Melissa Cummins

Hey there! I'm Melissa Cummins, and I write dark mafia romance that'll probably get me put on some government watchlists. (My search history is... concerning, to say the least.)

Let me tell you how I ended up here, because it's kind of a wild ride. I spent years working in corporate finance, crunching numbers and dreaming up increasingly dramatic ways to escape my cubicle. Turns out, writing about dangerous men and deadly power struggles was way more fun than Excel spreadsheets. Who knew?

I've always been fascinated by the darker side of human nature – those gray areas where right and wrong get real blurry real fast. My characters live in that shadowy world where survival means getting your hands dirty, and romance blooms in the most unlikely (and probably inappropriate) places. If you're looking for sweet, gentle love stories... um, you might want to look elsewhere. Fair warning.

My debut novel "Crowned in Blood" introduced readers to Catalina, a woman who seized control of her dead husband's mafia empire, only to watch it crumble from within. (And yes, there's a dangerously attractive complication who may or may not want to kill her. Romance, am I right?) I love writing fierce, complex women who aren't afraid to pull the trigger when necessary, paired with morally ambiguous men who are absolutely terrible for them – but in the best possible way.

When I'm not writing scenes that would make my mother disown me, I'm probably binge-watching true crime documentaries, researching questionable topics that have definitely gotten me flagged by the FBI, or trying to convince my cat that my laptop keyboard is not, in fact, the most comfortable spot in the house. (Spoiler alert: I'm losing that battle.)

What can you expect from my books? Violence. Steam. Complex power dynamics. Characters who probably need therapy but are getting revenge instead. The kind of tension that makes you want to throw your e-reader across the room (please don't, though – those things are expensive). And underneath it all, love stories that burn so hot they leave scorch marks.

I believe the best romances are the ones that make you question everything – including yourself. Why are we drawn to dangerous men? What makes a villain redeemable? How far would you go for love... or revenge? These are the questions I love exploring in my work, usually while drinking way too much coffee and stress-eating chocolate.

To my readers: thank you for joining me in this crazy journey into the dark side of romance. Your messages about staying up all night to finish my books (sorry about those work meetings you dozed through) and your passionate debates about my characters' choices make this all worthwhile. Even when you're yelling at me in all caps about that cliffhanger. (Yeah, I know. I'm evil. I'm not even sorry.)

I'm currently working on my next book, which promises to be even darker and twistier than the first. If you enjoy morally gray characters, steamy scenes that'll fog up your windows, and plots that'll keep you guessing until the very end, you're in the right place. Welcome to my world – just watch your step. And maybe keep your weapon handy.

Want to connect? You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, where I post probably too many thirst traps of my book boyfriends and behind-the-scenes peeks at my writing process (read: me panic-writing while mainlining caffeine). Or join my newsletter for exclusive content, sneak peeks, and the occasional unhinged rambling about my latest fictional bad boy.

Fair warning: once you step into the dark world of my books, there's no going back. But then again, why would you want to?

P.S. My mom still hasn't read my books, and I plan to keep it that way. Some things are better left unshared with family, you know?