After finishing Brutal by AJ Merlin, I realized it wasn’t just a one off good book. I needed to go back to the first in the series and then continue on with it. That’s how I picked up Depraved by AJ Merlin, which absolutely confirmed how much I love this genre, this series, and possibly this author.
Where Brutal has a Jason-esque slasher in Wren, we meet Scream-esque slasher Virgil in Depraved. Now, I didn’t start with book 1 in this series because I didn’t think I’d care for some random guy with a dweebie name who sneaks into a girl’s apartment to have sex with her. Plus, I wasn’t sure how we’d get to Scream and not have it be a carbon copy of the movie. My worries were for nothing. The homage to Scream is subtle (apart from the mask) and added to the story and Virgil had me wrapped around his finger.
Sloane is our FMC that works at a campgrounds alongside her two dogs – one of which is a service animal to help with her PTSD. She enjoys her life, for the most part, and is doing just fine when one extremely hot camper checks in. Virgil, meanwhile, was not looking for a good time but found one any way. The way these two interact with one another is hot, but also sweet. Virgil definitely has a human and emotional side. He feels respectful and acquiesces to Sloane, despite this definitely being chock full of CNC.
Speaking of CNC, the spice was fantastic! Obviously, as this is a dark/serial killer romance, there are kinks. We’ve got some great knife play going on, along with some breath play. Of course, there’s primal play but it isn’t as strong here as it is in the next book in the series. We’ve also got some stalking, though it isn’t anything to write home about.
Depraved by AJ Merlin is a phenomenal dark/serial killer romance with intense spice and a fun story. This is absolutely recommended for folks that enjoy darker, kinkier romance with CNC, but also folks that understand this is fiction. A fictional book with fictional characters that of course will not have realistic reactions because this isn’t real life.
