I know dark romance books aren’t for everyone, but I really enjoy them. What is a dark romance, you ask? Well, it’s a lot like it sounds, a romance with darker themes. The characters may be morally grey or anti-heroes, darker themes. There may also be some kinkier sexual elements. So basically, if there is a trigger warning, it’s probably a dark romance. Of course, like all things, there is a scale, and some romances are darker than others. If this sounds like something you may want to check out, I’ve listed my favorite dark romance books below. As always, check the trigger warnings, and if the book is a series, I’ve included the first book in the series only.
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Stroke of Midnight by K. Webster
Money can buy anything. And anyone.
Goodreads
As the head of the Constantine family, I’m used to people bowing to my will. Cruel, rigid, unyielding—I’m all those things.
When I discover the one woman who doesn’t wither under my gaze, but instead smiles right back at me, I’m intrigued. Ash Elliott needs cash, and I make her trade in crudeness and degradation for it.
I crave her tears, her moans, her submission. I pay for each one. And every time, she comes back for more.
When she challenges me with an offer of her own, I have to decide if I’m willing to give her far more than cold hard cash. But love can have deadly consequences when it comes from a Constantine. At the stroke of midnight, that choice may be lost for both of us.
I never claimed to be a good girl, but I definitely never asked for this.
Killian, Tristian, and Rath.
These three men are a part of my past–one that I’d rather never look in the eye again. In high school, they knew my secrets and I knew theirs. They had power and I had nothing. The night everything fell apart, my stepbrother allowed his two best friends to take their rage out on me while he watched. While they laughed.
But what happened that night wasn’t my biggest secret. So I ran, planning on never coming back.
Three years later I’m standing on their doorstep like a stray. They’re more powerful than ever now, having risen to the rank of Lords at Forsyth University. But I’m still on the run and there’s another monster chasing me down.
What could bring me back into their lives, their homes, and ultimately, their beds?
Fear.
Shame.
Desperation.Killian, Rath, and Tristian aren’t the only ones who want me. There’s someone far more dangerous out there who’s been stalking me since I left town the first time. Someone who makes the evil I know feel less dangerous than the evil I don’t.
But being their Lady is more than just fancy clothes and reputation.
I might be under their protection, but I’m also at their mercy.
Goodreads
Rule No. 1: Don’t piss off the Sick Boys
They’re cruel. Reckless. Impossibly fucked up.
The Sick Boys feed on the order they create. They rule Eastpoint University just as their families have for decades. But their power doesn’t stop there. The three of them are heirs to some of the largest fortunes in the world, and behind that kind of wealth lies an underworld of corruption.
On the surface, they’re perfect princes and he is their King. But underneath it all, they’re filled with blood, lies, and secrets. With all of their connections, they have the power to crush anyone who gets in their way. But just because they’re as warped as I am doesn’t mean I’m going to give them a free pass.
Because I, Avalon Manning, bow to no one, and I live to break the fucking rules.
“Madison Kate Danvers was murdered tonight.”
Those words changed my life, and not for the better.
Goodreads
They were wrong, of course. I wasn’t dead. But I was set up.
After being charged with a string of offences–and made an example of by my political minded father–I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind.
Hate.
Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid out future. Someone is going to catch the full force of my hate. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.
Archer D’Ath and his boys messed with the wrong chick and they’re about to learn just how cold Madison Kate’s hate can run.
He wants revenge, but he wants her more.
Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy.
Goodreads
His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy.
Until one day, something changed; stripped his innocence away.
The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play.
His dreams gone forever, he grew up way too fast.
An endless night of crocodiles, and watches made of glass.
He grew into a villain, the taste of vengeance on his tongue.
Craving to make his enemies pay for the misdeeds they had done.
Instead he found a darling girl, and refused to let her go.
For what better way to make the man pay, than to steal his little shadow.
They call me a slut. Maybe I am.
Sometimes I do things I despise.
Sometimes men take without asking.But I have a musical gift, only a year left of high school, and a plan.
With one obstacle.Emeric Marceaux doesn’t just take.
He seizes my will power and bangs it like a dark note.
When he commands me to play, I want to give him everything.
I kneel for his punishments, tremble for his touch, and risk it all for our stolen moments.He’s my obsession, my master, my music.
Goodreads
And my teacher.
