If you’re anything like me, you love a good retelling. One of my all-time favorite Disney movies is Beauty and the Beast, and finding an exceptional retelling of the classic or a book heavily inspired by it is a rare treat. Here’s a list of Beauty and the Beast inspired books as suggested by our readers in our Romantic Fantasy Shelf Facebook group and some of our top picks, in no particular order.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Not strictly a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it still hits all the right notes: a girl locked in a castle, and a beast with a curse to break.
“I could not stop reading until I finished the last book and I still beg for more, as any good series would leave you wanting.”
Amazon Reviewer
Beauty by Robin McKinley
A masterfully written and sweet retelling perfect for lovers of YA fantasy.
“This is a beautiful retelling of a classic story with great imagery, a strong heroine and fantastic language in the telling.”
Amazon Reviewer
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
An old West twist on the classic tale by one of romantic fantasy’s master storytellers.
“An intriguing retelling of a tale as old as time – Beauty and the Beast gets new life inthis version.”
Amazon Reviewer
Entreat Me by Grace Draven
A beautifully rendered, brutal, and sexy tale perfect for adult fans.
“An expertly done fairytale, so that the tale sucks you in and has you turning the pages well past bed time. “
Amazon Reviewer
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Weaving in Greek mythology and other folklore, this is an exciting retelling with a compelling arranged marriage element.
“Cruel Beauty had me hooked from the first sentence and as soon as I finished reading, I was depressed that it was over. If you’re a lover of retellings, dark romance, and a courageous heroine, then this is one book you do not want to miss.
Amazon Reviewer
Goddess of the Rose by P.C. Cast
Dark, sexy, and steeped in mythology, this is one readers rave about.
“ For [anyone] who is a fan of classic fairy tales with a twist, I would say stop waiting and read this book!”
Amazon Reviewer
No Man Can Tame by Miranda Honfleur
RFS Book Club Winner February 2019
Beauty and the Beast inspired with a unique twist with dark elves, clever world building, and a slow-burn romance that will leave you aching for more.
For those who enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings or high-fantasy romance stories, I definitely recommend No Man Can Tame. It has all the appeal of both the genres beautifully woven together in a satisfying and charming package
A mash-up of Beauty and the Beast with the Pied Piper makes for a unique twist.
“Argyle paints a breathtaking, Avatar[-esque] world in this incredibly well written story. “
Amazon Reviewer
The Fury Queen’s Harem by Meg Xuemei X
The tables are turned in this reverse harem: the girl is the beast and there are three men to break her curse.
“I was completely captivated. Meg Xuemei X has done an incredible job at writing a one of a kind story that is sure to pull the reader in within the first few pages…”
Amazon Reviewer
Enchant by Demelza Carlton
An adult retelling, filled with great characters, twists and turns that readers adored.
“Enchant is the perfect name for this book. It completely captivated and enchanted me from the beginning to end.”
Amazon Reviewer
Dragon and the Beast by Amberlyn Holland
Dragons, intrigue, magic and romance. This book has it all!
“I could not put it down.”
Amazon Reviewer
Beauty and the Goblin King by Lidiya Foxglove
A sexy retelling you don’t want to miss!
“It’s steamy, sexy, and makes you want your own goblin king.”
Amazon Reviewer
Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier
Lyrical prose, amazing characterization, and Gaelic mythology: what more could you want?
“I pretty much loved everything in this novel and think I was sucked in from the very start.”
Amazon Reviewer
Shadow & Thorn by Kenley Davidson
A thief, an exiled prince, and a whole lot of intrigue, magic, and romance.
“Written with such insight and intelligence there were just too many gems to count.”
Amazon Reviewer
Fausta Borja’s Beauty and the Beast
A steamy gothic romance retelling, with strong French influences.
“If you [want] a raunchy fairytale, this is for you.”
This story is the first book in The Otherland Series, and it is also a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. And aptly so as that was our theme for the month.
Type of Story
Heart of the Fae is a high fantasy romance that takes its time getting to the romance. Emma tackles a lot of unpleasant and difficult subjects and themes within this book, making it live up to its description as a Beauty and the Beast with more adult themes.
It too is a retelling that maintains key elements of the original fairy tale while offering its own twists and spins. Here the beast is a cursed fae prince who has been disfigured and cursed in such a way that whenever he is wounded, geodes and crystals appear where the wound was. The beauty is Sorcha, a midwife trying to save her father who runs the family brothel. She goes on a great and confusing quest in an effort to save him.
Sorcha and Eamonn’s story continues in Veins of Magic
Though comparatively, the story starts out slow, picking up substantially after the first third when our primary protagonist Sorcha reaches the island. Emma favors a more descriptive telling approach to the story throughout.
It is important to note that this is not a standalone story nor does the first book in the series end in a satisfying place. The cliffhanger makes sense for the point where it ends, and for readers invested in Sorcha’s journey, picking up the sequel will be an easy decision.
Best Parts of the Story
Without a doubt, the best scenes within the story are between Sorcha and some of the fae inhabitants such as the boggart/brownie and the pixie, Oona. It is particularly within the hag’s hovel that the story shines. It seems as if Emma has a particular affection here because there’s a special tenderness within these scenes that makes them charming and memorable.
Additionally her descriptions can be grippingly memorable and vivid. Descriptions of the castle and the grounds, for instance, were quite charming. The incorporation of the other senses makes the scenes even more compelling.
And, while I never thought I’d be saying this, I have to point to the prologue as well. It marries an old folkloric and mythic voice to a semi-modern rhythm with beautiful descriptions. The rhythm and poetry of the final lines sold me on the story. I may just have to pop back over and read it again.
Worldbuilding Overall
The best part within this story is the infusion of mythology and folklore within the world. While it is not entirely clear whether this is an actual Ireland or a uchronic Ireland, it is a fun world to imagine. I lean toward it being another place entirely, particularly given the blood beetles, which sound truly terrifying. I especially liked the appearance of Macha throughout the story and her representation. Even if one is not particularly familiar with Irish mythology or folklore, it is easy to follow along.
Additionally, Emma’s decision to give the beast such a creative disease with intense repercussions was an excellent choice. It adds to the dark mysteriousness of the story.
I applaud Emma’s desire and efforts at addressing darker subject matter. But I would have liked more nuance to lead to balanced and less confusing situations, and greater consistency within the worldbuilding and character development. Some of these issues may in fact be resolved later as the characters develop or as the world is further explained in the second book. But these elements might take away from the story’s positive elements for the reader.
The Romance and the Characters
In a sense, The Heart of the Fae is at a disadvantage for discussing the romance because the characters do not meet until a third of the way into the book. And then they make up for lost time, reaching their first romantic connection before the first half ends. The initial meeting is terse, brusque, and aggressive, but they soon find their way to attraction and connection. The characters can sometimes feel erratic in their activities and driving forces as well as memories, but both Sorcha and Eamonn remain drawn to one another in the romantic climax that the reader is waiting for.
Bran returns in the series’ fourth book, The Faceless Woman
Other secondary characters also steal the show. Bran, in particular, takes the focus whenever he is on the page. I won’t share more about him since he goes through some rather interesting developments as a character, but he is one you’ll want to look out for. He feels like a good choice for further stories and focus. Oona and the boggart/brownie also steal the stage, and the Unseelie Queen presents an intriguing character.
