Good Shit: The Romantasy Edition
Say hello to your new addiction
This is Good Shit: the monthly edition of stuff I’ve bought or used (or read or cooked or liked or things I’ve done) and want to recommend to make your life better. Edition themes will vary, they will traverse many niche interests but all are tried, tested and vetted by me.
Dearest readers,
Welcome to a much requested and carefully curated edition of Good Shit. If you haven’t noticed or have been living under a rock, the romantasy genre has been absolutely dominating of late and with an overwhelming plethora of books at your fingertips, I’m here to guide you as you embark on your journey. If you are already a current and avid reader of these books, then I hope this list gives you some inspiration or simply a nod to a fellow kindred spirit.
You might have seen these books around and thought one or all of these things:
‘I’ve seen a bunch of these books around but I’m overwhelmed on where to begin’
‘These books are beneath me and my literary tastes’
‘This novel/story/genre isn’t really my vibe’
My general response to all of this is don’t knock it until you try it. And I mean really try. Let go of all the noise and expectations in your head and simply immerse yourself in the stories. It’s more than likely that your journey to this point has been part of a greater evolutionary process that has been maturing since your adolescence, namely the Harry Potter to Twilight to ACOTAR pipeline. And if you didn’t like any of these preceding novels, then there is simply no hope for you.
A note on books
How you read your books is a personal and economic choice, so when it comes to accessing these tomes, do whatever is best for you. I read a mix of physical books and digital on my Kindle, as some books are independently published in the US, so getting a paperback can be difficult and expensive. Borrowing from your local library is also an excellent option but you might have to wait a little for the newest releases. Some authors who originally publish independently and then get picked up by a major publisher can have delays in releasing sequels in their series (not so great) or they end up producing paperbacks which you can find in store (this is great).
A note on reading
The list you’re about to read has been structured very specifically and with intention for your reading journey. Of course it doesn’t have to be followed in this particular order but I think it helps build you up to certain stories. But if you are new to the genre, I do urge you to start with A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR). This is, put simply, your gateway drug and you will not fully comprehend what I mean by that until you’ve read the series.
This is where I started after a long hiatus from regular reading in the depths of sickness with Covid in early 2023. I was languishing in the aftermath of what was one of the worst bouts of illness I’d ever experienced (honestly, the only thing that topped getting Covid was mastitis and I’m still traumatised) and bored out of my mind confined to the house while isolated with my little rolly poly seven month old. In my idleness, I’d turned to my bookshelf for a comfort read and pulled an old historical romance off my shelf and text a photo to my friend who loves the same author and she told me what I really should be reading is this book called A Court of Thorns and Roses. With very little else to do other than my washing, I downloaded the first book and a few late nights and reddened eyeballs later, I was freshly showered and storming into Big W hunting for the physical copies, accompanied by my post-isolation freedom.
Spice ratings
The entire internet is obsessed with ratings things by spice level (i.e. the level of explicit sexual content in any given book) and I do often find the ratings systems a bit shit, to be honest. They’re far too subjective and some of them contain way too many qualifiers for the chilli scale. I have elected not to set such a smut scale in my list here, mostly because all of the books contain some type of naughty things to varying degrees of explicitness, so if that definitely isn’t your vibe, then this list isn’t for you. But if it is, I don’t like the idea of someone else’s judgement on what a book is, sexually speaking, to be the decider or what you do or don’t read. Try it for yourself. Keep reading if you love it, put it down if you don’t. Simple.
Order of addiction
1. ACOTAR Series by Sarah J Maas
Number of books: 5
Status: incomplete, number of books in series unknown
Read: physical (covers are iconic/a meme by this point)
This series needs very little introduction but in case you are unaware, the first and titular book of the series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, centres around Feyre, an impoverished huntress who kills a wolf in the woods and unwittingly gets embroiled in the politics and intrigue of the land of Pythian, home of the fae in the land above the wall that separates them. This is set in a pre-industrial era, so definitely historical fantasy vibes and is a retelling of the Disney classic, Beauty and The Beast. Think victorian England but with less corsets.
I literally can not give any more away. Just read it. All you need to know is that Sarah J Maas likes to wreak emotional havoc upon the plot and your emotions in the last 100 pages of any of her books. Also do not read the blurbs of the other books if you end up buying the set or you will be exposed to spoilers you will sorely regret. You have been warned.
