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For the Love of Layla

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For the Love of Layla is a dark psychological stalker romance…

Her - How do you cope when you find out the person you entrusted your heart to is a monster? A wolf in sheep’s clothing. I did what I thought was the right, logical thing...I ran. Little did I know nothing was ever going to be that easy and he had no intention of letting me go.

Him - The day she left she took a piece of me, hell she took everything I ever was and ever dreamt of being. I've always been a little...different. Inflicted with a chronic need to fixate on things. Who better to fixate on than the woman who stole my heart the moment she quite literally stumbled into my life. I can't let her go and I will get her back by any means necessary. Even if that means destroying us both in the process. She's mine. Only mine. My little love seems to have forgotten that, it's going to be fun reminding her.

For the Love of Layla is a standalone dark psychological stalker romance with a supplemental epilogue, where you can choose to continue the story or end it. There will be many instances in this book that could be upsetting to some readers. This story is not meant for the light hearted. It won't have a picture perfect ending with a pretty bow and a happily ever after scribbled at the bottom of a page, not right away. How the story ends is up to the reader, if you take my ending or the supplemental one is entirely up to you. This story is meant for those who aren't afraid to love passionately, grieve and shed a few tears. With great love comes great pain.

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2022

809 people are currently reading
6148 people want to read

About the author

Callie Moss

14 books398 followers
Callie Moss is an indie author. She published her first book Surviving December in January 2022. Callie has overcome a lot after being diagnosed with Graves Disease at twenty-three. She's a chronic daydreamer, lover of dark gritty romance that makes you clutch your pearls and forsake well rounded men. She's a married, stay-at-home mom, surrogate, and cosplayer that likes to spend her time reading, writing, and listening to true crime podcasts. She grew up in the Midwest, where she always felt like an outcast. Never quite fitting in with the kids at school, she was bullied for her macabre tastes. Relentless imagination and her obsession with a particular sparkling vampire. She found solace in escapism and learned the profound effect a good story can have on someone. She wants to give her readers the same experience, creating worlds you can lose yourself in, if only for a moment.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 404 reviews
Profile Image for Sonia.
1,299 reviews2,072 followers
June 10, 2023
3.5 stars a dark psychological romance is right

Because it gets daaaark! Extra points for the well-placed Spotify links throughout the book. I enjoyed jamming out while reading intense scenes (and, well, also creeped out 🤣😅 ).

Layla’s being stalked by a man. She’s gotten text messages and doesn’t know what to do. At first, she thinks they’re pranks, but then she realizes that this stalker is actively watching her😬… and she’s scared. She would’ve felt safer if she was still with her psycho ex, Liam.

Liam’s (26) obsessed with Layla. He wants her and will do anything to have her. So what if he almost un alived her boss when he was being inappropriate with her… that man deserved it 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️🫣😅. Too bad Layla got scared of him and decided to break things off. If only she would’ve stayed with him… things wouldn’t have gone so awry…

What I liked: possible spoilers
—how OTT obsessed Liam is 👀. This man is ALLLLL
about Layla🥹. He breathes, thinks, eats, lives for her. She’s IT for him. No one else will do💅. He’s gonna do whatever he needs to do in order to get back together… even if she’s not quite happy about it 😅

—the 🔥 scenes. We don’t get THAT many. The ones in flashbacks were on the FTB side. Even though there aren’t too many 🔥 scenes, what we get are 🥵. The office scene alone will live rent free in my head 💦.

—going along with the above bullet, the 🔥 scenes with the stalker were 🥵. The added mystery… the taboo feeling… the “bad Layla” aspect made it grittier and, well, dirtier 😉. This leads me to…

—the n0nc0n/dubc0n scenes. I enjoy them in my books 😅. It helps that Liam is so consumed by Layla that he kind of gets a little carried away 😅. I wanna say they’re probably more along the dubbie side since Layla craves it all, but some might disagree

—blood? Nah. It doesn’t bother me (says Liam)

—birth control? 🤣 bahahahaha 😈

—the fact that he stalks/spies on her. Sigh. I love me a dedicated man 💅

—hurt her and suffer the consequences ❤️. But only of the bad guys who hurt her 😬 because

—he’s SUPER DUPER protective of her 🥹. I can’t help but love him for this. This guy makes sure she has her medication 😭. What a dreamboat 🥰

