Fantasy romance is currently the most popular genre in the world, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of it at one point or another. Magazines love blaming it for the death of real literature, booktokers love hailing it as the best thing since sliced bread, but I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle.
But that’s a discussion for another day. For now, I want to talk about the books you should read if you want to get into this genre. I picked some books that got me into romantasy, and some that I wish did. You’ve probably heard of some of these, and some may be more unfamiliar.
Either way, these are all great if you’re just starting out with fantasy romance, or if you’re just getting back into reading in general. They’re all fun, fast-paced reads I hope you’ll enjoy!
A Quick Overview
- If you’re just starting with romantasy or getting back into reading, I recommend ACOTAR or Fourth Wing.
- If you want an epic fantasy series with romance that’s more closed door, try Throne of Glass.
- If you normally read classics or lit fic, I recommend Divine Rivals or One Dark Window.
- If you normally enjoy spicier books or don’t mind darker themes, try Kushiel’s Dart.
- And if you’d prefer something different and fresh, then Jasmine Throne will work best for you.
- For readers who want the hype and that X factor of Fourth Wing and ACOTAR, but maybe in a better written version, The Serpent and The Wings of Night or The Bridge Kingdom.
A Court Of Thorns and Roses (Series)
| Series Length | 5 books, main storyline complete (+ novellas) |
| Heat Level | Low in book 1, rising to High by A Court of Mist and Fury onward |
| Tropes to Expect | Beauty and the Beast retelling, fae courts, slow burn, found family |
This is the book that got me into fantasy romance in the first place. For a while, I was obsessed with the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and while the obsession has died down a little, it will always have a special place in my heart.
So, ACOTAR tells you a story about Feyre, a poor girl from a village at the border of fae and human lands, who kills a wolf one day (to feed her family) and that wolf turns out to be a transformed fae. As punishment, a fae lord takes her into his kingdom, where she has to stay forever as payment for the death she’s caused.
However, not all is as it seems in the Spring Court, and there appears to be trouble afoot. While Feyre settles in and learns this new world around her, she also starts to see a new side to her captor.
If you couldn’t tell by that description, this is a Beauty and The Beast re-telling (at least the first part is). The story is twisty and turny, and you may not expect what happens in part two and three, depending on what you’ve heard of this series. It’s not high literature, but it will keep you entertained for a long while.
Fourth Wing (Series)
| Series Length | Ongoing series (5 planned) |
| Heat Level | High, but not prevalent |
| Tropes to Expect | Dragon riders, enemies to lovers, chronic illness rep, deadly training grounds |
The Fourth Wing swept the world by a storm, and for a good reason. It plays on familiar tropes and concepts, and for many people reads very nostalgic, like those books you used to read in middle school or high school.
Personally, I was not the biggest fan, though I really wanted to love it. But that doesn’t mean you won’t, especially if you’re just getting back into reading.
Fourth Wing tells you a story about Violet Sorrengail, who suffers from a debilitating chronic illness, but whose mother still forced her to apply to become a dragon rider, the most dangerous profession in the realm. Violet really wants to be a scholar, but her mother is a general and will kill her if she doesn’t try. So she does, though even the entrance exam could be deadly. And she manages to get it.
But there she’s faced with more dangers (like riding a dragon) and the son of a man her mother killed, who hates her.
This is an ongoing series, with three books published, and five books planned total, so pace yourself if you’re an impatient reader.
Throne of Glass (Series)
| Series Length | Finished series (7 parts + 1 novella) |
| Heat Level | Very low, only a bit, mostly closed-door (but many romances!) |
| Tropes to Expect | Assassin heroine, competition, found family, epic scope |
This is definitely my favorite series of Sarah J. Maas, and it’s one I most heartily recommend to people. It’s more YA in some ways, and there’s like one spicy scene across the series, but there are many, many romance storylines which makes it perfect as an intro to the world of romantasy.
Throne of Glass opens with Caelena Sardothien, who used to be an assassin before she was captured and taken to the salt mines, as she meets the prince of the kingdom that enslaved her and half the continent. The prince wants her to be his champion in the competition his father is holding to find a new royal assassin (they call it something else, but that would be her job). She agrees, because there’s no other choice, but the competition proves deadly.
