With the mainstream popularity of books such as Haunting Adeline, Lights Out, God of Malice, and Butcher & Blackbird, it’s no wonder that readers are continuing to devour dark romance.
From morally gray love interests with red flags to complete pitch black villains, no matter the shade of dark romance you want to pick up next, we’ve got just the right listen for you.
Keep scrolling to step into a tantalizing new audiobook filled with taboo fantasies — just be sure to check for content warnings.
Bad Bishop
Book #1 in the Society of Villains series
Written by L.J. Shen, duet narrated by Lucy Rivers & Corvin King
From New York Times bestselling author L.J. Shen comes a dark age-gap mafia romance.
He’s Deathless. She’s trying to find a reason to live.
Lila
My innocence was ripped from me one fateful night under the starless sky. Resulting in an unwanted teenage pregnancy and a secret the Camorra must bury. My father decided to hand me off to the highest bidder. The lucky winner? Tiernan Callaghan, psychopath extraordinaire. The Irish mafia prince wants me for all the wrong reasons…
House of Night
Book #1 in the House of Night series
Written by Celia Aaron, narrated by Emilia Bauer
Only she knows the secret of what happened that night…
Trapped in an upside-down castle, Georgia is met at every turn by a creature as cruel and vicious as his vampire kin. Valen, the cursed lord of the manor, is the monstrous minotaur lurking at the center of Georgia’s maze. He stalks her steps, his gaze forever on her as she desperately searches for escape. He wants her memories, memories that are just as lost to her as she is to the outside world.
Valen has no intention of ever letting her go, not when she is the key to his ascendency to the vampire throne.
House of Night is a full-length dark gothic romance and is the first of the House of Night trilogy. This series is for readers who enjoy dark, atmospheric elements, horrormance, and an engrossing plot that drags you in and refuses to let you claw your way out.
The Butcher
Book #1 in the Fifth Republic series
Written by Penelope Sky, narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo and Ramona Master
After catching her husband cheating, Fleur seeks a no-strings escape. One passionate night with Bastien changes everything
Fleur just wants something easy and no-strings-attached, but Bastien has decided Fleur belongs to him… And Fleur doesn’t get much of a say in the matter, and that’s not surprising when she learns why—because he’s the Butcher. The crime lord of all crime lords, the boss that overshadows all of Paris, that makes everyone abide by his rules—or pay.
And now she’s his.
King of Flesh and Bone
Book #1 in the Pale Court duet
Written by Liv Zander, narrated by Auri Alden and Gregory Salinas
Isolation, darkness, and rotting flesh, Surrounds me, suffocates me, But I am the vile ruler who controls it all. I long for warmth, Yet, all that I touch, Is cold. Then, she stumbles in to my domain, Lost and frightened, Alone and confused. And I terrify her even more. She calls me the devil, So I show her pleasure, Like only the devil can. I am the heat that stirs her flesh, The longing that trembles her bone. She begs her body to refuse, To escape my embrace, But I am her master, The puppeteer of passion. I am the King of Flesh and Bone. Welcome to my court, little one.
King of Flesh and Bone is a full-length dark fantasy novel, the first book in The Pale Court duet. The two-part story features a ruthless man, the woman who can’t escape his love, and a Happily Ever After. This world contains dark themes, violence, loss, and elements of horror some may find disturbing. What this book doesn’t contain is a hero, because villains do it better.
The Death King
Book #1 in the Death series
Written by Penelope Barsetti, narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo and Ramona Master
Calista is the daughter of a king, but when she is fifteen the Death King conquers her land, leaving her to spend the next ten years as a slave in the Arid Sands digging for Black Diamonds. She is also the personal slave of General Titan—a man who has grown obsessed with her. But all of that changes when she hears the news—that the Death King is coming.
Calista sneaks out in the middle of the night to steal the Death King’s dragon — but Khazmuda is no mindless beast. He can speak directly into her mind and hear her thoughts in return. The Death King is about to kill her, but Khazmuda changes his mind—because of her ability to speak with dragons and he instead enlists her help to fight for his cause.
The Death King has no idea who Calista is and what he did to her family ten years ago.
He desires her, but no amount of attraction will ever change the fact that he destroyed Calista’s life. The answer is no—and it’ll always be no. But the Death King doesn’t accept that answer.
Steel & Sin
Written by Ria Wilde, narrated by Savannah Thomas and Gabriel Spires
Elena De Luca may look sweet and innocent, but her family is the reason why Knox’s business is on the rocks. With her family’s corruption and the blood they’ve spilled, it’ll take years to get the Carter Cattle Ranch back to where it was. And now she needs something from him.
In exchange for a place to stay, Elena will return Knox’s business to where it used to be. But all those long nights spent with him have her yearning for more than just her throne. She wants the king too.
Helfyre
Book #1 in the Agía Sahnta Series
Written by Mariel Pomeroy, narrated by Samantha Brentmoor and Sean Masters
Two immortal creatures. One dangerous bargain.
After the death of her mother, Aheia finds herself stained by more blood than she can hide in the perpetual daylight of her home of Keloseros. She escapes the realm but pays the price: giving up her immortality and her powers–once a Mithra with light at her fingertips, she becomes near-mortal. Her desperate search for asylum leads her to the doorstep of the only place out of her abusive family’s reach—a realm that deals in death and darkness unapologetically—Aljira.
But nothing in this world is free, and to buy her way to dubious safety, she’s forced to give up the only thing she has left to barter.
Her soul in exchange for seven days in the devil’s realm.
The pull between them is all-consuming, threatening to shatter the delicate balance of everything.
Note: Helfyre is an adult fantasy romance that contains graphic violence, general dark themes, swearing, and sex scenes—some of which include dubious consent.
Wicked Court
Book #1 in the Cimmerian Court Duet
Written by Ketley Allison, narrated by Emilia Bauer and Gordon B. Diamond
I should have run before they caught me.
I’m just trying to survive my sophomore year at college.
Now I’m caught in the crosshairs of four men who leave terror in their wake: Cav, Kaspian, Axe, and Wilder.
They stalk the halls of TFU, their presence marked by unexplained disappearances and hushed fears.
The puppeteer, the bogeyman, the phantom, and the hellhound.
They want something from me, something I don’t even know I have. A jewel, they say, tied to my family’s past and drenched in centuries of violence.
I should run. I should scream. Instead, I’m falling for them all.
Wicked Court is a spicy, boys-obsessed, gothic dark romance by bestselling author Ketley Allison and is the first in a 2-book series.
Want more Why Choose romance? Check out our blog post, Why Choose: A Romance Subgenre That Takes ‘The More the Merrier’ To a Whole New Level, for more recommendations >
Sovereign
Book #1 in The Sovereign Mountain Series
Written by Raya Morris Edwards, narrated by Stefanie Kay and Oliver Clarke
I have to have her.
I’ve been alone for so long. I never thought I would want to change that.
But when I saw her, I knew she was meant to be mine. And now that her husband is…gone, it’s time to make my move.
I’ve never felt like this about anyone. I want her everything: her body, her mind, her soul.
And I’ll do what it takes to make her my submissive. I’ll keep her safe, forgive her debts, and make everyone who’s ever hurt her pay.
All I need is her name on that dotted line.
Set against the sweeping backdrop of northern Montana in winter, Sovereign is a dark cowboy romance with spice, perfect for romance readers looking for an anti-hero MMC.
*Check out content warnings on the author’s website here.
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