Best of Book Riot

These are the Best Romantasy Series on Shelves

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S. Zainab Williams

Executive Director, Content

S. Zainab would like to think she bleeds ink but the very idea makes her feel faint. She writes fantasy and horror, and is currently clutching a manuscript while groping in the dark. Find her on Twitter: @szainabwilliams.

Welcome to The Best of Book Riot, our daily round-up of what’s on offer across our site, newsletters, podcasts, and social channels. Not everything is for everyone, but there is something for everyone.

12 of the Best Romantasy Series

Now, the best romantasy series I decided to recommend have either a certified HEA/HFN or—for unfinished series—a strong indication that the book series will end in an HEA/HFN based on a personal judgment call. I adore many excellent fantasy series with romance subplots, but those books are best left for a future list. I can guarantee these are the best romantasy series with a HEA/HFN for fans of the genre.  

Decorate Your House Like a Nancy Meyers Movie

Nancy Meyers is famed far and wide for her movie interiors. Described as “both aspirational and accessible”, they have been wowing viewers since the ’90s, when she directed The Parent Trap remake. Now, I’m no interior designer, so I can’t talk to you about color palettes or textures, but I don’t think it matters. It’s not about the specifics, it’s about the vibes. Nancy Meyers movie sets always feel, to me, like a decadent glass of wine consumed on a terrace overlooking the ocean, feeling the last rays of sun drifting through the clouds and warming my skin.


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Where Have All the Non-Romance Fantasy Books Gone?

If you walk into any bookstore and look at the new fantasy novels, you’ll immediately notice that MANY of them are romance-centric. Does this mean that people aren’t writing non-romance fantasy books? Well, no. Of course not. However, publishing has noticed the upward trend in romantasy and is feeding that.

Some people think that bookstores select which books are front and center when you first walk into the store. That is only partly true, particularly with independent bookstores. The large publishers have a bigger say in which books are pushed out into the limelight, including sometimes purchasing displays. Essentially, every time a publisher decides to publish a book, they’re taking a bet on that book’s success. The more successful they think it will be, the more resources they pour into selling it.

The Bestselling Books of the Week

It’s an open secret that The New York Times bestseller list is editorialized, not just a reflection of sales figures. And there have been plenty of NYT bestseller list scandals, including authors who have attempted to buy their way onto the list. (You might even argue that the bestseller list is broken.) This week’s NYT nonfiction bestseller list is a good example of how much it differs from every other popular bestseller list: while Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Amazon, and Indie Bestsellers all agree the #1 nonfiction bestseller this week is The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, that title doesn’t show up in The New York Times’ top 15. Instead, they list the #1 nonfiction bestseller this week as 2015’s The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, which is nowhere near the top of any of the other bestseller lists. It’s a puzzling ranking that confirms how little we know about what puts a book on that list.

7 of the Best Books Like HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

As my son has gotten older, we’ve fallen deep into the How to Train Your Dragon lore. We’ve seen all three animated movies, every season of Dragons: Race to the Edge, and now we’re working our way through the spin-off series DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms. I’m excited to start reading the How to Train Your Dragon books by Cressida Cowell with my son too, especially after hearing the audiobooks are narrated by the legendary David Tennant.