Dark Contemporary Romance & More!

Disclaimer: This episode contains mature themes and explicit content recommended for those who are 18+. Listener discretion is advised.

Episode Summary

In this episode of Blush & Bindings, hosts Lindsey, Lauren, and Kacy explore the darker side of romance, a subgenre packed with mature themes, morally black heroes and a whole lot of spice. They dig into popular tropes like "touch her and die", possessive/obsessive heroes, stalker/serial killer/mafia plot lines, and the way those characters find love and acceptance in the darkness.

Unique to the After Dark episodes is the ‘Kink Connoisseur’ segment where your hosts discuss a specific kink or sexual preference in the romance book world. Although this segment may be in the After Dark episodes, it is important to differentiate kink and dark romance, while dark romance may favor the kinkier side of the genre, it does not own it. Kink heavy books may span all the subgenres of romance and are not explicitly tied to spicy scenes either. In this episode, we delve into mask play, it’s recent rise in popularity on social media platforms like Tiktok, and the mask play themes in the Book Club pick for this episode “Lights Out” by Navessa Allen.

In the Book Club segment, they break down character relationships, finding love and comfort in shared fantasies, and the way past experiences can shape you. Plus, don’t miss their top TBR recommendations for dark romance, and books featuring mask play. This is the final episode in the Modern Affections Contemporary Romance series. Up next is Wicked Pleasures, exploring the world of Paranormal Romance.

Episode Trigger Warnings:

This episode contains mature content and themes and is intended for adult audiences. Trigger and Content warnings for this episode include explicit language, discussion of sexual content and scenes in general and from the page, discussions of sexual preferences and kinks including Mask play.Discussions during our book club segment in reference to the book club pick Lights Out by Navessa Allen include explicit sexual content and scenes, plot lines that include stalking, serial killers, and murder. A full list of trigger/content warnings for the book are available on the authors website: https://navessaallen.com/lights-out/

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