If you love possessive, obsessive anti-heroes, Hayden from Once You're Mine is perfect. By day, he's a lawyer; by night, a vigilante who accidentally kills Callie’s father, then becomes obsessed with her. Watching Hayden, cold and emotionless, slowly unravel as he develops feelings for Callie is thrilling—he’s protective to the extreme but soft only for her.

Callie, though not my usual favorite type of heroine, is kind and empathetic, with moments of sass. Her banter with Hayden is great, but her friendship with Harper, the real scene-stealer, is even better. The slow-burn romance works well, with Callie making Hayden earn her trust while respecting her boundaries.

The pacing, mystery, and character dynamics make this book a gripping read, and I’m excited to see how their relationship unfolds in the next installment!

I wanted to love this book more than I did. The premise is great but the execution was just good. I didn't connect with the characters at all Calista, in particular, got on my nerves. How could she not see who her stalker was?! There was a cliffhanger, but I can't see myself reading book 2, unfortunately.

Once You're Mine was my first dark romance with a stalker. It was okay and I liked the concept. I thought it started out strong, but as I got further through the book, found myself enjoying it a bit less. I know it's fiction, but it didn't feel natural or realistic and the chemistry felt forced. i know this will definitely be some people's cup of tea, and I liked it well enough, but not enough to continue to the next book.

I loved the overall concept of this dark stalker romance! I didn't like the order in which this told in. I felt like I was thrown into the middle of the story and had a hard time connecting to the characters. I needed some background info and I just never got it.

My first Morgan Bridges book did not disappoint! This one is written with care and doesn't read like someone's deepest, darkest fantasy found in a forgotten diary (even though a LOT of us have this fantasy, it's nice to see it handled in such a way that isn't as cringey as half the stuff we all think about!) Definitely recommend! Also, there is a cliffhanger so, watch out!

I won this book in a book exchange, and was glad to have a copy of it to read!

This was my first dive into dark romance/ stalker book/ genre. I was aware of the trigger warnings, and was curious to try out this genre. While I did enjoy the mystery element, and the main MC being a vigilante lawyer, I cannot back the idea of the FMC being oblivious to the stalking tendencies, and actually falling for him. Maybe it's just me, and I look for the logic in fictional books, but red flags were popping up right and left for me.

I felt more anxious reading this dark romance because I would find myself yelling at the main FMC. I tried, and while the story and premise was setup really well, I don't think I can back the idea of dark romances being romantic. It just screams dark to me since this book packed it on heavy with manipulation mistaken for love.

All opinions are my own, and while this book was not for me, I did persevere and finished it.
Thank you Forever, and NetGalley for the eARC as well.

This was my first book from Morgan Bridges and all I can say is that I loved it , it’s a mild Stalker story and it was done right.
I have to say it does end in a cliffhanger so you definitely need to buy the next book right after your doe with this one. One of my top five stars this year!.

This stalker romance is told in alternating POV - the stalked and the stalker. While I liked it, I am not invested to continue reading this series.

Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever

3.5
Rating 3

If you're a fan of dark romance then you'll find this is a good read. If you like smut then you'll want to pick this one up. While I found this book to be enjoyable it was only just okay. The plot was lacking and seemed to be forgotten at times. When the book only became about the stalker elements and smut is when I started to think about dnfing. While I'm a fan of both, there still has to be a reason and it can't feel so forced. The writing was a little basic but I didn't expect very much. The pacing was all over the place. I'm disappointed because the story started out strong but when you get to 40% there are too many issues that take away from the overall enjoyment.

Unfortunately I was kind of disappointed with this book. It's not bad, don't get me wrong. It was a good read, but it just reminded me of every other, dominant male book. I was hoping for it to be more of a thriller than what it turned out to be. Still a good read.

I love me a good posessive, obsessive, unhinged, walking red flag of a man and Hayden did not let me down. I also tend to love a man who has no emotions, hates everyone and is just suviving on autopilot until he meets *her* and then he starts feeling, he starts falling head over heels and he becomes soft only for her.

Our man is a lawyer by day and by night he likes to unalive people who get away with terrible crimes. Unfortunately, that leads him to unaliving our fmc, Callie's father and then he becomes obsessed with her. There are plenty of secrets and other things going on: it seems like maybe Hayden messed up and her father was innocent? So he's juggling trying to keep that truth from her, while falling for her, and trying to find out the truth if her father was innocent or not.

I love watching him spiral further into insanity because he's starting to develop feelings and he's been emotionless for so long that it's hard for him to handle it. He's also very much "touch her - or even LOOK at her - and 🔪". The few times he brought down his guard for Callie and showed her his raw vulnerabilities or was soft for her just melted me.

I adored Callie and his banter but, I adored Callie and her bestie Harper's banter even more. Harper is an absolute riot and everyone needs a Harper in their life! I love love their friendship and sisterhood so much. 🩷

Callie isn't my favorite fmc, I typically like my heroines tougher, fierce and badass. But, I do have a soft spot for Callie. She's empathetic and looks to help everyone around her. She grew up wealthy (her father was a senator) and yet she didn't follow the typical "snobby" vibe or think she was better than anyone else. She went to shelters and volenteered, she fed the homeless, she befriended the staff of her father's estate. She was very niave and has a sort innocence and shyness to her but, she can snao back and be sassy when she wants. I hope in book two we see more of that growth in her.

