Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are still some minor grammatical errors within the story. I overall enjoyed a lot of the scenes within the book, some of the errors took me out of my immersion. But otherwise this was deliciously dark.

This was the juiciest dark romance that I've read in awhile; the enemies to lovers/demon-witch/forbidden love trope was so well done that I was on the edge of my seat through every page. I could relate to the characters and was automatically invested in how their story was going to unfold. There was also PLENTY of spice in this book that had me tearing through the chapters. The plot was well laid out, easy to follow, and intriguing in a way that kept my interest during the whole read, and the double POV's gave interesting insight into the character's different mindsets (and how they complimented each other). I am so enthralled by this book world and am (im)patiently waiting for the next book to arrive and satiate my curiosity about what comes next.

Book one of my unhinged October reads and my god this was just something. When you think it can’t get any more unhinged, you’re wrong, it freaking can. It literally starts with a bang, or shall I say its explosive? Iykyk. In the beginning I didn't think it was all that dark, but it gradually gets darker, and it does end on a cliffhanger so be prepared for that.

For one, the chapter heading art is hot. I absolutely loved that little addition. I also love the cover art.

This was dark and 100% not for everyone. The trigger warnings speak for themselves, and I feel like if you were to read them and still go on only to get triggered, it's on you. Or maybe you're someone that likes to skip the trigger warnings, like myself, because you’d rather the blind journey and fully embrace that you’re going into something completely dark. Duh, it's October, it’s spooky season babes.

As I was saying, I went in blind. SO I was shookith by Lorcan (who is a demon) and his insanity. Evie (a witch) is dark as well, but Lorcan takes the candle here. He stalks Evie for the majority of the book, and he is pretty deranged. But he's a shadow daddy so we completely overlook that. It's just a minor flaw. He enjoys inflicting pain on himself and others and revels in Evie’s fear. But is she really scared? More like scaroused (scared + aroused = sacroused). Lorcan is possessive over his little witch, and he makes that known.

Things I liked:
I lived for how conflicted Lorcan was when it came to his witch. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to strangle her or keep her forever.
Rosa (Evie’s best friend). Honestly, I’m on the fence if we should trust her because NO ONE is that accepting OK. Well. . . maybe my best friends are. But she's a sex therapist with a collection of dicks, so she must be cool.
Evie’s fruit bat Gomez. OMG. I just love him. If I could reach into the book and steal him. I would.
There were bits of humor that had me giggling.

This was an overall 3.5 stars for me. Some parts just had me giggling and were slightly cringy. I think it was the overuse of the words “demonic dick” for me. After the 20th time I couldn’t help but laugh and it took away from being immersed because come on how can I not be distracted? Also, I could almost tell that there were two different authors co-writing this.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this eCopy to Review

I found this book very graphic in both violence and the sex scenes I felt they did not add anything to the storyline and made the whole plot very slow and made the characters unlikeable.

Corrupt Shadows follows Evie as she is stalked by the King of demons, Lorcan who needs her to accept her magic rather than suppress it so that she can free him from the shadow realm. He is meant to hate her as it was her family working with his brothers who trapped him there. However, he feels a deep connection with Evie, who knows she should fear him but is drawn to his violent nature and learns to accept hers in return.

There are embers of a good story its just a shame it is so graphic and violent

The writing had me hooked from the very beginning. This has entered my Top 5 books for 2023, topping Forth Wing in ranking. The cliffhanger made me want to throw my phone in an amazing way. I love a good dark demonic theme. I would give this a 3 chili pepper spice rating. Hopeful book two is a full 5 chili peppers. I would compare this book on a dark level with Haunting Adeline with less real life (non fantasy) triggers.

I would recommend checking the trigger warnings, they are on the back page and some may be sensitive.

<b><i>🐸 ☕ ARC copy very kindly gifted to me in advance 💚</i></b>

It kicks off with a bang. Pun very much intended. Evie has blown up her brother Caden with her death magic, and somehow it manages to all get worse for her from there.

