Omg I had no idea Pucking Around was a why choose romance. Wow, can’t wait to read this. I absolutely love a bully romance but true bully, not dark romance in disguise. There’s not enough of them in my opinion. Unless I’m searching wrong.
For a truly unhinged why choose romance, check out Split or Swallow by Lindsay Straube. The choice is between a prince or an ancient basilisk. Amazing. Really drove me insane.
Vicious by LJ Shen has probably been my favorite. Bully by Penelope Douglas is a good standard as well. An example of a bully/dark romance is Brutal Obsession by S. Massery. Enjoyed it! But wasn’t expecting the dark romance.
I think the distinction for me is the turn from bully to lover, in an enemies to lovers fashion. I want to see that transformation!
P.S. I also love a dark romance, don’t get me wrong.
please accept my apologies for being able to process nothing else in this piece because Stephanie Perkins’ ADULT DEBUT!! Anna, Isla and Lola have my heart forever ❤️ So excited about OVERDUE!
I inhaled it. In my top 5 romances of all time. They *MUST* market this as an Emily Henry comp, although IMO it's better than Emily Henry. Regardless, it's phenomenal.
I had the exact same thought! I think I described it to someone as more Emily Henry than any Emily Henry book has been recently. While I was reading it I was thinking oh no I’m already reading the best book of the year and it’s January 😂
Thank you for the WC exploration! If anyone is in the market for consistently deranged WC recs allow me to recommend the Spicy Booktok Facebook group. My tolerance level for dark romance is maybe a 1.5 or 2 out of 10 so I ignore most of what happens in the group, lol. I can handle some mild bully romance if it's resolved quickly relative to the total length of the book or series (Zodiac Academy, cough cough). And if anyone wants a dissertation on why J.Bree's Hannaford Prep is my Roman Empire WC book series despite the bullying lasting longer than I normally tolerate, let's go!
Also, so far only one polyamorous romance has appeared on my Best of the Best lists - Triple Sec by TJ Alexander. I haven’t read it yet, but am excited to!
I love the Emily Rath video. I’ve been wondering why we’re not just calling them polyamorous romance, but I can see that why choose probably feels a bit less taboo to many people.
Omg I had no idea Pucking Around was a why choose romance. Wow, can’t wait to read this. I absolutely love a bully romance but true bully, not dark romance in disguise. There’s not enough of them in my opinion. Unless I’m searching wrong.
For a truly unhinged why choose romance, check out Split or Swallow by Lindsay Straube. The choice is between a prince or an ancient basilisk. Amazing. Really drove me insane.
interesting to think about that distinction between true bully and dark romance - what's your favorite bully romance?
Vicious by LJ Shen has probably been my favorite. Bully by Penelope Douglas is a good standard as well. An example of a bully/dark romance is Brutal Obsession by S. Massery. Enjoyed it! But wasn’t expecting the dark romance.
I think the distinction for me is the turn from bully to lover, in an enemies to lovers fashion. I want to see that transformation!
P.S. I also love a dark romance, don’t get me wrong.
Add Power Play by BP Gilmore to your list!
please accept my apologies for being able to process nothing else in this piece because Stephanie Perkins’ ADULT DEBUT!! Anna, Isla and Lola have my heart forever ❤️ So excited about OVERDUE!
ITS AMAZING
I inhaled it. In my top 5 romances of all time. They *MUST* market this as an Emily Henry comp, although IMO it's better than Emily Henry. Regardless, it's phenomenal.
I had the exact same thought! I think I described it to someone as more Emily Henry than any Emily Henry book has been recently. While I was reading it I was thinking oh no I’m already reading the best book of the year and it’s January 😂
YES! What Emily Henry ASPIRES TO! And completely agree about ruining ourselves for the year. Maybe I'll just have to re-read it in October
Just downloaded from Edelweiss - now I know what I'm reading this weekend!!
Thank you for the WC exploration! If anyone is in the market for consistently deranged WC recs allow me to recommend the Spicy Booktok Facebook group. My tolerance level for dark romance is maybe a 1.5 or 2 out of 10 so I ignore most of what happens in the group, lol. I can handle some mild bully romance if it's resolved quickly relative to the total length of the book or series (Zodiac Academy, cough cough). And if anyone wants a dissertation on why J.Bree's Hannaford Prep is my Roman Empire WC book series despite the bullying lasting longer than I normally tolerate, let's go!
Adding Hannaford Prep to my TBR immediately
I re-read it annually, haha. I don't want to spoil the primary reason I love it so much but LMK after you finish book 1 (Just Drop Out)!
The way I needed someone to explain the whole MMF MFMM thing to me... Bless you.
Also, so far only one polyamorous romance has appeared on my Best of the Best lists - Triple Sec by TJ Alexander. I haven’t read it yet, but am excited to!
I learned SO MUCH today. thank you.
I love the Emily Rath video. I’ve been wondering why we’re not just calling them polyamorous romance, but I can see that why choose probably feels a bit less taboo to many people.