France, late 1700s. The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are "virtuosos of deceit" who engage in cat-and-mouse games of seduction with a young virgin, a devoted wife and a naive music instructor - all with the intent to seduce, and then destroy. Great acting and beautiful costumes make this a truly unforgettable movie.

England, 1830s. A plain, young governess falls in love with her secretive employer, Mr. Rochester. A classic novel of love and madness.

England, late 1700s. Heathcliff and Catherine's obsessive love destroys not only their own lives, but the lives of everyone around them. A classic.

Italy, 1500s. Veronica is a beautiful, much sought after courtesan in Venice; she can have any man she desires...except the one man she loves. But Veronica's beauty, and her devotion to the unavailable Marco, make her a target for obsessive love and hatred with Macro's dangerous and self-righteous cousin, Maffio.

England, 1867. Dashing, handsome Charles Smithson is engaged to the vapid Ernestina Freeman, but he is powerfully drawn to a social outcast, strange, intense Sarah Woodruff, "the French Lieutenant's Woman." Spell-binding novel about Victorian social conventions, obsessive love and love lost.

France, 1830s. Ryno de Marigny ends his scorching, deacde long affair with La Vellini, an Italian courtesan, to marry the delicate, aristocratic Hermangarde. But La Vellini wants him back, and she will do anything to separate Ryno from his new wife.

England, 1920s. Charles Ryder and Julia Flyte are in love, but can they overcome their religious and social differences to be together? Evocative tale of lost innocence, lost love and lost opportunities.

Tudor England, mid-16th Century. One of my favorite novels. Richard and Celia have just married in 1960s England - but dark secrets of the past cloud their present happiness. In fact, both Celia and Richard have been together in a past life, in the 16th century. Richard and Celia are electric together, and the story of their lives before is heartbreaking and twisted, but terribly romantic.

Ancient Egypt. King of Egypt, Rameses and the princess Nefertari are destined to be together; Nefertari, however, lives under the shadow of being the only surviving member of a heretical former dynasty. Part political thriller, part dark romance: Nefertari is constantly at battle to keep her life...and her lover's heart.

Los Angeles, 1930s. "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown." If only Jake Gittes had steered clear of Evelyn Mulwray, none of this would have happened. Dark, very dark, crime noir; absolutely shocking, but brilliant.

England, early 1500s. A much different movie than "Anne of the Thousand Days", this reworking of Anne Boleyn's affair with Henry highlights her tempestuous relationship with her sister Mary, and reveals her love affair with Henry to be a lust-driven sort of madness.

England, early 1900s. Kate wants to marry Merton, a lowly journalist, but social pressure forces her to consider wealthy Lord Mark's suit instead. In a bid to marry Merton, and provide both him and Kate with wealth, Kate persuades Merton to seduce a dying, beautiful American heiress into leaving him all of her money. Predictably, jealousy and passion get in the way of this tidy plan.

Europe, 1500s. Very dark, sexually graphic movie about an aristocratic young woman who is captured, raped and tortured by a band of soldiers and their camp followers. Her fiancee and lover, of course, is trying to find and rescue her. Mature audiences only.

Ancient Rome. What destroyed Marc Antony, both on the battlefield and off? Colleen McCullough asserts that Cleopatra did. This is an epic, beautifully written novel about the pair's destructive relationship.

England, 1066. Loss, heartache, broken vows and romantic betrayal permeate this book, from beginning to end, about a treacherous English lord, his beloved wife and daughter. Very dark, heavy themes, but written beautifully; a captivating read.

America, 1880s. Catherine Sloper is plain and shy, but she stands to inherit a fortune on her father's death. Does the handsome Morris Townsend, whom Catherine loves beyond all reason, want her for herself...or for her money? Dark, compelling, tragic, but a beautiful film, nonetheless.

Georgian England, 1715. Barbara, a teenage aristocrat, is hopelessly in love with, and eventually married to, an older man who has a scandalous past and an unavailable heart. Rich, sumptuous historical detail centers around the story of Barbara, her faithless, insincere husband and her malicious family.

England, 1930s. A nameless young woman becomes handsome, secretive Max de Winter's second wife. But happened to his first wife? The beautiful, charming Rebecca? Gripping, fast-paced gothic romance with lots of suspenseful twists and turns.

New York, 1870s. Prim and proper (but yearning to break free) Newland Archer has just become engaged to the innocent, dull May Welland. But on the night of their engagement announcement, Ellen Olenska, an exotic European Countess, and May's cousin, comes sweeping into his life. It's duty version passion for Newland, and his soul hangs in the balance.

Europe, late 1800s. It doesn't get any more dark or deranged than Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Mina, a young Victorian woman, becomes the living embodiment of romantic obsession for the immortal Dracula. Violent, atmospheric, bloody, erotic; a classic.