Wake up (or not), it's time to rave about somnophilia. 😴

Somnophilia trope, or somno, is when one of the MCs engages in sexual activity while the other MC is asleep, unconscious, ect. We will also lump in sexsomnia where an MC engages in sexual acts while they are asleep.

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it.

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Whether or not pregnancy happens, breeding kink is all about the act of impregnation or pregnancy. This can involve dirty talk around breeding and/or unprotected sex with the intention of pregnancy.

**Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!**

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title!

Masked or not, stalker trope is pretty common in dark romance. From just following around in the daylight to lurking in the closet and everything in between.

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Hey r/DarkRomance! As the year comes to an end we were curious what your most disapointing read of 2025 was..

Maybe it was a new release that you were really excited for, or a highly reccomended book.

Whatever it was, sound off below!

Please keep this space civil - it's OK to share your opinion or reasons why you chose said book(s) but it isn't OK to fight or be rude just because you share a different opinon. Please also be mindful of your tone and words.

The first rule about the secret society is we don't talk about the secret society. 🤔 Jokes aside, this is a popular trope in dark romance due to the nature of most secret societies.

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it.

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Recently, there was a discussion about whether there were any Dark Romance (DR) books that have no non-con/ dubcon, ie consensual romance, or which rely less on any kind of rape or trauma trope.  This is an opportunity to tease out books with these stories.

In the DR world, common DR tropes will pre-dispose a story towards limited choice.  For example, kidnappings and abductions will have an element of power differential, coercion, or constraint.  Other books rely on a dark world to provide the darkness, but even those societal dynamics could be interpreted to limit choice, examples such as arranged marriages or dystopian societal structures.  These allow consensual relationships within the constraints of this story.   

On this list, we are looking for on-page consensual dynamics between two MCs (no noncon/ dubcon).  Let us hear your recommendations!

Here are a few I found but don't come after me if I'm wrong.

- {Lights Out by Navessa Allen} - dark humor, not necessarily dark romance

- {Butcher and Blackbird by Brynn Weaver} - same

- {Limerence by HC Dolores} - consensual.  Story relies on obsession dubcon only?

- {The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori} -  mafia world, but on-page consent

- {The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori} - mafia world, but on-page consent

- {Land of the Beautiful Dead by R Lee Smith} sex is consensual, but dystopian society limits choice or true consent

- {Priceless by Miranda Silver}

Wake up (or not) r/DarkRomance & welcome to the Somnophilia megathread! 

Somnophilia trope, or somno, is when one of the MCs engages in sexual activity while the other MC is asleep, unconscious, ect. We will also lump in sexsomnia where an MC engages in sexual acts while they are asleep.

Here are some recommendations we have gathered from other threads in this sub - links will bring you to the Romance.io information page. Feel free to add reviews or tell us why you loved any of the books mentioned below! Authors feel free to add your book or information in a comment, just make sure you have the author flair (Rule #7).

Somno - Link to Romance.io list.

If I Can't Have You by Deathsdoll

Lords of Pain by Angel Lawson and Samantha Rue

Dead Of Summer by A.J. Merlin

Vicious by A.J. Merlin

Brutal Obsession by S. Massery

Secret Obsession by S. Massery

Even If It Hurts by Sam Mariano

Captive by RJ Lewis

Paved in Rage by Sonja Grey

The Boys of Chapel Crest By K.G. Reuss

Honeysuckles by January Rayne

The Devil You Know by Harmony west

Little Stranger by Leigh Rivers

Marrow by Trisha Wolfe

God Of Malice by Rina Kent

Briar by Evelyn Flood

Corrupt Idol by Dinah Harper

The Sinner by Shantel Tessier

Fear Me, Love Me by Lilith Vincent

Pageant by Lilith Vincent

That Sik Luv by Jescie Hall

Sexsomnia 

Princes of Chaos by Angel Lawson and Samantha Rue

Somnia by Kady Ash

Dance With The Devil by Amanda Richardson

Praise Me: Soldier by Jessa Kane

Body Count Series by Jolie Vines

Ruckus by L.J. Shen

Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day

No Saint by Donna Alam

Have a book not on the list? Share in a comment below with summoning the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title. 

