Damaged

Necessary Evils #3.5

by Onley James

The first time Dimitri Castallanos experienced obsession, he committed a felony. He was five. Dimitri is a psychopath. And he’s still obsessed with just one person.
Arlo Miller was born a victim, raised as his father’s punching bag and his mother’s scapegoat. Dimitri was his only protection, and they took him away.

As children they clung to each other. As adults, they pretend neither remembers, while both harbor secret crushes. Dimitri hides his feelings behind a mask of indifference. Arlo hides his by falling for very bad men.

When one of those men confronts Dimitri, this time Arlo commits a felony. Murder. But Dimitri won’t allow Arlo to take the fall. With the help of Dimitri’s mother and seven psychopaths, they now have twenty-four hours to fake an alibi, hide a body, and confess their true feelings for each other once and for all. Which is harder? Falling in love or getting away with murder?

NOTE: This can be read as a stand-alone but these characters do make a cameo in Headcase (Necessary Evils, #4). (less)

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Dark Romance, Contemporary, Novella, Dark, LGBT

121 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Onley James lives in North Carolina with her daughter, her daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and a menagerie of animals, both good and evil. James splits her time between writing m/m romance and mainlining dangerous levels of caffeine and attempting to maintain her ever-slipping sanity.

When not at her desk you can find her whining about how much writing she has to do while avoiding said writing by binge-watching unhealthy amounts of television and doom scrolling on social media. She loves true crime documentaries, anti-heroes, and writing kinky, snarky books about morally gray men who fall in love with other men.

Stay up to date: www.onleyjames.com/newsletter

Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Onley...

Want more: linktr.ee/OnleyJames

Reviews

[mina reads™️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i love the necessary evils series but this sucked lmfao

[♡ cal ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

lacklustre but entertaining at least. i can't believe onley james is really getting away by writing the same book over and over again. ugh, her mind. looking forward to asa and zane!

[Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp · Rating 3 out of 5]

|| 2.5 stars ||

The thing with these books is that the premise always sounds amazing, and it usually starts with a lot of delicious obsession and adoration coming from our so-called “psychopaths”. Yet, somehow the progression stagnates pretty early on, leaving the romance to be a little lacklustre.
I mean, do I like the general dynamic of this couple? Yes. But did I feel very invested in them? No, sadly.

What I liked about these two though was the fact that they’ve known each other since childhood and they’ve been pining for each other for years, thus leaving their romance to feel a little less like insta-love, which was one of the major issues I had with the previous books.
Nonetheless, if I were asked the question whether I liked this couple more than, for example, Noah and Adam, the answer would still be no.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this, but the first two chapters or so were already the best the book had to offer, and after that it got a bit boring and was just mweh.


'Necessary Evils' series:
1. Unhinged - 2.5 stars
2. Psycho - dnf
5. Mad Man - 3.5 stars
7. Maniac - 2.0 stars

[Jay H (Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

This book had the potential to be soo good if it was longer. Imagine a 300+ page book of Dimitri just pining over Arlo and thinking Arlo just forgot about him. It would have been amazing to read. Instead we got a Novella of them saying I love you in a day. I didn't feel connected with the characters the only person that I felt anything for was Holden coz he was the biggest asshole to exist so it was easy to hate him with a passion.

I didn't really care about the mcs relationship all I cared about was that Arlo ended up with someone who wouldn't treat him like shit. The only good thing about this was that we got to know more about Calliope and also the cameo Asa got in the end.


1. Unhinged - 4.5 Stars
2. Psycho - 3.5 Stars
3. Moonstruck - 4.5 Stars
3.5 Damaged - 2.5 Stars
4. Headcase - TBR
5. Mad Man - TBR
6. Lunatic - TBR
7. Maniac - TBR

[moonlight ☾ [semi-hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars mainly for Calliope + the Mulvaney family :’) Dimitri and Arlo were cute, but i wouldn’t say they’re on par with the first three books in the series (although i don’t think they were meant to be bc this was just a novella that leads into book four). im excited for Asa and Zane’s story after the glimpse we’ve had of them here. 😭🥰

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite thing about this book was learning more about Calliope, who's an awesome secondary character in this series and a total badass.

The fact that she's the mom of a psychopath makes so much sense considering how at ease she always is when interacting with the Mulvaney boys.

The pairing of Arlo and Dimitri wasn't my favorite though. After years of abuse, Arlo jumped far too quickly into a sexual relationship with Dimitri.

