6 Best Dark Romance with Trigger Warnings to Read in 2026

First of all, let’s psychoanalyze why us dark romance Booktok geeks WANT to read novels with trigger warnings… PSYCH. I don’t care. I love you lil’ freaks. Besides, trigger warnings serve two purposes: Let you know what’s in the book so you can decide what you WANT to read about (*cough cough* kink stuff), and let you know what’s in a book so you can protect your mental health from potentially triggering topics like sexual assault, child abuse, and eating disorders.

When people ask me for a list of dark romance books with trigger warnings, I never ask why they want the list. You do you bae.

Here are my favorite dark romance with trigger warning books:

1. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton is a wildly popular dark romance that shines most in its prose and protagonist, following a fiercely independent writer entangled with a violent stalker while uncovering echoes of her great grandmother’s murder. Carlton’s writing is often bluntly poetic, especially in the novel’s stronger first half, grounding the story in Addie’s vivid inner life and flawed humanity.

While the romance leans cartoony and the stalker’s crime-fighting subplot dulls the menace, the book’s real darkness comes from its unflinching portrayal of human imperfection rather than shock value alone. Overlong and uneven, it still stands as a genre staple, buoyed by a compelling heroine, moments of genuine insight, and a cliffhanger that firmly demands book two.

Trigger warnings include: non/dub con between the main characters, graphic violence, human trafficking, stalking, child trafficking, child sacrifice, mentions of child death, and explicit sexual situations. There are also particular kinks such as gun play, somnophilia, bondage, and degradation.

2. Devil of Dublin by B. B. Easton

Devil of Dublin is a dark, emotionally charged dark mafia romance that blends childhood folklore with brutal adult realities, following a woman who returns to her Irish hometown while grieving and engaged, only to confront the terrifying truth behind the legends her grandfather once told her. As a child, she dismissed warnings about Kellen, the mute boy rumored to be evil, seeing only his kindness and forming a deep, secret bond with him in the woods.

Years later, those fairy tales curdle into nightmares as she discovers her grandfather was right all along, and the boy she loved has grown into something dangerous, powerful, and inescapable. Steeped in Irish atmosphere, violence, obsession, and doomed devotion, the story explores love twisted by trauma, fate, and darkness meant for readers who crave intense, unsettling romance.

Trigger warnings include: Emotional/verbal abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, attempted rape, child abuse perpetrated by a priest, a funeral, a cemetery, murder, blood, strangulation, stabbing, gun violence, violence against police officers, car chases, car accidents, occult, organized crime, post traumatic stress disorder, selective mutism, homophobia, religion, the Catholic Church, spirits/ghosts, self-harm, near drowning, profanity, graphic violence, and graphic sex.

3. Cry Little Sister by Willow McQuerry

Cry Little Sister by Willow McQuerry is a morally pitch-black, taboo dark romance set in a shared secret-society universe, following Dahlia, a traumatized yet tender-hearted woman, and Jaxon, her half-brother whose love is obsessive, violent, and all-consuming. Blending forbidden desire with extreme possessiveness and escalating brutality, the story explores how the two become each other’s only safe place while spiraling deeper into secrecy, bloodshed, and devotion that borders on madness.

With unflinching depictions of mental illness, plus-size representation, and deeply flawed characters, the novel leans fully into discomfort and intensity, offering a disturbing yet emotionally resonant love story for readers who seek the darkest corners of romance and are prepared for its heavy content.

Trigger warnings include: Graphic sexual content; incest; dub-con; forced marriage; choking; manipulation; public sex; mask kink; kidnapping; degradation kink; murder; self-harm; body shaming; bullying; ableism; mental illness (schizoaffective disorder, misophonia, depression, bipolar, hallucinations); turning body parts and fluids into jewelry; giving an underaged child alcohol.

4. Intertwined Hearts by A. Miri

Intertwined Hearts is a MM dark romance and a great example that not all trigger warning books need to be pitch black to the core. It’s a forbidden dark romance and modern Greek mythology retelling that reimagines Poseidon and Nerites within a dangerous crime-family world fueled by power, obsession, and illegal street racing.

When Poseidon, the ruthless ruler of Malibu’s underworld, becomes irresistibly drawn to his spoiled, defiant brother-in-law Nerites, their instant attraction ignites a fated love neither can resist despite familial betrayal and mounting consequences. Charged with possessive desire, taboo tension, and high-stakes secrecy, the story blends mythic destiny with contemporary grit, delivering scorching chemistry, relentless momentum, and a dramatic cliffhanger that propels readers straight toward the sequel.

Trigger warnings include: Cheating, brothers-in-law, fated love, and crime family.

5. I Will Break You by Gigi Styx

I Will Break You by Gigi Styx is a dark psychological thriller romance told through unreliable narrators, following Amethyst, a deeply traumatized woman whose hallucinations and fractured memories blur the line between reality and delusion, and Xero, a condemned assassin whose obsession with her transcends death itself.

After forming a disturbing connection through prison letters, Amethyst becomes haunted by his presence, unsure whether he is a figment of her unraveling mind or a very real predator eliminating anyone who gets close to her. As buried memories, violent secrets, and a shadowy assassin program resurface, their bond twists into something both protective and destructive, blending obsession, vengeance, and desire.

Confusing by design and relentlessly dark, the story builds toward shocking revelations and ends on a cliffhanger that launches directly into the sequel.

Trigger warnings include: Sexual assault, castration, backstory child abuse, choking, dismemberment, fear play, forced abortion, gang rape, imprisonment, knife play, mask play, sadism, stalking, suicide, and a ton more with my favorite being: “Human centipede (on minor villains).”

6. God of Malice by Rina Kent

God of Malice by Rina Kent is a dark, obsessive romance that follows Glyndon King after she crosses paths with Killian Carson, a charming psychopath whose predatory fixation turns her life into a dangerous game of pursuit and control. As Glyndon becomes the only person who truly sees Killian’s violent nature, she tries to escape his grasp, only to learn that monsters do not let go of what they claim.

Set against a backdrop of elite rivalries and twisted loyalties, the story explores power, fear, and desire through morally corrupt characters whose connection is as intoxicating as it is terrifying. Unapologetically dark and provocative, the novel launches a series steeped in obsession, psychological warfare, and relentless intensity.

Trigger warnings include: Psychopathy, non-con, dub-con, suicidal thoughts, crime, violence.

What do you think? Are there any dark romance reads with trigger warnings that I should check out next? Let me know in the comments!

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