—the ending. I was nervous. I actually cried 😭 but the epilogue is so worth it

—the songs throughout. I got the hibbie jibbies, but hey… I survived 😅

—the side characters. This includes Peaches the dog ❤️ I luuurved her 🥹. I guess Brandon and Ava are cool too 🙄 lol (the MCs bffs)

What I didn’t like/wanted more of: SPOILERS
—more 🔥, especially once they’re together. There’s so much push/pull that we missed out on some good together 🔥. Sigh 😐

—grammar mistakes. The main song that gets repeated had spelling mistakes. There were other errors, like subject/verb agreement errors or pronoun antecedent mistakes. I didn’t notice too many, but I noticed some to make me reread sentences 😅

—the structure when in flashback mode. Using my eyes, it was easy to see because the font style changed (it was italicized), but sometimes, this would happen in the middle of scenes and then it’d go back to the present. Using the Alexa app isn’t ideal for these scenes 😬

—more background on Liam and Layla. I would’ve liked to have seen more of them before their breakup. We get some flashback scenes, which ended up becoming a FTB scene, but I wanted more.

—2+2=4… come on Layla 🤦🏻‍♀️ trust your gut. How is it that you are forced to go in your knees (you know why😬) and you don’t realize who’s in front of you 🤦🏻‍♀️. Girl. Layla. Girl. Come on 🫣

—I wouldn’t have minded if we hadn’t known so early in the book who the stalker was 😬🫣. I mean. It helped with not feeling so scared for Layla, but, for a psychological book, I’d expect to feel more of the angst/fear we normally feel for a book in this genre. I was still unsure of his actions, but either way, waiting until later would’ve helped

—the un a living of innocents. Sigh. This bothered me ☹️. The om and even the scene with the couple later in the book bothered me (the husband in that later scene not so much 🤣 he was an ass). The om though was innocent. I felt bad and almost stopped reading 😬

Overall, I really did enjoy this 🤷🏻‍♀️. I loooved how obsessed Liam was ❤️. Stalkers will always have a special place in my heart 🥹

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating*/sharing/owd
-OMD- the h goes on a date with om (her best friend is there too). Nothing happens with the guy (and he suffers the H’s wrath 😭)
-noncon/dubcon
-forced to take sleeping pills
-abusive dad/recounted/flashback
-abusive/loveless mom recounted/flashback
-child abuse in flashback scenes
-suicide of a loved one recounted
-cheating in flashback scene (not MCs)
-deaths of a parents recounted
-abandonment by her mom/recounted
-violence/death/bloodshed/torture
-rape/abuse (not MCs)
-stalking/spying
-mental health/anxiety/PTSD
-praise kink/hand necklace/breath play/edging/spanking/tying up/restraint
-no condoms/HEA? (There’s an optional epilogue that I read, or course; it gave me my satisfying HEA/a month later and 3 years later)
Profile Image for Blair Waldorf.
58 reviews1 follower
August 25, 2022
I had to force my self to finish it that’s how bad it was , ZERO editing . Plot is all over the place , formatting is terrible this was by no means dark like at all , we don’t get enough back story on the couple before they break up and it’s a shame because he just comes across like boring and weird and honestly h needs therapy more than she needs a man , she rejects him because he defended her by breaking her sleazy sexually harassing boss but she doesn’t want him back because he didn’t fight for her when she left him … that sounds like a very mature relationship. She is forced to go down on her stalker which she enjoys but can’t recognise the penis of her former ex ??? that was well the same size as her stalker and she describes it as large or I don’t know the dark copper pubs or I don’t know anything about the stalker , yeah I know she knows it’s him deep down but still it’s super dumb . Beside her being always away from work or having a bitchy colleague nothing else happens . Police don’t believe her and that’s not even because H dissuaded them to ignore her they just do even tho she has a tone of proof … I mean it’s just a mess , the plot could have had potential I’d say , if we didn’t know that the H was the stalker all along of if at least the H was behaving completely differently from The stalker to throw readers off but this is lacking on all point dialogue is non existent between h&H beside his saying he wants her he wants to take care of her and her rejecting him AGAIN , steam is bad , chemistry non existent plot is undercooked editing was so bad words are missing from
Sentences quotes are open but never closed ,flashe backs are totally useless to the plot and they come at moments that are not really the best … this wasn’t a good book and to see the arcs reviews are praising it clearly they doing a terrible job and shouldn’t be arcs especially if you call that quality work or dark.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️.
2,940 reviews2,673 followers
June 18, 2024
Psycho stalker romance!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🤎🖤💜💙
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: ☺️🥲😚🥰😳

The heroine: Layla - she is a writer for a magazine called Blinked. Though what she really writes are paragraph long captions underneath instagram quotes and opinions of popular influencers and celebrities. Her boss, Mr. Danvers, is a pig who looks at her like she is prime rib and has a habit of punishing her for what he deems putting too much of her own opinions into her work. So, she often has to sit in the other desk in his office rather than her own desk out in with the rest of the writers. Until she meets Liam who recently bought out the magazine and a bunch of other businesses in the building where she works.

The Hero: Liam - he is a wealthy businessman who has a penchant for fixating on things, and when he meets Layla, he immediately becomes fixated on her to the point of obsession. They begin dating and he seems like a charming and intelligent man, though the more time goes by, his obsession starts to take over the relationship until one day he nearly kills Layla’s boss for touching her inappropriately.

The Story: Layla breaks up with Liam but is unsettled when he just takes it and doesn’t respond. She assumed he would fight for her and is disturbed that he just seems to accept it. Though little does she know, Liam is still obsessed, he constantly follows and stalks her. He climbs her terrace each night and sleeps next to her, leaving before she wakes up in the morning. He trained her Mastiff, Peaches to protect her from all men but him, and Peaches sees him as a friend.

Both Liam and Layla had painful childhoods and are a bit broken because of it, though Liam is a certified sociopath or psychopath, I always forget which is which. Since he was a child, he knew he was not normal, and something was wrong with him, but he could usually control himself until he met Layla.

Personally, I usually like a story about a psycho in love. I think the crazy things they do are kind of comical though definitely if this was the real world and not a book, they would be terrible, and he would definitely be someone to fear not someone to like and enjoy reading about. However, this is a book, so I enjoyed reading about how far he would go in his obsession.

This guy is completely off his rocker. More so than in just about any of the dark romance books I have read in the past. He goes to serious extremes to get her back, and I am not at all fond of those extremes. Though I did keep reading and the book did hold my attention all the way through. We eventually learn that in a way, Layla is almost as crazy as Liam is, though much of her craziness is what he drives her to.

“When this is all said and done, please know it was done from love. Every moment has been because I cannot and will not live without you.”

I have to say, this one really surprised me, at the end. The last quarter of the book actually made everything that came before it worthwhile. I found myself changing what I had originally thought I wanted to happen and actually hoping for a happily ever after. I even had tears in my eyes at one point in the story. Any story that can be that original is pretty good in my eyes.

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Profile Image for Kursed Reads.
801 reviews9,279 followers
January 1, 2023
Having witnessed a myriad tragedy from a young age, Liam Curran becomes obsessed with taking care of his love, Layla Burke.

For the Love of Layla is an account of how far Liam is willing to go in order to keep his Lítla Ást tethered to him.

I FLOVE an OTT jealous stâIker; they are my kryptonite. I’m still on the fence about Liam though.

My main issue is with the editing. I’ve seen some FB posts that suggest it has been edited and republished. However, I purchased after seeing several posts to that effect so I’m not sure. I never want to seem mean. Holy Tostitos though. If I weren’t invested enough into what action would eventually bring Layla back, I would have given up.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Burn: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Darkness: 🖤
Heat: 🌶️🌶️
Range of Emotions: 😬😳🥵🤬😲
Ending: 💗 {HEA}
POV: 👫🏻 {Dual}

🗂 Genre: Dark Romance

✨ Tropes: Manipulation, MINE!, OTT J/P, StâIker, Workplace

💋 Kinks: Brėėding, Discipline/Punishment, Domination, Spanking

⚠️ Warning: This book may cause blushing, squirming, combusting panties, and/or self-care.

🚩 Safety Squad: VîoIėncė, UnäIîvîng, Manipulation & Gaslighting, Suîcîdė, and other triggering elements. If you have any hesitation, check the warnings before diving in. Otherwise, blind is best!!

