Aaron Jones was a spark in the dark. Beautiful. Dangerous. Capable of destruction. Kenny should have run. Instead, he lit the match.
Dream a Little Dream by CF White
Series: To Love a Psycho Book 1
Genre: MM Contemporary Romantic Suspense Thriller
Release: March 3, 2025
His student. His obsession. His undoing.
“Aaron Jones was a spark in the dark. Beautiful. Dangerous. Capable of destruction. Kenny should have run. Instead, he lit the match.”
Aaron Jones knows all about the darkness lurking beneath polished façades. His parents were infamous for it. Determined to keep everyone at arm’s length, especially those who dig too deep, his carefully built walls start to crumble when he encounters his new professor, renowned criminal psychologist, Dr Kenneth Lyons.
Kenny has always been drawn to the darkness. But nothing prepares him for Aaron, the haunted student who awakens something dangerous in his carefully controlled world. As the son of the most infamous serial killers, Aaron’s past is a minefield of trauma and secrets.
Aaron is a beautiful, complex, irresistible puzzle, and one Kenny’s desperate to solve. Sweeping aside every professional and moral boundary, he crosses the line towards a forbidden, all-consuming obsession, where every touch is a sin and every whispered confession could lead to ruin.
But as a killer emerges, leaving a trail of echoes from Aaron’s past, their fragile relationship is tested in ways neither could have expected. And when the next target is someone close to Kenny, the line between Aaron’s bleak heritage and his innocence blurs.
Who the real monster is will leave them questioning everything.
Especially each other.
Dream a Little Dream (To Love a Psycho Book 1)is the first book in a gripping new trilogy of obsession, psychological tension, and dark romance where nothing is as it seems. Perfect for fans of twisted mysteries, forbidden attraction, and heart-pounding suspense.
Trigger/Content Warnings: Murder, discussions of serial killers, mentions of past abuse, mentions of rape and murder.
Available now on Amazon Kindle Unlimited, e-book, paperback & hardback!
Grab your copy here: https://mybook.to/DreamPsycho1
The throng moved, creating a line of sight to the bar, and the shark he’d snagged came back into view again. Sipping on whisky, leaning over the barrier, a smirk dancing on his face as though he’d watched that scene play out, and it amused him. So Aaron spiralled to face him, gym queen now lost at sea, and cocked his head.
Did he dare try?
Dare play?
“You want this?” he mouthed, gesturing to his entire body.
The man sipped on his whisky.
Involuntarily—yeah, right—Aaron merged into a solitary sultry dance. The rest of the echelons rutting against him were merely his backing dancers. And the others coating the edge of the floor had pirated the show. Aaron rarely gave anyone the time of day, but it was his subconscious that had him gravitating toward the embodiment of dark eyes lost in plain sight. The man was almost painful to look at. Aaron had nursed himself happy in here many times. He knew the telltale signs of someone else doing the same. And, for a reason he only talked about in therapy, the man had him hard within seconds of him gazing at him as though he’d paid for his services.
He should have taken the cash and run.
Consciously. Unconsciously. Who knew? Aaron ended up right underneath him. A step and a barrier away. Sweat, musk, and sandalwood hung thick in the air, but it was the sharp tang of anticipation filling his gut. Taking a leave of his senses, Aaron couldn’t shake the conviction that what he was about to do wouldn’t kill him in the end.
Curiosity killed the cat, didn’t it?
And he had sharper claws.
With a boldness foreign yet somehow predestined, Aaron reached out, brushing his fingers against the man’s clutching the glass of whisky. An electric charge crackled. Like lightning. Thunder. A storm of memories flicking before him, masked by searing strobe lights. Tension swelled in his gut, about to burst, but Aaron curbed it by snatching the glass, tipping his head back and downing the lot.
It burned, spreading fire into his throat, his chest, his cock.
Recollection rung hard in the man’s dark eyes. Aaron could feel it written in the lines of his face, in the set of his shoulders, in the unwavering scrutiny and their exchange became a standoff without words, a duel where the prize was knowledge, and the weapon would be who asked first.
Whisky drained, Aaron held the glass above his head, swaying to the pulsating rhythm, giving the man a show. The man took the glass from him, discarded it, then watched.
Brazen.
Then, slowly, Aaron lifted his gaze. Game over. He parted his lips, and the question slipped out like a dare: “What’s your name?”
He already knew the answer, of course. Had known it for years. Every syllable carved deep into the recesses of his mind. He wasn’t asking for confirmation, though. This was about seeing if the man knew him. If he recognised the ghost dancing for him.
Man pushed away from the railing and disappeared within a sea of bodies.
Aaron’s gaze followed him like his mesmerised prey, left wondering why the beast had set him free, now desperate to add Stockholm syndrome to his list of diagnoses. See, rejection did sting. Maybe he’d figure out why that was later. Maybe this bloke would help him with that. But his congenital hedonism had him squirming beneath the metal railing, leaping up to the bar level and squeezing through the throng, sliding away from the potential of a healthy courtship with those grappling for him to stay dancing, to follow a man so far out of his comfort zone, he might as well have been a woman.
He wasn’t, though.
Aaron discovered that after all of five minutes.
Dream a Little Dream by C.F. White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kenny is a criminal psychologist, renowned for his knowledge of the workings of the human mind. (“his ability was to understand deepest thoughts and desperate desires.”) A case from his past haunted him, as did the death of his sister, coloring his perceptions. Aaron is the child of serial killers. Separated from his beloved mother at nine years of age when his parents went to prison. Put in foster care, abused, where people punished him for who his parents were.
This book was dark but at the same time it was a bit heartbreaking. Both men had trauma in their past, but different kinds. I felt that neither had worked through what their past had done to their present (and possibly their futures). Their lies to themselves seemed to make sense but just pushed them deeper into the quagmire. Kenny sabotaged his relationships and Aaron didn’t allow himself to let anyone close.
I understand their relationship was outside of societal norms but they were adults.
Of the two, Aaron was was definitely the more interesting character. His past was a jumble of guilt and pain. But beneath it all he was so darn sweet. Kenny struck me as being mean most of the time but was still likable.
I haven’t read a lot by this author but I will be looking for more.
Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
CF White writes gritty British based stories about imperfect men falling in love against the odds and has been accused of sprinkling a bit of humour into them from time to time too. Because what’s life without sprinkles?
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