And why did Dimitri wait so long to help Arlo when he knew Arlo was being abused? Why didn't Calliope let the Mulvaney brothers handle the murder clean up? She does enough for them. They would have done the same for her.

Plus, I'm always peeved when an epilogue ends up being a setup for the next book. It's a dirty trick.

I am looking forward to Asa's book but still hold that the murder twins shouldn't have been separated. I'm bitter about that.

[Preeti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the MCs and the prologue which gave us more insight into the past of Mulvaneys and their relationship with Calliope. But, the pace felt not right for a 110-page novella.

I realise that the author is trying to bring together all loose ends and exploit this novella as fodder for the next book but it just didn't click with me.

[Gloria (in a slump? idk) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just have three things to say:
1. August is hot af 🥵 (just to clarify, I'm not talking about the summer month).
2. Asa is a whole mood and I'm here for it. Can't wait for Headcase
3. I really hope no one actually has sex in my favourite coffee shop. It only works in books folks... but I mean, do you, I guess 🥴
Okay four things heheh
4. I LOVED THIS !

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk!

[Julia (bookish.jka) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about the fantastic #necessaryevils series by Onley James, and this novella (3.5 in the series) about Dimitri and Arlo is no exception.

Although focussing on side characters to the main series, Damaged is packed full of the usual murder, mayhem and steamy spice we have come to expect from an Onley James book.

I totally loved the connection between Calliope, the Mulvaneys and our MCs, and I can’t wait to see where the connection with Zane and Asa is going!

Highly recommended, but do read the first three books first!

5 steamy stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda been slightly better than it was?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I always struggle with Novella's and I KNOW THAT, but it's literally in the Mulvaney Family Universe?? So there should have been no problem because I have 3 books of context already??

So the first like 2/3 chapters, I was frothing at the mouf ready for this Novella....
Dimitri was set up to be the best protecc boi, and Arlo a sweet baby angel that everyone is mean/abusive towards...

THEN....... We finally meet Arlo.........
Then ✨BAM✨

ONE MEASLY CONVERSATION (and an inner monologue of the fact they've been friends for 4 years) LATER, and Dimi's goes all crazy possessive man and the "you are mine" begins. EYE ROLL.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy??????????

I swear with like 2/3 pages of cuter interactions between them both, maybe a smol flirt or a cute smile, FUCKING ANYTHING???? and this would have made this story 3456789098765% better. Like SHOW US THAT YOU WERE FRIENDS IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE "we are friends" A PART OF THE FUCKING PLOT/STORY???

Obviously I'm used to the whole "he's mine" after one interaction thing, it's practically the plot of this series as a whole, but this one didn't work here for me.

Dimitri apparently been all "I cant be with Arlo" for MF-INGGGGGGGGGGG YEARS, and then after one altercation with Arlo's ex boyfriend (this relationship also broke up 12 hours ago btw) he's all... You're mine, let's kiss?
Hmmm.
No.
I don't believe.

[D.L. Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I freaking adore this series, no doubt one of my top five series of all time! I’m gonna hate to see it end so I was stoked to see this novella come out on KU. It was like a late Christmas present.

Good grief! I already wanted a book about Calliope and now I want one ten times more. Like you can do an ff book. Or make her trans for all I care. Maybe? Pretty please … with a cherry on top?!

So, Dimitri is Calliope’s son whom she blackmailed Thomas when he was a kid because he showed rather eye opening signs that he was a born psychopath. And no one knows psychopaths better than Thomas Mulvaney.

With his help she trained Dimitri to be an upstanding citizen. Meanwhile she was never able to contain his obsession with Arlo, a boy he’s known since childhood. Not even almost 18 years of separation could contain how much he wanted him.

Long story short … too late. Anywho Dimitri and Calliope help Arlo cover up a murder and let the excitement, hilarity and steamy good times commence!

I adore Dimitri, in the hierarchy where Asa is my favorite and August is my least favorite, I’d put Dimitri in 3rd between Archer and Avi. I mean honestly, if I had a chance to get down and dirty with any of these guys I’m not kicking them out of my bed, not even for eating crackers.

Arlo is pretty awesome too, when he went all mean girl on that biotch at the frat party, I was living for it. He deserved to be treated like a queen, especially after all the abuse he endured in his lifetime.

Plus you add a few of the Mulvaney brothers to shake it up and everything is pure perfection.

This may have been a shorter addition to the Necessary Evil series but it sure packed a punch.

[ML · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great addition to the Mulvaney family of books.
AND a few secrets are revealed.
Loved the backstory
Read it!

[BookSafety Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

Arlo didn’t have time for the breakdown he truly deserved. He had to get away with murder first.