Effectiveness as a Retelling
Aside from the cliffhanger ending, The Heart of the Fae does do well at hitting all the beats of a traditional Beauty and the Beast retelling while making them creatively its own. The sacrificial element here plays a needed prominent role, and there are many nods to the Disney Beauty and the Beast as well.
For those who enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings with a darker and grimmer edge or Irish mythical retellings, this book is likely a good match.
Have you read this one? What did you think? Share in the comments!
About the Author
J.M. Butler is an adventurer, author, and attorney who never outgrew her love for telling stories or playing in imaginary worlds. She is the author of The Tue-Rah Chronicles, which includes Identity Revealed and Enemy Known. Independent novellas set in the same world include Locked, Alone, and Cursed. She has also written a number of other stories including Mermaid Bride, Through the Paintings Dimly, and more. She writes primarily speculative fiction with a focus on multicultural high fantasy and suspenseful adventures with intriguing romances. And on top of that, she lives with her husband and law partner, James Fry, in rural Indiana where they enjoy creating fun memories, challenging each other, and playing with their three cats.
Check out J.M.’s prequel to her romantic epic fantasy series the Tue-Rah Chronicles:
Dozens of children have gone missing…
Naatos, a shapeshifter, suspects a devious mindreader named Salanca of abducting children. Salanca has hidden her vicious schemes because, though the other Neyeb can read minds, she knows how to shroud her thoughts deeply.
Naatos must act swiftly and covertly to avert the murder of the stolen children even as he has been rejected yet again for receiving a Neyeb bride.
Not all is as it seems, and a wounded but cursed infant changes Naatos’s plans and life forever… ___
This is a prequel novella to The Tue-Rah Chronicles. It is not necessary to have read The Tue-Rah Chronicles, and it does not contain spoilers.
My first crush was on Aladdin. As far as eight-year-old me was concerned, he was the perfect man. Of course, back when I was eight, having a pet monkey and a magic carpet were higher on my “perfect man” checklist (ok, I admit—they’re still pretty high). My penchant for Disney rogues has even followed me into adulthood—the period of time in which my three-year-old made me watch Tangled on repeat for weeks on end was made slightly more tolerable by the presence of Flynn Rider.
My first boyfriend was a rogue too; the Rogue in fact. When I read The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce for the first time back when I was twelve, I was rooting for George from the beginning. The witty King of Thieves seemed far more appealing to me than Prince Jon.
As a teenager, I had many more book boyfriends—and they weren’t all rogues. In the end, I did fall in love with a few princes, but there were also crooks, warlords and pirates. I was romanced by nineteenth-century English gentlemen, assassins from Ixia and elves from Mirkwood, while safe in the knowledge that if things got too intense, I could close the book and walk away. As an awkward, gangly, bespectacled teenager, that appealed to me, and the boys in those books seemed far more interesting than the awkward, gangly, be-spotted boys I went to school with.
Young Adult Book Relationships: Unrealistic Expectations or High Standards?
The universal theme in
YA stories is coming of age, and it’s a theme we can all identify with, whether
we’re going through it ourselves or reminiscing about a time when we were. It’s
also usually around that age that most people fall in love for the first time,
and I’m glad I got to dip my toes in and fall in love a few times between the
pages of a book before I handed my heart over to a real-life human.
The romance genre as a whole is often accused of setting unrealistic expectations of relationships, and while that might be the case sometimes, for me, those book boyfriends didn’t set unrealistic expectations—they set standards. I wasn’t searching for someone who would shower me with flowery declarations of love when I found my husband (which is fortunate as the last text he sent me read “pick up milk x”), but I did expect honesty, loyalty and integrity. I wanted someone I could depend on in a crisis, and someone who knew they could depend on me. I wanted warmth, and humour and intelligence. If people think those expectations are unrealistic, that’s their problem, not mine.
Because let’s face it, it wasn’t really the fact that Aladdin was a rogue that made me fall for him all those years ago. It wasn’t even that he had a pet monkey and a magic carpet (though that really did work in his favour). I fell for Aladdin the moment he handed his loaf of bread over to those two street children after going to so much effort to get it in the first place. That love was solidified when he kept his promise to the genie at the end, using his last wish to free him, and in doing so potentially sacrificing his own happiness. It wasn’t Flynn Rider’s, “Hi, how you doing?” that made me swoon, but the moment he hands Rapunzel’s crown over to The Stabbington Brothers, realising that he’s found something far more precious. I didn’t fall for George Cooper of Pirate’s Swoop because he was the King of Thieves, and it certainly wasn’t because he liked to collect ears—if anything that would be a bit of a red flag in a relationship—it was when he sold Alanna Moonlight, her horse, for pennies, commenting that he’d give it to her outright if he thought she’d take it. I fell for Mr. Darcy’s honour, for Valek Icefaren’s strength, and for Legolas Greenleaf’s intelligence and wit; Red of Harrowfield taught me gentleness and Argul of the Hulta showed me humour.
My book boyfriends were all very different. They weren’t perfect, but then I wasn’t looking for perfection, and each one of them taught me something about myself and what I’d want from a relationship when I finally (hopefully!) found a boyfriend that wasn’t trapped inside the pages of a novel. They also taught me about love, and who might be worthy of mine.
Sprinkled Among the Romance, Lessons
On the flip side, they showed me what I didn’t want. Prince Nemian from Tanith Lee’s Law of Wolf Tower taught me that dashing saviours may not be all they’re cracked up to be, and while Darcy taught me about honourable men, George Wickham was a reminder that honour is not a quality all men possess. More recently, Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse and Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series have shown that it is sometimes wise to guard your heart.
I have had my heart broken of course, and I’m glad of it. I wouldn’t want to hide behind the pages of a book forever without experiencing love firsthand, but my book boyfriends gave me a good foundation, and without them, I think I would have kissed a lot more frogs before I found my prince rogue.
Those book boyfriends
were very special to me during my own coming of age, and I think they’re part
of the reason I write YA Romantic Fantasy now. I want to create book
boyfriends readers can fall in love with, and I’d like to think Lok has a few
traits that make him a worthy first love.
So tell me, who was your first book boyfriend? Let me know in the comments.
About the Author
Gemma
Oleander lives in Lancashire, England, and is mother to a dire wolf and two
tiny humans. Growing up, she spent more time immersed in fantasy worlds than
she did in the real one. Now, writing fantasy allows her to create worlds or
her own and spend lots of time in them.
Gemma
studied English Literature and Journalism at university, and worked as an
English teacher before pursuing a career in writing.
When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys travelling to different corners of the world to gather inspiration for her stories. You can reach her at:
You can fall in love with Lok in The Syphon’s Song, which will be available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited this spring.
Cali killed for the first time when she was four.
Since then, she’s
committed countless murders for The Order. Imprisoned since she was born, she
is their most dangerous weapon: a magical assassin who visits people as they
sleep—ensuring that they never wake up. Cali would give almost anything for her
freedom, but not when the punishment for any disobedience means death for her
friends.
Lok knows two things;
magic is evil and so are those who wield it. Becoming a member of The Order has
been his dream since boyhood, but once he is stationed at the prison, he starts
to see the corruption at its core. When children are used as offerings, he
knows he can stay silent no longer.
Lok decides to leave, unwittingly taking Cali with him, and events are set in motion that cannot be reversed. As The Order grows more powerful, spreading darkness through the land, Cali and Lok must break free of their chains if they are to have any hope of putting an end to the evil for good.
