The 18 Best Fantasy Romance Books

If "A Court of Thorns and Roses" ($10, originally $19) — better known by its acronym, ACOTAR — isn't the book that started it all, it's certainly one of the best known books in the fantasy romance genre. For many readers, this five-book series represents their first dipped toe into the infinity pool that is fantasy romance.

In book one, 19-year-old Feyre kills a wolf, secretly an undercover faerie, while hunting in the woods, and is taken to a faerie kingdom as prisoner to pay for her crime, where she develops feelings for her faerie captor and his kingdom. There are five books in the series: the first three compose the original trilogy, and two others are independent novellas that pick up where the trilogy left off. Reportedly, Maas is working on a sixth.

Another BookTok darling, "Fourth Wing" ($9, originally $25) is the story of Violet Sorrengail, who is forced to join a war academy for dragon riders by her mother, who also happens to be the academy's commanding general. As war approaches the kingdom, she must learn to either fly and bond with a dragon, or be killed by one.

"Fourth Wing" is book one of "The Empyrean" series, which is expected to have five books total. The second book, "Iron Flame," was published in late 2023, and the third, "Onyx Storm," recently became the fastest-selling adult novel in two decades.

Twins are sent to study in the eponymous Zodiac Academy, where your star sign defines your powers, and your destiny. Born in the month of Gemini, the twins' power instantly draws the attention of the more powerful students at the school, whom they have to dodge in addition to supernatural beasts like vampires, werewolves, and dragon shapeshifters.

There are nine books in the official series, beginning with "Zodiac Academy: The Awakening" ($16), but several novellas and companion stories as well, so if you're ready to dive deep into a fantasy romance world, this is the series for you.

This two-book series, beginning with "Throne of the Fallen" ($18, originally $20), follows Envy, one of the seven princes of hell (named for the seven deadly sins), who is playing a dangerous game with a faerie king in order to save his kingdom. He becomes tangled with Camilla, a talented artist who is forced to enter a devil's bargain with Envy to avoid a blackmail scandal.

Note: this fantasy romance series has a reputation for being spicy, even by fantasy romance standards.

"From Blood and Ash" ($18, originally $20) is the first of a five-book series following Poppy, chosen as the Maiden at birth and fated for Ascension, a ritual designed to please the gods. As the Maiden, she is kept solitary and pure, and none of her decisions at her own. When evil rises, and her kingdom becomes more dangerous, she's assigned a new guard, Hawke, to keep her safe in preparation for Ascension . . . but of course, nothing goes as planned.

This series is full of romance, fantasy elements, and a strong female main character.

"The Book of Azrael" ($17, originally $19) begins with sisterly love rather than romance: to save her dying sister, Dianna sells her soul to a terrible monster. Reborn with dark magic, she becomes his mercenary: a morally gray main character who only cares about protecting her sister. When she meets Liam, a broken young god suffering from PTSD, they should be sworn enemies — but instead, they have to work together to save the world.

Enemies-to-lovers fans, this one's for you, but note: this book is over 500 pages, and the worldbuilding in book one can be challenging to follow, so it may not be the best place to start your romantasy journey.

Greek mythology may get a lot of love, but Norse mythology fans, "A Fate Inked in Blood" ($15, originally $30) is for you. Freya is a shield maiden: born with a drop of a goddess's blood, she has magic capable of repelling any attack. When her village chief finds this out, he binds her with a blood oath to fight for his conquest to be king . . . but proving herself may not be as difficult as avoiding falling in love with the chief's son, Bjorn.

Book one of a two-part fantasy romance series, the sequel, "A Curse Carved in Bone," will be published May 13.

When Liska is caught using magic in her small village, where its practitioners are viewed as monsters, she strikes a sinister bargain with the demon warden of the wood: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish. But when she's taken to his crumbling manor in the woods, Liska learns that she has to unravel the demon's secrets and face the ghosts of his past in order to escape.

If you like your fantasy romance with a healthy dose of spice, "Where the Dark Stands Still" ($10, originally $20) is more of a young adult book, so it's seasoning-free. However, as a standalone book, it's a great way to dip your toe into the genre, without committing to a five-book series.

