Top 3 Guilty Pleasure Fantasy Romance Series to Read This Valentine’s Day
OK. As much as I’d like to project the image that I’m an intellectual scholar who reads solely to expand her mind and understanding of history and humankind…sometimes I just wanna be freakin’ ENTERTAINED, ya know?
I love fantasy books because they’re the only genre that let me wholly and completely ‘check out’. I have a very active brain, moreover, I get stressed and anxious easily. One of the best ways for me to “turn off” my monkey mind (it’s a thing- look it up) is to lose myself in a narrative story. Sometimes TV or movies do the trick but really there’s nothing as good as getting lost in a book. Especially if that book involves magic, vampires, witches, werewolves, and/or any other fill-in-the-blank creature of the night.
These three fantasy romance series are total and complete guilty pleasures. They are all utterly riveting, utterly well written, and utterly ridiculous. Which makes them all perfect choices for your Valentine’s Day reading pleasure!
So go ahead…draw a bath, light a candle, pour a glass of red wine and indulge in these otherwordly delights. You’re welcome.
I first read this series last year after a friend of mine said she’d devoured it, gave it to her husband, he devoured it, and then they re-read it again, together. I was still skeptical, though- I mean c’mon- a fantasy romance about…faeries?? Then after seeing that it had over 15 THOUSAND ratings and a 4.8 star average, I thought…what the hell, why not?
Can I just say this is one of those books that had me staying up till one or two in the morning, thinking about the characters during work, so excited to get back to reading I barely took time to eat, shower, or brush my teeth.
If you’re new to fantasy romance, this is a great series to start! Fair warning: there are sexy scenes, but it’s by no means the whole plot. In fact, I actually found the mutually-respectful relationship between the main characters to be the most romantic part of the whole thing. Just wait till you get to book 2.
Here’s a link for the complete set of 4 books- BUT!- stay tuned because the 5th book is being released this FEBRUARY 16th! You can pre-order the fifth book, “A Court of Silver Flames” on Amazon by clicking here.
You’re probably familiar with the Starz series based on these classic fantasy romance novels by Diana Gabaldon…but have you actually read ALL the books? I first read ‘Outlander’ when I had just graduated from college and immediately went to check the second book ‘Dragonfly in Amber’ out from my local library.
But it was only after I started watching the series that I thought, “I really loved those books and I got so much knowledge of history out of them- I should re-visit them!”…so I did. And man oh man I gotta say, even though these books were written in the 80’s & 90’s, THEY HOLD UP.
Just like with any movie or TV adaptation of a book, there’s SO much more in the books that doesn’t make it to the screen. Even if you’ve seen the series, it won’t spoil the books for you. In fact, having people to visualize might enhance the experience! I highly recommend the audible versions as well.
This is the guiltiest of the guilty pleasures on this list for me because it’s just so damn cheesy but I don’t care. I, Kelsey Formost, confess to blowing through the first two books in this series at warp speed this week…and loving every minute of it.
The ‘Crave’ series is like if Twilight and Harry Potter had a Gen Z lovechild. Our main character Grace - you guessed it, a spunky teenage human girl who doesn’t need anyone to save her but also is totally crushin’ on the most powerful Vampire at school - ends up at a high school for magical creatures in the remote mountains of Alaska. Antics (and teenage makeout scenes that will take you right back to the backseat of your high school boyfriend’s Honda Accord) ensue.
If you REEEEALLY need to turn off your brain…this is the series for you. Book 3 comes out March 2nd and Book 4 is slated for a September release.