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Gothic Romance Books
Discover 160 gothic romance books on TropeScope.
Romance with a gothic atmosphere — decaying manors, stormy landscapes, secrets in the walls, and a heroine at the centre of something she can't quite see. Often historical, often supernatural-adjacent.
Gothic romance descends from the 18th-century gothic novel tradition — think Jane Eyre, Rebecca, the Brontë catalogue. Modern entries evolve the template: V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (existential curse romance across centuries), Alix E. Harrow's Starling House (gothic-fantasy inheritance mystery), and Ava Reid's Juniper & Thorn (gothic-fairytale horror-romance) prove the atmosphere survives the transition from literary canon to BookTok-native. Often straddles dark romance, paranormal romance, and historical romance depending on the setup.
Most Popular Gothic Romance Books
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
V.E. Schwab
448 pagesgothic romance
(1.5M)Warm
Cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets, Addie LaRue finds the one man who remembers her name.
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
488 pagesgothic romance
(733k)Mild
A shy new bride discovers her husband's first wife may never truly be gone — and Manderley holds dark secrets.
Nocticadia
Keri Lake
682 pagesgothic romance
(176k)Steamy
A med student on a haunted island falls for her darkly brilliant professor — and his dangerous secrets.
Carmilla
J. Sheridan Le Fanu
108 pagesgothic romance
(210k)Warm
A lonely young woman falls under the intoxicating spell of a beautiful, vampiric stranger in a gothic castle.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
V.E. Schwab
544 pagesgothic romance
(176k)Warm
Three women across five centuries are offered freedom by an alluring stranger — and everything comes at a price.
Starling House
Alix E. Harrow
308 pagesgothic romance
(170k)Warm
A desperate girl takes a job at a cursed gothic house — and falls for its brooding, lonely heir.
Slow Burn Gothic Romance
Tension built across crumbling hallways and candlelit drawing rooms. Gothic thrives on deferred touch.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
V.E. Schwab
448 pagesgothic romance
(1.5M)Warm
Cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets, Addie LaRue finds the one man who remembers her name.
Nocticadia
Keri Lake
682 pagesgothic romance
(176k)Steamy
A med student on a haunted island falls for her darkly brilliant professor — and his dangerous secrets.
Gothikana
RuNyx
416 pagesgothic romance
(123k)Steamy
A gothic castle, a century-old mystery, and a forbidden pull between a brooding professor and his darkest student.
House of Shadows
Darcy Coates · House of Shadows #1
268 pagesgothic romance
(10k)Mild
Married to a brooding stranger to save her family, Sophie discovers their gothic mansion is haunted — and so is her husb
The Cruel Dark
Bea Northwick · The Cruel Dark #1
226 pagesgothic romance
(5k)Warm
A haunted woman takes a job with a brooding widowed professor — and his crumbling estate holds darker secrets than eithe
As Many Souls as Stars
Natasha Siegel
352 pagesgothic romance
(3k)Warm
A demon hunts a witch across centuries to claim her soul — but desire may undo them both.
Enemies-to-Lovers Gothic
Antagonism turned obsession. Cold corridors, whispered feuds, the line between rival and lover dissolving.
The Coven
Harper L. Woods · Coven of Bones #1
298 pagesgothic romance
(96k)Steamy
A witch trained to destroy the Coven must survive its academy — and the infuriating headmaster who hates her.
Vampires of El Norte
Isabel Cañas
371 pagesgothic romance
(44k)Warm
Childhood sweethearts reunite on the eve of war — only to discover the vampire that tore them apart is back.
Blackthorn
J.T. Geissinger
368 pagesgothic romance
(16k)Scorching
She fled her hometown twelve years ago — now she's back, and so is the man she loved who may destroy her.
As Many Souls as Stars
Natasha Siegel
352 pagesgothic romance
(3k)Warm
A demon hunts a witch across centuries to claim her soul — but desire may undo them both.
Fables & Other Lies
Claire Contreras
224 pagesgothic romance
(3k)Steamy
She sat in the Devil's Chair and wished — now she's falling for the cursed heir she was born to hate.
Secret for a Nightingale
Victoria Holt
396 pagesgothic romance
(2k)Warm
A nurse who follows Florence Nightingale to Crimea can't escape the sinister doctor she blames for her tragedy.
Forced Proximity Gothic
Trapped in the manor, the crumbling estate, the storm. Gothic's defining claustrophobia.
Carmilla
J. Sheridan Le Fanu
108 pagesgothic romance
(210k)Warm
A lonely young woman falls under the intoxicating spell of a beautiful, vampiric stranger in a gothic castle.
Starling House
Alix E. Harrow
308 pagesgothic romance
(170k)Warm
A desperate girl takes a job at a cursed gothic house — and falls for its brooding, lonely heir.
Gothikana
RuNyx
416 pagesgothic romance
(123k)Steamy
A gothic castle, a century-old mystery, and a forbidden pull between a brooding professor and his darkest student.
Vampires of El Norte
Isabel Cañas
371 pagesgothic romance
(44k)Warm
Childhood sweethearts reunite on the eve of war — only to discover the vampire that tore them apart is back.
The Haunting of Maddy Clare
Simone St. James
318 pagesgothic romance
(37k)Warm
A timid 1920s woman and a scarred WWI veteran must unravel a vengeful ghost's dark secrets before she kills them.
Hungerstone
Kat Dunn
336 pagesgothic romance
(34k)Steamy
A Victorian wife trapped in a loveless marriage falls hungrily under the spell of a mysterious, pale stranger on the moo
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a romance 'gothic'?
Atmosphere and setting drive it — isolated estates, stormy weather, buried secrets, psychological suspense woven through the love story. The heroine is usually the viewpoint character, and something is being hidden from her.
Gothic romance vs dark romance — what's the difference?
Dark romance is defined by the morally grey hero and taboo dynamics. Gothic romance is defined by atmosphere and setting. The two overlap heavily — Haunting Adeline is both — but each can stand alone.
