Best Fantasy Romance Books
The 60 best of the best fantasy romance (aka romantasy) books based on my analysis of 53 best-of book lists. Is your favourite on the list?
I’ve completed my meta-analysis to determine the Best of the Best Fantasy Romance Books! The analysis of this subgenre included 53 lists, which translated to 1,232 rows of data and 496 books nominated (appeared on at least 1 list).
Based on my analysis, 60 books rose to the top and appeared on 5 or more best fantasy romance or romantasy book lists.
The top two books, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, appeared on 41 and 34 of the 53 lists, respectively. Not surprising given that they were both among the top 10 bestselling books last year.
Given that there are numerous ties on the list, the books are ranked alphabetically by title within each tied group for the sake of simplicity.
Note: This list has been compiled based on research and should not be considered my own personal recommendations or endorsements.
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Results: Top 60
Here is the full list!
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (41 lists)
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (34 lists)
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (30 lists)
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (28 lists)
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (20 lists)
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen (19 lists)
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (19 lists)
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (18 lists)
A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet (15 lists)
Radiance by Grace Draven (15 lists)
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco (14 lists)
Bride by Ali Hazelwood (12 lists)
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (12 lists)
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (12 lists)
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa (11 lists)
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin (11 lists)
The Book of Azrael by Amber V. Nicole (10 lists)
Gild by Raven Kennedy (10 lists)
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) by Sarah J. Maas (10 lists)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (10 lists)
The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon (9 lists)
Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent (9 lists)
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (9 lists)
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber (9 lists)
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair (9 lists)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (9 lists)
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (8 lists)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (8 lists)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (8 lists)
Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater (8 lists)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (8 lists)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (8 lists)
The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks (8 lists)
A Fate of Wrath and Flame by K.A. Tucker (7 lists)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (7 lists)
Powerless by Lauren Roberts (7 lists)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (7 lists)
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (7 lists)
The Awakening by Nora Roberts (6 lists)
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (6 lists)
Faebound by Saara-El Arifi (6 lists)
A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen (6 lists)
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon (6 lists)
King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair (6 lists)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (6 lists)
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (6 lists)
When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker (6 lists)
Broken Bonds by J. Bree (5 lists)
Caraval by Stephanie Garber (5 lists)
A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark (5 lists)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (5 lists)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (5 lists)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (5 lists)
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (5 lists)
Neon Gods by Katee Robert (5 lists)
Quicksilver by Callie Hart (5 lists)
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (5 lists)
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller (5 lists)
Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent (5 lists)
The Winter King by C.L. Wilson (5 lists)
Analysis
Duplicate Authors
There are 5 authors that have more than one book on the list:
Carissa Broadbent – 3 books
Sarah J. Maas – 3 books
Stephanie Garber – 2 books
Danielle L. Jensen – 2 books
Scarlett St. Clair – 2 books
Decade Published
The list definitely shows a recency bias with more than half (53%) of the books published in the 2020s, about a third (35%) published in the 2010s, and the remaining 12% published in the 2000s or earlier.
Series
Series are definitely the norm in this subgenre as 87% of the books (52 of 60) on the list are part of a series.
Representation
In other lists, the definition for BIPOC representation has been at least one of the main characters being identified as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) on the page. However, this definition was more challenging in the fantasy subgenre, as many characters are different types of beings or species and generally don’t adhere to standard racial or ethnic identities. As such, I did my best to identify BIPOC authors for this list instead.
For LGBTQ+ representation, I used the previous definition of at least one of the main characters is identified as LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, or another diverse gender identity) on the page.
I determined that 10% of the books (6 of 60) were written by BIPOC authors and 10% of the books (6 of 60) had LGBTQ+ representation.
Indie
A new category I’ve been tracking is indie published books, defined as books published outside of mainstream publishing. I determined 18% (11 of 60 books) of the list is indie published.
You can filter the list by these different categories in the directory version of the list.
Data and Lists
To be included in the analysis, the lists had to be:
Focused on fantasy romance or romantasy books at large.
An all-time list and not specific to books published in a certain year.
Relatively recent (published in 2022 or later).
Free from obvious bias (for example, lists from specific publishers were not included).
To see the 53 lists included and access the detailed spreadsheet, go to the methodology overview.
Keep in mind that best of lists are generally based on personal opinions and/or vague methodologies; however, I still think they are an interesting data source worthy of analysis.
Happy reading!
Great post! It would be interesting to know how many of these books not only appeared on the lists but also received awards. I’m curious whether there’s a correlation or if the connection is stronger with sales performance.
Great list! I am sure this took you ages to compile.