This Rec League request was sent into us by Elena. Thanks, Elena!
I want romances where the heroine is the one who is dark, brooding, and emo instead of the hero. And ideas?
Sarah: Ooooooh. Wednesday Addams, please step forward!
Amanda: More of a Wednesday Addams-lite, the heroine in Bad Bachelor is a goth/punk librarian. Not brooding, but has the fashion sense.
We also have a Books for Your Inner Goth Rec League but those are lacking in romance and focus more on sci-fi and fantasy and I would love some romance
Claudia: I think I got a good one. A Gentleman Undone by Cecilia Grant. The hero is no ray of sunshine (psychologically scarred soldier) but the heroine is even less so. Their romance starts on the seedy side and it blossoms nicely to end on a very hopeful note for both MCs. Heroine is a courtesan and I thought that whole aspect was handled well. She’s not ashamed or contrite and he is not her savior, but together they are better than the sum of their parts which is always nice to see.
Ooof that made me think for the nth time how much I’d like to see Cecilia Grant writing romance again.
Elyse: Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean ( A | BN | K | AB )
EllenM: I have a few that maybe fit? Unfortunately most are in series where I wouldn’t necessarily recommend starting in the middle.
In The Shift of the Tide by Jeffe Kennedy ( A | BN | K | AB ) the heroine is DEFINITELY the broody & moody one as she has some serious obligations weighing her down.
I think a couple of the Psy-Changeling books also fit (even though the heroes are often kinda broody too)–I’m thinking Bonds of Justice ( A | BN | K | AB ) and Tangle of Need ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
The Lady Darby series ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) also fits this quite well, although it’s not quite a romance but a mystery series with a strong romance b-plot.
Maya : Stealing a Tara rec from a while ago and saying Thorn by Anna Burke. F/f Beauty and the Beast, so obvious brooding heroine!!
Tara: Ooh, I forgot about that. Yes, that one!
Which romance heroines would you recommend?
I’ve never read that particular novel in the series, but would Mary Balogh’s Survivors Club book featuring the woman fall into this category?
I only ask because I just read Only Beloved and they mentioned her, but not enough for her name to stick in my mind. And the books from that series that I have read have had some intense issues to deal with.
I finished one recently that I think would fit the bill: This is Not a F*cking Romance by Evie Snow.
Despite the name, it definitely is a fucking romance – enemies to lovers. The heroine has been through some shit and is definitely on the emo side. The hero is her former high school bully (I know, but stay with me) who due to a family tragedy has re-evaluated his behaviour and turned his life around. They both bring some fun back into each other’s lives.
It’s sold as a romantic comedy, but be warned there are some triggering topics included.
These are urban fantasy but have romance:
I would say Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye and Antimony Price are pretty broody heroines. Antimony is in the Incryptid series, and you need to read the other books, but they’re all pretty good.
The Hallie Michaels trilogy by Deborah Coates has a broody/angry heroine.
Alice of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country by Melissa Albert fits.
Jennifer Gracen’s More Than You Know has a pretty broody heroine.
Also, Roni Loren’s The One You Can’t Forget and Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon. These are more broody/sad heroines, rather than broody/angry heroines. Also, A Match Made on Main Street by Olivia Miles.
The heroine in the Duke of Dark Desires (Miranda Neville) is also somewhat broody (and she’s plotting vengeance).
THE WINTER BRIDE by Anne Gracie. While
The heroine isn’t necessarily brooding,but she is defiantly a broken bird type with a traumatic past. She’s also the one who doesn’t believe she deserves love. The hero isn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows either, but he covers his trauma up with smiles and jokes. Also he’s super sweet and one of my favorite heroes ever.
Also seconding Mary Balogh’s survivor’s Club series in general, it especially ONLY A KISS. Imogen is a classical brooding and the hero is totally a “Sex puppy” type. As always Balogh also defies expectations brilliantly in regards to the heroine’s past. Highly recommended.
Lisa Berne’s The Bride Takes a Groom, deceptively packaged as a bog-standard Regency-set marriage of convenience story. The hero is basically an easy-going, cheerful guy who has been through some pretty rough shit (he’s a veteran who lost his dad at a young age) but still has a genuinely positive outlook on life, while the heroine, whose horrible parents were extremely psychologically abusive, has been stuck in survival mode for years and is very prickly, very angry, and very accustomed to having no one to trust. As someone with C-PTSD, I found her very relateable (tbh this is unusual for me), and I thought her character arc was very well done. Also the hero is a total sweetheart, and his family is lovely.
A lot of adult and YA fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal have action heroines and many of those are brooding ones. A recent fantasy romance I read was Bec McMaster’s Storm of Fury, which has a grumpy ex-Valkyrie heroine with a dark past and a cheerful hero.
The Witness by Nora Roberts. Heroine with a PAST and who is completely closed off and dark. Hero is affable and friendly as heck.
Another mention for Charlotte stein in a rec league. Most of her heroines are brooding. The heros seem to be too but you mostly read from the female perspective.
The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller was the first one that came to mind. Hero was a total cinnamon roll.
The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham? I have not read it, but I believe the heroine is of the “dark, brooding rake” variety?
