What Are The Best Dark Romance Plot Ideas For Books?

I'm basically planning to camp out in this comment section.

I find most of the “dark” themes are better expressed by internal struggles with mental illness. A possessive story can be very realistic if written from the perspective of someone with severe anxiety, PTSD, or borderline personality traits. These characters often attempt to control others because they fear being abandoned or left by themselves. This symptom of their illness can be portrayed as horribly flawed but relatable. It requires great care not to wander into the sphere of stigmatizing the mentally ill, but to show an obviously dysfunctional relationship and work the characters through managing to cure the symptom of possessiveness together. It is a very dark and difficult story to tell well, but it is its own unique beauty.

What is interesting to note is that this type of character is depicted differently in various sub-genres. In Mafia dark romance novels the strong heroine is either part of the mafia family or has been brought into the fold and becomes very powerful as she becomes entrenched in the business of the main character. Examples of this would be novels like ‘Bound by Honor’ by Cora Reilly in which our heroine is a very strong character from the start who is part of the infamous Chicago Outfit. In Bully novels the strength of the heroine is in her ability to withstand the torture of her boyfriend(s) and survive without losing her spirit. The strong heroine in these types of novels also may play out the role of revenge for her tormented past. Science Fiction or Alien dark romance novels are also filled with strong female protagonists. In these stories the strength of the heroine is in her ability to be clever, resourceful and to make ends meet in order to survive in a foreign, even hostile environment. What does not work for these types of novels is for the female lead to be a blank slate. She needs to be brought to life and be more than the object of the male protagonist’s affections in order to be deemed highly recommended by readers and authors alike. The setting and context of the novel may change, but the one non-negotiable element of these dark novels is the strong heroine who is more than just a one dimensional character.

It’s also worth noting the ‘comedy’ tag can be a hidden gem. While ‘The Lovebirds’ is a comedy-mystery, a very dark murder plot is at the center of the movie, and it’s up to our stranded couple to solve the crime. They’re a realistically strained couple on the verge of a breakup when they first get into a fight in the midst of a life or death situation. Thus, it’s a very light take on the ‘relationship-in-peril’ subgenre. My expectation going in was totally wrong, which is pretty great. I’d also recommend ‘Game Over, Man!’ (a bro-comedy where a group of friends must save a hotel from being robbed) just to prove a point that there’s some great stuff in ‘comedy’ tag too, but this probably won’t count. ‘Murder Mystery’ (Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston) is also a fun take on married couple sleuthing.

Instead of going for an original plot/romance hybrid, dig around for historical unsolved crimes or really unusual court cases and write a mystery around them. Then determine what two people would have to work together in order to solve the real mystery. For example, a by-the-book archivist and a rebellious historian searching for evidence of a century-old theft, or a modern-day linguist and a modern-day security expert trying to crack a new cipher that was hidden in Victorian love letters. The mystery itself and the reason the two characters are working together lends itself to creating unique and fresh plot points, as well as making the romance between the two characters grow out of their differences and their obsessive goal to solve the mystery.

You might remember the Crossfire books by Sylvia Day, which were sweeping the nation after Fifty Shades had readers hooked to the billionaire romance scene. There were even talks of making the book into a TV series but it apparently didn’t work out. Perhaps it’s because the author is already a known name but the show still needs to find a way to adapt to a format that will do justice to the book? Same goes for The Black Dagger Brotherhood books by J.R. Ward, which have a HUGE fan base already. They’ve been optioned for TV years ago, but no green light yet. While some of the books have darker themes, most of them have paranormal elements that will of course increase production costs but also create more problems with regards to adult content. Many of these optioned books are sold as something to lock up potentially very lucrative IP, and then they stall because no one can figure out the creative or commercial solution to bring them to life. The success of Outlander, adapted from the historical time-travel romance novels by Diana Gabaldon, is evidence that novels featuring mature themes, violence, and lots of sex can be adapted into a hit television series. But that series has the added benefits of being a work of historical fiction with a unique time-travel twist. A contemporary dark romance just doesn’t have the same additional genre hooks to draw in a larger audience, and thus is a more marginal, riskier investment.

Looking for free dark romance books can be a fun search for hidden treasure. BookBub is the best source for me to receive emails about free ebooks and discounts on the dark romance books I love. I have recently downloaded Fear Me by BB Reid and the other 4 books in this collection within the last month. Another site that I haven’t visited in awhile but deserves some recognition is Smashwords. I often find that indie authors list their darker novels for free on this site and recently downloaded Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters. Tapas has a Dark Romance section where you can read the beginning of novels for free and then subscribe to read the rest of the story for as low as $.59/month. I just finished reading The Devil’s Contract, which was so twisted and addicting. I also wrote about how to find free and cheap audiobooks on YouTube and found a full reading of a public domain dark romance novel as well as an indie work. There are also a few Discord servers for romance novel readers, including one I joined last year. Every now and again the members will share some freebies that are temporarily available to download from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Remember to check the legitimacy of the site offering the freebies, as not all do this in a copyright-respecting manner.

Have you ever come across a sunshine character in a book that sends shivers down your spine? That is reverse grumpy/sunshine in dark romance. The happy-go-lucky character in Den of Vipers is probably the most unhinged in the group. This novel flips the script on who is in control. The grump may be the only sane person while the sunshine character is causing chaos. This flipped grumpy/sunshine relationship also adds a fun twist to how we perceive trust in the story. It makes sense in dark romances where love is often border line obsessive and where the sunshine character’s smile can hide secrets. It makes every sweet gesture a threat and therefore creates this wonderful tension which is electric when you have no idea when the “sun” might burn.

Everyone in these comments gets my taste way too well lol. I swear I could sit here and talk books with you guys all night.

I spent hours researching ways to download free eBooks, including venturing into the free sections of big retailers like Amazon, which only stock the first book in a series. But then I discovered author’s newsletters and their websites. I found out that a lot of indie dark romance authors give away full-length novels or long novellas as reader magnets to subscribe to their newsletter. I’m talking about authors like Amelia Wilde, Sam Mariano, and Trisha Wolfe. Check if your local library uses apps like Libby or Hoopla for borrowing eBooks, audiobooks and documentaries. I was surprised by how many current dark romance titles are available to borrow for free with my library card. No waiting months for the eBook to become available, it’s the most legit way to read for free without having to rely on shady websites.