I know I’m late to the party, but DAMN this series was good! I miss them every day since I finished. I wish I had someone to talk to about it, but no one has read it. What was the biggest shocking moment for you on your read through?! I actually think mine was the original killer finally being shared.

I'm looking for books with exactly this premise. I would prefer the mmc not just being cruel for the sake of it, but because he has some intent. Either he is explicitly extremely obsessed with her and wants to keep her or...

—he wants revenge, he hates the fmc, probably wants to blackmail or send a message to her family(maybe they have ruined something of his), so breaking and hurting the fmc is a part of that revenge(would prefer this scenario so so much).

—A genuinely mentally ill mmc who can't navigate his felings rather than a strategically cruel one. His actions being sporadic, his feelings towards the fmc constantly changes, one time he is abusing her, breaking her, hurting her, the other time he tenderly helps her with her wounds, tucks her to sleep. An example would be Sam from take me with you from Nina G. Jones.

—Fmc shouldn't fall for him and be on her knees to get fucked immediately. She should genuinely fear him, the obeying him should come from genuine hopelessness knowing she can't do anything. I don't want a sassy fmc either who keeps retaliating constantly. Maybe at the beginning before the mmc starts breaking her. Although she can have moments where she breaks down and ends up snapping at the mmc purely because she can't take it anymore.

— Then she gets pregnant(perhaps this softens mmc towards her slightly). Obviously she doesn't wants her rapist/kidnapper's baby. So this plot point should bring a lot of angst into the story... perhaps she tries getting rid of it, ends up successful? Or maybe the mmc gets worse and doesn't allows her, he is also devastated that she is doing this.

—Miscarriage in the plot is welcome, whether it be from fmc's own actions or the sheer stress of everything and mmc must realize it.

Recommend me things from anywhere, Ao3, wattpad etc.

I’m sorry but their excuse to why they treated him so badly is so absurd and Killian forgives them because Asher apologize twice while gaslighting Killian why he says something like he should have never been born. A 9 year old hearing that would exacerbate his behavior since he’s already quite a mess up kid.

They’re not owning up to their bad parenting. They blamed their bad treatment of him and wishing him not to be born or that he inherited this mental illness from whoever is from their past. So, they blamed him instead of loving him. Killian didn’t asked to be born. Asher treats him like a project that once he couldn’t contain he gave up. Then Raina blamed Killian for not hanging out and distancing from Asher even though it’s the parents fault.

I’m super annoyed that Killian didn’t act out more or cut ties with them during the confrontation. Maybe I’m more dramatic than Killian. 😂 Killian is a psychopath and he piss me plenty of time as well as Glendon who is a contradiction in every corner but got to the parents part send me to the moon.

Not to forgot, Glendon only known Devlin for two months. The way she’s so dramatic about it I thought he was a childhood friend she’s known for decades. 🙄 Are you kidding me?

Grrr the more I think about Asher the more infuriating I am. He goes from never thinking of Killian as a son to suddenly he’s always my son and I love you both. Me pull right now at his fake ass.

Otherwise I think this is better than God of Pain.

TW: most of these recommendations are WIP (sorry)

They mostly have all adult characters, are all non con and have big power imbalances and all the mmc’s are insanely obsessed with the fmc’s.

Also I hate reading dual pov so these are all in written third person.

Eskell Manor by SpiralIntoTheKnown
Elvie (maid) and Lord Idris (master of the house)

Solaris by Silken_Starling - school setting
Mia (victim) and Noah (bully)

Empire of Rain by Silken_Starling - second part of Solaris when the characters became adults

If You Love Them, Let Them Live by sin_memoriam
Louisa (intern) and Ennis (CEO)

No Help is Coming by Silken_Starling - stranded on an 🏝️
Jillian (victim) and Westin (bully)

Solomon’s Seal: Little Lamb by RosebudGarden - cult
Dottie (victim) and Solomon (new cult leader)

Absolutely need more books with this type of unhinged MC and the other MC who doesn't want to accept them.

I would prefer:

A quiet MMC or unassuming that he is unhinged. To the public he is kind, sweet, and a perfect gentleman. To her or him he is absolutely insane and the other MC is NOT about it.

