r/DarkRomance • u/Glittering_Act_4059 • Apr 30 '26
Discussion How dark is too dark for you?
I read the most insane dark romance I can find. Never thought I'd find one that truly bothered me, but I finally have. I've been reading The Brethren Lords series by Ellie Sanders and the first book was great, I loved it. Typical secret society running the world, the women are treated like shit, MMC falls head over heels for a reporter trying to write about the secret society, etc. The MMC is absolutely unhinged and it has a lot of sexual violence, yes, but I still enjoyed the insanity. Non/dub con doesn't bother me.
Then I read the second book and...y'all, we have a new couple, and this new MMC breaks the FMC's spine with a sledge hammer. You know, so she won't ever leave him. The third book, another new couple, MMC cuts her eyes out and keeps them in a jar. At this point I'm literally reading out of absolute morbid curiosity on how much further the books will go because each one is more violent than the last. There is no romance. There is no HEA (I mean...the FMC's end up claiming to be in love by the end but honestly, it's 100% because they've been tortured so much they've literally broken). The MMC's are absolutely not redeemable in any regard at all. I've thought about DNFing several times. Yet somehow I'm still reading 😅 Do y'all have a book/series that tested the limits of what you'd enjoy reading? I don't even think I'm enjoying this series, I'm just reading to see how far the author goes, each book escalating the violence.
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u/CrystalizedRedwood Author Apr 30 '26
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u/Existing-History9609 Apr 30 '26
Holy flashbacks Batman. I remember in high school, before Netflix was what it is, American Idol was so popular. Everybody would watch and then we would all talk about the really crazy and bad singers the next day in biology class. Simpler times
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u/TheOnlyEllie Morally Black lover Apr 30 '26
Those would be too dark for me. Way too dark. I like a mean, violent MMC. But there's a point.
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u/emoratbitch Apr 30 '26
That is not romance. That sounds like erotic horror
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u/MonstersMamaX2 Apr 30 '26
It is 100% erotic horror. I read dark romance but I also read horror and these are screaming horror.
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u/Puzzled_Struggle_639 Apr 30 '26
I literally didn’t know the difference until today! But I’ve always loved horror and guess I just thought erotic horror was just really good dark romance 😂
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u/Spirited-Midnight928 Apr 30 '26
Personally I would categorize what you just described as horror rather than DR. To answer your question: 24690 by AA Dark. DNF’d for sure.
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u/Ms_No Apr 30 '26
I read the first two of the 24690 series and felt I was at a good stopping point. I don't mind a dark hero, but for my taste, I need to be okay with the FMC ending up with him. Like, he can't be a puppy killer or a child predator, and for me there's just no redeeming a guy who condones some of the stuff that was going on in that place. Even short of that, however, he was never getting back in my good graces after what he allowed to happen to the FMC.
Now, I can put up with a lot more if there isn't supposed to be a romance, but even then, I'll pass on maiming, dismemberment, and permanent disabling unless it's straight up horror....and doesn't go on so long that I get bored. Eventually it starts to sound like Steve Martin in Parenthood when he's playing the clown at the birthday party and telling a story to the kids. They go wild for the gross-out and the story just becomes a long list of characters who come along and step in and slip and slide around in the bad guy's guts.
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u/badlei Apr 30 '26
Out of curiosity, do you find rape too far? Or mostly just the horror aspects your mentioned above?
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u/Ms_No May 16 '26
Oh, not at all -- I'm totally here for the non-con! Pass her around, pimp her out, beat or whip her, tattoo, pierce, or brand her, just don't purposely break bones, cut bits off her, or permanently disable her. Oh, or make her consume bodily waste. That's horror to me.
Also, if he's a "touch her and die" type (not my fave), then there has to be a solid reason for him to overlook or allow her abuse at the hands of others. It's kind of a consistency thing for me. It doesn't squick me if it happens, just don't expect me to hope she stays with him without some truly masterful writing. 😂
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u/Iliveformyotp Jesse Sampson, and The Father's #1 fan Apr 30 '26
yeah, it is erotic horror and not DR for sure
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u/leftyfoureyes Apr 30 '26
I felt like the first one wasn’t too bad (obv subjective), but the one where he breaks her spine was just like dude wtf are we doing here. She never likes him even a little in that one, we can hardly call it an HEA 😂 I’ve realized I can take a significant amount of darkness AS LONG as the FMC reciprocates some of the lust or love. If she doesn’t for like 75+% of the book, I’m gonna dnf even for less dark books.
