My Morally Grey Reads of June 2025

Dark Romance, Kinky Reads, & Audiobooks That Left Me Aching for More 🥵

There’s something about the heat of summer that makes me crave danger wrapped in silk sheets. Maybe it’s the way sweat slicks to bare skin, or how the air itself feels heavy with possibility. But as the days grow longer and the nights grow bolder, I find myself drawn—no, dragged—into the arms of dark, delicious men who make terrible decisions and fuck like gods. Give me blades at my throat, ropes at my wrists, and villains who whisper praise like poison in my ear.

This summer, I’m diving headfirst into books that leave my thighs clenched, my heart racing, and my moral compass deliciously spinning. Audiobooks that had me breathless while folding laundry. Kinky scenes that send me straight to the cold shower. Plot twists that made me gasp out loud like I’d just been caught doing something I shouldn’t.

Below, I’m spilling all the wicked details—my recently devoured reads, the morally grey men currently ruining my sleep schedule, and what’s queued up next to wreck me in the best ways.

Ready to ache with me?

Let’s begin…

Devour the Dark by Nikki St. Crowe is the follow-up to Devour of Men. It picks up right where the previous book leaves off with Hook, Wendy, and the Crocodile (Roc) hunting for a cure to the dark magic killing Roc from the inside out. It’s an MMF with Roc holding fast as a Dom to both Captain Hook and Wendy Darling.

The Devourer books are a sequel to The Vicious Lost Boys, a reverse herem, why-choose series of decadent and delicious depravity that was my first real taste of the world of why-choose.

I had been waiting for months for this sequel to come out, knowing it was going to complete the tale of this throuple, and even more anxious for the audiobook version, knowing the same cast would be back to lend their vocal gifts to bring this story to life.

While every other book in the Neverland universe has been fantastic, this one fell extremely short, and I was sadly disappointed in both the story and the level of spice that readers had come to expect from Nikki. As a huge fan of her work and a follower of her Substack, I knew she was also in the midst of working on a Wizard of Oz-inspired retelling while writing this book. A part of me wonders if she hurried through this while giving her new story much more care and attention. Another reason I question this is that not only was the writing not nearly as good as in her previous books, but the story itself was far shorter, with the audiobook only 4 hours in length. It was more of a quickie than the immersive erotica I was really expecting.

The sex scenes were still excellent, don’t get me wrong. The visuals of Hook getting his ass railed by Roc, while Hook was pounding Wendy at the same time was masterful with emotion and chemistry between all three. It was my first real experience with reading a story dedicated to a throuple, and the relationships between them worked exceptionally well. I just wish the story had been more developed.

The ending did leave me wondering if there was an opening for a potential for an Alice in Wonderland retelling in the future… but I’ll let you read the story to understand why I say that for yourself.

Overall: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Spice: 3/5 🌶️

Check it out:
Audible
Kindle
Paperback

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I had been told I needed to read A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne for the last few years. Demons, Monsters, Fucking… what’s not to like?

Well…

Let me first say my feelings on this book have nothing to do with the subject matter. I will never yuck anyone’s yum when it comes to kinks. Orpheus was great, and I loved the concept. And frankly, I have an extensive list of my own kinks that I enjoy indulging in regularly, after all.

However, my issue comes from the writing itself. I found a lot of the dialogue cringeworthy, and frankly, I am tired of fragile female main characters. I think that’s a big reason why in my own eroticas and smut tales, my FMCs tend to be strong, bad-ass types who don’t need a man, but choose to take one (or 5) because it’s their choice, not out of need or necessity.

To be fair, I also listened to this on audiobook, and the voice actors really made it difficult for me to get into the story. They sounded more like they were reading a menu than a dark romance.

I think I was also expecting something in the realm of 4.5/5 on the spice rating - something that would make me question my morals, and this was one of the tamest books I’ve read in a long while.

The mechanics of some of the sex scenes were also very difficult for me to fully visualize. I can get down with some kinky shit, don’t get me wrong… but a cock that receads into the body, covered by tenticles that wriggle non stop was just a little hard to picture for me. Again, not something I’m yucking, but when I’m reading smut, I want to be able to place myself in the story and visualize the scenes. I couldn’t do that with the story.

