As the leaves start to change color and the air turns crisp, it’s that enchanting time of year again—spooky season! What better way to celebrate than by curling up with some dark romance books that perfectly blend chills and thrills? These stories will send shivers down your spine while pulling on your heartstrings, creating an irresistible atmosphere of mystery and allure. Dark romance isn’t just about the frights; it’s about exploring complex emotions, intense relationships, and the shadowy corners of love. During spooky season, these stories take on an even more captivating twist as they connect with oftentimes unsettling elements. Imagine romances that dance on the edge of desire and danger, set against a backdrop of witches, ghosts, and haunted places, or simply the haunting elements of real life. Grab your cozy blanket, turn down the lights, and let these books take you on a journey this spooky season!
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1. Haunting Adeline – by H.D. Carlton
This book gives all the spooky vibes you’re looking for. A morally gray mmc who will absolutely get what he wants. A FMC that is into creepy and morally gray things. Match made in heaven, right? Plus an old Victorian home that’s creepy, mysterious, and might be haunted. This is a duo so make sure you pick up Hunting Adeline while you’re at it because there is a cliffhanger that will make you squirm.
2. Butcher and Blackbird – by Brynne Weaver
This one starts out with an adorable little meet cute, and by adorable I mean grotesque. What’s a spooky season without a little murder though right? The MMC and FMC are both morally gray serial killers, can you be both? You’ll literally have to read it to understand. There are some pretty funny things that might depend on your sense of humor.
3. Gothicana by RuNyx
Dark academia, mystery, murder, ghosts, and some crows. The FMC is an outcast and goes to college with the other outcasts. One thing I liked was that she isn’t 18. She goes to college a little later because of some things she’s dealing with at home. MMC is the outcast of the outcasts with a dirty mouth. The plot twists will give you whiplash. There is still some mystery by the end of the book that will have you scratching your head.
4. Rhapsodic (The Bargainer Book 1) by Laura Thalassa
Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years Callie has been wearing a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she once received. Only death or repayment will fulfill her obligations. Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He’s a man who can get you anything you want … at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects. But for Callie, he’s never asked for repayment. Not until now. When Callie finds the Bargainer in her room, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, she knows things are about to change. At first it’s admitting a truth—a single bead’s worth—acknowledging the attraction between them. But the Bargainer is after more than just rekindling their connection. Something is happening in the Otherworld. Fae warriors are going missing one by one, and only the women are returned, each in a glass casket, a child clutched to her breast. For the Bargainer to save his people, he’ll need the help of the siren he spurned long ago. If she can forgive him.
5. Scream For Us by Molly Doyle
Good girl Quinn didn’t expect her night to turn to mayhem once she stepped into a legendary Halloween party. After needing a quick rescue from a stranger, she finds herself locked in a captivating game of infatuation with three masked men. Her one demand? The game ends at dawn. As desire collides with danger, how much can Quinn take before the sun comes up? Will her condition of only one night be enough? Or will her masked men leave their mark?
6. A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon
On the brink of losing her position as a maid and with no prospects to go on, the offer of a place at Rooksgrave Manor—a house of ill and unusual repute—sounds like a perfect fit for a young woman with Esther’s inclinations. Even better, the invitation comes by the hand of the handsome Dr. Underwood, a delicate gentleman with a ferocious alter ego who knows exactly what he wants from Esther. Upon arrival, the men and the daily decadence of the manor feel too good to be true for a girl of Esther’s station. There are rules to be followed, expectations to meet, and Esther is afraid she might be too wicked even for a place like Rooksgrave. Temptations lurk around every shadowy corner and Esther has never been a girl able to resist. But the risk of disappointing her new gentlemen isn’t all that’s threatening Esther’s new position. Rooksgrave Manor’s protections for its unusual patrons are failing, the wards are crumbling, and Esther’s new and exquisitely pleasurable life may all come tumbling down.
7. The Never King (Vicious Lost Boys Book 1) by Nikki St. Crowe
The stories were all wrong — Hook was never the villain. For two centuries, all of the Darling women have disappeared on their 18th birthday. Sometimes they’re gone for only a day, some a week or a month. But they always return broken. Now, on the afternoon of my 18th birthday, my mother is running around the house making sure all the windows are barred and the doors locked. But it’s pointless. Because when night falls, he comes for me. And this time, the Never King and the Lost Boys aren’t willing to let me go.
8. Corrupt (Devil’s Night Book 1) by Penelope Douglas
Erika
I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession. His name is Michael Crist. My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He’s handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me. But I noticed him. I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away. Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore. Because he’s finally noticed me.
Michael
Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika. My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway. Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college. In my city. Unprotected. The opportunity is too good to be true, as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out. We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.
9. Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again… Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was…. Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.
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