”Run all you want, Little Monster,” he said, sounding like a threat. “We’re faster.”

Okay, wow. I really enjoyed majority of Corrupt, but felt entirely disappointed in the way the last third played out. It's like our heroine Rika just forgave everything because she was horny... I was hoping to see some groveling or something, some sort of outburst or fuss from her because of what they did to her. They unleashed hell on her for so freaking long and it's all "no biggie heehee". Other than that, this was addicting! It was fast paced and had so many dark scenes and also sexy scenes!

YIKES. This was my Penelope Douglas book, and, thankfully, I knew it was a dark romance going in but wow what genre. I definitely don't feel like I'm going to foray much further into this world as it's a bit too much for me. Everyone was so mean and all over some miscommunication, plus the death threats and kidnapping were just alot.

ALSO side rant as a Canadian the fact that the town name was "Thunder Bay" and these super affluent families were from there was wild.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

One night.
What would you do?
Pay attention to all the details if you can.
Erika has a secret that could destroy everything.

This book has

✔ Enemies to Lovers
✔ Boyfriends Brother
✔ Dark Romance
✔ Suspense
✔ Found Family
✔ Dual POV
✔ Revenge
✔ Secrets
✔ M/F/M
✔ Twists & turns

Inferno Read ☕🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 contains:
Erotica, BDSM, explicit scenes of a sensitive or sexual nature, and M/F/M sex scenes

A gritty, raw, and rabbit hole of a story that will leave you questioning everything and trusting no one. Don’t be surprised if you sleep with one eye open or a candle burning. Unless of course you like things a bit dark ;).

If you are interested in the triggers but don’t want content "spoilers" …. don’t read any further.





The author includes a note regarding the sensitive content in this story.

Please note … this book has the following content in no particular order that may be upsetting or difficult for some - revenge fantasy, abusive/violent and misogynistic behavior, toxic relationships, physical and sexual assault, date-rape drugs, dubious consent, bondage, kidnapping, group sex, and reference to incest.

This book was dark and yet so intriguing. I was pulled in within the first few pages and couldn't put it down! The main characters are not good guys, but that doesn't stop you from caring about them and what they have been through. I don't know if you can call this a love story, but it certainly has elements of it!! I really enjoyed the Horseman and their found family aspect! Looking forward to seeing how the rest of their story goes!!

I absolutely love Micheal and Erika. This whole series is absolutely amazing and absolutely consuming. I could re-read this series over and over again. Each book is a standalone but there is plot points that carrry over the series, adding a little more as you go. Such a phenomenal book. Definitely one of my all time favorites!

“You want to know what I’ve learned? I don’t win by playing your games. I win by making you play mine.”

This was a fun, chaotic, and slightly twisted adventure full of intriguing characters and daring events. I found myself wanting to know what would happen next and the flashbacks just added to the suspense as more pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.

“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.”

The characters were all complex in their own right and I found myself wanting to know more about them. The story was well told and Penelope did a great job balancing the jump between past and present, something that isn't easy to do. I couldn't think of a better book to finish October off and I can't wait to see what trouble comes next!

Corrupt is one of those books that either really works for you, or doesn’t. Sadly it did not work for me at all. I’d heard rave reviews for years about this series, and Penelope Douglas in general, but unfortunately this story was far too toxic for me to consider it a “romance”. It definitely leans on the darker side, and the TW at the beginning of the book should be taken seriously. I will say Douglas is a compelling writer, I just didn’t think the plot worked for me. 2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Corrupt by Penelope Douglas. If you like dark romance, then this is the book for you. I am not sure how I feel about it -- just seems like super toxic relationships.

Gaaaah I wanted to like this so bad!! Credence is literally my favorite and that book that brought me back into reading again but unfortunately this just felt flat for me 😫

I don’t even know where to start, the story felt entirely too long, almost boring, it took me forever to get into it, as in like it wasn’t until 70% that I finally got excited about it. It wasn’t even the hard topics and TW’s which i don’t usually mind since I read lots of dark romance.

The story does a back and forth dance between the past and the present that is VERY hard to keep track unless you’re reading the book in one sitting. Otherwise i’d often found myself going back trying to figure out if it was past or present time.