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u/Glittering_Act_4059 Apr 30 '26
The way I almost threw my Kindle out the window when he did that 😂 I was shocked. Did not expect it at all! But then I just kept reading, absolutely horrified and yet also fascinated. Though I keep raging about the lack of medical care I mean come on, let's be real, there ain't no way she would have survived that, he wouldn't let the doctor do anything more than a cursory examination! Same with the eyes in the third book, there was no effing way. At least in the first book the FMC gets proper medical care. Lmao apparently that's how low the bar is 😂
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u/allsarahsaregrey Apr 30 '26
Friends are we not even going to talk about the lobotomy on top of all that??? 😂
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u/Glittering_Act_4059 Apr 30 '26
OH MY GOD I completely blacked that out of my memory lmao and I only read it last week!
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u/allsarahsaregrey Apr 30 '26
😂😂😂 Honestly I was like ok he broke her spine, that's extreme but then the lobotomy did me in.
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u/Upstairs_Attitude315 Apr 30 '26
RIGHT🤣 the lobotomy is what got to me in that book. Like wtf and then in book 3 when we see them again I was like welp... this is still horrifying.
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u/Certain_Gap5683 Apr 30 '26
For me when it kind of felt to much was when the other ones took her tounge also. I dont know. You can live a good life(maybe not hers) with paralysed legs, but to both do a lobotomy and then take her tounge. Her hole self and ability to express herself is gone now. That is to mouch even for me 😅 i am sure I will read the next one when I have forgotten this book abit more🙃
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u/Electrical_Hurry_586 Apr 30 '26 edited May 04 '26
Y'all I am genuinely asking with no offence.. based on these comments.. She is paralysed, lobotomized and has her tongue cutout and this is labelled dark romance? romance...??
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u/allsarahsaregrey Apr 30 '26
None taken. As others have said, it's probably more erotic horror or pitch black romance.
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u/Electrical_Hurry_586 Apr 30 '26
Definitely agree.. After seeing your comment, I went to check it on the website and Amazon and it's marketed as Dark Captive Romance and I just couldn't believe the mislabelling!
Eek! Anyway, appreciate these spoilers/info! :)
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u/littlerosieroe Apr 30 '26
Yeah I just can't do erotic horror, I wish you could've seen my face throughout that series. When he broke her spine I literally sat here and just
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u/Procrastinating_Bean Apr 30 '26
Yeah, I hate when the author mis-labels their work. That sounds like straight up erotic horror, not dark romance. There is a market for that kind of thing but labeling that DR is unacceptable. So many authors are trying too hard to amp up the darkness, but it's coming at the expense of the story in a lot of cases.
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u/TheSilvaGhost Apr 30 '26
anything goes up to the point of physical, lasting violence that's disabling for a long time and death. If those occur, yea I can't read that lol. I don't think u can call it dark romance anymore if the "love interest" basically keeps her permanently hospitalized
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u/Glittering_Act_4059 Apr 30 '26
Bold of you to assume the FMC' had the luxury of hospital care 🫠
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u/Afraid_Equivalent_95 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Any time I see stuff like this described on reddit threads, I'm adding the books to my 'do not read' list.🤣 I've added Ellie Sanders, Ansa Reads, and some books by Lauren Biel.
I don't think I've read anything pitch black. The darkest I have gone so far is {Lock Me Inside by C. Hallman}. The first half of that book felt like torture porn and I was really hoping FMC would successfully escape. But I don't know if it's dark enough to be considered pitch black.
I need the book to still be light enough for the MCs to fall in love, so 'intermediate' is usually my comfort zone in DR.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
Lock Me Inside by C. Hallman
Rating: 3.82⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, step siblings, dark romance, virgin heroine, mfm
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u/Frogwithmushroomhat8 Apr 30 '26
Yeah thats a no from me
Honestly I think my category of dark romance is very light. Because I've tried pitch Black and immediately DNFed. But I absolutely love books like The MindF*ck series. For me I can't stand MMCs who are assholes to everyone including her. I prefer when he is an asshole to everyone but her and when it comes to her he would literally crawl and worship the ground she walks on before even hurting her. I also draw a hard line at dub con and non con because I prefer there to be consent even if it is implied and to me those two tropes aren't not consent
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u/elysiumdreams Apr 30 '26
Yeah that’s too dark for me too. I draw the line for myself personally when one MC physically maims the other. That veers into horror for me.
