Author Spotlight: Sarah Bale, Queen of the Cliffhanger
Dark Romance is something I've often gravitated to, but never really had a favorite writer of… and then I read Sarah Bale’s books. I found Sarah through my friend Rhon. You see, Rhon really loves dark romance. She’s not just a reader, she’s a writer of it. And she was reading this book called Captive. And she kept telling me I had to read it, that it was seriously amazing, she was in love with the characters and the concept and the storyline. And then one day, she messaged me with a “scream into the void” that I felt through the computer. Captive was a cliffhanger!
And as much as I wanted to dive in right there, I couldn’t. My anxiety can’t handle cliffhangers. I don’t do well with angst. Seriously, if something gets too angsty, I will skip to the last chapter and read it to make sure it all ends well, before I resume the book where I left off. So a cliffhanger was totally out of the question. But… the next book was coming out really soon. So I waited, patiently biding my time until Hooked was released. And I pounced!
And, dude, y’all wanna talk about hooked??? Line and Sinker my friends! “Hook and His Darling” (the duet made up of Captive and Hooked) was a deliciously dark reimagining of Peter Pan. Not a retelling- no this was something completely different. Unlike anything I was expecting. It was a reverse harem, mafia based, deliciously dark retelling with Hook as the “good guy.” I loved it! And I had finally found the dark romance writer I was looking for!
I had already joined Sarah’s Facebook Group because of the connections we had. And even though I hadn’t read her books yet, I loved the engagement she had with her readers. Daily posts ranged from book teasers on Tuesday (giving me more glimpses into books she was writing), to Hump Day Hunks posts on Wednesday (mancandy? Yes, please), to Thoughts for Thursday (a chance to share memes, quotes, etc that were more on the inspirational side). And I really gravitated to the idea that her posts were about way more than just her books. They were about building a community of readers, and being seen.
Dark romance can get a really bad rep, and I know it is not for everyone, so finding a group of people who appreciate it for the beautiful literary genre it is can be really difficult. I’ve been in some open genre, non-author specific groups that didn’t really appreciate dark romance, or the people who read it. And they made that opinion known (and no, I will not name them). Finding a group that celebrated all the things I love within a dark romance, even though I hadn’t actually read any of that author’s books yet (hides in shame) was priceless!
Through her group, I started to get to know Sarah as a person, as an author, and as a friend. And making that connection, feeling that comfort level with Sarah as a person, made me want to read all the things she wrote! I had started my Sarah journey with Captive, and quickly read Hooked. Then went right into Touch (Part 1 of the Midas and His Princess Duet- a reimagining of Snow White) as soon as it hit my Kindle as an ARC. Somewhere in there I also read Gilded- a dark reimagining of Goldielocks that appears in the anthology Once Upon a Broken Crown. And just yesterday I finished Crave - Part 2 of the Midas and His Princess Duet. You see where this is going right? Fairytales brought to life, from the dark side of the story. And they are sooo good! It takes a special kind of writer, a talented writer, to see the dark side of the fairytale, the opposite side from what we’re “supposed” to like, and make you love it so intensely that it replaces your childhood memory and becomes your preferred version.
Oh, and did you catch that part about me not waiting for Part 2 of Midas’s books before reading part 1? Sarah cured my cliffhanger phobia. Well, I guess she didn’t cure my fear of them so much as creating stories I needed to read immediately upon publication, even knowing I wouldn’t have the full story until sometime later. Pretty cool, huh?
Oh, and Sarah isn’t all about the fairytales. Nope, her main book series that she’s known for is her Devils’ Regents MC (Motorcycle Club) books. And if Amazon isn’t lying to me, she’s got a new mafia series coming in 2023. Ok, I just need to stop drooling now. I still need to read her MC books, I know I know. But I am 100% committed to reading her backlist. Because I have loved everything I’ve read from her so far. She’s published 57 books to date, and although some are currently out of print I need to find a way to get to every one available. Soon :-)
Fair warning: Dark Romance is NOT for everyone. Her stories (I wrote “books” and then deleted and wrote stories, because, cliffhangers) always have an HEA for the main characters. But not everyone you (or the heroine) love always makes it to the end. Sarah is not the first author to make me ugly cry (that award goes to Brittney Sahin, and Liam), or the only one (Avery & Preston know that first hand), but she is the first to make me want to throw my Kindle across the room and scream, “NO!” I have an entire set of memes just for Sarah's books.
So, it you’re ready for something different, unique, and on the dark side, I highly recommend you check out Sarah’s Bale’s Bedtime Stories series. And yes, you can message me when you get to “that” part.
Just the facts:
First book I read by Sarah: Captive
What I love most about her books: swoony heroes, strong heroines, reverse harems, wicked plotlines, plot twists.
Fave book by Sarah: Honestly, I have loved all of the Bedtime Stories so far
Fave character: Smee
Fave cover: Crave
You can get several of her books on Amazon
You can find Sarah on social media here:
Facebook reader group: Sarah’s Sinners
