Books Like A Court of Thorns and Roses
If you finished A Court of Thorns and Roses and want more fae, enemies to lovers, fairy tale retellings, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
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The picks
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1. From Blood and Ash
Shares: enemies to lovers
Poppy is the Maiden, veiled and untouchable, and her new guard Hawke is far too interested in her. Very talky, very horny, and the twist lands if you don't see it coming.
- Vampires
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping
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2. Quicksilver
Shares: fae, enemies to lovers
Saeris is a thief who touches the wrong thing and gets hauled into the fae realm by a very rude fae warrior. Long, crude in a fun way and properly spicy once it gets there.
- Fae
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Murder
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3. A Court This Cruel and Lovely
Shares: fae, enemies to lovers, deals and bargains
Prisca has hidden her magic her whole life. Then a fae prince turns up who needs exactly that, with a curse sitting in the middle of it. Clear ACOTAR comp and a fine one to read next.
- Fae
- Enemies to Lovers
- Deals and Bargains
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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4. Fortuna Sworn
Shares: fae, deals and bargains, enemies to lovers
Fortuna is a Nightmare who can see the fears of anyone she touches, and when her brother goes missing she ends up a prisoner of the Unseelie Court. Getting out costs her something very fae. Bleak, messy, and the love interest debate is half the fun.
- Fae
- Captor and Captive
- Deals and Bargains
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Human trafficking, Graphic violence
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5. Gilded
Shares: fairy tale retellings, curses, deals and bargains
Rumpelstiltskin from the miller's daughter's side. Serilda's tall tales catch the Erlking's attention, he locks her in his haunted castle to spin straw into gold, and a ghost boy named Gild does it for her. Long and slow in the middle, but the Wild Hunt is properly creepy.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
- Deals and Bargains
- Captor and Captive
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Murder, Death of a loved one, Physical or emotional abuse
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6. Losing Wendy
Shares: fairy tale retellings, fae, enemies to lovers
Peter Pan retold as a mystery, with Wendy Darling, winged fae, mating marks and something killing in Neverland. Enemies to lovers on a very slow fuse. Darker than the premise sounds, and not everyone liked where it takes Wendy.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Fae
- Fated Mates
- Enemies to Lovers
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence
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7. The Sweetest Fiend
Shares: fairy tale retellings, fae, deals and bargains
Pied Piper retelling. The Piper clears a plague from her city and takes 130 people as payment, her included. The first half is plague and survival, the back half gets very explicit, and it ends mid-fall.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Fae
- Captor and Captive
- Deals and Bargains
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Graphic violence
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8. The Wren in the Holly Library
Shares: enemies to lovers, fairy tale retellings, fae
Kierse is a thief in a New York still scarred by a war with monsters, and she gets caught breaking into the house of Graves, a centuries-old something who offers her a job instead of killing her. Beauty and the Beast bones and plenty of heat. The first act is slow.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Morally Gray
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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9. A Cursed Kiss
Shares: fae, curses, enemies to lovers
Keelynn's sister died from a Gancanagh's cursed kiss, so she teams up with a witch and the half-fae Tadhg to bring her back. Irish folklore all the way down. There's a lot of miscommunication, but Tadhg carries it.
- Fae
- Curses
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Murder, Graphic violence
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10. Bonded by Thorns
Shares: fae, fairy tale retellings, curses
Beauty and the Beast, except there are four fae beasts and nobody has to choose. Cozier than most here, but steamy.
- Fae
- Why Choose
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence
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11. Curse of the Wolf King
Shares: fae, fairy tale retellings, curses
Beauty and the Beast with a bookworm who'd rather be a spy. Gemma Bellefleur needs King Elliot's curse broken so she can buy her freedom, and he needs someone to fall for him before it kills him. Funny, cozy, a good palate cleanser between dark reads.
- Fae
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Graphic violence
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12. Frost
Shares: fae, deadly trials, enemies to lovers
Torin, the icy Seelie king, needs a queen to save his kingdom and holds a deadly competition to pick one, and a sarcastic human woman with nothing to lose ends up in it. The Bachelor with fae and frostbite. Quick, snarky and steamy.
- Fae
- Deadly Trials
- Enemies to Lovers
- Arranged Marriage
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder
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13. These Hollow Vows
Shares: fae, deals and bargains, enemies to lovers
Brie hates the fae, then her little sister gets handed over to the Unseelie to pay a debt. Her way in is posing as a bride for the Seelie prince Ronan while the shadowy Finn works his own angle. Pick a team early, because readers are still arguing.
- Fae
- Love Triangle
- Court Intrigue
- Deals and Bargains
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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14. These Vile Hearts
Shares: deals and bargains, curses, enemies to lovers
Maddox is type 1 diabetic, just lost her job and her insurance, and makes a deal with a dryad queen: kill the Redwood King and get cured. Then she mistakes his cursed brother Castor for him. Funny, angry about real healthcare, and a very good debut.
- Deals and Bargains
- Curses
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Murder
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15. Wintersong
Shares: fae, deals and bargains, fairy tale retellings
Liesl trades herself to the Goblin King to get her sister back from the Underground, and the bargain turns into a marriage. Labyrinth for grown-ups, with music at its heart. Lush and moody, though some readers feel the second half drifts.
- Fae
- Deals and Bargains
- Captor and Captive
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Death of a loved one
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