My Dark Desire: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Dark Prince Road)

The most amazing chaotic emotional work of art I’ve ever read. I pulled an all nighter reading this, Started at 10 in the morning and didn’t finish till 7am the next day. This book made up for the lack of sleep. LJ and Parker did an amazing job on this story. I’m seriously left speechless. Farrow and Zach are truly the most amazing couple. Written in the stars and perfectly made for each other. The depth of emotion within the pages had me reaching for the tissue box quite a few times. Zach was struck with tradgedy and trauma at an early age. After being in a car wreck with his father and watching him die. Zach closed himself off from people , from touch and human affection, and from the world. Doing only what he needs to do to survive. Obey his mother and make sure she’s happy and doing what she’s asks because of guilt that rest on his shoulders. Everything changes when farrow enters the picture. Trying to steal back what belonged to her deceased father that Zach has kept away in his house. After a night of thievery and being caught what neither of them both knew was that Fallon was going to be his savior and healer. Seeing farrow slowly change him and bring him back to life is what truly made this book a masterpiece. LJ and Parker’s writing is truly incredibly. This books really just gives you everything you need. Darkness. Light, heat, intensity, emotion and humor to balance it all. I know we’re only 5 months into the year and with so much reading yet to do it’s all ready a top 5 favorite. I loved every second of this book. It’s one of those books that becomes apart of you and one you surely wont forget. I wasn’t sure if Romeo and Dallas’s Story could be topped, but it was, and if I’m raving about “my dark desire” I’m sure next book with Ollie is going to be even more amazing, ‘cause how can you tame that man ? If there’s one thing that need to keep happening is Shen and Parker need to keep writing books together. Their minds and writing is the absolute most perfect combo. So who ever reads this review please pick this book up and read it ( along with the others as well )

This was very much like a cross between a Cinderella and a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Zachary Sun is a bazillionair with an extreme case of PTSD that causes him to have a visceral reaction to a human touch of any kind. Farrow Ballantine is a young woman who’s father passed away leaving her with an awful step mother and step sisters who is selling off all of her fathers belongings including a rare necklace and pendant that he had given her. When she finds out who bought it, she decides to steal it. When Zachary’s mom throws a huge party to fund Zach, a wife Farrow thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to sneak into the Sun mansion and take it, and she gets caught. To avoid jail, she agrees to work for Zach as a maid. When I started reading this book, I truly didn’t like either Zach or Farrow, but I was intrigued enough to stick around, and I’m really glad I did. Zach and Farrows' story is not your average fairy-tale. These characters hold deep pain that really create the people they are. You learn very early what trauma Zach endured that caused a lot of issues for him. His mother certainly didn’t help matters feeding his guilt. Farrow, while extremely smart, talented, sassy, and full of grit, still had this vulnerable girl inside, just wanting to be loved and accepted. They had intense chemistry and together made one another stronger. The more I read their stories, the more I felt for them. There was nothing ordinary about this romance, even with the beauty and the Beast /Cinderella vibes. The characters were unique. The twists were great, and I think the authors did a fantastic job weaving a story that was intriguing, steamy, humorous, emotional, and well written.

MDD is laughter out loud funny and so emotional at the same time, my husband thought I was losing my sanity at one point 😂 🩵 Dark Cinderella 🩷 Forced Proximity 🩵 Tragedy 🩷 Revenge 🩵 Slight age gap Farrow is a girl after my own heart with her fierce desire to be independent. She is strong, outgoing, quick witted, quirky and loves with her whole heart. Zach, on the other hand, has always been shut off and cold to everyone, except his two best friends, due to his traumatic past. However, when he won’t let her get away with breaking into his office, his hardheadedness leads him right to Farrow. Their banter, bickering, and hilarious nicknames for each other keeps this story lighthearted, while still addressing Zach’s traumatic past and processing how to move forward after a tragedy. At the same time, we get to watch Farrow grow into herself and learn how to deal with her difficult past while helping Zach through his. This truly was such a magical love story with some serious Cinderella vibes, but not over done or too highly focused on. Also, the spice is HOT and there is plenty of it! 🌶️ I would very much recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, spicy read that still has a beautiful storyline! If interested, I recommend reading My Dark Romeo first, so you can enjoy the relationships that Farrow develops with the people in Zach’s life, but this can also totally be read as a standalone.

