What is dark romance? #darkromance #mm #michaelmandrake #paranormal

 

Dark – A place or time with little to no light.

Romance – A feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.

Greetings readers!

Today, we’re discussing a hot subgenre called dark romance.  

Before I talk about my own works, let’s define dark romance? With help of the definitions above, we gather a feeling of love with very little light involved. Not actual light, but in a figurative sense. Perhaps you have a morally gray hero or heroine. Think vampire or even a demon. If paranormal isn’t your thing, perhaps a mobster, a murderer, or a bad cop who wears the badge as a cover for his true evil self.

Hmm... *Jots notes*

In truth there’s no right or wrong answer for this. Dark romance can be as twisted as you want or slightly wrong. Some go to extremes, while others take the easier way out.

Now that we have an idea, this leads to the question; how can romance be dark?

Isn’t romance supposed to bring happiness? See the above definition about feeling excited.

So you get excited or there’s a euphoria associated with falling in love. It doesn’t give a description of the person or what made you have that feeling so, despite it being something wrong or immoral, the protagonists still push for it to work.

Perhaps the characters enjoy killing, and although it’s wrong they find a person who enjoys the same thing or at least understands why they love murdering people. Maybe one of the characters is aroused by what the hero or heroine does to them, etc.

There’s plenty of scenarios to explore, it just depends on how far you and your characters want to go.

If you’d like more information on the term, check out this article. Dark Romance.

As for my writing, my Immortals series is based around paranormal beings who enjoy being beaten within an inch of their immortal lives. The more tests they endured, the stronger they became. Their dark desires didn’t prohibit them from falling in love since each character found his Mr. Right or Wrong. Maybe wrong for anyone else, but perfect for the lead characters.

The story that holds true to this is Calisto’s Quest where my main character was an angel who took pleasure in fighting and or getting roughed up. Without spoiling the plot, he questioned his true calling because he loved someone who was the exact opposite of who he was. And although this being could lead him down a rough path, he still had feelings for him.

During my writing journey, I’ve discovered my love for writing polar opposites with questionable morals. Although the element of the forbidden or taboo might turn off some readers, I write what’s in my heart first. And since a majority of my books follow the opposites attract formula, dark romance is up my alley.  

Knowing how much I love the opposites trope, I’m looking forward to getting back into writing dark romances. Despite being stagnant for about three years, I plan to finish my Love Kills series and hopefully re-release my Nola Series books before the end of the year.

Wish me luck.

If you like dark romances, please chime in. What is your definition of dark romance? Also, recommend some books you’ve enjoyed. They don’t have to be MM.

Thanks so much for listening!

*****

If you're interested in the Immortal's Series, they are best read in order. All books are on Kindle Unlimited!

This is the blurb for Calisto's Quest

Calisto hungers for Valios, but will their families determine whether or not they’ll have an unholy happy ever after?

Calisto is bored with heaven. Despite his dad’s unconditional love, he isn’t satisfied being High’s favorite winged boy. In the back of his mind, Calisto desires a being from his past to be part of his future. But acting on those emotions risks enraging his family and bringing punishment upon himself.

Valios’ black heart is broken. He’s ruined one chance at true love by being an ass. As he moves on, he meets his arch enemy who he’s fancied for centuries. Though Valios cares for the angel, nothing can happen between them or his father will kill him.

Will Calisto and Valios take a chance or ignore their desires to stay in favorable in the eyes of their masters? Although they realize their feelings for each other, rekindling those could widen the divide between the sides, destroy the peace, and place the entire universe in danger.

Love should be blind, but at what cost?

Calisto’s Quest features an angel with a bad temper and the devil’s son that tries to ignore him. If you enjoy demon angel romances where love means high stakes, pick up a copy of Calisto’s Quest today.

All books must be read in order for full enjoyment of the series.

WARNING: This is a dark romance! Rough sex, violence, torture, and MPreg. Relationships that others might find objectionable.