“I long to feel something. It’s why I come to the abandoned asylum on the edge of town. The violent energy left behind by the lost souls of cannibals and murderers writhes with my shadow magic, enhancing every touch.” Yes, our Evie is very much not okay. But I do find Evie a likeable character. She is a little bit like Wednesday Addams but if Wednesday was raised by radical Christians and worked in a diner. I did have this thought before I found out Evie had a pet bat called Gomez, I swear. Evie is funny and I do root every time for the overpowered gal who is trying to keep her dark powers in check. Also Gomez the bat is definitely my favourite side character in the book. The others I didn't think were particularly fleshed out. Rosa was there more for comic relief than anything else it appeared. As for Aiden and Jay, they were both fairly beige.

I also quite liked the magic of the world and how it worked. In fact, it was the thing I really wanted more of. The concept of how the magic came about was really interesting, and I loved what we found out about the intricacies of death magic, shadow magic, and the weaving in of the deadly sins. But this is definitely a romance book with fantasy supporting it, and not the other way around.

My problems with this book I think are just that it’s very much not for me, so it feels hard to critique. There is definitely spice and spice that some will love and I'm sure there will be <i>many</i> big fans of this book, but had me uncomfortable. I <u>really</u> can't stand when a character who has been set up as being abused in the past, and then has her sex life in the book correlate directly with the specifics of how she was abused.

<spoiler>There was also a couple of moments that really jarred for me. The last 10% turned into a weird hunting trip with an odd soundtrack and it all felt very much like it came out of nowhere. It felt like an attempt by the author to let us know that Lorcan's moody, grumpy demeanor was that of a former emo/ goth kid maybe? I also wasn't keen on Aiden's selling his soul scene at all. It didn't feel believable, I think partly because Aiden didn't really have anything to him bar his idiocy.</spoiler>

Overall, I think this is one for the Twilight people who thought "you know, I wish Edward had been a little more controlling".

Posted on Goodreads 2nd Oct: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5876699297

Shadow Mommy Death Witch meets Shadow Demon Daddy in this Dark Stalker Romance.

This is spicy, the world-building is fantastic with the parallel dimensions, the lore of death magic, witches and demons and suspense. . .I really enjoyed this one. The damage of these two characters and the collision is everything. Evie is an awesome character with dangerous abilities, a tragic past and power that strums through her veins. It’s about time we got a Shadow Mommy. Then you’ve got Lorcan, he is so darkly delicious. They both have so much damage within them, it was entertaining to watch them collide together.

The spice is. . .yum. Seriously. Extremely well written with all the red flags and triggers setting fire to the pages. Story wise this one is fun, dark, and twisted. I enjoyed the suspense of it all, trying to figure out exactly what was going to happen next kept me glued to my kindle. This does end on a cliffhanger but I didn’t think it was too terrible, I definitely can’t wait to read book two.

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Corrupt Shadows by Rebecca L. Garcia and CM Hutton

There is a new shadow daddy in town. Lorcan is just about as sexy as they come in the paranormal dark romance genre, and something felt off with Evie, so I did not enjoy her in the beginning, but she grew on me fairly quickly. They are a fabulous dark romance couple with bonded chemistry and crazy kinks, this combined with his softness towards Evie as you see their love grow, made me absolutely love their story.

This book absolutely had me in a chokehold. The spice and plot were brilliant, twisted, and dark; a few scenes had me shook. I did not think things were going to turn out that way, and I’m sure my facial expressions during some scenes were quite comical. Honestly I thought reading this book it would be all about the spice but I was blown away by the plot. Everything was masterfully done, but definitely check out the trigger warnings before you dive into this.

For all those Haunting Adeline, and The Coven fans definitely check this out.

This book had me hooked from the get go and was very dark and intense!

Evie was a tempting fmc with a chequered past and some questionable bedroom preferences that meant she was the perfect victim for Lorcan who begins stalking her from the Shadow Realm.

The heat in this book will have you gasping and questioning yourself and what you like to read, it gets dark and steamy and doesn't apologise for it.

The main focus of this book is the depraved descent into the lustful exchanges between Lorcan and Evie with them both questioning their motives and finding it impossible to stay away from one another. Evie is the key to Lorcan's needs but who will end up with the power in this dynamic?

