In honor of Fairy Tale Day — February 26, 2023 — here are 35 fantastic fairy tale retellings across several romantasy genres! We give you the fairy tale(s) retold PLUS the heat level for each book, as well!
For second world fantasy kissing books, check out the first section: RFS.
For romantic urban fantasy, sci-fi fantasy romance, paranormal romance, and more, check out the second section: RFS Next Generation.
RFS: Second World Romantic Fantasy Books
These books take place in a world not our own (“second world”) and include both romantic fantasy and fantasy romance subgenres.
1. A Court Beyond The Mists by LJ Swallow
A seductive fae prince. A hidden princess. A dangerous prophecy.
Never trust those from beyond the Mists.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Rapunzel
Heat Level: Scorching
2. Awakened Princess by Laura Greenwood
When Keira discovers that she’s cursed, she does the last thing her parents want and joins forces with the son of their bitter enemy. But stopping her curse comes at a terrible cost, and she might just plunge her kingdom into a war they may not be able to win.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Sleeping Beauty, Hansel & Gretel, plus hints of Rumpelstiltskin and The Frog Prince
Heat Level: Warm
3. Heart of the Raven Prince by Tessonja Odette
Half-fae Ember yearns to be free from her cruel stepfamily. Raven shifter Prince Franco is determined to delay marriage. A contrived courtship could solve both their problems, but what happens when their feelings prove to be no illusion?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Cinderella
Heat Level: Steamy
4. The Borderlands Princess by Ophelia Wells Langley
A human princess promised to the High King of the Fae as a peace treaty. But not everyone wants a human for a queen, and her carriage is ambushed in the wilds of Fae. Rescued by a handsome, loyal Fae Lord who then escorts her safely to her betrothed, everything seems fine. Until she falls for the lord instead.
Can she uphold her duty and marry the king? Or will she follow her heart?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Sleeping Beauty, King Arthur
Heat Level: Scorching
5. Mermaid Bride by Jessica M. Butler
In this retelling of “The Little Mermaid,” Ishana is a peace healer in a war-torn world, struggling with her feelings for a man who is loved by another. When a young mermaid saves him and seeks her help in marrying him after making a foolish bargain with the Banshee Queen, Ishana is caught in a difficult situation complicated further by a murder that may plunge all their nations into war.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Little Mermaid
Heat Level: Mild
6. Wicked is the Reaper by Nisha J. Tuli
It’s the day of the Hunt, and I’ve always known it would decide my future. The man who brings the largest stag to the feet of my father will win my hand in marriage. My oldest friend and the greatest hunter in Aetherus is favored to win, and we’ve planned our entire lives together. That is, until the Reaper, the monster who haunts the trees, arrives with the largest stag in the forest and claims me as his own.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Scorching
7. A Sea of Eternal Woe by R. L. Davennor
Wendy is determined to prove herself, and Captain Hook is hellbent on finding his long lost love. But when they’re forced to work together, will the fragile trust between them be enough to survive the Sea of Eternal Woe?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: The Little Mermaid
Heat Level: Scorching
8. The Night’s Chosen by Emily Hornburg
While preparing for her upcoming nuptials, the king is poisoned by the queen, and Princess Eira must go on a quest to find an enchanted chalice to save her father and kingdom. The catch? She journeys with the one man she can’t have, and can’t resist.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Snow White, plus hints to other fairy tales
Heat Level: Steamy
9. Of Roses and Rituals by S. L. Prater
In one summer, can the clever beast tame this beauty and claim his fated mate?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Scorching
10. Of Heart and Stone by Jesikah Sundin
She has a heart of stone.
A heart he is fated by the faeries to break.
