Darkness I Become

A Post-Apocalyptic Dark Romance

The only way to survive the darkness is to become its mistress, darling.

Thirty years after the apocalypse, Asha Agarwal lives in a secure, walled compound created to protect the world’s most powerful from those who live outside—the Wastelanders. After she survives an attack that destroys her home, she soon learns that the Wasteland is every bit as unforgiving as she was taught.

After she and her best friend run afoul of a group of bloodthirsty cannibals, Asha finds herself alone and stranded in a world she has no skills to navigate, with nary a rugged Prince Charming in sight. Instead, she’s kidnapped and put up for auction at a notorious slave market as an unusually beautiful prize. To avoid being sold into slavery, Asha strikes a bargain with Cade, a lethal gang member with shady ambitions: be his woman, and gain his protection against the rest of the gang, including its cruel leader, Angel.

But Angel has other plans for her—pain and torture chief among them. As Cade struggles to protect her from the brutal lifestyle she’s unwittingly fallen into, and a deal with the devil rocks the fragile trust between them, Asha soon learns that the price for her escape might just be the one thing she has left: her soul.

Darkness I Become is a standalone post-apocalyptic dark romance that stars one of the supporting characters from The Wastelander Series. You do not need to know The Wastelander to enjoy it, but listeners of that series will have a richer, more complete experience. Please note that this audiobook is a dark romance, and as such, it features even darker themes than the original series. Review content notes carefully.

©2025 E.S. Luck (P)2026 E.S. Luck

Turning into darkness

This book wrapped up the missing pieces in this series. It captures your attention with a great story and a little spice

Loved getting Asha’s story, certainly adds a lot to The Wastelander series!

I really enjoyed listening to this part of The Wastelander series. Truly she (Asha) has to embrace the darkness and become it…. Some very spicy chapters in this one, more than the two we’ve seen so far with Claire and John. Yowza!

Great dystopian dark romance

When the description says a Post-apocalyptic dark romance, it means it! This is quite dark, and the romance is quite spicy. This spinoff from the Wasterlander series tells the story of Asha, from books 1 & 2 of the Wastelander, and Cade, who she meets in this book.

Asha is highly unlikeable in the other two books, and while you feel a little more sympathetic to her character in this one, in the end, I still didn’t like her much.

Full of action and fighting, this book is grim. From the selling of women as slaves, to cannibalism, and murder, this one goes way dark. But amidst all that, love can still be found.

This series is very entertaining, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Looking forward to seeing where Asha and Cade’s story goes, as well as the other characters from the Wastelander series.

The audiobook is done well, Sarah Kuklis’ narration keeps you engrossed and interested in the book. Overall, a good audiobook all around.