before i start this let me put it out there that while i may not like this series or this author, i don’t care if you do, im not saying this in a mean way, you’re allowed to like what you wanna like, this is just from my perspective

i was getting fomo with the legacy of gods series so i decided to give it a read, i got to book three and about 50% of the way through i dnf the entire series, the men have no personality, if you were to make me guess who was who just by personality alone i’d be a lost cause and because of that the books started feeling repetitive, not to mention in my eyes with the way rina writes women you would think she hates them. i don’t like how the men repeatedly tear down their woman and make her unable to exist outside of him or sex it just feels off to me and when it’s the same thing every book it gets annoying and boring

im just disappointed as i seen this series so highly talked about and it is well loved, but it also isn’t for everyone and thats fine

I am absolutely obsessed with this book.
I’ve realized that my dark romance hyperfixation is, without a doubt, Cult + Secret Society. Diagnosis confirmed!

For a reader who hates seeing the FMC get brutally harmed for no good reason just to push the plot or satisfy a kink, The Community offers a slow-burn, relatively gentle progression. You could call it a "boiling a frog in warm water" situation—except there’s no question about it, this frog is getting cooked to death.

The story is told in the third person, but it’s incredibly easy to immerse yourself in the mindsets of the different characters. I think life within the Community makes it easy for readers to connect the dots back to feelings from their own childhoods.

The Community explores more than just a romanticized supervillain; it delves into sisterhood and friendships that deeply resonate with real-life experiences. But make no mistake, this book isn’t The Five People You Meet in Heaven—it’s a suspenseful thriller where life and freedom are constantly on the line.

I was deeply, deeply amazed by the verbal sparring between the MMC and FMC. The FMC is smart but is not some ultimate genius, and she’s no match for him. Yet, her insight into things is sometimes so crystal clear it’s staggering. In situations where most people would completely freeze up, she—as such a gentle woman—is able to make decisive, iron-clad results and deliver extraordinary lines.

As for the MMC, seeing him through the eyes of those around him makes you truly feel how a cult leader comes to life—intensely charismatic yet terrifyingly imposing.

This novel also made me realize that I actually have a Daddy issue. It’s not just a simple attraction to men who are more capable, reliable, and experienced; it’s a deep attachment to a male figure of authority—respecting him, obeying him, and craving his approval.

Everything in this book—from the pacing of the plot and the foreshadowing to the character design—fits together perfectly.

Before reading this, Netflix documentaries had already made me utterly detest cults. Because of that, I used to be very allergic to this kind of content. Even though I love secret societies, I avoided cults like the plague.

Before diving into The Community, I read If I Can’t Have You, and I found what the MMC did in that book truly hard to stomach... I guess that’s exactly why people say you shouldn’t challenge the pitch-black stuff right off the bat when starting dark romance. But I still forced myself to finish it back then, because everyone in our community praises Deathsdoll to high heaven. I wanted so badly to fit in. I wanted to understand why everyone loves her so much.

After lurking in this sub for quite a while, I’ve fallen in love with this community. I love how, no matter what kind of book request or trope preference someone has, most people always treat each other with warmth, kindness, and encouragement. I love how everyone "camps out" under book request threads, celebrating every wild imagination.

But then I noticed something: the dark romance I like is actually pretty sweet. Even in this niche sub, my taste belongs to a minority. It honestly made me feel frustrated and jealous. I wanted so badly to be mainstream and enjoy the super pitch-black stuff.
Whenever those feelings crept up, I’d feel this sense of resentment toward Deathsdoll. Like, why does everyone love her books so much?

To try and become "mainstream," I decided to give DD’s books another shot. This time, I chose The Community because it felt closer to a secret society trope. I actively suppressed my aversion to cults, and before reading, I actually checked out DD’s bio. She mentioned that if anyone ever encountered the things she writes about in real life, she’d tell them to run far, far away. Oh my god... she’s always just been writing out her fantasies, hasn’t she? She’s not encouraging these things in reality. She also mentioned she doesn't really consider her work dark romance, but rather dark erotica. That shocked me... because in my mind, she’s always been the universally acknowledged queen of dark romance. It made me feel a bit lonely—here I was, unable to understand everyone's worship, while she herself doesn't even view her books as DR. Finally, she asked people not to screenshot Reddit hate and send it to her because it makes her sad. Oh god, oh god, oh god, I felt so incredibly guilty.