Now, for the die-hard monsterfuckers out there, this book is for you. I may just be late to the game and need time for the concepts to build a bit more, but without a bit more world-building and a higher level of dialogue, I’m not sure I’ll quite get there.

Belle and the Beast, huh?... I still don’t know, but what would have happened in the story if Belle had fucked the Beast before he became a human?

Having said all of that, there are a LOT of books in this series out there, and a huge fan base. I really want to give it another shot and try my best to learn to like it, but it might be a while before I pick up book #2.

Overall: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Spice: 3/5 🌶️

Check it out:
Audible
Kindle
Paperback

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Currently Reading

Ennared by Rebecca Quinn has me in a literal chokehold right now. I’m about halfway through this book, and while I will fully agree that the caliber of writing absolutely could be better, the fact is, this is pure smut at its core. This isn’t ACOTAR or Fourth Wing. This is 5 men, 1 woman in a BDSM pact, each with their unique relationships and sexual preferences in a post-apocalyptic world living in a hidden mansion. This is pure sexual fantasy, not Pulitzer Prize-winning literature, ok?

Now, having said all that, I really HATE the fact that the FMC, Eden, is AGAIN, a fragile little thing, and in this case, a 27-year-old librarian who has only ever been with one man in her life, maybe a handful of times. I’m not sure what it is about smut these days, but it really does drive me nuts to read about innocent little women. Many of the books feature men as the experienced ones, needing to show the poor, inexperienced girl what she’s been missing, which absolutely gets under my skin after a while.

But, that might also just be a “me thing” since I have a really hard time identifying with that scenario, much preferring to take the “oh honey… hold my beer.” attitude in those situations.

As a Kink Educator and Sexologist, I had issues with the general way the BDSM subculture was portrayed in the book, but I did appreciate that the author called out the fact that it wasn’t to be taken as an actual example of the lifestyle and only as a fictional work.

Funny enough, my partner was the one who read this series first and had been trying to get me to read it for some time. I had been knee deep in fairy smut for so long and needed a bit of a change (not a change from smut, mind you, but something non-fantasy for a minute), and now understand why he insisted I read this one.

To give you an idea of what to expect in this book:

🔥Reverse Harem
🔥 Apocalyptic
🔥 Danger/violence
🔥 Survival
🔥 Found family
🔥 Age gap
🔥Contract Agreement
🔥 Brat tendencies
🔥Dirty Talk
🔥 Booty play
🔥Impact Play
🔥 Rough Sex
🔥Vøyerism & Exhibitionism
🔥 CNC
🔥 Face Sitting
🔥Thigh Riding
🔥 MFM & MM
🔥 Sadism
🔥 Døm/Sub + MSub

The spice starts pretty quickly in the book, which I also appreciated. I’ve had my share of slow burns lately and really prefer to get right down to business. Clearly, the guys in this book did as well. My only wish is that I had found them before Eden. 😏

Finally, the audiobook is GOLD standard audio smut at its finest. I only wish it were fully dramatized with sound effects to go with the sexy voices. The full cast did an excellent job bringing the story to life and makes it one hell of a steamy listen!

Check it out:
Audible
Kindle
Paperback

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TBR Next…

Caged Wolf by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti is part of the Zodiac Academy universe. I had no idea that was the case when I picked it up, as I recognized the family names it referenced and had to look them up. I had initially started with Dark Fae, which I previously did a review of and was a little bummed this was in the same universe because I had a lot of issues with the previous book. I’m only a chapter in at this point, so I’m going to reserve my overall review until I’m a bit further in… for now, this is my “up next” once I finish Ensnared. I will say I am stoked it’s another smutty why-choose, which will make me finish it, regardless of the writing quality.

From the Editors:

What do you do when the man you’ve loved since you were fourteen is sent to the most dangerous prison in Solaria for saving your life?

Okay, so maybe he doesn’t love me back. And maybe getting sent down would seem insane to some, but I’m Rosalie Oscura, alpha werewolf from the infamous Oscura Clan. My family wrote the book on criminal organisations, and I’ll be ruling this place by the time the next moon rises.

Then I just need to work on busting us the hell out of here. ‘Us’ being me, the lion shifter I’ve loved for ten long years, and the most notorious criminal in here - a sinful incubus who’s been condemned to isolation for committing an unspeakable crime.

What’s the worst that could happen? I mean, short of being rejected by the black-hearted werewolf who rules over my sworn enemies, or getting myself noticed by the sinister vampire guard who has a dark vendetta against me. But how likely is that?

The trouble is, I need the help of those four alpha males to escape this place. And they happen to hate each other almost as much as they hate me.

But I always did love a challenge. So how hard could it be to make them accept me as their leader?

Caged Wolf was previously titled ‘Darkmore Penitentiary’ and is a dark fantasy romance where the female character will end up with more than one love interest. It’s a twisted cocktail of rejected mates, age gap romance, enemies to lovers, violence and steamy scenes recommended for readers aged 18+

It is set in the world of Solaria after the events of Zodiac Academy and Dark Fae and contains some character crossover but can be read as a standalone series without having read the other books.

Check it out:
Audible
Kindle
Paperback

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Unhinged: A Dark Why-Choose (Dance with My Demons, Book 1) by Steph Macca is a book that appeared in my discovery feed on Audible (I’ve built my algorithm brick by brick for this…) and judging by be reviews, I think its fair to say I REALLY need to give this audiobook a shot.

Now, the trigger warnings for this book are not the typical ones I usually go for (i.e. more extreme dark, not as many kinky-fun-fetish dark), but I had heard that the audio voice actors made this book worth an Audible credit and regardless of the story, it was a “must-listen” for any dark-romance lover. The spice level I’ve heard is around a 3/5, but with the right voice actors, that 3 can feel like 5/5 real fast for me, so I’m willing to give it a go.

From the editors:

Welcome to the Lilydale Foundation Center... home of second chances.

At least, that's what they tell us it is.

It's basically a glorified prison and asylum for the deranged with good alibis.

When the police pulled me out of my burning home, along with what was left of my Father, I was deemed broken - even if I was the reason the fire started.

So, here I am at my new home. They think they can save us with their fancy facility. But what insane person decided it was a good idea to put a bunch of young, unhinged people together? It's just asking for trouble.

Unhinged is a why-choose dark romance. It contains adult themes, sensitive topics, and is solely intended for mature audiences over 18. It is recommended that readers check the trigger warnings before diving in. Unhinged is book 1 in the Dance with my Demons series.

Check it out:
Audible
Kindle
Paperback

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This has been on my TBR list for a hot minute… Caleb from The Mate Games series absolutely destroyed me (in the best way) and I was hooked on the concept of a hot, sinful priest. This was recommended over and over in several of the smut book groups I’m in on both Facebook and subreddits, so I think it’s time I give it a go. The audiobook version I’ve heard is *chefs kiss* perfection, so it might be time for me to get on my knees.

Forgive me father, for I have sinned…. 😏

From the editor:

There are many rules a priest can't break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God.

I've always been good at following rules.

Until she came. Then I learned new rules.

My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I'm twenty-nine years old. Six months ago, I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again.

I am a priest and this is my confession.

Check it out:
Audible
Kindle
Paperback

Wrap Up

If you're still reading with flushed cheeks and a growing TBR, then welcome—you’re exactly my kind of wicked.

These stories fed that ravenous part of me that craves sharp teeth in silk gloves, kisses laced with threat, and characters who toe the line between sinner and savior. I don’t read dark romance to be comforted. I read it to be consumed. To be tangled in webs of power play, obsession, and unspoken longing that make my pulse stutter and my thighs press together beneath the sheets.

Whether you devour your spice in whispered audiobooks while stuck in traffic, or tucked away with a glass of wine and a do-not-disturb sign, I hope something in this list makes you ache just right.

I’ll be back soon with more sultry stories, spoiler-filled rants, and updates on the books that leave me ruined in the best ways. Until then, drop your favorite morally grey recs in the comments—I’m always hungry for more.

Stay hot, stay unrepentant,
Tiffany
💋

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