Fantasy and romantasy books have been epically popular for a number of years. According to data from Nielsen BookScan, since 2020 Romantasy has taken the book-reading world by storm with female authors taking over a once male-dominated Sci-Fi & Fantasy category. Acording to the financial reporting at Publishers Weekly, Romantasy book sales reached a recoed $454 millon in 2023, with projections that the genre will continue to have experienced "remarkable growth" in 2024 with sales expected to reach as much as $610 million.

There was news of record breaking pre-orders for Iron Flame, sequel to Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing, and the buzz continues with of the release of book three Onyx Storm.

Sarah J. Maas emerged as the bestselling author of 2024 following the continued success of her A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass and Crescent City series. It’s safe to say that, like the dragons in many of these tales, we’re hoarding our precious treasure of fantasy and romantasy books with abandon, with the Sci-Fi & Fantasy genre seeing significant growth in recent years. Romantasy seems to be especially hot right now, with readers on Instagram and TikTok being a pivotal in catapulting the genre into another stratosphere, promoting romantasy novels to more readers and leading to increased sales and mainstream recognition.

So what is Romantasy? In short it's a sub-genre that sees a romance plot given a significant share of the spotlight within epic, quest and creature-filled fantasy settings. Offering those that love romance plotlines something with teeth to entrall them, this genre is a favourite among the LoveReading team. So we've put together a collection of our favourites, to help those stranded between the strange world of their last book and reality to find something new to soar into. 

When putting together a romantasy collection we’d be remiss not to mention Sarah J. Maas. You only need to be on bookstagram for 5 minutes before you see a reel swooning over the bat boys or laughing at Aelin’s daring ideas. Of course we’re talking about the bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass series. Hunting to feed her destitute family, Feyre kills a faerie which leads to her being dragged into the Faerie realm to pay the price. A Court of Thorns and Roses starts out as a Beauty and the Beast retelling evolves into so much more with a cast of feisty characters to welcome into your heart. Despite first being released back in 2015, A Court of Thorns and Roses ranked as the third bestselling book of 2024. In the Throne of Glass series 18 year old Celaena; beautiful but deadly and destined for greatness but only if she can free herself from the life sentence she's serving ... fast-paced and epic in stature this is not to be missed. Finally we meet Bryce in House of Earth and Blood, the start of Maas’ most recent series Crescent City, as her world comes crashing down leaving her and fallen Angel Hunt Athalar to unravel the mystery of their dark past. The release of House of Flame and Shadow in January 2024 contributed to Maas becoming the bestselling author of 2024. 

More from multi-series authors, Cassandra Clare’s world of Shadowhunters, Warlocks and Vampires is explored in different series: The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, The Bane Chronicles and The Last Hours. Begin with City of Bone, meeting Clary as she slowly discovers the shadowhunter world right under her nose then dive into the multitude of stories woven throughout history.  

Stephanie Garber’s magical world of Caraval is also revisited in Once Upon A Broken Heart, the first in a bewitching series about Evangeline who strikes a deal with an immortal Fate in order to stop the wedding of the man she loves and complete her own happily ever after. Plans go awry when the immortal wants far more from her than she bargained for.

The first in an epic trilogy, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo follows Alina, as she attempts to discover who she really is and what her powers are, in the hope of rescuing Ravka from the flesh-eating monsters tearing her country apart.

Divergent by Veronica Roth must be highlighted too as it is aheart-pounding and thrilling urban dystopian fiction. Divergent is a series of non-stop suspense and twists and turn that you least expect.  There's romance too and a heroine who is determined to fulfil her plans even when conflict seems the only course of action.

We really enjoyed is Ledge, the debut by author Stacey McEwan. Abandon all thoughts of this world and live on the Ledge, a trapped village containing an intrepid heroine seeking revenge. A bold and gutsy epic fantasy debut, with a healthy helping of romance, begin The Glacian Trilogy now.

Another book we have to mention, though we’d be surprised if you haven’t heard of it is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This is the first book in The Empyrean series. Welcome to the brutal and elite world of Basgiath War College, where everyone has an agenda, and every night could be your last. Forbidden romance sizzles and steams off the page as Xaden give every single male romantasy lead a run for their money and it's accompanied by immersive, relentless, heart-stopping action you won't want to miss. It's serious book hangover fuel, our Content Manager Charlotte has already read it "four times and counting". Slated to be a five book series, for the forseeable future she will be impatiently waiting the next book in the series between sweet yet all too brief periods of devouring the latest release.

Other names that have recieved a well deserved boost from BookTok include Jennifer L. Armentrout's Blood and Ash, Flesh and Fire and Awakening series. Our Content Manager Charlotte is back again and devoured the From Blood and Ash series on holiday, with the other series firmly on her reading to-do lists. 

Cariss Broadbent's Corwns of Nyaxia series begins with The Serpent and the Wings of Night, originally published in 2022 and gaining traction as an independently published series before being picked up by Tor and rereleased. It has everything a new to Romantasy reader will love and will appeal to those who remember being (or are still) Twilight fans - with vampires as the central supernatural entitiy of this series. 

We'd also like to share Dragonfall, the first in the A Dragon Falls Trilogy. Soar out into a dragon-filled land in this glorious fantasy adventure and then fall into the human world that cast out the dragons. L.R. Lam world-builds with ease, not just one but two locations that are incredibly easy to fall into and believe in. engaging fantasy flirts with magic, adventure, and romance yet still has a decidedly sharp edge.

There are plenty of books in the collection below with a solid romance story to fall in love with and new worlds to discover, whether you're just dipping your toe into the romantasy genre or you’ve been reading it since young adulthood. We’re also counting on you to share your favourites so we can keep each other well stocked with reading recommendations.