This book will not be for everyone as it teeters on some very dark and intense subject matter but readers of dark paranormal stalker romances will eat this up and love it!

It was a page turning book that ended on a cliff hanger, and I will have to wait patiently to find out what happens next!!

HOLY SH*T! Have you ever wondered how Vanilla you are?

If you are looking for horror spice for the upcoming spooky season, then this is for you. Thirsty & kinky peeps go pick yourselves up a copy immediately. Sensitive readers beware!

⚠️Disclaimer: Thank you to Victory Editing & the authors for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

What to expect:
Content Warnings
Horror romance
Morally grey characters
Boundary-pushing spice
Dual POV
Cliffhanger

▪️Speedy synopsis:
Fighting to supress her dangerous magic and trying live a normal life, a witch finds herself stalked by a powerful demon with bad intentions. This book is dark and messed up in all the best ways.

🔺What I liked:
I’d define this book as horror spice. It made me realise how vanilla I am. It shocked me, but I am here for it. Hello, shadow daddy. It was well written, but it goes without saying that this is not a book for the faint hearted.

I love how dark and muted the worlds are. I felt like I was watching a horror movie in mind. I listened to all the songs referenced and it was scary and atmospheric. Masterfully done.

The pacing slaps. There is action from the first page, and I couldn’t put it down. I devoured this in one sitting.

I loved entering the mind of a proper psychopath through the dual POV. There is a chapter in particular that blew my mind. I will from this point refer to it as “the chapter” (you’ll know what I am referring to when you get there). I was shaking it was so scary.

This is another book that made me question my sanity.

🔻What I didn’t like as much:
There wasn’t much contrast between the bad guy and the truly bad guys in book 1, given that our FMC is constantly surrounded by evil. The only exception being “the chapter” which I would love to see more of in book 2.

I will 100% be reading book #2. Do yourselves a favour and go pick up a copy.

Corrupt Shadows by Rebecca L. Garcia & CM Hutton was freaking amazing! I devoured this story so quickly. I enjoyed everything here.
The writing was great and I was swept into a world that was phenomenal.

NetGalley & Victory Editing thank you for this eARC!

Corrupt Shadows is a very sexually explicit romance story about a demon and a witch that ends on a cliffhanger. Evie is the last of her line of shadow/death witches and is on the run from the Order, a group of priests that aim to hunt witches, and especially dark witches like her, to extinction. Lorcan is a demon who was trapped by her predecessors in the Shadow Realm - a realm that mirrors our world exactly and that can see into our world through mirrors. Determined to get access to Evie, and her magic, in order to get free of the Shadow Realm, Lorcan begins to stalk Evie through the mirrors in her world. He intends to use her to free himself, but can't stop the obsession he has with her from growing. Evie intends to hate the demon that stalks her, but can't deny that his darkness calls to hers. Is he the first partner who could align with her darkest desires and not judge her for it?

There was a lot I liked about this! I loved Evie's familiar, a fruit bat named Gomez, and the softness that Lorcan had for Evie's magic and for Gomez. This was a fun, Halloween-y read that felt perfect for late September. I think I am maybe not 100% the target audience for this book - I am not as big of a fan of really ~dark~ romance, and having sex in the blood of your enemies doesn't really do it for me. Based on other reviews, this book seems to have really worked well for some people, but some of the violence left me feeling a little sad. I get that the main characters are full of ~darkness~ or whatever, but it was still difficult to read what happened to some of the side characters. I definitely had empathy for both main characters and they had fabulous chemistry together, but I wish they had talked more. It seemed like this book established that they had a lot of shared kinks and chemistry, but I'm not sure that I bought their transition from that into something more like love. Like...do they know anything about each other? He knows she has a bat and likes to be dominated? Idk, I wish there had been just a little bit more of a foundation for their relationship.

All in all, I enjoyed this one! It was cool to read a book that started as a kickstarter campaign. The book definitely needs some further editing before publication, but I trust that will happen :)

Thanks so much to Rebecca L. Garcia, C.M. Hutton, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC. Corrupt Shadows will be available October 1st and would be a fabulous Halloween read.