Dark Romance - Hurts So Good
At Gothika Books, the term Dark Romance is used as an umbrella term for a wide variety of edgy or noir romance that wouldn't be classified as sweet, but here are a few specifics...
Google "dark romance" and you get questions like, "does dark romance have a happy ending?" or "what exactly is dark romance?" and "why do people like dark romance?"
User queenofsmoke on reddit put it in a nutshell: "Dark romance generally means behaviour (usually from the hero) that would be problematic, to put it mildly, in real life - e.g. abducting the heroine, dub/non con, etc. There is usually a HEA!"
This is the AI generated definition:
"Dark romance is a subgenre of romance novels that explore the complicated and sometimes twisted side of love and relationships through darker themes and mature content. These stories often include morally-gray characters, plots involving trauma and violence, and content warnings. Popular tropes in dark romance include mafia, stalking, and kidnappings, and the stories can also explore themes of abuse, revenge, and pleasure slavery."
Hurts so good...
Not for everyone IRL but some enjoy reading about it. Hence, Fifty Shades of Grey is one of the best selling romance series, ever. A global, guilty and not-so-guilty pleasure. Up there with the Twilight series and it's romantically possessive / stalker vampire MMC.
I'll add a few more points about dark romance:
- dominated by Indie authors who write and publish outside the confines of traditional publishing industry standards and, in doing so, enjoy the freedom of exploring edgier, darker themes.
- since dark romance tends to push boundaries, and wears its trigger-warnings as a badge of honor, I think it's inevitable that happy endings aren't always a guarantee. Yes, HEA's are the norm. But dark romance exists outside of norms, so anything is possible.
- For example, Gothika Books author Slayd recently published an excerpt of her new serial killer WIP, titled Saving Helena, on our blog where one of her trigger warnings stated that she could not guarantee an HEA with this story but promised an ending that's "darkly poetic." In a Q & A she compared her new story to a dark romance version of Silence of the Lambs--a book/movie that was not "tied up in a neat bow" but still had a satisfying ending.
The big question for readers and authors of this edgy genre is always: How dark are you willing to go? Everybody has their limits. This is what the trigger warnings listed in the book's front matter are there for. They serve as a "enter if you dare," invitation, but they also are to be taken seriously. I'm sure we all know what it's like to consume something traumatizing to our psyche. Something that takes us a few days to expel. It could be a news article, book, or movie that lingers with us for a while. A scary movie that you saw as a kid that still gives you chills to think about.
Then are are those lingering traumas that are more personal, and take a lifetime if ever to expel. Personal experiences that you've endured firsthand, or that of someone you know. Abuse, exploitation, to name a few. Dark romance isn't afraid to explore the darker side of life and romance, and there can be a powerful catharsis in being scared from the safety of our armchair.
Some scares are fun. Some scares are terrifying or horrific. Everybody has a different threshold for the macabre. Ultimately, it's thrilling with spice crosses paths with horror. And why do people like horror? I would argue that it's not just our innate morbid fascination but the cathartic value it brings--a nightmare that you survived. Just like the nightmares we have while dreaming, something positive should be gained, sorting through our anxieties and fears, and finding a way to face the demons, to cope and wake anew. Light at the end of the tunnel.
This would probably be why most people seem to prefer an HEA. Not getting an HEA can feel depressing and hopeless. The world can be a hard place to live, and we expect our art to make us feel better, not worse. Of course, not all art serves the function of making you feel better. But it's always nice when it does. I think the best dark romance makes the pleasure worth the pain!
Speaking of the best dark romance books...
Check out the new dark romance books hot of the press at Gothika Books!
Here is a sneak peek of dark romance / mafia romance with serious stalker vibes
Deadly Games by D. Lamers 
Trigger Warning
This is a dark mafia romance containing graphic content, including violence, guns, blood, suicide ideation, drugs, alcohol, and explicit romance scenes that may not be suitable for some readers.
BLURB
Never tip your hand. Never show fear.
Raised the dutiful mafia princess, I played the game well. But I was willing to spill my own blood to escape an arranged marriage. When that failed, I finally fled.
Never in my darkest, deadliest dreams did I think my path to freedom would thrust me right into bloodthirsty enemy arms.
Arms and eyes made of steel. A man like no other man I’d ever known. He’d be the death of me.
If only the death of me didn’t feel so excruciatingly good.
A dark & dirty mafia thriller romance with serious stalker vibes by debut author D. Lamers!
PROLOGUE
She freezes in place, her body tense and wary as she slowly turns to face me. And there it is again. That wretched, unquantifiable feeling. My pulse stumbles. My palms dampen. Breathing becomes an effort.
“Go inside,” I bark at her roommate, jerking my head toward the door. The girl gives me a nervous look, glancing at her for some kind of permission. But in the end, she scuttles away, leaving us alone in the hallway.
Just me and her.
She watches her friend go before turning those sharp eyes back to me. Assessing. Calculating. Like she’s trying to gauge how much of a threat I truly am. But she already knows the answer to that, doesn’t she? Knows exactly how much power I hold over her.
I step closer, just to mess with her head a little. Most people flinch, recoil, crumble under the weight of my presence. But her? No. She stiffens, sure, but she doesn’t back down. A part of me respects that, hates it too.
She’s been conditioned to sit still, to be nothing more than a well-placed ornament, a nice little thing in the background that shuts her mouth as told. And she’s good at it—for most people.
But not for me. Nah. I see right through that act. She’s let me see every bit of that fire she’s hiding. And, fuck, it’s… Addictive. I want more of that. I want her to see it too.
To feel that fire burn inside her.
“We need to talk.” My voice comes out neutral, measured.
She stares at me, lips pressed tight, eyes cold. “I have nothing to say to you.”
I raise an eyebrow at her, thinking about drawing my eyes away from hers. Her gaze makes me uncomfortable, but also… curious. And for a second, I don’t know how to respond.
“I disagree,” I say, forcing my voice into a teasing tone. “There’s plenty left unspoken between the two of us. You’re just scared to say it.”
She doesn’t respond immediately. Just stares at me, her eyes sharp.
“You’re delusional.”
“What’s that? Got something to say to me now?”
She looks at me, but she still doesn’t speak. So, I step in closer, my shadow falling over her. “Come on, say it. You know you want to,” I push. And that’s when she finally cracks.
“You want me to say something?” Her voice slices through the space between us.
“Fine. You’re a liar. And a kidnapper. Why the hell would I waste my breath on you?”
Her voice trembles slightly as she speaks, but it’s not from fear. Speaking up is foreign to her. I can tell. She’s spent too long swallowing her own voice.
“You lied about everything.”