Reckless: A Dark Romance

by Dakota Wilde

This is a standalone book that takes place in the Dark Star Shared World Series.

In the bleak streets of Starfell, The Underwood Crime Family rules all. Stella Vesper is no stranger to their reign of terror, but when she unknowingly falls for their hitman, Callahan Leigh, she's forced to choose between her plan for vengeance and a love that has healed a part of her, she didn't know was broken.

Reckless follows the harrowing love story between two delectably vicious Geminis and their plight against a cruel and dark world.

Will their love be able to withstand forces beyond their control or will they succumb to the whims of a tyrannical madman intent on ruining all they hold dear?

Reckless is a dark romance, intended for an audience of 18+.

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2026

Reviews

[Emma Thomas]

𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

“ᴀ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ ᴍᴇ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ɪ ᴡᴀs ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇɴ. ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀ ᴍᴀɴ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ ғᴇᴇʟ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀʟʟ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴍᴜsᴛᴇʀ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇʟɪᴇғ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ɢᴏɴᴇ."

"𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞."

"ɪ'ᴅ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀsɪᴅᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜɪs ᴊᴏʙ. ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ᴏғ ᴀ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ. ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟᴄʏ ᴏғ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴏɴᴇ. ɪ ʜᴀᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʀɪsᴋ ɪᴛ. ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ɴᴏᴡ. ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ʜᴇʀ."

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ:
💛 ᴀ ɢᴇᴍɪɴɪ ʙᴀᴅᴅɪᴇ
🔪 ɢᴏᴛʜᴀᴍ ᴄɪᴛʏ ᴠɪʙᴇs
💛 ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴘʟᴏᴛ
🔪 ᴋɴɪғᴇ ᴛʜʀᴏᴡɪɴɢ
💛 ʀɪᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ sᴏ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ

"𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎. 𝙰𝚗 𝚞𝚙𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝... 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙿𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."

"𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺."

"ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ, sᴛᴇʟʟᴀ. ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴍɪɴᴇ."

[Bria Boyd]

Ahh this was so damn good 😭🫶

[Robin ferguson]

In the bleak streets of Starfell the Underwood crime family rules all.
Stella is no stranger to their reign of terror but she falls for their hitman Callahan. She has to choose between love or vengeance.

Check your trigger warnings before reading.

I enjoyed getting to read this.

[Christie Wilcox]

💛 Hired Hitman x Smex Worker FMC
♊️ “Ride me so I can watch…”
💛 Chronic Illness Rep
♊️ Geminis
💛 St@bby FMC
♊️ Kn!fe Throwing
💛 Vengeance

[Hannah The Awkward]

Callahan *swoon*

Reckless by Dakota Wilde was a blast to read with spice, hitmen, and the mafia. Its quick-pace and high-stakes made this one easily consumable in just an hour 😅. I’m obsessed with Callahan and how much of a golden retriever he was under that hard complex exterior. Also I loved the horoscopes for each chapter for Geminis (which both the MMC and FMC are) that corresponds with the chapter. Also I love a strong, independent FMC that isn’t afraid to take charge and Stella was everythingggg!

[Amanda]

This was exciting and fast paced. Stella is searching for her missing twin sister. Callahan is tasked with the job of hunting down and killing the person who killed a member of the Underwood Crime Family. There is instant attraction and chemistry between Stella & Callahan. Together they make a formidable couple. This story in the Dark Star series is full of suspense, spice and it suched me in from the first page.

[Jessica Sexton]

4/5⭐️
2/5🌶️

This was a short dark read, it gives a little mafia vibes. I enjoyed it but definitely would have loved to get more of these characters story. The book didn’t drag me in and make me care about the characters and I feel like it’s because it was a little rushed for their story line.

[She Reads]

I really, really liked this story. I would have given it 5 stars if it was longer. I wanted to dig deeper into Stella and Callahan's relationship, see more of them together than apart. I enjoyed it though and would recommend!

[Heather Baker]

I wish I could give this so many more stars 😍😍😍

[_jasminereads.xo]

A short fun read! 😁