My Dreadful Darling 

H.D. Carlton doing what she does best — taking an MMC who has absolutely no business being forgiven and making you fall for him anyway. Dread is a bully in the truest, most unhinged sense — four years of psychological warfare, creative cruelty, and he brings minions — but underneath all that wrath is the boy who watched his mother die and never stopped bleeding. Reverie is his match in every way, not a passive victim but someone who hits back tooth and nail, and that push-pull between them is electric. The obsession-to-love pipeline hits hard here, the spice is some of HD’s hottest to date — her spiciest book yet, full stop — and the serial killer mystery threading through the whole thing keeps you paranoid and turning pages long past your bedtime. Go in knowing this is dark, the dubcon is real, and that cliffhanger ending is savage — but if you’ve ever loved Zade Meadows, you already know the assignment, and Dread is coming for his crown.

Book Description

“My darling, it is you who is dreadful.”

Reverie Adams has only one goal in life: to keep her head above water with her father’s sinister legacy weighing on her shoulders. But she’s no stranger to drowning—it’s her very first memory, after all, and if her demons have it their way, it will also be her last.

Even with the blood of a serial killer running through her veins, Reverie attempts a normal life at Hollow Canyon University. But there’s a ghost from her past who refuses to set her free, haunting her every waking hour, and he will not rest until he has made her suffer.

Dreadful Sharpe has only one goal in life, but it’s not winning gold medals as an Olympic swimmer. The only thing Dread strives for is vengeance against the family who murdered his mother.

Determined to make Reverie pay, Dread does everything in his power to ensure she never finds a moment’s peace. If he has it his way, she will drown in his wrath until her very last breath.

However, not everything in Reverie’s past is as it seems. Together, they may be forced to face the most harrowing of truths: Dread isn’t the only ghost who intends to make Reverie suffer.

Author’s Note: This is book one in a duet and ends on a cliffhanger. For CWs, please check the author’s website.

Genre, Tropes & Kinks Triggers ⚠️ DETAILED TRIGGERS ⚠️ (contains spoilers)

Content Warnings

This one comes with a real trigger stack, so let's talk through it. The bullying is extensive and escalates well beyond verbal — Dread's "pranks" include leaving Reverie handcuffed to a flagpole overnight in a blizzard until she's blue and hypothermic, staging a fake cop arrest while she's having a panic attack, placing a butchered dummy in her room to trigger her trauma around her serial killer father, and burying her alive in a grave he dug on her birthday. That's physical abuse and captivity, not just mean-boy energy. There is significant emotional, psychological, and verbal abuse throughout — four years of sustained torment and manipulation/gaslighting, including the use of intimate photos and recordings against her. The dubcon is real and consistent: Dread regularly pushes past a "no," and there is a specific scene where he presents a coercive ultimatum (have sex with him or he'll drown her, weaponising her known fear of water) — several reviewers classify this as non-con rather than dubcon, so both are flagged. Stalking is central to the premise — he follows her to the same university specifically to torment her. The serial killer subplot brings murder, violence, and gore (a copycat killer is active throughout). Both MCs carry heavy trauma/PTSD from childhood — Reverie from growing up with a serial killer father, Dread from witnessing his mother's murder at age 8. There are voyeurism elements including secret photos and sex recordings. The stockholm syndrome dynamic is acknowledged by readers. The overarching relationship is toxic by design. Ends on a cliffhanger — book two is already available.
Book Meta
Publication Date2026-04-21 Relationship Pairing(s)MF Darkness Score8/10
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