Hidden in the Dwarven mine camps since infancy, an Elven princess with a heart of stone finds herself at the center of a war. She must choose between the kingdom she was destined to save or the prince who wakes her heart to life.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Snow White
Heat Level: Warm
11. Second Star to the Left by Megan Van Dyke
Banished for doing the unthinkable, selling the hottest drug in Neverland—pixie dust, Tinker Bell wants absolution. Determined to find a way home, Tink doesn’t hesitate to follow the one lead she has, even if that means seducing a filthy pirate to steal precious gems out from under his…hook.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Peter Pan
Heat Level: Steamy
12. Of Earth and Flame by Elayna Gallea
Aileana has lived her entire life in a tower, but on the morning of her wedding, she escapes. Running through the King’s Forest, she finds herself in a fake marriage with the mysterious male she not-so-accidentally stabbed.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Rapunzel
Heat Level: Warm
13. Taken by the Dragon: A Beauty & the Beast Retelling by Jessica Grayson & Aria Winter
Each year during the blood moon, a maiden is chosen as sacrifice to the beast–a man that can take the form of a terrifying dragon. To save my sister, I take her place, finding myself drawn to the man behind the beast. To survive, I’ll have to break the curse that binds him. But what will it take to set both myself and the dragon free?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Steamy
14. Of Thorns and Beauty by Elle Madison & Robin D. Mahle
You think you know the tale as old as time, but you’ve already got it wrong.
There never was a beauty and a beast, only a girl who was both.
And that girl was me.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Warm
15. Of Salt and Gold by Avie Adams
What happens when an innocent mermaid gets stranded in an underwater palace with a cursed, dark prince? Dive into this steamy romantic fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a twist for a heady dose of romantic tension, all the feels, and spice!
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Steamy
16. A Sea of Unfortunate Souls by Jay R. Wolf
Arie is sent to kill the Leviathan in order to save her sister. Will she succeed, or will she become the next victim of the soul-eating monster?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Little Mermaid, Peter Pan
Heat Level: Mild
17. Beauty and the Goblin King by Lidiya Foxglove
They say the goblin king offers gold for a night spent with him. I shouldn’t be intrigued…but when my family loses all their money, I find myself at his door…
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Scorching
18. Her Dark Reflection by Hailey Jade
Rhiandra Tiercelin hungers for power and her charm has always been her sharpest weapon in hunting it. So when a brutal attack leaves her physically scarred, desperation drives her to make a deal with Draven, a magic-wielding stranger who is inexplicably compelling and definitely dangerous. She knows she can’t trust him, but when he offers to make her a queen, the temptation is too enticing to resist
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Snow White
Heat Level: Steamy
19. Enchanting the Dragon Lord by Alisha Klapheke
An enemy princess. A cursed prince. A kiss of flame.
When artifact-hunting princess Brielle discovers a rune stone, she unwittingly calls forth a wild dragon bent on destruction. She’s ready to slay the beast up until the moment he shifts into a gorgeous man with tortured eyes.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Warm
20. The Ugly Stepsister by Megan Van Dyke
Only Anna knows the truth about Cinderella: The pauper turned queen wasn’t the victim, but the bully. Disguised as a young man and taking the name of Ansel, Anna will do whatever it takes to free her family and set the record straight, even partner with Will, a former royal huntsman, who has a vendetta of his own to settle with the queen.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Cinderella, Snow White
Heat Level: Steamy
21. A Land of Never After by R. L. Davennor
Wendy Maynard finds herself trapped in a cursed and dying Neverland, where it’s quite literally kill or be killed. Can she break the curse and free its inhabitants before it’s too late?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Peter Pan
Heat Level: Mild
22. A Taste of Poison by Tessonja Odette
When Astrid Snow is accused of murder, she takes refuge at the Seven Sins Hotel. But when her stepmother—a fearsome fae queen—sends the Huntsman after her, Astrid must make him an ally…or die trying. Can the unlikely pair come together to prove Astrid’s innocence or will she lose her heart in the worst possible way?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Snow White
Heat Level: Steamy
23. Bluebeard and the Outlaw by Tara Grayce
Marriage: the ultimate heist. When Robin of the Greenwood discovers that Duke Guy plans to marry yet again, she conceives a plan for a final, big score. The lord is notorious for killing his wives shortly after he marries them, but Robin has no plans to be dead wife number four.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Bluebeard, Robin Hood
Heat Level: Mild
24. Captivated by the Fae: A Cinderella Retelling by Jessica Grayson & Aria Winter
When the Fae Prince Ryvan discovers me in the woods, at first I am afraid. But the more time we spend together, I find myself drawn to him in ways I do not understand. When he asks me to be his, I want more than anything to accept. But the Prince carries a dark secret. One he cannot hide. And now, I find myself wondering… Can I trust him with my heart?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Cinderella
Heat Level: Steamy
25. A Forest of Stolen Memories by Callie Thomas
A curse steals all Rose’s memories as she stands at the altar, ready to wed a prince. Unwilling to marry a man she can no longer recall, she flees into a magical forest and straight into the arms of a handsome, brooding stranger with a few secrets of his own.
