Depraved: A Dark Stalker Romance

by Julia Sykes

Genres: Romance

190 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 18, 2026

About the author

Julia Sykes is a USA Today bestselling author of edgy, emotional romance. When she's not writing, she's usually reading.

Other than reading, her obsessions include iced coffee, unicorns, charcuterie, aged Manchego cheese (or any cheese, really), and fancy dresses.

An American expat, Julia now lives in her adopted, beloved home of York, England. Most days, you can find her wandering the cobbled streets and daydreaming about her next novel.

Reviews

[Brina]

I loved the conclusion to Brandon and Karolina's story! There were so many layers with so many emotions in each layer. It was a nice escape. Two people devoted to each other and on the same page about it, is more than most people can hope for. I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Letty]

Let me just say Bones aka Rand aka Brandon totally embodied all of the dark romance girlie’s MMC tropes! You’ve got childhood traumas/first love, masked man (IICYIFY), student/professor, ex-assassin, touch her & 💀, and sure there’s more!

This was an easy quick-paced conclusion for this duet with a HEA in the end, but boy what a ride to get there!
I loved the connection between the FMC, Karolina/Lana, and the MMC, Brandon.

However, I wished she would have not caved so easily a few times, like girl, make him work for this, for you!!
But in the end I loved their story!

I do wonder about Ghost/Logan’s character & hope he gets his own book (wink wink 😉).


***A special thank you to author, Julia Sykes, for the opportunity to read & review this ARC! I am voluntarily leaving this honest review. ***

[Cyndy Vasquez]

Depraved is the perfect duet to Devoted.🔥 Their story flames back to life in this continuation. With more heat & spice, twisted into a heart-wrenching dark romance, Depraved is everything you want and more than you see coming. All bets are off.🔥 All masks are off.🔥 A few steps past🖤 morally-grey. Karolina and Brandon navigate through deception, hidden truths and a deep love set from their younger years spent together. No spoilers here. You need to read to see if she can forgive his layers and layers of lies and kills. They are way past sparks, they are a fire that burns 🔥 deeper than all their pain. Julia Sykes knows how to keep you on that edge, just waiting to see if they will fall together or rip apart. This is a must-read, twisted dark romance.

[Quinty Smits]

5/5-star book
Very well written; I couldn't put it down and read it all in one sitting.
This is the sequel to *Devoted*.

It was a great follow-up to the cliffhanger.
Karolina discovered his true identity, though he kept holding back secrets—secrets she inevitably uncovered, which naturally upset her. They were also pursued by Brandon's enemies, who were conspiring to take revenge on him by targeting her. Eventually, everything came to light and they were able to work through it—with help from Brandon's friend, Ghost. Although Ghost didn't assist with certain matters Brandon wanted to keep hidden from her, he did try to protect her when necessary.

A really good book.

[Zelda]

Book 2 in the Deceit duet. This story continues from where Devoted left off & doesn’t miss a beat. Karolina eventually finds out all the secrets when his enemies come calling and Rand’s obsession & protectiveness intensifies. This story is a good balance of action and emotion. Brandon is so determined to do what he has always done—ensure Karolina’s safety—that he doesn’t know or even think about how to save them both. I was hoping for more of a struggle within Karolina when the MMC was fully uncovered because her guilt, regret & shame over her actions were life-changing. I hope we see more of Ghost, who redeems himself nicely for his pettiness. Great conclusion to the duet.

[Kayana]

4.5 stars. The completion of Brandon and Karolina’s story was perfect!! And those last 40-50 pages?! I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened!! I devoured this in just over a day and I’m missing it already. 😅

“You see me like no one else, but you’ve never accepted the truth. My heart isn’t good. It’s selfish and possessive. I would burn the world for you, Karolina, and I wouldn’t feel an ounce of remorse.”

[Jennifer Berg]

4.5 ⭐️
Karolina and Brandon will forever live in my heart 😭
If Brandon was real, he’d be a walking talking big red flag, but in his fictive glory he is perfect, don’t you dare tell me otherwise! Loved their ending 🫶🏼

*ARC review. Thank you so much to the author for giving me the opportunity to read this!

[Beth Lyons]

I was lucky enough to be an Arc reader for this duet. Safe to say I adored Karolina and Rand’s story ! The highs and lows of the book was like a rollercoaster! One minute I’m giggling kicking my feet and the next I’m shouting “seriously “ at the book!😂

Highly recommend this duet!

[Christine]

Kindle unlimited

For a honest review in my own words on a book I read . Now karolina( lena) knows the whole truth about what happened after that night at the foster house and what he has done to be with her again. this was a fantastic story lots of twist and turns .

[Jenni]

Brandon and Karolinas epic conclusion to their story has you hooked, with twists and turns, depths of desires, steamy hot scenes and more!

[Winfield]

I enjoyed the conclusion of Brandon and Karolina's story! It had many emotional layers and provided a great escape. Their devotion to each other is something many people can only hope for.

[Kelly Owen]

So i have read this first book of this series and again I find it quite choppy and way overboard of the smut the structure of the story is there but I found the execution not there.

[Hannah Shemonia-Fortner]

MMC had my brothers name which made me deeply uncomfortable so MMC just had to continue to be his fake name in my head for me to be able to continue on