STAINED: A Dark Romance

by Annie Wild

Art has always been my refuge… But once he shows up, simple colors aren’t enough to quiet the darkness pulsing in my veins.

I know who I am—or at least, who I’m supposed to be. My father is a murderer, locked away for life, and my mother picked us up from the wreckage he left behind. I thought we’d healed, and I’d escaped my past. However, when a dead body shows up in my gallery and I’m met with a homicide detective’s alluring green eyes…

I start to think my father’s sadistic ways are mine, too.

And part of me wants to give in to my urges.

However, for the sake of public safety, I try to find another way to get my fill. Using an anonymous app, I search for a chance to explore the twisted desires I’ve hidden—and I find my match. He’s someone who can push me, awaken what’s been lying dormant, and let me take control.

But desire isn’t simple. Pleasure and pain begin to blur. Trust and fear teeter on a knife’s edge. And the deeper I go, the more fantasy blurs with reality.

Suddenly, I’m not sure I won’t end up behind bars. But there is one thing I am sure of…

If I do, it’ll be because of him.

**STAINED is dark, twisted romance about obsession, parental legacy, and surrendering to the dangerous desires within. It contains an HEA.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark

218 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2025

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Whatever the f#¢€ this is between us is something I want to hold onto forever."~Adrian👺🩸

"Let's keep us. No matter what."~Liliana🔪🩸

Daaang this was one dark explosive read.💥💣💥💣 I started reading this story and I was hooked. It held my attention as I walked along the path with these characters. It wasn't afraid to go beyond the masks that people wear daily and show the impulses, the forbidden desires that may lurk within some individuals. Would you be able to tell what hides behind a person's eyes? Like minded people would. I read one chapter after another getting lost in the crime thriller whodunnit murd3r mystery that was the catalyst of this book.🥀☠️🪦☠️🪦☠️🥀

🚩🚩 Be sure to read the TWs. There are things, situations that might be uncomfortable for some readers.🚩🚩

Meet Liliana, artist, gallery owner, daughter of a known serial killer, who desperately wanted to express herself artistically, there's a 🩸method to her madness🩸, while she mentally separated from her past and her father. She can't be like him, can she? Can one inherit the drive to hurt and unalive someone? Nature vs nurture. And why can't she stop thinking about things that no normal person would be thinking about? It was unnerving. How hot the feelings became for her. Liliana was complex, smart, and strong. Cold even. Especially towards Detective Adrian Shaw. But when the body of a man was found at her gallery, suspicion descended upon her. At first Liliana was annoying but she grew on me.😂😂

Adrian Shaw. Where do I begin? That man was not as he appeared. He harboured things. Secrets. Drives. Impulses. He now had to solve a crime while not salivating over Liliana.😋 He became obsessed with her. Watching. Wanting. Stalking. He had some warped feelings and view points about men and women but there was no holding back with him. Or for Liliana. He wasn't morally grey. He knew what he had to do. It was the hidden kinks that laid him bare.😱😱 I liked him, but sometimes I wondered why.😂😂 The dark side was calling them both.🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🦋🦋

I won't tell you what happened or the reveal. I figured it out.😝 The storytelling was top notch. World building full of twists and extra extra turns.lol It was a daring book full of twisted, insatiable, raw and rough complexities. I wasn't uncomfortable, but every reader is different. Some may pull back while others lean in. Dark romance. Totally!! Stained. You have no idea. Steamy spice. You may not be ready for it.🥵🌋🥵🌋😵 This was my first book by Ms Wild and I hope to read more. The red book cover fits the theme. If you like dark thrillers, you definitely should check this one out. It's really good. Happy reading.*•>§<•*❤️❤️‍🩹❤️❤️‍🩹🩹🩹😈🤕😈

👩‍🎨🎭👮🏻Thank you to Ms Wild and Booksprout. The opinions shared here are my own.👮🏻🎭👩‍🎨

[Cassandra Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★☆ — A Haunting Descent into Desire and Darkness

Art has always been my refuge… With that line, this novel pulls you headfirst into a world where beauty and brutality share the same canvas. What begins as a story about an artist struggling to escape her father’s murderous legacy quickly unravels into a psychological labyrinth of lust, guilt, and blurred morality.

The unnamed protagonist is both fragile and feral — a woman torn between the peace she creates through her art and the darkness pulsing beneath her skin. When a body turns up in her gallery and a captivating homicide detective enters her orbit, the line between hunter and hunted begins to dissolve. What follows is part thriller, part erotic confession, part descent into the human psyche’s most forbidden corners.