She’ll need his help to remember her past before she can have a future…with anyone.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Rapunzel, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella
Heat Level: Mild
26. Of Thorns and Curses by Jesikah Sundin
She was cursed at birth to marry him.
He is cursed to never know her love.
Trapped in a chateau with a man who is half-monster by daylight, full-monster by moonlight, Rhoslyn fears there is no escape. But when a beautiful man appears in her dreams declaring that he, too, is a prisoner, Rhoslyn knows she must revolutionize more than a realm on the brink of civil war if she is to break their curse and set them free.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast
Heat Level: Warm
27. Spindles and Spells by Laura Greenwood
Briar doesn’t believe in Once Upon A Time, but when she finds herself at Grimm Academy, she realises that she might have to change her mind.
With the help of her friends and the charming Lord Walter, Briar has to figure out how to stop her fairy tale from coming true before it’s too late and she’s cursed forever.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Sleeping Beauty
Heat Level: Mild
28. Once Upon a Time by Demelza Carlton
A sword-wielding Cinderella. An enchanting Beauty. A villain who might not be so bad after all…
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mulan, The Goose Girl
Heat Level: Steamy
RFS Next Gen: Romantic Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, and More
These books take place in our world or in alternate versions of our world.
29. Enchanted Locks by Maria Vermisoglou
When Fortuna is captured in a tower, and becomes a victim of a demoness’ mistreatment, she thought her life was over. With the aid of a male witch, she breaks free only to discover she’s in Hell.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Rapunzel
Heat Level: Warm
30. Snow So White by C. Gockel
Once upon a future-time, in a city of steel, concrete, and Magick, a wicked queen trapped a mighty warrior with a curse. A gender swapped fairy tale with a charming, small town princess.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Snow White
Heat Level: Mild
31. Heart of the Hunted by T.L. Thorne
As the daughter of a weaponsmith, Autumn Snow is not the fair maiden Sahlyn was expecting when he attempted to rip out her heart.
Now he’s stuck in a bargain that will be his downfall unless together they can take down the queen pulling the strings on all of their lives.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Snow White
Heat Level: Warm
32. Lord of the Hollow Court by C.K. Beggan
A human girl in want of a husband. A fae lord of a court on the brink. Caution: pumpkin spice ahead.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Heat Level: Steamy
33. Gallowglass by Jennifer Allis Provost
Karina didn’t set out to free the Seelie Queen’s gallowglass. Now she’ll do anything to keep him.
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Tam Lim
Heat Level: Steamy
34. Mirrors and Monsters by Demelza Carlton
Mirror, mirror on the wall…who’s the hottest monster lover of all? Which one will be your favourite monster?
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: Beauty and the Beast, The Snow Queen
Heat Level: Steamy
35. Sugar and Snow by Irene Davis
Why settle for a Nutcracker Prince when you could have a Mouse King?
Sugar and and Snow is a continuation of the Nutcracker story, featuring the villain you thought you knew…
Fairy Tale(s) Retold: The Nutcracker
Heat Level: Warm
Was your favorite fairy tale represented in the above selection? What book from the list are you most excited to read? Let’s chat about it in the comments!