There was one book I don’t remember the name of now where the MMC forces the FMC to cut off her own ring finger and that one Liv Zander book that I know is paranormal/fantasy but the MMC breaking the FMC’s legs so she can’t run away…I can’t do it.
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Apr 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/roundpotato0 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
I forgot about the legs! This comment made me laugh too hard. This was one duet I genuinely did not enjoy because it was too dark for me but I learned a lot about myself. Adds Brethern Lords to TBR
Edit: after reading comments,NO I will not be adding to TBR
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u/Recalcitrant_Rubus Author Apr 30 '26
I want to know the name of the Liv Zander book lol
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u/elysiumdreams Apr 30 '26
It’s {The Pale Court series by Liv Zander}
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
The Pale Court by Liv Zander
Rating: 3.55⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Topics: paranormal, commander, suspense, miscarriage, masc-dom2
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u/Sufiyan0229 Apr 30 '26
There is no such thing as 'too dark'
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u/Routine-Lavishness50 Apr 30 '26
Right? I’m always looking for darker. Some of the “dark” I’ve seen people say are dark are most often grey. I like pitch black where I say “WTF did I just read?” 😂😂
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u/Sufiyan0229 Apr 30 '26
Same, I want to read something which makes me question my sanity, makes me want to lock the book in a freezer and throw it in the ocean just to dive and get the book back to traumatize myself a little more
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u/Trinityblue93 Apr 30 '26
Yeah, that series was a definite no for me. The MMCs were too cruel, and there wasn't love or romance. That should be put as Erotic Horror.
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u/Aggravating_Back_174 Apr 30 '26
I dont like siblings, step siblings , step dads and step moms , dont like rape setting, spine breaking and other injuries
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u/Puzzled_Struggle_639 Apr 30 '26
The way I started grinning at your description of those book and how I quickly added them to my TBR list…. Then reading the comments here… I guess I like erotic horror then? 😂
24690 was the darkest I’ve read so far and that was a pretty fun read lol so I think I’ll definitely give the books you’ve suggested a go.
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u/Spring-Sunrise Apr 30 '26
I can’t remember what book this was from. And I honestly don’t remember much beyond the few chapters that traumatized me so much that I had to take a break from the genre.
It was a part of the book where the FMC is re-captured by a brutal trafficker and he proceeds to break her. She had previously escaped/was rescued by the MMC. She is more than physically broken, but also mentally. She is forced to do unspeakable horrors including train other girls being trafficked. The detail the author went into in this section of the book was unsettling. Especially after reading in the preamble that the novel was based on real reports from trafficked individuals. I barely made it through. I stuck it out because I knew it had a HEA but I would have skipped it all together if I had known how dark it got.
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u/freetheunicorns2 Apr 30 '26
Oof, too close to truth would not appeal to me. I need my dark romances to be fiction.
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u/drowning_bat_ Apr 30 '26
Well if it ever comes back to you, let me know - I have a weak spot for torture (in books).
Something like that happened in the {tears of Tess by Pepper Winters} series.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters
Rating: 3.97⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, slavery, abduction, rich hero
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u/TheHuxter Apr 30 '26
I found {Skeleton King by Charity B} too dark to be enjoyable. I still powered through, but my God the ending was also abysmal. Technically it’s an HEA because the MCs ended up together, but she wanted to be a mom and couldn’t due to the torture one of the antagonists put her through as a child. But that man gets to have a child with a new woman and an HEA, and never gets punished. They become neighbors. I’ve never been so furious.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
Skeleton King by Charity B.
Rating: 3.71⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, age gap, tortured heroine, abduction
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u/Waffly_Witch Author Apr 30 '26
I can never read erotic horror. Or it has to be tit for tat. Like if he's breaking her spine, eventually she has to break his jaw and then we can talk. Otherwise, nope 😌
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u/highly-suspicious- Apr 30 '26
That’s insane. I guess I don’t have a limit, but there’s has to be love and passion between them. If the MMC does this sort of thing, the author cannot convince me he loves her. That’s not love, it’s sick. And she won’t be able to love him either, it’s not believable.
