WARNING: This story contains details of sexual activity, and discussions of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

It might be the fantastical allure of riding dragons, thwarting enemies without any training, or perhaps being forced to share the only bed at an inn with your wildly attractive, widely annoying travel partner (who also happens to be your enemy). An enemy who grabs your hair, slides his hands under your skirt and whispers as he sees a bruise on your thigh, “who did this to you?” Causing a shiver to run down your spine as you quickly throw the book down and giggle. This is the part of the novel you have been waiting for.

Escapism can look different depending on the individual. Some crave a salt-water swim, or pumping iron in the gym, but some want to escape to an entirely new world through a book.

But above all else, have lots and lots of sex. Welcome to the dark side. 

Dark romance is pitched as pure escapism, and it’s a favourite of avid reader and member of the ‘Perth Bookish Baddies Book Club,’ Sarah Turner, 32, who, like many readers, has found that picking up a dark romance book has made her feel more empowered in the bedroom.  

“This all makes me feel empowered especially when once upon a time sex made me feel powerless.”  

At the age of eighteen, Mrs Turner was gang raped. 

According to the ABC she is not alone. Sexual assault reports have reached a 31-year high in Australia with more than 35,000 victims coming forward in 2023. 

Mrs Turner says after the assault, she couldn’t enjoy intimacy anymore. 

“I found porn difficult to watch and couldn’t watch certain things on the TV,” she says 

She says afterwards she was only content with having ‘vanilla’ sex – referring to sex that is considered plain and normal in general society.  

“I started reading romance books which started to help me try new things by giving me a safe outlet to think about sex and process it in my own time,” she says. “I could put the book down when needed.” 

As Mrs Turner began to feel empowered through the words she started to progress to increasingly darker romance novels. 

She says the novels gave her “power back sexually”.

“I can now reenact a few scenes from some books with my husband which I don’t think I would be able to do without reading.

“I couldn’t even imagine being okay with choking post trauma,” Mrs Turner says. 

“But after reading characters climaxing from it and talking with my partner about it, we decided to try and introduce it slowly, and now we love it.”  

She says some actions are still triggering, like spitting in the mouth or face, but she has come so far since being assaulted. Mrs Turner gives a lot of the credit to reading, saying if it wasn’t for dark romance novels pushing her forward, she’d probably only have intercourse for the purpose of pleasing her partner, rather than for her own enjoyment.  

She says the genre has helped her process her assault. 

“[I] am able to speak about it now after reading books where characters have been raped and their journey to healing and doing all these new things in these books made it feel possible for me too.” 

So, with dark romance empowering women like Mrs Turner in the bedroom, why is it such a taboo subject? 

Chapter One: What is dark romance?  

Otherwise known as ‘smut’, dark romance is a romance subgenre. The pages of these books often contain beloved characters, storylines and intimacy that pushes societies boundary of ‘normal’.  

According to DipSea dark romance isn’t for everyone. 

“It’s not about kisses, butterflies, and happy endings where the heroine rides off into the sunset with her love interest. No, dark romance is a subgenre of romance that’s all about the messy, complicated, and sometimes downright twisted side of love and relationships,” they write. 

It even occasionally touches on themes of violence, abuse and trauma.  

The genre is characterised by tropes that are more gritty than general romance. Dipsea explains this includes morally grey characters and antiheroes, untraditional moral conduct, taboo themes and emotionally charged journeys. The novels reflect the messiness of real life. Some tropes are beyond reality though, such as a willingness to kill for the sake of a love interest.  

Marcia Bucktin, 57, has been reading romance novels since she was 13. As she got older, the content got darker. Now she enjoys BDSM (which stands for bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism), and shape-shifter tropes. 

“To be really honest I read a bit of everything except anything to do with non-consent in all forms,” she says. 

According to Psychology Today, BDSM is an umbrella term for many sexual practices such as bondage, dominance\submission and discipline. These acts have been found in literature dating back hundreds of years, and some people today enjoy re-enacting them in the bedroom despite surrounding stigma. 

Ms Bucktin says reading dark romance can empower people to try new, unconventional things and communicate what they like with a partner.  

She says it’s like slipping into an entirely new world.  

“I would recommend these books because they are great escapism and are very well written,” says Ms Bucktin. 

Chapter Two: Why are dark romance novels so popular?  

According to the worlds’ largest online book recommendation platform, Goodreads, the most popular dark romance novels are:  

• Haunting Adeline (#1 Cat and Mouse series) by H.D Carlton 

• Hunting Adeline (#2 Cat and Mouse series) by H.D Carlton 

• Corrupt by Penelope Douglas 

• Hooked by Emily McIntire 

The Cat and Mouse series is a fan favourite, with almost 600,000 ratings averaging 3.9/5. 

