He needed a subject for his experiment. He didn’t expect her to burn his laboratory to the ground.
Cole Prescott is the god of Halloway University. He is old money wrapped in Italian wool, a future Senator with a mind like a steel trap and a heart carved from ice. To him, morality is just a myth—a hypothesis waiting to be disproven.
I am Avery Wells. The scholarship case. The girl from the trailer park with dirt on her boots and a desperate need to survive. I was supposed to be invisible.
But Cole saw me. He didn't see a person. He saw a variable. Subject A.
It started with a stolen journal. Then, a fabricated crime. He gave me a financial ruin and expulsion, or total submission to his demands.
I signed his contract. I entered his penthouse. I became his shadow. I thought I was fighting for my degree, but I was fighting against his gravity. He stripped away my defenses layer by layer, corrupting me with luxury, gaslighting me with affection, and ruining me with a touch that felt like possession.
I fell for the monster. I confessed my love in the snow.
Then I found the file.
He documented every kiss. He analyzed every tear. He reduced my soul to a thesis statement on the fragility of virtue.
Cole thought he had broken me. He thought the experiment was over. But he forgot the most important variable in his Rage.
He taught me that survival is the only reality. Now, I’m going to use his own lessons to destroy his legacy, bankrupt his empire, and bring the King of Halloway to his knees.
Class is in session, Cole. And I’m no longer the student.
CALCULATED OBSESSION is a full-length, standalone dark academia romance. It features a ruthless anti-hero, a heroine who learns to bite back, and a scorching "hate-sex to love" dynamic.
⚠️ This book contains intense scenes of psychological manipulation, gaslighting, dub-con/non-con themes, degradation, and toxic power dynamics. It is intended for mature audiences who enjoy pitch-black romance where the villain gets the girl (but has to grovel for her first).
18+ ONLY. Read this book only if you are emotionally mature enough to understand the difference between fiction and reality. I personally won’t recommend it, but if you do read it, please go in informed.
⭐ 2 stars One for the author’s writing. One for the FMC, Avery, for destroying Cole.
The first 40% of the book was painful. Not dark-romantic, just disturbing. The manipulation, degradation, and power imbalance physically hurt to read. Cole didn’t see Avery as a person, he saw her as an experiment. And that shows.
The next 20% was okay-ish, where their bond was built, but it never felt safe or equal. Trauma bonding is real, and this book shows how validation from an abuser can blur everything. I understood why she fell for him, even while hating it.
The next 20% was the best part. Avery finds out the truth and completely destroys him using his own lessons. That was satisfying and well done.
The groveling after that? Not enough. Yes, he begged. No, it didn’t match the damage he caused.
The ending and epilogue were the biggest letdown. Suddenly they’re rich, cold, and isolated, with no real emotional connections to the outside world. I didn’t feel warmth. I didn’t feel love. I felt emptiness. What was the point of all that suffering if the end result was emotional coldness? I wanted healing and emotion, not detachment.
Maybe it’s partly my fault because I went into this book without reading the synopsis or reviews. This is not a book you should read blind.
Overall, this book made me uncomfortable, angry, and emotionally drained. Avery deserved better. And the ending didn’t connect with me the way it could have.