Latest news with #romantasy
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
So You Wanna Fall In Love With A Warrior Elf? 10 BookTok Romantasy Reads That Will Ruin Your Sleep Schedule In The Best Way
If you're even mildly online, chances are you've heard whispers of the ✨ romantasy✨ genre; the magical literary genre that blends fantasy and romance together and has BookTok in a literal chokehold. Related: If you're into… ✨ Magic and slow-burn romance 🔥 Tension so thick it's practically fanfiction 🧝♂️ Broody fae men and badass heroines 📖 Plot twists that emotionally wreck you …then you're so ready to be part of the Romantasy Cult. Just make sure you hydrate. And maybe call in sick tomorrow — you're not putting these books down. 1. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout ✨ "Nothing is ever simple when the gods are watching." ✨ This is the book that launched a thousand obsessions. Poppy is a badass heroine sworn to a sacred destiny, until a smirking golden-eyed guard ruins everything. Expect: deadly secrets, enemies-to-lovers tension, and one hell of a plot twist. Perfect for fans of steamy slow-burns and morally gray men. 2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 🧚 Beauty and the Beast meets 1000+ fan theories and wingspans. 🧚 If you're on BookTok, you know that this is just the start of everyone's romantasy journey. Feyre is a mortal huntress dragged into the fae lands, and that's just the beginning. This series has everything: epic romance, ancient curses, court politics, and "the mating bond." Once you meet Rhysand, it's over for you. (Honestly, anything written by Sarah J. Maas will become an obsession and key part of your personality...I don't make the rules. 🤷♀️) Related: 3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 🐉 Think Hunger Games meets spicy dragon school. 🐉 If you've ever wanted to ride dragons while navigating deadly exams, secret powers, and off-limits lovers, this is your book. Violet may not be physically built like a warrior, but she's no damsel, and her enemies? Yeah, they might be her only shot at surviving. 4. The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen 🗡️ A princess assassin forced to marry the enemy king. What could go wrong? 🗡️ This one is for the "stab him, then kiss him" folks. Lara is trained to destroy the man she's forced to marry, but the longer she spends with him, the more she questions everything. Expect slow-burn, political intrigue, and intense emotional payoff. 5. Radiance by Grace Draven 👑 An arranged marriage between a human and a monstrous fae prince…with zero insta-love. 👑 This underrated gem is soft, slow, and swoony. Ildiko and Brishen aren't beautiful (or even really nice) to each first. But their respect, banter, and trust build one of the most wholesome (and still hot!) love stories in romantasy. Related: 6. Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin 🧙♀️ A witch and a witch hunter are forced to marry. Cue the chaos. 🧙♀️ Lou is chaotic and sassy; Reid is stiff and serious. Watching them clash (and then burn) is half the fun. If you like morally complex worlds with forbidden romance, magic, and cinnamon-roll-turned-problematic men, grab this. 7. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 🖤 Welcome to Elfhame, where lies are currency and love is war. 🖤 Jude Duarte is a human raised in the cruel fae court, and she's out for power. Cardan is the arrogant, hateful prince who can't stop watching her. It's toxic. It's soooo BookTok. And it' 8. The Savage Lands series by Stacey Marie Brown 🌶️ If you like the ACOTAR vibe but grittier and steamier, this one's for you. 🌶️ It's set in a post-war world where fae rule and humans are barely surviving. Brexley (yes, icon name) is thrown into a deadly prison where survival means making alliances, especially with the dangerously beautiful fae warrior who might be her enemy…or her only shot at freedom. Related: 9. The Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent 🧛♀️ Hunger Games meets vampire court meets epic love story. 🧛♀️ (Clearly, I love the Hunger Games a bit too much.) Oraya is a human adopted by the vampire god of death, and now she has to fight to survive the Kejari, a brutal tournament full of monsters, politics, and betrayal. Enter: a mysterious rival with secrets and sharp teeth. The tension? Unmatched. 10. The Married to Magic series by Elise Kova 🧝♂️ Fantasy marriage of convenience, soft cinnamon roll magic warrior elf king, and cozy romance vibes. 🧝♂️ Each book in this series is a standalone with a fresh couple and setting, but they're all connected by a magical world and super romantic plots. In A Deal With the Elf King, a human girl is taken to the fae realm as the next "Human Queen," and her icy elf king husband is not ready to fall in love…until he very much does. BONUS: If You're Craving Something Spicier… The Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy (Gilded cage, broken girl, glowing gold king. Trauma healing, but make it sexy.) Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti (Messy, magical college and enemies-to-lovers chaos.) Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco (A vengeful witch and one of the seven princes of Hell. Literally.) What other romantasy books would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments! Also in Community: Also in Community: Also in Community:
Washington Post
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Publishing's affair with fan fiction has a new star couple: Dramione
If you look at two of this summer's best-selling romantasy novels, you may think you're seeing double. The covers of 'Rose in Chains' by Julie Soto and 'The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy' by Brigitte Knightley are adorned with strikingly similar couples: Each has a silver-haired man with chiseled cheekbones and a woman with curly brown hair, an intense stare and an unmistakable aura of competence. The resemblance between the books is anything but passing. The covers, both featuring art by Nikita Jobson, are a deliberate wink to the stories' shared origins in the Harry Potter fandom and Dramione fan fiction.
