Corrupt by Penelope Douglas

My Rating: 🟊🟊🟊⯨

Spice Rating: 🌶🌶 (Not a ton of sex, but still good)

Blurb:

 Erika

I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession.

His name is Michael Crist.

My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He's handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.

But I noticed him.

I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away.

Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore.

Because he’s finally noticed me.

Michael

Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.

My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway.

Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college.

In my city.

Unprotected.

The opportunity is too good to be true, as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out.

We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.

*Corrupt is a STANDALONE dark romance with no cliffhanger. It is suitable for ages 18+.

My Review:

I’ve been pretty vocal about my complicated relationship with Penelope Douglas’s books, her stories tend to be very much a love-it-or-hate-it experience. For me, there’s rarely a middle ground: either I accept them fully at face value and let the madness unfold, or I bounce off them completely. Surprisingly, this one landed somewhere in between. It grabbed hold of me early, dragged me through the emotional wringer, and refused to let go… even when I wasn’t particularly attached to some of the characters along for the ride.

That said, I kept reading because I knew there was something waiting for me at the end, some revelation, payoff, or emotional punch that made enduring the chaos worthwhile. And honestly? It delivered. This book felt like a full-on dumpster fire rolling down the street: loud, messy, slightly horrifying, and impossible to ignore. I didn’t always like what I was seeing, but I absolutely couldn’t look away. There’s a strange compulsion to Douglas’s storytelling that pulls you forward even when you’re questioning your life choices.

And let’s be real, one thing Penelope Douglas consistently excels at is crafting unforgettable smut. Love her or hate her, she knows exactly how to write scenes that are intense, provocative, and unapologetically bold. Even when the story teetered on the edge of absurdity, those moments were executed with precision and confidence. In the end, this book may not have been a clear win or loss for me, but it was undeniably memorable, and sometimes, that’s enough.