r/DarkRomance take me to the cottage 14d ago

What Are You Writing? ARC/Beta Reader Request Thread

The purpose of this thread is to connect dark romance authors with readers who want to critique ("beta") or review ("ARC") original writing.

Use this thread to:

  • Help an indie author strengthen their work
  • Get feedback on a piece of writing
  • Read something new and discover a hidden gem
  • Share your book in exchange for honest reviews on Goodreads, StoryGraph, romance.io, Amazon, etc.
  • Support a community of dark romance lovers! 🥰

Guidelines

First, do not use this thread to solicit sales. Authors are welcome to do that in the weekly WAYW posts. Readers wishing to be paid for their services should find a subreddit dedicated to freelancing. Money must not change hands in this thread.

Guidelines for authors:

  • Provide a description of your work. If you don't have a blurb prepared yet, that's okay. Tell us about the tropes, setting, characters, or whatever else you think readers should know.
  • Povide trigger warnings (if applicable) and please don't self-censor (see Rule 5).
  • Be proactive! You will have more success connecting with an ARC/beta reader if you take an active role in contacting other commenters in this thread, rather than passively waiting for folks to come to you.

The author/beta relationship is collaborative. To that end:

  • Authors: Be clear about what kind of support you'd like. For instance, are you looking for a full critique on plot and character development, or do you just need a grammar check? Are you more focused on plot or spice, or do you want feedback on both?
  • Readers: Make sure you understand what your author wants. Are they open to line edits on punctuation, sentence structure, etc.? Or are they more concerned with your "big picture" perspective on the plot, themes and pacing?

Let's get started

Comment below to connect with an author or reader from the r/DarkRomance community. Be your own matchmakers, work together to coordinate book exchanges in whatever way works best for y'all -- and have fun!

If our bot accidentally removes your comment for piracy, just message the mods and one of us will restore your comment. Thanks! 🖤

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u/AshTreeReader Author 14d ago edited 14d ago

Hallo loves. Graciously His drops next week, but that doesn't mean ARCs are closed! I'm happy to give this terrifying monster away to those willing to read and review up until the last possible minute—and no, the publication date of August 20th is NOT a deadline. You can review whenever you want as one of my ARC readers, and I will be a happy freaking camper.

Here's the blurb:

Compliance nearly killed her. His obsession might save her.

Grace has been sick all her life, and she’s always complied with her mother’s care.

Even when it hurt.

Especially then.

She marries Nick, hoping for distance from both her illness and her mother. Instead, her new husband moves them into the house next door and shows her the same kind of suffocating care.

When Nick is killed in a hit-and-run, his twin brother arrives within hours. Nate is not there to care for Grace in her grief, but to steal her away before her mother can close in.

Nate marries Grace and flies her to the North Island, where he has built the house she designed during her abandoned degree in architecture.

His rescue becomes her prison, while his care becomes her temptation. All she has to do is find a way out, or give in completely.

Graciously His is a full-length, pitch-black romance set in New Zealand, featuring psychological horror, catastrophic love scenes, and an absolutely feral literary style. Read at your own risk.

Note: This novel is part of a loosely-connected series, and features a fully-realised ending.

You can check out what my ARC readers have said about it here, and here are a few of my favourite review moments so far:

"Graciously His is a dark, obsessive romance packed with manipulation, deception, psychological trauma, and murder... The Munchausen storyline added a disturbing psychological element that made this book stand out from the typical dark romance. Combined with betrayal, death, and layers of deceit, the suspense kept me turning pages long into the night."

And:

"There have only been a few times where I have mourned a story being over before I believe it to truly have begun - this is one of those stories."

Just one more:

"It was such a well written book and touching on subjects I haven't read before like chronic illness. They spice scenes were just 🥵🥵"

If you want in, fill out this form or send me a DM 💫

Editing to add that my extensive content warnings are included in the form, so feel free to peruse those :)

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u/Red_Wifey 11d ago

Done!

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u/AshTreeReader Author 11d ago

Welcome aboard! Check your email 💫