Dark Romance
Morally complicated, chaotic, sinful, and downright dangerous. Yes. Please.
Dark Romance
🔥🔥🔥
Read-&-Rated Favorites (⭐ 3.5+)
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Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
⭐ 4.75
NO SPICE, HEA (sort of)
“Holy shit, this is heavy. And brilliant. Haymitch was so much more than he seemed in The Hunger Games. This story gave him back his dignity.” - Cardigan B
Propaganda, Accidental Murder, Dystopian, Violence
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Twisted Hate by Ana Huang
⭐ 4.75
HOT, HEA
“This book was fun. It had some of the best hate sex you can find. Spicy, passionate, unrelenting.” - Cardigan B
Enemies to Lovers, Sister's Best Friend, Friendship Group, Doctor, Hate to Love You, Grumpy/Sunshine, MMC Falls First, Redemption, Breakup Due to Misunderstanding, Friends with Benefits
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Butcher & Blackbird (Book 1) by Brynne Weaver
⭐ 4.5
HOT, HEA
“If I can teach you anything, it will be to please, please, please listen to the audiobook” - Penelope Black
Serial Killers, Killing Competition, Afraid of Commitment, Possessive MMC, FMC with Lots and Lots of Piercings, Witty Banter, Occurs Over Years, Dexter Vibes, Healing From Past Trauma
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Leather & Lark (Book 2) by Brynne Weaver
⭐ 4.0
“Oh boy the male narrator's voice. Another WOW. Story was a little slow for me. Hard to believe that FMC was also a serial killer. Felt like the same story.” - Penelope Black
Marriage of Convenience, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Serial Killer, Kidnapping, Bodyguard, Grumpy/Sunshine, Forced Proximity, Fake Relationship, MMC Falls First, Touch Her and Die Vibes, Morally Grey MMC
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Scythe & Sparrow (Book 3) by Brynne Weaver
⭐ 3.5
MEDIUM, HEA
“I liked Rose and Fionn. Hard to believe that three women dating three brothers were ALL serial killers.” - Penelope Black
“I don't love that Rose is a circus performer. I can't get past it and enjoy the story. Snuggles to Barbara!” - Cardigan B
Serial Killer(s), Doctor/Patient, Circus, Slow Burn, Touch her and die, Irish MMC, Grumpy/Sunshine, Witty Banter
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Flames of Chaos by Amelia Hutchins
⭐ 4.5
HOT, HEA
“Oooooo okay this had so much heat and fire. And the story keeps twisting. The best part was when when ripped the head off the Minotaur and her sister.” - Cardigan B
Forbidden Love Interest, Morally Grey MMC, Hidden Identity, Chosen One, Enemies to Lovers, Shifters
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Lights Out by Navessa Allen
⭐ 4.25
HOT, HEA
“Surprisingly funny, not as dark as expected. Jacob Morgan narrated. There was a cat. Need I say more.” - Penelope Black
“AWESOME. This was not the book I wanted, it was the book I needed. And then…also wanted.” - Cardigan B
BDSM, Cute Cat(s), Masked MMC, Mask Kink, Touch her and die, Obsessive MMC(ine), Nurse/Caretaker, Hidden Identity
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Dark Delights by Mila Kane
⭐ 4.0
HOT, HEA
“Intense in like seven different ways. He was preyed upon by family. She was poor and pitied. They clash for a decade before they finally peak. It’s dark, man.” - Cardigan B
Hockey, Rich/Poor, Enemies to Lovers, Brother's Best Friend, Bully Romance, Sexual Trauma, Virgin FMC, Playboy/Virgin, Age 25+ MMC
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Devil's Deal by Layla Fae
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“She's a witch in a small town, barely surviving. He's the actual Devil who needs her to be his slave. The whole book is him pushing her to break, to limit past self-preservation.” - Cardigan B
God/Human, Witch/Warlock/Wizard, Villain Becomes MMC, Virgin FMC, Revenge, Survival, Destitute FMC, Loss of Friend (Death)
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Nights of Obedience by Rachel Mays
⭐ 4.0
HOT, HEA
“I mean...they hate each other. Then they’re forced to have sex on the table at a dinner party. As a live centerpiece. Hell yea. That's not sanitary but it is a great story. First one of the series and it came out this year. I hate waiting.” - Cardigan B
Age Gap, Vampire/Human, Virgin FMC, Captive Falls for Captor, Dom/Sub, Forced Proximity, Exploring Fantasies
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Sinners Anonymous by Somme Sketcher
⭐ 4.0
HOT, HEA
“A mafia arranged marriage. A forbidden love. A strange focus on birds. This book had everything. I LOVED Angelo. Normally for this type of spice, I'd call this MEDIUM, but the spanking in church put it to HOT.” - Cardigan B
Age Gap, Father’s Fiancee, Power Struggle, Family Rivalry, To-Be Continued, Secrets, Touch Her & Die, Hate to Love You
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Stealing His Cupcake by Anna Svoboda
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“She is in an abusive relationship with a piece of shit football player. He's contracted to kill the football player and falls madly in love with her. He’ll kill anyone, but he’d die for her.” - Cardigan B
FMC previous abused (not by MMC), Stalker/Stalking, Murder Mystery, Kidnapping, Secret Marriage, Contract Killer
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Wish by Sara Flanagan
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, TO BE CONTINUED
“This is dark. DARK. It’s almost 700 pages, but it reads quickly.” - Cardigan B
Story Told in Past and Present, Fated Mates, Hidden Powers, Fae/Fairies, Enemies to Lovers, FMC previous abused (not by MMC), Loss of Parent (Death)
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Wretched by Emily McIntyre
