I only recently learned about The Fantasy Romance February event going on right now. They have a ton of books in the spotlight, reading events, and giveaways. I’m a bit late in joining so I wanted to share my list of fantasy romances. Some are straight up fantasy, others are urban fantasies with a romance plot, or paranormal romance. It’s a great mix of books. Indulge in love and check out these books!
Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis
Summary
Sensible, practical Elinor Tregarth really did plan to be the model poor relation when she moved into Hathergill Hall. She certainly never meant to kidnap her awful cousin Penelope’s pet dragon. She never expected to fall in love with the shameless – but surprisingly sweet – fortune hunter who came to court Penelope. And she never dreamed that she would have to enter into an outrageous magical charade to save her younger sisters’ futures.
However, even the most brilliant scholars of 1817 England still haven’t ferreted out all the lurking secrets of rediscovered dragonkind…and even the most sensible of heroines can still make a reckless wish or two when she’s pushed. Now Elinor will have to find out just how rash and resourceful she can be when she sets aside all common sense. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll even be impractical enough to win her own true love and a happily ever after…with the unpredictable and dangerous “help” of the magical creature who has adopted her.
A frothy Regency rom-com full of pet dragons and magical misadventures, Scales and Sensibility is a full-length novel and the first in a new series of standalone romantic comedies.
The Reanimator’s Heart by Kara Jorgensen
Summary
A reluctant necromancer, a man killed before his time, and the crime that brings them together.
Felipe Galvan’s life as an investigator for the Paranormal Society has been spent running into danger. Returning home from his latest case, Felipe struggles with the sudden quiet of his life until a mysterious death puts him in the path of the enigmatic Oliver Barlow.
Oliver has two secrets. One, he has been in love with the charming Felipe Galvan for years. Two, he is a necromancer, but to keep the sensible life he’s built as a medical examiner, he must hide his powers. That is until Oliver finds Felipe murdered and accidentally brings him back from the dead.
But Felipe refuses to die again until he and Oliver catch his killer. Together, Felipe and Oliver embark on an investigation to uncover a plot centuries in the making. As they close in on his killer, one thing is certain: if they don’t stop them, Felipe won’t be the last to die.
Secret Legacy by Carissa Andrews
Summary
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES meets LOCKE & KEY in this completed new adult series!
I always wanted supernatural powers.
The day I got my acceptance letter from the Windhaven Academy, I knew my life was about to change – BIG TIME. I expected to find out I could phase through walls or control people with my mind. But what I became was far more complicated than I ever imagined.
You see, I come from a long line of witches with incredible power that spans centuries.
I just didn’t know it.
But unleashing my powers is just the beginning. There are forces bigger than anything I ever imagined… and they’re coming for me.
Sure, Windhaven Academy is a school for supernaturals.
But what I am will provoke an ancient curse that will pit me against fate.
And now, no one is safe.
*PLEASE BE ADVISED: This is a YA+ Academy series with a fast-paced romance featuring a resourceful, but flawed heroine. It’s labeled YA(+) for stronger language and some mature situations. As the heroine ages and grows, so does the content of the stories.*
Devil’s Deal by Tessa Hastjarjanto
Summary
When two angels break their deal with the Devil, he comes for the one they’re trying to protect.
16-year-old Eleonora Santos works through the summer break so she can visit her family in Italy when she graduates. With the new school year around the corner, her focus is back on homework and enjoying life with her tight group of friends. But on their first day back, she finds them fawning over two new guys in their class—Ben and Danny.
Not a day goes by before Nora’s life is turned upside down. Her best friend now hates her, and the boys seem eager to get to know her. Despite their charming efforts, she’d rather have her best friend, not a boyfriend.
When Nora discovers Ben and Danny are not who they claim to be, and their nefarious deal goes wrong, Nora is caught in the middle.
To fix their mistakes, she must face the Devil and betray herself—or pay with her life.
Devil’s Deal is a YA romance novel with a paranormal twist set in the Dutch fictional city Lakeside. The Infernal Contracts trilogy is perfect for fans of the Twilight Saga, The Vampire Diaries, and Fallen.
Beneath Cruel Fanthoms by Anela Deen
Summary
After a violent storm destroys her ship, Isaura Johansdottir knows better than to hope she’ll be rescued from Eisland’s vast Failock Sea. Adrift and alone, her plans to start over lost, it’s a tragic conclusion after the disastrous end of her marriage—until she’s saved by Leonel, one of the merfolk, a creature long believed extinct. In repayment for her life, Leonel enlists her help to investigate the Failock’s mysterious and deadly plague of squalls. But when Isaura discovers Eisland’s ruthless new Lord commands the storms, her life will be in more danger on land than it ever was at sea.
As guardian of the Fathoms, Leonel must find the cause of unnatural storms ravaging the tidal currents and destroying the sea life. There are rumors of dark magic stirring in the Orom Abyss, the resting place of old, vanquished gods who tried to submerge the land millennia ago. Yet without proof, no one in King Ægir’s court will listen to him. And if it’s discovered he broke the Blue Laws to save a shipwrecked landweller, he might not survive the consequences.
As storms spread, Leonel and Isaura uncover secrets as forbidden as the bond that grows between them. Betrayal lurks in the restless sea, and when ancient powers lay siege to Eisland’s coast, the truth may be drowned along with everything else.
Blade & Rose by Miranda Honfleur
Summary
A kingdom in turmoil or the love of her life. Which one will she save?
