Does a Dark Romance book with a kidnapping plotline need real love, sweet romantic moments, or a continuous/happy ending for the characters?
My book currently is less about two people falling in love with some spice and more about an animalistic lusty desire while in a horrible situation. It gets hot and steamy between two people who are sort of following the enemies to sexual partners cliche but they end up going their separate ways in the end as she escapes. Is this still good for the dark romance genre?
I think you story might related to a sub-genre called Doomed Romances. Lost in Translation is one example of this genre.
The French mini-series Section Zero or the Israeli TV series Fauda might have more relevant examples for your story. Or maybe the British series Spooks. The series adaptation of Halo apparently fumbled its attempt at the doomed / enemies to FWBs romance sub-genre (John & Makee, season one).
In the strictest sense of the popular romance genre, yes there has to be a âhappy endingâ. It could be that they declare love for each other and then part ways
Itâs not very romantic at all. But Iâm not very familiar with books that are dark, graphic, and violent yet have some kind of sexual aspect or toxic relationship. Someone said Dark romance but others said Erotic Thriller. But Erotic thriller feels like that would make it just an erotica and eroticas donât usually have a great plot.
I donât want my story to be seen as a book about smut since its such a small part.
The short answer is no. HFN counts as genre per RWA, but most readers still expect the implication of a future HEA in adult romance. I suppose YA is by nature HFN. The couple could not part ways in the end per genre tenets. I suppose you could call that a âpuristâ view, but itâs really just basic genre convention. Iâve noticed a lot of these arguments tend to confuse evolution with redefinition when it comes to romance, but the fact is, genre guidelines remain constant.There have always been a few, core, non-negotiables, and all of these myriad subgenres must fit within them: central love story, HEA / HFN ( IMO, with presumed HEA,) and mostly positive vibes. That last one isnât articulated enough but itâs important too. Iâm not describing gatekeeping, this is simply how genre works - itâs a classifying system. Meaning, in romance, there can be bad things happening, there can be dark things happening, but itâs not a tragedy or a drama. Like, you canât write The Godfather and call it a romance because it has a toxic relationship in it. Some people think dark romance is exempt from genre requirements, but it is not. Dark just means you can go more into taboo, kink, mean behavior, character flaws, criminal job descriptions, but it still has to serve the central romance, and there is a limit to the darkness and tragedy because itâs romance and readers come for the, well, romance.
Doomed lovers, drama, womenâs fiction? Maybe erotica? I hear you say you donât want it considered smut, but true erotica, according to those âpuristsâ is not what popular culture thinks it is. Just because thereâs a lot of garbage erotica out there doesnât mean thatâs how itâs supposed to be. Similarly, just because many people want to write and sell things that arenât romance by calling it âdark,â does not make what they write is genre qualifying.
Who is your intended audience? I would think the title and blurb plus eventual reviews would make it clear to the right audience.
Dark, graphic, and violent sounds like horror. Erotic horror? But Iâm not a. horror fan so donât yell at me if thatâs wrong! Maybe erotic thriller is the winner. Any genre can have a romance element, but genre romance is not flexible for any random outside element.
