Any recs for romantasy books that are decently written? It doesn’t need to have beautiful, life-changing prose or an absolutely amazing plot or anything; I just want something that’s fun and maybe has some of the typical romantasy tropes, but with decent world building, plot, dialogue, etc.
I prefer a good slowburn romance without a super masculine, alpha-y mc, but thats not 100% required or anything! I’m also not a huge fan of super sappy romance and fated for each other/mate tropes.
I just read Divine Rivals and was really disappointed by the plot and world building (and lack of an actual rivalry) and I’m looking for something else to scratch my romantasy itch lol. I really liked The Folk of the Air series, Naomi Novik’s standalones, and I’m currently reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (which I’m enjoying so far!). Ik this is a bit picky so any recs are appreciated 🙂
by treebag27
5 Comments
This is sort of out of left field, but *Yumi and the Nightmare Painter* by Brandon Sanderson. He’s not really a romantasy guy, but this is a pretty sincere foray into the genre that I loved. If you like it, you’ll also like *Tress of the Emerald Sea*, and maybe *Elantris* and *Warbreaker*
Nisha J Tuli’s Artefacts of Ouranos Series is so good. I can’t quite remember if there is a “fated” type connection but there is definitely slow burn. I found the whole series to be really good.
Rachel Gillig’s The Dark Shepard is really well written, slow burn but the romance is definitely second to the story IMO. Super interesting and unique magic system though.
Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers
The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
Trick by Natalia Jaster
A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
The Night Market by Jesikah Sundin
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Love Folk of the Air and Emily Wilde! Considering we seem to have similar taste in books, I’d recommend the Regency Faerie Tales by Olivia Atwater, starting with the first book *Half a Soul*. The next book, *Ten Thousand Stitches*, is fantastic too and I liked it even more. The books are loosely connected but follow a different set of characters. I’m also reading Atwater’s *The Witchwood Knot* and am really enjoying it so far. It has more of a gothic vibe compared to Regency Faerie Tales but it’s somewhat of a spin-off series since it takes place in the same setting.