r/darkromantasybooks

New author here! I am writing my debut romantasy trilogy and I have been trying to figure out how I should "advertise" it. It's a forgotten memory, second chance type romance but the tricky part is with the "red herring" romance. This one is dark, and filled with trauma but it's not the true romance of the series. It is however, the main romance in the first book. The true romance has hardships and betrayals but no where near what I would consider a dark romance. But of course I don't want readers to know that right off the bat.

I don't want to give too much away so hopefully this is enough to have an opinion on... would it be deceiving to say it's a dark romance? I don't want to catch readers off guard with some of the darker elements.

Okay y'all, I've been searching through various posts but am having a hard time finding exactly what I'm looking for (might not exist, we'll see.)

Looking for:

SPICY

Female main character late 20s early 30s

Well written

What I've read and my thoughts:

Feathers So Vicious/Shadows so Cruel by Liv Zander

-spice level intense, loved it

-female main character too young (and wasn't a fan of the focus on her virginity either)

-writing was okay, the characters were interesting with strong emotionality between them, interesting magic system, but I still think the writing wasn't great overall.

ACOTAR

CC

TOG

- Crescent City was probably my favorite because of the slightly older main characters and the writing was stronger.

- I enjoyed the romance in the other series a lot, but the FMCs too young and writing repetitive and not as strong as CC. Did love ACOSF most. (Not hating, I still enjoyed and plan to read the new books lol)

Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

- obviously not spicy but beautiful writing, I'm mentioning it because of the writing quality

Quicksilver and Brimstone by Callie Hart

-Loved so much, probably closest to what I'm looking for but maybe with a lil more spice and bit older FMC

-Writing great

I know I'm asking for a lot 😅 but maybe somebody has read something that will fit my niche.