Sadie Kincaid is a bestselling author of mafia romance novels (a popular subset of the broader dark romance genre). Dark romance fuses a focus on a central couple and the development of their romantic relationship with elements such as violence, trauma, and criminal behavior. Topics like abuse, kidnapping, captivity, or dubious consent can all be interwoven into the story. Dark romance explores morally ambiguous anti-heroes, taboo relationships, and complex power dynamics, often blending with genres like thrillers and horror. Some aspects of the dark romance genre can be traced back to the tradition of Gothic literature that surfaced in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Dark romance is best understood as a tonal or thematic approach to writing romance novels, which can be set in a variety of contexts and time periods. Some dark romances have elements of fantasy, while others may be works of historical fiction set in a past time period. Mafia romances depict protagonists who engage in, or have connections to, the world of organized crime; the novels in this genre are typically set in the contemporary world and may feature depictions of graphic violence due to the criminal activities centered in the plot. Power struggles, feuds between warring crime families, and networks of alliances create openings for common plot tropes such as forced marriage or captor-captive dynamics.

Kincaid’s previous series include Chicago Ruthless, L.A Ruthless, and New York Ruthless; each series features novels set against a backdrop of organized crime in a different American city. Kincaid’s background, which includes degrees in community and criminal justice and a diploma in probation studies, informs her realistic portrayal of criminal underworlds and conflicts. The Auction is less specific about its connection to organized crime; the Brotherhood is never explicitly named as connected to the Mafia or any other crime organization. The novel does utilize key tropes of the dark romance subgenre, including a captor-captive dynamic between Lincoln and Imogen, a morally grey anti-hero, and an age-gap relationship.

Kincaid’s novel also foregrounds a defining feature of dark romance: the centering of female pleasure, desire, and consent in the primary relationship. Although Imogen is initially prepared for a life in which she will be completely subservient to the man who buys her, Lincoln strives to help her regain a sense of agency. She is an active participant in their sexual relationship and is the one who assuages his concerns about whether meaningful consent can exist between them. As is typical of a dark romance hero, Lincoln is capable of brutal violence towards others but displays tenderness in his interactions with Imogen.

Important debates exist about whether works of dark romance implicitly endorse or romanticize rape, assault, stalking, and other acts of violence. Some have pointed out that novels in this genre are primarily read and written by women (who are statistically more likely to experience sexual and domestic violence) and suggest that “dark romance doesn’t erase trauma, but … It allows readers to revisit frightening dynamics in a space where they are no longer powerless, where they control the narrative, the pace, and the ending” (Briar Black, “Everything About Dark Romance.”).