Book Review: 'My Dark Desire' by L.J. Shen & Parker S. Huntington (the ultimate enemies-to-lovers romance)

Put a finger down if you bought ‘My Dark Romeo' based on the cover.

Put a finger down if you read ‘My Dark Romeo’ in record time.

Put a finger down if you were counting down the days until ‘My Dark Desire' came out.

Put a finger down if you devoured ‘My Dark Desire’ like a ripe mango. Like a juicy slice of watermelon. Like you just couldn’t get enough of that fruit… IYKYK

Here’s the summary:

“The task was simple.

Sneak into Potomac’s most heavily guarded manor.

Steal back my pendant. Slip out.

Problem number one?

America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me.

Problem number two?

He decided to keep me. As the help.

Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt, but he makes my skin burn.

Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel, he thrives on the weaknesses of others.

Little does he know, he just met his match.

He may be American royalty.

But this peasant will rise to become Queen.”

And content warnings include: death of a parent, graphic sexual content, death, emotional abuse (as ever, check the full list on The StoryGraph)

Yeah, ‘My Dark Desire' got me. I was hesitant because as much as I stormed through book one, it would be a tough act to follow. But this Cinderella retelling (and I use the word “retelling” loosely, it’s got key touch points) was so much fun. There is something about this series that so accurately represents the enemies-to-lovers trope and I am here for it.

Farrow made for an interesting female lead, and I loved the fencing aspect. Fencing is such a fun (albeit weird) sport and I think it deserves more attention in the NA/adult romance space. Move over college hockey and football, hello fencing and rowing. Woof.

These books deliver for me. There’s a great balance of drama, mystery and intrigue, as well as relationship angst, will they/won’t they and, of course, spice.

What I will say, because I don’t want to give too much away, is that there is one scene that made me HOWL with laughter. It shocked me so thoroughly I couldn’t not laugh. It’s brilliant.

Zach, our tortured male lead, actually made for more of an interesting POV than his predecessor. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Rom, but Zach has more depth and I understood his motivations much more clearly. Even when he was acting abysmally.

Basically, if you enjoyed ‘My Dark Romeo', I see no reason why you won’t get a lot of satisfaction out of ‘My Dark Desire’.

I just… need book 3. Like, yesterday. Although if Goodreads is anything to go by… Readers are already taking a hard pass on Oliver's book. I think it will be really interesting to see if that character can be redeemed at all because of the three he is truly awful.

All I know is that I want to roll up on Dark Prince Road and just be a permanant fly on the wall!

Written by Sarah