Romantasy for Beginners: Where to Start with Fantasy Romance
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I did not read a single book for most of my twenties. Now I am four years deep in fantasy romance and I will not stop talking about it. This week I get into why romantasy has such a bad reputation, why that reputation is wrong, and exactly where to start. Let's get into the "is it smut" debate, how I fell in, what the boom is doing to bookstores, and my full list of recommendations.
Is romantasy just smut?
No, and it is worth saying why. A fantasy novel with a sex scene does not get called smut, especially if a man wrote it. Neither does a film or a show. In the books I recommend, the intimacy is not gratuitous. It is part of the arc, about connection and what the characters mean to each other. Plenty of romantasy has little or no spice at all. There is a whole range, and you choose what you want.
How did you get into fantasy romance?
The honest answer: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, picked up almost at random in my thirties. There are only a few times in my life a book made me run to the store for the next one. Twilight in my freshman dorm was one. Fifty Shades was another. Then, after barely reading at all in my twenties, ACOTAR pulled me all the way back in. That first read is a bit of a drug. You spend a long happy while chasing the high.
Why fantasy romance and not regular fiction?
I struggle with grounded fiction. I find it predictable, and I have a hard time believing the characters. But give me a five-hundred-year-old fae or a two-hundred-year-old vampire and I am all in, because it is so far outside this world that it is pure escapism. It also brought my imagination back during a really hard season of my life, and that is a bigger deal than it sounds.
Is romantasy actually a big deal?
It is a genuine movement. US romantasy sales were up about 34% in 2024, bringing in an estimated 610 million dollars. Around 59 million print books that year were tied to BookTok. Barnes and Noble opened 57 stores in 2024, more than in the prior decade. And about 82% of US women read a book last year, compared to 68% of men. It has brought people who had not read in years back into bookstores.
Where should I start?
Start with A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, or Throne of Glass if you lean more toward war and politics. Either way, the SJM universe is the great entryway, and my personal favorite is A Court of Silver Flames. From there, The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, or her newest, The Lion and the Deathless Dark. Then the deeper cuts: City of Gods and Monsters by Kayla Edwards, which may be my all-time favorite, The Legends of Thezmarr by Helen Scheuerer, my favorite being book two, Vows and Ruins, and A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen for a Norse Viking duet. Honorable mentions: White Horse Black Nights, Half City by Kate Golden for an academia feel, and When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker if you love dragons.
My rules for reading fantasy
Give the first book grace. It is doing a lot of worldbuilding, so it is not always the most exciting one, and it gets better as the series goes. DNF is allowed. It is the writer's job to earn your attention, and you do not owe anyone the last page. And books find you at the moment they are meant to, so if one is not landing, it might just be the timing.
My full list, the ones that were not for me, and all my feelings are in this episode. Press play up top.
Quick questions
What is romantasy?
Fantasy romance: high-fantasy worldbuilding with a central love story running through it.
What romantasy book should I read first?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, or Throne of Glass if you prefer war and politics.
Is ACOTAR spicy?
Not at first. The early books are fairly tame and the story carries you. The spice builds much later in the series.
Is romantasy just smut?
No. In the good ones the intimacy is part of the story, and plenty of romantasy has little or none.
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