Why did I hold so much resentment toward her before even bothering to read her bio? Complaining that she’s a DR mastermind I couldn't understand, and feeling like an outcast in the community because of it? But is being loved by everyone really the result of her manipulating us like a cult leader? (I am SO sorry if this is too offensive, I'm just trying to be humorous)

And oh my god, The Community is an absolute masterpiece. I’m a total scaredy-cat who usually avoids thrillers at all costs, but I was completely hooked while reading. I was terrified yet captivated, silently rooting for the FMC. Whenever the cult got very "cult-y," seeing other readers in the comments having the exact same reaction made me smile knowingly: Ah! So we’re all feeling the same way, huh? When the plot built up to the characters clashing, the sheer tension gave me such a rush, making my heart race.

I am just so, so happy that I started this journey. Thank Deathsdoll ☺️

i thought this was going to be a good book because it had interesting tags, i love a good bully romance, & a lot of people kept recommending it.

sadly, that wasn’t the case. i find the book to be extremely boring. their feud as enemies was intriguing at first, but i think the story keeping them apart for so long that it caused me to become disinterested with their dynamic.

to be fair, i stopped at chapter five & i was skimming through the book. i tried to take my time with the narrative, but i felt like there were moments within the story that were super mundane that could’ve been cut out altogether.

the psychological aspects aren’t there for me, & the bullying is lukewarm at best. overall, i would rate it 2 stars out of 5. maybe it gets better if you stick with it? idk.

edit: i forgot to mention how i didn’t like how mia lost the weight & noah finds her attractive after time has passed. it would’ve been cool to have a bigger fmc who doesn’t have to fit the beauty standard within a dark romance. it would’ve made her character more interesting, & their dynamic 100x better.

I hope this isn’t too vague. Basically my neighbours flat flooded, so mine also flooded. Isn’t that wonderful!! Anyway I have no electricity or running water 🙂 please send me book recs from KU that I can download to entertain myself

Must haves

Standalone, no duets or trilogies (unless it’s really good)
A rugged man. No CEOs or office workers. So fighters, made men, cowboys etc
Virgin or very inexperienced FMC - don’t judge I love them a little naive

Kinks I would like but are not necessary

Somno
Primal
Lactation
Daddy

Absolute no’s

Physical abuse between the MCs
Either in LE or Military
HFN/ no HEA - I want them in love by the end
MCs cheating on each other. If they cheat to be together that’s fine but not while they’re together

I’ve read the Mountain Men series, all of BJ Alpha, Sadie Minx etc

TIA

I don’t know why I keep doing it to myself, but I keep starting AO3 fics and getting sucked in and then they never update or worse get removed!

Can anyone recommend any completed fics for me that don’t have any fantasy elements and are well written.

- I’ve read all of Deathsdoll so nothing from them please.
- I Dnfed Matryoshka (despite loving Service) and I didn’t really enjoy Trofey either.
- I have Eskell Manor on my TBR

I have no triggers and I love age gap, Stockholm, RH, teacher/student, Boss/Employee, keeping it in the family etc!

Thanks All!

Hey guys, I’ve been looking for this book for literally a month and I'm losing my mind, so I wanted to see if anyone here knows it.

It’s a dark romance between a sister and her adoptive brother. They grew up together since she was like 6. Once they both got to high school, he started showing her that he liked her and getting touchy, but the catch was he completely ignored her at school. She used to get so mad that he wouldn’t hang out with her or talk to her in front of people.

I also distinctly remember them taking a trip to Europe together where they could finally be free and just do whatever they wanted.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? Thanks in advance!

{in love with the devil by sky blu} had a similar vibe to this.

astoria didn’t know that the night time appointments she had with julian, had also been the same man who she had day time appointments with. she wasn’t confiding in the doctor, aka julian, but she was fantasizing about him, him being the one who rapes her at night.

that’s the exact dynamic i want.

she doesn’t want it and genuinely hates it. but, he’s so kind with her, and gentle, and he whispers sweet words into her ear during their night time appointments.

her “falling” in love takes a while, it’s a slow process but, he’s patient, maybe he loses control once or twice or a few times but he generally is able to keep his composure.

i have yet to come across anything triggering so recommend anything besides, blood-related incest, historical, sci-fi, fantasy, mafia, rina kent, shantel tessier, and kate raven.

edit: the book i mentioned is not a dark romance, it’s erotic horror.