Elementalist Rielle hasn’t heard from her best friend in far too long. Yet no one at the Tower of Magic seems to care about Olivia’s silence, or the curtain of secrecy surrounding the distant capital. Before Rielle can investigate, she’s assigned a strange new mission: escort a paladin named Jon across the kingdom.
When whispers reveal mercenaries have killed the king, taken the capital, and that no one is coming to help, Rielle can’t leave Olivia in peril. But as infamous mages and deadly assassins hunt Jon, she can’t leave him unprotected either—especially as she finds herself falling for his strength, his passion, and his uncompromising goodness. Her past returns to haunt her, a werewolf stalks their steps, and an ancient evil is gathering, yet the restraints forbidding their love strain and snap one by one.
Saving Olivia and the kingdom means defying orders and sacrificing her every ambition, and could mean losing the man who’s become so much more to her than a mission. Which will she choose: her best friend and the kingdom, or the love of her life?
Dive into a medieval world sensual and dark, full of magic and greed, love and blades, where factions vie for influence and there are no easy choices.
Savage City by L Penelope
Summary
For Talia, death is only the beginning of survival…
When a tragic accident cuts my lonely life short, instead of heaven or hell, I’m stolen away to a terrifying city of warring shifter clans—the Nimali and the Fai. The Nimali mistake me for their missing princess. Her father, the dragon king, is identical to my own. But in this world, he dotes on me with the love and affection I always craved. And in a land with no tolerance for outsiders, feigning amnesia and impersonating shifter royalty may be the only way to survive.
For Ryin, falling in love is the worst kind of betrayal…
As a Fai warrior in captivity, I’m forced to serve my enemy even as I plot their destruction. The lost princess returned much changed, now the heat between us crackles irresistibly. While helping her heal using my magical talents, I begin to question what I thought I knew about the Nimali. She remains as forbidden as ever, but she also might be the key to freedom for me and my people.
Caught between two enemy factions balancing on the knife-blade of annihilation, our lies are the only thing keeping us alive, but they just might be our undoing.
Nation of the Sun by HR Moore
Summary
Amari has a perfect life. She’s a successful food critic, and is marrying a high flying human rights lawyer. But the day before her wedding, a stranger, Caspar, tries to solicit her help. She sends him away, but can’t shake the feeling that she knows him.
When Amari’s new husband has to leave the country before their honeymoon, Amari tells Caspar she’ll help him. But Amari and Caspar are attacked by an assassin, forcing them into hiding at the London headquarters of the Pagan Nation. Here, she discovers she’s an ancient and powerful demon, someone who reincarnates, and that Caspar is her soulmate.
As she’s drawn into Caspar’s world of standing stones and feuding nations, Amari can’t deny the deep connection that pulses between them. But she can’t remember her past, she has a husband, and finds herself torn between two irreconcilable lives. And not only that, but the Pagans have secrets they refuse to reveal: Why did Amari avoid Caspar for a hundred years? And what happened between Amari and the leader of a rival nation in the past? To determine if she can trust Caspar, if she should help him, she must wake her demon soul, and bring back her memories. For one thing is certain: when that happens, the tables will turn.
A Discovery of Witches meets the magic of Outlander in this unique series. Pick up Nation of the Sun now for a past-meets-present romp in HR Moore’s pacey style.
Trigger warnings for violence and kidnap. Contains adult content and ends on a cliffhanger.
Descendants by Rae Else
Summary
There are lots of stories about the children of gods. But what about those cursed by the gods, and their descendants…
El, a seventeen-year-old has inherited an ancient and deadly power. She loses control of it, causing a horrific accident, and becomes the prey of a secret organisation, known as the Order.
Forced from her family and home, she hides in plain sight amidst the crowds of London, and is thrust into a world she never knew existed; one full of arete: beings with extraordinary powers like hers.
Arete are beings that can trace their lineage and powers from ancient Greece. They do not claim their inheritance comes from the gods, rather legend says they are descended from cursed beings, such as Medusa.
At the heart of their world is the kerykeion, the symbol that protects them from the humans and the humans from them. El is trapped between two factions, one that has built an empire around the kerykeion and another that is determined to bring it down.
As she is drawn deeper into the conflict, the only way to find the truth is to take matters into her own hands, and the line between friend and foe becomes dangerously blurred.
Descendants is the first book in the Young Adult, Urban Fantasy trilogy: The Arete Series.
The Hells of Notre Dame by RL Davennor
Summary
One night was all it took.
I should have stayed away. I should have thrown away her scarf, banished Esmeralda from my mind, body, and soul, and never thought or spoke of her again. That would have been the best thing, the right thing.
But our Lord works in mysterious ways, and before I know it, the walls of Notre Dame become her prison as much as they are my sanctuary. And with temptation front and center, neither of us have the strength to resist. Our days become longing glances and coded whispers, our nights stolen kisses and caresses on borrowed time, because we both know the inescapable truth.
Our love can only end as it began—in fire. But as each day passes, and the more I fall under her spell, eternal damnation seems a small price to pay.
If Esmeralda is hell, I’ll go willingly.
The Hells of Notre Dame is a sapphic retelling of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the first book in The Phantom of Notre Dame series: where Hunchback collides with The Phantom of the Opera in the streets of gothic Paris. Perfect for fans of the musicals and classic novels alike, these LGBT+ dark fantasy romances are as steamy as they are twisted, and are intended for a mature adult audience. Content warnings include language, violence, explicit sexual content, the unpacking of religious trauma, homophobia (both internalized and directed toward certain characters) and mentions of gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia.