The author balances lush, painterly prose with a creeping sense of dread. Every chapter feels like a brushstroke on a masterpiece of obsession. The erotic elements are intense but never gratuitous; they serve the story’s deeper question — can we inherit evil, or do we create it ourselves?

If you’re drawn to stories like You, Gone Girl, or the psychological tension of The Silent Patient, this book will leave you breathless. It’s unsettling, intoxicating, and impossible to put down — a dark romance that refuses to be tamed.

[Naughty Nightie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annie hooks you in right from the start and keeps you turning the pages until the very end. Liliana is an artist and the daughter of a convicted serial ki**er. She owns her own gallery and is preparing for a grand opening. Until something happens at the gallery and she meets Detective Adrian Shaw and his partner Parker. Adrian feels an affinity with Liliana since his mother is also in prison for the murder of his father. Liliana is having visions and feels she is starting to turn out like her father. Who is behind the events at the gallery? Is it Liliana or someone trying to frame her?
I recieved an arc from Booksprout for my voluntary honest review for NN Book blog. If you love a dark, steamy romance along with an edge-of-the-seat mystery to solve, then you will love this book. However, this book may not be for everyone; therefore, please heed the author's trigger warnings before reading or purchasing.

[Breanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tropes:
🌶️ Detective MMC
🌶️ Enemies to Lovers
🌶️ St@lker Vibes
🌶️ Touch Her & D!e Energy
🌶️ Kink App
🌶️ Possessive MMC
🌶️ Mistaken Identity

This book is dark and filthy in the best way, babyyy — I was kicking my feet AND gripping the pages.

Adrian and Liliana are both fighting their demons, born from brutal childhoods and desires they don’t dare admit out loud. But those desires? Oh, they find each other anyway.

When a body turns up in Liliana’s gallery, Detective Shaw (Adrian) gets assigned to the case. From the moment he sees her, he’s suspicious… and painfully intrigued. Then he finds out who her father is — and that’s when everything shifts.

Suspicion becomes obsession.
Obsession becomes hunger.
And hunger? Yeah… it becomes something a whole lot darker.

This man does not know how to back off — and honestly, I didn’t want him to….🥵🥵🥵

[picking_up_the_pages · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really did love this. I liked the mystery aspect of it, that part kept me interested in the plot. The spicy scenes and the darkness that the characters craved felt like icing on the cake. Put it all together and it was a really good book. I really had a good time with these characters. I liked Liliana, she was someone who wasn't letting her past define her and Adrian was very appealing. I feel like of the two, I might understood him less but regardless, he was written very well.
Overall, this was such a great book and I had the best time reading this. And this is why Annie Wild continues to be a favorite of mine.

[Shu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a little… a lot. As always with Dark Romance, please please read the content warning and reader discretion is highly advised!
Honestly, well done to Annie for this one. My goodness, this was half mystery, half dark romance with a sprinkle of horror? It was suspenseful and there was yearning and a lot of grappling with mental health and unsettling fantasies. Liliana and Adrian are two people who have dark pasts that mirror one another, throughout this story they have to come to terms with who they are and how their past ultimately affects them, as people. The spice is DARK dark. Just a fair warning.

[Sarah Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me on my toes!!! I loved it so much! Serial killer dad, killer mom? Both affected the MCs?!?! Makes for a great book! I couldn't put this down and clearly want more. Like wow, I had a feeling close to the end who was doing everything. It took me longer than I would of liked, but man I did not see that coming. I won't say much since it is a shorter book, and honestly I loved all the suspense that you get from this book. It is different from the other books Annie writes, but it's just as good! Now it does have an HEA, which I love but I want more and I can't wait for the next book. You get the read the first chapter and I sure want to know what happens!!!!!

[Canieshia Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we follow Liliana, she’s the owner of an art gallery but when bodies start turning up at her studio she starts to question her mental sanity especially with her father being a known unaliver.

Insert Adrian, the detective assigned to the case. But there is something about Liliana that brings out his darker desires that he can’t seem to shake.

But he’s not the only one with dark desires and Liliana doesn’t know what to do with these thought as she does not want to be like her father but sometimes you just can’t control the urge….

🖤🌶️🌶️

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 • i love annie wild with my whole heart! this was a great fast paced dark romance with mystery elements. i couldnt put it down! i really liked adrian and liliana. it was loosely giving the mindf*ck series vibes because he was a detective and she was a suspect but thats pretty much where the similarities end. the chemistry was obvious and they were both looking to explore their darkest fantasies and ended up finding their perfect match. i honestly wish the book had been longer because i wanted to see more of their relationship development. i also felt like we didnt get much closure on the situations with lilianas dad and adrians mom and how much that trauma was affecting them.