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Romantasy: A Starter Pack
If you've been anywhere near a bookstore, library or BookTok feed in the last five years, you've probably encountered a growing crowd of fae, dragon riders and fated mates of various magical persuasions. These are among the hallmarks of romantasy, the crossover genre that blends the passion and spice of romance with the escapism and high-stakes drama of fantasy. The definition of romantasy is hotly contested and refers, at its narrowest, to romance-first stories with a secondary world (or 'high fantasy') setting. This list takes a more expansive approach, recognizing the slipperiness of genre boundaries and the many branches of the romantasy family tree (which includes what others might call paranormal romance, science fiction or historical fantasy). These books draw from a broad range of genre traditions: the Gothic literature of Mary Shelley and Sheridan Le Fanu, the urban fantasy trend of the 1990s (to say nothing of the urban fantasy revival of the 2010s), fairy tales, mythology, young adult fiction and the richly imagined worlds of fantasy and science fiction luminaries like Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey. If there's one thing as reliable in romance as the happily ever after, it's romance readers' eagerness to recommend books to newbies. This list offers a few places to start — but once you're in, there's a whole internet out there waiting to tell you what to read next. I want to start at the beginning A Court of Thorns and Roses The series that started it all! Maas's 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' began as a Y.A. series before transitioning to the adult section of the bookstore. In the first book, the human Feyre is brought as a captive to the faerie court of Tamlin, a High Lord of Prythian. Be prepared to wait a couple of books to understand the endgame: The arc of Feyre's romance takes a little while to unfold (and gets spicier as it goes on). There are currently five books in the series, with at least one more novel promised, so it's not too late to get it on the fun of obsessing over release schedules and fan theories. If you read it and love it, try … 'Faebound,' by Saara El-Arifi; A.K. Mulford's Golden Court series; Mai Corland's Broken Blades series; or the Last Binding trilogy, by Freya Marske. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
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The Independent
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
I've already read 30 books this year, but this is my standout favourite
Maybe it's the high calibre of new releases in 2025, or perhaps it's that I keep deleting TikTok, but I've already read more than 30 books this year – and there's one that I've been recommending to everyone. I've been sucked into the 'romantasy' genre with Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing series, enjoyed comedies including Alison Espach's The Wedding People and Sarah Harman's All The Other Mothers Hate Me, and been equal parts shocked and inspired by the real life stories of World War Two secret agent Pippa Lantour and former-Mormon Tara Westover in their beautiful memoirs, The Last Secret Agent and Educated. But it's Florence Knapp's new novel, The Names, that's a future classic. Curiously, her only other book is a non-fiction guide to English paper piecing, but her first foray into fiction is a masterclass. It's as devastating as it is life-affirming, which is a recipe for the perfect book. The novel is an utterly original take on the 'sliding doors' concept. Beginning on the day a mother sets off to name her baby son, it follows three versions of a boy's life as dictated by his given name. An exploration of how small decisions can echo down the decades, the novel is a gripping and moving family drama. I tore through the book in two sittings while on holiday. The story might not be the typical easy-breezy beach book, but the novel is hugely readable, with beautiful prose and compelling characters. Debuting at number two in The Sunday Times bestseller list and with an average rating of 4.18 on Goodreads, it's one of those rare mainstream novels that live up to the hype. Whether you're packing for a summer holiday or looking for your next weekend read, here's why I'm recommending The Names to everyone.
