Annie's Romantasy Picks | Heroine Hidden Identities
I've been neglecting the fantasy lovers amongst you, so I asked for some help!
Message from Bri: Hey friends! Longtime readers of this newsletter will have perhaps noticed by now that there’s a pretty obvious lack of romantasy representation, and that’s because I don’t really read it much, and this newsletter is mostly a slightly polished reading diary for me. But now that I’ve been at this nearly two years (!!) and I’ve been starting to expand my own reading horizons, I asked my romance writer’s group if anyone wanted to guest post. And to my delight, they did! Annie… take it away!
When Bri asked our writing group whether anyone was interested in doing a romantasy round up, I immediately raised my hand. The ask was to write about three books. I may have read ten or fifteen as part of the assignment. While romantasy has exploded on BookTok over the past two or three years, many of us who loved “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars” have been finding our way well before then. There’s destiny, there’s quests, there’s Chosen Ones, there’s maps, there’s dragons, men with sensitive wings. As a sci-fi and fantasy loving kid, this speaks to me. With that in mind, I’ve chosen three romantasies with various levels of spice and world building complexity. What links these stories is that each FMC is hiding her true identity. This may however be a baseline requirement for all romantasies.
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen. Lara is one of twelve sisters who are all vying to marry King Aren from the island kingdom of Ithicana. But this is no ordinary romance-plot arranged marriage. She and her sisters have trained their whole life to marry the king in order to infiltrate his kingdom, learn the secrets of the country’s defenses, and bring about its downfall. Whoever controls the bridge that spans the kingdom can control commerce and trade, and Lara is desperate to bring supplies back to her homeland.
Once Lara is wed and whisked to Aren’s island kingdom, she must pretend she’s helpless and weak, all while doing copious amounts of sneaking around, spying and drugging. But in order to fully understand the island’s resources, she needs to earn the trust of the King. Possibly getting naked will be part of her plans to wear down his defenses.
I loved the vivid world building of the humid island nation filled with snakes, sharks, giant spiders and mist. It reminded me of another aquatic world, in Constance Fay’s fantastic “Fiasco” (that’s sci fi - so will save that for another installment). There’s also a lot of angst and a lot of longing and the dual pov makes the slow thaw of their relationship doubly satisfying. I immediately went to download the next book after finishing this one.
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas. Throwing YA in here because I think YA was doing romantasy well before romantasy had a name.
Iolanthe Seabourne has spent a quiet life in quiet villages, until she accidentally summons lightning when she’s trying to do a party trick at a wedding, and several very important people take notice. Turns out the ability to summon lighting means she’s very very powerful, possibly the most powerful magician in a generation (hello chosen one). Which means the big bad guy of this universe, the Bane, now wants to find and destroy her.
Enter Titus: a prince whose late mother prophesied that he would one day need to team up with this powerful mage to defeat the Bane. When he discovers Iolanthe, he whisks her away to the non-magical world, specifically, to hide out at Eton, his all-boys school in Victorian England. Since the authorities are now hunting for her, Iolanthe must go undercover as a male student named Archie Fairfax. Titus thought the foretold savior would be a male, and well, he had to improvise.
Saving the world isn’t exactly on Iolanthe’s to-do list. “Better cowardly than dead.”. While she’s focused on self-preservation (and becomes unexpectedly popular at school), Titus is all brooding self-sacrifice. Haunted by his mother’s prophecy, he can’t imagine a future for himself that isn’t tragic. When Iolanthe starts to question if his fate is really so sealed, the cracks in his reserve begin to show. And she starts to question if she can just walk away from his fate.
I loved the enemies-to-lovers arc, the layered character growth, and the ramping action in the third act This book also feels like a love letter to reading itself. Titus trains inside a magical book based on fairy tales, and his mother’s journal contains vanishing prophecies. Books can really be transportive magic devices. You should read this with tea, preferably when it’s raining outside. It’s all very cozy.
How hot? 🔥 (It’s YA, it’s like a half a fire, warm coals)
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli. Rune Winters is a witch in hiding, concealing her identity to avoid persecution by a government bent on eradicating her kind. But when her grandmother is murdered for being a witch, Rune inherits her family’s fortune and devotes herself to a new mission: saving as many witches as she can. Vapid socialite by day, vanquisher known as the Crimson Moth by night.
Gideon Sharpe is the Captain of the Royal Guard, and his goal in life is to rid the city of witches. Which puts him right in the path of the Crimson Moth.
They both need a reason to get closer to the other and start to circle each other closer and closer to try to uncover their secrets. The fake dating trope in this case helps bring these two characters together and push how far they’re willing to fake it. Because magic in this world manifests as marks on the skin, Gideon’s investigation requires Rune to strip down. Convenient what they both justify for investigations sake.
This is a proper enemies to lovers. These two don’t just mildly annoy each other, they both think about ending the others’ lives. Both carry deep trauma, and the way their guarded exteriors begin to melt is deeply satisfying—even if the emotional baggage is so heavy it starts to weigh everything down. But still, when Gideon smiles for the first time…possibly ever…with her?. Sigh.
How hot? 🔥🔥
Annie began her career as a writer/ producer for PBS, and has gone on to produce Emmy and Cannes Gold Lion winning work across tv, digital, social, and experiential. Annie is funneling her experience and occasional trauma in working in tech and entertainment for the past 15 years into her two debut novels, one a murder mystery taking place in tech and set in Topanga Canyon, and the other a hockey / pop star fake dating romance. Because she needs frothy escapism right now. You can find her on threads and bluesky
Thank you so much to my wonderful friend Annie for this guest roundup! Next week, I’ll be recommending books with protagonists with prosthetic limbs.
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
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Available now: my debut marriage of convenience romance Rehabbing the Billionaire! Buy your copy on Amazon, or snag it on Kindle Unlimited! Then, rate it on Goodreads to help more people discover it!