Real-world love is boring. I don’t wanna spend time with my lover deciding whether to cook and order take out. I wanna ride dragons! Topple regimes! Make out in the rain in a parallel universe! With these adventure romance books, I can dream.
10. Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing is about a young girl named Violet Sorrengail who was supposed to have it easy. Her slight build and highly breakable bones made her a shoe in for a desk job at Basgiath War College. But instead, her mother decided that she was going to pursue dangerous path of a dragon rider. Oh no. If that wasn’t hard enough, her ruthlessly competitive classmates are out for her blood, and she’s gonna have to prove her worth to her commanding officer … her really hot commanding officer … complications upon complications.
9. Throne of Glass
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas centers around infamous assassin Celaena Sardothien, who’s looking for a new life by becoming the champion of the king. She’s an ambitious sort, but she ends up mixing business with pleasure in her dealing with the totally charming prince of the realm and the brooding captain of the guard … at the same time. How is a girl to choose? Simple. Choose one. Then the other. Then the first one again. And so on and so forth.
8. A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses has chokeslammed BookTok into literary submission. Feyre Archeron is a young huntress who makes a big mistake (or the best decision of her life depending on how you look at it) by killing a wolf that is under the protection of the faerie realm. As punishment, she is whisked away to the courts of the fae by the beastly faerie man Tamlin, where she must do her penance surrounded by horny and beautiful fae people that all wanna boink her. Could be worse.
7. The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree has three main components: ancient prophecies, deadly dragons, and lesbian love. Sign me up. An elder dragon known as The Nameless One is threatening to rise again and bring the realm to ruin, unless Queen Sabran IX can come up with a plan to stop it. It would be really easy if she wasn’t also distracted by her burning desire for her magical lady in waiting Ead Duryan. Co-worker romances are always so difficult … but so rewarding.
6. Divergent
Are you dying for more mentor/mentee romance like Fourth Wing but crave some dystopia to spice things up? Veronica Roth’s Divergent is what you need. In a dark future, society is divided up into five distinct social groups based on personal virtues. Tris Prior discovers that she is a Divergent, and possess qualities from multiple of these factions. It just so happens that the total hottie Tobias “Four” Eaton is also a Divergent, and after the pair discover a plot to eliminate all Divergents, they’re gonna have to take their eyes off each other for a sec and fight back.
5. The Amber Spyglass
Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series is mainly about killing God and befriending talking polar bears to help do it. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any room for romance! The third book in the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass is the culmination of the coming of age romance between the young Lyra Belacqua and her companion from a parallel universe Will. While the book is light on romance scenes, it’s HEAVY on what it MEANS to fall in love, especially when you are young. The most powerful one comes at the end of the book, where Lyra tells Will she hopes that when they die their atoms are stitched together into a new person, and that they will never let go of each other again. My heart. It is absolutely sob worthy and will stick with you forever.
4. The Hunger Games
The former United States of America is split into 12 Districts ruled by a corrupt central government, and that government demands that two children be picked from each District to compete in a yearly battle royale deathmatch called The Hunger Games. But that doesn’t mean that romance is off the table! When the young Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute for The Games, her warrior heart is torn between her at home sweetheart Gale and her in-Game ally Pita. Before she makes her romantic decision, she’ll have to overthrow the government first.
3. Howl’s Moving Castle
Before it was the rapturous Studio Ghibli movie, Howl’s Moving Castle was a charming romance novel penned by Diana Wynne Jones. The young Sophie Hatter lives a normal life in a quiet village… until she is cursed by a witch to take the form of an old woman. There’s only one man who can help her, the mysterious wizard Howl who lives on a castle that walks on legs in the wilderness. But he’s not some old guy with a long white beard, he’s a total babe. Can Sophie and Howl break the curse through the power of love? I’m no fortune teller, but signs point to “yes.”
2. The Princess Bride
Yes indeed! The Princess Bride, one of the greatest adventure romance movies ever made, was actually a book first! William Goldman’s classic 1973 novel tells the story of the young and beautiful Buttercup, whose romance with “as you wish” farm boy Wesley is cut short after the young lad is captured by The Dread Pirate Roberts while on an adventure. Or was it …? Now an evil prince has decided to make Buttercup his unwilling bride, unless a mysterious but oddly familiar masked stranger can come to her aid. It’s a quintessential fairy tale story, complete with a “happily ever after” ending and all.
1. Outlander
Part historical drama, part time travel fantasy, part romance Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander is hands down the best adventure romance that the genre has to offer. A former World War II nurse Claire is whisked away to 18th Century Scotland after she touches some mysterious stones while on vacay with her husband. In the past she meets the highland hottie Jamie Fraser, whose clan is currently embroiled in the Jacobite risings against the English Crown. Oh but how is Claire supposed to choose between this strapping warrior and husband of the future? Like all things in Outlander, only time will tell.
Published: Jul 23, 2024 04:41 pm