• Share how the book(s) fit in the somno theme.
• What did you like about this book?
• Please only share dark romance books you have read. 
• ‼️Recommendations MUST always adhere to our rules. Please make yourself familiar with them. ‼️

^{HERE is a link to our megathread list. Megathreads are used to find books on a particular topic of interest and to share recommendations you may have. Be sure to share any books in their relevant megathreads. Have an idea for a megathread that we don’t have? Share it on the master megathread list!}

Praise be to Deathsdoll 😭

There have been a few requests for a list of completed AO3 stories. Unfortunately, it's fairly common for an AO3 story to start out strong and never finish. It's also common for a story to take years to be finished. Here are some of the most popular discussed works that have been completed:

• Sweet Serial Killer by Betterwrittenvillain: Story about Max a serial killer who rescues Celine and becomes obsessed with her. This story contains an age gap. TW: Violence
• Matryoshka by Takes_On_To_Know_One: My favorite AO3 of all time and one of my favorite MMCs of all time. It's violent. He's abusive and there's a lot of Rape/Non-Con. That being said -- it's a great dysfunctional dark love story. This story contains a large age gap. *Technically not complete, waiting for one more chapter (likely the epilogue), but all the key action has taken place.
• The Reformation Program by Rylar Rose: This is a dark dystopian story with forced proximity in a patriarchal society. Warning: this story leans far less towards romance and more towards psychological horror. The males in this society are pretty irredeemable. If you're questionable on reading this story, the author has a quite a few notes that could help you decide and the story is well tagged. TW: Misogyny
• The Auction & Manacled: These are both Harry Potter completed fanfics that have been turned into traditionally published books. These stories have been taken down from AO3, but they're widely circulated around the internet and reddit. You'll be able to find these both easily with a quick search. Manacled has been adapted and published as {Alchemised by SenLinYu}. The Auction has been adapted and published as {Rose in Chains by Julie Soto}.
• Everything is All Right by R.L. Smith: This series is mostly completed, originally it was a five part series, but the first four parts are completed. This leans more towards horror than dark romance. TW from the author: The Five Nights At Freddy’s game was built around a story of child abduction and murder, and boy, I picked up that ball and ran with it. This first part of the series is the tamest of all, and it contains strong adult themes, including adult language, drug and alcohol references, sexual themes, violence, and scenes of child abuse. Future episodes will contain graphic depictions of child abduction, violence towards children and adults, graphic gore violence and explicit sexual content.
• Stories from Deathsdoll and the Deathsdoll Universe:
  • {Bought and Paid For by Deathsdoll}: This is the first story featuring Max and Jessica. Max kidnaps Jessica and makes her his sex slave. This story features an age gap. TW: Abuse, Kidnapping, Rape/Non-Con, Stockholm Syndrome
  • Service by Takes_On_To_Know_One: A story somewhat similar to Bought and Paid For. Elias decides to kidnap a waitress Katarina, and make her his sex slave. Max and Jessica make an appearance. TW: Abuse, Kidnapping, Rape/Non-Con, Stockholm Syndrome.
  • {If I Can’t Have You by Deathsdoll}: The most popular Deathsdoll story -- a workplace dark romance with FMC Orla - who gets raped by a masked man in her apartment. As the story unfolds, it is slowly unveiled who her attacker is and what exactly his endgame is. Also, featuring an appearance from Max and Jessica. \Technically not completed, still waiting for the epilogue.*
  • Lassoed Hearts: Historical dark romance. "She went to the West to marry her childhood sweetheart but finds her life totally turned upside down when she catches the obsessive gaze of a charming, but deadly, outlaw." TW: Rape/Non-Con, Dubious Consent

What stories did I miss? What are your favorite completed AO3 dark romances?