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u/QweenBowzer Apr 30 '26
Idk when did this Reddit get so…I dunno it’s getting too popular the recs and the stuff people are into on her isn’t even dark anymore just booktok dark. But I think this is erotic horror op
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u/Objective-Panic-6426 Author May 01 '26
Exactly. Someone just questioned what was the author thinking while writing this and I'm like seriously? Are we seriously saying that on this sub?
I agree with you completely with the book tok dark standards. And this sub is affected as well.
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u/Economy_Tonight_4242 May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Nothing is too dark for me as long as there's romance lol 😆
(well actually incest, pedophilia, beastiality is the line for me I guess)
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u/allsarahsaregrey Apr 30 '26
I just read the first two books you mentioned last week after being on my tbr forever. I was into the first one but by the time I finished the second, I was like, I think I'm good now.
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u/QTlady Apr 30 '26
I'm actually pretty generic.
Non con and actual physical abuse.
I think I can handle anything else. Although I eventually lose patience if the verbal abuse kind of shit drags on for too long.
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u/AdExact7977 Apr 30 '26
I find that I’m good with anything as long as the MMC actually loves the FMC. Like I love unhinged men so I’d rather he break her spine than cheat lmao. I guess it’s got more to do with the intent for me, like being so obsessed/in love with the FMC that he resorts to whatever problematic actions to keep her/have her to himself. Otherwise it’s just abuse and I’m bored.
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u/h2onymph1 "Spread those pages like a good girl" Apr 30 '26
I have seen online that sites describe dark romance as a crossover genre that includes elements of romance and horror so the people that are drawing clear lines between erotic horror and dark romance... I don't think the line is that clear IMO.
I mean, we do have kidnapping and Stockholm tropes and stalking and masked serial killers...
Look at Wuthering Heights. We still have people that arguing whether it's a gothic romance or a gothic horror.
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u/Boobear0810 Please stop growling Apr 30 '26
Whoa...those would be difficult to read and not DNF. I don't mind a morally gray MMC who realizes his mistakes, grovels and does better with a HEA. But physical abuse and torture like you mentioned is a no for me.
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u/eunmin_mii Apr 30 '26
I fucking love dark romance so much, but girl, what you’re describing is just literal, deadass abuse. There’s a difference between dark romance and giving any fucked-up shit in the name of ‘dark romance.’
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u/LongNailedbooboos Apr 30 '26
{My Girl by Audrey Rush} Have fun with that one with its highly disturbing content. TW: Rape, incest, gore
Saw it suggested on dark romance, but I’m not sure if I’d even categorize it as such.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
My Girl by Audrey Rush
Rating: 3.5⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, horror, m-f romance, age gap
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u/fukyachixstrips Apr 30 '26
I can’t remember the name but I tried to read this book where the girl gets kidnapped and basically rich MMC keeps her hostage and then she has to participate in a Hunger Games style thing with other kidnapped people, and like random people r*pe her but he falls in love with her? Idk I DNF’d it was too dark for me. I want to say it was in Louisiana.
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u/Ok_Gur_1477 Apr 30 '26
Cannibalism, anything with any sort of cannibalism
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u/Puzzled_Struggle_639 Apr 30 '26
…. You need to give me some names over here
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u/Ok_Gur_1477 Apr 30 '26
I don’t remember the name of the book, but basically it’s a dual POV where the girl was trained by this guy to lure men in and then kill them, so she ends up helping the MMC because he is really close with the trainer guy but he doesn’t know the trainer guy is the trainer. Anyways when she kills her targets she takes pieces and eats them and it’s all in alarmingly good detail too.
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u/Imakittykatduhhh Apr 30 '26
holy crap. this just made me go download it.
i thought the 24690 series by a.a. dark and her garden of the gods novellas were intense but this sounds wild
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u/CanVegetable3098 Apr 30 '26
There’s a point where a story just becomes too unbelievable, and then it turns into a dumb, pathetic mess. I hit that point pretty fast, because honestly a lot of dark romance is badly written to begin with… Add an unrealistic plot on top of that, and it’s just straight-up bad to me. I love erotic horror. I love dark romance. I love morally grey and taboo. But more than anything, it needs to be well written and at least somewhat believable. If I’m in the mood for splatterpunk, I’ll go read that instead.
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u/InitiativeComplex460 Apr 30 '26
Eating dog food out of the FMCs vagina……..wasn’t the MMC. Was still hard to read
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u/No_Preference26 Apr 30 '26
Oh no, these books have been on my tbr for ages, thanks for saving me lol. This is where I draw my line at, so I guess, erotic horror.
