Books Like A Touch of Darkness
If you finished A Touch of Darkness and want more gods and mythology, deals and bargains, possessive hero, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
For reference, A Touch of Darkness is:
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The picks
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1. Neon Gods
Shares: gods and mythology, deals and bargains, forbidden love
Hades and Persephone in a modern city run by the Thirteen. She runs away from a forced engagement to Zeus and makes a deal with the one man nobody crosses. Quick and very steamy.
- Gods and Mythology
- Deals and Bargains
- Forbidden Love
- Possessive Hero
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence
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2. Voidwalker
Shares: deals and bargains, forbidden love
Fi is a smuggler who can walk the Void between worlds, and a job gone wrong drops her in front of Antal, an antlered daeyari lord whose species eats humans. He'll spare her if she helps him find whoever attacked his city. Predator and prey, with claws and tails and a lot of heat.
- Deals and Bargains
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Murder
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3. Twisted Love
Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero
Her brother's ice-cold best friend agrees to keep an eye on her, which turns into moving her into his place. More dark-ish than dark, which makes it a good warm-up before heavier books.
- Forbidden Love
- Possessive Hero
- Touch Her and Die
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Murder, Stalking, Death of a loved one
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4. From Blood and Ash
Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero
Poppy is the Maiden, veiled and untouchable, and her new guard Hawke is far too interested in her. Very talky, very horny, and the twist lands if you don't see it coming.
- Vampires
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping
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5. Desperate Measures
Shares: possessive hero, deals and bargains
Jafar and Jasmine in Carver City, where Jasmine wants revenge and Jafar will help for a price. It's a Daddy Dom book with consensual non-consent, so know that going in. Short, filthy and very Katee Robert.
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Possessive Hero
- Deals and Bargains
Content warnings
Dubious or non-consent, Graphic violence
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6. Fall of Ruin and Wrath
Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero
Lis is an orphan with a knack for seeing things she shouldn't, and she uses it doing jobs for dangerous people, until she crosses paths with Thorne, a very powerful immortal. Classic Armentrout: banter, heat and a lot of internal monologue. The sequel is a long time coming.
- Forbidden Love
- Possessive Hero
- Morally Gray
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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7. Phantasma
Shares: deals and bargains, forbidden love
Ophelia Grimm is a necromancer with a cruel voice in her head who enters the Prince of the Devils' deadly game, where only one player wins a wish. Caraval meets a haunted manor, with a lot more heat. The cover did plenty of the selling on BookTok.
- Deadly Trials
- Deals and Bargains
- Demons
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Suicide or suicidal thoughts, Graphic violence
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8. Priest
Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero
Father Tyler Bell hears Poppy Danforth's confession and falls apart. Religious guilt, BDSM and a lot of heat. Darkness is low on violence, but it deals with grief and abuse in the church. Midnight Mass finishes their story.
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
- Possessive Hero
Content warnings
Suicide or suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault
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9. A Fate Inked in Blood
Shares: gods and mythology, forbidden love
Viking romantasy. Freya is a shield maiden with a prophecy on her head and a jarl's son who is very much not her husband. Feels like Vikings meets a political chess game.
- Gods and Mythology
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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10. Promises and Pomegranates
Shares: gods and mythology, possessive hero
A modern Hades and Persephone where Hades is a hitman named Kal and Persephone is Elena Rossi, a mafia daughter who's tired of being kept. The prose is moodier than most mafia books. Each sequel follows a new couple.
- Gods and Mythology
- Mafia
- Possessive Hero
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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11. Spark of the Everflame
Shares: gods and mythology, forbidden love
Diem is a mortal healer in a kingdom run by the Descended, godlike rulers who treat humans as disposable. Her mother disappears, a rebellion wants her, and a Descended prince named Luther keeps showing up. A self-published hit that got a big reissue, and the series is finally finished.
- Gods and Mythology
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
- Love Triangle
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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12. These Vile Hearts
Shares: deals and bargains, forbidden love
Maddox is type 1 diabetic, just lost her job and her insurance, and makes a deal with a dryad queen: kill the Redwood King and get cured. Then she mistakes his cursed brother Castor for him. Funny, angry about real healthcare, and a very good debut.
- Deals and Bargains
- Curses
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Murder
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13. Wintersong
Shares: deals and bargains, forbidden love
Liesl trades herself to the Goblin King to get her sister back from the Underground, and the bargain turns into a marriage. Labyrinth for grown-ups, with music at its heart. Lush and moody, though some readers feel the second half drifts.
- Fae
- Deals and Bargains
- Captor and Captive
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Death of a loved one
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14. A Discovery of Witches
Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero
Diana is an Oxford historian and reluctant witch who calls up a bewitched manuscript at the Bodleian, and suddenly every creature in town is watching her, including the very old vampire Matthew Clairmont. Lots of wine, research and yoga. Slow, and people love it anyway.
- Witches
- Vampires
- Forbidden Love
- Possessive Hero
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Stalking
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15. Belladonna
Shares: forbidden love, gods and mythology
Signa can't die, which is how she ends up orphaned at a gloomy Victorian estate where a ghost wants her to solve her own poisoning. Her love interest is Death himself, mostly in shadow form. Cozy-spooky and very October.
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Murder, Death of a loved one
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