Hi again 🫣

I'm looking for books with a very detailed rough facefucking scene, not just a quick blowjob to get to the actual sex. For example this scene from {Vices & Veritas by Alina Haris} got me feeling.. 🥵

>!Lyra’s mind spun in panic and determination. I can do this. I want to please him. I need to be good for him. But her body rebelled — throat spasming violently, eyes watering, tears spilling down her temples and into her hair. She choked and gasped around him, the wet, obscene sounds filling the kitchen.!<

>!Caelum’s hand stroked the prominent bulge in her throat, feeling his own cock move inside her. “That’s my good girl,” he groaned, voice low and filthy. “Look at you… throat bulging with me. You’re made for this.”!<

>!He started moving faster, hips snapping with controlled force. Each thrust drove deeper, rougher, using her throat like a toy. Lyra’s hands flew up, nails digging violently into his forearms, scratching deep red lines that quickly welled with blood. She scratched harder, frantic, trying to push him back, trying to breathe, but Caelum didn’t care. He didn’t even flinch at the pain. Blood trickled down his arms, dripping onto the countertop, but his rhythm never faltered.!<

Most books quickly move on from oral sex to get to penetrative sex and it leaves me feeling a little unsatisfied especially when it's rough sex and the throat action contributes to the struggle way more than just vaginal 🫣

❌ No reverse harem and age gaps/daddy kinks

❌ No monsters/aliens/other creatures without human bodies

Anything else goes! 💖

I’m looking for a book where the FMC has really huge breasts not just “cute double D,” but genuinely massive. She can be curvy/plus-size, but she can also be thin. I want the MMC to be obsessed with her breasts, with them heavily involved in the sexual scenes. Breeding/lactation/hucow themes are welcome too, but the main thing is that her breasts are a major focus throughout the story and sex scenes. I just want an mmc completely obsessed with her body and worshipping her boobs, thinking about them and touching them all day long.

Favorite tropes: size difference, breeding, lactation, dubcon/noncon, age gap, soft dom/ masc dom, taboo( but no real incest), daddy kink but not too much ddlg dynamic, somno

No RH, poly, or cheating. The only acceptable cheating would be if it happened with each other, not against each other.
No triggers

Edit: read all from the Alliance series and other SJ Tilly books, and Julia wolf‘s stuff like ps you’re intolerable.. would love a little more on the dark side :)

I was thinking of buying it but i don't want to waste my money if it's not worth it.

What DR books don´t have a perfect happy ending? A ending, that somehow sticks to you and makes you think about the book after the reading. Something matching the tone of the book, so that the dark atmosphere don´t suddently change into sweet and romantic.

It could be a HEA, but more a bittersweet one. Or a ending where you feel the FMC is forced to stay with him or manipulated by him.

Tropes I like: non con, dub con, age gap, manipulation, obsession

I have no trigger.

I also take recs for books without HEA. But I would prefer a psychological tone over gore (so NO to doing permanent damage to the FMCs body like in erotic horror, but yes to her being broken mentally).

Books or AO3

OKAY CLEARLY I DONT KNOW HOW TO PUT GRAY CENSOR SO WARNINGS AHEAD! SPOILER! ⚠️

Okay okay.. so i came to that part after going through half of the book.. 😮‍💨

It made my knees weak! Oh my god. I just started to dive into dark romance and this is going so well for me *applause good girl*

&gt;!Noah calling Tiernan good girl, the self masturbation scene.. Jake busting on trio, Jake refusing Tiernan an orgasm, it was pure chaos and it delight me so much😈!<

&gt;! The sexual tension as its peak! Still Kaleb giving me shudders but, I love how shameless Noah is, i have a feel the book end gonna satisfy me as much as i enjoy it so far !<

What are your thoughts? I would like to hear them! 🤍🌲

FMC is stalker of MMC. I want her to be crazy possessive and obsessive over MMC, doing all the stalker things. I don't care if MMC is sweet golden retriever or jock or nerd but the only thing I want MMC is to be completely oblivious about FMC's presence or even if he knew her he didn't care much about her until FMC made her move on him. Till now I only read 1 such book and I was not a fan of it for many reasons and one of it is MMC already having a gf and it turned me off. So, MMC should be single. That's all

I don't expect many recs from mainstream books, I hope I can find this trope in ao3.

So this is might be a bit niche but i read Blurring Lines by youngbody_oldsoul on ao3 and it had this trope. Basically MMC blackmail FMC into having sex with him but she initially does not participate when they are having sex. I don’t know if i am making sense so I’ll post the except that inspired this request. I think the tag called the MMC a “evil golden retriever” so any books with that would be appreciated!

