11 best spicy fantasy books, ranked
What makes a good spicy fantasy novel? You need good characters (preferably very fit), a supernatural setting with a well-fleshed-out plot, and, oh, it needs to be steamy.
We’re not talking about your average steamed broccoli steamy either; we’re talking full-on steam engine on a Freightliner steamy. The type of steamy that makes everyone blush. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this list is for you. Here are 11 of the best spicy fantasy books, ranked for your pleasure.
11. Wolf’s Blessing by Blake R. Wolfe
This tale of forbidden love involves a werewolf bodyguard and a cleric named Dante. The werewolf is a mercenary named Ronan who’s hired to guard Dante, but Dante doesn’t like werewolves all that much.
Ronan battles giant underground worms, and in one close encounter, Dante saves his life. What starts as a professional relationship quickly develops into something much, much more.
Unfortunately, their time underground is quickly altered when Ronan is discovered and put in grave danger. Dante needs to decide whether he wants to continue his easy cleric life or risk everything to save Dante and be with him. Romance!
10. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Cinnamon is your everyday run-of-the-mill spice trader who unwittingly saves the demon Fallon while he’s hammered on wine. What she wants is a quiet life and a cat, but what she gets is a super-hot demon who wants to murder an evil witch and get it on with a human. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a total babe and can’t seem to keep his shirt from burning off.
Cinnamon doesn’t give in to Fallon right away and doesn’t mind showing her snarky side. While he’s ready for spice, she tells him she needs time to adjust to her potential feelings. They have great chemistry, and after a slow burn, things get appropriately steamy between the two of them.
Cinnamon is funny, the world-building is subtle but well done, and the romance portions are not too over the top—well, as not over the top as a demon and a human getting it on can be!
9. A Kingdom of Blood & Magic by Chiara Forestieri
Looking for something a bit more explicit? Not just kind of explicit, by the way—we’re talking adults-only level erotic. You get all that with this one, as well as some top-notch world-building.
In this steamer, Mareina is an assassin for the Queen of Atratus. She doesn’t love her job and the Queen is corrupt and power-hungry. Enter Malekai, her best friend and battle partner, for whom she harbors secret feelings. Once secret love is confessed these two get really, really intimate.
In between those scenes are fae, vampires, magic, gods, and some intense action scenes. It’s well-rounded and explicit, what else could you want?
8. The Fate of Stars by S.D. Simper
What happens when a princess and a mermaid fall in love? Spicy love scenes, that’s what. Tallora the mermaid is kidnapped and made to be a pet for a tyrannical king, and the only hope for rescue is from her sworn enemy, Princess Dauriel. Why sworn enemy? Dauriel was the one who viciously kidnapped her in the first place.
Dauriel has some demons in her past and a heart made of ice, but the two reluctantly join forces to stop the kingdom from going to war. Then, of course, the two women realize they have uncontrollable feelings for each other.
7. Moon Touched by Elizabeth Briggs
Consider yourself warned: this is a spicy wolf-shifter romance series of the best kind. In this wolf-filled tale, Ayla is a half-breed human/wolf-shifter who’s always felt like the outcast of her pack. Her only chance to be accepted is by mating with a wolf from another pack during a specific ceremony, but that ends in embarrassment and disgrace.
Turns out she’s tricked by a rival pack’s alpha, who ends up murdering her whole family. Then, she’s kidnapped by a different pack with an alpha who offers her the chance for revenge. What she gets is so much more and very spicy. Be warned, the love scenes in this one are pretty intense.
6. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
This book is like an adult Harry Potter but in a world filled with dragons. It’s set in a war college where 22-year-old Violet Sorrengail is compelled by her general mother to become a dragon rider.
Violet is smaller than everyone else, and that’s a problem because dragons don’t bond with little humans, they just kill them. There are also fewer dragons than the hundreds of cadets, so it’s a kill-or-be-killed atmosphere. Voilet’s sworn enemy to her and her family is Xaden Riorson, a ruthless rival.
There’s tension between the two because of the history between their families, but once they realize their feelings for each other, things really heat up, and not just in a temperature sense.
5. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
In this 622-page epic, we meet Poppy, a maiden honor bound to save her kingdom by being worthy of the Gods. She’s never to be looked at, spoken to, touched, or romanced. Her sole purpose is “Ascension,” but she has to remain chaste.
This gets hard when a guard tasked with making sure she fulfills her duty makes her question everything she’s ever believed. They fight, and those feelings quickly turn into temptation. Now, she’s caught between saving the entire kingdom and falling in love.
4. A Light in the Dark by Miranda Sapphire
This spiced-out story is about a beast who’s cursed by a fae mage after an impulsive act of rebellion. The beast is locked away in his huge manor for 200 years as he pays for his crime. Claire is an adventurer with the Questing Guild of Cillure. She ends up at the manor, and beast knows he needs to stay away from her, but he can’t seem to control himself.
Claire’s initial interest in completing a quest gets more complicated when she feels a level of attraction toward the beast that rivals anything she’s ever felt in her life. The problem is, if she acts on her feelings, she stands to lose everything she’s ever had. Still, the attraction is too great.
3. A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows by Holly Renee
This one isn’t so much a slow burn as it is a fireworks display. Adara has been chosen to be the next Queen, and she’s betrothed to a fae prince who she’s kind of into, but she’s more into the bastard prince Evren.
The chemistry between the two quickly turns explicit, and the book features some of the more lusty material you’re going to experience this year. It’s steamy, mysterious, and hard to forget. Mostly spicy, though.
2. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
In Iron Widow, boys and girls team up to pilot giant battle robots tasked with defending the kingdom from mecha aliens. It’s a dangerous job that often results in death, but Zetian offers herself up as a concubine pilot to kill the male responsible for murdering her sister.
She kills him using only her mind and quickly becomes feared by male pilots everywhere. She’s teamed up with the bad boy pilot Li Shimin and works with him to take down the misogynistic system that enslaves all the girls. This is probably the least spicy book on the list, but the world-building, feminist themes, and LGBT characters make it a really enjoyable read.
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
If you’re unfamiliar with this extremely popular book, we would just advise you to get a copy and experience it for yourself. It’s a bestseller for a reason and has some of the best romantasy writing in recent memory.
It follows a 19-year-old huntress named Feyre, who is dragged into the dangerous world of the Fae by unfortunate circumstances. She develops feelings for the faerie Tamlin, and the relationship shifts from one of cold hatred into a fiery passion that burns so hot your hands will feel the heat from the pages.
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