BUT this all felt just a little too f’ed up for me, I think i’ve come to realize that i don’t like bully romances (if you do then definitely add an extra star to a solid 4 stars) Not only that but the two MC’s just didn’t really do it for me, I didn’t feel that connected to them.

Was it interesting enough to keep me reading? Yes! Am I gonna finish reading the series? Also yes! I just didn’t vibe with this one. It was OK, but that was it.

Erika Fane is smart, beautiful and in love with Michael Crist, the older brother of the guy she just broke up with. She's almost part of the Crist family after losing her father and her mother's declining health. But she's always had a thing for Michael, and she'd do anything for her chance with him, even commit crimes with Michael and his three friends, known to the town as The Horsemen.

When one of the pranks goes awry, three of the 4 horsemen are incarcerated. They believe that Erika outed them to the cops, and have had three years to plan their revenge. And they really want revenge. Michael was never arrested, and he's a bit more on the fence with the revenge plot. Does he side with his friends? Or with the young woman he refuses to admit his feelings for? Because Michael does have feelings for Rika, but his friends are in the way.

Told in an alternating timeline between the present and three years ago on the fateful night of the crime, the story seesaws back and forth telling the story of what happened. There's secrets to be uncovered as The Horsemen find out all is not what it seems. And Rika may just get her chance with Michael, too... but there's definite questions about whether it can last.

I loved the fast pace of this story. Things moved along quite nicely, keeping my attention to the end. I really couldn't put this down until I found out what happens! I did like the way the story was told in the alternating time line since it takes some time to get to the truth of what happened that fateful night, and the ending was explosive and full of terrifying action, which I also liked a lot about this story. There's also plenty of steamy moments throughout, too!

While at times I found the actions of the horseman to be criminal, the story does illustrate the power of the rich and how they can get away with things others may not be able to. What I liked the most was the question that Michael faced. Should he be loyal to his friends or the woman that holds his heart? You'll have to read to find out!

I absolutely devoured this book in one day. Couldn't put this down, it had my dark romance heart melting. I enjoyed everything from the beginning to end. It was dark and I was here for it all.

Read if you like:
🥵 Spiceeeee
🖤 Dark Romances
🪢 Dark Themes

This one was a good read but oh man there is sooooo much darkness in this book! As someone that doesn’t read a lot of dark romance this was a lot for me at first.

Definitely check trigger warnings on this one but if you want good spice with darkness, I would recommend this one as it gives you both!

Thanks so much Berkley for my ARC of this one!

yeah … I know this series is absolutely beloved, but it was a firm nope from me. I’m all about dark romance, and honestly those were the best parts, but the characters were just so two-dimensional I found myself not even caring what happened to them 🙄

erika is the stereotypical girl who has grown up always following the rules and suddenly breaks them all in one go when she decides to follow along the four horsemen (her neighbors’ and friends) on a trip to terrorize and prank on devil’s night. but she gets way more than she bargained for 👀

I was so into the plot when it was a revenge story, and I loved how each of them (michael, kai, damon, will) had conflicting morals. but, when I found out the real story behind what happened that devil’s night, it was … disappointing and sort of a letdown 🥴 especially because I predicted that erika was not as involved as alluded to begin with

and to go about this giant quest (multiple times) because someone turned you down? because you want what you can’t have? seems really childish to me & creates the idea that if you can’t get what you want, you should burn down and terrorize them instead…

overall, I loved the spicy scenes and the forbidden romance, but the plot itself was just too much…

a huge thank you to netgalley and berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review - I’m sad this one missed the mark for me, but I’m certain others will love it!

rating: 2 stars
wine pairing: dry creek zinfandel

I waited a long time to read Corrupt. I think because I was afraid it wouldn't be a true romance (with an HEA). Perhaps it was because I knew it was super dark, and how can that end happily? But, I'm a more worldly reader now than I was, and I have been reading more dark romance. I loved some of Penelope Douglas' previous books, so I decided it was time to try.

