There are books that no matter how long you've read them, the moment you come across them, you remember how dear they are to you.
As a bibliophile and in every sense, a book lover, I was going through my e-library. Not necessarily looking for a book to read but just to look at and admire my collections. Over the years, I've read quite a lot and I have so many books which are dear to me but there are some books that stand out and are dearer to me. I'll be sharing just five of them in this post.
The Predator
Now, This book has held my heart since 2023 that I read it. I remember vividly picking up the book the day I finished my exams so I could relieve myself of the exam stress but I was in for more stress mentally by picking up this book.
This is the first book in the Dark Verse Series. It is a dark romance series consisting of six books in total - The Predator, The Reaper, The Emperor, The Annihilator and The Syndicater which is yet to come out. I have read all five books and they were all written beautifully. The series tell the story of five couples all linked in one way or the other. I'm someone that gets irked very easily but in this particular series, I found everything just perfect. I mean, how can a book be so dark yet soft at the same time? I mentioned The Predator as against the name of the series in the subheading because that was the book that got me into the series. I remember being drawn into the book because of the female leads smartness and strong will. The scene where she got her codes stolen from her and decided to track down the codes. Under disguise, she ventures into enemy territory and almost gets killed by the male character has to be the scene that held me down first. She began to uncover secrets she never could have imagined in her life. I could begin to ramble on and on about scenes that I love so much but I need to introduce others to you too. I'll definitely advise you to check out this series if you're a dark romance reader. You'll absolutely love it.
The Cruel Prince
This is a book from the Folk of the Air series. The title seems really really cheesy to every book reader, I know. Wait till you get to see the content of this book. This is a fantasy series consisting of three books - The Cruel Prince, The Wicked Queen and Queen of Nothing. This book tells the story of Jude (female lead) and Cardan (male lead). The main villain in this book was also the female lead (Jude).
Jude was such a smart character who because of her small stature and human nature, and coupled with the fact that she came from the human world into the world of faeries, got bullied by the other students. She began to retaliate against the bullies one by one and she gets to know more about Cardan who she always believed was the instigator of all the bullying. Cardan being a cunny character falls in love with Jude but he can't let go of his royal duties as the royal heir.
This particular series, had me reading for two days straight. I couldn't drop it. I was glued to my phone for those two days. Gladly, I was on school break. Jude's smartness in this book coupled with cunny Cardan will keep you wanting more. I actually wished there were more books in the series so I could have enjoyed more of them together.
Verity
This so far, is the darkest book I've ever read. Verity is a thriller and romance novel that tells the story of Verity Crawford. It was written from Lowen Ashleigh's perspective. Lowen, a writer employed to complete Verity's book who was suddenly incapacitated by a car accident, begins to find disturbing secrets about Verity in Verity's manuscript.
The thing I love about this book is the fact that the author left us the readers to pick our side of the story. There are two sides to the story which we uncover at the end of the book. I loved the creepy suspense and the rush of adrenaline I felt at every point in the book. I love it when I can't predict the ending of books and that was exactly how I felt reading this book. It sure is an exciting read for lovers of thrillers. Do check it out too.
Haunting Adeline
I wouldn't still have read this book had I not talked to someone recently and with the way she talked about it, I decided to go check what the hype is about. Most times, when things are hyped too much, I automatically loose interest. That was why I hadn't gotten to reading the darkest romance book of all time. I read this book Haunting Adeline about a month ago and I must say it is totally worth the hype.
Those that aren't fans of dark romance will find the content of this book horrifying but to be very honest, that's the thrill in dark romance. This is one book in the Cat and Mouse duet. The second being Hunting Adeline. This first book is about Adeline, a writer who lives in the bright side of the world and is drawn into the dark side when she catches the fancy of Zade, a world renowned hacker and he begins to stalk her. They fall in love gradually as the book progresses and Adeline comes to find out that without Zade in her life, she would have experienced so many traumatizing experiences in the hands of human traffickers. This is a book I couldn't drop till I got to the very end. I giggled and threw my legs in the air so many times during the course of reading this book. I absolutely enjoyed reading it and would strictly advise you to pay heed to the trigger warnings if you're not into dark romance as some scenes might be quite disturbing. Altogether, it was a really captivating read I'll definitely re-read.
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
I've done a review on this book before. This is a romance book that will keep you on your toes all the time you'll be reading. It tells the story Of Morgan and her daughter Clara as they go through healing process after loosing their sister and husband, aunt and father respectively. They also begin to unravel secrets left behind by the people they trusted and called family.
What I loved about this book was the way I felt the characters emotions and I almost got to crying at one point because of how emotional it was. I also loved the realistic approach towards which the writer wrote. If you're looking for a book with a happily-ever-after ending, I'll definitely recommend this.
I'm a lover of good books and when I see one I don't fail to acknowledge it. These five books are part of the best I've read so far. There are more which I would later recommend as time goes on. I hope you enjoy reading these books I recommended.
Header image was created by me using Canva and other images are screenshots from my e-library