Genre
The best Romantasy books
Fantasy worldbuilding plus the romance backbone. The contemporary subgenre that broke BookTok open and that did not actually invent itself in 2023; it just finally got named.
12 reviews in this genre.
Editor's picks
Highest-rated romantasy on the shelf
The Cruel Prince
by Holly Black
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 2018 review. Jude Duarte, a human raised in the High Court of Faerie, navigates Prince Cardan's cruel politics. Canonical contemporary YA romantasy.
A Court of Mist and Fury
by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 2016 review. The second ACOTAR book and the volume that broke the romantasy genre open. Feyre's recovery from Under the Mountain and the Night Court arc.
Onyx Storm
by Rebecca Yarros
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros 2025 review. Third Empyrean novel and the volume that takes the war into its third year. Violet flies south. The fastest-selling adult novel in the past twenty years.
Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 2023 review. Violet Sorrengail, a fragile scribe, is forced into the brutal dragon-riding war college. The first book of the Empyrean series and the romantasy novel that defined the 2023-2024 BookTok moment.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 2015 review. A human huntress is taken to the faerie kingdom of Prythian after killing a wolf in the woods. The first ACOTAR book and the romantasy series that set the table for the genre's BookTok-era explosion.
Iron Flame
by Rebecca Yarros
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros 2023 review. The second Empyrean book picks up the morning after Fourth Wing's cliffhanger and runs eight hundred pages of war-college politics, signet escalation, and the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers payoff the audience came for.
Seal Island
by Kate Brallier
Seal Island by Kate Brallier 2007 review. A Cape Cod literary mystery about a marine biologist returning to her family's summer island after her sister's suspicious drowning.
Irrestible Forces
by Lois McMaster Bujold
A Catherine Asaro-edited SF romance anthology with a Bujold Vorkosigan-universe novella at the center. Better than the form usually delivers.
Bite
by Charlaine Harris
A Charlaine Harris paranormal romance anthology with Laurell K. Hamilton, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight. Anchor authors for the subgenre at full strength.
My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
by Charlaine Harris
A Charlaine Harris-edited paranormal-wedding anthology with strong contributions from Sherrilyn Kenyon, Esther Friesner, and others.
Wicked Charms
by Janet Evanovich
Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton 2015 review. The third Lizzy and Diesel paranormal-cozy sends the duo after a pirate's treasure tied to the Stone of Avarice.
Night's Edge
by Charlaine Harris
A Charlaine Harris paranormal romance anthology, co-edited with Maggie Shayne and Barbara Hambly. Vampire-focused, mid-2000s pleasures.
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