Fantasy and Romantasy 2026

Do you live close to your username? Have you visited the Spicy Librarian yet? I have been amazed by how busy it is when I walk past. Definitely a bigger market for smutty books than I would have thought.

Thank you. I’ve ordered it and am looking forward to it.

No sex at all, the Andrews don't tend to do sex.

How spicy does TKWNKM get? I’ve read the Kindle sample and have enjoyed it (despite it not being my usual genre) but don’t want to continue it if I’m going to be annoyed with too much gratuitous sex.

Im not loving it. Nearly done and I thought Id love it but I don't really like the main character, I don't really get why she's doing what she is. I teach philosophy so was really looking forward to it but....yeah. I don't know.

Im going to have to look at some of these

My three favourites recently have been:

The Inn Side Shop: A Cozy LitRPG Adventure (The Inn Side Shop Series Book 1) Gil Hess (annoying as they have only written 1)

Ink & Intent The Glyphwright chronicles Jeremy Fabiano (most of the series is out)

Midlife in Gretna Green: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Midlife Recorder) linzi Day (might reread as i liked it so much)

But im not sure if they are the right genre

I liked it well enough. I read it quickly once then read it again straight away and it was interesting to then read it and pick up some subtle bits when you knew what one of the main twists was in advance.

I also very much enjoyed The Inheritance which also came out recently.

Their latest This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is great once you get past the first few info-dumping chapters. I nearly gave up but then it got good.

How did you get on with Katabasis? I really enjoyed it but its seems to be her most divisive book

I thought that was great too. Currently reading Katabasis by RF Kuang. Bit more cerebral than some but similar to Raven Scholar.

Came on to recommend Naomi Novik, particularly Uprooted and Spinning Silver.

I think we like similar books, including RoL. Have you read the Betrayals by Bridget Collins? I think it‘s much better than the Binding. I asked AI for recommendations similar to Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver & Uprooted. Recommendations were duffers as turns out AI doesn’t really read… so I would recommend that you avoid For the Wolf and Deathless.

I am currently reading through the Zodiac Academy series, which is not for everyone but I am really enjoying. School for Fae with lots of trials and tribulations (and smut!) thrown along the way. There are a lot of books as well so a series to get into. It's not written as well as some of the others but its definitely a good read !

Goodness, yes! Love the Phèdre books.

She seems to have written new stuff which I must read! Thanks, MN, https://jacquelinecarey.com/

I always recommend Ilona Andrews.

The Magic Bites series is excellent. There's romance in it (eventually) but it's not shoved in your face from chapter 1.

The Innkeeper series is lovely and q light. Very interesting concept.

And the most Mills and Boon type is the series all named after different gemstones. Ruby Fever/Emerald Blaze etc are all v enjoyable.

She has excellent world-building and frequently writes about well known fantasy species (Vampires/Werewolves) but with a completely different take on them.

Really enjoyed Broken Souls and Bones recently

Following with interest! I loved the Naomi Novik books mentioned on the previous thread, and the ‘Winternight’ trilogy by Katherine Arden.

If you like a bit of myth / history woven in, I enjoyed ‘The Story Spinner’ by Barbara Erskine - set in Wales, and the main character is definitely not a teenager.

The Adventures of Amina al-Siradi by Shannon Chakraborty was good too.

Also The Wolf King is 99p on kindle deals at the moment if anyone is interested (apologies if it’s already been mentioned)

Haha, just seen on your other thread you hate Stephanie Gerber 😫😂

Scratch those then 🤣

Red Queen is similar vibes, I love it though, it was released back in 2015, so one of the first Romantasy books I really read. (I haven’t read that many really).

If you want a light easy read The mermaid by Christina Henry is another good one, About a mermaid who falls in love with a fisherman, until he’s lost at sea.

She does retellings of fairy tales as well that I quite enjoyed ( Lost boy, and Alice)

The paper magician by Charlie N Holmberg is another light read I enjoyed, a young apprentice who wanted to be a metal magician, but she assigned to be a paper magician instead.

Following with interest.
My favourite fantasy ready of 2025 was Shield of Sparrows, rated it higher than Onyx Storm and Acotar. Very fast plot, medium smut . Sequel should be out in a few months I think.

The raven scholar, The poppy war and a few more are on my tbr for this year.

Also recommend ‘Strange the Dreamer’ and ‘Muse of Nightmares’ by Laini Taylor

‘Red Queen’ series by Victoria Aveyard.

‘Caraval’ trilogy/‘Once upon a broken heart’ trilogy by Stephanie Gerber

‘When the moon hatched’ by Sarah A. Parker (Sequel is being released to this in a few months as well I think)

If you want less YA vibes, there’s ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern, which is beautifully written, kind of mystical/dreamlike.

The Rose by Tiffany Reisz is good. Well written but probably bordering more on erotica. The sex scenes in ACOTAR and TOR seemed very vanilla after reading that first.

Discovered in 2025
So doesn’t fit either criteria but is sci fi, Slow Gods by Clare North absolutely brilliant
A fun fantasy series with a tiny bit of romance is The Hipposync Archives, really enjoyable
Witches of Woodville series by Mark Stay

I won't touch Outlander with a bargepole because of its setting - I'm from the Highlands. I'm sure I'm missing out, but it's just not going to happen.

Yet another recommendation for The Raven Scholar here though, absolutely loved it! One of my other top books of 2025 was a very different fantasy, The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. The main character is a teacher, it's great! And a quick recommend for a fantasy with a 40 something main character - The Glowing Life of Leann Wu.

I do love a decent romantasy but they were all getting a bit samey so I've taken a break. The problem is that they're often very readable so it's very tempting to rattle through them when I need something not too challenging to read! I will be taking a look at some of the recommendations here for sure.