[Lynnmarie542_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay Annie… you did that! I devoured this book in one sitting because I literally couldn’t put it down. I was guessing the whole time, and when everything finally came to light….SHOOK. I was rooting for the main characters from start to finish, and the spice? Whew! Absolute perfection.

Honestly, I think this might be my favorite Annie Wild book yet.

Thank you so much for letting me ARC read another one of your incredible stories! 💋

[Melissa Houpt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this and ate it up so quick. Less than 200 pages and it had me on the edge. The spice and chemistry between Lil and Shaw 🤌🏼🥵🥵 After a body is found at Lillian’s studio the obvious suspect is Lil, with her family history. Detective Shaw has his own secrets and the connection between the two that neither realizes till near the end. If you want a quick read that will have you on the edge of your seat and full of spice, this baby is it!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

[Amber Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fast paced, dark and twisted thrill to read! Adrian and Liliana are just trying to get by in their lives. Both of them have pretty messed up parental upbringing. Both have deep dark desires. When someone is shmurdered in Liliana's gallery, Detective Shaw (Adrian) is put on the case. He has some reservations about the beautiful artist that runs the gallery. Then he learns who her father is. Obsession. depraved. kînƙ§. This was so good, you guys!
4⭐️
3.5🌶

[Sarah Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually thoroughly enjoyed the thriller/suspense aspect of this novel. The plot was done extremely well and the twist at the end was totally unexpected. Definitely deserves 5 stars for that. I don’t know why seeing the typos irritate me, but I still keep buying her books so I can’t be that upset. I just wish she would have someone else read over the work before publishing so that way it doesn’t keep happening.

[Brit.Readz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved everything I’ve ever read from Annie.
This is no exception!

This one is more of a thriller style but man do we have a story to follow here!

A body turns up. A detective asks questions.. and just when you think you know you just DONT!

Annie what a spectacular job you do keeping us on our toes!

[Lian Carver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book a lot, the plot and spice kept it interesting and grips you from the start! The mystery element is an added bonus.

The character development is good and dark. I read this in one sitting, and was a quick read for me, I would highly recommend to anyone who loves a dark, spicy and full of mystery book that has you on the edge of your seat till the end

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a perfect read for Halloween!
I was able to read this one in one sitting.

I could honestly say that the reveal in this one had me SHOCKED. My mind was going elsewhere with everything.

I was so for the love story of the main characters.

[Anna Ioannidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third book by this author, and I was not disappointed. I loved the plot — it kept me entertained, and I couldn’t put it down. Such a fantastic read — definitely five stars!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilianas life hadnt been easy when her father was who he was but when bodies start to show up, eyes set of her in the form of Adrian. But is anything as it seems. Well written engaging steamy dark themes twists and more

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story from this author. I loved the characters found them captivating. I was hooked from the start. It's dark, erotic, Intense and twisted. You might want to read the triggers before you read it. I highly recommend this story.

[Samantha Millican · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stained is a dark romance, so heed those warnings. It’s a quick read that has plenty of twisted darkness that sucks you in and doesn’t let go till you’re finished!.

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

[Cheyenne Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stained is overall a great read. It's so worth the read. The characters are well written and the plot is well thought through.

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

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her father’s blood runs hot in her vines. So does is murderous tendencies. She tries to find a less destructive outlet and finds it in him.

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

[A Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

STAINED is a great dark romance. The story was dark, intense, thrilling, and enjoyable. The characters were twisted, strong and likable. I enjoyed this stalker romance.

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

[FoxyBookCorner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book a 3.5 star rating. It was ok, but seemed like ideas weren’t finished. It was a little bit rushed and overall just not my favorite read of her’s. The ending was a tad underwhelming as well. It’s a good quick read if you need to hit a goal but overall not one I would reach for again.

[Daisy Magnolia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 5☆ read. Adrian Shaw made me understand why people make questionable life choices 🫣

[alicialovestoread · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annie has done it again! Another fantastic dark romance!

A quick read but man that doesn't make the spice any less HOT!!

Absolutely LOVED IT!!

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murderplay? 🫠😉😉

Annie has done it again. This might be one of my favorites of her so far. A good murder mystery, with some dark, mask wearing romance.

[Parris Turrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great FMC- found her highly comical throughout the entire book! Who doesn't like a little murder and a detective MMC. "Little Killer"

[Stacy McCrady · Rating 4 out of 5]

She’s an artist with a serial killer dad
He’s a detective with psychotic tendencies
Together they have some steamy kinks🔪🎭🩸

[Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, fast read. Storyline was good, definitely fast moving and straight to the point. Loved the characters, definitely had plot twist. Loved it