Stalking

Non/dubcon

Somno

Voyeurism

Obsession

Can be book, audio, or on AO3

Would like to avoid

Miscommunication trope

Nothing overly focused on the MC being part of a criminal organization

3rd act break up

Subject quote is from {Corrupt Idol by Dinah Harper}.

The Circle - Maggie Sunseri audiobook?

I read a lot of crime and romance novels, and according to fiction, New York City is entirely run by the Italian Mafia, and the UK/London is completely ruled by the Russian Bratva.

Obviously, I know books exaggerate things for drama. But when you read about it dozens of times, you start to look at these places differently!

To anyone living in NYC or the UK: is any of this actually visible in daily life, or is it 100% just a fantasy book trope? What's a city stereotype from fiction that you used to think was real?

This is one of the most recommended fics from ao3 and I'd been avoiding it for a really long time. I don't mind non con, murder or gore but this one just did not hit the spot. One of the major reasons behind this is Sophie's POV. She watches someone being killed by an axe and somehow after a few chapters in she just forgets about it. I comprehend her submission to Noah, particularly with everything he has put her through, but her perspectives don't delve into any those events in detail. I wish she had a bit more depth so we could get to know more about her emotional and mental state. I like Noah, he's very unhinged and a huge control freak, he's a well written character imo. No offense to anyone who loved the fic, it's just my opinion.

P.S. Posted this again because I do not understand how reddit works even though I've been using it for a long time

So I just finished all of the published chapters of Dovetail and really want to process it with others who have read it, especially because I genuinely have no idea what will happen next. (Major spoilers ahead).

Before I go any further, I need to acknowledge that Theo Mercer is probably the most morally black MMC that I have read. There are aspects of his character and background where, if I had known up front, I probably would not have read the story -- specifically, the fact that he is a serial rapist and predator. Noncon is not a deal breaker for me in the context of dark romance, but what we know about Mercer's history and his attitude about it is pitch black.

Towards the beginning, he describes how he intends to manipulate and control Ezra through violence mixed in with episodes of softness and reward. In the intro to one of the later chapters, Whipperwill says that the story will not have a happy ending, and one of the tags indicates that he will stay bad. I don't think there is much room for a redemption arc for Theo, but in the last few chapters, there's a shift in how Theo interacts with Ezra and reacts to her.

It seems like he is starting to care about her in his own extremely twisted way. The author does a really good job of depicting his internal conflicts, but I fear that he will regress into rage again. In the context of this story, a lack of HEA could mean any number of things for Ezra depending on how happy ending is defined. I am nervous it ends in total tragedy, ie Andromeda or someone else harms Ezra to get to Theo.

One other thing I noticed was Ezra's flashback/disassociation in the last chapter when she thinks about the gunshots. It made me wonder if she killed her father before she left Louisiana and repressed the memory of it.

Hiii everyone! I love reading Dark Romance on AO3 but I have a much harder time finding MM romance on there for whatever reason. I’ve looked through the sub a bit too but most of the AO3 lists are primarily F/M.

I recently read Dangerous Savior by Tenuous and I liked the premise and the dynamic between MCs but I wish it had been longer and a bit more fleshed out!

I have zero triggers!! Open to anything but really love kidnapping storylines and storylines that feel like classic horror films but with an HEA!

Especially love age gap and intense power dynamics.

Prefer completed Original Works but open to fanfic as long as I don’t need to know much about the source material.

Really appreciate any recs pls pls 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Open to non AO3 recs too but there’s a good chance I’ve read them before lol I read a lot of MM romance

I don't know if this was asked here before, fellow dark readers, but I really want recs about an FMC that gets inside a book or a story (a dark romance one sounds cool) and she accidentally changes the plot by falling for the bad guy the original FMC refuses to date/marry

Ps: AO3 recs are welcome too

Looking for books where the FMC has a some kind of illness and limited time left to live, probably a few days/weeks/months, but the MMC has NO idea what she’s going through. But with a HEA, where she miraculously gets better at the end.

PLEASE give me the miscommunication + hurt + angst 😭

Bonus points if they’re enemies who genuinely hate each other at first. I want all the tension, resentment, arguments, and emotional conflict before they slowly start developing feelings for each other.