📣 Type: For the Love of Layla is a standalone.

🛑 Be Advised: My Goodreads shelves are … explicit in both senses. As such, they could be considered spoiler-y.
Profile Image for *CJ*.
5,096 reviews623 followers
December 26, 2022
"For the Love of Layla" is the story of Layla and Liam.

Oh dear.

One of the most insane stalker books I have read, with the hero playing an obsessed ex who will do anything- and I mean anything to be with the heroine.
We go on a roller coaster ride where he basically "loves" *cough* harasses her into Stockholm syndrome.



I have to give spoilers because there is a LOT going on- and the ending is shocking in a way- but glad they ended up together? Im not sure everyone needs therapy LMAO.

Safe
3.5/5
Profile Image for Leo.
4,984 reviews627 followers
August 1, 2024
This one just didn't sit well with me. I love dark romance and a very morally gray hero (and heroines too). But I just didn't enjoy this one. I'm usually able to enjoy crazy behaviours as it's just fiction and nothing it is true or reflects real life. However it wad heave with gaslighting, manipulation and a lot action that felt much more like abuse. Nor did I feel like the heroine was enjoying it or would be okay about it. Felt a lit like she was an abuse victim. But I have enjoyed darker romances and very problematic behaviors before in romance so it all goes down to the ability to see the chemistry and remove the the plot and romance from reality. Which I couldn't in this book. But I'm in no way a hater of dark romance
Profile Image for MacKenzi Jones.
15 reviews6 followers
August 14, 2022
My ratings are always based 100% on how the story makes me feel and how captivating it is. Every book I’ve read by Callie Moss is absolutely amazing and I finish them in one sitting. The spice level is 10/10 the story telling 10/10. I always end up emotionally attached to these characters and am sad when their story comes to an end. That being said, this book is not going to be for everyone and that is stated in the beginning before the title page. Many of the things Callie Moss writes are taboo so just be cautious and check the TW page. If you aren’t bothered by anything taboo I highly suggest all of her books. I sincerely hope you enjoy her books as much as I do. ❤️
I received a free arc review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Mary.
178 reviews2 followers
January 16, 2023
I really can't understand why this book isn't getting the attention it deserves? I loved it so so much, it had everything I love and crave in a dark, great romance novel and almost all my favorite tropes. Plus, not less importantly, it was very well-written.
Damn near perfect to me

Profile Image for Nicole.
325 reviews79 followers
May 27, 2023
3.5 🌟

Well....this was certainly interesting, in a f**ked up way 🤔

Completely toxic, very delusional and a tad unrealistic 🤏

The writing was not as smooth sailing as I would have liked and the back and forth time jumps took some getting use to.

However this story definitely kept me on my toes.
Profile Image for JMC.
518 reviews4 followers
March 13, 2024
What a fucked-up love. If this is love, I don't want anything to do with it. I'm just waiting for an epilogue where Liam killed Layla and their daughter because that wouldn't be far from the reality of their lives and his personality. Joe Goldberg would be proud of Liam.

What makes my head hurt while reading this is the back and forth of the flashbacks from their childhood trauma. I guess it would've been easier to read if the timeline is executed properly like a past and present with each chapter. The masked photo that indicates the chapter is just annoying because the chapter and title isn't even legible enough due to the font color that is drowned out by the color of the white mask, it's like the POVs are meshed together in one chapter.
33 reviews
August 9, 2022
yeah ok don’t read this if you don’t like dark!!! Wow. I loved this book. This book is about Layla being stalked by her ex- who she ended things with. Its dark romance with some Stockholm syndrome vibes. I liked Layla, she was feisty but also very sweet. Liam was very unhinged but Layla is his whole world and I absolutely love it. He has sweet little moments where he cares for Layla in ways she doesn’t even notice (like replacing her favorite coffee creamer when it gets low because she always forgets!!!!!) However, Liam is not a super morally grey character- he’s pretty much just dark. He does a lot of messed up things and isn’t very apologetic of it and he is extremely controlling. The spice was nice but it didn’t overpower the plot. One thing I did find was it was a little hard to connect how much Layla and Liam loved each other since they had a 6 month relationship prior to the events of this book that we didn’t really get to see much of. They’re so interesting and I would have loved some flashbacks of cute moments from both their pov’s! However i still really loved this couple. Definitely a great read if you’re looking for a dark stalker romance! Callie Moss has never disappointed me in a book so far and I can’t wait to read what she puts out next!