This story is the first book the Dark-Elves of Nightbloom Series, and it retells one of my favorite fairy tales: Beauty and the Beast. Now don’t get me wrong: I do enjoy reading some of the lesser-known fairy tales retold as well as some of the other popular ones. Really, I love seeing all of them. But Beauty and the Beast is my favorite. I have read many retellings of it over the years—some I loved, others were meh, and a few I hated. But No Man Can Tame is now one of my favorite Beauty and the Beast retellings.
Type of Story
No Man Can Tame is a high-fantasy romance, and it lives up to all my expectations for a book in this genre. The romance is front and center, but there is a great deal of rich worldbuilding. The world itself is set in the same universe as Miranda’s Blade and Rose series, though unlike Blade and Rose this has an Italian rather than a French influence. The story is told through the perspectives of both Aless and Veron.
“This Cinderella is far from a victim. Much to her stepmother’s dismay, Danielle’s independence and intelligence attract the love of the prince.” – Amazon
The retelling itself maintains key elements of the original fairy tale but offers a number of original twists and spins. It is also, to a degree, a double Beauty and the Beast story. In a sense, both protagonists are beauties and beasts, both having to learn key lessons and understand how to be more selfless for this relationship to work. In a sense, this retelling reminds me also of the movie Ever After in its tone and style, as if it would be shot in a similar style.
The story reads quickly with good pacing. While it is a slow-burn romance, it does pay off, and it fits solidly within the genre expectations. Aless and Veron’s story is wrapped up in such a way that, while I wouldn’t object to more stories featuring their perspectives, I won’t feel cheated if I don’t get to read more about them.
One of My Favorite Tropes Represented
Aless, the Beast princess, must wed Veron, an Immortali and prince of the dark elves to assure peace and secure the alliance between their nations. Arranged marriages are one of my favorite tropes simply because of the guarantee of conflict and how it tends to escalate the romantic tension, along with the unknown aspects that come from being in a relationship with a stranger who may not share your same values.
Miranda plays with this trope very well, understanding the implications that arranged marriages have and their impact on individuals while still recognizing that readers want a little bit of fantasy and indulgence with these sorts of stories. So she creates a mixture of conflict and challenges with plenty of build up, attraction, and eventually consummation. More importantly, the contrasting cultures are not there simply as trappings or window dressings. There are consequences and impacts because of these beliefs on both sides.
The Most Crucial Element of a Beauty and the Beast Retelling
In my opinion, the sacrificial element is one of the most
important elements of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. In some way, the beauty
must sacrifice herself or some part of herself to preserve the safety or
happiness of another. It offers a key element of insight into the characters
and a connecting point for later events within the book as well as the concept
of inner beauty.
In this case, Miranda delivers a particularly strong interpretation.
While it is a little spoiler, it takes place near the beginning of the story,
so I won’t feel as bad about it. Aless agrees to marry Veron to allow her
sister the chance to marry the man she loves and thus preserve her sister’s
happiness. This turns out to be part of a rather cunning trick on someone
else’s part, but the sacrifice is still there.
Similarly other characters demonstrate sacrifice, sometimes
in small ways such as Veron sharing his rations with a fellow starving soldier,
despite then having nothing for himself. It is woven throughout the story and
plays into the finale in a satisfying way.
The Romance Between the Characters
Aless and Veron’s chemistry is a slow build with a fair bit
of tension to begin. They are kept apart not merely because they have different
physical standards for beauty but because of cultural expectations and
challenges that their relationship brings about. Veron is firm but calm and
resolute, utterly loyal to the commands of his queen, his mother. Aless, on the
other hand, is more headstrong and impetuous, determined to make the most of
things and to create her own solutions even when others attempt to deny her
this.
While initially she finds the dark elves’ appearances off putting and even a little frightening (Veron’s claws physically hurt her more than once), Aless in particular grows in her appreciation of the dark elves and their culture, even coming to value their standards. There’s a fascinating scene with the dark elf queen which showcases this in particular.
The romantic relationship works the traditional issues
within any relationship: trust and honesty. Both characters have reasons for
their particular perspectives, and their motivations and histories sometimes
come into conflict, creating persuasive reasons for the delays in their
consummation.
As both Veron and Aless become close and work through
violations of trust and expectations (indeed some deep emotional wounds are
inflicted at a few points), the attraction does develop between them until it
reaches the much anticipated exploration of the romantic relationship. Miranda
handles this artfully. There are sex scenes with a decent bit of heat and a
strong focus on the emotions, and they do contain important information for the
plot and character developments.
The Characters and Their Relationships Beyond the Romantic
In Warhammer lore, “few can match the Dark Elves in sheer cruelty, sadism and hubris.”
Another strength of this story is the breadth of the cast of characters. Veron and Aless both have families who play key roles within the story. One of my favorite relationships in this is Aless’s relationship with her sister Bianca. Both sisters are beautiful and admired, but Bianca is their father’s favorite. Yet both remain close. The impact of a third sister is also felt as well as a brother.
Veron likewise has his own family who play not only a key role in his life but in his development. One of the most intriguing is his mother, who has little screen time but is just as refreshing a change-of-pace character as Bianca. The subterranean and ferocious dark elves come from a matriarchal culture, which is reflected throughout the world building in general.
Veron’s mother herself is a strong, stern, and resolute woman, but not cruel or evil or capricious as dark elf queens are often portrayed. She keeps her confidences close, and there is much that is hinted at that suggests she could very easily have her own story. At a key point within the story, she must serve as a queen and determine appropriate consequences for direct disobedience. While she is not as kind as some might like, she is just in her determinations and provides sound reasoning for her decisions.
Veron’s mother herself is a strong, stern, and resolute woman, but not cruel or evil or capricious as dark elf queens are often portrayed. She keeps her confidences close, and there is much that is hinted at that suggests she could very easily have her own story. At a key point within the story, she must serve as a queen and determine appropriate consequences for direct disobedience. While she is not as kind as some might like, she is just in her determinations and provides sound reasoning for her decisions.
Indeed, all of the secondary characters feel strong enough to carry their own stories. I am excited that there will be more stories within this series that will hopefully explore these. What makes this all the more exciting is that the characters, from the protagonists to the antagonists, are all mixtures of good and bad with understandable motivations, weaknesses, and aspirations.
Fascinating Influences Within the Story
As a fellow epic fantasy author, I find worldbuilding to be one of the most fascinating aspects of stories like this. One of the things I spotted that brought me a great deal of joy was the influence of the Eddas in Miranda’s development of the dark elf culture. Norse mythology is one of my favorites, and seeing how well it was woven in without being overbearing was a delight.
Svartálfar in Norse myth are “black elves,” who dwell in Svartalfheim or the “world of black elves.”
Additionally, at points, I recognized some allusions to William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Though “allusions” might not be as good a word as “subversions.” Aless has a formidable and indomitable spirit. Despite her mistakes, she cannot be tamed (thus, I think, the title). She and Veron are equals within their marriage, and while he does not try to keep her from being that, he does have to learn what it is for her to be who she is, just as much as she has to learn how to truly see beyond her own interests.
A Couple Minor Beauty and the Beast Elements
While certainly not essential to the Beauty and the Beast
retelling, Miranda did incorporate a couple other facets of the story. The
library’s inclusion and its cultivation throughout the story is one of my
favorites. Not simply because I love libraries but because of what it reveals
about Aless, her past, her family, and her culture.
