Fantasy & Romantasy from BIPOC Authors

📚 Romantic fantasy duology
❤️‍🔥 Has spice (lower)

Plot: She was pushed off of a balcony and left to die, but secretly survived and returned home. Years later, she finds herself back in the place of her attempted murder in hopes of finding out who did it. And she also ends up working for the man – a high up political representative – she thinks tried to kill her. They end up getting closer as they have to work together in the constant battle for power between governmental bodies.

This duology has: unique magic system and gods, political maneuvering and scheming galore, truly smart FMC, very well-rounded MMC, beautiful wriring

📚 Romantic fantasy duology
❤️‍🔥 Has spice (lower)
🎧 Dual-narrated audiobook

Plot: She is an infamous man killer who has been on the run for hundreds of years and she’s living live on the low, when crime comes up too close to her doorstep. When that happens, she decides she’s going to go work with the detective who is on her case and try to throw him off.

This duology has: Korean folklore urban fantasy, buddy cop/detective vibes, enemies to lovers, funny and sassy FMC

📚 Fantasy/dystopian trilogy
🏳️‍🌈 Very small romantic subplot
🎧 Full cast audiobook

Plot: Earth’s history is broken out into Seasons; huge disasters where the people had to scrape their way back to bring back civilization. And now, Earth magic users are considered too dangerous to live freely out of fear for triggering the next horrible event. But on a single day, 3 horrible events happen. We follow 3 characters as they navigate a world-ending natural disaster and 2 huge family blow ups.

This series has: semi post-apocalyptic Earth, 3 POVs, prejudice, super minor romantic subplot, 3 Hugo Awards

📚 Romantasy trilogy
❤️‍🔥 Spicy
🎧 Dual-narrated audiobook

Plot: She is drowning her sorrows in drugs and alcohol, living a lonely life after her brother went missing when one night she falls through a portal into another world. Landing front of a strange man, his strange wolf, and a bond that makes no sense.

This trilogy has: a unique take on mates/bonds, grumpy/sunshine, vengeful gods, multiple universes/worlds

📚 4 book romantasy series
❤️‍🔥 Spicy
🎧 Dual-narrated audiobook

Plot: She’s been imprisoned since she was a child, scraping by every day to survive. When one day she gets pulled from the prison and entered into trials to become the wife of the king. But the trials aren’t what they seem, and she continues to wonder why SHE of all people was pulled out to participate in this.

This series has: deadly trials, stabby FMC, secret twists and turns, fae, MMC with a mouth

📚 Romantic fantasy duology
🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic and YA
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: She was turned into a Reaper years ago; she lost her family, her future, and her life when her best friend betrayed her. Her best friend happens to be the daughter to an organized crime family. Reapers may be plaguing 1920s Harlem, but they’re predictable… until they’re not. And then our two girls must join forces – and face their pasts – in order to figure out what’s going on.

This duology has: vampires (Reapers), second chances, friends to enemies to lovers, jazz-age Harlem setting

📖 Romantic fantasy trilogy – 2 of 3 books out
❤️‍🔥 Has spice (lower)
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: All she has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. She’s an orphan who is deeply involved in the rebels, fighting the Empire from taking over more and more land. But she also has a secret, hidden magic. He is the Emperor’s son and is a weapon built for conquest. They meet during battle and discover something about one another, that maybe just maybe their magic is complementary and maybe just maybe fighting on the battlefield isn’t the best way to solve the political problems comign to a head.

This trilogy has: ENEMIES! to lovers, for the ReyLo (Kylo Ren + Rey from Star Wars) lovers, unique, Filipino mythology/world-inspired, lost princess, colonization

📖 Romantic fantasy series – 2 of 5 books out
🏳️‍🌈 Multiple romances, 1 queer

Plot: This follows 3 women on the continent struggling with power over their own lives.
– Nova’s first memory was crawling out of a grave. Since then she’s been the weapon of choice for the royals, tortured into submission. They offer her a continent-shifting task & she barters for her freedom.
– Elaia is a princess who has lost most of her family & watched her father disappear into nothingness in grief. She has taken on the burden of ruling, of everything, & is tired.
– Syrena takes over after the sudden & tragic death of her brother & was unprepared to lead.

This series has: feminine rate galore, mages/witches and human magic, political maneuvering like crazy, dark themes, slowwwwww burn romances

📖 Romantic fantasy trilogy – 1 book out
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook (very good narration)

Plot: She has made a deal with the Saint of Silence — a powerful & scary keeper of secrets — in order to save her brother. The deal? Revealing to him that she can see ghosts. & upon acquiring this knowledge, she becomes an imperative part of his plan to find a specific ghost. If she fails, she loses her freedom & is indebted to the saint forever.

