My second favourite genre after fantasy is probably romance. I was on a fantasy kick for a while and most Fantasy books have really underdeveloped romances in them. This has gotten me in the mood for a good romance story. The issue is that most ya romances don’t do it for me. Everything about how the romance develops is so overdramatic with plenty of spice like love triangles (I hate love triangles) and enemies to lovers and so on. I have always been a fan of more grounded romance stories. One example of a book where I enjoyed the romance is Yumi and the nightmare painter.
Basically I want a book where the majority focus next to the plot is some romantic development. It can be a standalone or part of a series. If the secondary genre is fantasy then that’s a plus, but I’m open to anything (Not a big fan of sci-fi, but if the romance is excellent I’ll take it). The most important thing is that the romance is grounded and avoids the ya pitfall of being a spicefest with too much flair. Thank you for your time.
Edit: Thanks for all the suggestions. There are more than I thought there’d be. I’ll be sure to check them all out.
by TartLychee
4 Comments
You can look at **Us: An Intimacy Innovation**
Its plot line is shy *he* teaches popular *she* how to find ‘forever love’.
* NA (college-age protagonist)
* Contemporary
* First-love trope with a “Will they or won’t they?” subtext
* Descriptive love scenes
* No toxicity
* It’s more of a boy-meets-girl story than a typical alpha-male, half-naked people on the cover romance
Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash. They have a little bit more romance than Yumi but there are no love triangles.
– Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi (lovely friendship/romance with family issues on both sides)
– Whistleblower by Kate Merchant (a Wattpad book that got published and without a doubt the best that website has ever put forth)
– Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth (light-hearted romance with family issues on MCs side)
– An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson (fantasy)
– The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout (very angsty)
– Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney (light-hearted, good character development)
– Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon (cute romance)
Kasie West also writes cute, light-hearted but grounded YA romance books.
The Shadowfell trilogy bu Juliet Marillier is really good.