Before January of this year, it had been nearly eight months since I read a book, and several more since I had read one not assigned to me by a professor. By the end of June I passed my reading goal for the year, already reading more books in a year than I ever have.

Because of these three series that jolted me from my reading slumber, I started devouring a book every week. If you’re motivated by a great fantasy and an even greater romance, maybe these stories will have a similar impact on you.

The Cruel Prince

by Holly Black | published January 2, 2018

I had been unaware of just how passionately my heart desires to ride a large toad to a king’s revel. It’s simultaneously something I never imagined and something I’ve always wanted. In fact, that was the entire experience of reading The Cruel Prince.

Had this series been written by anyone else, it may have passed as a cheesy, if not tacky, but fun tale of human girls lost in a faerie realm. But Holly Black created a whimsical world with teeth. Faerieland is as treacherous as it is dreamy, with deadly fearies, mean stepmothers, and truly cruel princes.

This is the reading experience I will search to feel again, forever.

The Bridge Kingdom

by Danielle L. Jensen | published June 9, 2020

War and scheming and deception. Assassin sisters. Steamy forbidden love. Betrayal. Oh, so much betrayal.

This duology, and prequel, was the love child of every single one of my favorite tropes. Sisters stolen and trained with the sole purpose to brutally seek the end of an empire. An enemies to lovers couple too ravaged by lust and mistrust to truly love each other. A war brewing on the horizon, just beyond the bridge linking this complex kingdom to its enemies seeking its destruction.

I can’t recommend this series enough if you enjoy an artful mix of action, violence, and romance to make you blush when reading it in public.

From Blood and Ash

by Jennifer L. Armentrout | published March 30, 2020

Speaking of books to not read in public.

Not sure how I’m existing without a daily dose of Casteel, but here we are. While the first book is heavy with miscommunication tropes that I’m not overly fond of in any story, the sheer romance of it all rights any wrongs in my eyes.

This series is a very original take on vampires and mates, mostly because the world building is so incredibly unique. In a land where the chosen Maiden, Poppy, must live in extreme, torturous, virtuous solitude, there was bound to be a handsome guard sworn to protect her—and steal her from the life she so despises.