The dark romance genre is seeing an influx, with platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube promoting stories that follow a path darker than a typical romance. These books typically cover topics like abuse, violence against women, and other triggering content matters, intensifying the romance and sexual nature of the book itself. This is the case with the book series we are looking at in this interview, Invi Wright’s The Female, which follows Charlotte, who is captured and sold to three powerful demons.
Supernatural elements are also commonly used in dark romances, especially in fantasy settings, as this allows the reader to detach themselves from reality and enjoy the romance presented to them. Characters like demons, gods, or vampires are common within the dark romance genre, as the power dynamics between immortals and humans add layers to the romance and the sexual aspects of the book.
We are lucky enough to be able to speak to one of the popular authors in this genre, Invi Wright, who will be discussing her writing and creative processes behind making The Female. From her inspirations to her recommendations, Invi shares all this and more.
Trigger Warning: The mention of SLAVERY, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, SEXUAL ASSAULT, and DOMESTIC ABUSE may be triggering to some readers. Please exercise personal care when reading.
About Invi Wright
Invi Wright is the author of several romance novels, including The Female series. She had just begun her career in marketing when she decided to start a new hobby — writing. After many tears and more anger walks than is probably healthy, she decided to pursue writing full-time and began the journey of becoming a self-published author.
She was born and raised in New York, but she now lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and one-eyed pug. When Invi isn’t writing or reading, she can usually be found binge-watching TV, attempting a puzzle, or making a to-do list.
Thank you for talking with us, Invi. Let’s get started.
For any readers unfamiliar with it, can you give an elevator pitch for the first book in your series, The Female?
The Female is a dark, reverse-harem fantasy romance set in a world where women are scarce and fertility rates are declining. Charlotte is captured and sold to three powerful demons, placing her in a household filled with secrets, deception, and simmering desire. As truths unfold, she confronts painful realities about the world she thought she knew, and the men who purchased her.
Can you tell us a bit about what or where you drew inspiration from to build the dystopian world of The Female series?
When starting The Female series, I was reading a fair bit of alien romance. Several of these books shared a theme of declining fertility rates and a need for repopulation.
I loved this concept and wanted to incorporate it into my book, but I wanted to explore it with a darker take. The women in the alien romances were typically treated very well by society, and I couldn’t help but wonder how differently this theme would look if the culture was flipped, which is where the dystopian world of The Female stemmed from.
Your romance series contains polyamorous relationships. Was this something you knew you were going to include when you first set out to write the story, or was it something that came together the more you wrote?
I knew that, going into the series, the main female character would end up with multiple men, but the romantic involvements between the men came together as I wrote the story.
The Female originated on Wattpad, and as I was writing it, I received a considerable amount of feedback that readers wanted to see romance between the men, which I was more than happy to do.
The more love to go around, the better!
Dystopian settings have been frequently used as an allegorical reflection of society. Violence against women is quite a prevalent theme in your books. Did using dark romance settings help you explore this difficult topic?
It did! It goes without saying that violence against women is a very real and painful issue that too many women face. I personally find books with resilient characters who find strength and autonomy despite the hard setting to be very empowering, and that was my goal when writing The Female series.
Using a dystopian and dark romance setting allowed me to discuss the realities of violence and power imbalances without needing to work around current social and cultural structures, which I think would have distracted from the story I was trying to tell.
If you’re comfortable, can you share why you include themes that could be considered triggering, such as violence and female degradation, in dark romance books?
I’ve read hundreds of romance books, and I’ve found that I particularly enjoy darker, dystopian romances. I’ll be the first to admit they don’t always portray relationships and environments you’d want in real life, but I personally find the idea of ‘love conquers all’ to be so satisfying, especially when it starts from a dark place.
We don’t live in a perfect world, and I think violence and other triggering topics give these books a sense of realism, which is why I choose to include them.
Out of all the books you’ve published, do you have any characters that were particular favourites to create and write?
Oh, definitely! I try not to have favorites because I think they show in my writing, but sometimes they are impossible to avoid. My favorites flip-flopped a handful of times throughout writing The Female series, but Aziel was ultimately my favorite. I enjoyed the tension between him and the other love interests, and his “moodier” POVs were so much fun to write.
Chev was another character who stole my heart. He was initially only meant to be a side character, but I loved him so much that I ended up creating an entire book dedicated to him.
Can you share a little bit about your career in marketing and how it’s impacted you as an author? Has your marketing experience helped you navigate self-publishing?
I have a marketing degree and was working in digital marketing when I began writing. Most of my experience was in social media and paid advertising, which had a huge impact when I started self-publishing.
The publishing industry was new to me, but having experience in the technical side of marketing made the transition smooth. I knew the standard social strategies that agencies and companies were using, and I felt comfortable posting and managing the backend work. Ultimately, I felt it made me more effective, and I was able to reinvest that saved time into other projects.
I don’t think it’s necessary to have marketing experience to pursue self-publishing, especially when there are so many easily accessible sources to learn from, but it saved me a lot of upfront time, cost, and effort.
Could you please recommend a few dark fantasy romance novels that you personally love for our readers?
I would love to! Some of these have pretty heavy triggers, so I’d take that into consideration before reading. In no particular order, we have:
Psycho Shifters by Jasmine Mas
A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne
Bonded by Thorns by Elizabeth Helen
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
A massive thank you to Invi for speaking about her dark romance series with us! Be sure to follow her on Instagram and add The Female to your TBR! And be prepared to be whisked into dark trenches again with her two 2025 releases, The Shattered Kingdom (Cursed Kingdom, book 2) in August and Queens (The Female, book 5) in November. To browse Invi’s novels and more, click here. You can find her socials here: Instagram, TikTok.
To feel safe at all times is a fundamental human right; let’s work to make this world physically and mentally safe for everyone. We urge you to make the call to seek the help you need if you or a loved one has experienced the devastating effects of Sexual Assault.
Help is available at the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
Still hungry for more dark romance? Find some more recommendations in this article!
To get more paranormal romance recommendations from us at Bookstr, click on our Bookshop.org bookshelf here.
