I picked up a copy of Nocturnal by Clio Evans as an Amazon freebie at some point in the not-too-distant past.

I was his toxic obsession. He was my sadistic monster.

Nora:

When I took a job at St. Thorns university as a psychology professor, I encountered something—someone—unexplainable. Fascinating. And deadly.

Alec Briar had the eyes of a killer.

He’s a botanist who would rather rot in his greenhouse alone than deal with students, professors, or me. When a monster stalks me, our relationship becomes corrupted in ways that bring us closer together, for better or worse. He has secrets—ones that will destroy him if he discovers the truth…

Our minds twist to protect our souls, and Alec’s is the most warped of all. The only way to save him is to hurt him and accept the damnation doing so will bring.

Alec:

She was deadlier than belladonna, and yet I cannot resist her.

Nora Woulfe has become my infatuation. As she pushes me to my breaking point, we spiral down a path that will be our downfall. A monster is trying to steal what is mine, and I will hunt him to the bitter end. Even if I have to use her to draw him out…

This was a lot of fun. It’s not super deep or complicated. It’s cotton candy. But I went in expecting two (maybe three) chaos grimlins being chaotic, and the book delivered just that. I liked Nora a lot as a character and could relate to her frustration with society’s men. I appreciated Alec and Monster, too, though “likable” isn’t a description I could apply to them. I did find a lot of the narrative repetitive. The reader is told the same thing several times. Or maybe characters just keep thinking the same thing over and over, which makes sense for the obsessed. But it felt redundant to read. And there is a character who is trusted at the end, but I saw absolutely no reason why they should be more trustworthy than anyone else. All in all, however, I enjoyed this.

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