Let me say, the book is dark. There are all kinds of triggers, so reader beware. The story is messy, but in an honest way. The "hate" is such a forced hate. More of an "I love you so much, I realized you would wreck me, so I'm gonna wreck you 1st" kind of love. They are teenagers when their story begins. The past is revealed slowly throughout the present events. The present events are the real hatred and darkness until everyone understands the past events.

If you enjoy multi-layered stories with deception, back stabbing, and a thin line between love and hate, you will enjoy Corrupt! I simply could not put this book down!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, and Ms. Douglas for the opportunity to read an ARC of the re-released title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I really enjoyed the back-and-forth timeline here. As a plot device, this doesn't always work, but I thought it was very effective here, particularly since both timelines were moving forward. (I really don't like a book that starts "now", then takes 80% of the book to return from a point in the past to the "now" point. Not my style.) I'm not a huge bully-romance person but Ms. Douglas does a decent job with it. The plot trajectory definitely ramps up the anticipation consistently and a reader who likes the dark, obsessive hero would probably really like this. I really could care less about Kai or Damien but I think Will's story might be good.

That being said, I really disliked the female main character, [E]Rika, which made it difficult to enjoy the book. And words fail me to describe how much I disliked the scene near the end where Rika and her magic lady bits cure people and save the day. It seemed completely out of character (which happened often enough otherwise, but that particular scene was a 100% departure). And this is a teeny nit to pick amongst the rest of the issues, but why bother making Michael a NBA star? Absolutely nothing about him seemed like a basketball star to me, other than him playing a pickup game in his penthouse with his friends once or twice. No practice? no games? no trainers, no coach, no workouts, no ice baths, no team meetings, nothing? The NBA season is grueling and very long and it seems to me he should have had at least a few commitments. But I digress.

I can see the appeal of this, and I think it will be (or continue to be) popular with readers who like very steamy dark romance featuring manipulative, obsessive, borderline abusive characters. I would have had a better time reading if the character development had been more consistent and, not gonna lie here, maybe ditched Rika and gotten a new female MC.

This book is definitely a dark romance and it has a bit of a bully element to it which might not be for everyone. This book does contain the miscommunication trope, which, I typically do not like but in this instance I think it worked really well. The dual timelines keeps the reader guessing as things are slowly revealed piece by piece. Michael and Rika do not have a conventional relationship by any means, yet, you find yourself rooting for them to be together, despite some pretty nasty circumstances. Michael and his friends are out for revenge and that is why he gets close to Rika. Things get dark and messy and they will have to overcome a lot if they want to be together.

This book was a decent dark romance. Not a lot of people like a bully, dark romance, but Penelope Douglas has a certain way to write that it draws readers in. There is a miscommunication between the characters that could’ve been avoided with answers, but that is in the book description. If you don’t like those tropes then this isn’t the book for you. Otherwise if you love h.d. Carlton, Rina Kent, or Harley laroux then give this book a try. This book makes you feel many different emotions.

Twisted, mean, hot, and screwed up. Addictive read tho!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This book is written in a format that leaves you guessing from page one. Douglas tells the story with drips of information and two points of view. Bouncing back between time, you have to wait patiently to peel back the layers to get to what is really going on.

Building anticipation with every page turn, the characters are masterfully crafted with some you like and most you hate. Sometimes I was bouncing between like and hate quite easily.

The characters seem unbalanced and hateful. Michael can be kind and loving one minute and mean and ugly the next, always keeping the reader and the main character, Rika, mentally off and just a bit fearful.

This book is a trip in many ways. It is addictive because you are dying to know what is going to happen. But Corrupt is twisted and screwed up, and some characters are just plain mean!

Douglas does not hold back with the heat levels between the two main characters and some of the scenes are fan-worthy. If you are into a darker romance with some questionable psychological twists to it, this is one you will want to check out!

Love it or hate it, it is corrupt and addicting.

While I am a huge fan of Penelope Douglas's Birthday Girl, I wasn't a lover of Corrupt. I feel that mafia type books may not be my cup of tea. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this novel as I didn't find a connection or need to relate to any of Douglas's creation.

While I absolutely adore Penelope Douglas, this one just wasn't for me. It was well executed dark romance, but I did not personally enjoy it some of the themes.