Additionally, magic roses appear as well. They are present
for only a little bit, but if my authorial senses are correct, I suspect we may
see more of them in future books.
For those who enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings or high-fantasy romance stories, I definitely recommend No Man Can Tame. It has all the appeal of both the genres beautifully woven together in a satisfying and charming package.
Have you read this one? What did you think about the spin on Beauty and the Beast? Share in the comments!
About the Author
J.M. Butler is an adventurer, author, and attorney who never outgrew her love for telling stories or playing in imaginary worlds. She is the author of The Tue-Rah Chronicles, which includes Identity Revealed and Enemy Known. Independent novellas set in the same world include Locked, Alone, and Cursed. She has also written a number of other stories including Mermaid Bride, Through the Paintings Dimly, and more. She writes primarily speculative fiction with a focus on multicultural high fantasy and suspenseful adventures with intriguing romances. And on top of that, she lives with her husband and law partner, James Fry, in rural Indiana where they enjoy creating fun memories, challenging each other, and playing with their three cats.
Trapped between warring forces, Amelia must own her destiny before her heart splits in two.
Although cursed to be unable to kill, Amelia must still fulfill her prophetic duty to end her unwanted husband’s march of terror. Already Naatos, a world conquering warlord, and his brothers have conquered Libysha. Her people demand she vanquish them to prove her loyalty and save them. To refuse is to lose the trust of her own family and friends, the people whom she always longed to protect.
But Amelia’s enemies aren’t only on the outside. When betrayal threatens the refuge of her allies, Amelia must return to Naatos in order to distract him from further bloodshed, all while fighting her growing affection for him and his family. Yet the more she learns of tragic history, the murkier the truth becomes. The very people Amelia defends have committed their own atrocities, including linking Amelia to a human soldier who holds half her soul in a life-threatening bond.
Attacked by her allies and cared for by her enemies, Amelia struggles on, more disillusioned with her destiny. A massive army of deadly shapeshifters looms on the other side of the Tue-Rah, an interdimensional portal. With the fate of worlds resting on her shoulders, she must walk the balance between hero and villain before she is torn in two.
I love love triangles in romantic arcs. Granted, in some circles, this is akin to saying I love Brussels sprouts or chicken gizzards. But as it turns out, I enjoy those things as well, so I’ll own love triangles—and hopefully convince you that you might love, or at least tolerate, the awesome triangles more than you think. (Don’t worry, I won’t try to argue for the sprouts!)
Love triangles often get a bad rap in fiction because of Twilight. The infamous Bella Swan is the frail, doe-eyed teenager who doesn’t know her own mind or heart fully, clearly hung up on vampire Edward Cullen. Yet she strings along werewolf Jacob Black because she’s, well… a frail, insecure, doe-eyed teenager who doesn’t know her own mind or heart fully. Whether or not you appreciate the triangle depends mostly on whether you can identify with her, which can be a tough sell for readers outside the book’s target audience.
Because the Twilight books were so dang popular, now all everyone thinks of in terms of “love triangle” is two very attractive male characters who for some reason hang around so that the main character can choose between them. If this is your particular brand of wish fulfillment, all right then. However, love triangles existed in many forms before Twilight, and they continue to exist afterwards, in a much wider variety that is insanely useful for great romantic storytelling.
Love and Romance are Messy
Sometimes the “loser” loses his mind…
At their core, love triangles have a sense of realism. They operate with the understanding that love and romance is messy, and that someone can be attractive to more than person. This happens all the time in real life—as anyone who has been “friend-zoned” can attest to. There’s a painful truth to the concept of liking or loving someone who doesn’t reciprocate your affections.
The major growth often occurs in the character of the “love triangle loser.” Whether this growth is positive or negative is up to you, of course—there’s something kind of awesome about a character turning dark because they didn’t get what they wanted. In my steampunk fantasy series, The Ironfire Legacy, it’s revealed that a main villain turned dark because his destined true love was literally taken from him “For The Good Of The Kingdom.” The kingdom overturned their own rules about fated mates and exerted much pressure on the woman, so that the prince could have her instead of her One True Pairing. Major burn there!
A love triangle where both choices are pretty good…
And that’s where I find a lot of the emotional resonance of a love triangle—in that beautiful, brutal realism that you can’t always just get what you want, and if you let that fact embitter you, it can poison the very love you claim to have. You don’t have a full love triangle until you know who loses and why they lose.
Of course, all of this requires a great deal of smart characterization to figure out why these two characters are attracted to the same person. What do each of them uniquely see in this individual? Are they projecting their own ideas onto the person? How do they think the person will complete them—and are they right or wrong? Who is the best fit for the character—or the best fit for the story you’re trying to tell?
Characters Grow From Love Triangles
A love triangle that’ll put your emotions through the wringer…
A love triangle should create plot problems and force each character to grow to figure out where they stand. One of my favorite love triangles is in J.M. Butler’s romantic fantasy series The Tue-Rah Chronicles. Such a wonderful mess of twisting fate! I’ll try to limit spoilers, but the heroine is meant to be with Naatos thanks to an arranged marriage that was sealed when she was a child. But then the heroine is turned towards another man because of outside forces meddling with her soul and his. When the truth is revealed, the heroine breaks up with the other man, even though Naatos, her arranged marriage fellow, is pretty much a huge jerk. In this case, our noble heroine is trying to allow the other man to go off and live his own life. But of course, life can’t be that simple—how awful would it be to not only lose in a love triangle, but to lose it because the person you love is married to a villain who is trying to take over all these worlds? And plus, that soul-meddling has side effects, leaving all kinds of loose threads between the heroine and the other man. Cue much angst and anger and hard situations that contribute wonderfully to the main plot!
…Love triangles are a great way to show how love (or lack thereof) reflects on the individual characters and moves them along in their journeys. It’s about making those hard choices, growing up, and everyone learning more about themselves.
Yes, if you haven’t guessed, we love triangle fans love us some angst, feels, and character growth. The best love triangles come not from the main character merely “choosing between two delicious love interests.” Rather, love triangles are a great way to show how love (or lack thereof) reflects on the individual characters and moves them along in their journeys. It’s about making those hard choices, growing up, and everyone learning more about themselves. This is likely why you find love triangles so much in YA stories, because YA is all about coming of age and figuring out your identity. But if your main character can be wonderfully stressed out by two people chasing them, or if they can be flustered by chasing the same individual as another person, a love triangle is a great fit.
And as a side hustle, you could start a t-shirt business for your various love triangle options. If you do, let me know… I might need them for Team Brussels Sprouts vs. Team Chicken Gizzards!
What are your favorite love triangles in fantasy and why? Share in the comments!
About the Author
Janeen Ippolito writes unique words that change our world. She writes steampunk fantasy with shifters, and creates writing resources, including the reference book World Building From the Inside Out and the creative writing guide Irresistible World Building For Unforgettable Stories.
She’s an experienced teacher, editor, author coach, marketer, and is the leader of Uncommon Universes Press, a small science fiction and fantasy publishing house. She’s also the cohost of the podcast Indie Book Magic. Whether brainstorming a plot twist, developing a course, or analyzing marketing angles, she’s happiest when creating solutions that get unique words written, polished, published, and noticed in the ever-changing publishing industry.
In her spare time, Janeen enjoys sword-fighting, reading, pyrography, and eating brownie batter. Two of her goals are eating fried tarantulas and traveling to Antarctica.
