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Darkness #1
Tempting Darkness
Nothing in our world is humane and normal.
Especially not my mates.
First, they killed my parents. So, I did the most rational thing at the time. I ran. Hard and fast without ever looking back.
But you can't run from the factions of the Fae, especially not them… Fae were the most powerful creatures in the world, as long as we had magic and our mate. Turns out I have not one mate but four. Not one of my four mates was a good option, each one as brutal and cruel as the other. Darius was a Demonic-Fae, Tobias Vampiric-Fae, then there is Lycus, he is a Were-Fae, and let's not forget Kalen, Pure and devastatingly all Dark-Fae.
They were all as cruel and as brutal as each other and they all wanted to destroy me. Now, I find myself at a crossroads, as I am being hunted by werewolves in an unfamiliar city, and I had to weigh up my options, both unappealing.
However, Low on magic and backed into a corner where I feel like I've got nothing left to lose but my life, I make a decision to run to the very men I spent six years running from. I do the unthinkable. I send out a flare of my magic, an SOS to the very men I hide from.
It doesn’t take long before I realize some things are worse than death. Like being forced into a bond with the men who had ruined my life. The men who wanted to destroy me, to claim me, to keep me.
There was just one thing that they have forgotten.
I was part darkness, too. And if they want to tempt darkness, they would eventually taste it, and nothing tastes sweeter than revenge.
Author Note Hello Lovely Readers
This book may contain content some readers may find triggering.
It is a dark paranormal romance, and the four main male leads are brutal toward the female lead. Some may have noticed I said four Male leads. As most of my readers know, I primarily write reverse harem romances, meaning one woman with multiple love interests. No, she doesn’t have to choose between them. A list of some of the triggers you may find in the book are below.
Degradation, Blood Play, Abuse, Dub-con, torture.
This is a dark Fae-Creatures book loosely using the term Fae as there are different variants of Fae. However, Dark Fae is not your average Tinkerbell. There is no sprinkling of pixie dust, unicorn farts, or spreading the skies in rainbows. My characters are darker and crueler, with no limits. So if you are unfamiliar with Dark Paranormal Romance and Reverse Harem, or even slightly confused still, I suggest you give old google a search. If you're okay with the dark stuff and wish to continue reading, well, jump right in for a stomach-dropping, intense ride, and I will see your lovely dark souls on the other side.
Especially not my mates.
First, they killed my parents. So, I did the most rational thing at the time. I ran. Hard and fast without ever looking back.
But you can't run from the factions of the Fae, especially not them… Fae were the most powerful creatures in the world, as long as we had magic and our mate. Turns out I have not one mate but four. Not one of my four mates was a good option, each one as brutal and cruel as the other. Darius was a Demonic-Fae, Tobias Vampiric-Fae, then there is Lycus, he is a Were-Fae, and let's not forget Kalen, Pure and devastatingly all Dark-Fae.
They were all as cruel and as brutal as each other and they all wanted to destroy me. Now, I find myself at a crossroads, as I am being hunted by werewolves in an unfamiliar city, and I had to weigh up my options, both unappealing.
However, Low on magic and backed into a corner where I feel like I've got nothing left to lose but my life, I make a decision to run to the very men I spent six years running from. I do the unthinkable. I send out a flare of my magic, an SOS to the very men I hide from.
It doesn’t take long before I realize some things are worse than death. Like being forced into a bond with the men who had ruined my life. The men who wanted to destroy me, to claim me, to keep me.
There was just one thing that they have forgotten.
I was part darkness, too. And if they want to tempt darkness, they would eventually taste it, and nothing tastes sweeter than revenge.
Author Note Hello Lovely Readers
This book may contain content some readers may find triggering.
It is a dark paranormal romance, and the four main male leads are brutal toward the female lead. Some may have noticed I said four Male leads. As most of my readers know, I primarily write reverse harem romances, meaning one woman with multiple love interests. No, she doesn’t have to choose between them. A list of some of the triggers you may find in the book are below.
Degradation, Blood Play, Abuse, Dub-con, torture.
