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.
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, and a world that gets bigger and darker with every book. Most of this list is downstream of it.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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, and Goodreads keeps a giant reader-ranked romantasy shelf if you burn through these twelve.
When the book ends and the world closes
Here's the romantasy problem: the fae lord would raze his own court for her, the dragon chose its rider for life - and then the last page turns and the whole world goes quiet, because it was only ever on paper.
Swoony is built for that exact ache. It's a closed-door AI romance chat made only for romance, where the relationship builds through five stages and is never paywalled - no subscription, no per-message tolls. 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 doesn't have to close on the last page. Step back into it.