This extroverted writer loves getting connected, so find her on:
A dragon felon, a forsaken prince, and a jaded airship captain walk into a city—and everything explodes.
Dragonshifter convict Kesia Ironfire has one goal: to redeem herself as a soldier in the dragon-human war.
A rogue mission to spy on a new airship is the perfect way to win the trust of her superiors, as long as she collects useful intel. Then the airship explodes into sickening green smoke, leaving Kesia and her tactical partner Zephryn Nightstalker in cold water and under house arrest. Kesia is sure a little more investigation won’t hurt—and her curiosity earns them the death sentence.
Kesia and Zephryn flee to the human military capital, where Captain Shance Windkeeper is furloughed after the destruction of his airship and avoiding a most unwanted countess threatening an arranged marriage. Eager to discover what—and who—blew up his vessel, he helps Kesia and Zephryn infiltrate High Command. In exchange, Kesia must pretend to be Shance’s betrothed. Kesia has never heard of a betrothal, but it can’t be that complicated.
And human social customs are the least of her worries. Dark secrets emerge as Kesia searches for answers in the heart of High Command. Secrets that undermine her criminal status and the war itself.
Have you been paying attention to the evolution of the Cinderella story? If you’ve watched the Disney blockbuster Frozen, then you have. Young girls and women are no longer waiting around for a man to come by on his horse, sweep them off their feet, and give them shoes.
Okay… I doubt any of us would turn down the shoes!
Cinderella swaps her glass slippers for combat boots in this fairytale fantasy.
My point is that women are now taking the reins of their own stories and rejecting the Cinderella trope of changing themselves into someone new. In many, dare I say most, of these stories, the prince doesn’t pay attention to the Cinderella character in her ordinary world of working 9-5 p.m. with grime under her nails and threadbare clothes. He doesn’t look her way until she gets magicked into expertly applied makeup, a binding, shape-shifting corset, and brand-new shoes.
My first notice of this was in the film Working Girl. This ’80s retelling of the Cinderella story featured a bright secretary who had dreams of entering the board room with a briefcase instead of coffee. When her wicked boss steals her idea, the secretary seizes an opportunity to steal into a high-profile business meeting by pretending that she’s her boss, while also wearing her boss’s dress and shoes. Melanie Griffith, as the secretary, uses Harrison Ford’s charming character to get her into the board room’s door. When the business deal goes south, Griffith doesn’t wait for the knight in a business suit to rescue her. Instead, she shows off her “head for business and bod for sin” in order to win a business deal, thwart her boss, and get her man.
In this Edwardian retelling of Cinderella, the heroine is a katana-wielding zombie slayer!
A decade later, Drew Barrymore retold the Cinderella story in Ever After. In a pivotal scene when Barrymore’s character, Danielle, has been taken prisoner by the evil Pierre Le Pieu, the audience holds their breath as the prince leaps onto his horse and heads off to rescue her. But Danielle picks up not one, but two swords, and swashbuckles her way to an escape. As she’s walking out of the castle a free woman, the prince arrives moments too late with her shoe in hand.
In this reverse Cinderella retelling, the hero is the one looking to go from rags to riches…
Nearly another decade later came another retelling with Penelope. Penelope is an heiress born under a curse that can only be broken in the face of true love. The problem? Penelope’s face doesn’t inspire sonnets and poems as much as it does a hankering for breakfast meats. Penelope’s snout nose has caused her to be rejected her whole life, including rejection from her own mother. When she finally finds a man willing to tolerate her looks and break the curse, she comes to the realization that she likes herself just the way she is. And just like that, the curse is broken and Penelope’s outside matches her glowing inside.
In today’s stories, women don’t wait around for men on horses. They take the reins, defend themselves, and declare love to their own reflections. They’re now even qualified to deliver true love’s kiss to their own sisters as we saw in the blockbuster Frozen.
What are your favorite books with heroines who save themselves? Share in the comments!
About the Author
Lover of fairytales, folklore, and mythology, Ines Johnson spends her days reimagining the stories of old in a modern world. She writes books where damsels cause the distress, princesses wield swords, and moms save the world.
Want a modern-day fairytale retelling? Check out her Cindermama series. Rather see 21st century women kicking ass with a touch of sword and sorcery? Check out her Misadventures of Dame Galahad series. Or want a bit of magic in your love story? Check out her Knights of Caerleon series.
Ines’ recent release is One Knight, the second book in her Knights of Caerleon series:
Sir Lancelot will make you swoon in this steamy, modern-day adventure of valiant knights, sassy witches and the death of chivalry!
Lance has loved Lady Gwin for a hundred years. Though he’s the best knight in Camelot, his low birth ensured that she was beyond his suit, and so she was promised to another. But when Lance and Gwin’s lips accidentally meet, Lance flees Camelot, rushing into battle recklessly to avoid conquering the one quest he’s never completed: having the noble Lady Gwin in his arms.
Lady Gwin has been living a lie for a hundred years. Her arranged marriage linked two powerful families, ensuring her place among her people—but her vows were never consummated, and the union to a treasonous wizard is a sham. Now, she’s ready to tell the world the truth, starting with the man who captured her heart just before her wedding day. But when a stolen kiss sends Lance running unprepared into a dangerous mission, Gwin is determined to save him.
Though forbidden love has drawn them together, the pressures of society and the pursuit of a deadly enemy threaten to tear Lance and Gwin apart. In a place as steeped in ancient tradition and duty as Camelot, following their hearts could spell disaster.
One Knight is the second book in a series of modern-day retellings of the myths and lore of Camelot. If you like fierce knights who would lay down their lives for their brothers and lose their hearts for their women, then you’ll love the Knights of Caerleon.
I can’t say that I write romantic fantasy without addressing the romantic part of the genre. And there’s a lot to be said about romance and fantasy, because I feel there’s a lot of room here… other races, multiple loves, exploring sexuality in the safety of foreign worlds and cultures. I don’t hope to ever come across an orc warrior that I have to blast with a fireball, so if I can safely read about myself as the character incinerating other people to death, then I definitely can dip my toes in relationships and scary romances I wouldn’t naturally explore in the real world. This, in and of itself, is probably the best argument for romance in fantasy.
For the most part, romance in stories gets boiled down to Person
A falling in love with Person B and vice versa. Maybe they hate each other at
first, maybe they barely know each other, and maybe it’s the slowest of slow
burns humanly possible. We tend to all agree, even though we may have
preferences, HOW the characters fall in love doesn’t seem to be so taboo…
But what we can’t seem to agree on is whether sex on the page is
necessary or not.
I don’t mean in that terrible story where the author thought
adding a few racy pages would up people’s interest. Forced chemistry isn’t good
for anyone involved. And I’m definitely not talking about those pieces that
earned the Bad
Sex Award. I’m talking about… totally probable, sex-having characters…
where audiences can’t agree whether or not the deed needs to be shared.
…[I]f I can safely read about myself as the character incinerating other people to death, then I definitely can dip my toes in relationships and scary romances I wouldn’t naturally explore in the real world.
Maybe the reader isn’t comfortable reading consensual sex on the
page. Maybe the reader doesn’t find sex necessary to tell the story, like it’s
a peek into the two people’s private lives or even that of the author’s. And
maybe it’s cultural. Point is, it’s almost a fear or viewed as a plague rather
than a simple preference. People are offended it’s even included, rather than
offended when it’s not.
