These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan book cover

Books Like These Hollow Vows

If you finished These Hollow Vows and want more fae, love triangle, court intrigue, 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, These Hollow Vows is:

Spice 2/5 Darkness 2/5

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The picks

  1. 1. A Court of Thorns and Roses

    Sarah J. Maas · A Court of Thorns and Roses #1

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fae, enemies to lovers, deals and bargains

    Beauty and the Beast with fae and a lot more blood. The first half is slow and the second half under the mountain is why everyone kept going. Book two is where it gets good, honestly.

    • Fae
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Curses
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Torture, Murder, Dubious or non-consent

  2. 2. The Cruel Prince

    Holly Black · The Folk of the Air #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fae, enemies to lovers, court intrigue

    A mortal girl raised in Faerie after the man who murdered her parents adopted her. Jude wants power, Cardan wants her gone, and nobody in this court is nice. No spice, all knives.

    • Fae
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Court Intrigue
    • Morally Gray
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one

  3. 3. Throne of Glass

    Sarah J. Maas · Throne of Glass #1 · complete series

    Spice 1/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: love triangle, court intrigue, fae

    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

  4. 4. A Broken Blade

    Melissa Blair · The Halfling Saga #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fae, 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

  5. 5. A Court This Cruel and Lovely

    Stacia Stark · Kingdom of Lies #1 · complete series

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 2/5

    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

  6. 6. Court of Ruins

    Jenna Wolfhart · The Fallen Fae #1 · complete series

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, 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

  7. 7. Faebound

    Saara El-Arifi · Faebound #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fae, enemies to lovers, court intrigue

    Two elven sisters, a disgraced soldier and a fortune teller, get exiled and stumble into the fae everyone said were extinct. The main romance is sapphic.

    • Fae
    • Forbidden Love
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Court Intrigue
    Content warnings

    War, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one

  8. 8. Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

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

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: enemies to lovers, fae, court intrigue

    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

  9. 9. The Iron King

    Julie Kagawa · The Iron Fey #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, love triangle, court intrigue

    On her sixteenth birthday Meghan Chase learns she's the daughter of the Summer King, right as her little brother gets stolen into the Nevernever. Puck, Ash of the Winter Court and fae made of iron. Very 2010 YA, and Ash is why people still recommend it.

    • Fae
    • Love Triangle
    • Forbidden Love
    • Court Intrigue
    Content warnings

    Kidnapping, Graphic violence

  10. 10. The Veiled Kingdom

    Holly Renee · The Veiled Kingdom #1 · complete series

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, enemies to lovers, court intrigue

    Nyra has spent her whole life hiding that she's really Verena, the lost fae princess of Marmoris, and Dacre, the man she can't stop wanting, has no idea. Fast and very spicy, light on worldbuilding. That's either the appeal or the problem.

    • Fae
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Forbidden Love
    • Forced Proximity
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one

  11. 11. A Cursed Kiss

    Jenny Hickman · Myths of Airren #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, 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

  12. 12. A Feather So Black

    Lyra Selene · Fair Folk #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, 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

  13. 13. Bride of the Shadow King

    Sylvia Mercedes · Bride of the Shadow King #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, 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

  14. 14. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

    Heather Fawcett · Emily Wilde #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 1/5

    Shares: fae, enemies to lovers, deals and bargains

    Emily is a prickly Cambridge professor who goes to a frozen northern village to study the local Folk, and her charming, lazy rival Wendell Bambleby invites himself along. Told through her field journal. Cozy and very funny, with real faerie menace underneath.

    • Fae
    • Slow Burn
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Deals and Bargains
    Content warnings

    Kidnapping

  15. 15. Fortuna Sworn

    K.J. Sutton · Fortuna Sworn #1 · complete series

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 4/5

    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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