I can eat this type of romance for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: My Dark Desire by Parker S. Huntington and LJ Shen. 📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Dark Prince Road character series. Book 2. 📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book on Kindle. 🆓 on KU. 📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Contemporary romance 📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Billionaire, enemies-to-lovers, broken MMC, suspense-lite, touch her and die, he falls first. 📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Farrow is reeling after the death of her father, and in the wake of her step mother selling all of his belongings. In her attempt to get back a prized pendant, she steals from Zachary Sun, a wealthy and mysterious billionaire with an aversion to touch who sees her as his anecdote. 🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: This character series has been absolutely delectable. Fairytale-coded, billionaire to the max, and just full of angst and tension. I absolutely devoured it. Ok that’s probably too many food euphemisms, but seriously. I loved this book. Zach was a unique character, with a horrible back story and this incredibly vulnerable inner monologue. And Farrow was independent and witty and wonderful as well. I loved the dynamic. I loved the unapologetic billionaire-ness of it all. I loved the story arch and the ridiculous happy ending. Both books in this series have been legit. I’m only sad it took so long for me to pick them up. 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 3.5/5 🌶🌶🌶

I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED the con artist trope! It is my all-time favorite trope! Con artists are Enemies to Lovers on steroids! This book is a party of never-ending fun: snarky comments, HILARIOUS comebacks, chats and yet somehow it’s filled with an aura of true friendship. The story is full of light humor and fun, but also develops such endearing bonds between the characters! I think what made my heart feel the most is heroine’s loneliness. She is amiable even in her hustler ways and yet her genuine loneliness BREAKS YOUR HEART a little. It’s well-covered with smiles, jokes, and comebacks, and yet with so many people surrounding her at any given moment - she is strikingly lonely. She doesn’t know what it feels like for someone have her back. To know someone is in your corner, just because it’s YOUR corner. The values, people, that level of dedication shown between friends and lovers in L.J.Shen books - they are so rare that this comradery in itself is almost magical and exactly why I LOVE romance. It teaches the new generation that is so fond of fleeting concepts about loyalty, love, friendship! They exist even if just in abstract a on the pages of a book! It’s teaches young generation how to love, how to be a loyal friend and, of course, L.J.Shen always makes a strong point that you need to discover yourself before you can truly love someone else. Loved the backstories for both characters. This book is definitely an ode to great fathers. To wonderful, incredible dads who make the world turn and spin on its axis against gravity and against the rules of Solar system - all to make it a better place for their children. The girl’s backstory had given rise to more emotions in me, perhaps by design. It is a fun, fun, fun ride! I think the authors went out of their way to make this book an extra GLAMOROUS, grandiose house of FUN for all of us to have some GREAT LAUGHS and a fabulous glam time reading this story! Sincerely, A proud member of THE CLUB. The C Club. Thank you for my complimentary copy of this novel while I waited for my purchased copies to arrive. All opinions are my own.