This trilogy has: gothic setting, ghosts and demons, interesting politics, slowwwwwww burn and no spice yet

📖 Romantic fantasy trilogy – 2 of 3 books out
❤️‍🔥 Has spice (lower)
🎧 Duet-narrated audiobook

Plot: Elyria — famed war hero of the fae & war criminal to the humans — is no longer fighting the war of 250 years ago that shaped the realm. These days she fights her mental battle, dealing with her trauma with all the good stuff like sex, drinking, & general avoidance. This doesn’t go great for her in a few ways, but things take a turn for the worse when her dead ex boyfriend’s sister decides to enter herself into the deadly trials of the Crucible, which is the reason she has a dead ex boyfriend in the first place.

This trilogy has: WELL DONE deadly trials, humans, fae, dwarves, & more magical creatures, found family, gods/prophecies/lore, SLOWWW burn, he’s the human and she’s the old fae, YEARNNNNNNING

📖 Romantic fantasy series – 3 of 4 books out
🐣 YA
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Bree is struggling with the recent passing of her mom while she begins a new phase of her life in an early college program for gifted students. However at school she learns way more than what’s taught in her classes when she discovers a secret society may have been involved with her mom’s death. 

This series has: King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table inspo, potential love triangle, strong af FMC, grief representation, unique monsters, chosen one

📖 Romantasy series – 4 of 7 books out
❤️‍🔥 Spicy
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook and a Graphic Audio

Plot: Dianna made a deal with the Kaden, the evil king of monsters; become his weapon & save her sister. So she did. She became a blood-thirsty monster barely holding onto her humanity while doing his bidding, including navigating worlds searching for an ancient relic. But in the search for this relic she meets Samkiel, a grumpy reclusive god. They need to work together to save the world & the ones they love.

This series has: gods and monsters (duh), MORALLY GRAY FMC, enemies to lovers, slow-ish burn, toxic characters, ultimate book husband material

📖 Romantic fantasy trilogy – 2 of 3 books out
❤️‍🔥 YA, so steamy vs spicy
🎧 Solo-narrated to full cast audiobook

Plot: Kidan’s twin sister was taken by a mysterious vampire & she’s been trying to find her ever since. When an opportunity arises to attend university in a community where vampires & humans live together, she takes it. Not because her family has a legacy there, or because she necessarily wants to live with monsters. But because the only lead to the vampire who took her sister is there, & he’s devoted to her family.

This trilogy has: aaaactul enemies to lovers, vampires, humans, and sages, interesting African lore, magical houses, female rage, academia setting

📖 Romantic fantasy series – 1 of 5 books out
🎧 Solo-narrated to full cast audiobook

Plot: She’s an orphan who has put all of her focus into climbing up the ranks to become a sorceress. She also wants to join a prestigious group she’s been dreaming of her whole life, & to do so she must complete some deadly trials. But while there she finds help in places she didn’t expect it as well as tension. & that’s in the form of a charming man & his friends from a neighboring country as well as the guy she’s been secretly obsessed with most of her adult life

This series has: love triangle, sorcerers/sorceresses, magical creatures, deadly trials, found family, slow burn and no spice yet

📖 Series of interconnected standalones – book 1 is Hekate: the Witch
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: This follows the story of Hecate being an orphan of the war between the Olympians & Titans, growing up in the underworld, coming into her powers, & using them for good.

This series has: Greek mythology following different notorious characters and diving into their backstory, really lovely prose and audiobook

📖 Romantasy series – 1 book out so far
❤️‍🔥 Has spice (low)

Plot: Adina lives and works as a donor for vampires in what is essentially a high end blood brothel. While many enjoy this jon for its perks — especially as a human living in the dangerous world of vampires — she hates it. But between the mysterious presence living in her mind, her sick twin sister, & best friends, she is content enough. Until she learns how she can potentially cure her sister, which involves taking something from the vampires they don’t want taken & in doing this she finds out way more than she thought she knew. 

