Devil's Night
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1. CORRUPT by Penelope Douglas
SYNOPSIS
Erika
I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession.
His name is Michael Crist. My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me. But I noticed him. I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid… For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away. Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore. Because he’s finally noticed me.
Michael
Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika. My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway. Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college. In my city. Unprotected. The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out. We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.
BOOK REVIEW
And from Michael—as well as Damon, Will, and Kai—I learned to breathe fire. I learned to walk as if the path were carved for me and me alone, and to treat the world as if it should know I was coming.
Erika Fane was extremely sheltered, living the way expected of her. She was desperate to run far away from everything fake and imposed on her and to finally be her own independent self. In search of freedom, she dared to get closer to a forbidden man she loved since she was young, an older brother of a guy she was supposed to marry… Her honest feelings were shattered in the darkness and shortened freedom of three other men…
When you want to make an impression and you think you’ve gone far enough, go a little further. Always leave them wondering if you’re just a little bit crazy, and people will never fuck with you again.
Michael Crist wasn’t an unlikable character (no matter how much pain he inflicted on poor Rika). Once a scared and angry little boy constantly bashed by his father’s never-ending disapproval, he turned into a confident man who lived unapologetically free and to the fullest. There was only one limit in his life, Rika, who he always treated with disdain and indifference, knowing she was meant for his younger brother…
Being scared wasn’t a weakness. But letting it force my head down and my voice quiet was. Fear wasn’t the enemy. It was the teacher.
Something really bad happened (this section is spoiler-free, but do keep in mind that not everything is as it seems, look closer while reading), and Michael was covered by anger, guilt, and anger at Rika, but mostly, himself…
Despite the many morbid problems standing in the way of their hate-to-love relationship, the deep connection between Michael and Erika remained the driving force moving the story forward. They pushed each other’s buttons by preying on their innermost weaknesses and giving in to sexual desires. They broke, bled and healed, they fell, they hurt but sticked together in a desperate attempt to survive.
Overall, Corrupt was a very twisted and intoxicating read, I must say. All the tricks and mind games were wild and heck dangerous, no dang on consequences. Not going to lie, at times, I felt sick to my stomach... So sick and very much disgusted and disturbed that I just desperately wished everything come to an end… The main characters were damaged, sometimes it seemed like beyond repair, and very problematic. And love… Love was more on a lust and desperation side, I think. But you definitely should read and find out for yourself!
SPOILER! This book contains a very questionable yet THE most intense threesome (which I’m usually not a fan of) I’ve ever read. Be prepared for some steamy action!
2. HIDEAWAY by Penelope Douglas
SYNOPSIS
Banks
Buried in the shadows of the city, there’s a hotel called The Pope. Ailing, empty, and dark—it sits abandoned and surrounded by a forgotten mystery.
But you think it’s true, don’t you, Kai Mori? The story about the hidden twelfth floor. The mystery of the dark guest who never checked in and never checks out. You think I can help you find that secret hideaway and get to him, don’t you?
You and your friends can try to scare me. You can try to push me. Because even though I struggle to hide everything I feel when you look at me—and have ever since I was a girl—I think maybe what you seek is so much closer than you’ll ever realize.
I will never betray him. So sit tight. On Devil’s Night, the hunt will be coming to you.
Kai
You have no idea what I seek, Little One. You don’t know what I had to become to survive three years in prison for a crime I would gladly commit again. No one can know what I’ve turned into.
I want that hotel, I want to find him, and I want this over. I want my life back. But the more I’m around you, the more I realize this new me is exactly who I was meant to be.
So come on, kid. Don’t chicken out. My house is on the hill. So many ways in, and good luck finding your way out. I’ve seen your hideaway. Time to see mine.
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3. KILL SWITCH by Penelope Douglas
SYNOPSIS
Winter
Sending him to prison was the worst thing I could've done. It didn't matter that he did the crime or that I wished he was dead. Perhaps I thought I'd have time to disappear before he got out or he'd cool off in jail and be anything but the horror he was. But I was wrong. Three years came and went too fast, and now he's anything but calm. Prison only gave him time to plan. And while I anticipated his vengeance, I didn't expect this. He doesn't want to make me hurt. He wants to make everything hurt.
