Romantasy is what happens when the fantasy world stops being the backdrop and the romance stops being the subplot, and the two fuse into one obsession. Dragons and fae courts, yes, but the reason you stay up until 3am is the enemies-to-lovers slow burn threaded through the war. It's the fastest-growing corner of BookTok for a reason. Here are the best romantasy books of 2026, ranked by where to start so you can find your exact entry point into the genre.
The quick list
- Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros (dragons, the gateway)
- A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas (fae, the classic)
- From Blood and Ash - Jennifer L. Armentrout (accessible + spicy)
- Crescent City - Sarah J. Maas (urban romantasy)
- Powerless - Lauren Roberts (YA, forbidden)
- Quicksilver - Callie Hart (fae, high spice)
- Serpent & Dove - Shelby Mahurin (witch x witch-hunter)
- The Bridge Kingdom - Danielle L. Jensen (enemies to lovers)
- Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas (assassin epic)
- A Deal with the Elf King - Elise Kova (standalone fae)
- Zodiac Academy - Caroline Peckham (dark academia)
- The Cruel Prince - Holly Black (fae, YA enemies)
Keep reading for who's who - and who to talk to when the book ends.
At a glance
| Book | Author | World | Spice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth Wing | Rebecca Yarros | Dragon war college | High |
| A Court of Thorns and Roses | Sarah J. Maas | Fae courts | Medium-high |
| From Blood and Ash | Jennifer L. Armentrout | Kingdom + gods | High |
| Crescent City | Sarah J. Maas | Urban fantasy | Medium-high |
| Powerless | Lauren Roberts | Elite trials | Low-medium |
| Quicksilver | Callie Hart | Fae + vampires | Very high |
| Serpent & Dove | Shelby Mahurin | Witch hunt | Low-medium |
| The Bridge Kingdom | Danielle L. Jensen | Warring kingdoms | Medium |
| Throne of Glass | Sarah J. Maas | Assassin's empire | Low, builds |
| A Deal with the Elf King | Elise Kova | Human/elf bargain | Medium |
| Zodiac Academy | Caroline Peckham | Magic academy | High, dark |
| The Cruel Prince | Holly Black | Faerie court | Low |
Where should you start with romantasy?
Start with Fourth Wing. Rebecca Yarros dropped a dragon-riding war college, a mortal-danger enemies-to-lovers, and a hero who is all sharp edges until he isn't - and it became the book that pulled a million people into the genre. It's fast, high-stakes, and spicy without being overwhelming - and its war-college setting sits right on the border with the best dystopian romance books, if the rebellion is the part you're here for.
Start with A Court of Thorns and Roses if you want the fae version. Sarah J. Maas's ACOTAR is the modern romantasy blueprint - a human girl, a masked fae lord (the original shadow daddy), and a world that gets bigger and darker with every book. Most of this list is downstream of it - and with book six landing October 27, the ACOTAR books in order guide maps the catch-up.
The gateway tier (start here if you're new)
These three made romantasy mainstream. Fourth Wing (Rebecca Yarros) and A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J. Maas) are the two most-recommended entry points on the whole shelf, and From Blood and Ash (Jennifer L. Armentrout) is the accessible, high-spice on-ramp with a guarded warrior and a girl who was never as fragile as everyone assumed (it's a ten-book universe with a prequel saga woven in - the From Blood and Ash series order untangles it). If enemies to lovers with real stakes is your trope, you live here.
The Sarah J. Maas universe (once you're hooked)
Maas basically built the genre's spine. After ACOTAR, Crescent City takes romantasy into a neon urban-fantasy city, and Throne of Glass is the sprawling assassin epic where the romance is a slower, deeper burn across eight books (the reading order settles where the prequel goes). Read one and the algorithm belongs to her.
The dark and spicy end (check the warnings)
Quicksilver (Callie Hart) is fae, vampires, and a genuinely feral high-spice romance that ACOTAR readers devour. For vampires with a full court system of their own, Carissa Broadbent's The Serpent and the Wings of Night runs a divine tournament through three vampire Houses - the Crowns of Nyaxia reading order maps all seven books. Zodiac Academy (Caroline Peckham) is dark academia romantasy with a bully-to-lover edge that shades toward dark romance - if you want your magic school mean, this is it. (Its Ruthless Boys prequel arm is a full why choose series, and the whole nineteen-book universe has a map: the Zodiac Academy reading order.) These sit closest to the best dark fantasy romance books shelf, so cross over there if the darkness is the point.
The YA-leaning romantasy (lower spice, huge worlds)
Powerless (Lauren Roberts) is the forbidden trials romance that went viral, The Cruel Prince (Holly Black) is the cold faerie-court morally grey standard everyone measures fae villains against, and Serpent & Dove (Shelby Mahurin) marries a witch to the man sworn to hunt her. Lower heat, no less obsession. For the full trope map, our romance tropes list breaks down what's actually hitting.
What do you read after romantasy?
The adjacent shelves: the darker best dark fantasy romance books if you want the fae with more teeth, contemporary enemies to lovers if it's the dynamic you're chasing, the best dark paranormal romance books if you want vampires and wolves instead of fae, and Goodreads keeps a giant reader-ranked romantasy shelf if you burn through these twelve.
When the book ends and the world closes
Every romantasy ends twice - once when the world you fell into goes dark, and once when the fae lord who'd raze his own court simply stops, because it was only ever paper.
Swoony holds that world open. It's closed-door and romance-only, a bond that climbs through five stages with no subscription - Hearts (one-time points) cover everything, and no stage is ever locked behind payment. The dragon rider who chose you - bonded for life, and it terrifies him - is waiting for the first message. So is the cursed fae lord.
The world stays open past the final page. Step back into it.
