After being firmly in the contemporary rom com genre I wanted something extremely dark and Graves by Katelyn Taylor delivered. Warning: This book is not for anyone new to the genre, and while I’ve listed some of the trigger warning, please go through them at the beginning of the book again before you dive in.
Graves by Katelyn Taylor
Graves by Katelyn Taylor is a why choose dark romance book. It was published on June 3rd, 2024 and is 457 pages long. You can find the book on Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, and the author’s website here.
Premise
Zayden saw Blake first, stalked her first, and made the claim over her first. It didn’t matter that she was unaware of him. After he ends up in jail he implores his twin brother, Dominic, to watch over her for him until he gets out. But after weeks of watching the woman Dominic is ready to claim her for himself. He tries to ignore his desires, but after his brother gets sentenced to three years, he’s ready to claim Blake for himself. That is until his brother gets out of prison, with the help of someone he shouldn’t have asked for help from, and now they’re all in danger.
Triggers
Triggers found in Graves by Katelyn Taylor include:
- Violence, Gun, Knives, Blood, Murder, Gore, and Death
- Mention of past child abuse and CSA
- Sexually explicit scenes including: Non-con, dub-con, knife and blood play, choking, somnophilia, double penetration, breeding, anal, and branding.
- Stalking
My Thoughts
Upon first introduction of Blake I didn’t know if I was going to like her or not. While in Zayden’s POV you get the impression that she’s a stop and smell the roses sunshine type. Soon we figure out that she’s extremely snarky, has a bit of a dark sense of humor, and is a strong FMC.
“Anywhere you want. We could do dinner or something else. I just want an excuse to show you off,” I say with a small smirk. “Well, as long as it’s a ploy to boost your insufferable ego and nothing serious like enjoying my company,” she teases. – Graves by Katelyn Taylor
Ok, look, eventually you all are going to realize that I’m a sucker for a psychopathic MMC, and Zayden checked all of the boxes. He doesn’t have a morality meter so he sees what he wants and he will stop at nothing to get it. He says what he means, means what he says, and doesn’t give a flying hoot about societal standards.
Dominic is Zayden’s twin brother, and he does have a morality meter in his brain, that doesn’t stop him from still going after what he wants. Should he chase after the woman his brother is obviously obsessing over? Probably not, but fuck it cause he wants her too.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to put you on edge. I just wanted to make sure you had a safe way to get home.” “And the creepiness continues,” I say, only half teasing. – Graves by Katelyn Taylor
That being said there are loads of spice scenes in this book, individual and all together. If you want a high heat book, this one is it, so long as you like reading about the kinks that are in the trigger warnings.
And just because I feel like I have to say this, please never ever use fiction (especially dark romance) as a guide for exploring kinks. While you might enjoy reading them many of the kinks in this book are extremely dangerous. There are plenty of people within the kink community who can help you explore kinks in a safe environment.
Moving on, we didn’t get many lovable side characters though there was a moment in the bar where we had a sort of found family moment. Most of the side characters weren’t great people so we kinda hate them, and some we absolutely hate.
“Why?” Marty asks from the bar top as he takes a sip of his beer. “Your friend had too much to drink, slipped, and busted his face to shit.” “What?” another one of the guy’s snaps. “That’s not what happened! He was attacked.” “Not what I saw,” another customer chimes in. “He sexually assaulted Blake here, and then when he tried to follow after her, he slipped and got all fucked up.” – Graves by Katelyn Taylor
There were a couple of twists in the book that you didn’t see coming, but it was all tied up nicely in the end. Overall the book was enjoyable. High spice with a good plot mixed in.
Overall the book has extremely dark vibes. Tortured pasts for all of the main characters, that will leave you curious throughout most of the book. Most of the past revealing is about Blake with us only finding out about the Graves brothers toward the end.
Who Would Like Graves by Katelyn Taylor?
Tropes found in Graves by Katelyn Taylor include:
- Why Choose
- Stalker x2
- Taboo – Twin Brothers
- Strong FMC
If you liked Den of Vipers by KA Knight, Dead Men Walking Duet by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, or Firethorne by Nikki J Summers you may also like this book.
Have you read Graves by Katelyn Taylor, or are you adding it to your TBR? Let me know in the comments below. I love interacting with other readers about books I enjoyed.