This dark, broody BL romance explores themes of trauma, escaping cycles of abuse, and facing the parts of ourselves we keep locked away out of shame.

As the screams of cicadas pierce the suffocating summer heat…
Nanase finds himself cornered by a strange, sinister animal.

The only thing more depressing than Nanase’s new cleaning job is his creepy, dead-eyed coworker, Kurono. And now that Kurono has turned that unnerving stare on Nanase, escape seems impossible.

No matter what violence or vitriol Nanase hurls at him, Kurono refuses to tear his gaze away—and those vacant eyes see right through the jagged cracks in Nanase’s bruised and battered heart.

When violence is the veil through which you see the world, vulnerability is the enemy… but in Nanase’s case, letting Kurono in may be the only way out.

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Content Warnings: Explicit sexual content, violence, sexual assault, stalking, domestic abuse

This is a dark romantic (?) story about a tough young man, Nanase, who is secretly a coward, and scared to be outted as a gay man. He has a lot of trauma from his childhood and school days, and has learned to throw punches first. This is a defense mechanism and a way for him to protect himself…But his coworker, the odd and slightly disturbing Kurono, sees through all of it.

Kurono and Nanase have both had terrible times in their school years. Kurono was bullied endlessly, and has scars all over his body from when his tormentors burned him with cigarettes.

Meanwhile, Nanase’s father beats the crap out of him–the worst episode happening when he takes Nanase’s phone and discovers his son has been watching gay porn.

Nanase and Kurono have become men who are warped in their own ways. Only, when Kurono notices Nanase at work, and after Nanase has thrown a few punches his way, he admits he’s fallen for him.

There’s a back-and-forth where the two relieve each other physically (although Kurono’s mostly relieving Nanase) and then Kurono’s attachment to Nanase freaks Nanase out, and he directs his anger at Kurono.

Things escalate from there, but I don’t want to blow it for you. Suffice it to say, these two wounded dogs were meant for each other, even though their relationship is kind of twisted and painful to watch, mostly because this isn’t a traditional, swoon-worthy romance. We’ve got severely wounded people here, and lots of past trauma.

I had to read this one twice. The first time, I sort of felt disturbed and didn’t know what to make of the abrupt ending, but the second time, things clicked for me more and I understood that the ending actually works out perfectly for our characters based on their personalities and history with each other.

This is an incredibly dark story, though, and I wouldn’t tread into this one lightly. The artwork is gorgeous (I like it even better than the cover), and the characters are very expressive–Nanase with his perpetual anger and wounded pride, and Kurono with his creepy, almost too-calm, nonchalant demeanor. They’re a weird duo, but they somehow work.

Heed the content warnings before you dive into this one, and if you do, I think you’ll find an engaging story with sympathetic, damaged characters.

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Hit Me Hard with Desire is available now directly from the publisher in digital or print, or from a variety of booksellers online and in-store.