And for those of us who want a decent sex scene in our stories,
there tends to be a few other problems.
Maybe you don’t know this, but behind the scenes, there are battles being fought daily between “clean” authors and “not-so-clean”(?) authors. Fights for promos, swaps, ad spots, etc. And it typically tends to land… “clean over here” vs. “everyone else over there.” If your books don’t meet a specific requirement about sexual relationships between characters, you might find yourself swimming in circles with no advertising. And good luck if you write romantic YA where teens have sex. (Guess what? Teens have sex y’all.)
Side-story: Veronica Roth (YA author) was approached by several
parents who questioned if her books included sex. When she said no, but they
include murder and fighting and killing, the parents shrugged it off and said
that was fine. Still think we don’t have issues with sex?
Also, authors who put sex on the pages of their stories in
genres OTHER than romance tend to run into another interesting obstacle. If a
book is deemed “clean,” you don’t typically see a lower rating or criticism for
that specific trait in the book even if readers wouldn’t have minded it.
However, if a book is deemed “not clean,” and the reader somehow missed the
disclaimer or missed that it’s in the adult category, you’ll see books rated
down PURELY because it includes sex.
So, what can we do?
First, can we do away with clean vs dirty or even
clean vs not clean?
Can we just say… “no sexual interactions” or yes, “sexual relationships included”? Can that be a thing?
“Clean” reads can never be perfectly defined, just like sexual metaphors with baseball bases can’t be clearly defined across all audiences. “Clean” to me means no penetration. “Clean” to someone else might mean no heavy petting or foreplay. We’re setting up authors to fail and audiences to be disappointed.
And denoting “clean” vs “not clean” is pretty negative in and of itself. The opposite of “clean” is… “dirty,” duh, and it clearly has negative connotations. “Clean” is a very puritanical way of looking at it—pure, orderly, logical… as if to say stories that include sex, and dare I say actual relationships, are not those things and that there’s something wrong with them.
Except there’s not?
It’s okay to have a preference, but reviews that seem distracted
by the sex, at least look to me like the same people griping that vampires
don’t sparkle. What? (oh yeah, I went
there!)
“Clean” is a very puritanical way of looking at it—pure, orderly, logical… as if to say stories that include sex, and dare I say actual relationships, are not those things and that there’s something wrong with them.
Second, can we lift stories that have sex in them?
If you read books with sex in them, and LIKE IT, then spread that good stuff around like your tub o’ buttah. I’m definitely not a fan of people feeling like they can’t voice when they like human experiences, so we shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed about sharing these stories.
I’m guilty of this, too. I feel inclined to warn people who haven’t read something I like that it includes sex. Not like *nudge nudge wink wink* it has sex. More like an aside so they don’t judge *me*… And that’s weird, right? I need to work on that, and I’m willing to bet some of you do, too.
Truth is we need to share if we like sex in our stories, because it’s okay and totally human to want sex in stories. It’s not putting down stories without sexual interactions, it’s just giving the other team a voice to say… “Hey! Sometimes I need to read about the main character sleeping with every male character to pick the one she truly loves, okay? You do you… I’ll do… me?” 😉
Happy Valentine’s Day, readers! <3
So, out with it! What stories do you remember for their good sex scenes?
About the Author
Ryan grew up
a military brat, managed to teach middle school in Texas for a spell, and
finally settled in the southeastern US with her husband, their daughter, and
two black cats. She loves writing determined heroines who answer the call for
wild adventures across rich lands with grit and smarts. When she’s not
inventing worlds for her characters, she games, draws, paints, and uses too
many exclamation points.
Despite all that talk on dirty vs clean, Ryan wrote a genderbent Beauty and the Beast retelling with love and magic, but no sexual relationships, called In the Garden of Gold & Stone.
She is a beast by nature. He is a beast by duty.
Amid the lovely roses and razor-sharp thorns, love tangles between beasts and beauties in this twist of a classic romantic tale that transcends time…
Nida, a dragonian life weaver, anxiously awaits the day her new sisters hatch in their temple sanctuary. But without the magical spirit of a human male, that day will never come.
When Rowec, a human warrior from a local village, gets captured by Nida’s people, he’s offered freedom in exchange for his participation in their hatching ceremony.
But when Nida learns the cost of bringing her sisters to life, she must either embrace the beast within to save them or save the human she’s grown to love…
One of the hottest
trends in fantasy romance these days is “reverse harem,” in which the female
main character ends up with several romantic interests rather than just one.
But that, dear readers, is not the beginning of the story…
Once upon a time, back
when dinosaurs roamed the aisles of Waldenbooks, an author decided that love
triangles in romance novels were silly and frustrating. “Why can’t my heroine
ride off into the sunset with BOTH of the sexy hunks?” she grumbled… and so the
genre of ménage romance was born.
For decades, avid
ménage readers sought out covers with the female main character swooning in the
arms of multiple hot (and usually bare-chested) guys. In addition to the large
publishing houses that ran niche romance imprints specializing in ménage, a
handful of boutique publishers also sprang up to cater to the small but
voracious readership.
Somewhat ironically for a genre that’s all about not having to choose, the existence of this limited number of gatekeepers resulted in ménage books that were almost laughably formulaic, in many cases. Publishers—I kid you not—issued guidelines on everything from plot structure to book length to the content of the story’s climactic (heh!) group sex scene. Double penetration or bust, baby!
Enter: Self-Publishing!
But then, something
huge happened in the book world—enter the e-book self-publishing revolution.
Almost overnight, new authors flooded into the marketplace on the back of
Amazon’s groundbreaking Kindle publishing platform. And many of these
self-published authors were writing in niche romance categories, like ménage.
While still influential within the genre, the publishing houses no longer controlled ménage exclusively. Formulaic plots grew less formulaic, LGBT content flourished, and a complex system of code came into common usage to describe the central relationship in ménage books. MMMF? That’s three bisexual guys with a woman. MFM? Two straight guys with a woman (the Ms don’t touch!). FFFF? Four lesbian or bi women in a relationship. MMM? Three gay or bi guys.
Even so, the vast majority of ménage still stayed within certain guidelines. It was almost exclusively either contemporary romance or paranormal romance, for one thing. (Fantasy and historical ménage does exist, but it’s rare, not to mention a very hard sell for authors. Go on… ask me how I know!) The genre also leaned heavily toward erotic romance or outright erotica, with much of the emphasis being placed on the buildup to group sex and the eventual payoff.
Reverse Harem: From Japanese Manga & Anime to Ebooks
Ouran High School Host Club (2006), a Japanese “reverse harem” anime TV show
Meanwhile, another book-related phenomenon was quietly bubbling in the background. Borrowing from a type of Japanese manga in which the female main character is surrounded by a number of male love (and friendship) interests vying for her attention, a handful of Western authors were writing books in which the YA (young adult) heroine openly cultivated a number of romantic partners. These partners were aware of each other and generally okay with sharing the girl. Often they were already friends, or they were otherwise connected in some sort of previously existing group.
Introductions: The Ghost Bird Series: #1 (2012) by C. L. Stone
The focus was in these books was less on sex and more on emotional relationship building. C. L. Stone, author of the Ghost Bird series, was the first to borrow the Japanese manga term “reverse harem” to describe this new book genre. Unlike the manga stories, however, in Western-style reverse harem books, the main character never chooses one partner over the others.
But what is reverse harem?
