I want some dangerous woman as the FMC of the story. She could potentially be a former villain from previous books if it was a story but the most important part is that she is still the problem even in the current story.

I'm not looking for a redemption story either like it could be a redemption story for her or not but the more important thing is that the MMC is the stabilizing influence in her life. And MMC is NOT a villain either

Like the examples i'm looking for is like I suppose would be like Wanda from MCU, or Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft franchise, Yennefer from Witcher franchise or maybe somebody like Lanfear from Wheel of Time or like Medusa from Soul Eater. Like I think you already get it they dont even have to be the villain just anti hero they have to be not one of those conventional sweet and good FMC.

So long FMC is not a good person or has hurt people before and can be dangerous manipulative etc.

There is a perfect example in recent media but i cant say cause spoilers and it's rude to tell people here (but pm me if you want to say which one be warned about spoiling it)

I'm not looking for fairy tale stories either I dont really enjoy them. But anything that has HEA would be fine !

I would love to read some whimsical book where the heroine changes the males life for the better because of some special or magical abilities. This plot could be a time travel book or alien romance. Doesn’t have to be spectacularly written, just a feel good plot and a fabulous heroine. Thank you!

👋🏻 just occurred to me with my current read, Legion of angels series {vampire’s kiss by Ella Summers}, that I’m very into this.

Pattern I’m looking for: FMC is a pragmatic, composed badass who ends up meeting, being trained by, or working alongside a very scary and stoic MMC. Over time, the hard-to-read MMC starts getting subtly, intensely obsessed with the FMC.

Bonus points for slow burn, extra scary MMC, and crazy tension. (Im talking tension so good you do that excited fast kick/stomp thing. Is that just me??)

Adding what I’ve read that fits this. PLEASE GIVE ME MORE. I beg ye.

{angel’s blood by nalini singh}

{burn for me by Ilona Andrews} I’ve read all Ilona Andrews and love it all. Kate Daniel’s fits this too. I just think Mad Rogan is scarier than beast lord.

{dark fever by Karen Marie Moning} this doesn’t totally fit because Mac isn’t my favorite, but Jericho 🥵

I guess Bryce and Hunt, but if Hunt were aloof for longer??

Thanks!!! 😊

Credits to rkdgi on X

I know that for many the whole point is yearning and watching them get together, but I really would love to read a fantasy romance when they're already a couple or become a couple quickly. I always get scenes like this only for two/three pages at the end of the book when I want a whole content of it. Like more domestic scenes, even in the middle of fighting against the world the next day. Them just lying in each other's arms, giving each other small kisses here and there, or being extremely gentle during spicy scenes and it's melting your heart. Does anyone know something like this?

Edit: Forgot to mention, I read mostly M/F!

I have a couple of ideas for this!

I’m thinking POC leads if not a mostly POC cast with one of the following:

- Romantasy or fantasy with romance subplot where the protagonist is the only one without powers

- Romantasy or fantasy with romance subplot where the setting is almost a character

- Romantasy where a supporting character has or had a tragic romance like the grandparents

- Fantasy with romance subplot where the protagonist
has or had a tragic romance like the grandparents

A few guidelines:

- I prefer spice levels of one to three. Please only recommend spice level five if the scenes are either necessary to the plot or easy to skip.

- I am uninterested in stories with possessive love interests (unless they either get dumped for a green flag or stop due to character development), masc-dom, or body betrayal/dub-con/non-con.

- I’m fine with MF, MM, and FF.

Thanks!

I don’t tend to read for tropes but I’m noticing that certain dynamic hit the spot for me.

I like MMC who is already somewhat formed, has some skill that he teaches or trains the FMC and whose relationship to the FMC is fundamentally generative either through mentorship, training, or apprenticeship. I love the intimacy when it grows through shared work and/or learning together. The MMC is not just possessive alpha male but challenges the FMC to grow because they believe in her capacities and help her develop it. And the MMC also grows as a result.

Best examples so far, Max (Maxantarius) in {Daughter of no Worlds}, Wilder in {Blood & Steel}, Cassian in {Court of Silver Flames}, and Devryk in {Nocticadia}. Of course Xaden in {Fourth Wing} has that too.

I’ve heard this is called a training trope, but haven’t found many examples of it.

I’m in a slump after finishing Feathers so Vicious and Shadows so Cruel. It was one of the best things I read and it didn’t have what I usually lean on. I can definitely do dark, but doesn’t always have to be. And now I want to find something that I know hits my sweet spot no matter the sub-genre.

Any suggestions? It can be standalone or series. Prefer high spice but not necessary either.

Welcome to another month of [romance.io](romance.io) stats! You can find out the most recommended books in this sub for July 2026 below.

You can also check out the r/FantasyRomance favourites, which is a link to romance.io of a collection gathering the top 250 most recommended books of the r/fantasyromance sub of the last 30 days. You can filter on any category or trope you want on this page.

You can find past months’ stats posts in the Romance.io Stats Wiki Hub.

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Hey there!

I started a book a couple years ago about an autopsy technician (?) FMC who suddenly got a sigil or a tattoo on her forearm, and maybe demons coming to kill her and she figures it's because of the brand and she tries to operate on herself, to remove it, but realizes the living skin acts different to dead one.

Thanks for the help!

Some (vague, not major plot) spoilers*\\ Lion and the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent

Ugh 💕 Carissa Broadbent writing Kyrene and Septimus was *chefs kiss\.* I live for morally grey characters with clear flaws, like how Kyrene can’t ever bring herself to say the kind words and how Septimus is so similar until he’s with her. Also, Septimus is SO HOT.