As for their relationship: I loved the slow burn of it and how she wasn't so easy to give into Hayden despite being attracted to him. She made him work for it and told him no on many occasions and I loved that he respected her physical boundaries (cause he def. didn't like being told no when she wouldn't listen to him 😅). I'm curious to see how their relationship grows next book and to see them admit they've def. grown feelings feelings. Hayden doesn't quite understand what he's feeling is love and I can't wait for that realization to hit him.

I enjoyed the story telling, the pacing, the mysteries and secrets we're trying to uncover and the relationships/friendships between the characters.

ᴀʀᴄ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ
ᴏɴᴄᴇ ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ ᴍɪɴᴇ
ᴍᴏʀɢᴀɴ ʙʀɪᴅɢᴇs
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

•sᴛᴀʟᴋᴇʀ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
•ᴏʙsᴇssᴇᴅ ᴍᴍᴄ
•ᴍᴏʀᴀʟʟʏ ɢʀᴇʏ
•ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ ᴍʏsᴛᴇʀʏ

Will I read book 2 in this duet? I don’t know yet. Although entertaining, the plot was as messy as the FMC was an idiot. Drove me bonkers! Debating on my investment 😂

MMC Hayden? Controlling, possessive stalker? Jury is still out on him, but his dirty talk and actions could possibly sway me 😏 I am a sucker for a stalker romance, after all.

📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖

I am a sucker for a dark romance. Throw in a mystery and I'm in love! This book hooked you from the beginning and never lets go. I had to jump straight into the next book because that cliffhanger....wow! Make sure when you pick this book up, you have time to read it and the second one. You won't stop thinking about it otherwise!

Once Your Mine is well written and with good spice 🌶️ There's a cliffy at the end that leaves you wanting to read the next book right away! There was, however, something missing for me. I had a hard time feeling anything for the characters and wish the unhinged parts were on page. I'm debating reading the next one.

I know it's not going to be for everyone but I really enjoyed Once You're Mine by Morgan Bridges. This is a slow burn, stalker romance and the first book in the Possessing Her duology. I liked getting the multiples POVs. It really added so much depth to the darker emotions of certain characters. The romance was definitely slow burn but it was absolutely worth it. I recommend this one for dark romance fans but make sure to check the content warnings first.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️!

if you’ve never read dark romance & want to dip your toes into the sub genre, then this book is 100% the way to go!! i’d say it’s definitely on the lighter side of dark romance where the mmc is an obsessed & possessive vigilante/stalker. he definitely falls harder!

i feel like this book was such a great set up for book two & now i need it in my hands right now! i loved hayden & calista a lot, but i truly think book two is going to be so much better! the tension was great & i loved seeing both of their povs. i did sort of expect more of a conflict to happen in this book because of the details we find out towards the beginning; however, i am now assuming book two will have all of that. it has to, right??

overall, this was such a good & veryyyyy quick read!

not for me


2 stars

has to DNF at 20%

Thank you netgalley for the arc and I wish this book was for me but it was not. I had a problem with the pacing and characters

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! If you're into dark romance and dig a slow burn, this book is definitely your jam. If you enjoyed Haunting Adeline, this one's right up your alley too. Was this book my cup of tea? Not really. After giving it a go out of curiosity, I'm pretty sure dark romance isn't my thing. Plus the storyline moved very slow for me. Like every romance with the FMC falling for the morally grey MMC, there's the obligatory funny best friend. Harper is that hilarious bestie, and I totally loved her.

I gotta admit, the text exchange between Hayden and Calista at the club had me cracking up!

Calista: *orders another motherfucking drink.

Hayden: That better be a glass of motherfucking water.

Like, with "Haunting Adeline", I wasn't really into the whole stalker plot, but I get that some readers would totally dig it. What I absolutely love is the guy who claimed he never kisses because it's way too intimate for him. And then he finally kissed our girl Callie. That's when I knew things were about to get real.

Nonetheless, I feel like the dark romance book girlies on Booktok would eat this book right on up.

I am a huge dark romance reader and I was excited to be able to read an ARC of this. I have heard a lot of buzz about it, and it was on my TBR. I am wildly disappointed. The chemistry is not there. Hayden is not OTT in the usual dark romance way; he's OTT like some Dick Tracy, crime noir but 50's big acting, ridiculous type. It's too much. It isn't believable and he genuinely reads more as neurodivergent with no coping skills than morally gray.

Hayden is a vigilante lawyer who thinks that punishing those who are guilty but somehow do not get behind bars is a good outcome.

However, soon after a Senator was declared not guilty, he was found dead. That death brought Hayden’s attention to Calista Green, the Senator’s daughter and he becomes obsessed with her.

His whole goal is now to protect her from anyone and anything.

Will she accept his help? Will she discover his dark secrets?

This is a morally grey dark romance book and it is fast paced!

Tropes: instant obsession, being alpha, manipulation, possessive, rich and drop dead gorgeous, toucher her and ☠️

TW: manipulations, death, stalker

🌶️🌶️
Dual POV
Ends on a cliff hanger

I cannot wait to read book 2, Now You’re Mine to know the sequel!

Thank you to Morgan Bridges and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.