This is a dark Fae-Creatures book loosely using the term Fae as there are different variants of Fae. However, Dark Fae is not your average Tinkerbell. There is no sprinkling of pixie dust, unicorn farts, or spreading the skies in rainbows. My characters are darker and crueler, with no limits. So if you are unfamiliar with Dark Paranormal Romance and Reverse Harem, or even slightly confused still, I suggest you give old google a search. If you're okay with the dark stuff and wish to continue reading, well, jump right in for a stomach-dropping, intense ride, and I will see your lovely dark souls on the other side.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2022
109 people are currently reading
752 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Hall
46 books2,504 followersJessica Hall is an award-winning and internationally best-selling author with over 64 books; 55 of those books are on Amazon Kindle. She is an award-winning author on numerous apps like iReader, KISS, Dreame, and AlphaNovel. Jessica Hall primarily writes Dark Paranormal Romance and Why Choose Romance Books. She lives in NSW, Australia, with her husband and 5 children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
December 13, 2024
Omg this book was so good! These dark rh bully romantasy’s are my one of my favorite genres!
Am I a little twisted because I love when they bully her? Probably but heck if I care!
Am I a little twisted because I love when they bully her? Probably but heck if I care!
August 28, 2022
Normally love RH books but this didn't feel like RH. All the men were together and she was just like an add on.. I normally like the female to be the MC and the focus point of a relationship..
Shame had potential
Shame had potential
June 6, 2023
No… just no.
Every once in awhile, I come across a book who’s reviews utterly baffle me. I decided to buy this book, because the reviews were so great. I will say that I liked the premise of this book. The plot had potential. I also liked the fae magic and would liked to have known more about that.
But the writing in this book is awful. It could use some serious editing. I had to go back and reread so many sentences to understand what the author was trying to say. There is absolutely no world building in this book. The description of the magic is confusing and is stuck right in the middle of dialogue as a kind of weird explanation. The fmc is weak willed and annoying. She allows the MC’s to abuse her without any fight or attempt to stand up for herself. The MC have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They are just abusing the fmc. And even Kalen, who’s supposed to be the sweet one, is written like an incompetent child. DNF’ed this book around 40%.
Every once in awhile, I come across a book who’s reviews utterly baffle me. I decided to buy this book, because the reviews were so great. I will say that I liked the premise of this book. The plot had potential. I also liked the fae magic and would liked to have known more about that.
But the writing in this book is awful. It could use some serious editing. I had to go back and reread so many sentences to understand what the author was trying to say. There is absolutely no world building in this book. The description of the magic is confusing and is stuck right in the middle of dialogue as a kind of weird explanation. The fmc is weak willed and annoying. She allows the MC’s to abuse her without any fight or attempt to stand up for herself. The MC have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They are just abusing the fmc. And even Kalen, who’s supposed to be the sweet one, is written like an incompetent child. DNF’ed this book around 40%.
April 7, 2023
Hmmm
Really good series but idk if I could ever find them redeemable with their actions in this book. If you are sensitive to tr1ggering subjects (especially all types of abu$e stay away). I really enjoyed this book because it was dark, but usually not from the harem 🧐😓 guess we shall see what’s in store in the next one!
Really good series but idk if I could ever find them redeemable with their actions in this book. If you are sensitive to tr1ggering subjects (especially all types of abu$e stay away). I really enjoyed this book because it was dark, but usually not from the harem 🧐😓 guess we shall see what’s in store in the next one!
May 29, 2025
Ugh!
So there is a lot of abuse and seggual assault in this book. Most from the MMC’s to the FMC. But my big pet peeve with it is after some pretty unforgivable things they decide to be kind to her with basically her period and then it’s like all is forgotten and forgiven. If you’re going to do an enemies to lovers and have the MMC’s do unforgivable acts there had better be some major groveling, repair, restitution and guilt coming from those MMCs before there’s even a hint of the FMC letting them in. This doesn’t have it and it’s just angering and unbelievable. It makes any spice disgusting and upsetting instead of romantic and loving and has the FMC appear weak and like a doormat. Just unpleasant to read. I’m now in the second book and it’s like the abuse never happened. Seriously WTF?!
So there is a lot of abuse and seggual assault in this book. Most from the MMC’s to the FMC. But my big pet peeve with it is after some pretty unforgivable things they decide to be kind to her with basically her period and then it’s like all is forgotten and forgiven. If you’re going to do an enemies to lovers and have the MMC’s do unforgivable acts there had better be some major groveling, repair, restitution and guilt coming from those MMCs before there’s even a hint of the FMC letting them in. This doesn’t have it and it’s just angering and unbelievable. It makes any spice disgusting and upsetting instead of romantic and loving and has the FMC appear weak and like a doormat. Just unpleasant to read. I’m now in the second book and it’s like the abuse never happened. Seriously WTF?!