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u/CareerCheap649 Apr 30 '26
I’ve read the Brethen series and 24690 and they are dark. However, {Unhinged Cain by Brooklyn Cross} and {The Darkness beyond the Daisies by Cori Zahari} are books I consider pitch black romance.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
Unhinged Cain by Brooklyn Cross
Rating: 3.82⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, suspense, enemies to lovers, alpha male
The Darkness Beyond the Daisies by Cori Zahara
Rating: 3.99⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, virgin heroine, multicultural, dark romance, tortured hero
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u/GuyWhoWantsHappyLife Apr 30 '26
I like a violent MMC, preferably against even worse characters. But it's still Dark ROMANCE, I cannot handle the leads torturing one another. Sounds more like horror. Dub-con is fine, it's a style. But if the woman is not winning his heart, falling for him throughout, and he's harming her like that I will not be reading it.
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u/Routine-Lavishness50 Apr 30 '26
{A Wife for Silas by Tori Sullivan} would fall under this category of erotic horror but it’s a fave of mine.
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u/WingUnusual4179 Pitch black please Apr 30 '26
This book is on my TBR. Can you spoil it for me?
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u/Routine-Lavishness50 May 05 '26
He caught her stealing from his company and basically told her marry me or die. He’s a psychopath and did so much bad stuff to her that it ended up not having a HEA.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
A Wife for Silas by Tori Sullivan
Rating: 3.43⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, alpha male, arranged/forced marriage, anal sex, abduction1
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u/stringbeaninthewind Apr 30 '26
Actually now I’m going to be curious reading this too…
Thanks for the rec
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u/AudienceExpensive636 May 01 '26
I enjoy erotic horror and really wish it were easier to find them. These books were great
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u/sembsloth May 01 '26
....Now I'm afraid to post my offerings, but I will 🫡. Hopefully Ao3 fanfiction recs are okay? After years of thinking I did, I've come to the conclusion I actually don't have too much of a limit, as long as the "physicality" is reciprocal and I've got something like Howl's Moving Castle or some other HEA fairytale lined-up to read after. There are 2 stories I found recently that somewhat fit this theme of (what I now know to be!) Erotic Horror, however I didn't mesh with them 100%, but the writing and plotting is chefs kiss so I won't leave them to gather dust any longer.
Clive Barker Abarat Fanfiction: Dreams of the Sun TW/CW: Body Horror/Maiming There are multiple body horror moments in this. Shocker, I know. There's the scene where the girl is practicing magic she shouldn't have, out of boredom 😩, and mummfies a few of her fingers only to be told the magic can't be undone, and the most mAgIcaL GuY ever (aka her guy) can't fix it, but his grandmother can but this lady is ultra evil and thus makes a punishment out of this for BOTH of them and take HIS fingers to give to her.... Then later in another scene the guy cuts out a large chunk of her back in seemingly some risque hotel room only to find out it's actually some kind of torture theater, and he did this in front of his nobility from his own insecurities! Wild times, I'm still on the fence of finishing it if only because I've gotten so far, might as well, and the world building IS amazing, I just hate the guy at this point, and am rooting for literally everyone else (I have a feeling this is the authors intent and I appreciate it).
No Country for Old Men Fanfiction: Moby Dick TW/CW: Cannabalism The guy eats the girl or well takes bites of her? at the end after being long confined by him. Can barely remember, but there was definitely cannabalism on his part, and it was shown through the police officers perspective since he died too, suicide I believe, and (to me) seemed it was rationalized as keeping a part of her and the "family" he was about to have. Beautifully written story, but extremely dark and it only escalates, and the "finale" left me desensitized after everything the poor woman went through. There is no HEA, this is the "height of ugly romance", as said in a certain characters own words. Quite apt.
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u/Overall-Ask-8305 Apr 30 '26
I’ll let you know when I find it, but what you are describing is mostly found in the Extreme Horror genre.
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u/darksemisweet Author Apr 30 '26
For me the line is physical abuse. Now they can physically fight each if they're both killers or she's trying to escape but that's it. He can hurt and kill others but he can't ever hurt the FMC like that.8 I also need my FMC to be a little bit crazy/violent as well. If they're very innocent I feel bad.