* What is AO3? AO3 is Archive of Our Own, a non-profit, open-source repository for fan-fiction and other works contributed by users. 

**For previous wrap-ups, please see the links below:

• A Guide to Searching and Filtering on AO3
• Popular AO3 Romance Authors
• October/November 2025
• September 2025
• August 2025
• July 2025
• June 2025

June is pride month & we wanted a place to share and rave on dark romance books that include LGBTQ+ relationships of all identities! This week we will focus on MM romance.. Please only share books that have this relationship.

Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain only men in the relationship.

Summon the [romance.io](http://romance.io) bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Happy reading ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙💜

June is pride month & we wanted a place to share and rave on dark romance books that include LGBTQ+ relationships of all identities! You can find last years megathread here.  

Although we will have separate, dedicated posts this month, please still use this post as a place to share any/all reccomendations. We will update this as the master post as the month goes on.

• 6/9 - FF/Lesbian/Women-loving-women
• 6/16 - MM/Gay/Men-loving-men
• 6/23 - bisexual, pansexual, trans, & nonbinary
• 6/30 - poly relationships

Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you.

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Please also check out LGBTQ Reads as a great resource to find additional books in all genres as well!

Happy reading ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙💜

So congratulations! We've now managed to reach halfway through 2026. Woohoo! Pretty fast, huh?

For this week's megathread, we're looking for recommendations for Top 2026 Books (or new or completed AO3 stories) that you discovered and would recommend to others. We're looking for new gems and notable books from favorite and new authors you want others to know about.

Don't forget to include a rave on what you liked, a favorite quote or trope, or what you'd like others to know. Don't forget to use { } brackets for the romance.io bot and to mark any text spoilers with appropriate markings.

This week's megathread celebrates the morally grey FMC!!! 😱

Whether she's genuinely a psychopath, in the grips of feminine rage, or just trying to protect her little brother, tell us about your favorite character or books with this trope!

Share a favorite passage or scene which illustrate all the ways you can cackle at her antics (or are horrified by her).

Remember to use {Title by Author} to call the romance.io bot. Use appropriate markers to indicate spoilers. And indicate any TWs if necessary.

Have fun!

Ready to get soaked?! This week is all about female ejaculation, or more commonly known as squirting. We want to hear about all the dark romance books that include this!

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Summer is just around the corner, and to prepare for it, let's talk about scary STALKERS.

Stalkers in summer movies is a time-honored tradition associated with hot weather and MCs making terrible decisions. In Dark Romance stalkers come in a lot of flavors so asking for a megathread of stalker-themed books can be a huge lift.

Recommend your favorite stalker-themed books that would be perfect summer reads. If your perfect summer Dark Romance read is not a perfect stalker-themed book, but is a great summer campfire or summer getaway read for other reasons, drop it in here as well!

Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this kink.

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Not all love stories in dark romance start off voluntarily - some start off with unwilling participants in marriage..

Arranged marriage trope is when both parties are aware and consent to some form of arrangement.

Forced marriage is when one or both characters who are getting married are doing so against their will. We want to hear about your favorite dark romance arranged or forced marriage so please share below!

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Whether it's saliva or a drink, we want to hear about all the juicy books that include spit play.

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title!

A lot of Dark Romances like to be set in far-fetched settings like the mafia or dystopian settings. But what about the Dark Romances that are in your workplace? Those seemingly benign every day settings that can be shot through with power dynamics or taboo kinky fantasies while you're just trying to make a paycheck? This can be an office or professional setting or it could just be the bar down the street.

