Roth lurking in her online groups

“I’m surprised you haven’t connected with Johanna Ledger before now. You’ve been reading her since college.” 

She whipped her head around. “How do you know?”

“You had a whole shelf dedicated to her books.”

Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Did you read up any of them?”

“No, but if I have downtime, I may pick up this second chance, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers’ triangle with slow burn, angst, and non-con.”

Her mouth dropped. “Did… did you just recite those tropes in the exact order Sarai said them in Copenhagen?”

“Of course.”

Damn photographic memory. “Do you know what that means?”

Another thigh squeeze. “Your readers were happy to explain.”

She stiffened. “Roth, you didn’t…”

“I introduced myself as a shy divorcee who was trying to figure out what went wrong in his marriage. I thought reading my wife’s favorite series would help me figure out where I went wrong.” When she sat there in stunned silence, he added, “Your community was very sympathetic and welcoming.”

“I bet they were,” she muttered. What reader wouldn’t want a man who read the same shit she did? If her readers knew Rex was in their midst, they’d lose their collective shit. “What’s your username?”

“I’m not telling you.” 

“Why?” 

“You’ll block me.” 

He wasn’t wrong, and that irritated her because she hadn’t made the mental leap yet, but he already had. As usual. “There can’t be that many men anyway.”

“You’d be surprised. There are plenty of clueless men looking for answers, but I doubt they’ll find it in the romance community.”

She waved her hand. “What women want in real life and fiction are completely separate.”

**This is a raw draft of Bitter Confessions. Please do not share or distribute.

Do you think the last statement is true? I've pondered this quite a lot since I've delved into dark romance. Several readers have asked me what I would do if I met Roth in real life and I'd run for my damn life. I'm drawn to the darkness, but I wouldn't want to live with it... What about you guys? Do you want your partner to have traits of alpha anti-heroes or are you content just reading about it?