Best Dark Romance Books 2023

Life hasn't always been easy for Ellie Sanders. Abused constantly by her mother since she could remember, she faced the challenges of survival in the humbling streets of Coney Island, New York. Ellie, accustomed to fending for herself, struggles to adapt to her father’s new life, which includes his new wife, a move to the luxurious side of Manhattan, and worst of all, the addition of her step-brother Aiden, but after being forced by their parents to get along, Ellie and Aiden soon discover their feelings for each other transcend that of step siblings. In her quest to suppress her growing affection for Aiden, Ellie explores relationships with other guys, only to discover that Aiden’s got some tricks up his sleeve to scare them away. Together, they confront the difficulties of concealing their love and as hearts entangle, the fears of family and society finding out loom large, and Ellie’s past waits to pounce on her, her life becomes an overwhelming roller coaster. Can their love withstand the pressures that surround them, or will the outside pressures rip them apart?

It was only meant to be a one-time, one-night solution to ONE problem. Okay, that's a lie. There are two problems: #1) I'm broke. Through no fault of my own, other than I fell down a rabbit hole so deep, I'm now buried in my sister's debt—with my name, Nikki St. Claire, stamped across it. #2) I honestly need a reprieve from my overly mundane, personal life. So when I stumble upon a highly exclusive and extremely secretive auction, I'm both intrigued and potentially saved, given I've left no "box" of what I'll do unchecked on the interview questionnaire, which exponentially increases the reserve that's set on me. Only thing is… The man who buys me turns out to be Jameson Richards. A drool-worthy billionaire bachelor. Also… My boss. How we got this tangled up in each other is a story unto itself. What we do once I accept his one-night contract is a tale riddled with lust and love.

People said the King appointed me his son’s Beta to stop my family from mutiny. Our wolves were like gods compared to the wolves of Aquilonia, but the King did not need to appoint me his son’s beta to secure our loyalty, nor did he need to fear a rebellion from my people. We owed him our lives.  King Nikolas should have turned us away or killed us when we arrived at the shore of a town in his kingdom. Instead, he allowed us to settle and multiply. The King appointed me as Mathias's Beta because he trusted me.  A trust I feared I would break because something had happened to me along the line. As cold-hearted as I was, his daughter, Jasmine, had caught my attention. It was a clandestine truth, hidden from the world. I had yet to decide whether I would act on this truth or not, but with each passing day, my determination to keep my distance from Jasmine waned. I found myself pondering how much longer I could resist the inevitable breaking point. WARNING: Matured themes are included for narrative purposes and may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Evonne Shannon was a poor student mother sponsored. She was also the crush I had been courting for a long time. Wanting to allow her to shine, I gave up my place in the piano competition for her. However, she glared at me with disdain for deciding this on my own. She then instantly turned around and handed the registration form to her boyfriend, Angelo Zambrano, and said, "Ange, only you deserve this competition." Evonne liked sports cars, so I begged my mother to buy her a limited-edition McLaren supercar. But in return, Evonne mocked me and called me shallow. "Don't think I'll accept you just because I'm accepting the car, Chase Shannon. You've never understood me." With my help, Evonne got to put on a facade of a mysterious billionaire's daughter. But the moment she got money from me, she turned around and went on a romantic getaway with Angelo. I thought of Evonne as my everything and even asked my mother to arrange for her to join the family company. Within half a year, she was promoted to a core team member. She then conspired with Angelo to drain the company dry and even forced me to my death. "What else can you do besides insult me with money and a materialistic lifestyle, Chase? You're the most disgusting obstacle on my path to success. Only when you're dead can I marry Ange," she declared. I was heartbroken when I heard this, and that was when Evonne pushed me off the sidewalk and into traffic. Immediately after that incident, I was reincarnated to the day I bought Evonne a piano. She was glaring at me with disdain. "If you don't want to buy it, just say so. There's no need to humiliate me like this." I let out a dismissive scoff. "Am I the one who's humiliating you, or are you the shameless one? You beg for food but complain that it's cold. You're worse than those stray dogs on the streets. At least they show gratitude after getting scraps."