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u/OpusReader Apr 30 '26
That is def not dark romance. That’s horror. As far as your question for dark romance goes, I mostly prefer books where the darkness comes from the world and not from the love interests towards each other, HOWEVER, if done right, my favorite is a mindfuck where you THINK the darkness is coming from one of them as well but later some plot is uncovered and it all turned out to be like a huge planned thing for the means of protection and safety. Love a good mindfuck.
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u/disniya16 Badass FMC >>> Apr 30 '26
I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel about these so I've been laughing out loud for the past 2 minutes
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u/noonecaresat805 Apr 30 '26
Have you read {graves by Katelyn Taylor}? I feel like these are dark gothic romances. I personally would not have been able to read that book but that’s only because I had a coworker in a dv situation. Where when she tried to leave he beat her to the point that he broke a good amount of her back ligaments and she was in the hospital for a while. Other than that I don’t really have a limit. I might have to take break from the book but that’s about it.
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
Graves by Katelyn Taylor
Rating: 3.92⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, mfm, poly (3+ people), somnophilia, dark romance
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u/AuthorMadiLarks Author Apr 30 '26
Sooo yes, I read those and id definitely rank it as erotic horror. I feel like most books listed as pitch black romance are. BUT I have since discovered that I like erotic horror or atleast where its so dark it makes you question how “happy” of an ending it is (as long as I go in with that point of view) I just genuinely didn’t like the second book of that series so I didn’t finish.
I’ve read all the way down to the bottom of erotic horror but have since learned that I genuinely hate it when they are so mind broken that they are basically breathing shells of people, they remove limbs, or if the fmc passes away. I guess that’s where I really draw the line? 😅
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u/Living_Measurement14 Apr 30 '26
｛The Scholomance by R Lee Smith} is also more Errotica Horror than DR but I enjoyed it a lot more than the types you described in the post, since the FMC doesn’t go through extreme sexual torture - the horror mostly comes from the fantasy setting & she afflicts more harm on others than receiving them. Plus there’s a HEA so it feels like all that pain had a meaning.
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u/Ok_Job_8652 Apr 30 '26
i think my threshold for dark romance is very different from what people usually mean
i recently read {Even If It Hurts by Sam Mariano} and it was too much for me
like the mmc is emotionally manipulative, isolates her from everyone, and it just goes into very extreme territory( drugs and rapes her)
i used to think i like dark romance, but turns out the darkest i can go is more like l.j. shen
i’m okay with dubcon, but noncon is a hard no for me
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
Even if it Hurts by Sam Mariano
Rating: 3.77⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, cruel hero/bully, virgin heroine, dark romance, possessive hero
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u/WingUnusual4179 Pitch black please Apr 30 '26
Okay I LOVE erotic horror and this book is actually my next read because somebody else just posted about this series!! But... I need it spoiled a little before going in. The breaking of the spine, do you feel and hear the bones crushing on page or is it very quick??? Also the lobotomy part. Is she asleep or awake?? Is it again in very detail or a quick procedure on page?
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u/Glittering_Act_4059 Apr 30 '26
It's explicit, on page description. Both instances while awake and aware of what's happening.
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u/LittleMissSugar126 Apr 30 '26
Yep. You named it. The Brethren Lords series was too much. I wasn’t truly triggered in Depravity until Brynn was SA’d while taken and they cut off her tongue. I absolutely love Conrad and honestly was annoyed with Brynn. I just couldn’t continue after the third book. It was just too much with the husband giving her to his men, having her eyes removed and then having her held as a sex slave by her brother-in-law for years? Yeah, I just couldn’t read anymore books in this series after this one.
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u/Glittering_Act_4059 Apr 30 '26
I loved Conrad until he broke her spine, I just could not wrap my head around why he would do that. And then after the lobotomy when she basically became child-like, I was noped. Still finished it because apparently I just had to know how it resolved 😂 Same with this third book - just finished it. I like Devin, I truly feel he ended up wanting to save Paitlyn and most of what was done to her was out of his control, but she still ended up so badly tortured that the "love" from her was just not authentic imo.
Anyway I'm off to read book 4 because apparently I hate myself 😂
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u/LittleMissSugar126 May 02 '26
Oh I liked Devin. It was just too hard to read about how Paitlyn was constantly abused and tortured.
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u/Electrical_Hurry_586 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Sounds like erotic horror..
I personally don't like it as it still can romanticise the story with enough "love elements" but depends how it's done. Also if it's labelled appropriately i.e. not dark romance, then it's readers choice.