I received a free review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Profile Image for destiny.
527 reviews154 followers
March 1, 2025
born to ride liam, forced to read about it 😔

MANS IS BATSHIT CRAZY AND I’M ALL HERE FOR IT HOLY FUCK !!!

this had me fighting for my life because I KNOW IT’S SO WRONG BUT IT JUST FEELS TOO GOOD 👏🏼😩

LIAMMM GET HOME NOWWW !!! MY PUNANI MISSES YOU 🖤💢

i genuinely couldn’t help but fall in love with this book. this is not your typical stalker billionaire romance. this is the definition of a psychotic mmc with no redeeming qualities besides his obsession and the way he loves his woman 🙌🏼 am i the toxic one ? probably … DON’T CARE HAHAA 😝

🌶️🌶️
Profile Image for Jaqueela.
121 reviews7 followers
January 5, 2023
I was vibing with the book, until I wasn't.

I don't have the energy to go in depth as to how terrible this book is.

This wasn't dark romance this was just plain awful and Liam needed serious HELP!!!

I really tried to find something positive to say about this book but I couldn't.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone and I advice that you don't waste your time reading it
Profile Image for samantha ఌ.
340 reviews448 followers
July 18, 2024
This book may be less than 300 pages but it felt like a thousand
Profile Image for daemyra, the realm's delight.
1,290 reviews37 followers
February 14, 2025
Very enjoyable and just what I want from a dark romance hero.

Unfortunately, wasn't in the right mood when I first read it. Paused. Came back to it, but couldn't prevent myself from comparing this to other dark romances with similar hero is a stalker who believes his only way to win heroine's heart is to make her lose marbles. Idk but I love this plot when it's written well. Just so spicy and suspenseful, with unrepentant hero for the most part and heroine who has to stand up for herself but also let her man be.

I love it when I can laugh but also feel excited by a romance. Liam was so over-the-top. He kills a ton of people in this book. One of my favourite scenes is when Layla is having a mental breakdown and he slips her one of her sleeping pills underneath the bedroom door (she's locked him out) like what. He's so insane but also so thoughtful??

The stories I thought of was deathsdolls If I Can't Have You on Ao3 and Sky Blu's In Love with the Devil with very similar heroes. These stories are much darker but still a romance imo. Callie Moss's story thus felt more light grey in terms of dark but around the 40% mark it does start to go a little off-the-rails, which was why I gave this a 4 stars.

I shall be reading more from Callie Moss!
Profile Image for Cailie.
26 reviews23 followers
April 16, 2023
All of you that know me on here, know that I’m obsessed with stalker romances. I live for them. I want them in every flavour. For the Love of Layla is dark, twisted and intense. I was hooked from the first page. If you have triggers this might not be the read for you… drop your morals at the door for this one. This book is full of dubcon/noncon so if that’s not your thing… keep on scrolling.

Liam Curran is the definition of a walking red flag. He has an unhealthy obsession with his ex-girlfriend Layla. He stalks her and manipulates every aspect of her life in order to make Layla his again.

Layla Burke is put through the wringer. Nobody seems to believe her story of the masked man breaking into her home and sending creepy messages. I seriously have no idea how she endeared all the torment from her masked stalker and still made it out with a shred of sanity.

“You insisted on being a fucking brat. Now take the damn pills or I’ll carve up your pretty face so badly only I’ll be able to love it.”

Liam Curran is not a good person and if you are looking for “morally grey” in this man, you are going to have to look a lot further. Anyone who harms his “little star”, he will unalive without a second thought. He is utterly insane and toxic, but is sweet in his own sick way. Liam had me out here being like “awwww, but he’s being sweet in the only way he knows how” HAHA. I was questioning my sanity because I justified everything he was doing to poor Layla. They both suffered traumatic pasts and let me tell you they really are perfect for eachother in their own broken way… Had me tearing up in several parts of the book.

