The Nora Theory

New Adult romances are usually contemporary novels. They typically feature, as the name suggests, characters that have just recently become adults, usually 18 to 25 year olds. These books follow characters as they navigate the experience of new adulthood—the later years of high school or college. Technically, a new adult book is any book in which the protagonists are in this age range, but the books featured on this list truly embody the experience and spirit of (a privileged and often idealized) new adulthood.

Devil’s Night Series by Penelope Douglas

I’ve been waiting for an excuse to write about these and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long. This is one of my all-time favorite romance series. I reread it most years at Halloween, and it’s the perfect way to get in the Devil’s Night spirit. Devil’s Night is a series of interconnected standalones featuring four dangerous, devious, and smoking hot boys and enemies-to-lovers plotlines. These boys are out for revenge on the girls who ruined their lives, and what better night for vengeance than Devil’s Night?

This series is deeply dark and artfully plays with the complex relationship between love, lust, fear, and hate. It’s filled with twists and turns, and lots of spicy moments. Make sure you check trigger warnings before reading this one and then enjoy the wild ride that is Devil’s Night.

Spice: 4

Writing: 4

Crooked Sinners by Callie Hart

Crooked Sinners is a series of interconnected romances set at an elite boarding school. These aren’t actually dark romances per se, there is not an excessive amount of violence, but each of these characters is going through some very dark and traumatic shit. The series follows the popular boys with the richest parents who seem to have everything, and they rule the school with an iron fist.

These boys, promiscuous, hard-partying, and often rude, are the last you would think to fall in love, but once they stop fighting it, they fall hard. These books are also enemies-to-lovers, as can be expected with male protagonists that are badly behaved. Crooked Sinners are salacious and steamy, and short, fast-paced reads.

Spice: 3.5

Writing:3

Royals of Forsyth University by Angel Lawson

This series is not quite like the others on this list. While most of these new adult books explore some aspect of a realistic new adulthood, this one blows all that up into something unrecognizable, but so dark and delicious. In Royals of Forsyth University, secret societies reign supreme. The Lords, the Dukes, the Princes, and the Barons rule the university with no mercy. Every part of this series thus far has been dark, twisted, violent, and very dirty (in the best way). While this series is undeniably over-the-top, it’s also engaging, quick to read, and will leave you wanting more.

The Royals of Forsyth University is made up of several series-within-a-series, so they can be read independently of the others. All of them are why choose, and all take place in the same world during the same time frame. Lords and Dukes are complete, and Princes is next in line, with the first book in the sub-series out and the next coming May 10.

Spice: 4.5

Writing: 3.5

Madison Kate by Tate James

Someday I’ll shut up about the incredibleness that is Tate James, but today is not that day. Madison Kate is a four-book contemporary why choose series featuring an MMA fighter, his two best friends, and the title character, Madison Kate, a privileged girl with a dark past. These dreamy but decidedly morally grey boys set Madison Kate up for a crime she did not commit, and when she returns from her exile, she finds out that she’ll be living with them. Chaos, tension, and lots of spice ensues.

This series is a bully, enemies-to-lovers romance with a touch of some gangland stuff happening. Madison Kate is one of my all-time favorites and will always hold a special place in my heart for introducing me to the wonderland that is why choose romance.

Spice: 3.5

Writing: 5

Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

The Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep is a four-book series with enemies-to-lovers themes and a really unique high-drama plot. This series was one of the most interesting why choose novels I’ve ever read simply because it was such a creative use of a pandemic storyline. I put off reading these for so long because I just couldn’t deal with putting a pandemic into my escapist land while an actual pandemic was raging outside, but I regret it because these books are so much fun. And if you are feeling similar reluctance, rest assured that the Hades Virus is not modeled directly after COVID and none of this feels particularly realistic in that regard.

I loved all the characters, and the tension between them was absolutely off the charts. Sometimes with why choose, you get a very formulaic cast of characters, and sometimes that works really well. These books, however, took some of that, featuring the jock, the wild card, and the moody professor, classic why choose archetypes but added in Saint Memphis. Saint is such a unique and eccentric character that he really just makes the whole series worth reading.

Spice: 3

Writing: 4.5

Legacy of Gods by Rina Kent

The Legacy of Gods series is a series of interconnected standalones set at a dueling pair of elite British colleges. Each book features a different couple in the same friend group.

All of the books in this series have some form of an enemies-to-lovers trope, with most of the plot centering around the relationships themselves. There is some mafia stuff going on, but unlike a lot of dark romance, there’s not a lot of actual mafia war and violence happening here. It’s more college stuff with wild kinks and a light mafia overlay which I actually like.

Each of the six books features an excessively dangerous hero who you would never want around in real life. I am convinced no humans actually behave like the characters in these books (not as it pertains to the kink but the emotional behavior) but I am also convinced that’s what makes them fun.

Spice: 5

Writing: 3

Note: some of the links included here are Amazon Affiliate links, which means if you purchase through said links, The Nora Theory gets a cut.