Romantasy For Beginners

The essential ingredients of a romantasy novel

About 17 years ago, I devoured Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series of books, staying up to the early hours to read about Bella Swan befriending a werewolf and falling in love with a vampire. I was in my late 30’s – definitely not the target audience, I would have guessed – and yet I couldn’t put these books down.

Romantasy books (novels mixing romance with fantasy) have been around for a while, but the Twilight series put the genre firmly in the spotlight.

Today, romantasy novels top bestseller lists. Rebecca Yarros, author of The Empyrean series, has sold 12 million books over the last two years. Sarah J. Maas, author of several romantasy series, including the smash hit A Court of Thorns and Roses, has sold around 40 million books around the world.

Whether the books feature dragons, faeries or werewolves, detailed sex scenes or chaste romance, fans just can’t get enough. They congregate on social media, queue all night to buy the latest instalments of a beloved series and snap up special editions with embossed covers and detailed edge painting.

Noelia Gil

One of these romantasy fans is my friend, stunt performer Noelia Gil. Now in her early forties, she’s been an avid reader of the genre for over 20 years. I asked her to tell me what readers can expect from romantasy.

What is the appeal for readers?

You can escape the real world for a while. The authors create an entire world that you can immerse yourself in. And then on top of that, you have the romantic part – the love story. I also enjoy the development of the characters during their journey, their personal growth.

Do these books always have a happy ending?

No. Sometimes they end and it’s devastating. Sometimes there are cliff hangers. Or unexpected plot twists.  

What else can a reader expect?

The main character is always a woman. There is always a power imbalance between the main male and female characters. Some stories are more about wars or society, others are focused more on the romance. Some are more spicy, some are slow burns.

Tell me more about spicy and slow burn novels.

The spicy ones have very descriptive sex scenes in them. Slow burns will have little or no sex scenes – it’s not important in these books. The story is more about the conflict between the couple – going from enemies to lovers, or friends to lovers, rather than sex.

Sex scenes are notoriously difficult to write. How are the sex scenes in romantasy?

They’re done very well. Most romantasy is written by women and most of its readers are women. The authors know what women readers want.

What’s a book boyfriend?

Characters that readers find very attractive. You put yourself in the female character’s role. There are lots of great book boyfriends in romantasy.

When I went to buy a copy of A Court of Thorns and Roses from Saucy Books (a romance bookstore in London), the bookseller mentioned shadow daddies. What are they?

They are secretive, very powerful male characters. Very strong. Very alpha. He knows exactly how to make you fantasise about him.

Is there anything new you’d like to see in a romantasy novel?

Mostly they feature young female characters, from 18 to her early 20s and there are a couple of books where the main character is late 20s but I wish there were characters who were 40+. You can still write about personal growth but she could already have some life experience.

These books are often in series. Which series would you recommend?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas. For the world that she creates. Descriptive but not too much detail. The faeries are incredibly described. They are very sexy faeries.

For anyone dipping their toes into the romantasy world, what other books would you recommend?

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. It’s set in a military school and there are dragons in it. It’s part funny, part serious. The story is about characters going from enemies to lovers.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. This is set in the real world and features humans with magic powers. A slow burn.

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi – this has a strong female character. Her personal growth is done really well. Outstanding.

If you’re interested in writing romantasy, I have several romantasy workshops, including one, of course, on creating shadow daddies. Please email me for more information: dluchia@gmail.com