I will say, the first part doesn’t do the series justice, in my opinion. The series as a whole is epic and amazing (like listening to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack) but part one tends to be a bit boring. If you can survive through that, I promise the series as a whole gets better and better.
It has 7 parts and one novella, all of it is finished, and it looks like Sarah J. Maas has no plans to continue with it. If you’re confused about the reading order, here it is:
- Throne of Glass
- Crown of Midnight
- Heir of Fire
- Queen of Shadows
- Empire of Storms
- Tower of Dawn
- Kingdom of Ash
- Assassins’ Blade (novella) — optional
People like to make this more complicated than they are, you really don’t need to read the novella at all (I never did), and you don’t need to tandem read anything. Just read everything in order of publication, and you’ll be golden!
Divine Rivals (Duology)
| Series Length | Finished duology |
| Heat Level | Low |
| Tropes to Expect | Enemies to lovers, epistolary/pen-pal romance, wartime setting, gods at war |
I would definitely recommend this book as a first romantasy read because it leans more literary than others and it has a lighter fantasy world, so it will read almost like a historical fiction/romance.
Divine Rivals is set in a world inspired by World War II aesthetics, where a young journalist leaves the (relative) comfort of her home and job to head to the frontline to report on a war in the hopes of finding her brother. And the war isn’t just any war, but a war between gods, so it’s extra dangerous.
At the same time, she is exchanging letters with a mysterious man and falling in love with him slowly, but she doesn’t know who he is — and he couldn’t possibly be her annoying, handsome coworker and office rival, could he?
This is a duology, and both parts are out, though the author is still writing in this world (not with the same characters, so you can read and relax). And if you like books where people fall in love via letters, check out my list of best epistolary romances.
The Bridge Kingdom (Series)
| Series Length | 6 books so far, each two follow a different heroine’s romance (in the same world) |
| Heat Level | Medium — it’s not erotica, but there are steamy scenes |
| Tropes to Expect | Arranged/political marriage, enemies to lovers, spy heroine, court intrigue |
The Bridge Kingdom is a very popular series of interconnected books. I feel like you can read each two separately without worrying, but skipping through might result in some spoilers. It’s one of the quintessential romantasy series for beginners, and probably one of the better written ones as well.
The first book is about a woman who was trained and raised to marry and kill a king at her father’s request. She was raised to believe the worst of the king and his kingdom, but when she gets there, she realizes things are not so bad, and her father may be the monster rather than her new husband.
I highly recommend this book if you want a well-written, long-running series to binge. It’s a perfect intro into the world of romantasy, though maybe less addictive than ACOTAR or Fourth Wing.
One Dark Window (Duology)
| Series Length | Completed duology |
| Heat Level | Some steamy scenes |
| Tropes to Expect | Voice in your head (possession), gothic, fake courting, enemies to lovers (kind of) |
One Dark Window is a perfect intro to romantasy if you want something gothic, atmospheric and really well-written.
Our heroine is an abandoned daughter of a noble in this kingdom (because he remarried after her mother died), and lives with her aunt. She goes to a royal ball where she meets the king’s enforcer (he hunts down people with magic), and our heroine has magic. Not only that, but she has the voice of a monster in her head.
The enforcer realizes she has magic and can help him find all the cards (they need one of each to end a curse on this kingdom), so he wants them to pretend to be courting each other in order to have a cover for looking for these cards.
The duology is completed, so you can enjoy it without waiting as well.
Crowns of Nyaxia (Series)
| Series Length | Ongoing – 5 books and 2 novellas so far (but each two are separate stories in the same world) |
| Heat Level | Medium — there aren’t that many scenes, maybe like one per book |
| Tropes to Expect | Vampires, deadly tournament, enemies to lovers, forced proximity |
Crowns of Nyaxia is probably one of the better entries here. This one’s about vampires in a vampire land, and a deadly trial our heroine (the only human, and the daughter of a vampire king) enters in the hopes of becoming a powerful vampire herself.
At this competition, she makes friends with a very handsome, very powerful vampire, and together they try to beat these trials and keep her alive.
