8 Dark Romance Series That Will Have You in a Chokehold

Dark Romance is a taboo genre that not everyone can handle. But for the people that do like a touch of darkness in their love stories, these books are for you!

Adult Fiction Fantasy Horror Recommendations Romance Thriller & Mystery
rose petals with a heart cracked in half with one side says dark romance series that will have you in a chokehold in the other side

I’m not going to lie, dark romance is intense, and at times it can feel a bit jarring when something that is completely not okay in the real world is made commonplace in fiction land. But here’s a penny for a thought: dark romance is sexy and read by many for a reason. Fantasyland mixed with redemptive characters are a fun spot to be in as a reader because anything can happen. And it’s addicting AF when the sexy scenes are written well… and I mean WELL because, believe me, I’ve read and written some rough spicy scenes. It takes practice, but these books will give you what you need: a good story and X rated amazing spice.

So, without further ado, here are 8 dark romance book series that you need on your TBR list if you live and breathe dark tales of heartbreak and sexually explicit scenes!

Trigger Warning: These books contain gray characters, kidnapping, sexual content, SA, death, suicide and other adult themes.

1. Grim Tower Duet (2 books)

Twisted and twined books by Renee Rocco-- skull on each book cover with a flower in the first and a crown in the next-- dark romance
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Renee Rocco tackles a Rapunzel retelling of a girl locked away in a tower, only to be found by Wren Kincaid, but he is no prince charming. Once Wren comes in contact with Rapunzel, she’s his. 

You will notice pretty quickly, some of these dark romance books take a lot of fairytale stories and reimagine them into something far more sinister. Grim Tower Duet does just that in their respective books Twisted and Twined! Get ready for angst, heartache, and morally gray characters, with a spicy enemies-to-lovers trope. It sounds like a recipe for disaster! Or should I say… recipe for success? 

2. Monsters and Beauties (2 books)

The beast and the hunter book covers-- red rose petals on the first and blue petals on the second
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As stated earlier, fairytales can take a darker image. I know everyone loves Beauty and the Beast. We have the misunderstood Beast who seeks rescue from his curse, and in comes Belle– a beautiful bookworm. Over time the Beast learns to be a genuinely good person, and Belle learns to not judge a book by its cover. Ah, so romantic… 

Except Monsters and Beauties is not that! What if the Beast never turned back into a human? What if this was who he was? Could Belle still accept him even after all the bad he’s done?! Yes, ladies and gents, Belle gets down and dirty with the Beast in his animal form. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Believe me, it’s wild! But you never know unless you check it out for yourself. 

Meanwhile, the second book in the series takes a new reproach on Red Riding Hood. Count me in! 

Remember villains can have happy endings too.

3. Never After Series (5 books)

HOOKED, SCARRED, WRETCHED, CLOCK, CROWN, glass HEART
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Never After is a modernized version of fairytales set in the present time. In the first installment, Wendy meets the dangerous and vengeful James who only has one thing on his mind: making her father, Peter Michaels’ life miserable. 

These fairytales are fractured, and so will the drama that follows. Meet brothers that fight for their crown, deception with a lost fling, or Yasmin (aka Jasmin from Aladdin) forced into a loveless marriage. 

4. Devil’s Night (6 books)

Corrupt, hideaway, kill switch books-- skulls, graveyard, cemetery entrance
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Welcome to Devil’s Night in which the men are unapologetically horrible and good-looking. They look for no redemption. They are the four horsemen.

The day before Halloween, they would wreak havoc on the streets. Everything changes when three out of the four men land up in prison. Years later, they are out for revenge. In each book, you meet a man worth swooning and running from. 

Penelope Douglas paints visceral stories of convoluted plotlines, but what I’m raving about most of her work is her ability to convey emotion through prose: 

“Abuse can feel like love.”

I blinked, the voice so close that my ears tingle. Slowly, I raised my eyes to look at the side of Damon Torrance’s face, his shirt wrinkled, and his tie draped around his neck.