2. Crescent City Series by Sarah J Maas
Number of books: 3
Status: Complete-ish? Apparently there’s a fourth instalment coming but the trilogy is an encapsulated story
Read: digital (the books are 800 pages long)
This series is a big change of pace/scene/everything from ACOTAR but they are linked and you absolutely cannot read this series first. The House of Earth and Blood is the first 800 page whopper in this trilogy and is set in the modern day metropolis of Crescent City but with magic. Bryce Quinlan is a half-human, half-fae who has been tasked with an investigation to hunt down a killer with the hot cop equivalent in the form of a tortured, brooding angel, Hunt Athalar.
It is a given that you will not understand much in the first 150 pages of this book as the world building is insane (in a good way). I didn’t expect to love a contemporary fantasy novel as much as I did but Sarah J Maas is just so adept at world building. She is also so fucking good at writing sexual tension and I think book is one of her best efforts at it. The third book was a little disappointing for me, to be completely honest, but still totally readable and like, kinda crucial to resolving the massive story she weaves in the first two novels.
3. The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros
Number of books: 2
Status: Incomplete, book 3 published in Jan 2025; 5 books total planned
Read: physical (also iconic covers)
Okay, we’re jumping to a different author here only because this is a smaller series to hop across to and I think a nice palate cleanser before we continue our journey with our High Lady of Faerie Smut, Sarah J Maas. If you also haven’t heard of Fourth Wing (book one) or Iron Flame (book two) then you’re also living in an alternate reality, that’s how ubiquitous and popular they are. In the first novel of the series, Violet Sorrengail is a young woman who is forced into becoming a dragon rider in the military college which her mother commands. The book focuses a lot on how Violet overcomes the physical challenges she faces as someone with a chronic condition (it’s not explicitly stated but Rebecca Yarros, the author, suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which Violet presumably also does) and dealing with an annoying attraction to the guy who wants to kill her. Classic enemies to lovers. The writing can only be described as ‘American college speak’ and there are so many statement sentences (e.g. Ones. Like. This), they ended up washing over me after a while because you will fly through these books, they’re so easy to digest. Great sex scenes too; that chair scene in book 2 has it’s own fan page, I’m sure of it.
4. Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas
Number of books: 8
Status: complete
Read: physical or digital
Often described as an epic fantasy series with a romance side plot, I think this is my favourite of them all. This is a serious reading commitment but I promise you, well worth it. The world building and character development is immense and it shits all over Game of Thrones. One of the best parts of reading these books is also feeling like you’re growing up with the writer. Sarah J Maas started writing the first book when she was 16 (!!!) and published the novels over a number of years, so you can easily observe the development of her writing, which starts as very YA and ends firmly in adult territory by the time you finish. True to her writing style, SJ Maas builds great sexual tension across her books, emotionally eviscerates you in the closing pages of each one and WILL make you cry by the time you close book eight.
I’m not even going to give you a blurb here except to say the protagonist Calaena Sardothien is as annoying and flawed as she is brilliant but it’s what makes her a great character. We meet her when she is pulled from the pit of a mine by the Prince of Adralan, where she is a slave, and thrust into a competition to fight to become the King’s Champion aka head assassin. Chaos ensues.
Two more things: firstly, there is a very specific reading order to this series and I will not be swayed on it: you need to read The Assassin’s Blade third. Secondly, do not do the tandem read of books six and seven. It will be too much and reduce enjoyment of the individual books.
5. Quicksilver by Callie Hart
Number of books: 1
Status: unconfirmed, there will be a sequel but unsure how many in series
Read: digital
This book has exploded all over Instagram/BookTok this year which has led to its massive success. Originally published independently and via eBook only, the author Callie Hart then bagged a traditional publishing deal (hence the delay in a paperback release) and it’s just been announced Netflix is optioning the book for a movie. I think part of its roaring success has been in its point of differences in terms of the magic system in the world which we inhabit in the novel and the ah, steamy scenes. The book abounds with well-developed side characters (Carrion Swift is the funniest fucker out there) and combines a fae and vampire narrative in way I haven’t read before.
Saeris Fane is an impoverished human living in the scorched city of Zilvaren until she accidentally opens a gate between worlds and calls forth a fae dude called Kingfisher (the most stupid name) who takes her back to Yvelia and plants her in the middle of an ongoing conflict in his world. For once, the female protagonist isn’t eighteen (twenty-four by comparison) but is your usual sassy type. This book leans heavily into the enemies to lovers and tortured, brooding main dude tropes but it’s just so good. Tropes are tropes for a reason; they work. Many people compare Kingfisher to Rhysand of ACOTAR fame but I don’t put them that close together in my head, I’ve read more carbon copies in other books. Kingfisher, stupid name notwithstanding, stands apart. Ends on a massive cliffhanger; read it immediately.
