🇬🇧 THIS BOOK IS IN ENGLISH

Love in Dangerous Doses by Jennifer Tirrell

Standalone

Emma doesn't like to be touched. Until she meets Vance.

Shy and autistic, Emma Reed loves insects and is studying to become an entomologist.

An assault in her past has left her afraid of touch. Intimacy triggers panic, and safety depends on keeping careful control over who comes close.

Vance Michaels is an addict with trauma of his own, a dangerous reputation and a side of his life that may involve killing people. He is not safe, simple or anyone's idea of boyfriend material.

When he notices Emma at a party, he sits on her legs and drinks her warm, forgotten beer. Emma does not know what to do - until he touches her and, for the first time, she likes it.

Vance warns her that he cannot offer the kind of love she should want, and her family would agree. But Emma is willing to risk everything for the possibility of being touched without fear and loved without being treated as fragile.

This dark standalone romance pairs an autistic heroine and touch-aversion themes with a dangerously morally grey hero, slow-earned intimacy and two traumatised people finding connection without pretending love can erase what hurt them.

🖤 READER MATCH™

GENRE: Dark romance • Contemporary romance • Trauma romance • Neurodivergent representation

BEST FOR: Readers who want genuine emotional depth, an autistic heroine, slow-earned intimacy, touch-aversion themes and an unapologetically dangerous morally grey hero.

NOT FOR: Readers seeking a safe or easily redeemable love interest, sweet romance, low angst, fade-to-black intimacy or a light read.

Also not your match if... addiction, violence, past assault, explicit content or toxic and morally extreme character dynamics are outside your reading limits.

SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Explicit

THE VIBE:
Tender and terrifying.
One careful touch at a time.
Love found where safety should not exist.

READER RESPONSIBILITY: You are responsible for knowing your genre, tropes and personal limits. It is always okay to DNF a book that is not right for you. Please do not punish authors for writing the story they clearly promised.

VERDICT: Your match if you want dark romance that feels genuinely dangerous, with hard-won intimacy and an emotional payoff built through discomfort, trust and vulnerability.

⚠️ Recommended for ages 18+. Standalone. Contains references to past assault, addiction, violence, touch-aversion themes, explicit content, dark themes and an extremely morally grey hero.

📚 FORMAT & DETAILS

Format: Softback
Pages: 381
Genre: Dark Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Independent
Published: April 2022
Language: English
Recommended age: 18+

Content notes: Past assault (referenced) • Addiction • Violence • Touch-aversion themes • Morally grey MMC • Explicit content • Dark themes

Reader Match™ by VeXa Nightbloom®
Because the right book should feel like it was waiting for you.