Spicy Romance Fantasy Recommendations

 1. Into the Forest: A Colorful Fairy Tale of Beauty (Beauty and The Fae Courts of Light and Dark Book 1)

    The High King of the Mortal Realm requires a beautiful wife. She should be without flaw, untainted by curse. And he’s forced, by law and magic, to select her from the next province in the line of succession…

    A handsome young king has ascended the throne of the High Kingdom of the Mortal Realm. An untested, unmarried king without an heir is a dangerous situation for a kingdom under siege by the dark powers of the Fairy Queen, ruler of the Unseelie Court. The truce that ended the Great Magic War between the mortal and fae realms many years ago specifies that the king must marry a woman from the next province in the line of succession. But King Kylan has his eye on a princess from a lesser kingdom four provinces down the list…

    Originally, the four provinces stood in his way, but three of the king's betrothed died under mysterious circumstances without becoming queen. Now there is only The Outlands, a province of cursed outcasts and misfits. The nobles of The Outlands are happy to sacrifice a daughter for the power and wealth it will bring. However, the king wants a beautiful wife, not a misshapen misfit. If only there were a way…

    Maisie is a plain-looking misfit among misfits. She has no desire to be queen. But she promised her mother before she died that she would do everything she could to find a cure for her younger sister who has an aging sickness. A rose that blooms once in a blue moon deep in the heart of the dark forest controlled by the Fairy Queen is rumored to have the power to heal. But it also bestows great beauty and removes curses. Everybody wants it…

    2. Chronicles of Ixia by Maria V. Snyder (Book 1 Poison Study)

    About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

    And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

    As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

3. The Others by Anne Bishop (Book 1 Written in Red)

    No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities -- vampires and shape-shifters among them -- who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

    As a Cassandra Sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut -- a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard -- a business district operated by the Others.

    Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she's keeping a secret, and second, she doesn't smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she's wanted by the government, he'll have to decide if she's worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

4. The Plated Prisoner by Raven Kennedy (Book 1 Gild)

    Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highball, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.

Even me.

    King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe.

Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.

Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left.

The myth of King Midas reimagined. This compelling adult fantasy series is as addictive as it is unexpected. With romance, intrigue, and danger, the gilded world of Orea will grip you from the very first page.

Please Note: This book contains explicit content and darker elements, including mature language, violence, and rape. It is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age. This is book one in a series.

5. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

6. All Souls by Deborah Harkness (Book 1 A Discovery of Witches)

    Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

    Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

7. The Shadow Chronicles by Paula Brackston (Book.5 (short story) The Witches of the Blue Well, Book 1 The Winter Witch)

    In her small early nineteenth-century Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana, who has not spoken since she was a young girl. Her silence is a mystery, as well as her magic. Concerned for her safety, her mother is anxious to see her married, and Cai Jenkins, a widower from the far hills, seems the best choice.

    After her wedding, Morgana is heartbroken at leaving her mother and wary of this man, whom she does not know, and who will take her away to begin a new life. But she soon falls in love with Cai’s farm and the wild mountains that surround it. Cai works to understand the beautiful, half-tamed creature he has chosen for a bride, and slowly, he begins to win Morgana’s affections. It’s not long, however, before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon in her new village. A dark force is at work there—a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana. Forced to defend her home, her man, and herself, Morgana must learn to harness her power, or she will lose everything.

8. Tairen Soul by C.L. Wilson (Book 1 Lord of the Fading Lands)

    Once, driven wild with grief over the murder of his beloved, the majestic Fey King Rain Tairen Soul had laid waste to the world before vanishing into the Fading Lands. Now, a thousand years later, a new threat draws him back into the world—and a new love reawakens the heart he thought long dead. 

    Ellysetta, a woodcarver’s daughter, calls to Rain in a way no other ever had. Mysterious and magical, her soul beckons him with a compelling, seductive song—and no matter the cost, the wildness in his blood will not be denied.

    As an ancient, familiar evil regains its strength, causing centuries-old alliances to crumble and threatening doom for Rain and his people... he must claim his true mate to embrace the destiny woven for them both in the mists of time.

9. War of Lost Hearts by Carissa Broadbent (Book 1 Daughter of No Worlds)

    Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

    Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organization of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. Even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

10. The Aermian Feuds by Frost Kay (Book 1 Rebel's Blade)

    NOTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE

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Secretly trained, swordsmith Sage Blackwell steps up to run her family’s forge when her father falls ill. Sage desires to help the neglected Aermians but is bound by duty to provide for her own… Until that is, she's offered a chance to make a difference.
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THE REBELLION
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Sage knows the risks; imprisonment or death, and yet, she's still willing to take them to protect her family. But when plans unravel, Sage finds herself facing the devils themselves, her sworn enemies, the princes of Aermia.
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THE CROWN
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Tehl Ramses is drowning; crops are being burned, villages pillaged, and citizens are disappearing, leading to a rising rebellion. As crown prince and acting ruler, Tehl must find a way to crush the rebellion before the civil war sweeps through his beloved kingdom. He'll do whatever is necessary to save his people. Yet, his prisoner is not at all what he expected.
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ONE STORY. TWO SIDES. ONE GOAL: SAVE AERMIA.

~Book information and blurbs found on goodreads.com