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dark romance

The Bonekeeper’s Daughter: Beautiful, Brutal, Brilliant
Book Reviews · Fiction · Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The Bonekeeper’s Daughter: Beautiful, Brutal, Brilliant

June 25, 2025June 21, 2025

There’s something quietly devastating about a world where even the dead can’t rest. The Bonekeeper’s…

Read More The Bonekeeper’s Daughter: Beautiful, Brutal, BrilliantContinue

The Darkest Love: Shattered Hearts by Renee Parker
Book Reviews · Dark Romance

The Darkest Love: Shattered Hearts by Renee Parker

May 28, 2025May 24, 2025

There’s something about a mafia romance book that hits differently. The kind of romance that’s…

Read More The Darkest Love: Shattered Hearts by Renee ParkerContinue

Heartless Heathens by Santana Knox: A Dark Romance Obsession
Book Reviews · Dark Romance

Heartless Heathens by Santana Knox: A Dark Romance Obsession

May 7, 2025May 21, 2025

They warned me. Said Heartless Heathens would swallow me whole—and they were right. If you’ve…

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Book Reviews · Dark Romance · Favorites · Thriller

Book Review: Under the Paint – When Perfect Starts to Rot

April 16, 2025April 14, 2025

On paper, Under the Paint should have wrecked me—addiction, secrets, a marriage on the verge….

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Book Recommendations · Dark Romance Recs

Power, Passion, and Love: Why Choose Romance Books

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to fall for not one but multiple love…

Read More Power, Passion, and Love: Why Choose Romance BooksContinue

Book Recommendations · Book Tag · Dark Romance Recs

So You’re New to Dark Romance?

November 4, 2024November 20, 2024

Hey there! So, I just dove into the world of dark romance, and let me…

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Book Reviews · Dark Romance · DNF

DNF Diaries: My Failed Attempt to Love Emperor of Rage

October 28, 2024October 27, 2024

So, let’s chat about Emperor of Rage by Jagger Cole—a 2024 mafia romance entry that…

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Book Recommendations · Favorites · TBR

10 Must-Read Kindle Unlimited Dark Romance Books!

March 24, 2024March 17, 2024

If you’re a romance reader, especially for dark romance reads, then having a Kindle Unlimited…

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Book Recommendations · Book Reviews

Yearning in the Shadows: Forget Me Not by Rachel Leigh

December 10, 2023September 18, 2024

Step into the shadows of desire with “Forget Me Not” by Rachel Leigh, a dark…

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DIARY OF A READER

Welcome to my blog!

I'm Dominique. As an avid reader and book lover, my job is to inspire you to read my favorite books. So, grab your favorite drink, and stay a while. We hope you find a new love.

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The Bonekeeper’s Daughter: Beautiful, Brutal, Brilliant

