How we rank
This list is based on literary craft, emotional impact, and genre contribution — not sales rank or BookTok popularity. Criteria: quality of prose, strength of romantic arc, world-building coherence, and re-read value. Books are assessed by the Vellichor editorial team. We update this list when a title earns its place.
The romantasy genre had its biggest year yet in 2024. More books, more readers, more BookTok obsessions — and more genuinely excellent writing than the genre has ever produced. We read a lot of it. Here is what was actually worth your time.
If you are new to the genre, start with our Ultimate Guide to Romantasy first. If you are already deep in, you know exactly why you are here.
What Makes a Great Romantasy?
The best romantasy books do two things simultaneously: they build worlds that feel genuinely alive, and they make you care about the romance more than you thought possible. The magic system, the political intrigue, the lore — all of it exists to raise the emotional stakes of the love story. When it works, there is nothing like it. 2024 delivered several books that achieved exactly this.
The Best Romantasy Books of 2024
1. Onyx Storm — Rebecca Yarros
The third book in the Fourth Wing series arrived in January 2024 and immediately broke pre-order records. Yarros continues to deliver the enemies-to-lovers tension and dragon-rider world-building that made the series a phenomenon. Violet and Xaden’s relationship reaches new levels of complexity here — this is the book where the series earns its emotional weight. Best for: Readers who loved Fourth Wing and want more, elevated. Tropes: Enemies to lovers, fated mates, war romance, dragon riders.
2. The Familiar — Leigh Bardugo
Bardugo returns to standalone territory with a Spanish Inquisition-set fantasy romance that is darker, stranger, and more ambitious than anything she has written before. The magic system is genuinely original. The romance is slow, dangerous, and worth every page. This is the book I pressed into the most hands in 2024. Best for: Readers who want literary romantasy with real stakes. Tropes: Forbidden romance, dark magic, historical fantasy.
3. Bride — Ali Hazelwood
A vampire-werewolf political marriage romance that is smarter than it sounds. Hazelwood brings her STEM-romance sensibility to full fantasy and the result is a book that is funny, tense, and genuinely romantic. The world-building is surprisingly rich for a standalone. Best for: Readers who want romantasy with humour and heart. Tropes: Arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, monster romance, political intrigue.
4. House of Flame and Shadow — Sarah J. Maas
The third Crescent City book delivered the crossover event romantasy readers had been theorising about for years. Bryce Quinlan remains one of the genre‘s most compelling heroines — flawed, fierce, and deeply human despite the world she inhabits. Best for: Existing Maas readers; not a good entry point. Tropes: Fated mates, urban fantasy romance, found family, multiverse.
5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess — Sue Lynn Tan
Chinese mythology, a quest across celestial realms, and a love story that develops through sacrifice and separation. Tan’s prose is the most beautiful in the genre. This duology is what romantasy looks like when literary fiction and genre romance meet at their best. Best for: Readers who want lyrical prose and emotional devastation. Tropes: Slow burn, mythology retelling, sacrifice romance, epic quest.
Romantasy Trends That Defined 2024
The morally grey love interest reached peak popularity — every major 2024 release featured a love interest whose ethics were, at best, complicated. See our full guide to morally grey love interest fantasy books.
Slow burn made a comeback. After years of instant-connection romances dominating BookTok, 2024 saw a return to the long, agonising slow burn. Our slow burn fantasy romance guide has everything you need.
What to Read Next
Our Ultimate Romantasy Reading List has 50+ books across every subgenre. And if you want to go deeper on any of the tropes above, Vellichor has dedicated guides to enemies to lovers, magic systems in fantasy romance, and books like ACOTAR.
External resource: Goodreads: Best of 2024
📚 Recommended reads mentioned in this essay:
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