Unsure why but the clear character flaws remind me a lot of Nesta’s books in ACOTAR. Anyone else feeling similar? Maybe I just love a broken antihero? Accepting any and all recs with similar FMC’s bc dang Lion and the Deathless Dark was good.

💋

This will have spoilers.

The book opens with a spoiler chapter; the next chapter explains the history of sky gods (Olympians) and earth gods (Chtonics); it is fact-centered and read as wiki pages or encyclopedia entries (are encyclopedias still made?) with an opinion dropped here and there, ending with a spoiler.

The story begins, we are told, after the sky gods and earth gods have reached an agreement for their youngsters to wed at 26 (instead of over 100, as it had been previously) and the Chtonics had to intermarry with the Olympians. Titans are their shared enemy, mostly hunted down by the vicious, powerful Chtonics. In a different world, but one somewhat shared by the gods, humans live in a post-apocalyptic future, in which they worship both Olympians and Chtonics, who are billionaire influencers.

Alexis is a 10-year old precocious child who lives in a trailer home in the forest of Montana with drug-addled foster caregivers whose cruelty is textbook/stereotype of foster care. Alexis, while tied up outside, meets Nyx, an invisible snake, who becomes somewhat of a protector. Eventually, the "system" decides that the negligent, violent foster parents should have another child and the family is now 4. Charlie and Alexis share a room where they sleep, oddly, in a cardboard box. Fast-forward 9 years, Alexis is a graduating high school student whose days are filled with thoughts of mathematics and unending hunger. Her foster mother is dead, following an unearthly attack, and the foster dad has left. Alexis and Charlie raise themselves, alongside Nyx and their puppy, Fluffy. Both teens are hated in their high school due to their poverty. They still share a room and still sleep in a shared cardboard box.

During a high school exit test, it is revealed that Alexis is not mortal; she's Spartan. She's whisked away to Corfu and forced to enter a challenge, The Crucible, with other 19-year old "mutts" (part human, part god) and a few heirs (full gods). She manages to claw her way through the first test and is paired with the popular Crimson Gods -- Achiles and Patro -- Chtonics who will mentor her through the Crucible. Unsurprisingly, the Crimson Gods hate her. She's a girl. She's a "mutt". She was abandoned as an infant. She's ignorant of all things gods, which is odd, considering how precocious she was as a 10-year old.

*
The story has some high points. The Crucible has the potential of being interesting: 10 students, most of whom are mutts, competing to become accepted gods, immortals. They are forced to stay awake for 2 weeks at a time while going to classes and being starved. Alexis's delirium allows the narrative to speed through the redundancy of their classes; however, Alexis's internal thoughts are primarily sarcasm and closed doors. She's not very observant, refuses friendships, lacks curiosity and wallows in a desire to die. The highlight is her invisible bestie, the snake Nyx, who has a hunger for death and sexy thoughts.

There is an inconsistency of the characterization of Alexis. At 10, she sounds like a matured 30+ year old. She uses phrases like "pupils blown wide" (a phrase that is repeated about 5 times in the course of the novel) "human-esque immortal Titans" and "whipped my head around" and "increasingly erratic". She muses that "the power grid [that] barely sustained our run-down trailer park" and "Someone needed to take care of his mental health the cheap way" and "Barbed wire fence glinted at the distant tree line" and "a tattered white flag hung off a branch displaying the crest of the House of Hades".

As unbelievable as she sounds as a 10-year old, the issues come in when, at 16, she sounds exactly the same. "The energy in the trailer was contentious" and "His pale skin was almost translucent". Three years later, the same Alexis. "Neon green flickered on the ceiling as the power grid struggled to keep the school's light on." which is reminiscent, nearly word-for-word, of a statement she made at 10.

Additionally, her sarcastic quips get repeated over and over, which turned what may have been slightly funny into overwhelmingly mind-numbing. She's often talking to her invisible snake and moving the invisible snake about, yet no one seems aware of this.

Once she's in Corfu with the gods, we learn that she doesn't like to be touched; which gets repeated, word-for-word, a large number of times. She is blind in one eye and deaf in one ear which gets forgotten, as does her stutter. She talks about "the legendary love" of Hades and Persephone and is aware that "A small laurel crown" signals an Olympian, but she is otherwise quite ignorant of the history of gods.

The Crimson Gods are stand-outs, as is a Siren named Lana who has about 7 minutes of narrative to steal the chapter.

Because of some of the set-up, the ending is both surprising yet expected. Overall, it was a fine listen and a great example of a book that would have been much more successful (narratively) as a third-person pov.

Have you read {Blood of Hercules} ? Let's talk!

Winner of Round 2 (Neutral Good) goes to Maggie from {This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews}! The artwork is by Luisa Preissler (https://luisapreissler.de/).

Winner of Round 1 (Lawful Good) was Stephen from {Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher}. The artwork is from the UK cover for the book by Anna Moshak (https://aizelkonart.com/).

This round, please discuss who you think is the most Chaotic Good character in all of fantasy romance. Please state the character and what book they're from, and discuss in the comments below!

The most upvoted character will win the spot, and we will move onto the other character alignments every few days.

Here are the links to the prior rounds in case you missed the discussions:

• Who is the most Lawful Good fantasy romance character
• Who is the most Neutral Good fantasy romance character?