Crave by Tracy Wolff book cover

Books Like Crave

If you finished Crave and want more vampires, academies and war colleges, forbidden love, 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.

For reference, Crave is:

Spice 1/5 Darkness 2/5

Last updated

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The picks

  1. 1. A Discovery of Witches

    Deborah Harkness · All Souls #1

    Spice 1/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: vampires, forbidden love, possessive hero

    Diana is an Oxford historian and reluctant witch who calls up a bewitched manuscript at the Bodleian, and suddenly every creature in town is watching her, including the very old vampire Matthew Clairmont. Lots of wine, research and yoga. Slow, and people love it anyway.

    • Witches
    • Vampires
    • Forbidden Love
    • Possessive Hero
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder, Stalking

  2. 2. Vampire Academy

    Richelle Mead · Vampire Academy #1 · complete series

    Spice 1/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: vampires, academies and war colleges, forbidden love

    Rose is a half-vampire bodyguard in training, and her best friend Lissa is a Moroi royal. They get dragged back to St. Vladimir's after two years on the run, and her mentor Dimitri is extremely off limits. Mean girls, compulsion and blood, all very 2007.

    • Vampires
    • Academies and War Colleges
    • Forbidden Love
    • Found Family
    Content warnings

    Self-harm, Dubious or non-consent, Graphic violence

  3. 3. Bride

    Ali Hazelwood · standalone

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: vampires, fated mates, possessive hero

    A vampire is married off to the Alpha of the werewolves as a peace treaty. Hazelwood's banter in a monster romance. Lighter on the dark, heavy on the yearning.

    • Arranged Marriage
    • Vampires
    • Fated Mates
    • Forced Proximity
    Content warnings

    Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence

  4. 4. Hush, Hush

    Becca Fitzpatrick · Hush, Hush #1 · complete series

    Spice 1/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero

    Nora's new lab partner Patch is a fallen angel, though she doesn't know that yet, and he's frankly a creep about it. This was the dark paranormal YA boyfriend of 2009. It hasn't aged well, and lots of readers still remember it fondly.

    • Forbidden Love
    • Possessive Hero
    • Morally Gray
    • Stalker Romance
    Content warnings

    Stalking, Murder, Graphic violence

  5. 5. From Blood and Ash

    Jennifer L. Armentrout · Blood and Ash #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: vampires, forbidden love, possessive hero

    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

  6. 6. A Tempest of Tea

    Hafsah Faizal · Blood and Tea #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: vampires, forbidden love

    Arthie runs a tearoom by day and a blood bar for vampires by night, and saving it means pulling off a heist with a crew of misfits. Her history with Jin simmers in the background. Ornate prose and a slow first act.

    • Vampires
    • Found Family
    • Forbidden Love
    • Morally Gray
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder

  7. 7. Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

    Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti · Zodiac Academy #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: academies and war colleges, forbidden love

    Twins Tory and Darcy Vega find out they're the lost heirs to the Fae throne and get dropped into Zodiac Academy, where four Celestial Heirs want them gone. Book one is mostly bullying and pranks, which is a dealbreaker for some. Stay and it becomes a nine-book obsession.

    • Academies and War Colleges
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Fae
    • Forbidden Love
    Content warnings

    Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence, Drug or alcohol abuse

  8. 8. A Touch of Darkness

    Scarlett St. Clair · Hades x Persephone Saga #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: possessive hero, forbidden love

    Persephone bets with the god of the dead and loses. Hades and Persephone in modern day, with all the jealousy that comes with it. A comfort read for a lot of fans.

    • Gods and Mythology
    • Deals and Bargains
    • Possessive Hero
    • Forbidden Love
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder

  9. 9. Fall of Ruin and Wrath

    Jennifer L. Armentrout · Awakening #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero

    Lis is an orphan with a knack for seeing things she shouldn't, and she uses it doing jobs for dangerous people, until she crosses paths with Thorne, a very powerful immortal. Classic Armentrout: banter, heat and a lot of internal monologue. The sequel is a long time coming.

    • Forbidden Love
    • Possessive Hero
    • Morally Gray
    • Court Intrigue
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse

  10. 10. Neon Gods

    Katee Robert · Dark Olympus #1

    Spice 5/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: forbidden love, possessive hero

    Hades and Persephone in a modern city run by the Thirteen. She runs away from a forced engagement to Zeus and makes a deal with the one man nobody crosses. Quick and very steamy.

    • Gods and Mythology
    • Deals and Bargains
    • Forbidden Love
    • Possessive Hero
    Content warnings

    Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence

  11. 11. King of Battle and Blood

    Scarlett St. Clair · Adrian x Isolde #1

    Spice 5/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: vampires, possessive hero

    A princess marries the vampire king to save her people and plans to kill him on the wedding night. A lot spicier than her Hades books.

    • Vampires
    • Arranged Marriage
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Possessive Hero
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Gore, Murder

  12. 12. When the Moon Hatched

    Sarah A. Parker · Moonfall #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 4/5

    Shares: fated mates, possessive hero

    An assassin with a huge chip on her shoulder, a sky-king with a dragon and a lot of history between them. Huge, purple-prosed and divisive. People either love it or bounce off hard.

    • Dragons
    • Fated Mates
    • Possessive Hero
    • Morally Gray
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Torture, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping

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