Red Flame Press Literary Magazine
SNIPPET
5+ BOOK TRENDS OF 2025
TREND #1 Serial Killer Romance
Nothing is off-limits in the dark romance genre. How dark and edgy can you go? How about… Ooh, I got it. Serial killers. I mean, don’t they deserve a chance at love, too? That’s right, these hot, but safely fictitious, bad guys have been keeping readers up. All. Summer. Long. Turns out, these societal deviants with a penchant for blood can make seriously great lovers. They would KILL for their girls. Ah, that’s so sweet.
TREND #2 Bully Romance
Love it. Hate it. Or maybe you still haven’t tried it. These elite, college bullies are the uber-hot alpha-holes you love to hate or hate to love. They don’t ask. They demand. They bring a girl down to her knees, begging until she begins to question her sanity. As it were, fans of Bully Romance can’t get enough.
TREND #3 Monster Romance
The monster trope has been rearing its beastly head in paranormal, gothic, and dark fantasy romances at full speed for quite a few months now. You could argue years, but this new breed of bad boys takes Beauty & her Beast to a whole new, dark, and spicy level. Scary, hary, and sexy all in one package. Maybe contemporary romance readers don’t know what they’re missing?
TREND #4 Stalker Romance
This trope often mixes with the serial killer trope, but not always. Some stalkers are just misunderstood good guys. Wait, hold up! We are talking about fiction here. I wouldn’t recommend getting yourself a stalker in real life. That’s not even funny. But inside the safe confines of a deliciously dark romance novel, a gorgeous, broad-shouldered, obsessive and possessive mystery man is…eh-hem. Yes, please.
TREND #5 Romantasy Genre
This summer, romance meets fantasy seems to have stepped it up a notch. A new breed of dark fantasy meets spicy romance has entered the scene, blending in popular elements of dark romance. These Romantasies are pushing boundaries, and even include content or trigger warnings in the front of the books to let you know it’s going to be a more intense ride than the typical fantasy novel.
Okay, one more…
Book Store Trends
Dark Romance is a hot new book genre that has tended to be Indie authored, especially because traditional publishers wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.
That’s changing.
Some best-selling dark romances are popping up in Barnes & Noble, Target, and even Walmart’s Sam’s Club. Why? Well, money talks. The increasingly popular dark romance genre pushes boundaries, tackles tough topics, explores morally grey undergrounds, and delights in politically incorrect social and sexual dynamics. Pretty much anything goes. It’s shocking, grey-to-black, smoking hot, and utterly insane all at once. What’s not to love?
Red Flame Press Literary Magazine