Devil's Summons

Francesca "Frankie" Bristow, still reeling from personal tragedy, is summoned by her remote boss, Dr. Dante Kincaid, a world-renowned psychiatrist, to accompany him on a business trip. Despite her resentment and the emotional toll of his constant demands, the financial security he offers keeps her tethered. Their relationship is fraught with tension, sarcasm, and a simmering undercurrent of something darker. Frankie's friends urge her to quit, but she can't walk away from the stability he provides, even as she dreads the upcoming ten days in his company.

First Impressions, Hidden Scars

Frankie's first in-person encounter with Dante is jarring: he's not just intimidating, but devastatingly attractive, with a hidden softness glimpsed in his private struggles. A hotel mix-up forces them to share a suite, setting the stage for intimacy and discomfort. Frankie's curiosity about Dante's private life grows, especially after discovering his anxiety medication. Both are haunted by their pasts—Frankie by loss, Dante by trauma—each masking pain with competence and control.

Forced Proximity, Unlocked Doors

The hotel's overbooking means Frankie and Dante must share a suite, and the arrangement is fraught with awkwardness and unspoken rules. Dante's insistence that Frankie lock her door at night hints at secrets he's desperate to keep. Their professional dynamic is upended by the forced proximity, and the lines between boss and assistant begin to blur as they navigate the conference, dinners, and the city's temptations.

Obsession in the Shadows

Dante's perspective reveals a deep, obsessive attraction to Frankie, rooted in his own psychological wounds and a need for control. He manipulates circumstances to keep her close, rationalizing his actions as protective. Frankie, meanwhile, senses the darkness in him but is drawn to it, even as she tries to maintain professional boundaries. Both are playing a dangerous game, each aware of the other's pull.

Sleepwalking Boundaries

Dante's sleep disorder manifests in disturbing ways: he sleepwalks into Frankie's room and initiates sexual contact while unconscious. Frankie, caught between fear, arousal, and confusion, doesn't stop him. The next morning, both pretend nothing happened, but the incident becomes a catalyst for escalating tension. The boundary between victim and participant, predator and prey, becomes increasingly ambiguous.

The Game of Control

Frankie and Dante engage in a battle of wills, each testing the other's limits. Their interactions are laced with double meanings, veiled threats, and sexual tension. Frankie tries to regain agency by playing along, even as Dante's possessiveness intensifies. Their connection deepens through shared confessions and vulnerabilities, but the power dynamic remains fraught and unstable.

Secrets and Confessions

Over dinners and late-night conversations, Frankie shares the story of her miscarriage and failed engagement, while Dante opens up about his own childhood losses and family dysfunction. These revelations foster a fragile trust, but also expose raw wounds. Both are shaped by grief and longing, seeking solace in each other even as they fear the consequences of true intimacy.

Lines Crossed, Lines Blurred

The sexual encounters continue, sometimes under the guise of Dante's sleep disorder, sometimes with full awareness. Dante's actions become increasingly manipulative—removing Frankie's birth control, orchestrating situations to ensure her dependence. Frankie, both complicit and conflicted, finds herself craving the very danger she should fear. Their relationship becomes a labyrinth of desire, guilt, and mutual need.

Possession and Surrender

The pretense of professionalism collapses as Frankie and Dante surrender to their obsession. Dante's need to possess her—body, mind, and future—becomes explicit, and Frankie, recognizing her own darkness, chooses to embrace it. Their union is marked by a blend of tenderness and brutality, each finding in the other a mirror for their brokenness.

The Devil's Bargain

As the conference ends, Dante and Frankie must decide what comes next. Dante confesses the extent of his manipulation and obsession, while Frankie admits her own complicity and desire. They negotiate the terms of their relationship, agreeing to a future together despite the risks. The power dynamic shifts from coercion to mutual consent, though the scars of their pasts remain.

Aftermath and Unraveling

Returning home, both struggle with the intensity of their feelings and the uncertainty of their future. Dante's inability to stay away leads him to Frankie's doorstep, orchid in hand, ready to claim her fully. Frankie, wary but hopeful, allows him in. Their reunion is marked by vulnerability and a tentative hope for healing.

Homecoming and Heartbeats

Frankie discovers she is pregnant, the result of Dante's deliberate actions. Despite her fears—rooted in past loss—she chooses to embrace the future with him. Dante, for the first time, finds peace in the prospect of fatherhood and partnership. Their love, forged in darkness, becomes a source of light and redemption.

Claiming the Future

Dante and Frankie marry, solidifying their bond and committing to a shared life. Their relationship, once defined by power struggles and psychological torment, evolves into a partnership built on trust, honesty, and mutual care. The birth of their child cements their transformation from damaged individuals to a family.

Darkness and Devotion

Even as they build a life together, Dante's darkness remains—a part of him that Frankie accepts and even cherishes. Their love is not without its challenges, but it is resilient, forged in the crucible of shared pain and desire. They learn to navigate the complexities of their pasts, finding strength in each other.

Monsters and Miracles

The arrival of their child brings both joy and anxiety, as old fears resurface. Together, Dante and Frankie confront the lingering effects of trauma, supporting each other through setbacks and uncertainties. Their journey is one of ongoing healing, marked by small miracles and the daily choice to love.

