Reading roundup · Romantasy
Waiting for ACOTAR 6? Indie Romantasy to Read Now
A Court of Splintered Harmony lands on 27 October. Here are six indie romantasy books, and one wicked little bonus, to carry you there.
A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth A Court of Thorns and Roses book, comes out on 27 October. Until then, every fan knows the routine: the reread you promised yourself you wouldn't start, the pre-order page you keep refreshing, and the theories getting wilder by the day.
Here's a better use of the wait. Indie authors have been writing romantasy for years, and plenty of it scratches the same itch ACOTAR does: fae courts at war, slow burns that make you wait for it, morally grey men with far too much charm, and found families held together by terrible odds.
The six below, plus a bonus, come from the IndieFiction shelves. Every one is self-published and picked by hand, not by an algorithm. Each title links to its page here, and from there to wherever the author sells it. There are no affiliate links and we take no cut, so buying one supports the author directly.
Start with the part of ACOTAR you miss most
- The courts, the politics and the warWhere Myth Fades to Legend
- Feyre's trials Under the MountainThe Fraying of Fates
- Every scene with Rhysand in itIn Pain and Blood
- Something to finish before release nightThe Sea & The Stag Horn
- The Inner Circle, and finding your peopleHidden in Blood
- The spice. You know the chaptersBaked Goods & Black Magic
Six indie romantasy books to read while you wait
Where Myth Fades to Legend
by Izze LuisFantasy
Read it if you wantfae courts and a war that has outlasted everyone in it.
The fey attack a village and carry its people off, and three sisters are torn apart in the chaos. What follows is a conflict between the courts that has been running for more than two hundred years, and three separate journeys as each sister fights her way back to the others. If it's ACOTAR's court politics you miss most, start here. It has the scale, with more hope in it than most.
First in a series.
2likesSee the bookThe Fraying of Fates
by Aubery SloaneFantasyPre-order
Read it if you wanta deadly competition, with romance tangled up in lies.
On the island of Asteria, young men on the edge of adulthood are blessed and vanish from the human realms. Every nine years the witch queens host the Courting, a contest where women compete for a blessed mate, and this time the game might unravel fate itself. Four narrators carry it: a woman searching for her lost first love, an outsider in disguise, a witch forced to play a part, and a man with no memory of his past. Steamy, epic and, yes, it ends on a cliff.
A debut, and the first book in the Tapestries Untold series.
2likesSee the bookIn Pain and Blood
by Aldrea AlienFantasy
Read it if you wantenemies to lovers with real heat and a morally grey edge.
Dylan's life in the spellster tower has magic, safety and the odd secret affair. What it doesn't have is freedom. So when the chance comes to leave, even as a leashed weapon for the King's Army, he takes it. Then his first scouting mission goes wrong, and his only way home is the Tracker: an elven man who flirts far too easily and wakes up desires Dylan has spent years burying. A queer slow burn from a USA Today bestselling author.
First in a series.
1likeSee the bookThe Sea & The Stag Horn
by H.F. DayFantasy
Read it if you wantNorse myth, and something you can finish in a weekend.
Anya, a princess of Alfheim, is forced into an arranged marriage with her childhood friend Rathuell, then sent to Jötunheim to pay a blood debt for a god's kill. The sea turns cruel, the dead start to rise, and the choice in front of them narrows to justice, vengeance or each other. Dark, atmospheric, and short enough to finish before the midnight release parties begin.
- Arranged marriage
- Slow burn
- Epic quest
A short read.
1likeSee the bookBaked Goods & Black Magic
by A R LinesFantasy
Read it if you wantspice, laughs and a heroine who bakes.
She thought she was a Beta, and that her life as a baker would stay simple. Then four Alphas trigger her heat, her world ignites with magic, a string of brutal murders begins and something starts stalking the forests of Saforia. Funny, steamy and whimsical, with real danger underneath. Made for every reader who met the Inner Circle and thought: why choose?
- Why choose
- Omegaverse
- Fated mates
- Found family
Part one of a duet, with a slight cliffhanger. 18+ for adult language, open-door romance and some violence.
1likeSee the book
Still not enough?
The Romantasy shelf holds 25 books, every one tagged by its own author. If you'd rather start small, the indie romantasy starter list is a short, hand-picked handful to begin with.
Can't decide? Let a blind date choose
Try Blind Date with a Book. Tell us your type and we'll hand you three books, wrapped. No covers and no titles, so no judging a book by its cover, until you unwrap one.
For after the last page
Finished A Court of Splintered Harmony and staring at the wall? Book seven, A Court of Forgotten Melody, isn't due until 12 January 2027. That's a long winter.
Our newsletter, the Shout-Out, can help: four indie books most weeks, and despite the name, nobody shouts. Sign up on the readers page, and tick the ARC box if you'd like the chance of free early copies from authors.
Wrote a romantasy book?
List it on IndieFiction for free. Tag it Romantasy and it joins the shelf above, where readers like the ones on this page are already looking. It might turn up in the next roundup, too.
So, which one are you starting with? Tell us on Instagram at @indie.fiction.