October 4, 2022
This book is soooooooooooooooo long and it just got so boring that i didn’t want to wait for the secrecy’s to unravel and unfold. I skipped to the end and what do you know…it didn’t seem like I skipped a few chapter. It felt like oh we are still here and talking about the same thing…we hate her, she has no magic ….we can’t trust her…let torture her and it got really boring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 1, 2023
High Potential, Frustrating Grammar Errors
This story had, and continues to have, a lot of potential. Very interesting premise. Started out shaky for me with so many grammar errors (I have not met anyone, anywhere who says "I were") and just not great writing, I almost gave up. However, it vastly improved as the book moved along. Were there still some errors, such as the first-person character narrating a chapter randomly changing for a paragraph? Yes, but by then, the story has progressed enough that it isn't as bothersome. My biggest issue was likely not really this book's fault, but rather its misfortune in being one of the first books I read after reading Zodiac Academy. The bully to lovers trope is no stranger to me. After the tension of ZA's "will they, won't they" through SEVEN books, things snapped into place a little too easily here. Hard to suspend my belief that these people would ever let their guards down - yes, even with a bond driving them. But 🤷♀️ what can you do? I really enjoyed the ending, but that is all I can say without spoiling it. My favorite part is literally on the last page. 😉
This story had, and continues to have, a lot of potential. Very interesting premise. Started out shaky for me with so many grammar errors (I have not met anyone, anywhere who says "I were") and just not great writing, I almost gave up. However, it vastly improved as the book moved along. Were there still some errors, such as the first-person character narrating a chapter randomly changing for a paragraph? Yes, but by then, the story has progressed enough that it isn't as bothersome. My biggest issue was likely not really this book's fault, but rather its misfortune in being one of the first books I read after reading Zodiac Academy. The bully to lovers trope is no stranger to me. After the tension of ZA's "will they, won't they" through SEVEN books, things snapped into place a little too easily here. Hard to suspend my belief that these people would ever let their guards down - yes, even with a bond driving them. But 🤷♀️ what can you do? I really enjoyed the ending, but that is all I can say without spoiling it. My favorite part is literally on the last page. 😉
December 12, 2022
Intense!
Well, wow, that was seriously intense. I look forward to the rest of the series to understand the rest of why Aleeras mates have held so much anger towards her and why they put her through such horror. I have to say that some of it was inexcusable and much of darius' behaviour was abhorrent, and I am struggling with her forgiveness, bond or no bond, I hope she freaks out at the end of the shredding..... This is dark, there were two scenes in particular I found hard to read, but the story is absolutely brilliant and I am loving the character development. I look forward to book 2!
Well, wow, that was seriously intense. I look forward to the rest of the series to understand the rest of why Aleeras mates have held so much anger towards her and why they put her through such horror. I have to say that some of it was inexcusable and much of darius' behaviour was abhorrent, and I am struggling with her forgiveness, bond or no bond, I hope she freaks out at the end of the shredding..... This is dark, there were two scenes in particular I found hard to read, but the story is absolutely brilliant and I am loving the character development. I look forward to book 2!
February 18, 2024
DNF. Terrible.
October 19, 2023
This plot, and characters had a lot of potential. But 1 of the ML rapes the FL, and also allows her to be sexually assaulted infront of everyone. The one mate that doesn't want bad things to happen to her is basically forced againsy his will. There is 0 groveling. Not even a real apology. And she sleeps with them like nothing happened. Enemies to lovers arcs norm has some bullying but this was too much allowing her to get sexually assaulted and also raping her. The miscommunication seems more like a flaw instead of for the plot. The ML treats her like shit for no reason when he killed her parents, of course she would run. Instead of putting things straight they just abuse her when shes really done nothing wrong
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2024
Tempting Darkness
Darkness book one
Jessica Hall
Stars:⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Time to read: 6 hours
Cliffhanger
**My review may contain spoilers!!!!!
**Read Trigger Warnings!!!!
Tropes/Genres/tags:
Dark romance
V1rg1n heroine
Vampire
Fae
Werewolf
Incubus
MMMMF
Fated mates
Good story, extremely poor editing!!!! Guys this is a SECOND ADDITION!!! There’s no reason why there should STILL be this many mistakes! Main characters constantly being called different names via typos! Jessica has a tendency to repeat the same sentence a different way as well which I don’t like, but the story is good. It does have extremely dark bullying among the guys and their fated mate so read trigger warnings.
Darkness book one
Jessica Hall
Stars:⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Time to read: 6 hours
Cliffhanger
**My review may contain spoilers!!!!!
**Read Trigger Warnings!!!!
Tropes/Genres/tags:
Dark romance
V1rg1n heroine
Vampire
Fae
Werewolf
Incubus
MMMMF
Fated mates
Good story, extremely poor editing!!!! Guys this is a SECOND ADDITION!!! There’s no reason why there should STILL be this many mistakes! Main characters constantly being called different names via typos! Jessica has a tendency to repeat the same sentence a different way as well which I don’t like, but the story is good. It does have extremely dark bullying among the guys and their fated mate so read trigger warnings.