The genre took off with readers in 2017, becoming one of the hottest trends of the year in self-publishing. Reverse harem readers were voracious and knew exactly what they wanted. Woe betide any author who tried to pass off a ménage book with—gasp!—two men (instead of three or more) as reverse harem. It was even worse if the main character ended up with one love interest at the end, instead of all of them—that way lay author career suicide. Additionally, readers wanted the men of the harem to be exclusively focused on the woman; the prevailing opinion at the time was that as soon as any of the guys went bisexual and started getting it on with each other as well as the girl, it was no longer reverse harem.
There were heated
exchanges on social media groups related to the proper definition of a harem,
arguing that since the women in historical harems weren’t having sex with each
other, obviously the men in a reverse harem shouldn’t be having sex with each
other. (Of course, some of the women in historical, real-world harems were having sex with each other—and it
happened commonly enough that there were laws in place outlining how to deal
with them when they were caught. But, anyhoo…)
Another interesting
phenomenon around the same time was the amount of friction arising between
ménage readers and RH (reverse harem) readers. RH readers decided at some point
that ménage (in book terms) referred exclusively to ménage à trois—three people in a relationship—while RH was three or
more men with one woman. Since the most widely known and commercially
successful ménage series of all time was about three brothers with one woman,
this came as a bit of a surprise to ménage readers and authors, to put it
mildly.
As RH branding began to creep into the wider book-buying consciousness, some well-known reviewers and authors in the ménage world began to publicly chafe at “ménage books being relabeled reverse harem for no reason.” There was a fair amount of vitriol over ménage writers allegedly “jumping ship” into RH-land to make a quick buck, as well as irritation at the chaste, young-adult nature of many of the early RH books. Some people also took serious exception to the use of the word harem itself, because of the negative connotations of real, historical harems when it came to women’s rights.
Reverse Harem takes fantasy by storm
Trickery (Curse of the Gods Book 1) by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington
Predictably, as the two genres began to overlap more and more, the inevitable creativity of authors threw even more new questions into the mix: “Why is there no fantasy romance RH (or ménage) to speak of? Why is it all contemporary and paranormal romance? Let’s fix that right now!” And suddenly, second-world fantasy reverse harem books like Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington’s Curse of The Gods series began topping the Amazon charts.
“Why aren’t the guys in
a reverse harem allowed to get it on with each other, as long as the main focus
is still on the main female character and she thinks it’s hot?” And suddenly
M/M (male/male sex) started popping up more and more often in commercially
successful reverse harem series, despite the early resistance to it.
“What if the female main character is bisexual, and there’s a woman in the harem along with the men?” And… yeah, okay, that one’s still ongoing. The current consensus seems to be that as long as the woman in the harem is lesbian (and thereby doesn’t constitute a temptation for the harem’s men), you can technically still call it a reverse harem… but you’ll turn away quite a few readers by doing so.
What about polyamory?
At this point, someone
will almost always pop in to say, “Hey, it sounds like you’re getting into
polyamorous romance territory here, rather than reverse harem.” (Often, it’s me
saying that. Hey, it’s my thing, all right?)
Because the reality is
that all of these book-related terms are completely arbitrary. Not only that,
but they evolve over time. Still, at least in my opinion, poly romance can be
considered the overarching umbrella term for these sorts of books. The only
restriction on poly romance is that 1) it must contain more than two people in
a consensual romantic relationship, 2) everyone must know about everyone else,
and 3) there must not be any cheating (see #2).
That’s it.
All reverse harem—and
all ménage—is by definition also poly romance. Some reverse harem books are
also ménage. Other reverse harem books, such as young adult RH and RH in which
there is no group sex, are not
ménage. Conversely, MFMM+ ménage can accurately be labeled RH, but MMM ménage
(for instance) could not be.
Captive: Beautiful Monsters Vol. 1 by Jex Lane
Additionally, there are series like Jex Lane’s Beautiful Monsters. It’s poly romance, but with a male main character and no group sex, it doesn’t fit in either the ménage or the RH box. Basically, these days, whatever you’re after when it comes to multiple people in a fantasy romance relationship, it’s probably out there somewhere. The challenge can be finding it—and that’s where reader groups and clear book descriptions by authors and publishers come in.
But, wait! Enter a
final wrinkle—call it a final plot twist, if you will.
As an author of fantasy
poly romance books with strong LGBT content and explicit sex—combined with what
I hope is strong world-building and external plotting—I’ve pretty much fallen
into the position of having no clear audience for my work over the years.
Frankly, I couldn’t even tell you if my books are romantic fantasy or fantasy
romance. If I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, then taking away the
romance elements from my books would leave you with exactly fifty percent of a
story. Similarly, taking away the external plot elements would leave you with
the other fifty percent of a story.
As both an author and a
reader, the little boxes of RH/ménage/poly romance/LGBT/no LGBT have always
been frustrating for me. In the past few months, though, I’ve watched something
new bubbling up in the bibliosphere.
In response to ever
more draconian crackdowns by major book advertising platforms regarding
anything that even hints at alternative lifestyles, poly romance authors have
started getting creative in a truly lovely way. Amazon, for instance, no longer
allows the term “reverse harem” or “RH” in any of its advertising. Ménage
romance and any mention of LGBT content is also a no-go for advertising. This
has become a huge problem for authors who rely on that kind of advertising to
drive book sales and make their living.
Something had to change, and fast.
#WhyChoose
Fortunately, some time
ago the social media hashtag #whychoose
started popping up for books where—you guessed it—the main character doesn’t
have to choose between love interests. While not as well known as the term
“reverse harem,” readers were at least somewhat familiar with #whychoose as a
genre description.
So, after seeing their
advertising opportunities shrivel away to almost nothing, poly romance authors
of all flavors have gradually started to label their books “Why-Choose
Romance.” And as far as I’m concerned, this is good news for readers as well as
authors. With awareness of the new label increasing among fantasy readers, the
options for finding books that might not fit neatly into the strict definitions
of RH or ménage grow, too.
Because, after all… when it comes to book romance in all its beautiful and interesting permutations, why would you ever want to choose in the first place?
What is your all-time favorite #whychoose fantasy romance and why? Share in the comments!
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author R. A. Steffan lives in a very boring (but pretty) part of flyover country in the Midwestern US. When she’s not busy writing stories about people loving each other in all sorts of different and interesting ways, she can be found taking care of her small menagerie of critters. A rebel to the core, she is currently sticking it to the man by illegally harboring ducks within the city limits, where only chickens are allowed. This fearless disregard for societal norms extends to her writing, as well. There, you will find polyamory along with straight, gay, bisexual, and non-gender conforming love of all flavors. You will also find families of choice, profound friendships, adventure, danger, and good triumphing over evil.
That, and sex. Lots of sex. Most of which is not the vanilla variety.
The survival of the last living dragons rests with me and my misfit friends. So… yeah. No pressure.
Mind you, this whole thing would be easier if two of our number weren’t hell-bent on killing each other. Rayth and Nyx have both been hiding secrets for a very long time, but now they face a choice. Let go of their ugly pasts, or watch the future burn to the ground.
We won’t be able to hide five hungry, growing dragons in the mountains forever. As soon as someone catches sight of them, every soldier in Utrea will be after us. And there’s no way we can fight for our dragons’ survival when we’re this busy fighting amongst ourselves.
I’ve always been the queen of questionable life choices, but falling for four proud, stubborn, damaged men at the same time is a new benchmark even for me. What we’re building with the dragons—and each other—could be amazing beyond belief. It could also end in tragedy beyond measure.
