To be totally addicted to romantasy books?

I am so glad I came across this thread.

I've raced through ACOTAR and am now ⅓ way through the second book! I'm keeping place for other recommendations in the same genre.

I'm enjoying it and that's what's important!

My friend is addicted to fairy porn. I thought I’d give one a go and I’m afraid I found it dreadful! But I was impressed how people can suspend believe and enjoy this stuff. Maybe I’m not imaginative enough for wizards.

Shield of Sparrows is a really good one! Hated fantasy before and got given it to try thinking I’d hate it… nah I enjoyed it. Just finished rose and thorns… gonna order the next one this week!

I don’t really know anything about romantasy but if you like it carry on! Your partner shouldn’t judge your tastes or try to move you onto something else that he prefers.

You enjoy it!

A lot of people start with A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) ....there are five books in the series so far and the next one is coming out next month. The only caveat is that I know lots of people that didn't like the first book and stopped reading the series (madness!!) but book two is where it really gets good! I loved it from book one so you could be the same.

I'd perhaps look for a Romantasy standalone novel rather than jumping straight in with a series to see if you like it or not. Something like Phantasma by Kaylie Smith? It does have an interconnected second novel, Enchantra which I enjoyed even more but they focus on different characters so you could read Phantasma on its own and go from there. The basic premise is a woman searching for her sister that enters a deadly content inside a haunted mansion to try to save her....and then a handsome ghost turns up (of course! 🤣)

Team Blake here too!

Yes! I agree I preferred it and am fully Team Blake 🤣. I'll have to do a re-read as she's just announced The Wolf Queen will be out next spring.

TOG definitely has its smutty moments - R and A on the beach, anyone? It's not just falling from one sex scene into another though, there's a lot of world building, character development and action.

Throne of glass is an epic complex amazing world and storyline, with barely any sex at all! It definitely doesn’t deserve to be classified as “fairy smut”

There is no harm in loving a particular genre.

Often particular genres of books are dismissed as being light or unworthy when in fact they allow authors the opportunity to explore deeper themes. The framework of the genre can act as a screen for subversive ideas. Another author might use world-building as a way to entice readers to listen to social commentary.

Fairy smut isn’t always what it appears. Sometimes it is, but not always.

Have you read The Night Prince yet? I liked both but prefer the second book. Looking forward to the 3rd!

ToG is my Roman Empire.

OMG I’ve found my people - can somebody please just talk about throne of glass with me?!? None of my real life friends read this sort of stuff . I’m only halfway thru the TOG series and I am just so emotionally over involved and obsessed 😭 so much better than ACOTAR once it gets going.

There's a lot of books here. I want one to try. Which one? Thanks.Not too fantastical.

You should definitely read what you like OP. I tried a bit of romantasy and it wasn't my cup of tea, but I binge on fluffy regency romances when I need to de-stress.

I use on my kindle though so you can't really tell what I'm reading unless you are up close!

I read my first Romantasy novel at the end of 2024 (The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman) and was hooked from there.

I totally agree with a PP that if many of these books were written by men they'd just be called fantasy as "fairy smut" seems to only be directed at books written by female authors. When The Moon Hatched for example really is a high fantasy novel and some of these books have way less sex in them than Game of Thrones does!

Some of my Romantasy reads have been absolutely excellent. I read Liv Zander's Feathers so Vicious duology in a weekend.....but that one is very dark so I'd check the trigger warnings.

I've also read Alchemised recently and loved it. It annoys me no end that it is often looked down upon as being smut when it's actually a hugely complex political book about prisoners of war and trauma. But if a fantasy book is written by a woman and has a couple of sex scenes in it, it is derided.

Anyway, some books I've loved purely as an easy read and for the romance and sex elements. Who doesn't like a bit of escapism?!

I need to have a break from Romantasy every couple of books so I do mix things up but I'm currently heading off to bed to read the next chapter of Brimstone after loving Quicksilver last year.

YANBU. I read all sorts, fiction and NF, but have no shame in admitting to loving romantasy. I just finished The Bridge Kingdom series and will miss it a lot!

Just to add, these are all names of different series of books. So best to read the next book in the series before moving on to the others. Throne of Glass is the only completed series though.

The only issue I have is how samey they are. In the bookshop its a wall of 'The something of something and something'. Words like fae, fire, forge, heat, crown, court, throne, thorn, wolf, blade, sword, spell, spark, magic, in various orders. I like them, they're fun, but the level of 'spice' somewhat detracts from the story sometimes, I tend to skip over it and I wander off to more historical fiction for a while.

I read fact (just started Make Me Well, by Xand van Tulleken), fiction, older fiction, and love dystopian fantasy to disappear into. My absolute favourite is Anne Bishop, all of her series, but especially The Black Jewels books. I've recently finished the Sarah Maas House of... trilogy, and I'd add to your lists of authors with CL Wilson, Grace Darven, Holly Black, Naomi Novik, and Juliet Marillier.

I have an English Lit degree and am a firm fan of romantasy and other light, escapist fiction if you enjoy it. I do! I have also read most of the heavy 19th century classic novels. I love the latter, as they make me think and analyse, but they aren't at all what i want to read when I just need some relaxing downtime and a mental rest. Light fantasy/romantasy fills that space for me, along with classic crime fiction. Different types of books can serve different purposes in your reading/emotional life. I think humans are wired to need and appreciate storytelling, and romantasy is one enjoyable outlet amongst many for that. From a literary perspective romantasy owes something to much earlier sources such as traditional fairy tales, gothic novels etc, but you don't need to be aware of that background to thoroughly enjoy romantasy on its own terms. Reading is reading, whatever the book.

life is hard enough. If you enjoy doing something then how can it be “without much value”? Keep on enjoying them and don’t mind anyone else.

You’d like Rose in Chains

My DH calls them book porn and he is almost right , im on book 56