July 10, 2024
Ok so I went into this book series completely blind and had picked it soley off the cover of the trilogy. That being said whoa!!! This book sucked me right in from the beginning and i loved it.This book also has sooo much to unpack and I was all for it! Mixed fae/shifters, fated mates, magical powers, touch her and ☠️, MMCs who are complete utter assholes to the FMC, Aleera, especially in the beginning. RH with a virgin, dark shadows, distrust, magical birds, blood craze, testing limits & and a budding relationship. 🤪😍 I am excited to read the other 2 books in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2023
epic
This book was exactly what I needed. It’s epic, beautiful, and devastating. Aleera is an amazing character, strong and kind. The men are all frustrating, except for the sweet one, which was a nice breather from the constant abuse. I highly recommend this book if you like enemies to lovers, and don’t have many triggers. This book might be something you’d like if you liked the broken bonds series.
This book was exactly what I needed. It’s epic, beautiful, and devastating. Aleera is an amazing character, strong and kind. The men are all frustrating, except for the sweet one, which was a nice breather from the constant abuse. I highly recommend this book if you like enemies to lovers, and don’t have many triggers. This book might be something you’d like if you liked the broken bonds series.
March 24, 2024
I originally read this when it was on one of the reading apps I was using at the time, and I’m stoked it finally came out in print. I love this series and this author. I will say the beginning of this first book did make me nearly put the book down and stop reading, but I kept going and ended up loving it.
September 19, 2025
I really liked this book where 60% of the book was her mates torturing her. Darius, Kalen, Tobias and Lyclan all are amazing. I really like the writing style and the fact that the same scene made me cry twice says something. and how she befriended a phoenix. one of the best books I've read so far. 5⭐
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2022
Amazing book.
Such an exciting read. I couldn’t stop and ended up reading it in a day. I loved the way the characters developed throughout the book, making me care more and more about them.
Such an exciting read. I couldn’t stop and ended up reading it in a day. I loved the way the characters developed throughout the book, making me care more and more about them.
August 12, 2022
Enjoyable read for lovers of Dark romances.
This book was so different from many others I've read. I liked how the Phoenix were drawn to her and how they protected her. Good read.
This book was so different from many others I've read. I liked how the Phoenix were drawn to her and how they protected her. Good read.
August 17, 2022
Nice work but need more smooth access to the full book
January 5, 2023
Jessica Hall gets better with each book
April 13, 2023
All the spice!
Love a good hot & spicy read! This one did not disappoint! Read the trigger warnings if needed! Always loved Jessica Hall!
Love a good hot & spicy read! This one did not disappoint! Read the trigger warnings if needed! Always loved Jessica Hall!
Read
December 7, 2023Likability depends on your a-hole tolerance (both timing and actions) for enemies to lovers plots. This series has dark MMCs, so several are still being jerks by the end of book one.
December 18, 2023
Very dark but I am hoping the MMCs will redeem themselves as the series goes on.
February 1, 2024
I would recommend paying attention to the trigger warnings. Regardless this is an amazing intriguing plot and I can not wait to read book 2.
Read
March 9, 2024the author said it was dark so i hope these men atleast grovel for what they put her through.
November 22, 2024
Read this in print as absolutely loved when I read it on app as it was being written. Just gutted that there were so many spelling issues Names mainly. Also double printed chapters
January 14, 2025
I love all your books.it feels like I hv a connection with each of the characters🥰🥰
April 5, 2025
Ne of my favorite series. It’s dark and sexy and exciting!
August 18, 2025
Was looking for a dark bully romance, which this delivered on at the beginning and also kind of during.
Started to enjoy it less as it went on - lots of body betrayal syndrome and also non-con
Started to enjoy it less as it went on - lots of body betrayal syndrome and also non-con
July 10, 2022
I love me a good paranormal Reverse Herem and this was a good one....you won't find it on KU I read it on the play books.
I don't often stray from werewolf books but on the occasion I do and I'm so glad I did for this one.
The story line had me hooked from the beginning, really want to get my hands on the second book.
I don't often stray from werewolf books but on the occasion I do and I'm so glad I did for this one.
The story line had me hooked from the beginning, really want to get my hands on the second book.
July 9, 2022
I cant read anything...why?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews