“Hope this doesn’t end up as TMI and we can still be friends.”
This is a statement I made to my friend Donovan after explaining why I enjoy vampire romance. It is a repeated theme for me in a lot of our romance oriented conversations. Especially when we are discussing dark romance. This is a new(ish) subgenre to reach the masses, and it’s skyrocketing sales caught my curious friend’s attention. This lead to some of the most intense, hilarious, and deeply personal conversations I’ve ever had… typically held in the middle of the romance section of our local Barnes & Noble. And they always started with Donovan coming out of nowhere to go “So, I have a question.” Did we get much work done once his curiosity was piqued? Not if we worked together that day!
So, what are my thoughts on dark romance? Well, they tend to be hit or miss for me, leaning heavily on the miss side. I’ve tried mafia, college, stalker, serial killer, paranormal and royalty style dark romance. I’ve dove into some of the popular titles like Hooked, Haunting Adeline and The Ritual. And in a few cases I came out of those pages worse for wear. Some of them to this day I still can’t wrap my head around. Others I will recommend until the day I die. Are they the best literature? No, but I had a blast reading them. In the end, I have decided that a lot of these authors are relying on shock value to hook their readers, not a decent plot. The more twisted and depraved, the more some one looks at it and goes what the fuck the better. Now, that is wholly my opinion and I don’t expect anyone to fall in line with it. And I am also not saying that all dark romance authors fall under this umbrella, this is just something that I have decided based on the books I personally have read.
With that being said, I am mostly indifferent about the genre. There are a handful of authors that I will happily read their works going forward, and a few I will actively avoid, but all in all I don’t have feelings about it one way or the other. As long as it stays fiction and people understand it is for entertainment, not to romanticize some of the uglier parts of being human. Do I think Emily McIntire wants to be held hostage in someone’s basement for days, then have them take her to a ball to piss off her father before murdering him? No, I don’t. I think she wrote it to entertain people who were looking for something a little more intense than your general romance. Do I think Harley Laroux wants to be sacrificed to an old octopus god before selling her soul to a demon? Nope, but that book sure was fun to read. These books contain some very dark concepts, but these authors aren’t trying to make the world okay with what is happening. Katee Robert isn’t trying to tell the world that murder is erotic. She just wants to write an enthralling story that doesn’t shy away from the icky bits. Okay, mic drop, that was my soap box.
Since I brought them up, I guess now is the time to tell you a few of my favorite dark romances. Wretched by Emily McIntire, Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux, and Wicked Pursuit by Katee Robert. These are all vastly different stories, with different vibes, and each one was fucking amazing! Wretched is a mafia esq novel where a DEA agent has to go undercover in the opium world, but doesn’t expect to fall in love with the woman running the show. Her Soul to Take is a story about cults, demons, and questionable cemetery activities. Wicked Pursuit is a stalker romance done to perfection.
There is more to talk about on this topic, or at least with romance in general, and I talk about it in depth on Donovan’s podcast. If you want to dig deeper with us give it a listen.
What Does Modern Romance Fiction Say of Us? (DANIELLE Edition)
Until the next page,
Dani