I’ve had this novella sitting on my kindle for aaaages. I don’t really know why I didn’t read it sooner, but it was a nice, short and entertaining addition to the Necessary Evils series. Arlo and Dimitri were really cute together, and I liked that the book only spanned about 24 hours. It was like we could feel the time crunch they were on to get away with murder while at the same time finally getting together.

They had both been pining after each other for years. Arlo was stuck in a bad habit of one bad and abusive relationship after another, and Dimitri was being a good little psychopath, waiting his turn and not meddling.

“Chop-chop, young lovers. There’s fuckery afoot.”

It was a lot of fun to see more of Calliope (Dimitri’s mom) and that entire dynamic, which was equally funny and sweet. I wish we got even more of it. Tons of protective and obsessive vibes, a couple hot smutty scenes, some action and some gore. Perfect as per usual.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Novella
Psychopath MC
Past trauma
Pining
College
Obsession
Twink MC
Size difference
Protective MC
Murder coverup

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Graphic violence
On-page murder
Mentions of past child abuse (off page)
Domestic abuse (physical and verbal, off page)
Mentions of love bombing and manipulation
Brief references to past psychiatric hospital stay
Vague mentions of past sexual assault/abuse

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: Arlo’s ex is problematic and then he dies. A girl wants in Dimitri’s pants. He couldn’t care less about her.
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: Assumed 22 and 22
Series: Interconnected standalone
Kindle Unlimited: No
Pages: 115


“Holden was a real shitbag.” “Well, hopefully, that means nobody will miss him.” “His family is going to miss him,” Arlo swore, swallowing the sudden lump of fear in his throat. “He’s rich. Rockefeller rich. And his dad is a federal judge.” Once more, there was a slight delay, and then Dimitri’s mom exploded. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What the fuck, Dimitri? The president wasn’t available to assassinate? There wasn’t a royal in town you could publicly guillotine?”

“Listen, if you’re about to go all Avengers on me, we really need to talk in depth about target selection and preparation. Lesson one: you cannot kill the kid of a goddamn federal judge. Not on a whim, anyway.” “Mom… You said we’re on the clock.” “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered. “Fuckin’ fuck, Dimitri. You’re lucky I love you.”






You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

I wasn't a fan of the third book, and somehow I disliked almost every person in it, even though I liked them all in the first two books. So I was definitely hesitant to start this. But I liked it more than I expected.

Although I do have to admit that I liked the first half better than the second half. Somehow this seemed to lose a bit of its momentum and by the end I was almost glad it was over. I still liked Dimitri and Arlo, but I guess I didn't like how fast their relationship suddenly started to move forward?

I guess I wanted a bit more time? More time for therapy for Arlo and more time for these two to develop their HEA.

I know this is a short, but I still thought the relationship was rushed.

[Rielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Onley James can do no wrong. Knocking novellas out of the park is rare and I just loved this one. I’m also super invested in this world of psychopaths who murder for the right reasons and their neurotypical humans who have been victimized in some way.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. 😂

[Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch out for reviews spoiling part of the backstory!

If you love the series you'll love this short. It has everything you've come to expect from the lovable psychopaths and their partners. I loved Dimitri and Arlo's history. I loved who Arlo became with Dimitri. Plenty of cameos and a teaser for the next book round out the story nicely.

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never enough from Onley James..

This was delightful with a side of accidental homicide...

5/5 stars

[Barbara➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread January 2025

I still wish we'd gotten more but I did enjoy the reread.

Originally read January 2022

It's no secret Onley James is one of my all-time favorite authors, and Necessary Evils is one of my favorite series. And while this wasn't my favorite in the series (it was too rushed, and I felt like I needed more of seeing them develop a relationship) I still enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to more.

[mads (on hiatus from reading and reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a lot longer than I thought it would be but I think I also conflate novellas to mean short story when they clearly aren’t. Anywho, yea it’s the mulvaney algorthim so y’a know ~peak fiction~.

I didn’t read this between books three and four, but I think it would add a SMIDGE of context for book 4 but you def don’t HAVE to.

[Ashleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

starting out 2022 strong 💪🏻

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

How are these so good?
Obsessive love, filthy sex,
And murder. More, please!

[Audi♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, but when Arlo was like, you could have just asked me out. Dimitri says-
"You've never been single. Ever. You've been with one guy after the other since I started working there four years ago"

I died for him lmaoooo.

I liked them.
Honestly, the best part was getting some back story on Calliope. Plus, cameos from the brothers.

