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Books Like A Court of Thorns and Roses: Romantasy to Devour

If you loved A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

ACOTAR set the romantasy template: a fierce heroine, a perilous magical court, and a slow burn that turns into a blaze. If you want lush worldbuilding wrapped around a romance with real teeth, these are the reviewed romantasy reads we’d pull off the shelf for you next.

Why these match

  • fae
  • magic
  • slow burn
  • enemies to lovers
  • court intrigue

Quick answer

What should you read after A Court of Thorns and Roses?

Start with House of Earth and Blood, Legends & Lattes: A heart-warming cosy fantasy and TikTok sensation, or Fourth Wing. They are the closest matches in our reviewed catalog; the full list below explains where each recommendation overlaps and where it goes its own way.

Updated July 2026

Cover of House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Pick 01 · Top match

House of Earth and Blood

by Sarah J. Maas

4.7/ 5Outstanding

If you read Maas for the high-volume emotion and the slow climb toward earned love, this is the same hand at full stretch, only the fae courts give way to a sprawling, profane magical metropolis. A half-fae party girl and a chained fallen angel hunt whatever murdered her best friend, and what starts as paranormal noir turns into a grief-soaked epic that hits like a freight train. It asks for patience with its dense worldbuilding, then repays it with a back half that wrecks you. Bring tissues and clear your weekend.

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On the shelf

Cover of Legends & Lattes: A heart-warming cosy fantasy and TikTok sensation by Travis Baldree

Pick 02

Legends & Lattes: A heart-warming cosy fantasy and TikTok sensation

by Travis Baldree

4.7/ 5Outstanding

Not every fantasy needs a perilous court to earn your attachment. Legends & Lattes hands a retired orc barbarian a coffee bean and a run-down stable instead of a sword, and lets a found-family cast grow in slow, unhurried scenes. If ACOTAR's world-building is what keeps you coming back more than the danger, this is the gentler, just as absorbing, version.

Cover of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Pick 03

Fourth Wing

by Rebecca Yarros

ACOTAR readers chasing a fierce heroine and a slow burn with teeth will tear through Fourth Wing. Yarros drops you into a war college where a dragon is as likely to kill you as bond with you, and her heroine's physical fragility turns every choice into strategy. The worldbuilding has real depth, and the distrust between her leads makes the romance combustible rather than decorative.

Cover of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Pick 09

The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss

4.9/ 5Incredible

If the lush, immersive court-building of ACOTAR pulled you in more than the romance, Rothfuss offers worldbuilding to get gloriously lost in. The Name of the Wind follows a legendary figure recounting his own life, obsessed with music, naming-magic, and a magic school with real rules and costs. It's slow-burn and prose-forward, for readers who want to live inside a world.

Cover of The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos) by Samantha Shannon

Pick 10

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos)

by Samantha Shannon

4.7/ 5Outstanding

ACOTAR fans who want the court intrigue turned up a notch should look here. Samantha Shannon splits her epic between a queendom guarding a sleeping dragon-god and a rival empire that worships dragons as gods, with a slow-built sapphic romance developing under real political pressure. Denser and slower to unfold, but it pays off the same way, lush world plus romance with actual stakes.

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Common questions

Finding your next read

What makes these books similar to A Court of Thorns and Roses?
The strongest shared threads are fae, magic, slow burn, enemies to lovers, court intrigue. Each recommendation is chosen for a specific overlap in tone, theme, character, or reading experience rather than genre alone.
Are all of these books reviewed?
Yes. Every recommendation links to a complete Book of the Day review with our score, verdict, and guidance on who will enjoy it.

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