There's been a market for fantasy romance, but the explosion of romantasy as a genre is a more recent phenomenon — and it's one that has many authors and readers leaning into the relationships and character dynamics of stories over the fantastical elements. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though romantasy books that balance both tend to be the category's strongest.

The push for more romantasy is at least partially due to the popularity of books like Sarah J. Maas' , though the uptick in interest can also be attributed to the emergence of BookTok. Stories like Fourth Wing and Divine Rivals received a ton of traction on the platform, and publishers have rushed to replicate their success.

Readers who prefer romantasy over general fantasy narratives have eaten the recent

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