Dark romance for beginners
I'm only recently dipping my toes into dark romances so I'm looking for any recommendations. Especially the 'touch her and die' trope in combination with the MMC having a soft spot for the FMC. I recently read {Gorgeous Monster by Charity Ferrell} and while the plot itself was definitely interesting, I don't like the MMC being physically harsh to the FMC. Being cold-hearted at the start is fine, but no physical pain. There were also some other things that just didn't mix with me, but still had me curious for more dark romances.
Some do's (not necessary, just bonus points) and don'ts:
I'm fine with a daddy kink as long as there's no actual age regression/ddlg. Age gap itself is fine (as long as everything is legal of course). Sugar daddy trope is something I've been reading in fanfiction and wouldn't mind reading in books.
I'm not much into bdsm, which is probably why I'm struggling to find some dark romances I might be into. Some light stuff might be fine. But especially things revolving around pain is a no-go for me. Non-con, even consensual, is also something that sometimes gets me into a bad state.
I have a weakness for petnames/terms of endearment and praise kink. Also lingerie.
Love the grumpy/sunshine dynamic, especially when sunshine has a deep dark side that comes out and surprises grumpy.
Pregnancy doesn't scare me away, I don't mind if it's included or not. (I have to admit to having read breeding kink stories, so that isn't a squick either)
I've discovered I quite like Hades or Lucifer in stories.
Omegaverse is fine. Fantasy is fine too. Haven't tried much sci-fi, but I'm open to it. As long as there's a romance to root for.
Honestly, the smuttier, the better. I'm in a smut phase 😅
I don't think I've read many other books fitting dark romance. Other than Gorgeous Monster, the closest to it might be the {Hades x Persephone books by Scarlett St. Clair}, which are my guilty pleasures.
Alright, this list is already too long, but I just wanna add a quick note that I'll probably be reading it as an ebook, but I usually don't get ebooks if they're too expensive, or if there's an audiobook on Nextory or Storytel available as my budget isn't very big at the moment.