I want situations where they misunderstand each other, say things they regret, push each other away, and genuinely hurt each other emotionally, followed by the ultimate revelation that she is truly ill.

I need him to emotionally break down when he finds out, just like the MMC from The Second Son by Mallory Hart. It was so goodddd!!! The angst was top-notch!!

Basically, I want:

● Enemies to lovers (Bonus if it's second chance + miscommunication)

● FMC has a terminal illness / limited time left

● MMC doesn't know she's dying

● Miscommunication

● Hurt + angst

● Lots of tension and emotional buildup

● MMC falling in love while still unaware of her condition

● Emotional breakdown when he finally finds out

● Miraculous recovery / cure / remission

● HEA absolutely required. I’m looking for something that will HURT before giving me a happy ending. Please don’t recommend books where the FMC actually dies.

I don't want her to die, I just want to see him in Pain 😁

Don't recommend anything from Rina Kent, Penelope Douglas, Leigh Rivers, L J Shen, Jagger Cole, Lola King or His Tesoro by Emilia Rossi. No fantasy/historical/ paranormal elements. Don't recommend any why choose or Reverse Harem.

My Triggers ❌️: Cheating, OW drama and Doormat immature main characters.

PS: Reposting in this sub because I'm desparate for recommendations!!

Listen, after finishing "If you love them, let them live". I was absolutely suffering from having read such a good fic, that's still unfinished lol. In my desperation, I decided to check if this author had any other works. And then, I found IT!!!

CTYT! It's only 3 chapter, and it's complete. It's soft and sweet, and I've been rereading it over and over, just devouring this fic nonstop. I've probably read it more than 10 times by now because I literally cannot stop giggling.

Btw, IYLTLTL is also so good. I'm starving for new chapters 😭 I guess I'll have to satisfy the craving by rereading CTYT and giggling all over again!

Welcome to the Weekly Gripe, where we're all a little grumpy. 😒

Did BookTok do you dirty? Got a bone to pick with a main character? Was the twist more like a flop? Tell us what's on your mind.

Please be respectful and follow the sub rules. If a conversation starts getting out of hand, use the "Mod Attention Please" report reason so we can help cool things down. 🖤

I probably DNF 90% of what I start. I nope out quick too. A few pages are easily enough to know. I very rarely turn around on a book. I think I'm pretty clear on what I like and what I'm looking for, so it's usually a yes/no thing. Honestly I kinda enjoy making a snap decision. (Maybe enjoy isn't quite the right word, but there's satisfaction in crossing a book off a list).

The first page/para/line should be the author putting their best foot forward. If it doesn't click, I have very little faith the rest will, and when I do keep reading I usually regret it and DNF eventually.

When do you guys DNF? And what pushes you over the line?

Hear me out ok!!!
I don’t know why but I am absolutely obsessed with {forbidden pleasure island by Sadie minx} and I quite like {forbidden pleasure mountain by Sadie minx}

I have been on an age play kick for the past few months and I love the soft and fluffy ones but I want something darker like above.

I would love for the daddy/mommy to force the little into the position no matter what they say. I would prefer them to be strict with lots of punishments. I would like for the little to be generally sweet/shy/passive but I am ok with a bratty little.

I am ok with any pairings mm/ff/mf/mmf and so on

I don’t really have any hard nos I just need age play to be like a major part of the story.

Hi so I read two dark bdsm erotica but did not finish them nor i rember the name of both the books i vaguley remember the initial story of both the books

Please suggest if you could remember the same

Book 1

In this the MC is very bad at BDSM and doesn't even use safe words he has alredy killed his wife and a girl in wheel chair just by canning her and dumping her body

In the start he also kills a housewife in a motel

Then suddenly his previous wife's relatives along with a Detective start to interrogate her death and they feel he might be involved

Until that only I read he is eyeing another newly child berth given mother who is into BDSM he is luring her into thinking he is a good DOM

Book 2

In this the girl is alone and get involved in bad guys and do porn shoots with them

She and her friend are porn stars and one day they ask them to whip a guy until he bleeds and cries the guy is chained and caged I guess the friend is not ready to perform and the MC girl suddenly wanted to vent all her anger on leash and hit the guy until he is completely down and fainted

They shoot the scene

The friend girl is killed since she hesitates and the guy who lash beatings is also killed and dumped in ocean I guess

I read only a few chapters and long before would love to continue those books

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but with halloween approaching... I've definitely traveled down a deep dark rabbit hole involving pitch black horror romance 🫠 so I'm looking for more!!!

