Revenge! In Romance
Best served hot hot hot
I like my romances like I like my swamp monsters… toxic!! Revenge is always an excellent place to pull from to keep us on our toes, because whether they’re teaming up to get revenge on someone else or they’re taking revenge on each other, there’s much drama to mine and the tension and stakes are always high. Here are three recent favorites in this microtrope!
The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole. I’m doing it, y’all. I’m nearly ten books into the Immortals After Dark series and having a LOT of fun. This book is technically the first in continuity, though I know some (included the Fated Mates podcast, which yes I’ve been listening to their original season as I finish books in this series) consider the next book, the first full-length, to be the true start of the series because it was written first. But when you read A Hunger Like No Other (which certainly you’ll be seeing around these parts sometime) the characters from Warlord show up with a lot of “you’re missing something” energy at a pivotal moment if you haven’t read their book yet.
So. In the IAD universe, vampires that are made versus born have distinct characteristics- born vampires can’t lie, made vampires can’t breathe or get it up until they meet their fated mate, at which point she “bloods” them and they feel their heartbeat again and they can get nasty. But the trick of it is that these newly blooded vamps HAVE to consummate their mate discovery WITH their mate the first time, otherwise they’re stuck with a stiffy for however long it takes to convince her.
Myst is a Valkyrie whose been “taken” “hostage” by some born vampires, but their castle gets overrun by made vampires before she’s done interrogating them. Think Black Widow in the first Avengers, IYKYK. Myst feels an instant connection to Nikolai Wroth, who was once a famous Estonian human warlord that she’s now discovered was turned into a vampire after his final brutal defeat 300 years earlier. She’s lowkey a fangirl, and he’s highkey immediately obsessed with her. But one of the reasons he and his crew of made vamps took over this castle was to learn more about the Lore, the supernatural community they’re now a part of but that no one will give them info about (which is very immortally petty and funny, that “real” born immortals won’t tell the new kids what’s what). When it becomes clear that Myst won’t tell him anything, despite them both feeling a spark, he threatens to torture her and then immediately gets blooded. So naturally, what’s a girl to do but punish a man with that kind of gall?
Eventually Nikolai tracks her down again… but it’s five years later. The man has had a five year boner and is starving because all other blood tastes bad to him now and is on the brink of madness. And so when he reconnects with his malicious mate and he ends up in possession of a chain that controls her every move… revenge will be his!! Because that’s the start of a healthy relationship, right?
There’s much to discuss in the dubcon of it all here, but something I try to keep in mind is that we’re talking about two characters who are a combined century and a half years old with insane supernatural powers. That doesn’t mean consent and basic courtesy go out the window… but it does change judging the morality of any individual action. A contemporary romance hero committing to physically torturing his heroine (or, in the case of a later IAD book, actually doing it) is fundamentally different to two largely unkillable beings getting up to the same shenanigans.
Anyways. Revenge turns out to be less sweet than compromise, but ol’ Nikolai has to learn that the hard way, and I really enjoyed these two’s whole deal, which sets up so much for the rest of the series. If you’ve been looking for a new fantasy series to sink your teeth into that also has references to 2006 pop culture… you’ve found it!
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Faking It by Jennifer Crusie. Technically the second of a duology, but, and this might be the first time I’ve said this, you really don’t need to read one to understand the other. It’s truly standalone, and any references to book 1 don’t require additional context… though I did like book 1 a lot. This is your pick if you want shenanigans and levity with your revenge, unlike the other two books in this roundup.
Matilda Goodnight is struggling under the weight of her failing family art gallery, brought low by a conman of a father who’s no longer with them. Davy Dempsy, a con man raised by an even more notorious con man, is just passing through, because his ex-girlfriend Clea stole a bunch of money from him and he wants it back. There’s a reason Matilda also needs to get embroiled, because of a certain piece of art the ex has acquired that could ruin her and her family’s hanging-by-a-thread reputation. Davy wants revenge (and money), Matilda wants money (and a clean slate), so they team up to take Clea down.
There are as many heartfelt moments as there are wild and hilarious shenanigans, because it’s a Jennifer Crusie book. You’re going to have a good time, I guarantee it.
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane. At the time of writing this (mid July 2026), this is the sole 5 star book I’ve read this year. Part of that is I’m too deep and know too much so my standards are higher, part of it is that I’m reading a lot of new authors with long series so it’s hard to really hit a perfect 5 when you’re 7 books deep, but MAN did I have an awesome time in Milla Vane land. Wait. What do you mean there’s only one other book in this series and there’s been a years-long wait that may never end?
Still: worth it. This is the first of a [stunted] series but the romance and primary plot wraps up nicely so while there’s more to discover, you won’t be left wanting narratively. This book is set in a world lain waste to by a big bad evildoer a generation ago, and now the disparate communities are attempting to unite against him when he inevitably returns. There’s a lot going on, sociopolitically, but what you need to know is that there’s a new alliance council with a representative from each city/territory, and said alliance is on shaky ground as the various players make moves.
For our romance, we’ve got Maddek, a warrior whose parents are murdered but the murder is deemed by the new alliance council to have been earned. He disputes that his parents did what is being claimed, making their deaths unavoidable, but he has no proof, and he just barely keeps himself from saying to hell with the alliance, I’ll have my revenge!
What holds him back is Yvenne, the daughter of his enemy (and his parents’ killer), who makes him an offer he almost refuses: use her to get his revenge, politically rather than violently. If they get married and she has a daughter, they can take control of two powerful communities within the alliance and get justice (and make things better overall).
The problem is that he doesn’t trust Yvenne, because she admits early on (there’s a whole thing about how Maddek’s people despise lying, and she knows this) that she wrote the letter that ultimately lured his parents to their deaths. What is unclear (or what he mistrusts) is whether she knew it would happen or not. So he agrees they should work together… but she’s a captive more than she’s a fiance, and he isn’t shy about making that point.
Honestly, this book is complex enough in its political machinations that it’s tough to accurately recap what’s so wonderful about it, but it’s a book about leadership and masculinity and trust and making the hard decision because it’s right, not the easy decision because it feels cathartic. The ending had me on my KNEES (and Maddek on his). It was a masterclass of tension and agony and joy. And their first sex scene? I shrieked. My husband thought something was wrong. But no- something was very, VERY right.
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next time, I’ll be recommending books about actors at their lowest points, being rescued by partners outside the industry entirely.
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
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