[chichi · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

Ok. I fully admit that Necessary Evils is my "no thoughts, just vibes" series of choice. But my god. I didn't literally mean no thoughts.

Listen. This novella managed to squeeze so much I don't like into so few pages. The writing was....not good...like, it genuinely is the main reason I couldn't rate this above 2 stars. And not to say the others have been great, but it was just so much worse in this one for some reason? Dimitri and Arlo were fine but I didn't care about them. The main mystery/bad guy/etc plot was meh and wrapped up too quickly (I know it's a novella but still, it can be done idc). Not here for ditsy girl who's after the MMC in any MM books like first of all sis...STAND UP. Second, it's just so lazy.

This novella's only saving graces were the interesting backstory w/ Calliope, the little cameo of all the Mulvaneys, and Arlo getting some confidence back. And even that was just meh. At this point, I'm only in this to get to Thomas and Aiden's book. Yes, I will read Lunatic because I'm a completionist and I can't help myself. But my expectations are very low. Maybe it's because I took a break from this series that I can look at it with clear eyes?? Or something?? But yeah I was honestly shocked at how much I disliked this.

Frankly, though I really enjoyed Books 2&3 and generally like the overall premise of these books, I do wonder what this series could've been with a different writer... idk something to think about. But I'm still reading so Onley's got me anyway lol
---------------------------
This was painfully mid. Full RTC

[magic_of_darkness_and_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I want you in all the ways."

Q: Hmm did I love yet another story about a psychopath?
A: Yes, I totally did.
Q: Did I enjoy this novella so much that I wanted it to be longer?
A: Yep.
Q: Did I enjoy it less, because it wasn't long enough?
A: Nope, it was perfect.

I'm really, truly, wholly amazed by Onley James and her writing! I honestly wonder how she is capable of making us fall in love with a psychopath and how they are actually affectionate to their partner and love them (in their own way or the only way they can).

Dimitri stole my heart from the moment he was introduced! I was like "YEEES GIVE ME MORE" and I'm not ashamed to say it - I LOVED HIM! Even though he was a psychopath the way he acted toward Arlo... oh my God my heart just melted and shattered at the same time.

Arlo... he went through some terrifying things in his life which left a trace on him and caused trauma. Which trauma led to other things. Viewed from psychological point of view I could see the way Onley James didn't just create love-with-a-psychopath story. She showed what people who have trauma can go through and this made "Damaged" not a very light book. (not that the others in the series were all happy-happy yaaay)

If you haven't guessed by now - I LOVED THIS BOOK.
We get to see Dimitri & Arlo's story, the other brothers and a little bit of Asa's future with Zane. And of course, learn more about Calliope.

P.S. I won't stop saying this - I can't wait for Aiden & Thomas's book!

[Cheesy (Rhysand's wife) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,0 💫 | Okey, este no me duró nada jskajs. A ver, por las reseñas creí que sería peor, pero estuvo bien. Ni muy muy ni tan tan (yo me entiendo ☝️).

¿Lo recomiendo? Sí (sobre todo sí también están obsesionadas con los Mulvaney como yo 🙂‍↕️), aunque realmente no es necesario para entender los demás, así que si se lo quieren saltar, adelante ✨.

[Ana Nimity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this short from the twisted mind of Onley James. Learning more about Calliope's background makes her more interesting as a character in the series, but I would have enjoyed this as a standalone even without it being attached to a series.

The characters are vivid, and have known each other from childhood, which common in non- instalove shorts. It worked well here.

I'm a huge fan of psychopaths and possessive characters, as well as damaged but resilient ones, and Dimitri is the former while Arlo is the latter.

I thought the plot was solid, and while I'd love to see more from these two, the ending was quite satisfactory, and there was plenty of heat but not so much that it overwhelmed the story.

[Zainab · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is kinda getting too repetitive with the i-can't-love-you-but-you're-mine plot. But I'm still sat for all the other couples. Dimitri and Arlo's story would've been better if it was a full length novel

[Julia (bookish.jka) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect, as always 🖤

[Valerie ❈M/M Romance Junkie❈ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I need to go ahead and read book 3. Maybe after I start over from the beginning with Elite.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little novella that gives more insight into Calliope (the all-knowing, all-seeing hacker who helps the Mulvaney boys).

I’ll read anything Onley puts out especially when we get cameos from the Mulvaney boys. SO excited for the twins books (Asa is next but I’m ITCHING for Avi’s).

Dimitri and Arlo were too cute. Childhood friends turned adult “friends”… TW for domestic abuse, murder.