Author
Callie Brooks specializes in captive romance and forbidden desire, exploring the dark psychology of attraction that blooms in impossible circumstances. A criminal psychology professor who studied Stockholm syndrome and trauma bonding before turning to fiction, Callie brings uncomfortable insight to stories where the line between captor and lover, danger and desire, becomes impossibly blurred. Her novels don't shy away from morally complex scenarios—they dive straight into the darkness and find the humanity within it.
Her protagonists are often women taken against their will—kidnapped by criminals, held hostage in dangerous situations, or trapped in arrangements they never chose—who find themselves developing confusing, intense feelings for the very men who hold power over them. Callie navigates these scenarios with psychological nuance, never romanticizing abuse but exploring the genuine connections that can form between people in extreme circumstances. Her captors are never one-dimensional villains; they're complex men with their own traumas, codes, and the capacity for tenderness that surprises even themselves.
What sets Callie apart is her commitment to consent within captivity narratives. Her heroines have agency even when their freedom is limited; they negotiate, they resist, they choose. The romance that develops is hard-won and complicated, with both parties transformed by their connection. She explores themes of power exchange, the difference between control and care, and whether love born in darkness can survive in the light.
Readers describe her work as "dark but never cruel" and "psychologically sophisticated," praising her ability to write morally gray romance that makes you think as much as it makes you feel. She lives somewhere she's not telling you, with a cat named Stockholm.
