A Beginner’s Guide to Dark Rom-Coms

lights out The first book in one of the most popular dark rom-com series, Into Darkness. Mixing witty and bawdy romantic frolics with the tale of a sinister stalker, this novel follows trauma nurse Ellie who, while intoxicated, posts a message about her dark fantasies of being stalked. Her message attracts the attention of cyber security expert Josh, who likes to post masked thirst traps on social media. Their strange chase is all fun and games, until Ellie becomes the target of an actual stalker. is the second book in the trilogy caught upAfter game on.

First published in the mid-2000s, Marta Acosta’s Casa Dracula series is a pioneer for the dark rom-com genre. This is strange. This is sexy. There are vampires in it. In the first novel, Milagro de los Santos is an Ivy League graduate who falls ill after a one-night passion with a mysterious man named Oswald. Milagro is taken to Oswald’s family estate, and it is here that she learns the truth about her illness and Oswald’s family secrets. This four book series also includes Midnight Brunch, bride of casa draculaAnd haunted honeymoon.

The first book in Lauren Beale’s Staycation series, this dark rom-com follows two serial killers, Kindra and Ezra, who are attending a getaway for killers called Sinners’ Retreat. Kindra has one goal in mind: to find the person on the list of attendees who is responsible for her brother’s murder. When Ezra first meets Kindra, he is charmed by a kindred spirit he finds irresistible. Too bad, he’s the one who killed her brother. Each book in Beale’s dark and hilarious Staycation series (including murder ride, there is a ship, slaughter parkand upcoming reunion of sinners) follows a serial killer couple on a themed retreat. Fun and murder!

If you like romance with dark fantasy and plenty of humor, pick up the Harrow Fair series, which starts with Distorting. Cora is a bank teller whose boring life is turned upside down when Harrow Fair mysteriously returns to town. When Cora makes a dangerous deal with circus puppeteer Simon, she is drawn into a world of dark magic and morally gray characters. next distorterCheck out the other books in the series: puppet, clown, ringmasterAnd angel.

This unconventional romance between a prisoner and a prisoner is surprisingly funny. One night, when 42-year-old Lilith looks out her window she sees something she shouldn’t have seen. Horacio “Ray” Nation had just committed murder, and Lilith was the only witness. To protect his secret, Ray takes Lilith captive. The rules of their relationship are clear. Lilith belongs to him, and if she ever tries to break free, her life will end.

This novel promises something of a slasher horror/comedy. scream Mixed with charming YA rom-com no news-Style Vibes. Dearie and Cole are best friends, and it’s a good thing that they are, because to the rest of the school, they’re quite unlikeable: a couple of pretty boys who look down on everyone else. So, when a slasher attacks the school’s queer club, all eyes are on the two best friends. Now it’s up to Dearie and Cole to uncover the real killer. As these friends get closer to the truth, they learn to value the importance of their friendship and also explore romantic interests within the queer club.

Loving a vampire is pure chaos The first book in Aura Hay’s Total Chaos paranormal romance series. Celine Brennan is a rookie detective investigating a series of bizarre murders in Chicago. Zav Lockwood is a vampire who kills the most terrifying people in the city in his spare time. When he learns that Celine is investigating his murders, he immediately becomes obsessed with her and an awkward (and hilarious) romance begins. The second book of this series, Loving a Witch Is Completely FoolishIt was released in April this year. third novel, Loving a demon is an absolute nightmareWill be released in December.

If the title alone doesn’t tell you that this new novel is going to be a quirky dark romance, you can find out for yourself when Kimberly Laming’s book hits the shelves in August. It is the second book in the Cosmic Chaos series, preceded by I was abducted by aliens and now I’m stuck in a rom com. When Blair is abducted by aliens and sent to a dangerous planet, she thinks things can’t get any worse. But then an arrogant warlord, King Ossid, kidnaps her and discovers that she had been his friend. When conflict inevitably arises between Blair and her captor, the alien researchers send her to couples therapy to resolve her “problems.”