“Every moment away from her is a fucking battle. Fighting the urge to take her sweet body, chain her and lock her away from the world. So I can fuck, touch and hold her anytime I want. I don’t just want her at my side, I want to consume her. Merge our bodies, so she’s always with me. Bound to me until I take my last breath. I need her. I’ve never needed anything like I do her, not food, not air or water.”

I did come across some editing mistakes, and the formatting between the povs was confusing at first but it didn’t take too much away from the story. I do wish I could have caught more of a glimpse of their relationship before the breakup; I feel like that would have added more to the dynamic between them. Overall, I really enjoyed this dark read and all of its kinky spice! If you have a primal/breeding kink READ THIS BOOK!! Trust me it will hit all the right places for you.
Profile Image for Crystal.
2,499 reviews64 followers
May 13, 2023
2.5 Stars
The idea/plot for this book immediately grabbed my attention. It has tropes and themes that call to my dark soul. but the amount of errors took me out of it. For the entire first half of the book, there was bad grammar and bad editing. Misspellings and misused words like loose instead of lose, leading/leaning, wonder/wander, knew/new, sitting/setting. And missing words every page or 2. I'm not sure if this stopped in the second half of the book, or if I just stopped paying attention to it, but I don't recall that half being as bad. If you can look past this kind of thing, and enjoy dark books, I'd say give it a go. But unfortunately that isn't all that didn't work for me. I'm all for the anti-hero, and for dark romance books, but I'm not sure that I ever felt the love between either of these two. He was clearly obsessed, and it seemed more like she had a sort of Stockholm syndrome (which I'm totally okay with, as a plot line) but I need it to at least feel like it's love, and it just didn't here for me. And I just wasn't fond of a Hero hitting her, knocking her out (physically, not the drugging parts, because my sick mind thinks THAT's okay...) repeatedly, not something that anyone in love would do, even if they are a psychopath.

As I said, I did like the idea of the book, and I have one more of this author's books already checked out in KU, so I'll give it a try, but the editing will have to be better for me to continue with her books, or recommend them in the future.
Profile Image for Britney.
14 reviews
October 12, 2023
This book is a hot mess. Formatting issues and plot that is all over the place. Something about a man putting a bag over my head to suffocate me and smashing my head in with a shot gun is just very off putting…
Profile Image for gottcha_covered_.
105 reviews1 follower
June 27, 2025
2.75⭐️I’m rounding up to 3, even though I will likely never read this story again... I’m trying to figure out if I’m a dark romance girly. I’m thinking not, but with a few caveats. I very much love a good “touch her and die” story. And I love a torchered MC who just needs the “right” love interest. I don’t love excessive brutality or punishment for perceived crimes. My sense of “justice” pops out and will sometimes ruin the moment in a story for me. 😂🤣 That being said, I didn’t hate this book. It wasn’t bad, IMO. I didn’t love the narrator, but she did a good enough job. The way the story is written is a little confusing and listening to it makes it a little difficult till you get the hang of it. Love the song name additions! Sets the mood for scenes and that’s fun! Overall, I’d say if you’re into dark romance, this was a good read with a few decent twists.
Profile Image for Angelina Torres.
60 reviews6 followers
August 13, 2022
I had the absolute honor of reading an ARC copy of this book and I was crying and screaming throughout the whole thing! The characters are so well written and Moss does an amazing job of accurately portraying trauma and trauma responses! From the minute you start the book, Liam and Layla pull you into the deep end! This book is so f***ed up and beautiful and tragic in all the best ways! This was an easy five star review for me and it checked all my boxes and more. There’s spice and drama and gore and tears and development and the plot is deep and amazing so you can’t help but feel like you know these people. I felt like I watched Liam and Layla fall in and out and in again right in front of me. Liam is so flawed but he’s a “villain” that will burn the world to the ground to save Layla and who doesn’t want that? As always, make sure you check TWs BEFORE you start the book and don’t take them lightly! I don’t want CoHo, I want Callie Moss and Liam and Layla and Noè and Olive and Tate and Milo! The addition of a supplemental epilogue is so bold and understated, I wish I saw more of that! If you’re a reader who has the huevos to not continue the story, I applaud you! I can’t recommend this book enough! ♾/10!
I received a free review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Karen Denise Foster.
1,065 reviews25 followers
August 6, 2025
I couldn't make it very far in this one. May be me and my current mindset or the fact I have read so many really good books of late.