⭐ 4.0
HOT, HEA
“A folklore retelling where the FMC is a drug scientist and the MMC is law enforcement. It’s hot, but if you watch cop shows, you’ll poke holes in the evidence collection.” - Cardigan B
Morally Grey MMC, Touch Her and Die Vibes, Revenge, Hidden Identity, Secret Identity, Forbidden Love Interest, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn, Mafia/Organized Crime
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Arran's Obsession by Jolie Vines
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“This is a wacky story. Look past the games at the beginning and the abrupt transitions. The story is good.” - Cardigan B
Dangerous Play/Game/Ritual, Forced Proximity, Enemies to Lovers, MC has a Missing Sibling, MC has a Missing Parent, Virgin MMC, BDSM, MMC is involved in Mafia, Gang Wars, Kidnapping, Found Family, Stalking
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Bound to the Beasts by Ari Wright
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“She's an experiment with no idea who she is. They're a pack of wild beasts. I liked it until they left the biggest mystery completely untouched at the end. Rude. But it gets major marks for being clever.” - Cardigan B
Omegaverse, Bully Romance, Arranged Marriage, Emotional Abuse, Fated Mates, MC has a Missing Sibling, Revenge, Family Business, Family Rivalry
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Claiming His Bunny by Anna Svoboda
⭐ 3.75
MEDIUM, HEA
“This was everything I needed it to be. A freaky obsessive hot guy, a strong smart woman, they come together to right the wrongs of humanity for the children.” - Cardigan B
Small Town, Serial Killer(s), Love at First Sight, Possessive MMC, Stalker/Stalking, Somnophilia, Obsessive MMC, Social Worker, Kidnapping, Workplace Romance
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Electric Idol by Katee Robert
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“Wasn't as good as Neon Gods, they didn't give any background on Eros, like they did on Hades. A lot about how she overcomes her self-esteem issues from living in Olympus for so long.” - Cardigan B
Mythology Retelling, Marriage of Convenience, Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, Plus-Siz FMC, Curvier FMC
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Hooked by Emily McIntyre
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“Really f*cked family dynamics. She’s the daughter of his enemy. He wants revenge and her.” - Cardigan B
Revenge, MC is involved in Mafia/Organized Crime, Enemies to Lovers, Folklore Romance, Forbidden Love Interest, Loss of Parent (Death)
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Leave Me Behind by K.M. Moronova
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“Well. This was dark. Pitch-black dark. This book is unpredictable, incredibly disturbing, and hot. H-O-T. This book leaves your heart...lost on what it’s supposed to feel.” - Cardigan B
Military, Blood Play, MC is trapped, One Night Stand, Loss of Friend (Death), Workplace Romance, Workplace Rivals
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Priest by Sierra Simone
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“The Catholic guilt in me set in hard with this one. I'm not sure how a priest can get down with one of his laypeople on an alter.” - Penelope Black
Priest, Forbidden Love Interest, Religious Trauma, Dom/Sub, Dirty Talker, Role Play, Possessive MMC, Inner Demons, Overcoming Past Trauma, Loss of Faith, Confessional Kink, Church Scene Kinks
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Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“I love a competition story. Each the MCs complimented one another perfectly. Achilles is brash but observant. Petroclus was bookish but sexy. And Helen was sophisticated but skeptical.” - Cardigan B
Police Officer, Mythology Retelling, Age Gap Romance, Competition Romance, Forced Proximity, Why Choose, Friends to Lovers, Only One Bed, Bodyguard
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Troublemaker by Jo Brenner
⭐ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“Dark and taboo-it's the same universe as Butterfly. Dark themes and Jo Brenner makes it work. Blake gave me whiplash with his "yes we're together/no we're not that's gross" mind games.” - Cardigan B
Age Gap Romance, Dirty Talker, Hockey Coach, Virgin FMC, Academic Setting, Guardian/Ward, Touch Her and Die Vibes, Grumpy/Sunshine, Spanking, Blood Play, Daddy Kink, Stalker
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Unhinged by Onley James
⭐ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“MM romance that’s kinda sweet, mostly dark. Disturbing backgrounds for each of the MCs.” - Cardigan B
Gay, Rich/Poor, Murder Mystery, MC has a Tragic Past, Obsessive MMC
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A Very Stalker Christmas by Layla Fae
⭐ 3.5
MEDIUM, HEA
“It was creepy and cute. Surprisingly wholesome for a stalker romance.” - Cardigan B
Neighbors, Stalker/Stalking, Happily Ever After (HEA), "Mysterious, Brooding (MMC)", MMC/FMC is disabled or has a disability, Mask Kink, Praise Kink
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Wounded Wing by H.B. Cliffy
⭐ 3.5
MEDIUM, HEA
“This is dark as hell. The violence is rampant and creative. Didn’t love the rest of the series, but this one is memorable.” - Cardigan B
Mafia, Physical Violence, Arranged Marriage, FMC has Tragic Past
@35CARDIGANS @BLACKCAT100
Find us on The StoryGraph
Join The StoryGraph, our romance book tracking app of choice. Scope out our TBRs, see which titles we’ve read, and watch us rate in real time. Just more proof that we’re humans.
(Yea, we also use goodreads…but so do our families. Who we’re connected to).
Sizzle Scale
HOT
(Blazing & Explicit): This is the full five-alarm fire. Bedroom doors are flung wide open, and the scenes are DETAILED, EXPLICIT, and SCORCHING HOT.
MEDIUM
(Simmering & Steamy): Expect passionate kisses that don't always fade to black. Could be graphic, but probably one scene that goes full throttle.
MILD
(Sweet & Tender): Expect sweet sighs, maybe a stolen, chaste kiss or two, and plenty of heartwarming moments that make you go "awww." If things get more intimate, the bedroom door gently clicks shut (fade-to-black).
FLOUR
(Platonic, if anything): Rare to find around here. This is a book that has…no romance at all. We probably read this by accident.
FAQs
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A guide to romance novels of all heats and sizes. We’re recommending books we’ve read (we’ve read 1,000s) and telling you what to expect. We’ll help you do your research - your time and money will be happy.
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‘Happily Ever After’ - nearly every book you find on The Velvet Pages has an ‘HEA’. It means that the story reached a satisfying conclusion. It might say “To Be Continued” which means there’s probably an HEA in the series, but that particular title didn’t resolve the relationship.
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This is how sexual or sexy a book is. There’s a range: Hot, Medium, Mild, and Flour.
Hot is ‘“holy Hell I’m sweating.”
Medium is steamy.
Mild is tender and sweet.
Flour means there’s nothing romantic here.
We label each book so you know what to expect and you can choose what you’re comfortable reading.
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We rate each book out of 5. Cardigan B and Penelope Black can rate a book the same score on occasion, but usually the rating you see is an average of their scores.
The ratings are pretty subjective, but include things like:
Did the story make sense?
How did the characters measure up?
Was the writing literate?
Was the premise or were the plot points memorable?
Were the mysteries solved? Did the questions get answered? Did you leave me on ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER, ONYX STORM?
Did the book make us feel something?
Was there a cute cat?
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We recommend starting with Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, or Sports Romance. They’re the most popular and you’ll find recognizable tropes.
Start with Mild to Medium heat and definitely choose an HEA.
If you’re still stuck, email us and we can give you some recs!
Heyyyvelvetpages@gmail.com
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We’ll read pretty much anything. Each month, Penelope and Cardigan select a list of about 20 books to read together. There’s at least one book from each genre and some popular titles that have been recently released.
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We sure do! It’s called ‘The Velvet Edit’. You can sign up at the top or on the ‘Contact Us’ page. We send out a themed list of recommendations each month and a ‘Quickie’ (a single title spotlight) two weeks later. We won’t spam you.
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That’s the section of the site where we share what we’re reading this month for our book club. You can check out our other reading lists from the past few months of 2025, too.
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Nope, not even close. The books on the site are generally the ones we enjoyed the most. Or hit on different trends we see coming up.
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They are! If you buy from a button click on the site, we might earn a commission. You’re not paying more for the product, though. We’re all about ‘pay less for smut’ around here.
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We use Storygraph. It has a friendly app interface and has every book we’ve read. It also shows your reading stats, which is unique.
We have separate Goodreads accounts, but they’re connected to our friends and family and…I don’t want them to see that I read the first and second book in a series about a merman with two dicks.
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MMC is Male Main Character. FMC is female main character.
There are typically one of each, but there can be multiple in genres like Omegaverse or Reverse Harem.
Or, like in the case of Court of Thorns and Roses, the MMC could be one person in one book and another person in another book.
Don’t come at me about ‘spoilers’ - these books were published in 2015.
Email us
Looking for a book recommendation? Want to give us a recommendation you’ve read? Need to yell into the void?