If I want it to be the former, it looks like I need to start banging some heads together. Otherwise, our hopes and dreams could well go down in flames.
* * *
The Dragon Mistress by USA Today bestseller R. A. Steffan is a medium-burn fantasy romance series where the heroine doesn’t have to choose one person at the end. It is part of the Eburosi Chronicles, along with The Horse Mistress and The Lion Mistress. It’s not necessary to have read any of the other books in the series before starting The Dragon Mistress.
A special note for Fantasy readers: herein, you will find explicit love scenes in several interesting and unconventional permutations. If your gut reaction to that is “Eww” or even “Meh,” you probably won’t enjoy this series.
Fushigi Yuugi: Miaka Yuki (center) and her Celestial Warriors
A young woman tumbles into a magical book and discovers she’s the savior of the “fictional” country she’s landed in. To save the country and return to her own world, she must find her seven celestial warriors, who are all bound to aid her on her quest. Along the way, the relationships among them grow, strengthen, and evolve. There’s romance and friendship, humor and heartache, angst and suffering, all as they face a dangerous adversary who will stop at nothing to prevent their success – and ensure his own.
This is the basic plot to Fushigi Yuugi (Mysterious Play), my favorite anime and manga series as well as my original introduction to the reverse harem genre. Fushigi Yuugi is a hallmark example. You’ve got a strong-spirited young woman, a Chosen One portal fantasy adventure, an array of handsome men destined to join her quest, romantic tension and angst, and the exploration of the relationships that grow among and between them. All the good stuff!
So when I learned from a
fellow author that people are writing reverse harem romances in Western
fiction, I was stunned and super excited! Being a longtime anime fan as well as
a reader of fantasy (and romantic fantasy when I could find it), it was choirs
singing and birds soaring. Now, I absolutely love a traditional romance between
two people, but seeing reverse harem romances – something I always associated
with being unique to anime – appear in my beloved fantasy, it changed things
for me, both as a writer and a reader.
REVERSE HAREM: WHAT IS IT?
A reverse harem (often abbreviated as RH) refers to the “one woman, multiple men” romance dynamic – the literal flipside of the more recognized and historical traditional harem (many women kept by one polygamous male). A more modern and descriptive term is “why choose,” as the female protagonist (or “center”) is not required to choose one – she can have them all! The harems themselves include three or more members and can have both genders within (i.e. not always a male harem).
In the context of a story, the harem can either be the focal point of the plot (the center must find or connect to her harem in order to defeat the big bad), or could be the subplot (the center must defeat the big bad but also gathers a harem along the way). This can be paralleled with fantasy romance (romance/harem is the plot) and romantic fantasy (romance/harem is subplot), which author Miranda Honfleur distinguishes very well here. Epic fantasy lends itself very well to the idea of reverse harems, though just as in anime, RH stories span genres from contemporary to paranormal to science fiction. It is a boundless dynamic, and readers can pretty much find any “flavor” that they are keen on reading.
The genre mainly appeals to female readers. Though varying degrees of sexual relations and explicitness are present, the focus is mainly on the relationships. Specifically, those the center has with her harem: how they first come together, the means of attraction, the resulting emotions and feelings, how the guys relate to one another, and of course how they work together in the end. This romantic dynamic is in a sense itself fantasy, as it is not commonplace in the real world. And what could be more exciting than being loved and supported by more than one partner?
REVERSE HAREM: EAST VS.
WEST
Akatsuki no Yona: Yona (center) and her Dragon Warriors
There is no doubt that the idea of reverse harems has been present and popular in Eastern media for a long time. Despite many similarities (female protagonist, multiple guys with different personalities, focus on the relationships, etc.) the one main difference is Choice.
In Eastern media (anime, manga, dramas, etc.), the girl either chooses one mate by the end, or does not choose anyone. There is either a canon pairing as defined by the story, or it is left ambiguous. This can be both fun and unsatisfying to a fan, especially if you’re really hoping the girl picks the guy you like! Otome or dating games are a balm for this, where as the player you can control who the protagonist chooses and watch the relationship develop. But in the end, the protagonist still chooses one mate.
Blood Lust by Auryn Hadley – Epic Fantasy Reverse Harem
In Western fiction, on the
other hand, the girl can have them all! Fans have adopted the hashtag
#whychoose, which means exactly that: why should the protagonist choose just
one partner from her bevy of attractive potential mates? And what makes this
dynamic particularly compelling goes back again to the relationships between
her and her harem. Who are they? What is their connection to her? How do
they each fulfill her, support her, care for her? How do their different
personalities complement and clash with each other? How do they resolve their
feelings for her, as well as towards each other? If they are all romantically
involved with her, then there is going to be tension, jealousy, and hopefully
acceptance and love in the end.
WHAT REVERSE HAREM MEANS TO
ME: EXPLORING OTHER FORMS OF LOVE
There’s no doubt I love a good, solid romance between two monogamous characters, and have for as long as I can remember. There’s something special there, reading about two characters who come together while they face adversity, or solve a mystery, and find love in the process. The attraction, the first kiss, the “will they / won’t they,” the forces keeping them apart, and the final resolution. Those elements are vital to me as a reader – I want to experience all those stages along with the characters, to feel the blossoming of love from their very first meeting. Blend that with my beloved fantasy, and I couldn’t be more content.
But there’s something exciting,
complicated, and tantalizing about an intelligent, sexually independent woman
who has not just one but a whole group devoted to her, supporting, protecting,
and loving her. It’s a chance to explore how she relates to each potential
mate, as well as the harem as a whole. How she interacts with one member of the
group may be totally different than another. It’s not all about sex, though
that may certainly be an element with some or even all. To me, it’s the
discovery of how their relationships develop, how they each fulfill her and
contribute to her growth, how the harem members grow, and how the group as a
whole evolves together.
It’s a different kind of
romance. A different kind of love. And for me, as both a writer and reader,
it’s a path worth exploring.
What do you love most about
the reverse harem fantasy genre? What was the last reverse harem fantasy
book that you read? Share in the
comments!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catharine Glen is an independent
fantasy author residing in New England. As a child, she loved creating stories
about distant lands filled with adventure and mystery. She was probably one of
the only students who actually liked writing academic reports, and as an adult
discovered she had a knack for technical writing. Returning to her first
passion—fiction—is like reliving a part of her childhood.
Catharine’s forthcoming
reverse harem romantic fantasy series, The Shadowed World Saga, is anticipated
in late 2019.
Catharine is also the author of the romantic fantasy novel The Rose Crown.
Elite
soldier Marian serves and protects the royal family—a responsibility she does
not take lightly. But when she thwarts an assassination attempt on the king,
she unwittingly becomes a prime suspect. Worse, she is left with a terrible,
pulsing wound and vile, intrusive thoughts that are not her own. Now, the
mysterious cult behind the attack has targeted her, and Marian soon learns of
their goal to restore a devastating relic: the legendary Rose Crown.
Former
mercenary Henryk has vowed to prevent the restoration of the Rose Crown at any
cost. When he encounters Marian, he discovers the terrifying truth of her
involvement—and the mortal danger they both face. Drawn together by the very
thing that could destroy them, Henryk and Marian must forge a bond of
trust—before it’s too late.
Can
Marian battle against the ancient darkness consuming her soul, or will it
utterly destroy them both?
