What in the f**k nuggets did I just read?
I’ve been writing on the dark side for a little while now and that has much to do with the fact that it is so popular amongst booktok readers.
Their hooks and shares get me intrigued and I’ve been shimmying my way down the dark path
(not without the occasional identify crisis – I can’t write this!!! who am I too write this?? Oh right, I’m an adult, I do what I fucking want. eyyyyyy)
But I just found my limit.
One of the perks of working for me is bookish bonuses – meaning my assistants get advanced ADVANCED access to writing/projects etc.
A few days ago I supplied some episodes of my upcoming dark serial – Monster Under My Bed (episodes begin dropping on Patreon next week, EEEEE!)
After she devoured the episodes in a shockingly short amount of time I had to ask my lovely assistant, Tara – “Is this monster story dark or spicy at all?”
Her jaw dropped.
She simply lifted up her notebook showing a half sheet(with multiple columns) of trigger warnings we need to warn readers of
Ahhhhh yeah okay I guess it’s kind of dark.
But compared to the stuff I’ve been reading lately? I feel like a little fluffy unicorn in comparison – like a gray one but still a fluffy unicorn
The truth is, if you ask someone if a certain book is steamy or dark that COMPLETELY depends on the baseline of that reader.
And while I’ve been surfing the darkness, I’ve found that reading true sociopaths and books that include prolonged torture – usually of the enemies in the book – just sucks my body dry of all romance until I’m a dusty little husk.
For a while, I kept pushing myself to write toward the morally gray character everyone is nuts for but I’ve realize I can parade my characters as the Big Bad but you peel back a layer or two and they are the good guy and after finding where my personal limit is on the dark romance scale I’m actually super cool with that.
In the last month of reads, I’ve found I don’t mind big bad dark characters – but for me to get the romance tingles, they HAVE to soften, they have to FEEL toward the other character for me to connect.
DARK MMC: What are these feelings? I don’t have feelings! OMG they are engulfing me!!! I’m drowning in feels I’ve never had before! WHY IS SHE SO CUTE I HAVE TO MURDER SOMETHING TO MAKE IT STOP AHHHHHH
Which is why sociopaths who are like ‘what is love? Oh yeah i have symptoms of that description, must be true’
I’m like eh. You’re interesting but I’m not romantically taken with you.
And I love a good slice and dice of the enemy but long drawn out torture scenes… yeah, we talked about my dusty husk so you get it.
While I’m finding out where my romantic feels lie on the dark scale, I still find the dark content very interesting. I’m super interested in reading different niches to see what readers respond too.
And if you love sociopaths and the torture adds to the stakes of your reading experience – read on! I know many readers who exclusively looooooove that content!
I don’t care what you read, as long as you like it ❤️❤️❤️
(I’ll put my book analysis at the bottom in case something I’ve talked about has you like – what is she reading?!?! I wanna read that!)
Holly, what have you been reading?
There Are No Saints (Sinners Duet Book 1)
There Is No Devil (Sinners Duet Book 2)
By Sophie Lark
Sociopaths and serial killers (with the gratuitious torture that made me dusty, HA!) but while it doesn’t tickle my romantic side I think it’s captivatingly interesting! But I’ve also decided not to read this one before I fall asleep lol and uh Imma need a fluffy buffer book after I finish book 2 today
But Sophie Lark nails the darkest of dark and really REALLY knows how to write a sociopath. I’ve learned she’s incredibly talented and an amazing writer
by Emily McIntire
Gol – Emily McIntire pushed me to the LIMIT on this one. This is dark and the heroine is the crazy violent dark one here. BUT I love this so much because her and the MMC feel deeply toward each other which sucks me in!
I love this series and book 1: Hooked is honestly what had me itching to write Tasting Red
No Place to Hide
by Harper Ashley & Wren Hawthorne
I met Harper at a signing and she is FAB! I had to try her book after she explained this novella features an ex-felon, carnie who chases our prim and perfect FMC who wants a fuck on the wild side ie he chases and fucks her all around the carnival at night.
Bitch say whaaaat?
This skinny little novella was a crash course is so many triggers for me which I found super interesting! Doesn’t quite have the softening of characters toward each other, but if you want the down and dirty, trigger-laden, rough hot ride you should totally check it out! These gals are queens at dark romance!
By Siggy Shade
What in the fuck nuggets did I just read?
The monster in my serial has tentacles and I’ve been trying to read more monster romance (this is closer to erotica) and indeed I did learn if we are going to have tentacles we must be taken advantage of more orifices! Touche Siggy Shade!
This is probably classified as only kind of dark but dear god when they pulled out the plastic tarp for ‘inking’ and implanting babies… gah! no inking! Keep your ink to yourself! I don’t want babies!!!! (spoiler: these have nothing to do with each other but I don’t want either lol) breeding kink is not my thing (not a big surprise)
but holy shit, you want to try some WILD monster romance…
well, let’s just say l’husbun kept seeing my facial expressions and taking pictures of them because he finds the horror hilarious. RUDE!
Disclaimer: All opinions and reactions are my own, and none included here possess any judgement on any reader/writers preferences. This has simply been an exploration in my own reading from my own baseline as I stretch outside what I’m used to with genuine curiosity and interest. And I’d be delighted if I’ve led you to a new book you love or enjoy even if we don’t enjoy it in exactly the same way. I’m a firm believer we all need all the different types of books to serve all different types of readers at different phases in their life! ALL THE BOOKS! |