>!He scrolled lazily through his feed and stopped on an obvious thirst trap of a girl on a boat!<

>!Posed on the bow, the skimpy bikini showed every curve and practically every crevice!<

>!It felt like something sharp slammed inside her chest as he lingered on it for a couple of seconds before double tapping to like it!<

>!Humiliation and self-righteous anger sliced through her!<

>!If he was forcing her to have sex with him, the least he could do was not like pictures of beautiful half naked women on social media during it!<

>!At least not while she was sitting in front of him, on him, naked and exposed!<

>!As much as she hated herself for it, mortifying tears stung the backs of her eyes and the disgusting feeling of being ugly swallowed her hand and hand with her anger!<

>!When she looked back at him, she found his twinkling eyes already on her, full of mocking condescension!<

>!He was laughing!<

>!Laughing at her while he was inside her!<

>!The humiliation of it was too much to bear!<

>!If she thought she could’ve gotten away with it, she would’ve slapped him!<

>!She jerked up her knees to get off of him!<

>!He caught her by the neck before she could, yanking her forward, making her catch herself on his chest again!<

>!Glittering eyes stared down at her, so dark, they almost seemed black!<

>!”Now, you see how shitty it feels when someone acts disinterested when you’re trying to fuck them”!<

>!He rolled them in one motion, pinning her to the mattress underneath him with his weight before she could move, a whine broke from her lips at the deep pressure between her legs at the new angle!<

I did really enjoy the dynamic in the book so any similar suggestions are appreciated!

I'd love to read any DR book that made you sit and think for a while... it can be dark in relationship or in the environment.

Previously only books that affected me like this were:

1. {Hunting adeline by HD carlton} book 2 of cat and mouse duet.

2. {Stronger series by Jay Marie} even thought it wasn't DR it's a erotic thriller.

3. {Mindfuck series by S.T Abby}

I guess all these were mostly impactful cuz of the environment they set in. But I loved the message the author was trying to send through these stories.

All of them really made me just sit and think for a while.

If you have any more recs please share.. thank you!!! 💗

❌️I just prefer if it doesn't have: ❌️

1. Performative smut scenes... I don't mind RH in this case but imo RH books have a lot of performative smutty scenes.

2. Fmc ending up with the cruel torturer evil mmc who isn't redeemed. Basically, her stockholm syndrome winning.

3. No HEA.

So pls dont mention books like {Torment by Dylan page} or {under your scars}

Thank you again! 💗

She's full of life and in love with the mmc, doesn't understand why the mmc is so mean and grumpy all the time. And he hates her for being so jovial and innocent cuz he's been through shit, and her trying to make him smile pisses him off. Basically this dynamic. Fine with all settings. No co-worker romances tho. I do have a preference for HS settings. No age gap, no RH/sharing, no om/ow.

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Happy writing! 📚

Ive been wondering what it is about Little Stranger that I liked and apart from the taboo aspect which I love, I also love that he's a quiet guy who isn't hugely popular and just an average guy, but deep down has raging intensity and obsession for one girl.

Loved Torment too for this reason. Like sort of sweet on the outside but twisted on the inside, or at least they can explain their reasons e.g. protection.

So looking for something dark, dubcon or noncon welcome, and taboo relationship is a plus. Something where the guy just blends in and can be quite awkward. Cry Little Sister is next on my list.

Its not the kinkiest but it's what I'm craving right now so thanks! I've read too many cocky popular loud mouth guys and I'm not feeling those...

Can you recommend any coercion + gaslighting books for me? 😭 I don’t care about the theme, but I love an age gap dynamic where the MMC makes the FMC feel safe and protected… then the second he gets the opportunity, he takes what he wants from her without caring about her needs. HE SECRETLY GETS OFF ON HER PAIN AND TEARS I want manipulation, possessiveness, emotional dependency, and a man who slowly twists her perception until she’s trapped in his version of love.

The dirtier and more psychologically messed up, the better. AO3 recs are welcome too 👀

Infatuated by AnimaSola86.....like this book

Besties, I really want the FMC to resist this happening either because she doesn’t like him or because she is self conscious or any other reason.

I want to have him make her sit on his face 🫣 or get his head between her legs and I want him to WANT this. I want it to be descriptive and I want him ✨ starving ✨

yes, I am asking for the most fictional scenario ever 😭 but if you have anything close to it let me know.