Love in the Light

Two years later, Dante and Frankie have built a life filled with love, passion, and the messy realities of parenthood. Their relationship, once shadowed by obsession and control, is now defined by devotion and acceptance. They continue to face challenges, but do so together, having transformed their darkness into a source of strength and connection.

Characters

Francesca "Frankie" Bristow

Frankie is a woman marked by loss—a late miscarriage and the subsequent collapse of her engagement have left her emotionally guarded and desperate for control. Her role as Dante's assistant is both a lifeline and a source of torment, as she navigates his demands and her own financial insecurity. Frankie is intuitive, resilient, and fiercely independent, yet drawn to the darkness she senses in Dante. Her journey is one of reclaiming agency, confronting her trauma, and ultimately choosing to embrace both the light and shadow within herself. Her relationship with Dante is transformative, forcing her to confront uncomfortable truths about desire, consent, and the nature of love.

Dr. Dante Kincaid

Dante is a world-renowned psychiatrist specializing in sleep disorders, but his professional success masks deep psychological wounds. Haunted by childhood trauma, loss, and a sleep disorder that blurs the boundaries of consent, Dante is both protector and predator. His obsession with Frankie is all-consuming, driving him to manipulate circumstances to keep her close. He is self-aware enough to recognize his sociopathic tendencies, yet unable—or unwilling—to resist them. Dante's journey is one of seeking redemption through love, learning to trust, and ultimately surrendering control in order to build a future with Frankie.

Ari

Ari is Frankie's best friend and confidante, providing emotional support, practical advice, and much-needed levity. She is fiercely protective, quick-witted, and unafraid to challenge both Frankie and Dante. Ari's presence grounds Frankie, reminding her of her worth and offering a counterpoint to the darkness of her relationship with Dante.

Grant Faulkner

Grant is Frankie's brief ex-fling, representing the possibility of a conventional, uncomplicated relationship. His reappearance during the conference serves as a catalyst for Dante's possessiveness and highlights the contrast between what Frankie could have and what she truly desires.

Dr. Hartfield

Dr. Hartfield is the obstetrician who guides Frankie through her pregnancy, offering reassurance and expertise. Her presence symbolizes hope, safety, and the possibility of a healthy future after loss.

Frankie's Mother

Frankie's mother is a free spirit whose unconventional parenting shaped Frankie's longing for stability and family. Their relationship is complex, marked by love, frustration, and a shared history of survival.

Dante's Step-Father

Though not present in the narrative, Dante's abusive step-father looms large in his psyche, shaping his fears, coping mechanisms, and need for control.

Lucia

The daughter of Dante and Frankie, Lucia represents the possibility of new beginnings, the healing of old wounds, and the creation of a family forged in both darkness and light.

Dr. Alan Pierce

A colleague at the conference, Dr. Pierce's attempts to poach Frankie and his dismissive attitude toward women highlight the misogyny and power dynamics of their professional world, further cementing Dante's possessiveness.

The Conference Colleagues

The other psychiatrists and professionals at the conference serve as a backdrop, embodying the expectations, judgments, and norms that Dante and Frankie must navigate and ultimately reject in order to claim their unconventional love.

Plot Devices

Forced Proximity

The hotel room mix-up is the narrative engine that forces Frankie and Dante into close quarters, accelerating the collapse of professional boundaries and catalyzing their psychological and sexual entanglement.

Sleep Disorder/Parasomnia

Dante's sleepwalking and somnambulistic sexual behavior serve as both a literal and metaphorical device for exploring issues of agency, desire, and the unconscious. It complicates questions of responsibility and complicity, making the reader—and the characters—question where the line between victim and participant truly lies.

Dual Perspectives

The narrative shifts between Frankie and Dante, offering insight into their motivations, fears, and desires. This structure deepens the reader's understanding of their psychological states and the evolution of their relationship.

Power Dynamics and Manipulation

Dante's manipulation—controlling work, orchestrating circumstances, tampering with birth control—serves as a plot device to explore the dark side of love and the ethics of desire. The shifting power dynamic between him and Frankie is central to the story's tension.

Confession and Revelation

The gradual unveiling of each character's past—miscarriage, childhood abuse, failed relationships—serves as a mechanism for building trust and deepening their bond, transforming their connection from transactional to transformative.

Symbolism

Orchids symbolize fragility and resilience, locked doors represent boundaries and vulnerability, and baby blankets embody hope, loss, and the longing for family. These recurring motifs anchor the emotional stakes of the narrative.

Happily Ever After (HEA)

The story's structure adheres to the dark romance tradition of a hard-won HEA, with the protagonists overcoming internal and external obstacles to claim a future together, transformed by their journey through the shadows.

Analysis

Dance with the Devil is a provocative exploration of the boundaries between love and obsession, consent and complicity, darkness and redemption. Amanda Richardson crafts a narrative that is both deeply psychological and unapologetically erotic, using the trappings of dark romance to interrogate the ethics of desire and the possibility of healing through connection. The novel's central relationship is fraught with danger—emotional, psychological, and physical—yet it is precisely in the navigation of these dangers that Frankie and Dante find meaning, agency, and ultimately, love. The story challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about power, vulnerability, and the ways in which trauma shapes our capacity for intimacy. In the end, Dance with the Devil suggests that true healing is not the absence of darkness, but the willingness to face it together, transforming pain into passion and brokenness into belonging.

Last updated: May 7, 2025