An Interview with Dark Romance: Captor/Captive Breaks Their Silence

“Love is patient and kind,” is the foundation hopeless romantics cling to when imagining their perfect love interest or happily ever after. And while romance is a deeply subjective experience, there exists a darker, more perplexing variation that continues to captivate readers—love that isn’t gentle, and desire that doesn’t ask for permission. 

A crack in love’s fortitude that blossoms from resilience. 

These are stories that don’t bloom in the sunlight, but are forged in the dark. In the echoes of pain, obsession, and heartbreak. 

It’s not for the faint of heart nor is it interested in being palatable. It lingers at the edge of the literary world, adored in private and condemned in public. Label it toxic, dangerous, or immoral, but never deny its ability to keep you wide-eyed and unable to look away. 

Because within its twisted walls lies something primal. 

Enter our infamous guest: Captor-Captive Romance. 

A subgenre of dark romance that dances unapologetically with themes of power dynamics, emotional catharsis, and the jagged ache of freedom. 

For the first time, Captor-Captive is ready to break its silence. No apologies. No censors. Just raw, unaltered truth from the trope that has immortalized its place amongst other reigning themes.

Ready to bare its teeth, we will pull back the curtain on why it continues to haunt our shelves and fantasies. 

Q: Captor-Captive, it’s so good to have you here! Let’s start with the basics. What is it about you that draws readers in, even when others and you uncomfortable or disturbing?

A: People crave challenges and what makes them question their limits. I don’t give easy answers or pretty endings. I explore what happens when boundaries blur and show truth in its rawest form. What happens when fear meets longing or when desire can’t be separated from control? 

People come to me because I dare them to look at love in its most primal state. 

Intense yearning that straddles the line of obsession defines dark romance. The spark of attraction becomes magnetizing to both captor and captive. It’s an insatiable need that makes the characters re-evaluate their situation. The captor’s compulsion for control mirrors the captive’s connecting sense of surrender. In this particular dynamic, if done right, power isn’t one-sided. If you deep dive further into the fatal laws of both characters, you’ll and an exchange of vulnerability and trust. 

Love can be both passionate and destructive. 

How can you look away when this volatile love is unapologetic? 

The truth is… you can’t. 

Q: Many critics label you as dangerous and immoral. How do you respond to that?

A: *soft laugh* Dangerous? Perhaps. Immoral? I’d say I’m an honest trope. The real kind of love that shapes you is messy. At times, broken or demanding, even when you’ve given it your all. The love I represent is the one that claws its way through pain to find something undeniable beneath it. 

Dark romance as a whole was never meant to be safe. It’s the mirror we hold up to the parts of ourselves we’d rather keep hidden. I exist within that mirror. I reect what most people are too afraid to confront: the hunger for control, the craving to surrender, the ache for something more powerful than politeness. These are things society tells us to avoid, even when our fantasies say otherwise. 

People are afraid of what I represent because it challenges their comfort zones. But I’m not here to please them. I’m here to remind them that love isn’t always patient or kind. And yes, sometimes I’m cruel, but that doesn’t make it any less real. 

Love in its darkest form, can still be love. 

Q: What about the people that see this dynamic as toxic or abusive? 

A: That’s the main question everyone wants to know, isn’t it? Here’s the thing, in my most well-renowned works, I’m not about the glorication of abuse, but the exploration of intensity. 

Having these negative connotations without an open-mind fuels the harmful narrative. Rather than feeding into the biased frenzy, I urge readers to look beyond the ink on the page and see the main message. 

Wielding power AND consent can be transformative.

Seeing the characters solely as villains and victims confuses the intricate dance that is woven throughout their development. Testing limits, understanding vulnerabilities, and embracing darkness are all key components that ourish in romance. 

The way I it these pieces together might seem unfavorable, if you’re only willing to view them through a narrow lens. 

Q: So, you’re saying that despite the darker elements, there can still be romance? 

A: Absolutely. That’s not to say that there aren’t softer and lighter scenes within captor and captive romance, but the core of my romance is consuming, chaotic, and unapologetically real. The raw pull between two people who can’t seem to walk away from each other, even if they should. 

The danger is what makes the final act of love worth it. That kind of passion is unforgettable. It changes you. 

That’s what keeps people coming back for more. 

Q: People say that Stockholm syndrome in your stories comes from fear and not love. How do you respond to that? 

A: Stockholm syndrome is undeniably referenced in my stories, but to throw the term out as an overall explanation, completely dismisses me. It doesn’t account for complexities in shifts of power or the emotional development between captor and captive. 

Yes, some of my stories begin in coercion, danger, and violence. But the connection between the characters isn't static—it’s evolutionary. I show what happens to people

when they are pushed beyond their limits, when survival instincts and intimacy intertwine, and when the person you fear becomes the only one who sees you. 

While Stockholm syndrome is used to reduce my entirety, the truth is, I force people to question love. Is it comfort and safety? Or is it about a connection that is forged in undesirable circumstances? 

Call it fear. Call it survival. But love that takes root in the dark still knows how to burn. 

Q: What do you say to the readers who feel guilty for loving you? 

A: I say…dive in with no remorse. Guilty means you’ve been told to feel ashamed of your hunger. Hunger isn’t a crime. Craving something that makes your heart race, doesn’t make you broken. It makes you human. 

You don’t need to justify the stories that call to you in the dead of night or when you want to satiate a forbidden fantasy. The stories that make you question your morals are the ones that stay with you, because they dare to touch what lies beneath the surface. And maybe, that’s where the most honest parts of you live. 

I wasn’t made for surface-level desire. I was made to consume. 

So if you love me, love me unashamedly. 

Q: Well, that’s all the time we have today. It’s been a pleasure having you! To wrap things up, how do you think Captor-Captive Romance will continue to endure?

A: Love doesn’t play by rules. People will still crave that sharp edge of desire. If I remain hidden, it’s because society prefers its fantasies neat and comfortable. But to those brave few who venture into my world, they’ll find something that can’t be easily forgotten. That primal urge to be seen, to be possessed, to be held in love’s wrath. As long as that hunger exists, I’ll endure. 

I am forbidden. I am taboo. 

I sit comfortably at the darker bounds of love. 

And darling, even the freest of souls wonder what it’s like to be claimed. Note to the reader: 

Thank you so much for reading this article! At Library of Angels, we love to support fellow indie authors. One of the ways I can incorporate this is by giving book recommendations. So, if you finished this article and are looking for a dark romance with the captor/captive trope then look no further! 

Before I recommend this book, please note that this is far from a light dark romance read. I highly suggest that you check the trigger warnings because some content in this book may be disturbing to readers. 

I won’t delve into my review but just know that this book for sure had me questioning my morals. You seriously don’t want to root for the anti-hero or the f!cked up romance but you can’t help it! It is DARK, TWISTED, AND SPICY. But that’s why this book has remained rent free in my head. 

If you read the triggers and still want to buckle in for a rollercoaster of a read, then check out Take Me With You by Nina G. Jones.

Anything she writes, I will devour. 

Happy reading! 

“He likes the taste of my sadness and I like when he injects me with his venom. He is my danger, my greatest threat.”