Today’s review is about THE DARK LORD’S GUIDE TO DATING by Tiffany Hunt. It’s the first book in the Guides to Villainy and Love series. In this fantasy romcom the villain kidnaps the princess for a forced marriage to activate an ancient relic to gain more power. Expect excellent banter and a fun time!
Author: Tiffany Hunt
Series: Guides to Villainy and Love, #1
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Scarlett Press
Publish Date: March 3, 2026
Print Length: 512
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The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating Synopsis
Synopsis
A conflicted villain and his unstoppable bride form the realm’s most chaotic alliance in this riotously funny dark romantasy perfect for fans of Assistant to the Villain, but darker and spicier.
“What’s mine stays mine.”
Step One: Kidnap someone cute.
Step Two: Force her into marriage.
Step Three: Try not to catch feelings.
When Dark Lord Kazimir Blackrose kidnaps Lady Arabella for a forced marriage, he expects an obedient, trembling bride. What he gets is a knife to the throat and a furious woman with demands of her own. He may need her heroic bloodline to achieve ultimate dominion, but she’s not about to make this easy for him.
Arabella has already survived her father’s tower prison and a lifetime of being treated like property. Getting abducted by the realm’s most notorious villain is just another Tuesday. If she must be married to the infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) Dark Lord, she’ll do it on her terms: freedom within his fortress, hands strictly to himself, and complete honesty about his plans.
But when those plans go awry, Kazimir faces his most terrifying challenge yet: he must date his own wife. Between magical training sessions, playing golf with the eyeballs of his enemies, and aphrodisiac dinners gone spectacularly wrong, his attempts at villainous seduction are failing at every turn.
As Kazimir and Arabella navigate magical explosions and jealous exes, they discover a far more terrifying prospect than war or magical catastrophe: They might actually be falling for each other.
This dark and sexy fantasy romance is perfect for readers who love: a morally gray antihero (who stays that way); a strong heroine who embraces her dark side (she doesn’t need rescuing, thanks); touch her and die trope; hilarious, wicked banter and sizzling spice; one bed/forced proximity; kidnapped bride/forced marriage; and dark humor.
The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating Review
I received a free, digital, advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher. My review is my own and reflects my honest opinion about this book.
THE DARK LORD’S GUIDE TO DATING is an incredibly entertaining fantasy romcom from the point of view of the villains in the story. Dark Lord Kazimir needs a heroic bloodline to activate the power of an ancient relict. To do so he needs a bride with that bloodline, so he kidnaps Lady Arabella to be his wife. Though forced into a marriage, Arabella is no wilting flower and instead sets her own terms for this union. When Kazimir’s plans go awry, he finds the marriage requires more than a few magical words. So he must learn to date his wife in order to harness to full potential of the relic. Hijinks ensue.
This fantasy romcom is everything I hoped another viral villainous romcom would be and wasn’t. The writing is excellent and the author doesn’t sacrifice characterization for brevity. (Admittedly, though, I thought the story was perhaps a tad bit too long, but overall I really enjoyed it.) The banter in THE DARK LORD’S GUIDE TO DATING is some of my favorite. It didn’t feel clunky or forced at all and flowed naturally between the headstrong Kazimir and Arabella.
The synopsis already implies Kazimir is a domineering character, but Arabella is no pushover, either. While she hails from a royal bloodline, she is not soft and compliant as a result of that upbringing. This becomes even more meaningful when the reader learns more about how Arabella’s father raised her. That is, he expected her to fall in line and marry whomever he chose for her, amongst other things. It was so wonderful to see Arabella come into her own in Kazimir’s domain even though technically she was a kidnappee.
Meanwhile, betwixt and between his dating efforts, Kazimir goes off and does Dark Lord things. However, the more the reader learns about Kazimir, the more one sees perhaps he’s more of a morally grey character. Killing and maiming someone for leering at his bride may be extreme, certainly. But he also administers his lands in such a way that it benefits the inhabitants. So, you win some, you lose some?
There are a few secondary characters that make up Kazimir’s inner circle who I also found entertaining. One of the more memorable ones is Griffin, who is basically Kazimir’s mad scientist magician. The magic system isn’t incredibly well defined, though by the end of the book the author reveals more about the lore behind the magic. So perhaps there’s more to come on that in the next installment of the series. Additionally, there is a dragon, so dragon lovers, rejoice!
I fear my review doesn’t do this fantasy romcom justice, but it was a genuinely fun time. I liked it so much I bought myself a physical copy, which I don’t often do after reading the ARC. There is actually a more nefarious plot that becomes more evident by the end of the book. By that I mean this story is more than just vibes and banter. So, if you’re looking for something lighter, but don’t want to sacrifice characterization or plot, check this one out. The banter in THE DARK LORD’S GUIDE TO DATING is *chef’s kiss*.
Rating: 4.25
Content warnings: sexual content, violence, death, blood, emotional abuse of a child (historical), death of a parent (historical)
Reading format: e-ARC
If you liked this book, you may also enjoy ASSISTANT TO THE VILLAIN by Hannah Maehrer.
Brilliant Review. I haven’t enjoyed the last couple of Dark Lord narrated books that I’ve read but this one sounds like it should be a lot more fun.
Thank you! The dark lord/villain narrated books seem to be the latest trend and I’m also getting a bit tired of them. But I really enjoyed this one and I’m glad it got picked up for trad publishing.
I’ve got Dreadful to read as well which is another variation on the theme so I’ll see how I get on with that
I’m not sure how this book escaped me, it’s not even on my radar! Now I need it, it sounds like my kind of humor and romance😁 Thanks for sharing!
You do need it in your life! I think you’ll enjoy it.
Great review! I’m lowkey surprised I didn’t have this on my radar but this fantasy romcom sounds like something I would enjoy immensely. 😍 You’ve definitely convinced me to try and get my hands on this asap!
Thanks! It wasn’t on my radar at all…I only heard about it thanks to one bookstagrammer who read it before it got picked up by trad.
In the past I’ve never been entirely sure how I’d find romcoms within this range but after reading a short story by Hannah Nicole Maehrer last year I’ve been eager to give Assistant To The Villian a try. If that goes well I’ll definitely be trying this one too. The central characters sound interesting and I have to say I’m intrigued by the ‘mad scientist magicin’ too. The nefarious plot you’ve mentioned has me curious too. And of course the way you’ve described the banter calls to me, I love strong examples of that 😍 Lovely review. I hope you love the sequel even more.
I hope you like Assistant to the Villain, which is what this book is compared to. I personally liked The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating a lot more…but I think I’m in the minority regarding Assistant to the Villain. Oh well!
Ah well thanks for letting me know. I’ll have to try this one too regardless of how I get on then.