issues with typos and homonyms, but I very much enjoyed the pacing in this book. The relationship progressed in a way that made sense to me, and I’m always satisfied with an MMC that doesn’t play about the FMC, even while he’s trying to convince himself he doesn’t care.

Great for fans of Danielle Lori, Emily McIntire, and horses.
7 reviews
July 29, 2025
I received an advanced copy of this book to read.

This was a good book, I enjoyed the plot and the character development. It’s my second book by the author and overall I like the style. I really enjoyed the MMC and the plot sucked me in. Sometimes the FMC was overly annoying but as always the characters find a way to give you a good ending.
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