Shakira tak pernah diinginkan, dan selalu dianggap sebelah mata oleh siapa pun yang mengenalnya. Meski merupakan anak Raja berkuasa di Denmark, tak membuatnya dipandang hebat. Semua itu karena kondisi di mana dia hanya anak dari gundik seorang Raja Denmark. Shakira selalu menyadari posisinya, dan menjauh dari Kerajaan. Namun, siapa sangka ternyata dirinya terjerat pesona dengan sang Billionaire tampan. Sosok Stanley Geovan—telah berhasil memorakporandakan hati seorang Shakira.  Jatuh cinta pada pandangan pertama. Itu adalah hal yang terjadi pada Shakira dan Stanley. Namun, semua tidak berjalan mulus, karena fakta baru terkuak di mana Stanley telah dijodohkan oleh Shula—kakak tiri Shakira—yang merupakan calon ratu Denmark. Skandal manis ini membuat gempar seluruh penjuru negeri. Lantas, bagaimana kisah Shakira dan Stanley? Apakah takdir menginginkan mereka bersatu? Atau mereka hanya pasangan sesaat, yang tak pernah ditakdirkan?

Marriage could be a heaven or hell. Aku mengira pernikahanku ini surga. Tapi dia punya rahasia gelap. Cinta, sentuhan, dan rahasia silih berganti. Aku berjuang susah payah untuk tetap tertawa. Sisi gelapnya membuatku kehabisan kata-kata. Ponsel yang selalu dikunci. Chatting diam-diam. Dan sikapnya yang terkesan pura-pura. Semua itu membuatku curiga. Apa yang dia sembunyikan? Siapa suamiku sebenarnya?

Twenty-four-year-old Chase Anderson, who is gay, caught his long-time boyfriend cheating on him with a woman. Devastated and heartbroken, he treated himself to lots of drinks at a bar. All his intention was to drink and forget what his boyfriend had done until he met Liam Chevalier. Liam Chevalier is the spoiled brat son of a wealthy businessman and the founder of LCC Group. He is not serious about anything in life and spends most of his time partying and hooking up with girls. Like life, he does not take love too seriously. He is not a very big fan of emotional attachments; instead, he likes hot and physical temporary attachments. They spent one night together. After the night, Chase leaves without even saying his name. After a man abandoned him, Liam was horrified and is unable to move on. One day, Liam took over his father's position as CEO of LCC Group. What happens when Chase learns that his one-night stand is his boss? What happens when Liam also learns that the man who captured his thoughts for a brief period is working with his family company?

Eggust Flemming had been obsessed with his mom’s best friend all his life and vowed that the next time he saw her he’d never let her go Juss índigo thought her life would end when she discovered she was pregnant for the little boy she had a one night stand with who happened to be her student and best friend’s son. But it was just the beginning of something she never saw coming

A werewolf having a human mate has been engraved in the history of werewolves. Having a human mate has been forbidden ever since the last time it happened. The reason? The last werewolf who had a human mate turned against the werewolf kind, the reason why hunters exist. After meeting his mate, Nathan wants nothing but to claim his mate as his but doing that will be a bit hard since one, his mate is human; two, it’s forbidden; and three, it will be for sure, the werewolves against him and his mate. But Nathan doesn’t care about the laws and the history, he just wants his mate, and if taking off his title as the guardian of the werewolves, he would do so without hesitation or reluctance. But what could be the reason why the good Goddess has given him a human mate? Surely there’s a reason behind it right? As Nathan unfolds the story of history while pursuing his human mate, things will be a  bit messy. Faking his documents just to enter Hallmark high school is already risky, but Nathan will do just anything to claim his mate, after all, he is the Guardian of the werewolves right?

Ethan Westwood is a effective wolf from the alpha bloodline, who has inconvenience finding his mate and has to go against his parent approximately taking another she-wolf as his mate. Mia Dalton is a powerless human who lives beneath her injurious stepfather after her assenting mother died. In the course of getting away from her stepfather, she meets Ethan profound interior the forest. Ethan finds that Mia is his mate but was put in a colossal situation since the werewolf clan prohibit them from having a human mate. In spite of the dissatisfaction of the seniors, Ethan acknowledges Mia as his mate not dreading what the results might be. The werewolves fear that the taboo relationship between Ethan and Mia might bring devastation that was anticipated by the diviner to the clan but Ethan denied to follow to their plea. Will the relationship between them bring the annihilation to the clan or will it spare the clan from the devastation?