My Top 5 Romantasy Books perfect for beginners and avid readers alike. 

As your expert curator over the past 2 years, I can say that I have seen my fair share of genre requests and interests. One that is constantly on the top of the leaderboard each month is Fantasy Romance or as we like to call in the bookish world "Romantasy". What is Romantasy? A hybrid of the Fantasy and Romance genres, usually with added tropes of enemies to lovers, slow-burn romance, she falls but he falls first and harder, one bed etc.

A lot of Romantasy books actually started off by authors self-publishing before being picked up by big name publishing houses and that has been due to you, the reader. The rise in popularity for Romantasy books has seen a lot of indie authors being picked up, so well done readers, your choices are making indie authors dreams' a reality. Here are 5 of my favourite Romantasy books that I love to recommend to our readers. Please read at your own peril, witty comments and spoiler alerts ahead. 

1.  A Court Of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 

Ah yes, unless you have been living under a rock or in a cave (and I hope they have been cozy and wonderful spots to live in) then you have either heard of or read ACOTAR. ACOTAR is the OG of the Romantasy hybrid genre. Often listed as your all time favourite book in our questionnaire, ACOTAR offers a vividly imagined world full of adventure, hope, epic world-building and of course, steamy hot romance between our characters. If you love Tamlin, please keep reading and do not get a tattoo of his name before you finish the book, that is all! 

2.  Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

"Should I get the wingleader?" Oh Tairn, you do not help better my obsession with dragons. If you were living in your cozy cave or rock, which I'm actually jealous of, sounds like a lovely place to be right about now; then you would have seen "Fourth Wing" by mother Rebecca Yarros take our bookish world by storm last year. This book has witty dragons, a moody Wingleader with black hair (black hair seems to be the go when writing a Romantasy book), a badass FMC and a whole lot of adventures that I personally would not be fit enough to survive. Absolutely loved Fourth Wing, still unsure about Iron Flame though, the miscommunication trope just doesn't do it for me. 

3.  A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen 

A tattooed, fire-sword yielding, big Viking man with black hair. Did I just sell you with that one sentence? No? That's okay, let me continue. We meet Freya, beautiful, vulnerable, slightly smelly on fish, Freya. Who secretly happens to be an all powerful shield maiden. Freya sadly is also married to a complete flop of a man however happily for us, not the same one from the first sentence. Once Freya uncovers who she really is, she must survive against all odds to become what the prophesy of the old gods have in store for her - to unite Skaland and all Vikings (and not fall in love with the one guy she is definitely NOT allowed to fall in love with). Sigh. Please read it, it's great. The tension is just chef's kiss. 

4.  One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig 

“There once was a girl,” he murmured, “clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King—a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two were the same: “The girl, the King… and the monster they became.” I LOVE this quote! This book is our Book Box AU book club read for August, if you haven't joined, you can join us for free on the Fable app, just search "Book Box Book Club". Okay, shameless plug over.. this book seriously offers some of the uniquest world building and eerie gothic atmosphere I have ever seen. I'm only on Chapter 16 so far but let me tell you I am obsessed with this book. It is a slow-burn romance, with a unique magic system and just as unique list of characters. The pacing can be slow to start with but it does pick up around Chapter 10. 

5. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree