Library Manager
Manage your library—your way. Keep a running list or organize archived books into little stacks. i.e. Beach Reads, Cozy Covers, True Crime, etc.
Captivating Novels on the Dark Side of Desire
When love transforms and passion turns dangerous... six stories revealing the thin line between devotion and obsession.
Mother Teresa once said we are all hungry for love. When I first heard that, I thought that captured why we need others in our life so perfectly. Like food and water, love is a thing that feeds us. And when we’re nurtured by someone who cares for us deeply, we can grow and thrive and accomplish anything.
But being hungry for love can conjure a different picture. One where we are empty and alone, desperate for someone to notice us, to validate us, to care about us. It makes love feel rare. A fleeting emotion that once captured can never be released, for fear that we may lose it forever.
Perhaps that’s why infatuation, fixation, and possession feature so frequently in romance. We crave love, and like any drug, once we get a taste, it can make us do crazy things. There’s a fine line between passion and obsession, and once crossed it takes things from romantic and flirty to downright dangerous. Here are six novels about romantic obsession that are as compulsive and addictive as their main characters, and we promise you won’t be able to put them down.
If you could enter the mind of the person you love, would you? I would absolutely not. But when Mathilde starts drifting away from Enka, she’s willing to do anything to keep her, including undergoing a high-tech procedure that will link their minds forever. It’s a shocking examination that dances the line between love and obsession that is somehow beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Shell Pine has just lost her job and her fiancé, forcing her to move back home. She believes that getting hired at a floral shop in a decaying mall is a sign. Even more so when sparks fly between her and the florist, Neve. But Neve has secrets. Dark, hungry, obsessive secrets. Even though we’ve all been consumed by love at some point, I think we can all agree it would be utterly horrifying to actually be devoured.
Los Angeles in the 1930s was an intoxicating time. The power of Hollywood brought naïve hopefuls into the clutches of powerful men who often used and abused that power. That’s what happened to Marion Seeley. She was just getting her life back when she met up-and-coming politician Joe Lanigan. This is a story of toxic love that ended with one of the most scandalous true crimes of the decade.
Alice knows Tom is made for her. He just doesn’t know it yet. She’s been cleaning his apartment for over a year, and the more familiar she becomes with his things, the more obsessed she becomes with the man. But when she is finally able to orchestrate their meeting, instead of falling into the kind of love that fixes everything, it shatters everything Alice ever thought she’d known. Disturbing and addictive, Creep will have you questioning everyone you’ve ever invited into your home.
If you haven’t met Joe Goldberg by now, I implore you to pick up this book. Joe is the stalker you can’t help but almost like. He’s calm, rationale, and delusional. And yet, somehow as he goes from one chance encounter with Guinevere Beck to silently and strategically inserting himself into her life, I found myself rooting for him. It’s deliciously dark with surprising twists that are guaranteed to keep you just as addicted to Joe as he is to Beck.
Have you ever met a stranger that you can’t get out of your head? That’s what happens when Angela meets Ben in the grocery store. Despite having a successful husband, a giant house, and a disposable income, Angela needs to know more about Ben. Soon, her obsession takes her into the dark world of fetish film and back-alley plastic surgery. I was enthralled with Angela and her repressed desire for more, even as her choices spiraled into disaster.
More Little Stacks of Horror
The 6 Most Chilling Evil Children in Horror Fiction
Unforgettable horror novels where innocence turns deadly and childhood becomes something far more sinister.
Horror Books Featuring Monstrous Mothers Guaranteed to Terrify You
When it comes to mothers, these seven horror novels prove that sometimes nature is more terrifying than nurture.
Unsettling Botanical Horror Novels to Read This Spring
Forget cottagecore — rottagecore is here. These six novels explore the sinister, suffocating side of nature.