Let’s start with the whimsical! The Baby Dragon Bookshop by A. T. Qureshi is a small-town, cozy romantasy where two rivals must work together to revive a fire-prone chaotic bookshop where baby dragons frequent. The Sun and the Starmaker by Rachel Griffin is being called “a soft and devastating fairy tale” where a girl with latent powers must train under a cold and mysterious mentor in order to bring light to their snowy village. Until the Clock Strikes Midnight by Alechia Dow has a fairy Gaurdian and a Misfortune competing for an elite mentorship must reluctantly work with each other to influence a grieving mortal bookstore owner’s life. Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett is a heartwarming cosy fantasy where a woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montreal turns to a grouchy but charming wizard to help save the shelter.
Moving on to the dangerous women (the type we love in this house) and fantastical creatures that drive stories in otherworlds and othertimes. Queen of Faces by Petra Lord is a dystopian dark academia where a desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. To the Death by Andrea Tang is a light fantasy thriller where a girl plots revenge for her brother’s death by manipulating a magical duel against the daughter of the man responsible—but the two grow closer and vengeance duels the heart. The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan is a historical fantasy told through multiple timelines set during the French Revolution, where a monster slayer accompanied by his indwelling demon is forced to complete his long-failed hunt of a man-eating beast, and meet an estranged lover after decades. Eragon meets African mythology in Call of the Dragon by Natasha Bowen where in a kingdom ruled by dragon gods, the gods are betrayed and one girl who finds herself magically connected to the dragon gods embarks on a journey to save the world.
There is beauty in darkness and this list would be nothing without stories that choose to play within it. The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer is a gothic murder mystery in a holy city where sins are visible via touch, and a girl born soulless and worthless to the Church is tasked with assassinating a divine heretic but instead teams up with him to solve murders in exchange for a soul. Godkiller meets Princess Mononoke in The Gods Must Burn by T. R. Moore where a disgraced soldier is resurrected as a deity by the Wolf God to protect the forest, for which he must win over a skeptical Forest God while battling his own past in this healing dark fantasy. Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity is a gothic fantasy romance where a refugee ghost-seer wanting to save her brother barters her secret to the cold and mysterious Saint of Silence, but finds herself in a deal that leads her to a cursed estate in order to find a specific ghost. A Forest, Darkly by A.G. Slater is a witchy gothic fantasy where an isolated witch’s quiet life is upended when she takes in a young woman pursued by dangerous “god-hounds” and must protect her new ward and the forest amidst disappearing village children.
It’s the month of love and there’s no way we can forget the subgenre of romantasy! The Promised Queen by Kate Johnson has a master thief transported to a magical, crumbling realm where she is proclaimed the “promised one” and bound by prophecy to marry a beastly prince.A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon by Hannah Reynolds has a student find herself accidentally betrothed to a demon—and investigating his connection to the magical irregularities plaguing her city in this cozy romantasy. The Silversmith by LJ Claren is about an isolated grieving survivor in the icy North who discovers her true heritage and the dormant magic she carries, making her key to stopping a rising shadow wielder in this slow-burn romantasy. The Lies That Summon the Night by Tessonia Odette unravels in a world where creative works are forbidden for the bloodthirsty shadows they give life to, where a fugitive storyteller is hunted for creating illicit fiction but a monster hunter finds her and strikes a deal: summon the shadows for him or he’ll claim her bounty.
Stories that run on an adventure are unmissable so I must add those to the list too. Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz is a dark academia where three teens infiltrate the magical Ivy League and the elite school’s history is filled with dark secrets. The trio decides to find and expose the truth, while a queer love triangle builds. For fans of Legendborn, Ungodly Chaos by Selma Soren where a girl heartbroken after her boyfriend breaks up with her accidentally discovers he is the descendant of the Egyptian god of chaos and is plunged into the underworld where he’s in danger. The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by Katrina Kwan is about a demon-hunter who captures a nine-tailed fox and both are banished to the underworld together where they’re forced to form a reluctant alliance in order escape the circles of Hell.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.