On August 6, 2026, I got the news in my inbox: H. D. Carlton’s sequel to My Dreadful Darling, My Darling Reverie, is getting delayed. And we don’t even have a replacement pub date yet. It’s just…”coming soon.” Originally listed for an August release, the book is now being pulled off Amazon for those who preordered. Here’s the full My Darling Reverie delay announcement:

Yup. I’m here to disappoint y’all. MDR is getting pushed back. In my very brittle defense, I DID say the August date was tentative, and it was mostly because IO had a feeling this movie stuff was going to put a wrench in shit. And, well, it did.

I’m going to be super honest, I’m burned the hell out. Between the movie stuff & filming beginning soon, trying to find space to give it my all. aaand deal with very loud public outrage, ya girl is tired.

So rather than string you along again and make you stress over another date, & stress myself out over expectations when I’m getting ready to enter a whole new world & have no idea what to expect, I’d rather cancel the pre-order and just publish it when it’s ready. I think we all need a break from these dates

Good news, the book is written, it just needs some very aggressive edits. And? It’s a little bit bigger than MDD. I’m not sorry about that, I’m obsessed with these two, which is why they deserve the best.

I’m sorry, but if it helps, I’ll keep you ed with movie content and updates in the meantime, and when MDR is ready, I’ll hit you over the had with it like it’s a frying pan.

Thank you all so much for dealing with my shit. You are the best supporters a girl could ask for, and I wouldn’t tgrade y’all for the world.

K, love you all, baiiii.

The movie in question is the cinematic adaptation of her first book, Haunting Adeline. There will also be a graphic novel. Girlie is busy, and I think we should cut her some slack. Not to mention the blowback she must be receiving about the movie right now. One of the first links to come up when you search “haunting adeline movie” is a Change,org petition trying to get it scrapped. Yeesh.

I’m probably the worst person to ask because I didn’t really care for My Dreadful Darling, so a delayed sequel isn’t a huge disappointment. If anything, I hope she takes more time editing out some of the cringe and silliness and brings back the pitch-black plotlines I loved her for in the first place (before she went mainstream and softened up a bit).

Thanks to her, I’m perpetually on the hunt for books that sting like Haunting Adeline, so I have a soft spot for her works. I’m happy she is getting the recognition she deserves and paving the way for dark romance books and plotlines to be more financially viable for publishers and authors.

The My Darling Reverie delay is more of a bummer for fans who feel like they’ve been strung along for some time. The first release date we were given was May 19, 2026, then it was pushed to August 2026, and now it’s “release date unknown.” Probably for the best, instead of continuing to promise and disappoint.

Whenever I hear about a release date delay, my honest thought is: Yay, thank gods! I have no shortage of books to read, as is, and my “To Be Read” shelf is officially getting out of hand. Personally, I’ve been doing a deep dive into queer dark romance and dark fantasy romance lately, which are more my speed anyway.

As a writer myself, I understand where Carlton is coming from. I think she should take all the time and space she needs. We’ll be here when she’s ready. Just recently, life got busy(?)…complicated(?) for me, and I took nearly a monthly off regularly updating this blog. Shit happens. We’re all human. Health and well-being should always come first.

If you need some new dark romance to read in the meantime, I have you covered:

Don’t say I never gave ya anything.

Here’s the full, stylized author’s note about the My Darling Reverie delay, if you are interested.

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