Sarah Turner is one of these fans. She encourages people to try the series before they judge it, and the genre itself.  

“I totally understand and accept that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think that it is an amazing genre that deserves to be not so taboo and hope that people will be more mindful about it,” she says.  

Dark romance author Stevie Carter began writing dark romance after falling in love with writing as a highschooler.  

“It’s cathartic for me. Healing. My books are about characters that overcome their fears, learn to love and move on from the traumas that hold them back,” she says. 

Ms Carter only discovered her love for writing dark romance three years ago and published her first novel Crave in January. She says her novels are essentially the classic heroes and villains’ story, but with a whole lot of smut.  

“These books have taught me that I love men written by women. In saying that, I think romance/dark romance as a whole shows – to a degree – what women are seeking in a relationship that we’re simply not finding in real life.” 

Targeted to women, the genre can provide a positive sexual education for women. Often written by women, for women, the fictional male characters are written to live up to the standards women hold – essentially like the ideal boyfriend.  

This has contributed to the genre’s wild popularity.  

“These books are a great starting point to explore things that aren’t talked about often enough; safe words, aftercare, mental health,” says Ms Carter. 

“It’s a safe place to explore fantasies without the risk of involving another human who may take advantage.”  

Ms Carter believes they provide space for readers to explore their own dirty fantasies in bite sized pieces and without any pressure. If they don’t like the direction, it’s easy to put the book down. 

Chapter Three: Why is dark romance considered a taboo subject?  

Sex. Most of us enjoy it. But when it comes to talking about it, sex is a taboo topic, especially for women.  

Senior lecturer and sexologist at The University of Sydney Christopher Fox shares that when he was a child people were horrified that women were reading Mills and Boons, people believing it was going to be the downfall of society. 

“If it’s ethical I see no issue in the behaviour,” he says. 

But Dr Fox says it’s vital to remember the distinction between reality and fantasy.  

“When we read a book it’s fantasy, when we watch a movie it’s fantasy, when we watch pornography, it is fantasy. If I choose to act out that fantasy with a sexual partner, while it is still fantasy play, it is not real.” 

Dr Fox shared an online video on how to choke a partner safely, for sexual play in the bedroom. He says it had almost 50,000 shares in the span of 48 hours.  

His concern being while people might want to experiment in the bedroom, they don’t always know how to do it safely, and dark romance glosses over this element. 

“It’s like that silly movie, Fifty Shades of Grey. There was all this hysteria around that with worries people would try things and of course people did try things, the problem was that they had no explicit conversation around consent, and they had no explicit conversation around safety,” Dr Fox says.  

If it’s ethical, consensual and legal, Dr Fox doesn’t see an issue with people experimenting by bringing what they read into the bedroom, understanding that people want to try new things.  

“Apparently when people read dark romance they are going to go overboard,” he says. 

“A small part of the population reads dark romance, and an even smaller part engages in what they read.”   

For Dr Fox, the only concern with dark romance is that people are safe and have clear consent when trying to copy the scenes.  

Curtin poetry author and writing professor Caitlin Maling asks the question: why shouldn’t people have escapism? 

“The things that tend to concern people are around the educating the gap between fantasy and safe reality. A mature reader going into it knowing this will never be life,” she says.  

Dr Maling enjoys dark romance novels and the communities they build. She notes that the authors of the genre are also deeply invested in the novels and want to write for others that are also deeply invested.  

“That can be like a really safe space. Women creating spaces for women.” 

Caitlin Maling says she’s a huge fan of ‘smut’, as it is a space purely for pleasure, in whatever form that takes. Dr Maling refers to the novels as ‘cookie books’ because they are full of sugar and give a big dopamine boost to the readers.

“People need to talk more about sex. Read and write more books about sex,” she says. 

Chapter Four: Why should people read dark romance? 

Sarah Turner and her husband now have shared a lot of new sexual experiences together due to Ms Turner reading dark romance novels. 

• Sex toys during sex 

• Restraint  

• Choking 

• Edging 

• Public Sex 

• Dirty Talk 

Are all things Ms Turner and her partner now enjoy together because of the healing, processing and time the novels allowed.  

“People get a thrill that spike in adrenaline from it but in a safe way. It’s like indoor skydiving you get the experience the fun without the risk of your parachute not opening and the chance of death,” she says.  

Dark romance books are not meant to be taken too seriously. They are tools for pleasure, learning, healing and escapism with an ever-growing fanbase of open-minded readers.