It’s a slow-paced, somewhat sedate plot despite all the blood, gore and fighting, so keep that in mind when reading. The romance is also quite slow. This series is ongoing, but only the first two parts (both out) are about the original heroine and hero, and each two after follow a different couple.
Kushiel’s Dart (Series)
| Series Length | The series is complete; there are 6 parts and some novellas, but only the first three are about the same heroine, the rest is a different one |
| Heat Level | Very spicy, this world’s religion is based on love and intimacy + the heroine is a courtesan |
| Tropes to Expect | Courtesan/spy, forbidden romance, journey fantasy, bodyguard romance, political intrigue |
Kushiel’s Dart is the grandfather of all romantasy, and a true fantasy romance series unlike anything you’ve seen before. It might be for you if you normally read darker stories and definitely don’t mind spicy stuff.
This story is set in a land where love and sex are a form of worship to the gods, and our heroine is a courtesan trained in the arts of seduction, but also spying and observation.
I won’t say more for fear of spoiling the whole thing, but I would recommend this book if you’re not squicky about physical intimacy being such a big part of this world, and some light S&M. Other than that, this book is far deeper than you’d expect, with a very well-developed world, fantastic focus on politics, military tactics, religion and more.
The Jasad Heir (Duology)
| Series Length | A complete duology (sweet and short)! |
| Heat Level | Not all that spicy, some scenes, but more focus on the tension |
| Tropes to Expect | Lost princess, enemies to lovers, betrayal, Egyptian-inspired world, political intrigue, magic-users in hiding |
The Jasad Heir is a newer entry in the world of romantasy, and one of the better books in my opinion. It’s a completed duology I enjoyed very much, and found it incredibly fun to read.
Our heroine, Sylvia, is the last heir of Jasad, a country that was burned down. Everyone believes she’s dead and she wants things to stay that way. But then Arin, the heir of an enemy country hunts down some rebels to her village, and she has an unexpected outburst of magic, so she has to make a deal with him — she’ll lure out the rebels if he’ll let her go. She hopes this will save her secret, but things, of course, get more complicated the more time she spends with Arin.
Again, what a fun book! It’s surprisingly funny and also based in Egyptian mythology and folklore, which is a great change of pace.
The Jasmine Throne (Series)
| Series Length | A complete trilogy |
| Heat Level | Similar to most of these books, there’s spice but it’s mostly about the tension (which is delicious!) |
| Tropes to Expect | Sapphic, political intrigue, imprisoned princess, slow burn |
The Jasmine Throne is based on the history and folklore of India, and it’s a brilliantly written book with one of the best sapphic romances ever.
Okay, so Malini is a princess imprisoned by her brother, and Priya is a maidservant with a secret, sent to clean Malini’s chambers. But then one day, Priya’s true nature is revealed, and our story begins — as someone said, “morally gray lesbians who want to burn down an empire” and that tracks.
But aside from that, this book is incredibly nuanced and well written and I would highly recommend the entire series if you want something really good, really different and fresh.
Final Thoughts
I hope you find a book to love here. These are some legendary fantasy romance books and this genre is so vast and beautiful that there are many places you can go once you get into it. But if you’re just getting started, reading some of these will help you fall in love with the genre. If you want something different, and you didn’t find what you were looking for on this list, drop a comment below, and I’ll give you a tailored recommendation.
That said, if you’re shy and not sure what you want, here are some of my pages that can help you figure things out on your own:
- If you’re just getting started with romantasy and are coming from contemporary romance, try some paranormal romance books. The transition is not so jarring.
- If you’ve read Bride by Ali Hazelwood and liked it, try some more werewolf romance books here.
- If you want to find a fantasy romance that guaranteed has no insta love, maybe you’ll find one among my favorite slow burn romance books.
- Prefer something autumnal and warm? Try my top cozy fantasy books (with amazing romantasy picks!)
And listen, maybe what you’re looking for isn’t fantasy romance, but something that yes, has romance, but also has higher stakes than contemporary, in which case you should try historical romances.
What’s your favorite love story in fantasy? Let me know in the comments below, and let’s chat!