I may try at another time, but for now this is a dnf.
17 reviews
December 20, 2022
no spoilers

the description says this book was reviewed and edited around 9/2022. that’s hard to believe, the grammar mistakes were so off putting and the continuity issues were glaring. plenty of offhand sentences that should have been placed two paragraphs ahead or excluded altogether. don’t even get me started on the constant flash backs. good god, if you want us to know that much about the history of these people write a prologue or something.
the actual content of the book was no better. this isn’t really a dark romance, is it? i’m not one to shy away from taboo topics, i often love any kind of dark romance, but this just lacked actual romance. the fmc could have been written better, i understand she was being gaslit by the mmc, but maybe we could have spent less time on getting 17 flashbacks and more time on her going through the motions of figuring out who the stalker is. i DNF’d at 70% and there was only one attempt made by her to figure it out by that point.
for what it’s worth, most of the songs in this book are songs i love, which is the only justification for the one star rating. if zero star ratings are ever allowed, i’ll edit my review just to better reflect how i feel about this attempt at a dark romance.
Profile Image for Arii | The Bookaholic Next Door.
179 reviews32 followers
December 5, 2022
I genuinely don't understand my emotions towards this book. Did I love it? Did I hate it? I have no clue. It was addictive. I couldn't stop reading...but every 5 minutes while reading I went "what the fuck? This man is a psycho who needs help." Now as a lover of Dark Romance, I feel like I should say this. One reason I love dark romance is the fact that there is a guy who is willing to do literally anything, including fucked up dangerous shit FOR you and not TO you. Someone who will hurt anyone who hurts you, but hurt themselves before they actually hurt you. So that definitely look points off because I would have loved it more if he didn't actually do certain things. However as messed up as it is, I did enjoy the mind games. The way the human brain works and can be manipulated, how something could be so different yet familiar to the brain. Those things interest me because let's be honest, the brain is one of the freakiest cool things there is. Anyhow, I'm getting a little side tracked. From her I will be stating spoilers, so this is your official warning. SPOILERS COMING UP. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Now I told myself there are only two acceptable ending to this. The first one is that it goes all Romeo and Juliette. One of them kill themselves and then the other follows. The second one is that she matches his level of psychotic. Technically I got both but also didn't? When it said he died in the fire I was like what the fuck. First of all, why the hell did I feel sorry and couldn't believe he died when throughout the whole book I was adamant on the fact that he needed a hard punch to knock common sense into him. Secondly, because it didn't make sense. He proclaimed his love yes, but killing himself? He literally said there is no her without him and vice versa. I truly believed if he died, and would have had to die as well. So when it turned out he faked his death, I went oh that made more sense. She went crazy enough to love him back but not the psychotic that I was expecting. I thought she was gonna flip a switch. You know, like Love from the Netflix series, YOU. I was hoping it said she finally got fed up and killed her father but never told anyone. So when she finally accepted Liam's demons, she'd accept hers too. I was expecting her to kill his mother with him. You know...as a way to consummate their love. I guess the ending we got was cool too. I have to say, I REALLY LIKE BRANDON. I hope he gets his own book. Anyhow, so yeah. This book had me loving and hating it. I much prefer men obsessed and would do anything for her. I felt like taking out her IUD was just a little too overboard for me. Yes I know, it's amazingly fucked up where I draw the line. He did a lot of things I didn't like. Would have loved to see him on his knees begging for forgiveness (what can I say? I love to see men on their knees begging, crying is just a bonus).
Profile Image for Delightfully.
70 reviews
July 12, 2023
Holy F*CK this guy is toxic. And not in a sweet way...in a legit psychopathic, nightmarish way. Aspiring reporter, Layla, is working a job at Blinked magazine when a chance encounter with the blue-eyed, copper-haired, CEO, Liam Curran leads to a relationship that burns hot and fast. After he brutalizes her boss for a perceived slight toward Layla she dumps him. In a misguided display of love, determined to break her until she is solely reliant on him, Liam begins stalking and terrorizing her.

"'I'm not creepy. I'm invested.' I deadpan, knowing damn well I'm a little creepy."


