5000 Nights of Obsession by Drethi Anis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This dark book is a standalone by USA Today Bestselling Author, Drethi Anis. This book isn’t a fairy tale or romance. There is no Prince Charming, only an irredeemable villain and the object of his desire. His OBSESSION.

I felt his eyes on me everywhere I went.
I recognized his smell lingering within my home.
I even sensed his presence in my sleep.
It was too late by the time I found the monster hiding under my bed. He had wedged himself into my life, cornering me with nowhere to run.

The worst part?
The world adored him, but no one knew the devil lurking underneath the beautiful mask—no one except for me.

Manipulative, cold, and remorseless, Axel Trimalchio was a certified psychopath hiding in plain sight. He was fixated on me and would never stop chasing me.
He was determined to make me his… even though I already belonged to someone else.
.
*This book isn’t listed in the Romance category, and Axel shouldn’t be considered a hero. Check the author’s complete content warnings before proceeding.

5000 Nights of Obsession

There were too many things about this one that got on my nerves!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚💜💙
Story/Plot: 📕📗
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪
World building: 🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 😒🤩😀
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

The heroine: Piya – she was born and raised in New York and her husband Jai owns a hedge fund. They lived in Chicago for the last ten years but recently returned to New York. Her husband needs to network as much as possible to get his business back on track in the city. Jai wanted to go out to a social event near their apartment, though Piya didn’t want to go out. There had been a rift between them recently. Jai is always traveling back and forth from New York to Chicago, rarely spending a night in the city. It had been months since they were intimate. They ended up at a party at a very swanky home of some sort of celebrity with new money who had been throwing parties all summer.

The Hero: Axel – he was a celebrity DJ and a powerhouse in the music industry. He notoriously private and the details of his personal life were known by few. He was the one throwing the party that night. He had met Piya once before over a decade ago and he knew he wanted her as soon as he sees her at his party.

The Story: Piya’s friend Jordan worked for a PR firm who represented the owner of the mansion where they were attending the party. Jai wanted Piya to use her connection to Jordan to find out who it was that was throwing the party. Though Piya would never use her friend that way. When they arrived at the party, they were impressed with the opulence. Piya felt someone watching her during the party and time stopped when she saw the man on a balcony of the mansion.

I had a feeling that I wouldn’t like this one from the beginning, especially considering the female main character was married with a nearly grown kid, even if her marriage wasn’t happy. Piya wrote jingles before she was married, and after her marriage, she continued doing so under a pseudonym. Not even her husband knew that she still wrote music. I must admit, I did like the fact that she was independent in that way. Piya hadn’t been as likable as a young woman when she first met Axel, she was privileged, rebellious, and quite selfish. I didn’t really like all the backstory of when they first met. It moved way too slowly, and I got bored during the flashbacks.

I usually love stalker romance, but I did not really like Axel’s high handedness early in the story. He tried to control what Piya did, texting her and telling her to get rid of her husband, meanwhile making plans to break them apart if she didn’t do what he said. He also broke into her home and got in bed with her, knowing that she thought he was her husband. Though I must admit that since I got so bored during the flashbacks, I couldn’t wait till they were over, and we got to more of the current scenes.

There were layers of character dynamics—especially the unsettling control Axel exerts and the tension of Piya’s hidden independence. It seemed like the novel aimed for emotional intensity but leaned heavily on flashbacks that diluted the pacing. The power imbalance in stalker romance can be fascinating when done well, but Axel’s tactics seem more domineering than compelling.

This audiobook was narrated from multiple perspectives, done in dual narration by Sebastian York and Elena Wolfe. These are two of my favorite narrators. Sebastian York has a deep, gravelly voice that is perfect for Axel. Elena Wolfe has a pleasing feminine voice. Though I do wish there were more chapters in Axel’s point of view since this was told mainly from Piya’s.

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