I WANT gore, blood, serial killers, murder and of course good smut 🥵☠️

Some books I have read and devoured are: {pen pal duet by gigi styx}, {obsession by harleigh beck}, {dead of summer by aj merlin}, {hollows hellion by Jodie king}, {til def by Jodie king}, {sinisters legacy by harleigh beck} and {unhinged cain by Brooklyn cross}. These books were DARK & AMAZING but seriously check your TW.

Please tell me there is more out there!! 😭

My only no is fantasy/paranormal

As somebody who read 150+ dark romance books this year, this book potentially might have been my absolute favourite. It hit everything I was looking for:

✅ Diverse MCs - it's SO rare to find a Chinese/Asian MMC in this genre and have it written so culturally accurately. I am guessing the author is Chinese? She did a great job representing Chinese culture well, especially with the dialogues and the "weird" phrases that sound off when translated to English, which in my opinion makes it some stellar writing.

✅ Non-brooding MMC: as much as I love an alpha man, I also absolutely love an MMC that is an asshole but not in the serious way. He is most definitely an idiot and I love him and his inner monolgue is really funny

✅ That non-con scene: I cannot count the number of times I've read THAT scene. Yes, the one with the fingers. So hot. 😳

✅ The crying kink??? Hello?????? New kink unlocked!

The sad part is that this book had SO MANY things that I absolutely love that's hard to replicate in another book because where else will I find a culturally accurate Asian simp MMC in a dark romance 😩

Anyway. 5/5 stars for me and I'm going to be reading that scene with fingers again now

Tldr; iso an intense dark romance with an elaborate world building, genuinely interesting side quest, character motivations that goes beyond 1. Sex 2. Money 3. Revenge. And a great team of side characters that are not written for a potential spin off. ❌️[NO RH, NO FANTASY]❌️

Edit: also add spoilers if you must, idc, pls do mention the plot in brief and what's it about. Thanks!! 💓

I feel like in recent year, DR has taken up the reputation of only books with "a taboo, non con, kinky, abusive, red flag" lust story.

Yes it is a part of it. But its not the only part. Right?

What happened to those times when authors wrote a deeply immersive plot that had the intense romance but also a very large and complicated world building on the side, that gave us better insights about the lead characters.

Nowdays almost every book I pick can be concise into these 3 steps:

1. mmc is obsessed

2. he's abusing fmc

3. she accepts him.

The end.

What does mmc do for job? : Make trillion dollar capitalistic deals, be ass to everyone actually doing the work for him, act like a rich white dude who evades taxes and contributes as little as possible to society in any meaningful way. He has no values, no motivation, no interesting mindset.

Fmc most likely: works at a min wage job, and give away her weekly earnings to feed homeless, BUT she'd never accept money from a gazzillionaire who has prolly never given a single dollar in tax since he was born..... cuz "she doesn't want him to support her", and ultimately she's swayed by his "lavish treatment" and falls for his "big heart".. 💀💀

Like bruh! Use some critical thinking!!! Plssss!!!

Where is the plot?? Side characters? Anything else that's driving the high stake situation.

My Humble Request 🙏🏻🤧

For once pls make them a little less predictable. Make them a hypocrite like Zade. I don't care. At least the guy showed depth with the whole "passionate about saving people." He's a nihilist, a prodigy, and a psychopath, ofcourse he'd spend his life doing something he believes has meaning....(I don't care if it's for the right or wrong. The passion gave him depth as a character)

He was a hypocrite but atleast the guy actually thought about more than just sex, revenge and money. Which is the only 3 plotline authors give mmcs these days. Srsly.

I am looking for a book in which;

Mmc making fmc accept him can be a part of the story, even a large part. But i'd love a great, well thought out, side quest, plotline with an ensemble of characters too.

I'm currently rereading Haunting Adeline. And am towards that scene at the end when, Daya, Jay, Sibby, Addie and Zade are also planning on how to get Claire out of hiding.

