Romantasy is exactly what it sounds like: romance inside a fantasy world. Not fantasy with a romantic subplot, not romance with a magical setting. A genuine hybrid where both the love story and the world-building carry equal weight.
It is the fastest-growing corner of fiction right now, and for good reason. Here is what you need to know, and where to start.
What makes something romantasy?
The romance is central, not decorative. The fantasy elements shape and complicate the relationship in ways that could not happen in a contemporary setting. Power dynamics between humans and fae, prophecies that force two people together, magic systems that create impossible stakes. The best romantasy uses its fantasy elements to push the romance further than realistic fiction ever could.
Where to start
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A huntress kills a wolf in the forest and is taken to a world of dangerous, beautiful fae as punishment. This is the book that defined modern romantasy. The series gets progressively more intense with each entry, and book two is widely considered one of the greatest romance novels ever written.
Start here if: You want the definitive romantasy experience. This is the blueprint.
2. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
A war college. Dragons. A heroine who was never supposed to survive first year. A brooding, dangerous classmate with secrets. Yarros writes action and romance with equal skill and the result is genuinely unputdownable.
Start here if: You want something newer, faster-paced, and with an incredible romantic tension from page one.
3. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Poppy has lived her whole life as the Maiden, forbidden from human contact, controlled by a church she does not fully understand. Hawke is her guard, and almost nothing about him is what it seems.
Start here if: You want slow burn romance with real betrayal, real stakes, and a world-building reveal that will make you immediately reach for book two.
4. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Jude is mortal. She grew up in the dangerous, beautiful world of the fae and she refuses to be powerless in it. Prince Cardan is cruel, arrogant, and impossible to ignore.
Start here if: You want fae politics, a sharp-tongued heroine, and an enemies dynamic that is genuinely electric. This trilogy is one of the best in the genre.
5. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Two rival journalists find letters exchanged between gods hidden in their typewriters. Set in a world on the brink of war, with a slow burn romance that unfolds through letters, arguments, and longing.
Start here if: You want something more literary and emotional, with fantasy woven through beautifully crafted prose.
6. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
Sicily, 1888. Audrey Rose Wadsworth makes a deal with a demon prince to find her twin's killer. The gothic atmosphere is immaculate, the romance is slow and charged, and the mystery keeps the pages turning.
Start here if: You want historical romantasy with dark, gothic energy and a demon love interest who earns every page.
7. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
Persephone is the goddess of spring in a world where gods walk among mortals. Hades is the god of the underworld, and their first meeting does not go well. A slow burn enemies-to-lovers built on Greek mythology.
Start here if: You want a familiar mythology reframed as dark, modern romantasy.
8. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
A slave and a soldier in a brutal, Roman-inspired empire. Dual perspectives, impossible loyalty conflicts, and a romance that builds across an entire series before it pays off.
Start here if: You want romantasy with serious literary weight and a world that feels genuinely dangerous.
Ready to explore the genre? Browse all Romantasy books on TropeQuest →