To be honest I am utterly bored of dark and brooding at this point. The market is so over-saturated by it. It's so overdone, done badly, and the copy-paste snark and poor attempts at banter leave much to be desired.
Don't necessarily want knight-in-shining-armour must rescue the princess sort of thing, would like the other love interest to still be independent and fully fleshed out in their own right, but a male love interest who is sweet, caring, supportive, maybe even reserved or noble like a knight from a classic Romance (tho I do also definitely enjoy the forbidden love a knight has for his prince/princess trope too lol). I don't mind protective and/or strong, can even have his own darknesses to work through, but I don't want that to be his whole deal if that makes sense? Definitely don't want "goofy" or overtly/tryhard "charming" to the point of cringe either haha. I think I'm trying to describe just like a "gentleman" lol
The romance also doesn't need to be like the whole entire book either. I do enjoy the occasional romantasy, but I also like medieval fantasy, dark fantasy, fairy tale fantasy, and I honestly usually prefer romances as subplots, too.
If anyone has any recs for a book, series, or even just character that fits this vibe, would love to hear about it! Thank you so much in advance! 🙂
by Simple_Peach8923
4 Comments
My first suggestion is T. Kingfisher’s *Saints of Steel* series starting with *Paladin’s Grace*. Also *The Clockwork Boys/The Wonder engine*, come to that. They’re literally paladins and all.
TJ Klune books maybe? Try the House on the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door
Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn might work for you – it’s first in a series but can be read as standalone. It’s a sword and sorcery type book with a large cast and a slow burn romance between the two main characters (the other books focus on different characters but the MCs from this book cameo). MMC is knight-like (works for the king in a similar type role), a bit reticent and guarded but good-hearted with a strong sense of justice. FMC is a magic user, independent, competent, strong in her own way, and a bit mysterious. They’ve been thrown together on a shared mission. They circle around each other warily, struggling with trust but still drawn to each other as their journey continues.
I love this vibe, for the record. Here are some of my favorites for this:
[Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61904)
[Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55918521)
[Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153008)