Dark Academia
Shadows of the Marked: A Dark Academia Enemies to Lovers Forbidden Professor Romance (The Crimson Academy Book 1)
Book 1 in the The Crimson Academy series · Reading order →
SpiceDarkness
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- Spice & darkness rated — content warnings listed below
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Why we recommend it
A forbidden professor, a marked heroine, and the electric danger of crossing every line. This enemies-to-lovers dark-academia romance is built for readers who love charged power imbalances and the slow corruption of restraint. Set against a sinister academy, it simmers with antagonism that curdles into obsession, where every clandestine encounter risks ruin and the most dangerous lesson is how badly she wants to fail it.
At a glance
Shadows of the Marked is book 1 in Adriana Steel’s The Crimson Academy series. With 4/5 for spice and 4/5 for darkness it sits mid-range for dark academia romance (of the 191 dark academia romance books on Readark, 28% rate lower for darkness and 56% lower for spice). Its tropes include boss / employee, age gap and enemies to lovers. Boss / employee is one of the less common tropes in our catalogue. Of the 4 Adriana Steel books we rate, it is the spiciest. 2 content warnings are listed below, hidden until you tap.
Book details
- Published
- December 2025
Shadows of the Marked spice level
Shadows of the Marked is rated 4/5 for spice on Readark’s scale: explicit and frequent, meaning multiple detailed scenes, with heat central to the story. Its darkness rating is 4/5: heavy, meaning sustained cruelty, trauma or non-consent central to the relationship. How we rate
Shadows of the Marked content warnings
We list 2 content warnings for this book. They stay hidden until you tap, so you can check without spoilers.
Content warnings (tap to reveal)
- Emotional Abuse / Gaslighting
- Graphic Violence
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