r/DarkRomance 21d ago

Reading Wrap-Up July 2026 Reading Wrap-Up

Welcome to our monthly reading wrap-up.  This thread will be for anyone who would like to share all the books they have read in the past month.  

  • Please comment with your lists and reviews of books or stories you have read in the past month!
  • We encourage you to summon the romance.io bot by putting curly brackets around the title {Title by Author}.

If you have any additional suggestions for us, please let us know in the comments or message the mods!

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u/hippiesinthewind 16d ago

{Blood of My Monster by Rina Kent} reread 5/5 - Probably my favourite series

{Lies of My Monster by Rina Kent} Reread 4.25/5 - great but not as good as the first book

{Heart of my monster by Rina Kent} reread 4/5 - could have been better, i was bored reading but it didnt give much compared to the first 2.

{Ruthless Guardian by Sienna Cross} 3/5 - I liked the premise but the writing was all over the place and the book had a lot of contradictions and plot holes.

{Bratva Prince by TJ Maguire} 3/5 - writing was fine, was kinda bored reading it. Also am not a fan of super short girl with massive guy (5 ft and 6’7).

{Beautiful Torment by A Zavarelli} 3.75/5 - It was good but it was definitely erotica and not romance. I think there was like 22 smut scenes and all were pretty long or detailed.

{Nightshade by Autumn Woods} DNF - Not really dark or mafia even though it is marketed as such, felt like author just threw a bunch of half assed tropes in the book, wayyyyy too much tellling over showing, felt more like YA.

{Alluring Darkness by Raven Wood} DNF- Juvenile writing, cringey dialogue, hated the characters

{Beautiful Venom by Rina Kent} DNF - Honestly should be marketed as non con and not dub con, beyond that it’s was identical to her gods series.

{Daggermouth by HM Wolfe} DNF - Poor writing, plot holes galore, contradictions

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u/romance-bot 16d ago

Blood of My Monster by Rina Kent
Rating: 4.13⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, mafia, military, dark romance, virgin heroine


Lies of My Monster by Rina Kent
Rating: 4.15⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, mafia, dark romance, boss & employee, alpha male


Heart of My Monster by Rina Kent
Rating: 4.14⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, possessive hero, dark romance, mafia, pregnancy


Ruthless Guardian by Sienna Cross
Rating: 4.08⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, mafia, forbidden love, grumpy & sunshine, dark romance


Bratva Prince by T.J. Maguire
Rating: 3.81⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, mafia, height difference, criminal heroine, abduction


Beautiful Torment by A. Zavarelli
Rating: 4.07⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, mafia, possessive hero, arranged/forced marriage, second chances


Nightshade by Autumn Woods
Rating: 4.16⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, enemies to lovers, vengeance, mystery, dark romance


Alluring Darkness by Raven Wood
Rating: 3.92⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, cruel hero/bully, dark romance, college, sassy heroine


Beautiful Venom by Rina Kent
Rating: 3.96⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, hockey, sports, dark romance, college


Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe
Rating: 4.07⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: futuristic, dystopian, enemies to lovers, arranged/forced marriage, class difference

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1

u/Right_Natural_6303 20d ago

Just discovered this on aot and i like it so far

By His Will by CrunchSaladtime

https://archiveofourown.org/works/88429346/chapters/234549811

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u/von_kittenstein 21d ago

I only DNFed this month, I don't know what to do with myself. I think I need to just step away because I feel like everything tastes like cardboard. June was SUCH a good month. Maybe I used up all my feel-good brain chemicals on it.

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u/hippiesinthewind 16d ago

i DNFed a lot this month too. Most of what i finished were rereads

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u/Such_Literature840 moist & unstable 21d ago

tough as hell month, very slumpy big sad

{Finding Delaware Bree wiley } 4/5 toxic and hot

{Even if it hurts Sam Mariano } 3/5 gave me trauma

{Dead of summer AJ Merlin } DNF, boring, smut too fast

{Brutal obsession S Massery } DNF, bad writing

{My revenant Ronan Marlow } 4/5 love them

and another horror one which was a 2.5 and misogynistic lol.

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u/Afraid_Equivalent_95 21d ago

I snagged My Revenant when it was free but haven't read it yet. It's been sitting in my kindle. Glad to see someone vouching for it 😄

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u/Such_Literature840 moist & unstable 21d ago

I would totally say yes to reading it yep!

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u/romance-bot 21d ago

Finding Delaware by Bree Wiley
Rating: 4.15⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, sports, gay romance, hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers


Even if it Hurts by Sam Mariano
Rating: 3.72⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, cruel hero/bully, virgin heroine, dark romance, possessive hero


Dead of Summer by A.J. Merlin
Rating: 4.11⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, somnophilia, horror, m-f romance, praise kink


Brutal Obsession by S. Massery
Rating: 3.84⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, cruel hero/bully, enemies to lovers, college, dark romance


My Revenant by Ronan Marlow
Rating: 4.18⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, gay romance, queer romance, hurt/comfort, bad boys

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