3.5 Doctor Death Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

I’ve been debating how I feel about this for a while and was flipping between a 3 and 4-star rating for the longest time. While I devoured this (which means it has some addicting qualities) and enjoyed the aspects it was missing that extra oomph that would have made it perfect.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
Remy, eager for a new start, moves into her uncle's dilapidated mansion with her 20-year-old brother. They have inherited the house, intending to repair it and flip it for a profit after Remy left her fiancé, who was cheating on her. The house is located in a creepy little seaside town called Grimstone, with vibes that are a little eerie, and townsfolk that are a little too nosy. Very soon after moving in, she encounters her grumpy neighbour Dane Covet, AKA Dr. Death, according to the town, since it's rumoured he murdered his wife and son. Dane, who is incredibly hot but also an incredible arsehole, blocks her from using the only road to her new house and then blackmails her into fixing his fence so she can use it. One afternoon, when she is hacking away at the wood, she unfortunately hacks her leg open, and good thing she has a doctor so close by... Dane stitches her up, kisses her, and nearly rips her nipple off. Soon, Remy and Dane find they can't keep their hands off each other, even though Remy believes Dr Death might be breaking into her house and playing tricks on her at night... because there's no way it's haunted, right?

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
This book was a little unhinged in the best way, and I loved that it had elements of an "unreliable narrator." As the reader, you are not really sure what is real or not. The town is spooky, the mansion just as eerie, and you're not really sure if Remy is being haunted, if she's being pranked, or if she is actually crazy and it's all in her mind. You are almost put into the role of detective.

Remy is determined and stubborn to make things work, and she feels very alone and like a failure. She has been devoted to raising her brother since the fatal boat accident that killed both her parents years ago. She is plagued by discombobulated, repeated nightmares of her parents' accident and very often puts herself down, belittles herself, or condescends to herself and her intelligence. She feels that, because she never really had the chance to go to college, she never really had the chance to be an adult, because she's always been looking after her brother, and the only thing she knows is construction. However, she is resourceful, and she doesn't let the opinions of other people sway her beliefs and her gut feelings toward people and situations.

Dane is troubled and a little disturbed, though I still feel like, even after reading the whole book, I don't know him as a character. Dane is cold, calculating, and aloof. He does not like people and is a little messed up in the head... I did like that he was slightly older, though. I am so over reading about an MMC who is 19.

One of my issues with Dane is we are given his POV a couple of times, but his internal mind is never really elaborated on, so you have to make your own deductions on whether he is haunted or just hallucinating. His chapters don't go too much into his emotional trauma in dealing with his wife's death, and you never see him grieving; you just see short snippets of his anger. I think it would have made the revelation of what happened to his wife and son a little more impactful to see how he processed it, as it just felt like, as a reader, you're told about it and not shown. Mostly, his POV is just his lustful and obsessive thoughts about Remy and how he can't wait to take her clothing off. Every comment is just about her looks, her nipples, her clothing, her hair... everything based on her physical appearance. It just felt very insta-lovey.

Even though he talks about Remy having the same brokenness as him and being just as troubled and disturbed, I still feel like I have no idea who Dane is or what his personality is like outside of the surface-level aspects I have mentioned.

The writing was okay. It kept me hooked, but there were aspects of it that just didn't work for me, and I can't explain why. It might have been that I needed more development in the relationship between Remy and Dane. The more I kept thinking about this, the more I felt like it was lacking something. It wasn't spooky enough, it wasn't eerie enough, it wasn't mysterious enough, it wasn't mind-fuckery enough. It is very much centred on two very damaged people who have their problems, trauma, and demons. But I felt absolutely no relationship development between the two of them because their entire relationship was founded on lust. Every interaction between the two of them was explosive, domineering, and forceful, and I never actually saw them have any heart-to-hearts.

Then there is the aspect that THIS IS A STANDALONE... but there are SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! And because of that, I will never get the answers I need...

1. Did Dane really see his wife, or was it just his mind playing tricks on him?
2. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHEN HE HYPNOTIZED HER THE FIRST TIME...? There is the video of that "second" encounter. But the mystery of "I gave you a suggestion"... Now, are we to believe that he sexually assaulted her while she was hypnotized and used the excuse of, "Well, you're not gonna do a thing you don't wanna do when you're hypnotized," so whatever you're doing is completely allowed and consensual because your mind is allowing it whether you know about it or not? Or was he trying to help her as a doctor in that situation, and only the second time was sexual because we only ever see the second video? Like, what happened???
There were some unexpected plot twists I didn't see coming, but then there were also really blatant ones that had me rolling my eyes that Remy didn't see them right in front of her eyes.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Dual POV
▶ Rich Guy X Poor Girl
▶ Small Town Romance
▶ Mystery, Spooky, and Gothic
▶ Rivals to Lovers
▶ Doctor x Patient
▶ Neighbors (Forced Proximity)
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Fast Burn

Kinks: BDSM elements, Bondage, Mirror/Reflection Sex, Begging, Degradation and Praise, Hypnotism Sex, Medical Spicy Scene

𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Good Girl
▷ Chin Lift
▷ He Takes Care of Her
▷ He Gives Her Lovvies (Combo of forehead, eye, cheek, or nose kisses)
▷ Tattoos

Overall, this is a perfect read for the upcoming spooky season. While it wasn't perfect, it was still enjoyable, spicy, and fucks around with your mind a bit...

Thank you to Netgalley, SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books and Sophie Lark for the gifted copy.
All thoughts and opinions are my own