Books Like These Violent Delights
If you finished These Violent Delights and want more enemies to lovers, forbidden love, morally gray, 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. The Cruel Prince
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
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
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2. The Stolen Heir
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
Suren, the runaway child queen of the Court of Teeth, has been living feral in the New England woods when Prince Oak turns up asking for help on a quest. Set after The Folk of the Air, sadder than Jude's books, and Oak is far more slippery than he looks.
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence, Murder
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3. The Wretched Divine
Shares: forbidden love, enemies to lovers, morally gray
Grace's adult debut: a knight bonded to an angel has to team up with a demon to find a cure. Way darker than Belladonna and a bit overstuffed, but the emotional core is the most complicated thing she's written.
- Demons
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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4. One Dark Window
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
There's a monster living in Elspeth's head, and it talks. Gothic, foggy, strange in the best way. Feels like a dark fairy tale someone forgot to tame.
- Curses
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Murder
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5. Wicked Saints
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
A girl who talks to gods, a blood mage prince and a war that never ends. Moody and extremely Slavic. The romance is with someone who's very clearly a villain.
- Gods and Mythology
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Self-harm, Gore, War, Torture
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6. Gild
Shares: morally gray, enemies to lovers
Auren is King Midas's gilded favorite, living in an actual birdcage and calling it love. Then raiders grab her on the road and a fae commander named Rip becomes her problem. Gild is slow and mostly setup. Glint is where the series takes off.
- Captor and Captive
- Fae
- Slow Burn
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Human trafficking, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder
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7. The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
A human girl raised by the vampire king enters a deadly tournament where the prize is a goddess's favor. Hunger Games energy, gorgeous writing and a rival who's very hard not to like.
- Vampires
- Deadly Trials
- Enemies to Lovers
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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8. A Cursed Kiss
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray, forbidden love
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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9. Fortuna Sworn
Shares: morally gray, 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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10. Sky in the Deep
Shares: enemies to lovers, forbidden love
Eelyn spots her supposedly dead brother fighting for the enemy clan, then gets captured and has to winter in their village. Viking-flavored, short and bloody, with the enemy slowly turning into family. No spice at all.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Captor and Captive
- Forbidden Love
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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11. The Emperor's Enemy
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
Zora Ravenal, a knight mage from the north, gets forced into a partnership with a terrifying Royal Mage in the middle of a war. Real enemies to lovers with great banter. The secret-keeping gets repetitive, and the warnings are heavier than you'd guess.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War, Murder
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12. To Kill a Kingdom
Shares: enemies to lovers, forbidden love
Lira is a siren who takes a prince's heart every year on her birthday. Elian is a prince who hunts sirens. Her mother curses her into a human body and sends her after him anyway. The Little Mermaid with knives, in one fast standalone.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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13. From Blood and Ash
Shares: enemies to lovers, forbidden love, morally gray
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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14. A Tempest of Tea
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
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
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15. Caraval
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
Scarlett finally gets her invitation to Caraval, a magical week-long game, and her sister vanishes the night they arrive. Julian the sailor is her very unreliable partner. Dreamy and purple, and you won't know what's real, which is either the point or the problem.
- Deadly Trials
- Deals and Bargains
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping
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