Her touch kills, his saves the dying.
Are they fated, or forbidden?

Tempest Dunlap loves romance novels, but she knows she’ll never have her own happily-ever-after. She is a sweatpants-wearing doula who homeschools her seven-year-old niece in suburban New Jersey. Unfortunately, she’s also a succubus: Every man she’s ever kissed has died. But Tempest is a good person who never intended to be a murderer, so she’s sworn off love forever.

Then she meets Joel Tav, a gorgeous, gentle doctor who makes celibacy feel impossible. Tempest knows she can’t touch him—or tell him his brother was the last man she dated and accidentally killed.

Meanwhile, a vigilante is hunting people with dark powers, and Tempest is next. Should she keep hiding in her safe, lonely life, or should she embrace the darkness she fears and risk the ultimate forbidden love?

Maybe Tempest will get her love story after all . . . or maybe she’ll become its villain.

I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fun paranormal romance, and it was way different from anything I’ve read in this genre in a while. I tend to be picky about romance, so a book that flips things on its head is always refreshing. Honestly, it was a nice change of pace.

Tempest Dunlap lives in suburban New Jersey, where she works as a doula and homeschools her niece. She loves romance novels, but she knows all too well that a love life is not in her future. That was made abundantly clear when she learned she’s a succubus after kissing several men causing them to die. She refuses to hurt anyone, so she gave up on love completely. But then she meets Joel, a doctor who is kind and very hard to stay away from. Further complicating things is the fact that his brother was her most recent boyfriend and that she accidentally caused his death. On top of all that, someone is picking off people with supernatural abilities, and Tempest is next on the list.

Joel and Tempest are the very definition of enemies and forbidden lovers, and I loved watching them struggle against their feelings for each other. Their feelings are intense and bleed off the page. I was fully invested in the development of their relationship.

A lot of what makes the book and their budding relationship work is that it doesn’t follow the usual formula. Paranormal romance can lean on the same moves over and over, and this one felt like it was playing by its own rules. Tempest is an everyday suburban woman with a very unusual problem, and I liked watching her evolve. Her life is full of ordinary things like her work and her niece, so when the dark stuff shows up, it was a jarring juxtaposition (in a good way). The stakes in the romance are about as high as they get, too. Most couples worry about bad timing or meddling families. These two have to worry about whether a single kiss could kill him, and whether the truth about his brother will end things before they really start.

There’s a mostly well-rounded cast of characters to root for, which made the book a ton of fun. I think my only complaint was Joel’s character felt a little flat in that he didn’t offer many surprises. I liked him but he didn’t stand out to me the way Tempest did. She was very well-rounded and I enjoyed watching her figure out who her father was and how she became the succubus she is today. I also liked seeing her grow into her powers and learn just what she can do. She starts out afraid of the darkness in her, and watching her learn to embrace it was a lot of fun.

The mystery kept things interesting, and the ending was unexpected in a way I really liked. I won’t spoil it. I’ll just say it didn’t end the way I expected it to.

If you’re looking for a different type of paranormal romance, with fun stakes and a tight pace, check this one out. I had a lot of fun with it.