Two Dark Romantasy Series…
Two Dark Romantasy Series That Will Keep You Up All Night (And You Will Love Every Single Page) 🖤🔥
Okay. I need to talk about something that has been living rent free in my brain and honestly, at this point, I should just start charging it.
There are two sapphic dark romantasy series that I recommend to absolutely everyone who tells me they want something spicy and complex and tragically, beautifully devastating. Every single time. Without hesitation. These are my go-to recs for anyone ready to step into expert level sapphic spice, and I mean EXPERT level, babes. The storytelling is stunning. The character dynamics are complex and layered and will make you feel things you were not emotionally prepared for. The romance is tragic and beautiful and will wreck you in the absolute best way.
And the spice? The spice is SPICY. The steam is STEAMY. You have been warned. You are welcome.
Flip a coin on which one to start with because honestly either way you are winning. Both of these series have masc/femme dynamics that are lip biting perfection, storylines that will keep you reading at 2am when you absolutely should be sleeping, and sapphic rep so good it will make your whole heart ache.
Let's talk about them.
The Girl Games Series by Ruby Roe
A Game of Hearts and Heists · A Game of Romance and Ruin · A Game of Deceit and Desire
Welcome to New Imperium, a world where magic tattoos grant power, deadly women run criminal empires, and falling in love with your enemy is basically inevitable. Each book in the Girl Games series follows a different sapphic couple within the same world, which means you get to stay in this gorgeous, dark, dangerous universe while getting a brand new love story every single time. And oh, what love stories they are.
Book one gives you Scarlett Grey, a disgraced assassin, and Quinn Adams, a poisoner (read that again because it’s not “prisoner” it’s poisoner) who has been actively sabotaging Scarlett's business for years. They hate each other. They are forced together. There is only one bed. You can see where this is going and you are going to love every second of getting there.
Book two gives you Stirling Grey — legendary negotiator, never loses, except apparently to one very specific woman — and Morrigan Lee, a secret princess with shadow magic and a past that complicates absolutely everything. Second chance romance with royal intrigue and power dynamics that will make your head spin.
Book three gives you Remy Reid, a perfectionist rune magician with a reputation to protect, and Bella Blythe, who has been her academic rival since they were sixteen years old. The tension in this one is absolutely unhinged and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.
What Ruby does SO FREAKING BRILLIANTLY across this entire series is write women who are genuinely complex — flawed and powerful and angry and soft all at once. These are not simple love stories. They are rich, layered, sometimes heartbreaking, always completely absorbing. And the world she built is so immersive and so detailed that you will not want to leave it when it's over. Fortunately, Ruby keeps writing in this universe so you don't have to.
Tropes across the series: enemies to lovers · forced proximity · only one bed · second chance romance · hidden identity · royal intrigue · power dynamics · academic rivals to lovers · forced partnership · magical competition · found family · masc/femme
The spice level: your ereader may not survive. Again…You're welcome.
A Court of Chains by Rawnie Sabor
Kiss of Seduction · A Little Sin · Green-Eyed Monster · Sun-Kissed Fangs
Now. If you thought you were emotionally prepared for this series, I am here to gently tell you that you are not. And I say that with so much love.
Rawnie Sabor writes, in her own words, fantasy romances filled with troubled people and gorgeous monsters… And that description is so perfectly accurate it almost physically hurts. The Court of Chains series is set in a dark paranormal world of vampires, succubi, demons, and witches all operating within rival vampire courts, and every single book gives you a new sapphic couple navigating this dangerous, beautifully built world together.
The first book sets the stage in the most emotionally devastating way possible. Natalya is the second-in-command of the Court of Chains, a succubus, a greater fiend, a being of pure sin whose kiss is literally a death sentence to everyone she touches. And then she meets Evie, a human who has survived captivity in the rival Court of Night, and who impossibly, inexplicably can survive Natalya's touch without pain. What follows is one of the most emotionally charged, beautifully written explorations of healing through trauma and learning to trust again that I have ever read. It destroyed me. I loved every page.
Each book that follows digs deeper into this world and introduces new couples, a demon and a witch, a vampire and a human, all with that same signature Rawnie Sabor heartache at the center. The romances are dark and tender and complicated and so deeply felt. The storylines are genuinely gripping. ENTRALLING EVEN. The world keeps expanding in ways that feel rich and earned. I don’t ever want to leave this series. Oh and the masc/femme dynamics across this series? Absolutely unmatched.
This is the kind of series where you finish a book and immediately sit quietly for a few minutes because you need to process what just happened to your emotions. And then you immediately pick up the next one.
Tropes across the series: monster/human romance · enemies to lovers · forbidden love · touch her and die · healing through trauma · power dynamics · dark paranormal world · found family · masc/femme · vampire romance · succubus romance
The heartache level: tragically, beautifully, gloriously high. Bring snacks.
So there you have it. Two series. Both sapphic. Both dark and spicy and complex and stunning. Both absolutely going to take up permanent residence in your brain the moment you start them.
My honest advice? Start whichever one calls to you louder right now. You genuinely cannot go wrong. And when you finish both of them (because you will finish both of them, I have complete faith) come find me and tell me everything. I will be here, ready and waiting to talk about these books for as long as you will let me.
Which is to say: indefinitely. I will talk about these books indefinitely.
Happy reading, babe.
- Tacie 💚