The Bonekeeper’s Daughter: Beautiful, Brutal, Brilliant

Read More The Bonekeeper’s Daughter: Beautiful, Brutal, BrilliantContinue

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IN THE SHOP

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diaryofthereader

Bookish soft life. Always Probably reading. Book reviewer for fiction that lingers — soft, deep & unforgettable.
Link ⬇️ for book recs & more!
✨ This... and my kids letting me read uninterrup ✨ This... and my kids letting me read uninterrupted? That’s the dream. ✨ Soft pages. Soft moments. A bookshelf full of stories waiting to hold me. What’s your version of peace lately? #BookLover #ReadingTime #BookshelfAesthetic #MomLifeReads #CozyReadingVibes #BookTokMoms #BibliophileBliss #SoftMoments
What if the world outside your home felt like a th What if the world outside your home felt like a threat—but staying silent felt even worse? Dust by Alison Stine is a haunting, speculative coming-of-age story set in a near-future Colorado where the land is dying and so is connection. A partially deaf teen, cut off from the world, begins to question everything—family, love, and the future she thought she had. 📚 For readers who love atmospheric dystopia, quiet rebellion, and stories that give voice to what’s been silenced. Would you risk everything to finally be heard? Drop a 🌫️ if you love gritty, haunting dystopias with fierce female leads. #DustByAlisonStine #SpeculativeFiction #YAComingOfAge #DystopianReads #ClimateFiction #HardOfHearingRepresentation #DeafCharactersInBooks #BookstagramRecs #QuietBooks #UnderratedReads
✨New month, new book obsessions.✨ If you're lo ✨New month, new book obsessions.✨ If you're looking for the next romance novel to wreck you or a fantasy that feels like a fever dream—you’re in the right bookshop. From heart-tugging family stories to addictive fiction that deserves its own window display, these new book releases for June & July are the titles you’ll want to read before the hardcover edition sells out.📚 This is your sign to return to your TBR. Join the round, pick your next book club fave, and tell me— Which new book has your name written all over it? 👀 🕰️ It’s time. Your next favorite story is waiting. 💬 Drop a 🌿 if you’re grabbing a copy quick! #newbookreleases #bookreleases #romancenovel #fantasynovel #bookclubreads #juneandjulybooks #newbooks2025 #booktok #booksbooksbooks #bookstagramnewreleases #readersofinstagram #fictionlovers #newbooksalert #summerreading #bookishedition
📚✨What if love didn't just break the rules— 📚✨What if love didn't just break the rules—but rewrote them entirely?✨🌈 This Pride, I’m reaching for stories that crack open the binary and kiss it on the mouth. From morally gray lovers to queer found families and soft boys with sharp edges— these are the books that made me feel seen and shattered all at once. 💘 Give Me More – open marriages and bi awakening? Yes. Please. 🖤 Kiss the Villain – the darkest desires often hide in plain sight. 💀 A River of Golden Bones – sapphic high fantasy with curses, queens, and rebellion. 🐺 Wolfsong – queer werewolves, found family, and aching tenderness. Whether you crave spice, softness, or the supernatural—there’s something here waiting to devour you right back. 🌈 Which queer book has you in a chokehold right now? Tell me—I'm building my TBR. — Hashtags: #PrideMonthReads #QueerBookRecs #LGBTQBooks #SpicyBookTok #FantasyRomance #SapphicReads #QueerFantasy #DarkRomanceRecs #FoundFamilyBooks #BookstagramPride
🌑 “Some stories aren’t meant to be loud. Th 🌑 “Some stories aren’t meant to be loud. They bloom in the dark.” ⠀ Reading Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab felt like the ache of Addie LaRue—quiet, ghostly, and soaked in longing. It’s the kind of story that lingers in the corners of your heart… a gothic echo of love, grief, and legacy. ⠀ Schwab has always had a way of making pain feel poetic—and here, every sentence feels like a requiem. For who we were. For what we lost. For what we dare to dream beyond death. ⠀ ✨ This is for the readers who want stories that haunt beautifully. If The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue made you ache, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil will make you weep in silence. 🖤 I shared my full, emotional review on the blog—because this one deserves more than just a caption. ➡️ Link in bio to read the full review. ⠀ 💬 What’s a book that felt like grief and magic all at once? ⠀ Thank you so much to @torbooks for sending me an advanced copy. #BuryOurBones #VESchwab #GothicFantasy #AddieLaRueVibes #QueerBooks #HauntingReads #PoeticFiction #DarkFantasyBooks #EmotionalReads #BookstagramMagic #BookBloggers #DiaryOfAReader #AtmosphericReads
“We are not casual readers. We are stitched from “We are not casual readers. We are stitched from storylines, scarred by plot twists, and resurrected by re-reads. This is what I’m made of— What about you?” 🔮 Tell me: What would your reader soul be built from? Tag someone whose ingredients are just as unhinged. #ReaderEra #BookishIdentity #FictionalFeels #DarkRomanceReads #BookLoverMood #TBRChaos #GothicReader #BuiltFromBooks #DiaryOfAReader #ReaderAlchemy