ABC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
The best and worst romantasy tropes, according to author and viral BookTokker Stacey McEwan
When I ask Stacey McEwan to describe her latest romantic fantasy novel, A Forbidden Alchemy, the Queensland-based author and content creator responds with a question indicative of a broader trend in the book world. "Do you want the elevator pitch? Or do you want me to just give tropes?" The use of tropes in fiction is nothing new. But in the age of BookTok, Bookstagram and Goodreads, it's increasingly common to see romance and romantic fantasy (romantasy) fans summarise entire novels from these genres using the tropes within them, from "fake dating", to "dagger to the throat". Many traditional publishers are following suit, leaning into trope-first marketing. Some advanced reader copies of romance and romantasy books even list tropes on the cover, relegating key information like book titles and even authors' names to the spine. McEwan says there's a reason romance and romantasy novels are particularly prone to this. "Because they all have a three-act structure and need the happily ever after, and because they're so repetitive — I say that with deep, deep affection for them — [the romance genre has] leant itself to tropes that people started referencing and labelling a long, long time ago," she explains. "And, because many [elements of romance] carry over into romantasy, now we have all these romantasy tropes that you wouldn't see in contemporary romance." Romance and romantasy books are more than the tropes they're based around, which is why some see a reliance on tropes in reviews and marketing as a problem. But McEwan thinks readers seek hyper-specific romance and romantasy tropes for the same reason they're criticised: familiarity. "It's comforting and something we know and understand," she argues. McEwan's latest novel follows a fated pair in a world divided by the magical and non-magical, who discover a secret that starts a revolution, and leans into the "slow-burn romance" and "found family" tropes. But she doesn't just explore romantasy tropes in her writing — McEwan also dissects the tropes fans love and hate in her viral book-related Instagram and TikTok content. Who better to ask about the best and worst of the genre and why we feel so strongly about them? This is the romance/romantasy trope du jour. And for good reason, McEwan says. The "enemies-to-lovers" trope often comes with delicious tension and irresistible banter between love interests. "Those things can occur in other dynamics between two characters, but 'enemies-to-lovers' really calls for it, and the anticipation and the pay-off at the end when they flip is everything," she explains. It also lends itself well to a bunch of other tropes readers love, from "slow-burn romance", to "dagger to the throat" (in a moment of high tension, one of the love interests holds a knife to the other's throat, prompting a barrage of conflicting feelings); to "only one bed at the inn" (the love interests need to stay somewhere for the night, but the inn/hotel only has one room left, and that room only has one bed); and "forced proximity" in general (any scene where predicted love interests are forced into close contact with each other for a significant period of time, ensuring their relationship develops). "When an author forces enemies into close proximity to each other, you just know the banter is going to be really good, and the tension is going to be sky-high," McEwan says. To McEwan, this trope is "pure escapism — particularly if you're femme". "If you're reading fantasy or romantasy, you're looking for escapism anyway, but to me this trope is the height of escapism because I like to pretend that I am, in fact, the main character, and I won't take any judgement on it because I think we all [pretend we're the protagonist]. This is your morally grey masc love interest who typically possesses some sort of shadow magic, and definitely has an attitude problem. McEwan thinks most of us don't want to be "pick-me girls" — women who seek attention from men by proving they're somehow "not like the other girls". "But at the heart of it, we kind of are," she says of this trope. "Reading about a shadow daddy, or a morally grey love interest who hates everyone, will fight the entire world off for the main character … it's really fun to watch a character soften for that one person." McEwan describes "found family" as her favourite trope "by far", which is why it crops up in almost everything she writes. "'Found family' is really comforting for readers because it's the family the main character has chosen rather than been born to, and the main characters in these books typically have terrible families or dead families, to make their decisions more believable and relatable," she says. "And so [as readers] we're always rooting for them to find their people, and it's comforting when they do." Picture this: you've just made it past all the world-building and will-they-won't-they of a new romantasy book and the love interests are finally together, only for a new conflict to appear out of nowhere. Said conflict could be solved in one conversation. "Really, there are no bad tropes if you know how to write them properly," McEwan says. "I've read books that have used the 'miscommunication' trope very, very well, to the point where it's believable. It's just that the 'miscommunication' trope so often isn't, and that's incredibly frustrating for readers. When it comes to romantasy, McEwan concedes this trope is often used out of necessity. "In most of these books, [the love interest] would smell of sweat and body odour because they've been riding on a horse for five days, with no way to bathe themselves," she points out. "If the author instead draws attention to the idea that they smell like sandalwood and pine and starlight, we can all pretend they don't smell terrible. "There's no way what they're smelling is eucalyptus and tea tree, though." Think: Nesta in A Court of Silver Flames or Aelin in Throne of Glass, both by Sarah J Maas. "This can be done really well and for really good reasons, but often it feels stereotypically sacrificial that the woman would have to part with such a big piece of herself to fix things for everyone else," McEwan says. Another "stereotypically sacrificial" trope, McEwan says "surprise pregnancy" is widely disliked among readers because it "feels cheap to have this huge conflict happening and then, suddenly, pregnancy changes everything, from the main character's motivations, to the love interest's, to the way she sees the world and what needs to happen next".
