Readers write to ask what we mean by dark historical romance. They usually ask right after they have finished one and need another.
Here is the plain answer, and then the longer one.
What is dark historical romance?
A historical romance is a love story set in the past, with an ending the couple earns together. A dark historical romance keeps that promise and takes away the safety. The hero may be a criminal, a blackmailer, or a man who has done something unforgivable and does not apologize for it. The heroine may be bargained for, bought or trapped. The danger is real on the page, and the book does not explain it away in the last chapter.
The darkness comes from two places. Sometimes it comes from the people: a hero who is cruel, obsessive or dangerous to love. Sometimes it comes from the period itself, from a world in which a woman’s reputation is her only asset, a broken engagement can ruin her, and a family can settle a debt with a daughter’s future. The best books in the genre use both.
How is it different from ordinary historical romance?
Mainstream historical romance usually softens its edges. The rake reforms. The cruel father is punished. The heroine’s choices cost her very little, and everyone is forgiven by the epilogue.
Dark historical romance leaves the edges sharp. The hero may stay exactly what he is. The era’s rules are enforced, and breaking them hurts. The heat is usually explicit and on the page. Because the books go further, good ones come with content notes, and readers use them.
Which tropes turn up most?
- Arranged marriage and marriage of convenience. A wedding nobody chose, with all the wanting arriving afterward. We wrote about the real history behind the arranged-marriage trope.
- The villain hero. A man who was the antagonist of someone else’s story, or still is. Here is our list of dark historical romances with villain heroes.
- Forbidden romance. Across class, across a family line, or across a marriage.
- Obsession under restraint. He cannot touch her yet, so he watches, waits and plans.
- Revenge. A debt owed, and a man who intends to collect it.
Is it the same as gothic romance?
They overlap, but they are not the same. Gothic romance is built on atmosphere: an isolated house, a secret in the attic, dread that rises chapter by chapter. Dark romance is built on the hero and the stakes. A book can be both, and many of the best are.
How dark is too dark?
That depends entirely on the reader, which is why content notes exist. A book that one reader finds thrilling can be a hard stop for another. Read the notes before you start, and trust them. Astoria Bane keeps hers on a content warnings and heat levels page.
Where should I start?
If you want a sampler, start with the books on our villain-hero list. They range from Georgian London to Gilded Age New York, and from wicked to very wicked.
If you want the kind Astoria Bane writes, start with The Devil’s Asking Price, the prequel to The Wreckage Between Us. It is set in New York and Newport in 1911, where the era is the villain and nobody is redeemed. The reading order is short and strict.
A Caller