Beautiful Venom

Beautiful Venom is a contemporary romance novel that also falls under the parameters of dark romance and sports romance. The dark romance subgenre “gets its name from the content of the books within it, which often explore darker themes, like abuse, captivity, and dubious consent” (Keys, Emily. “Defining Dark Romance.” The Romance Genre Specialist, 19 Jul. 2024). In conventional contemporary romance stories, the characters’ backstories are often informed by trauma or loss, but in dark romance stories, the characters’ encounters with trauma and suffering are at the forefront of the narrative.

Novels in this subgenre also feature explicit erotic and sexual content. Sex-related tropes of the genre include dubious consent, BDSM, consensual non-consent, and exploration of dominant and submissive roles. Dark romance novels also feature morally gray characters who will go to extreme lengths to be with the person they love. Such characters may also have violent and possessive tendencies. Other tropes and themes of the dark romance novel subgenre include revenge, injustice, betrayal, secrets, deception, lies, abuse, corruption, and forbidden attraction.

Many of these staple themes and tropes feature in Beautiful Venom. Dahlia Thorne and Kane Davenport’s relationship is an enemies-to-lovers romance: They hate and are passionate about each other. They engage in rough sex that often blurs the boundaries between violence and kink. The characters are also vengeful, bitter, and untrustworthy. At the same time, these dubious qualities fuel Dahlia and Kane’s attraction and afford them their happily-ever-after ending.

Sports romance novels are “romance[s] with athletic elements” that could be part of the sub-plot or “the main driving force in a story” (Maren. “Sports Romance—A Subgenre Here to Stay.” Book Influencers, 21 Feb. 2025). Sports romance novels often take their primary narrative action from professional or competitive sporting arenas. Typically, the male romantic lead is on a sports team, and the female romantic lead participates in the adjacent athletic community. Sometimes, however, both the male and female romantic counterparts are athletes and share in their athletic goals. Most often, rivalries both on and off the field, ice, or court intensify the narrative atmosphere.

In Beautiful Venom, the athletic dynamics are peripheral to Dahlia and Kane’s world. Kane is a competitive college hockey player on Graystone University’s Vipers team. His closest friends—including Jude Callahan and Preston Armstrong—are also on the team, and playing together unites the friends. The Vipers are also an entry point to Vencor, the secret society that the Vipers players are members of. At the same time, the hockey elements of the novel remain at the margins of the narrative. The characters care about the sport, but they are more invested in Vencor and its immoral, violent activities. Hockey is a front for the secret society’s other morally dubious pursuits.

Author Rina Kent is a well-established figure in the dark romance genre. She has published a number of novels that contribute to the genre, including God of Malice (2022) and Kiss the Villain (2025). Beautiful Venom is also in conversation with other sports romance novels, including Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker, Emily Rath’s Pucking Around, and Tessa Bailey’s Fangirl Down. Kent’s title is also in conversation with parallel dark romance novels, including Brynne Weaver’s Leather & Lark, Ana Huang’s Twisted Love, and Jasmin Mas’s Blood of Hercules.