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Ask the internet for the best romantasy books and you’ll get all kinds of different lists, half of them disagreeing with each other, and some of them acting like there’s one correct answer. But we all know there really isn’t. “Best” is a judgment call that depends entirely on what you’re actually craving: like court politics, dragons, a tournament you might not survive, or just two people who absolutely should not fall for each other and do anyway.
So instead of one flat ranking, here’s a list of romantasy books organized the way I’d actually recommend them to a friend — by what’s pulling you in. And since it’s the question I get asked more than any other these days, I’ve added the spiciest picks in their own section near the end. You can skip straight there if you know that’s what you’re after, but know that if you do, you just might miss your next new favorite!
If You Want the One Everyone Already Told You to Read
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Of course this is the obvious pick, and it is because it earns it. Feyre kills the wrong wolf in the woods, then pays for it by being dragged into the faerie lands of Prythian — and what starts as a Beauty and the Beast retelling stops being one almost as fast as you stop expecting it to. Five books of courts, schemes, bargains, and High Lords reshaping her life later, it’s the series basically every other romantasy gets measured against, fair or not. If you haven’t read it yet, start here. Every other romantasy reader probably already has.
If Dragons and a War College Sound More Like It
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Violet Sorrengail is bookish, physically fragile, and shoved into a war college that would rather she die in training than graduate. And just to make it harder on her, the most dangerous cadet there has a grudge against her family name before she’s even unpacked. In this book, the dragon-rider bond does as much of the heavy emotional lifting as the romance. There’s a body count that keeps you honestly nervous for side characters, and a slow burn that actually delivers all the anticipatory feels. If you’ve already read it — and odds are pretty good that you have — go here to see what to pick up next.
If You Want Deadly Trials Instead of a Dragon
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. Oraya is the adopted human daughter of the Vampire King — prey, by birth, in a world built to kill her. Her only way out is a tournament where the last competitor standing gets a wish from the goddess of Death herself. There are no dragons in this one, nor fae — just the constant low hum of dread that the next chapter might take someone to whom you’ve gotten attached. The underdog lead is underestimated in exactly the way that gratifies you when she proves everyone wrong.
If You Want Fae, Without Just Rereading ACOTAR
Quicksilver by Callie Hart. Saeris Fane is a thief in a desert world where water is rationed and stolen. Until she falls into the fae world, that is, and ends up forging quicksilver weapons alongside an infuriating fae warrior for a war she never agreed to fight. Witty, with a fast-moving plot that scratches the “enemies-to-lovers-with-a-sword-in-the-stone” itch you didn’t know you had.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. If you want the fae court intrigue turned up and the romance turned mean before it turns real, this is the one. Jude is a mortal girl raised in the treacherous High Court of Faerie alongside the brother who murdered her parents, clawing for power in a world that will never fully accept her. And her relationship with Prince Cardan is enemies-to-lovers in the genuinely vicious sense, not the cute one. It’s an older book than most of this list and still one of the sharpest fae courts in the genre.
If You Like the Politics More Than the Magic
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Celaena Sardothien is the most feared assassin in the kingdom, pulled out of a death camp to compete for the position of the king’s champion. The romance here is the long way around a seven-book epic-fantasy commitment, not the main event of book one. If you’ve got the patience for a slow build that pays off hugely later — much later — this is a different kind of reward than the rest of this list.
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen. Lara was raised by her father the king to be a weapon, then married off to the ruler of the enemy kingdom she was trained her entire life to help destroy. The marriage is the mission — until the mission gets complicated in all the ways you’d hope. Tightly plotted enemies-to-lovers with a spy twist that holds up on a reread.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. The first Crescent City book swaps the medieval-fantasy trappings for a modern magical city — angels with smartphones, basically — and follows half-fae party girl Bryce Quinlan after a brutal crime reopens two years later, pairing her with a fallen angel who has his own reasons to want the case solved. It asks for patience through a slow, exposition-heavy opening, but the back half is some of the best plotting Maas has done.
If “Romantasy” Still Feels Like a Lot
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. Not every reader searching for this list actually wants the full-tilt violence and heat of the picks above — some of you are really after what’s more accurately called romantic fantasy: gentler, more literary, still achingly romantic. Iris and Roman are rival newspaper columnists who start exchanging letters through enchanted typewriters, not realizing they’re reaching someone on the other side of a brutal, godly war. If you want everything this genre promises emotionally without the higher spice or body count, start here instead.
If Spicy Romantasy Books Are What You’re Actually Here For
Fair enough — this is one of the most common things people search for in this genre right now, so let’s dive in.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Poppy is the Maiden, mostly isolated and veiled her entire life, which is scheduled around a destiny she never chose. Then a new guard named Hawke joins her protection detail and becomes the one person she absolutely cannot want. Millions of copies sold, a genuinely massive fandom, and it runs noticeably hotter than ACOTAR’s first book, with a slow-burn reveal that readers talk about in the same breath as Violet and Xaden.
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas. If you’ve already read the first three ACOTAR books, this one is centered on Feyre’s sister Nesta and Rhysand’s chosen brother, Cassian. It’s the spiciest entry in the series by just about every reader’s estimation. This is one worth knowing about if you stalled out on ACOTAR early and didn’t realize how far it goes.
And if you want one more pick beyond this list’s core ten: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith is a standalone book. Ophelia enters a set of deadly trials inside a magical New Orleans mansion rumored to be run by the devil himself: Win, and you get a wish; lose, and the house keeps you. Gothic, genuinely spicy, and it doesn’t ask for a series commitment to get the payoff.
If It’s the Romance, With Real Emotional and Spiritual Weight, You’re After
What God Has Ordained by Alesia & Michael Matson. Of course this one’s on the list, but it earns its spot for reasons, not just because Michael and I co-wrote it. Most of the books above run on stakes that are military, political, or both. What God Has Ordained runs on a prophecy neither Coralin nor Athos knows they’re inside — she’s a priestess-knight, not a cadet or an assassin; he’s a crown prince carrying a destiny he can’t see — and the slow burn between them plays out against a war for humanity’s survival and a society that treats honor as if it were real currency. So, if what you’re actually craving under all that court intrigue and tournament spice is faith, miracles, and destiny, this is where I’d invite you to come next. It’s available now.
Did I leave your favorite off this list? Tell me I’m wrong — I actually love it when people do — scroll down and leave a comment. I’d genuinely love to know what you’d have picked in addition, or instead.
Looking for your next read after this one? What God Has Ordained, the first book in The Legacy of Chandar series, is available now! Grab your copy today.
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The Menelon Gazette
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