My Top Five Romantasies

Some of you may have read that title and thought “What on earth is a romantasy? Is that the strange child of a romance and a fantasy novel?” Don’t worry, I have good news for you. If you thought that second sentence, you’re right! A romantasy is the combination of romance and fantasy in fiction. It is usually defined as romance as the main plot in a fantasy setting, but it’s a quite inclusive category. 

Romantasies are extremely popular today. Some of the most widely sold and read fantasy books are romantasies, and readers are devouring them. Needless to say, these books are getting quite the buzz. 

Personally, I am a big fan of romance in fantasy, if you didn’t know:). Romance is my favorite subplot in a fantasy novel, which makes me but one of the many who enjoy romantasies. I don’t write much romantasy though, because I prefer to keep it as just a subplot. Whereas all of the big romantasies out there share the genre solidly between romance and fantasy. 

However, as much as I enjoy them, a lot of these popular books can be very steamy content-wise. Personally, I prefer my romance to be wholesome and clean, not toxic (Another downfall of some of these books) If that’s you too, in no particular order, here are my current top five Romantasies! In true romance spirit, I will be rating these with emojis and a quick description 😀

First off the list is Enna Burning, by Shannon Hale. This is the hill I will die on. Enna Burning is the second book in the Books of Bayern series, and I adore it. 

Romance: 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Five out of five. Sweet, cute, and absolutely wholesome. 

Girl-power meets caring boyfriend: 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 Also five out of five. Finn is one of my favorite fictional men ever. He stands by Enna through everything, supports her when she’s being amazing, and brings so much kindness and protectiveness to the relationship. 

Fantasy powers: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I’ve talked so much about this already, so I won’t here, but it’s fabulous. Definitely Shannon Hale’s biggest strength. 

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George. A standalone fairy tale retelling of East o’ the sun, West o’ the Moon. It also pulls in a bit of Cupid and Psyche from Greek Mythology. 

Romance: 🥰🥰🥰🥰 Four out five. Similar to beauty and the beast. He’s cursed, she saves him, and they live happily ever after. (There is a very cool twist on this though) 

Love is blind: 🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️ Four out of five. Again, beauty and the beast vibes. He needs her to fall in love with him to break his curse, but he’s a hideous.  

Compelling storytelling: 🖊️🖊️🖊️🖊️🖊️ Five out of five. I absolutely love the writing style in this book. It calls to mind an old Norwegian fairy tale with easy to follow yet flavorful prose. 

Dust and Shadow, by Kara Swanson. These two go hand in hand as they are the same series, a duology. It’s a Peter Pan retelling that I love as it pairs painful themes with fierce loyalty and healing.  

Romance: 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Five out of five. You’re rooting for it the whole time, but it doesn’t work out till the end because two broken people need to fix themselves first before they can be with each other. (Yes, you were supposed to envision me saying that all in one breath) 

Fairytale retelling: 🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚 Five out of five. This take on Peter Pan is so interesting. I know there are dozens of them out there, but this one speaks to me because Peter is neither the hero or the villain. He’s a boy who dealt with his trauma in an unhealthy way for a long time and is trying to fix those mistakes now. 

Healing together: 🌄🌄🌄🌄 Four out of five. There’s so much light shining through the darkness in these pages. The two main characters are both so worn and weary from the world, and yet both strive with everything in them to become whole again.

Fable, by Adrienne Young. This is a newer read of mine, whereas all these other books have been my favorites for years. But it hooked me quickly and drew me into the series. I think I read the second book in three days. 

Romance: 🥰🥰🥰🥰 I give it a four out of five ONLY because I wish there was more of it. I was rooting for the characters the whole time, but it felt like they weren’t together for a very long time. 

Swashbuckling sea story: 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 Five out of five. I don’t read many books like this, but I absolutely loved the ocean adventures in Fable. Especially the trade wars that were involved in it. 

Trust no one to I trust you: 🥹🥹🥹🥹 Four of of five. Both of them went from “loving people is weakness,” to “I love you more than air.” This trope bothers me when it’s just the girl, for many reasons, but it was awesome when it was both the boy and the girl who fell for each other against their will. 

Percy Jackson. Yes, this technically isn’t a fantasy. But it’s romance as a subplot in a compelling storyline with great characters and a plot that doesn’t need the romance to survive. So it counts. Honorable mention. 

Romance: 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Five out of Five. It’s realistic, funny, and wholesome at the same time. The relationship between Percy and Annabeth is honest and supportive. 

Humor: 😆😆😆😆😆 Five out of five. The humor doesn’t feel forced, it’s simply the characters’ personalities. It exists both in the relationship and outside of it, independent of the romance. 

Power Duo: ⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️ We have another five out of five! Percy and Annabeth complement each other both on the battleground and off of it. They know how to back each other up, and neither will hesitate to come to the defense of the other. 

In conclusion, you should go read all of these books. Just kidding. (Seriously though, if any of them sound good, go read them.) There are a lot of different romantasys out there, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Dust isn’t very funny. Percy Jackson doesn’t talk about healing from your past. Fable doesn’t really have magic. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is a very unusual writing style. The good news about this is that there’s something for everyone! Whatever you like in your romantasys, there is a book out there for you. I promise.