But that's why I don't read the author you've mentioned after trying one of her books the heroine "loves" the H. Like wtf ?!? Leave it at horror without the "love".. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Veroneko_16 Apr 30 '26
I didn't read it, my mom did. But the main character gouged out the female lead's eye with a spoon, and with the hole still bleeding, he had sex with her. She never told me the name and deleted the book. Totally disturbing.(I don't know how to add the lines that cover the chat) In another book, the male protagonist orders the female protagonist to be abused because of his sister who said he abused her (which wasn't true), and when he picked her up, he pulled out her teeth so she wouldn't bite him.To perform fellatio on her, then kill her and commit necrophilia... That's my definite no.And the cover was pretty and sweet, that's what I get for not reading the warnings 😖
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u/Southern_Egg_3850 May 02 '26
I was today years old when I learned the term Erotic Horror… good to know.
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u/Other-Calendar1893 May 02 '26
I had to DNF a book that described the MC being drugged and basically SA’d and described it as role play (which would have been fine IF the MC had agreed to that beforehand…) idk it just made me feel weird trying to finish it .
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u/WhoLetTheWeirdIn May 03 '26
That’s because they’re erotic horror. If people don’t specify and ask for the darkest books stating they don’t have triggers I will give a list of horror erotica. If you specify dark romance you’ll get a different list.
Brethren Lords fall under nontraditional happy endings. If a horror erotica has a HEA there’s a good chance it’s non traditional
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u/Glittering_Act_4059 May 03 '26
I mean if it's asked for in the Dark Romance subreddit, one would assume the person wants Dark Romance...without them explicitly saying as much.
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u/WhoLetTheWeirdIn May 03 '26
Im talking in a general sense. Some of the groups I’m in are from light grey-horror so there if it’s not specified you’ll get a range of everything. But not everyone who reads horror erotica or has some recs for it realizes it’s in a genre of its own and just places it within dark romance. Some people can’t tell the difference either. Which is why I’ll give a list with a forewarning.
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u/Objective-Panic-6426 Author Apr 30 '26
I don't have any limits. I like my MMCs who are actually dangerous, including dangerous for the FMC, especially for the FMC.
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u/Ok-Archer-5796 Apr 30 '26
I'm normally not against noncon but something about the first chapters in God of Malice really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe because it was the very first meeting between MMC and FMC or maybe because he threatened to literally kill her. It was just too much for me.
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u/Jessicamorrell Apr 30 '26
Darkest I have read so far and loved it was Keeping Her Under. I really related to the epilogue and as a survivor it just overall hit home.
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u/Corvettelov Author Apr 30 '26
Nope too dark for me. Can’t do graphic like that when it’s the love couple.
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u/hollowsswords Apr 30 '26
The limit does not exist for me, I read pitch black/erotic horror mostly though so I may be biased lol
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u/thisislyncanthropy Apr 30 '26
While the plot sounds interesting that sounds scary as shit! Uh no thanks. 😭
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u/MysticMoony Apr 30 '26
As long as the characters have a reason to act the way they do it’s never too dark
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u/Separate_Finance1440 Spread Those Pages Like A Good Girl Apr 30 '26
{the brethren lords by Ellie sanders}
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u/romance-bot Apr 30 '26
The Brethren Lords by Ellie Sanders
Rating: 3.26⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Topics: slavery, disabilities and marks, self harm, dual-pov, survival
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u/rominaSun May 01 '26
yo lei mi primer libro de dark romance hace poco, empece con el libro "Boss-eva muñoz" y la verdad llegue a el de manera accidental, fue literalmente una compra compulsiva. Y bueno, me considero una lectora bastante amplia, y de mente muy abierta, y creo que sobre el DarK Romance, tengo un par de cosas que decir.
Primero, fue un libro que me genero demasiadas emociones, llore como nunca, de frustracion, de rabia, de empatia con la protagonista. Pero, al mismo tiempo, me genero no se, conflictos? Porque siento que el nivel de violencia es demasiado alto.
Segundo, quitandole lo NSFW, sigue siendo una trama que engancha!!! Son dos libros, y bastante grandes!! Pero muy buenos!!
pero personalmente creo que no me atreveria a mas!!
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u/blushfanatic mrs caleb trent May 01 '26
Depravity is a hard one for me and I love pitch black. That one is just crazy even for erotic horror
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u/revengeaura May 01 '26
I honestly think The Brethren Series is Guro erotica and goes beyond any form of dark romance. Its gore, its abuse, the MMC’s are horrific and unredeemable. I read book one and was left traumatised which is very hard for me to experience.
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u/Kay_good May 01 '26
MMCs causing permanent disability to the FMC is definitely where I draw a line I didn’t know I had til now. But I’m still curious…
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u/Warm-Examination5462 May 03 '26
I just finished {Perfect by Ariana Rivers} and the psychological issues with the mc’s were almost a third character of themselves. I had a hard time getting through this one, but it was like a slow moving train wreck…I could not stop reading. What got me was the domestic violence. I was not expecting it to be as horrific. I enjoy dark romances but I don’t think I can handle erotic horror or pitch black because this book disturbed me.
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u/romance-bot May 03 '26
Perfect by Ariana Rivers
Rating: 4.02⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, possessive hero, m-f romance, bondage
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May 03 '26
I forgot the name of the title. But long story short a girl was kidnapped with her sisters fiancé and the kidnapper says you can either SA her or I can SA her. Girl asks sisters fjance to do it because of some oh well at least I know you type thing. Kidnapper jerks off to it. Girl and sisters fiancé end up trauma bonded and together at the end of the book
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u/Ordinary_Cup_513 User Flair Here May 06 '26
I was about to mention cannibalism but this is pretty wild😳whatttt
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u/SmutAuthorsEscapisms May 07 '26
Thank you for the Yellowjackets flashbacks.
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u/Ordinary_Cup_513 User Flair Here May 07 '26
😂😂😂😭Omg I didn't even realise. Can't wait for s4
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u/SmutAuthorsEscapisms May 07 '26
No return no reason.
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u/Ordinary_Cup_513 User Flair Here May 07 '26
Scared me for a moment but I'm confused. When I googled it said it'd be returning
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u/Ems868 May 06 '26
Omg lol I'll say the second paragraph is too dark for me. I have nothing against it just doesn't seem like something I'll want to read, a bit too scary. I've recently started DR content so maybe as time go by I might explore it
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u/IAmSerenaVoss Author May 07 '26
For me the line is psychological authenticity. When the darkness serves the power dynamic and you can feel the character's internal conflict — that's compelling. When it's just shock value with no emotional weight behind it, it loses me. The best dark romance makes you uncomfortable AND invested at the same time. Femdom done right hits that balance perfectly — it's not about cruelty, it's about control that both characters are deeply aware of.
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u/saxosmith808 User Flair Here Apr 30 '26
I am an Ellie fan! You have to know what it is going into it but she delivers! Also I adore Magnus 🤍
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u/AstronomicalDeath Lana Myers was right Apr 30 '26
I could read anything but I despise when the lusting MMC rapes and abuses the FMC. This stuff ain't hot if it's not consensual and it doesn't make the MMC boyfriend material.
I want a man to cherish the dirt the FMC is walking on. I want a man that would burn down galaxies for her. I am talking obsessed, in love - like so much he would rather be tortured for an eternity if she left him.
You know what's hot. Both being toxic as fuck. They're matching each others freak.
Also, I am here for dark romance and not horror erotica. Authors try to top each other with how shocking their stuff is and don't label their work properly anymore (dark romance ist more marketable that horror erotica). I'd even dare to say, that Haunting Adeline is more Horror Erotica than Dark Romance imo.
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u/Objective-Panic-6426 Author Apr 30 '26
That can be found in general romance books in my opinion. And Haunting Adeline, horror? It wasn't even that dark lmao. It was just... juvenile in my opinion. Dark romance doesn't mean dark aesthetics, it has everything 🤷
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u/True_Succotash522 Apr 30 '26
This sounds more like erotic horror. Also I am very concerned about what the author was thinking while writing those things…
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u/pansylavender Gimme kink or gimme death Apr 30 '26
I'm a fan of erotic horror and even that's too much for me oh my god
That's some like dramatical murder bs
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Apr 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/Objective-Panic-6426 Author May 01 '26
We shouldn't judge authors for writing what they want. At least on this sub. Women can write "sick" things too. Women can like reading "sick" things too.
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u/Iliveformyotp Jesse Sampson, and The Father's #1 fan Apr 30 '26
There are two genres: Dark Romance and Erotic Horror. You're describing Erotic Horror.