Dark Romance Turned Dial to “Too Much”: When Obsession Overshadows the Story

I’m landing on 3 stars for Sabotage, which honestly surprised me because I usually have a pretty high tolerance for dark romance chaos. The first three books in The L.O.R.D.S. series already flirt aggressively with the edges of consent, disgust, BDSM, and taboo dynamics, so I went into this expecting intensity. Still, Sabotage somehow managed to crank the dial even further. This is the shortest book in the series, yet it felt emotionally heavier and more uncomfortable than the others, and not always in a way that worked for me.

COLTON
Raylee Lexington Adams is my stepsister and the one woman in the world who can make my blood boil.

She’s vindictive, a lot of crazy, and absolutely stunning.

I hate everything about her except for when she’s on her knees begging me to use her as my own personal toy.
We’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse for far too long. We have used each other for our own sick pleasure.

I’ve ruined every relationship my little princess has ever had.A sure way that she’ll come crawling back to me, begging me for what only I can give her when another man fails her.

But I'm tired of watching others get a piece of what is mine. So, I did what any rational man would do—I staked my claim, showed the world that she belonged to me, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make her believe it too.

RAYLEE
Colton Remington Knox is a man I despise but can’t say no to.

He’s what any girl would call a walking red flag. But I’ve never claimed to be a smart woman when it comes to men. Why should he be any different?

I’ve always managed to hold my own against him. But this time, he’s gone too far. Posting a video of me on my knees for him, for what? To brag? Embarrass me? He’s acting like he doesn’t know me very well.

Colt wants to play a game? I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure I win. No matter what it costs me.

People already think I have no dignity, so why let them down now?

I’m rarely someone who feels fazed by morally gray protagonists. In fact, I often enjoy them. Fiction is a playground for messy people making questionable choices, and dark romance thrives on that tension. But Colt crossed a line for me so often that the entertainment factor started to crumble. He didn’t just toe the moral gray zone. He sprinted past it, set up camp, and waved from territory that felt less like fictionally “dark” and more like a neon sign flashing prison sentence. There’s a difference between a morally corrupt antihero and a character whose behavior repeatedly made me recoil instead of feel conflicted. Colt leaned hard into the latter.

Ray, on the other hand, inspired a completely different frustration. Instead of fear or fascination, I mostly wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. Desire and logic can absolutely be at war with each other, and dark romance often thrives on that tension. But there were so many moments where her internal alarms were blaring that what she was drawn to felt unhealthy, dangerous, and very likely illegal, and yet she kept circling back. I understand the push and pull the author was going for, but it became exhausting rather than compelling. The internal conflict never felt like it evolved. It just kept looping.

This is actually the first dark romance where I genuinely found myself hoping the male lead would not get the girl in the end. That realization hit me halfway through and never left. Usually, even when the journey is twisted and chaotic, there’s a spark of chemistry or emotional payoff that makes the ending feel inevitable. Here, the possessiveness and obsession felt suffocating rather than intoxicating. Instead of tension, it created resistance.

Because the relationship dynamic dominated so much of my emotional reaction, the rest of the plot faded into the background. That’s probably my biggest disappointment. When I finished the book, I realized I could barely recall the larger story beats. The shock value and relationship drama overshadowed everything else, leaving the narrative itself feeling oddly thin despite the intensity of the content.

That said, I don’t think the book is bad. The writing style remains engaging, the pacing moves quickly, and readers who enjoy extremely dark, taboo-heavy romance will likely find exactly what they’re looking for here. The book knows its audience and commits fully to its tone. For me, though, the experience tipped from thrillingly dark into emotionally draining, and that shift is what ultimately pulled my rating down.

If the earlier books in the series pushed boundaries, Sabotage bulldozed through them. For some readers, that will be the appeal. For me, it was the moment the balance tipped too far.

About Shantel Tessier

Shantel Tessier is a USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author. She lives in Oklahoma with her high school sweetheart, who is a wonderful, supportive husband, and their two daughters. She loves to spend time cuddled up on the couch with a good book. Although she has a passion to write, her family is most important to her.

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