The whole class fell silent, and I glanced at Will next to me, seeing his eyebrows pinched together as he looked at the back of his friend’s head.

Mr. Townsend approached. “Abuse can feel like love…” he repeated.

“Why?”

Damon remained so still it didn’t look like he was breathing.

He looked at the teacher, unwavering. “Starving people will eat anything.”

I stilled as his words hung in the air, and for a second, I felt warm. Maybe he wasn’t completely devoid of brain cells.”

Kill Switch, Penelope Douglas

5. Of Flesh & Bone (3 Books)

Of flesh and Bone 3 books: What lies beyond the veil, what haunts inside the shadows, what lurks between the fates, snake imagery in each book cover
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Want to battle with some Faes? Of Flesh & Bone series deals with bloodshedding and spice!

In this series, we meet a world of trouble. For about 400 years, the Veil protected them from the Fae of Alfheimer. Two worlds are divided based on the guidance of the New Gods. This is until the Veil is destroyed and the faes are out to take what they think is theirs. Our heroine Estrella is saved by Caelum from the Wild Hunt. He does everything in his power to keep her safe, but is her safety the only thing he worries about? You’re going to get the action and spice in this one!

6. Made Series (3 books)

THE SWEETEST OBLIVION, THE MADDEST OBSESSION, THE DARKEST TEMPTATION-- BOOK COVER-- ACE CARD, ACE CARD WITH A COUPLE, TATTOOED PERSON'S BACK
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The Made series will lead inside a world of troubling mafia men and sexy scenes. In the first installment, Elena is in a crossfire with her sister’s fiancè Nicolas Russo. After their first encounter, things go a little haywire, and she cannot stand him. His voice makes her shiver in places she wishes never to admit, and whenever he’s near, her heart flutters. He never seems to leave her alone. He’s arranged to marry her sister, but why is he always around her causing mischief? It doesn’t matter; no one should fall in love with a Made Man! Right?

7. Cat and Mouse Duet (2 books)

Haunting Adeline, hunting Adeline skulls and roses
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The Manipulator

I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me.

I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh.

But my words don’t affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave.

He’s always there, watching and waiting.

And I can never look away.

Not when I want him to come closer.

The Shadow

I didn’t mean to fall in love.

But now that I have, I can’t stay away.

I’m mesmerized by her smile, by her eyes, and the way she moves.

The way she undresses…

I’ll keep watching and waiting. Until I can make her mine.

And once she is, I’ll never let her go.

Not even when she begs me to.

As a reminder… please read the trigger warning before reading this book series as the sequel (sorry to spoil) is a lot darker than the first.

Now I don’t know about you but… that little internal monologue above has me clutching at my pearls. Meet Adeline, a young indie writer who moves into her grandmother’s house. Weird things begin to happen, and a soon apparent stalker appears. He has no boundaries. He continues to follow, watch, and break into her house to leave messages and roses. He even kills for her. (Joe Goldberg, is that you?!) As Adeline begins to uncover her grandmother’s death and the fact she’s literally getting stalked, she installs a security system. Here’s the catch: her stalker owns the security system company. 

Zade is her secret stalker and weirdly enough he is a part of an organization that helps save girls and women from human trafficking. He comes across Adeline while at a bookstore, and his obsession begins there. To him, Adeline is just a little mouse, and he is the cat. So how exactly does this turn into a dark love story from a literal horror synopsis? Honey, you haven’t seen nothing yet…

8. Queens and Monsters (3 Books)

ruthless creatures, carnal urges, savage hearts book covers
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Natalie’s financè has been missing for five years. She has no idea where he went or why he could have run away. This is until a mysterious hot stranger arrives in town. Kage is a man not to mess with, but can Natalie help it? He’s tall, dark, handsome, and dangerous, yet she can’t help but ogle. But simply staring can turn into fiery passion and love. The issue is, he didn’t meet Natalie by accident. He’s there to collect her fiancè’s unpaid debt.


Dark Romance will always be a guilty pleasure of mine! Angst, danger, and spice… count me in! For more romantic reads, click here.

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