💔 “He’s still in love with his dead wife... 💔 “He’s still in love with his dead wife... and yet I’m rooting for them.” If that line doesn’t scream new adult romance, I don’t know what does. From the first two pages of Shattered Hearts by Renee Parker @byreneeparker I was emotionally done for. This mafia romance book cracked something open in me — the kind of tension-filled, slow-burn romance read where the grief hits before the guns do. Meet Finn Gallagher: broody, scarred, a morally grey made man with a soft heart buried deep. And Riley Brennan? She’s trying to escape her abusive father and carve out a future that’s hers — outside the mafia world that’s been pulling her back her entire life. Their chemistry? Quiet, intense. The kind that builds in looks, subtle touches, and one-sided crushes turned mutual obsession. Yes, there are moments that could’ve used a tighter edit, but the dialogue? 🔥 Finn’s internal monologue gave me everything. I was giggling, kicking my feet, fully inside his head (where I love to be in adult romance reads). I flew through it on Kindle in just two days. The story unfolds in layers, and while it’s a slow burn, the emotional and physical payoff is worth every page. 🖤 If you're searching Goodreads or Instagram for your next dark romance, stop scrolling. Add this one to your TBR immediately. And if you've read it, drop a 💔 in the comments so we can scream together. Don't forget to check out my full review on my blog, The Diary of a Reader link in bio ✨ #newadultromance #mafiaromancebook #adultromance #romancereads #ReneeParker #ShatteredHearts #IrishKings #romancebooks #bookrecommendations #romancereview #kindlereads #slowburnromance #bookbloggerlife #readmorebooks #romanceauthor
🖤 She loved him. 👥 She followed him. 🗡 Sh 🖤 She loved him. 👥 She followed him. 🗡 She confessed to murder. And now… she’s finally ready to tell the truth. Maybe. MY EX THE ANTICHRIST by Craig DiLouie 🖤 A horror novel for fans of Stephen King, Grady Hendrix, and Shirley Jackson — where love turns deadly, and the apocalypse wears eyeliner. ❓️Would you read a book where your ex might literally end the world? It’s unhinged, it’s unholy, it’s so Summerween. My Ex the AntiChrist releases on July 1 by @hachetteus horror imprint Run For It! #newhorrorbooks #bramstoker #psychologicalhorror #horrornovel #horrorbooks #gothichorror #gradyhendrix #paulptremblay #stephengrahamjones #cassandrakhaw #horrorreads #horrorgenre #stephenking #graphicnovel #horrorstories #booktokrecs #bookrecommendation #horrorbookreel #summerween #myextheantichrist #horrorbabe #chaoticreads #booktokrecs #horrorforyou #summerreads #darkfiction #bookreels #bookishchaos
🌌 *Speculative fiction isn't just a genre—it' 🌌 *Speculative fiction isn't just a genre—it's a question whispered across time, space, and shadow.*⁠ What if grief could open portals? What if love rewrote the rules of science? What if monsters wore the faces we trust? These 24 books blur the lines between fantasy fiction, science fiction, horror, and magical realism—each one daring to imagine a world just a scale off from ours. The kind of fiction that lingers. That reshapes how we think about time, power, and the stories we tell ourselves. From rising writers redefining the genre to cult favorites that twist reality on its head—this is your sign to fall down the rabbit hole.⁠ 💭 Which speculative book left your mind spinning in the best way? 👇 Drop it in the comments so we can build the ultimate genre-bending group rec list. #speculativefiction #sciencefiction #fantasyfiction #magicalrealism #fictionbooks #bookrecommendations #fantasybooks #scifibooks #horrorbooks #speculative #bookstagram #writingcommunity #genredefying #booktok #literaturelover #fantasyreads #timeandspace #genreblending #bookworlds #bookloversunite #readersofinstagram #speculativebooks #risingauthors
There’s no timestamp on a good love story. These There’s no timestamp on a good love story. These aren’t new releases. No shiny debut. No hype machine behind them. Just romance novels that lingered—until I was ready to feel everything. ✨ Never by Jessa Hastings ✨ The Accidental Pin Up by Danielle Jackson ✨ That Boy by Jillian Dodd ✨ The Long Game by Elena Armas ✨ Promise Me Not by Meagan Brandy …and a few others that had no business making me feel this soft this late in the game. They’re messy. Tender. Sometimes unhinged. But when they hit? They hit hard. And that’s what I chase—a love story that pulls you under like a slow current. Because at the end of the day, I don’t care if it’s queer, fantasy, historical, or contemporary. I just want to believe in something. And these books? They made me believe. Happy Stack Saturday! 🖤 Which romance novel caught you completely off guard—and stayed? #StackSaturday #RomanceBooks #RomanceNovels #ContemporaryRomance #FantasyRomance #BookStack #BookLover #CurrentlyReading #BookCommunity #TheDiaryOfAReader #BookishEmotions #LoveStories #BookishLife #TBRStack #RomanceReader #BookRecs #EmilyHenry #LucyScore #KateeRobert #ReadRomance #QueerRomance #EmotionalReads #BooksThatStay
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