Dark romance has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years with romance readers. Communities like BookTok have latched onto the genre with fervor, sharing and recommending the kinds of stories that once would have been considered completely taboo or even unpublishable.
While the history of romance is one with plenty of dark sides (just ask Daphne du Maurier and the Brontë sisters), what we call dark romance has taken that concept to a whole other level. These books are bleak, often playing around with ideas of consent and trauma, and focus on the kinds of people who would never be considered heroic.
What are dark romance tropes?
Many dark romance books come with content warnings to let you know exactly what you’re getting into. Expect to see stories with themes and tropes of kidnapping, stalking, dubious consent (or outright lack of consent), extreme BDSM, intense power imbalances, traumatic pasts and experiences with abuse, heroes in violent occupations (mafia, hitmen, serial killers), possessiveness, blackmail, revenge, enemies-to-lovers, and all-round obsession.
Bride of Pendorric
Favel Farrington meets Roc Pendorric on the idyllic Mediterranean island of Capri, where she was raised and lives with her father. Roc sweeps her off her feet and takes her to his family home on the coast of Cornwall, England. His family welcome Favel with open arms, eager to accept her as the long-awaited Bride of Pendorric.
But all is not as it seems. Everyone is watching her at all times. On the walls hang portraits of two other Brides of Pendorric, both of whom died young and in tragic circumstances. Roc is also growing ever more distant from her. What's going on in this grand mansion full of secrets and lies? Is Favel destined to be the next tragic bride?
Archer
Jane Beaumont is on the run. She's left behind everything, except for her cat, a pistol, and over $100,000 in cash. She's on her way home to Bay City, Oregon, desperate to get away from her violent ex, and finds a moment of solace at Beaumont Body Shop, a car detailer that runs a private investigation agency in the back.
The only wrench in her plan is Kage Archer. He's gorgeous, protective, and desperate to take care of Jane. The feeling's mutual but Jane can't risk putting Kage in harm's way. Kage is no stranger to the dark side of life, but he's not a rule breaker. Jane might change that, especially when the threat following her from the shadows emerges and they have to make life-or-death decisions about their future together.
Night Owl
Matt Sky has the perfect life. At 28, he has a gorgeous girlfriend, millions of dollars in the bank, and a slew of bestselling novels published under his alias, M. Pierce.
Life isn't so good for Hannah Catalano, a wannabe writer stuck in a dead-end job with a slob of a boyfriend. Matt and Hannah meet online as writing partners. Their relationship is perfectly safe and totally anonymous until Matt sees a picture of Hannah and he's instantly enthralled. Now he has to have her, and when fate brings them together, their passion is ferocious.
My Wicked Gladiators
Alba has spent her entire life pleasing others. As an upper-class plebeian woman in Ancient Rome, her job is to be subservient to her masters. But that doesn't mean she has to be happy with it, especially when her husband Lucius, the owner of a prestigious gladiatorial school, offers her body as a bargaining tool among his business partners.
She's been given to masked gladiators chosen by Lucius, an object of pleasure for these great fighters. What surprises her is the discovery that being submissive gives her great pleasure. Caius and Marcus are her favorites, deadly and forbidden. But with Lucius’ demands looming and the threat of death for her gladiators ever-present, Alba must decide whether or not she's willing to risk it all and put herself first for once in her life.
Split
Lucas spent the first half of his life protecting himself from others, but now he's at war with himself. One morning, he woke up and realized he had no memory of what happened last night, and these terrifying blackouts are beginning to take over his life. He has no memory of what he did, but he remembers the feelings of rage, of confusion, of fear.
Trying to live a quiet life in Payson, Arizona, his peace is destroyed when Shyann, his boss's estranged daughter shows up in town, asking questions she shouldn't. She might be the key to everything but his blackouts put them both at risk. If she sees the truth, he might lost her forever.
Haunting Adeline
There may be no dark romance more widely read and divisive in the genre right now than Haunting Adeline, a bestseller with well over half a million ratings on Goodreads.
Addie is an author who inherits a beautiful manor from her late grandmother that is rumored to be haunted. Shortly after moving in, she discovers a dark secret: her great-grandmother was murdered in that house and the killer was never caught. She worries that history is about to repeat itself as more and more inexplicable occurrences happen throughout the vast house.
Someone has been watching her from the shadows and he is obsessed with her. But he's not satisfied with just watching. He wants to make Addie his, and he'll never let her go, even if she begs for it.
There Are No Saints
Cole is a celebrated artist, but he's also a serial killer who stalks the busy streets of San Francisco looking for new prey. He thinks he's hit the motherlode with Mara Eldritch, a beautiful struggling artist who finds herself the object of Cole's obsession.
He takes Mara under his wing, curious to figure out why he's so enthralled with her. Is her soul as black as his? But it's not just Cole who's enamored with Mara. There's also Alastor Shaw, a rival artist and killer who is Cole's greatest enemy. Cole wants to protect Mara, but he's also fighting the growing urge to destroy her...
Butcher and Blackbird
Even serial killers need a companion. Sloane the Blackbird and Rowan the Butcher are both killers, engaged in a not-so-silent competition to see who can spill the most blood and cleanse the world of its most vicious human beings. Their paths cross when Sloane accidentally locks herself in a cage for three days with her newest target.
Together, they wonder if they can combine their powers for mutual pleasure, and thus a cross-country game of murder and mayhem begins. What neither expects is for love to get in the way. Do serial killers even deserve a happy-ever-after?