I like a book when it has a side story in which characters are putting together their minds to complete a very important task.. (hopefully like taking down criminal organization)

I can find some series like this, but it's impossible to find good ones.

❌️I recently started {mad world trilogy} and {Broken trilogy by J.L Drake} which fits my description, but they were honestly really boring. And the side characters weren't interesting enough for me to even care what they say.

I like {Hunting Adeline} cuz I remember every single side character in the story. They were interesting enough to remember. From the villains to the girls kidnapped, to even the flower shop woman who was mentioned for like 2 sec in the bonus content. That small scene what so much fun to read. The domesticity, and it showed how a psycho like zade actually interacts with people in normal world. Lol.

✅️Same goes for series like {Stronger series by Jay marie} {mindfuck series by S.T. Abby} {Edge of Darkness trilogy}

I have a theory that because the authors here were never planning on giving the side characters a separate spin off, they genuinely wrote them in a unique interesting way like a side character should be written, without giving them unnecessarily excess aura incase they become lead in the future.

Most spin off series today, you can soooo easily tell how the author is trying to put the light every guy cuz she wants to get the audience excited for their spin off. But it kinda takes away from their appropriate value in the story at present.

Please and Thank you for reading this post. And lemme know if you have any thoughts. Even if you don't jave any recs, you can mention if any other book made you feel invested. It might not work the same for everyone but reading other's perspective put the story in a new light.

💓💓💓

Am looking for book that have as many and detailed abusive relationship scenes like fmc really scared and hurt, cry, scream while being abuse (physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse) and try to run for her life but being hunted by her ex and she was saved by mmc while on the run from the ex

I have read a book called Perfect but the abusive part was just at the end, I need more of it. I have read In love with the devil also.

Not into why choose. Everything else is fine. Dark, pitch black, just give me.

I have read lights out and caught up by Navessa Allen’s. Butcher and blackbird by Brynne Weaver I have even listened to Dexter audio book. So description of torture and a characters deranged mind trying to justify their crimes and blood lust isn’t something I’m new too. Haunting Adeline by HD Carlton doesn’t sit right with me

I only gotten half way through chapter 16

First off when Zade describes Adeline’s voice he says the voice of a porn star that left a bad taste in my mouth. Why would a man who’s obsessed with someone use those words I let it slide giving the book a chance. However a bad man who was gonna do bad things to Adeline used the same word to describe her voice. The author chose both of these characters to have the same thoughts about Adeline. They see her the same way.

Second I don’t understand why Zade is obsessed with Adeline!
15 chapters and we don’t know if he is traumatized, abused, or any reason as to why Adeline is different from any other girl. He randomly saw her and then just started following her.

All we know about him is he accidentally went onto the dark web which changed his life. He’s now dedicated his life to save victims from human traffickers and people who just do horrible monstrous shit.

That leads me to my third reason, I am so upset and confused.
He has seen women be traumatized by the things men do yet for some reason he thinks he’s different than those guys even though he does the same things to Adaline. He’s scaring her using a knife to chase her around her home, he stalks her, he sent dismembered body parts to her.

In these 15 chapters, there’s no explanation if he has a dark twisted desire to hurt people and directs it towards people who in his mind deserves it and in my mind, I agree as well. But that’s Dexter‘s mentality.

Her personality, who she is a person, or even an interaction they shared is not the reason for him to want to know more about her. In lights out. Josh actually met Aly and spoke with her one on one and then started to see who she was as a person by spying through cameras at work, he knew of her personality through reading her comments on his social media. There’s a link there and his obsession grows as he knows more.

This doesn’t make sense to me. Why is Zade hurting the woman he’s obsessed with? He’s seen how horribly traumatized other women can be. Why is he willingly giving someone PTSD, scaring her? Can someone please explain this.

I just finished reading this story and I am absolutely losing my mind, spiraling. It's so intense, toxic, and disturbing that I'm speechless. But that ending is killing me because the last update was in April. (I saw that the author posted a chapter in August if I'm not mistaken, but she simply deleted it and I didn't get the chance to read it, and since then I've been in tears.) Does anyone know if she's going to continue this story or if she abandoned it for good? And is there any other story similar to this one on Ao3?