Books Like The Bridge Kingdom
If you finished The Bridge Kingdom and want more arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, assassins, 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. Throne of Glass
Shares: assassins, court intrigue
An assassin dragged out of a salt mine to compete for the king's favor. Book one reads young. Stick with it, because by book four it's a full-blown fae war epic.
- Assassins
- Deadly Trials
- Love Triangle
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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2. A Broken Blade
Shares: assassins, court intrigue, enemies to lovers
Keera is the King's Blade, a half-fae spy who drinks to forget what she's done for a human king. Hunting a rebel called the Shadow drags her back toward the fae lands she abandoned. Indigenous-inspired and slower than the hype. Readers rate the first two books highest.
- Assassins
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Enemies to Lovers
Content warnings
Self-harm, Suicide or suicidal thoughts, Drug or alcohol abuse, Murder, Sexual assault
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3. Court of Ruins
Shares: arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, court intrigue
Reyna Darragh would rather swing a sword than smile at court, but a political marriage could end the war faster than her blade ever will. A short, steamy KU fae romance that doesn't waste your time.
- Fae
- Arranged Marriage
- Enemies to Lovers
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War
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4. Bride of the Shadow King
Shares: arranged marriage, slow burn, court intrigue
The shunned princess nobody notices gets picked as the Shadow King's bride instead of her golden sister, and goes off to a fae kingdom that may not want her either. More yearning than heat, and very soft-hearted for a book with this title.
- Fae
- Arranged Marriage
- Slow Burn
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War
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5. Shield of Sparrows
Shares: arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, slow burn
A dutiful princess who was never meant to rule seals an old treaty with her own blood and gets sent across the sea to a husband she barely knows, in a realm the gods filled with monsters. A legendary monster hunter rides along and resents her. Fast, smooth and full of misdirection.
- Arranged Marriage
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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6. A Shadow in the Ember
Shares: arranged marriage, assassins, enemies to lovers
Sera was raised to seduce and kill the Primal of Death, who was promised her as a bride and then never came to collect. When Nyktos finally shows up, the plan gets messy fast. Long and repetitive in the middle, and a prequel world for Blood and Ash readers.
- Gods and Mythology
- Arranged Marriage
- Assassins
- Enemies to Lovers
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse, Murder
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7. This Monster of Mine
Shares: enemies to lovers, court intrigue, slow burn
A legal thriller in a Rome-inspired city. Four years after someone threw Sarai from a tower, she's back as a Petitor who can hear lies, assigned to Tetrarch Kadra, the feared judge whose voice sounds exactly like her attacker's. She works with him by day and plots against him by night.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Torture, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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8. A Dawn of Onyx
Shares: enemies to lovers, slow burn
A healer gets caught fleeing her village and ends up working in the enemy king's castle, and yes, the brooding commander is more than he looks. If you've read ACOTAR, you'll know exactly where this is going, and that's sort of the point.
- Captor and Captive
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence
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9. Poison Study
Shares: slow burn, assassins, court intrigue
Yelena is a day from the noose when she's offered a job as the Commander's food taster. Valek, the chief of security, poisons her so she can't run. An old-school slow burn from 2005 and still one of the better captor romances out there.
- Captor and Captive
- Slow Burn
- Assassins
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Physical or emotional abuse, Torture, Murder
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10. The Kiss of Deception
Shares: assassins, arranged marriage, slow burn
Princess Lia bolts from her arranged wedding to a seaside village, and two new boys turn up: the prince she jilted and the assassin sent to kill her. The book hides which is which for a long time. That trick is the whole fun.
- Assassins
- Love Triangle
- Arranged Marriage
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Graphic violence, Murder
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11. A Fate Inked in Blood
Shares: slow burn, court intrigue
Viking romantasy. Freya is a shield maiden with a prophecy on her head and a jarl's son who is very much not her husband. Feels like Vikings meets a political chess game.
- Gods and Mythology
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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12. A Feather So Black
Shares: slow burn, court intrigue
Fern is a changeling who never fit at the human court that raised her, and the Otherworld is calling her back. Built on Irish myth with a love story that should not happen. Gorgeous prose, and a pace you have to be in the mood for.
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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13. Frost
Shares: enemies to lovers, arranged marriage
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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14. Immortal Rose
Shares: court intrigue, slow burn
Viola is the illegitimate Rosebourne heir and a perfumer, roped into making the one scent that could save Albion's king while a royal spymaster watches her every move. Regency gloss with some grit underneath. Ends on a cliffhanger, fair warning.
- Court Intrigue
- Forced Proximity
- Morally Gray
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence
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15. Kingdom of the Wicked
Shares: enemies to lovers, slow burn
Sicilian witch summons a prince of hell to find out who killed her twin. Wrath is the best part, and the spice goes up a lot in book two.
- Witches
- Demons
- Enemies to Lovers
- Revenge
Content warnings
Murder, Gore, Death of a loved one
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