Damon
First thing's first. Get rid of her daddy. He told them I forced her. He told them his little girl was a victim, but I was a kid, too, and she wanted it just as much as I did. Step two... Give her, her sister, and her mother nowhere to run and no fuel to escape. The Ashby women are alone now and desperate for a knight in shining armor. But that's not what's coming. No, it's time I listened to my father and took control of my future. It's time I showed them all--my family, her family, my friends--that I will never change and that I have no other ambition than to be the nightmare of their lives.
Starting with her. She'll be so scared, she won't even be safe in her own head by the time I'm done with her. And the best part is I won't have to break into her home to do it. As the new man of the house, I have all the keys.
3.5. CONCLAVE by Penelope Douglas
SYNOPSIS
Damon
Will is gone. He hasn’t been seen in months, and the texts coming from his phone are almost certainly forged. Something’s wrong. We need to act now. Michael is ready to tear down The Cove, Rika’s hiding something, Evans Crist is a threat, and Winter’s father is still out there. Everyone is off in a million directions, and we’re vulnerable. It’s time to do this. It’s time to claim our place.
Rika
A few years ago, I never thought I’d be here. On board Pithom. Miles out at sea. At a table with Michael Crist, Kai Mori, and Damon Torrance—men I now consider family. We’ve locked ourselves on this yacht for however long it takes to address our agenda, and we won’t leave until everything is on the table. Even things I don’t want to talk about. Things Michael doesn’t know. We will find Will. We will solidify our plans, and we will remove any threats. If we survive Conclave.
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4. NIGHTFALL by Penelope Douglas
SYNOPSIS
Emory
They call it ‘Blackchurch’. A secluded mansion in a remote, undisclosed location where the wealthy and powerful send their misbehaving sons to cool off away from prying eyes.
Will Grayson has always been an animal, though. Reckless, wild, and someone who was never bound by a single rule other than to do exactly what he wanted. There was no way his grandfather was going to risk him humiliating the family again.
Not that the last time was entirely his fault. He might’ve enjoyed backing me into corners in high school when no one was looking, so they wouldn’t catch on that Mr. Popular actually wanted a piece of that quiet, little nerd he loved to torture so much, but… He could also be warm. And fierce in keeping me safe.
The truth is… He has a right to hate me. It’s all my fault. Everything. Devil’s Night. The videos. The arrests. I’m to blame for all of it. And I regret nothing.
Will
I never minded being locked up. I learned a long time ago that being treated like an animal gives you permission to act like one. No one has ever looked at me any other way. Their only mistake is believing anything I do is an accident. I can sit in this house with no Internet, television, liquor, or girls, but I’ll come out of here with something far more frightening to my enemies. A plan. And a new pack of wolves. I just didn’t expect one of my enemies to come to me. I don’t know who smuggled her in or if they meant to leave her here, but I can smell her hiding in the house. She’s here. And as the security detail leaves the supplies, the gates close, and the door to my gilded cage opens, giving me free reign of the house and grounds for another unsupervised month, I remember with a smile… Blackchurch houses five prisoners. I’m only one of her problems.
4.5. FIRE NIGHT by Penelope Douglas
SYNOPSIS
We’ve seen the Devil’s Night crew get spooky. Now, let’s see them get into the spirit...
The clock at St. Killian’s chimes as whispers float in the dark staircase above. Snow falls from the black sky beyond the windows, and candles glow—the flames lighting up the longest night of the year.
Devil’s Night isn’t the only holiday we celebrate. Tonight, we’re pulling on a different mask.
Some call it Midwinter. Others call it Yule. We call it Fire Night.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of books within New Adult, Erotica, and Contemporary Romance genres. She loves breaking rules and taking herself out of her comfort zone as much as taking her readers out of theirs.
She lives in Las Vegas with a husband and their lovely daughter, Aydan.
I love taboo! I love to read it and write it, although I write non-taboo as well.
Music is my biggest inspiration. My stories all have playlists, and I am influenced more by music that any other form of art or any other authors.
I need at least 3-5 months to give you a good story. Because of this, I don’t do anthologies with other authors. Every writer works differently, and I need a lot of think time to make sure there are no lulls in my books.
- Penelope Douglas