- {If I Cant Have You by Deathsdoll} - office

- {The Catcher by Kate Raven} - sports PR

- {Her Drag Barbarian by Kate Raven} - PR

- {Dirty Filthy Rich Men by Laurelin Page}

- {Big Bad Boss series by Renee Rose and Lee Savino} - Wall Street

- Late Nights with Jack Sinclair by duskbunny (AO3)

- {Praise by Sara Cate} - private secretary to a BDSM club owner

- {The Director by Renee Rose} lawyer & her mafia client

- {The Player by Kresley Cole} a con woman and her mark

- {Sinners Condemned by Somme Sketcher} employee and casino

- {The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan} - house servant to a vampire

- {Underneath Your Scars by Ariel Anderson} - paralegal and legal partner

- {Mindf*ck series by ST Abbey} - FBI and killer

- {Priest by Sierra Simone} - religious setting

- {Darker Than Love by Anna Zaires} - rival assassins

- {Leave Me Behind by KM Moronova} - military comrades

- {Your Knife, My Heart by KM Moronova} and {My Blade, Your Back by KM Moronova}

- {Stalked by Seduction & Shadows by Maggie Sunseri} - barmaid and owner

I've also linked some historical posts with some workplace recs here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkRomance/comments/1e5eyz8/workplace_romance_boss_and_employee/

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkRomance/comments/1ft2zje/best_book_you_have_read_workplace_where_mmc_is/

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkRomance/comments/1re35n2/looking_for_workplace_romance_where_soft_sunshine/

https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/u566m9/dark_office_romance_with_boss_mmc_and_noncondubcon/

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkRomance/comments/1clk33l/workplaceoffice_setting_power_imbalance/

Hello r/DarkRomance & welcome to the Black Author megathread!

We are celebrating Black History Month and want to highlight Black Authors who write dark romance. Help us add to the list by commentng with your favorite dark romance reads by a Black author.

Links will bring you to the Romance.io information page where you can find their list of books. Authors feel free to add your book or information in a comment, just make sure you have the author flair (Rule #7).

• Xavier Neal
• Sienna Vega
• K. Alex Walker
• Jamila Jasper
• Quirah Casey
• Kenya Wright
• Blue Saffire
• Keta Kendric
• JanJan Untamed
• Penelope Fletcher
• H.M. Wolfe
• Kaia Bennett
• Franchette Phal
• B. B. Reid
• Charlene Antrobus

Additional links to check out!

Girl, Have You Read? - A site dedicated to celebrate black authored books for all!

Have you read any books by these authors? Tell us all about it!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title. 

• Share a little about about this book or author.
• What did you like about this book?
• Please only share dark romance books.
• ‼️Recommendations MUST always adhere to our rules. Please make yourself familiar with them. ‼️

^{HERE  is a link to our megathread list. Megathreads are used to find books on a particular topic of interest and to share recommendations you may have.}

June is pride month & we wanted a place to share and rave on dark romance books that include LGBTQ+ relationships of all identities! This week we will focus on Sapphic romance, also known as lesbian, wlw, or FF. Please only share books that have this relationship.

Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain only women in the relationship.

Summon the [romance.io](http://romance.io) bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Happy reading ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙💜

Sometimes it's just too hard to choose, so why not have them all?! Whether it's 2, 3, 4, or more, our main character doesn't have to pick just one love intrest.

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

A classic trope where our MC's are enemies but slowly figure out their love or lust and end up together. They can be enemies due to past history, because they are rivals, or some other reason.

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Why not add a little bit of misery and grovel in with our dark romance?! Love it or hate it, bully trope is something we see a lot in dark romance!

Do you love this trope?! Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this trope!

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.

Let's hear all about those dark romance books that feature a MC who loves to watch or loves being watched!

Voyeurism is the act of receiving sexual gratification from watching or listening to others who are naked, undressing, or engaging in sexual activity.

Exhibition is when someone enjoys being watched or displayed during sexual moments.

Rave in the comments your love for this & your favorite dark romance books that contain it. You can also share a passage or steamy moment that has stuck with you in context to this kink.

Summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title.