6. Crowns of Nyaxia Series by Carissa Broadbent
Number of books: 3 + 2 related novellas
Status: incomplete, 6 in series split into three duologues
Read: physical or digital
Touted as the next Sarah J Maas, Carissa Broadbent’s storytelling is beautiful and it shows in her character development in The Serpent and The Wings of Night, the first book in her Crowns of Nyaxia series. These are not her first novels (I mention them below) but having read them and then comparing them to her latest offering, you can see how much she has developed as a writer. These books are much like Sarah J Maas in that they build upon each other in the same universe and the duology structure of her core novels is actually genius. I like a duology as sometimes you can tell when a wrier is stretching their work across three or four novels and they become bloated and long-winded, whereas the tidy two book mini-series forces the pacing to stay tight and the plot and characters moving along and it pays off. The magic is different and so is the vampire mythology, which always makes these very common fantasy themes feel fresh and new again.
In Serpent, we meet Oraya, the human daughter of a vampire king, who enters the Kejari, a bloody and dangerous tournament, the winner of which is granted a wish by the goddess of death, Nyaxia, who hosts the event. During the tournament, Oraya is forced into an alliance with Raihn, a dangerous vampire with an axe to grind against Oraya’s father and secrets of his own. I love Oraya’s character and her very palpable fear that comes off the page, her sassiness that is more brittleness and therefore more authentic when you understand how her worldview has been shaped. Read this duology before you dive into the novellas and then pick up with Broadbent’s latest release, the first book in her second duology, The Songbird and the Heart of Stone.
7. The Ever Seas Series by LJ Andrews
Number of books: 3
Status: incomplete, 6 books in series
Read: digital
The Ever King, the first novel in this series, and the first of a duology, centres around Erik Bloodsinger and his obsession with revenge against the land fae. Livia Ferus, daughter of the land fae king unknowingly breaks the bonds keeping Erik and the sea fae from invading her land and when he kidnaps her, shit hits the fan in both worlds. I loved these books because the author weaves Viking and Norse mythology into the story, something different from the standard fae narratives. It kinda felt like Pirates of the Caribbean but with darker themes and a lot less squealing from the female protagonist. The first two books tell Erik and Livia’s story and the subsequent books in the series will be standalone novels about each of the side characters LJ Andrews introduces in the first book.
The is also a nine book series (could have been seven) which precedes this, called The Broken Kingdoms Series, which is about the parents of all of these characters but it’s not necessary to read them to get what’s going on in the Ever Seas but they are worth diving into if you’re looking for something new to sink your teeth into and add wider context to this series.
8. The Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks
Number of books: 3 + 1 novella
Status: incomplete, 7 books in series; 2 sequels and 1 more novella
Read: digital
And to round out this rather long and comprehensive reading guide, is The Witch Walker series, which takes us to the land of Tiressia and the witches and gods who inhabit it. The Witch Collector, our first foray into this world, introduces us Raina Bloodgood, a mute witch who wishes to kill Alexus Thibault, the Witch Collector (aka the Hot Dude) who took her sister from her years before on Collecting Day. So when this auspicious day rolls around again and someone else attacks her village, she needs to team up with Alexus the Hot Dude to survive long enough to find her sister and GTFO. Spoiler: nothing goes to plan.
These books again offer something different in terms of mythology and magic systems which hook you in but really, it’s the expanding plot and massive twist at the end of book two which really sold me on continuing with the rest of the series. I came to these books after they had all been published but there’s a distinct change in tone and ahem, spicy scenes, from book one onwards that makes me think this had a great reception and the writer is just running with it. Books three and four, I am not kidding, have the most unhinged sex scenes I’ve ever read, that I am still mentally and emotionally recovering from them. I had to save something mind-bending for the end. You’re welcome.
Honourable Mentions
War of Lost Hearts Trilogy by Carissa Broadbent
Number of books: 3
Status: complete
Read: digital
Carissa Broadbent great storyteller but the story got a bit unwieldy and rushed in the end for me. The love story is so beautiful and different to the typical enemies to lovers trope that comes up a lot in these books.
The Kindreds Curse Saga by Penn Cole
Number of books: 3
Status: incomplete, 4 books in series
Read: digital
These books have slowest of slow burns ever that if the world wasn’t so interesting, I would have given up on the main couple in book two. Also the main character is the most irritating woman I have ever read. Diem’s sass level gets kind of unbelieveable and really grates at times but worth a read if you want something immersive and epic to get lost in.
Okay, that was a lot. Off you go now,
Sian x