Do not make the mistake of comparing Liam to Zade. This is not love. This is not twisted love. This is hardcore emotional and physical abuse. He brutalizes her. Repeatedly. When he says he wants to break her? Girl gets multiple grippy sock vacays throughout the book. One of the most infuriating things about the entire book is the inaction of the police on her behalf. It triggered something in me. I was angry, practically screaming, "Is it that hard for authority to believe women?"

"There's no evidence anything is actually happening to her." SCREAMING, I tell you!


2 ⭐ - The book started out strong, but third act was a mess. It's short enough that I didn't mind finishing it. Layla's feelings turned on a dime and made zero sense. Also,I'm not one for knocking off a star for grammar, but c'mon. A song that was a central plot line throughout was riddled with typos and the wrong words used multiple times throughout.

3 🌶️ - I struggled with this rating, because there is absolutely n0nc0n in this book. He does some really f*cked up shit from a psychological perspective. But overall, the spice we do see isn't too crazy. And while it is explicit, it's not the most graphic I've read. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHECK CW

WHAT TO EXPECT
• Stalker Romance
• Billionaire
• Drugging
• Emotional / Physical Abuse (by romantic partner)
• Parental Abuse
• R@pe
• N0n-C0n Impregnation (attempted)
• N0n-Con / Dub-C0n
• Vi0lence
• Murd3r (of innocents)
• Suicide
• Addiction
Profile Image for Emily (emilysdarkcorner).
397 reviews81 followers
August 21, 2022
For The Love Of Layla by @darkauthorcal ARC review

First I am going to start by saying that this is the first book from this author that I read and I am going to read everything she writes.

This book was dark, twisted and I am absolutely in love with it. Please check TW before diving into this book. Once I picked up this book I could not put it down because I needed to know what was going to happen next.

Layla is dealing with a stalker. She is getting calls, texts and she is constantly feeling like she is being watched. Liam can't stand the thought of him and Layla not being together anymore. He is determined on bringing her back home no matter what it takes.

Liam is not going to let Layla continue to do this. He wants her to come back home and he will do anything it takes to bring her back to him where she belongs. He is always there at the right time to help her when she needs it.

I can't get over how dark and twisted this book is. There are some things I read and I wondered did I really find that attractive. The spicy scenes between Layla and her stalker were so hot! I can't get enough of this book.

#darkromance #darkromancebooks #bookstagram #books #bookstagrammer #bookshelf #bookstack #booktok #arcreader
Profile Image for Amy.~✧.
94 reviews
December 24, 2025
✦ Book review ✦
✩₊˚ ↳ 𝑖 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑥ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑜, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑖 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑. 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑, 𝑥𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡, 𝑖 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠.
𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑥𝑎𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑥ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟’𝑠 𝑥𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑥𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒.
𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑥ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑, 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑥𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠�� 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦.

⟡୧ Changes in the book's rating system are enough to satisfy a four-star rating ୨⟡
Profile Image for Ana ୨୧.
57 reviews
August 1, 2024
3/5⭐️

Leer esto fue como ver una película de terror... 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Uuh, no me malinterpretes, de hecho, disfruté leyéndolo y me enganché a hacerlo, pero realmente me pregunte si este es un libro de romance.

En un momento del libro revisé las etiquetas y mi sorpresa fue cuando encontré "romance" al principio... bro.., esto es oscuro y enfermo y muy fuerte, pero romántico?
Dejando eso a un lado, definitivamente me quedo con el final alternativo, ¿por qué? Porque solo soy un lector loco al que le gustan los finales felices a pesar de lo desquiciados que pueden ser los protagonistas 🤓
Profile Image for ˚₊‧꒰ა vruxreads ໒꒱ ‧₊˚.
557 reviews74 followers
March 20, 2023
This book had a lot of potential. All my favourite tropes were then but again it wasn't executed well, the smut was written badly and there were very few steamy scenes. At some point of time I felt the heroine was dumb, like very and was whiny. I loved Liam though.

I wish this book was well-written, this would have been definitely a 5 star read for me.

📍no cheating, no OW drama
Profile Image for Chayla Nepote.
240 reviews
January 28, 2024
This books is seriously jacked up. I read this on a recommendation from someone and I am just flabbergasted by so much of this book. Definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings because it is dark and twisted and a lot to deal with. I am not at all a fan. I will say that there were parts that could you captivated but all in all it’s just a lot.
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