Lilly Gayle is an award winning Indie and small press author who writes paranormal and historical romantic suspense.
You can find Lilly’s Books on Amazon and other online and instore retailers.
Beyond the Darkness, Book 3 in the Darkness Series releases on April 5, 2026
To save the woman he loves, he may have to become the monster she fears.
Axle Travers never expected the biotech giant Lifeblood of America to be run by vampires—nor that a rogue military doctor would kidnap him and twist his DNA into something no longer fully human. A radical vaccine saved his life, granting power without the curse. But survival always leaves scars.
Eight years later, Axle runs a PI firm in Asheville, chasing monsters in the shadows and burying the truth of what he’s become. Then Haley—his first love and the woman he never stopped wanting—walks back into his life. Fresh from a failed marriage, caring for her dying mother, and reeling from a hurricane, she now faces something far worse: a stalker the police can’t stop.
Axle takes the case, but their fragile reconnection fractures when he discovers her stalker is no longer human. And the secrets behind his own transformation are rising, threatening to destroy everything he’s built.
To save Haley, Axle must decide whether to hide the monster inside him… or risk everything by revealing it, hoping their bond is strong enough to survive what waits beyond the darkness.
Because in a world where monsters wear human faces, the most dangerous one may be the man she trusts with her life.
Beyond the Darkness, by Lilly Gayle, is a paranormal romance with a strong vein of suspense. It opens in a very grounded way: Haley Connors is trying to rebuild her life after disaster and divorce, only to find her “three dates” mistake, Josh Patterson, has turned into a steady, public, hard-to-prove kind of stalking nightmare. When local law enforcement can’t or won’t act, she hires private investigator Axle Travers, a high school acquaintance, and the case starts like a tense small-town game of cat-and-mouse. Then the floor drops out. Axle’s past is tangled up with a blood bank, missing bodies, and something that looks a lot like vampires hiding in plain sight, and Josh’s obsession begins to intersect with a much bigger, older darkness.
I appreciated the way Gayle commits to the feeling of being trapped in “normal” systems that do not protect you. The early scenes with Haley are claustrophobic in a believable way; the air goes thin every time Josh pops up in another public place and keeps his tone just polite enough to dodge consequences. When her cat goes missing, and she’s desperate for someone to take it seriously, the book doesn’t pretend there’s an easy switch you can flip to make stalking feel acceptable. That frustration has weight. It also makes the later escalation hit harder, because you can feel how long Haley has been bracing for impact.
This is not only a stalking story; it’s also a story about secret wars and secret species. We get the Blue Book Task Force hunting vampires, divisions among vampires themselves, and the sense that “the monster” is not a single thing. I found that part oddly fun and sobering at the same time. Fun because the mythology has names, factions, and rules that give it shape. Sobering because it makes Axle’s life feel like a constant negotiation between loyalties, survival, and ethics, especially when his abilities cross lines that a decent person would rather not cross. And when the action finally goes fully supernatural, it does not do it halfway. The cave confrontation is fast, brutal, and messy in the way a real fight for survival would be, even with immortal creatures in the mix.
By the end, what stuck with me was the tone of devotion and the cost that comes with it. Axle and Haley’s connection is written as something fierce and chosen, not cute or convenient, and the book allows that love to feel both comforting and dangerous. The final note also refuses to make things too neat. There’s relief–a sense of “we made it,” and there’s still that itchy feeling that something is watching from the treeline. I’d recommend Beyond the Darkness to readers who like paranormal romance that leans toward suspense, where the relationship grows under pressure, and the world keeps widening until it’s far bigger than the couple’s original problem. If you like danger, loyalty, and a romance that has to earn its light, you’ll probably tear through this novel.
Pages: 291 | ASIN : B0GJBLCWLS
Embrace the Darkness, Book 2 in the Darkness Series released on October 31, 2025. Pre order now on Amazon.
An experimental vaccine offers vampire Gerard Delaroche a glimmer of hope after two centuries in the shadows. But when two people are savagely murdered and another vanishes, Gerard suspects a deadly conspiracy—one that binds vampires and mortals in blood and betrayal. To expose the truth, he must trust Amber Buckley, a former soldier turned detective with a haunted past and eyes that see too much.
Assigned to reexamine the Lifeblood of America slayings, Amber expects routine interviews. Then she meets Gerard—and something in him stirs memories she thought buried for good. As they dig deeper, the case unravels into something far darker than either imagined.
Together, they must confront secrets, nightmares, and a bond neither expected. But to find the light, Gerard and Amber must first… Embrace the Darkness.
Out of the Darkness Book 1 in The Darkness Series Available now.
Her research could cure his dark hunger if a covert government agent doesn’t get to her first.
Vincent Maxwell is a vampire with a conscience seeking a cure for his dark hunger. But when a scientist looking to create vampire soldiers captures and kills a fellow vampire, Vincent seeks out Dr. Megan Harper, a research scientist who discovered a link between a genetic light sensitivity disorder and vampirism. Dr. Harper could hold a key to a cure and the answers to Gerard’s death. But getting close to the beautiful scientist could endanger both their lives.
When Megan meets Vincent she believes he suffers from xeroderma pigmentosum, the genetic disease that killed her sister. Sensing a deep loneliness within the handsome man, she offers friendship and access to her research files. But she and Vincent soon become more than friends and Megan learns the horrifying truth. She’s entered the dark and unseen world of vampires and Vincent is her only hope of survival.
Praise for Lilly Gayle
“Ms. Gayle weaves a delightful tale that keeps you entertained and wanting to turn those pages to find out what happens next.”~ Romancing the Book Reviews
2015 OKRW’s International Digital Awards~ Historical Category~First Place ~ Slightly Noble by Lilly Gayle ~ The Wild Rose Press
Slightly Noble~ 2016 Reader’s Choice Award
Historical Category for 4.5 Star Reviews.
Lilly Gayle Romance 