Set in Budapest 20 years after the barrier between Earth and the Fae Otherworld fell, tension between faeries and humans is high in the first novel of this seven-book fantasy romance series, "Savage Lands" ($17, originally $19).

Brexley, a 19-year-old human whose life changes during one terrible night, is thrown into the most feared prison in eastern Europe. When sparks fly between her and the prison's warden, she can't resist the connection between them — but she has to survive the prison and its games first.

Paedyn is an Ordinary, eking out a living in the slums opposite Elites, powerful beings that were gifted their abilities after surviving the Plague. Padeyn masks herself as an Elite to survive, which works until she's thrown into the Purging Trials, designed, as the name suggests, to ferret out Ordinaries and rid the city of them. If the Trials and the opponents within them don't kill her, the prince she's fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is: completely Ordinary.

"Powerless" ($14, originally $20) is book one of two, with an additional novella told from the perspective of a fan favorite character.

Book one of the four-book Kingdom of Lies series, "A Court This Cruel and Lovely" ($15, originally $18), introduces us to a world in which gods take any magic power that humans have, in exchange for protecting them, and burn those who resist. The heroine, Prisca, has kept her magic and is on the run when she meets Lorian, a mercenary, whom she makes a bargain with in order to survive.

Note to readers: this fantasy romance book gets a several pepper rating on the spice scale!

Iris and Roman are rival journalists at the Oath Gazette, who make a connection after Roman intercepts letters that Iris has written to her brother, who has gone missing on the frontlines of a war between the gods. Book one of two in the "Divine Rivals" ($12, originally $19) duology, this book is perfect for fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Lara is a warrior princess sent to the Bridge Kingdom as a bride in disguise to take down its king. The Bridge Kingdom — literally, a kingdom on a bridge that's the only route through a storm-ravaged world — enriches itself and deprives anyone who stands in its way, including the people of Lara's homeland. When she arrives, she's ready to do anything it takes to bring the kingdom, and its king, to their knees. But as she learns more about the war between the two lands, and falls in love with the king, Lara must discover whose side she's really on.

"The Bridge Kingdom" ($13, originally $18) is one of four in the finished series.

"Throne of Glass" ($12, originally $19), the first book in Sarah J. Maas's seven-book series, follows the journey of Celaena Sardothien, a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom with a tyrannical ruler, the King of Adarlan. Imprisoned for murder, she enters a competition to become the king's new royal assassin, and must defeat 23 other killers, thieves, and warriors. But when her competitors start dying due to an unknown evil, Celaena must root it out in order to survive, and save the kingdom.

Oraya is the adopted human daughter of a vampire king. Aiming to earn her place in a world designed to kill her, she enters the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself. Surrounded by vicious vampires, she makes an alliance with a mysterious rival, and her greatest competitor . . . but also finds herself oddly drawn to him.

"The Serpent and the Wings of Night" ($13, originally $20) is book one of a trilogy, and vampire romance lovers will drink this series down to the last drop.

In "The Cruel Prince" ($7, originally $13), Jude and her sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous high faerie court. Wanting nothing more than to belong, despite the fact that most faeries hate humans, Jude soon discovers her own capacity for deception and bloodshed, despite challenges by Prince Cardan, the youngest son of the king.

This completed series is a young adult novel that's a great introduction to the fantasy romance genre.

Heavy on the romance, as the title implies, "Once Upon a Broken Heart" ($10, originally $13) is the story of Evangeline Fox, who, when she learns that the love of her life will marry another, makes a bargain with the Prince of Hearts. She soon learns that the charismatic but wicked prince wants more from her than she had pledged, and that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game, in this three-book series.

This list would be incomplete without mentioning all three works of Maas, the romantasy queen herself. When half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan's closest friends are murdered by a demon, she'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths. With three books published and a fourth on the way, this "House of Earth and Blood" ($13, originally $19) series is one of Maas's most popular after ACOTAR.