I think the heroine of Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas definitely fits this trope – a competent surgeon in the 1890s who’s fled all the people who have emotional claims on her to be a travelling doctor in the isolated Hindu Kush. I love this book, but strong content warning re:dubious consent and what is essentially rape by modern law.
Kara Braden’s The Longest Night (which originated as a Sherlock fic and was adapted to m/f) – I found it through the comments in SBTB and really liked it, forced proximity is my jam.
A Lily Among Thorns by Rose Lerner!!!
My English mother always used the term “broody” to mean when a woman was feeling the urge to have a baby (I guess now we’d say “her biological clock is ticking”). So I’m going with “brooding” heroines in my recs. Also, in my reading experience, “dark & brooding” heroines tend to show up in dark & brooding books, so beware.
I second the Charlotte Stein recommendation—especially THE PROFESSOR which, as I’ve said before, crosses a 19th-century prose style with a 21st-century erotic sensibility.
I really liked the older brooding heroine of Freya Barker’s A CHANGE OF TIDE. She does have some mental health issues (which she is getting help for), so CW/TW.
If you’re ok with reverse harem (exquisitely done), the heroine of Penelope Douglas’s CREEDENCE has every reason to be brooding.
Charmaine Pauls’ BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN is beautifully-written and has a heroine who fights hard for her autonomy. But—ain’t gonna lie—the book is full of triggers.
I love the complicated Erin Walsh, heroine of Kate Canterbary’s THE SPIRE. However, in order to get the full arc of her character, you really have to read all eight books in the Walsh Family series. If you don’t fancy that much of a commitment, Canterbary’s FAR CRY features a heroine who had her life all mapped out when she has to return home (not too happily).
Most of CD Reiss’s heroines are complex and would probably qualify as brooding, especially the heroines of the King of Code series: KING OF CODE, PRINCE CHARMING, and WHITE KNIGHT.
I’d also recommend Skye Warren—but her work can get very dark (all triggers & content warnings) but her Trust Fund duet, SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST and EVOLUTION OF MAN, is on the lighter (I should say, less dark) side of her work and features a brooding heroine…and brooding heroes (there are two of them).
And if you don’t mind VERY DARK, almost any book by Natasha Knight, Cora Reilly, or Willow Winters has brooding/emo heroines…but I can’t CW/TW enough—especially for Knight.
Probably a little too light, but what about Sydney in Susanne Brockmann’s Get Lucky?
BRINGING DELANEY HOME by Lee Kilraine fits the bill, but TW for emotional issues. Spoiler: it’s supposed to be a “big reveal” if I recall correctly that the heroine has lost a leg and has a prosthetic. It’s pretty obvious if you’re paying any attention.
Small Change by Roan Parrish – m/f queer romance. The heroine is an angry, bi tattoo artist and the hero is a ray of sunshine sandwich maker who opens a shop near her shop.
I’d say Lady Darby in the first few books of Anna Lee Huber’s historical mystery series is pretty dark and depressed. It realistically takes several books into the series before she lightens up and trusts the hero. The first book is “The Anatomist’s Wife”.
This one may be hard to find, but “Almost Taken” by Isabel Mere. Very dark themes of slavery/involuntary servitude and child exploitation.
“Desired” by Nicola Cornick. Her whole Scandalous Women series is great.
“My Lady Notorious” by Jo Beverly, which I think was also mentioned in the cross-dressing Rec League.
“The Mysterious Miss M” by Diane Gaston which I hesitate to recommend, even though it’s a good book, but so angsty and the themes are so dark:forced prostitution, alcoholism. It was actually too dark for me, but ymmv.
Oh I just thought of one. It’s been awhile since I’ve read it, but I recall the heroine in Prince of Midnight by Laura Kinsale as brooding – and hellbent on revenge after escaping a pretty horrific cult. The hero is an unlikely ray of sunshine. I should re-read this.
I forgot one of my favorites: Kelly Hunter’s MAGGIE’S RUN. Maggie has had a difficult time of things (cw/tw: a fatal automobile accident, infertility) when she inherits her late aunt’s sheep station in the Australian Outback and is determined to turn it into a destination wedding venue. She’s sad, prickly, and brooding. The hero (a neighbor) is more upbeat, although on the quiet side. I love this book—it was one of my favorites of 2019.
Beard in Mind by Penny Reid (one of the Winston Brothers books)
Lady Edwina Bollash (Winnie), the heroine of Judith Ivory’s “The Proposition” is fairly brooding. She is a professional in an era when upper class women didn’t work, is not classically beautiful, and was ignored/denigrated by her parents. The hero, Mick Tremore, is sheer joy, and it’s lovely to watch him bring that joy into Winnie’s life.
In Connie Brockway’s “All Through the Night”, both hero and heroine are dark and brooding, and their match is quite incendiary. Loved this book from start to the last line.
I would second Rosemary’s choice of Alva Webster from The Widow of Rose House. She’s wonderfully broody and is well-paired with a darling hero.
I loved too Naomi from You Deserve Each Other, though she might be more snarky than broody.
DDD is correct that in English Engish ‘broody’ means a woman wanting a baby, which is what I thought this rec would be about, then I thought “Nah, not at the Bitches”.