This is a modern retelling of Cinderella in which the grumpy billionaire falls for an endearing thief. After falling head over heels for the first book in the series, I was excited to read this second installment. ✨ Thoughts ✨ In simple terms, this novel is fun and chaotic. The unpredictable actions of Farrow and Zack kept me on the edge of my seat, unsure of what would happen next. While their romance was fascinating, there were moments when it spun out of control, leaving me emotionally whiplashed. I must admit, it was difficult for me to fully connect with the main characters as their immaturity seemed to overshadow their age. I longed for the smooth banter delivered in "My Dark Romeo." The chemistry between the main characters felt somewhat contrived. Both Farrow and Zack were in desperate need of serious therapy. However, I did love the side characters who brought an enjoyable dynamic to the story, and I'm eagerly anticipating Ollie and Frankie's story! Overall, if you have a fondness for Cinderella retellings, this book holds great potential and is well worth reading. Many thanks to Rick and Booksprout for providing me with an ARC. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This book is far from perfect. The main characters are rather awful people, there is too much blood and gore (and if you try to skim over it the first time, you'll get it again later in the many recaps), the sequence of events is confusing and not too well written, and it's somewhat predictable. HOWEVER, the story is compelling and entertaining if you don't mind taking way too long to get through the book. Lots of it could have been cut out, and we'd still get the picture. It's fun. The story is sad in many ways, but so over-the-top the sad parts sometimes turn into funny parts. It's a take-off of the Cinderella story, which becomes obvious from the start, and just as the Disney version makes the evil step-mother and ugly step-sister funny, so does this book. They're preposterous and cartoonish. Truly awful people. I felt for Zach and his zillions of issues, and I felt for Farrow in the same way. The authors make them sympathetic, but they are also both fairly idiotic and deserve each other. It's far from great literature, but it is worth reading for fun. Zach's transformation was tough to swallow, but I was happy for him in the end.

📖 My Dark Desire by Parker S. Huntington & L.J. Shen Rating: ★★★★★ (4.75, because my heart just *felt* it, you know?) Okay, so my brain is still reeling from this one, and let me tell you, it was a *ride*. You know how it is, when Parker S. Huntington and L.J. Shen write something, you just *have* to read it? That's exactly what drew me in, and oh my gosh, it absolutely delivered everything I crave in a dark romance, hitting that sweet spot of compelling character redemption and raw emotional depth. My immediate reaction was just, "Wow, this was good, *very* good." What really stood out, like, *really* stood out, was how Zachary and Farrow, these two broken souls, just fix each other in the most beautiful, messy way possible. It's like watching two puzzle pieces that don't quite fit, but then they click into place anyway, you know? Zachary's journey, wow. He's this billionaire, American royalty, shrouded in darkness and hardened by trauma, and watching his emotional walls slowly, painfully, come down? That's the good stuff. It's a story of finding light in the shadows, learning to trust again, and honestly, part of me just wanted to hug him, even though he doesn't like to be touched. The trauma he goes through is the stuff of nightmares, which made their happily ever after all the more sweet. And Farrow? Her spunk and grittiness are just *everything*. She feels so real, so authentically her, and that scene where she throws all the shoes outside? Fabulous! Pure gold. The drama and intrigue, the secrets, the passion, the danger, it all just intertwines perfectly. Plus, the scenes with Zachary's dad are pure magic, especially the wisdom he gives him before he dies. Seriously, wisdom to live by! This book just delivered exactly what I look for, a character-driven narrative with heavy emotional depth, where broken protagonists find redemption through each other's love. It's intense, psychologically speaking, but so worth it. 🔥'The pendants unite two souls. Fate knows what we don't.'💎 This quote just resonates, it's like the universe knew these two were meant to be, even when they didn't. 📦 What to Expect 🖤 Dark Romance 🔥 High Heat / Explicit Open Door 💔 Broken Protagonists ✨ Profound Healing Journey 🤯 Intense Emotional Depth 🤫 Secrets & Intrigue 👑 Feisty Heroine & Brooding Hero 📚 Book Tags Keywords: Dark Romance, Forbidden Love, Billionaire, Trauma, Redemption, Emotional Healing, Intrigue, Character-Driven Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, Enemies to Lovers, Broken Protagonists, Healing Journey, Slow Burn, Found Family (via dad scenes) Triggers: Trauma, Emotional Abuse, Dark Themes, Violence (implied) 🎯 Final Thoughts If you're ready for a book that grabs your heart, shakes it up, and then puts it back together, this is it. Dive in, feel every single emotion, and let Zachary and Farrow's journey consume you.