This series has: vampire courts and politics, post-human vs. vampire war fallout, stubborn/stabby FMC, enemies to lovers, found family

📕 Fantasy standaone with small romantic subplot
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Sciona has worked tirelessly & with a singular focus her entire life in order to be the first female high mage in the city. To meet this goal she has to be a better mage than every man around her, forego most “traditional female” experiences, & understand in a deeper level than anyone the foundational texts of their city & the religion that runs it. But once she finds herself there, she also finds herself partnered with an immigrant tribesman – whose people have been slowly taken out by blight outside the city – that is placed even lower on the societal food chain than she is. But his lived experiences, her prowess, & both of their determination turn up magical solutions they could never have understood possible.

This book has: themes of misogyny/classism/religious weaponization/racism/colonialism/and more, truly complex FMC, unique magic system with clear rules, beautiful writing, emotional turmoil

📕 Romantic fantasy standalone
🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic romance
❤️‍🔥 Has spice (lower)
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Tales are the magic that runs England, & the tale of the knight & the witch is one of the most famous. The knight & the witch meet, fall on love, & must ruin one another in every lifetime. But what if they don’t want to do that this time? What if a mystery assassin is chasing them & they want to figure that out instead?

This book has: beautiful themes of generational storytelling/colonialism/immigration/propaganda, longing, fairytale retellings, so many magical creatures

📕 Historical fantasy standalone
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: He is an adopted immigrant whose father raises him to attend Oxford’s prestigious translation school. Here he learns to perfect the magic that runs the world, but also learns just how horribly the British Empire both hoards & weaponizes this resource he is to master.

This book has: themes of colonialism and imperialism, super unique magic, academia setting

📕 Romantic historical fantasy standalone
🏳️‍🌈 Queer romance
🎧 Duet-narrated audiobook

Plot: A Puerto Rican iron worker in 1910s finds himself working for a circus after building a massive water tank for them. Little did he know the water tank was meant to hold a real life merman. After acquiring the merman, he finds himself not psyched about having helped contain this beautiful creature but also a little enthralled with spending time with him.

This book has: mer people and humans, circus setting, themes of racism/prejudice, story of immigrants, soooooo sweet, beautiful writing

📕 Fantasy standalone
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: She was a poor village girl living through the horrors of famine when the prince comes to town providing gifts & seeking concubines for the emperor heir. She earns a spot, against all odds, & must now navigate to terrors of the evil heir, court politics, her own safety, & the future of a nation.

This book has: Chinese influence, SUPER unique poetry-based magic system, politics and court scheming galore, character journey vs. action-packed, power/corruption/patriarchy, tiiiiny romantic subplot,

📕 Romantic fantasy standalone
🏳️‍🌈 Queer
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: The people are suffering under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne dynasty. Two warriors, who couldn’t be more different, find themselves transporting the matriarchal god of the current evil ruling dynasty in her attempt to right her family’s wrongs.

This book has: the most ambitious writing (1st, 2nd, and 3rd POVs), so so unique, an ending that will stick with you

📕 Romantic fantasy standalone in the Raybearer world
🐣 YA
🎧 Solo-narrated AND FANTASTIC audiobook

Plot: Small Sade is a poor, handicapped girl in need of a job & those are hard to come by due to her injured foot. She gets a job at an inn when the rich owner finds out she has a power to get rid of people’s bad feelings. But along the way she accidentally binds herself to a mysterious “dame eating” god & things go a little awry.

This book has: African folklore inspiration, mysterious backstories, found family, lovely writing, a sweet romance, determined FMC

📕 Romantic historical fantasy standalone
🎧 Dual-narrated audiobook

Plot: Néstor & Nena personified forbidden young love on the ranch. She was the rancher’s daughter, & he was a young cowboy who would never be considered “enough” by society to marry her. One day when they’re out together, she gets attacked by a mysterious creature & he thinks she’s died & goes on the run. Fast forward 9 years & they’re brought back together to fight the common enemy; the Yankees of the north they know about & the mysterious beasts they don’t.

This book has: forbidden love, kids who fell for each other then time jump to cause second chance tension, yearning, vampires and interesting monster metaphors, interesting Mexican setting

📕 Romantasy standalone
❤️‍🔥 Spicy
🎧 Duet-narrated audiobook

Plot: The night before her prophesied arranged marriage, she goes to a brothel to have one last night of fun & does so. Then, at her wedding the next day, her one last swing turns up & he’s no random man; he’s the enemy king hellbent on revenge against her court & her betrothed. 

This book has: warrior princess FMC, shadow daddy king MMC, throne scene, forced proximity and arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, fae courts/lore/politics, spicy spice

📕 Historical fantasy standalone
🏳️‍🌈 Queer normative world
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: She is the memory keeper for her people & has held their memories exclusively since she was 14, knowing & experiencing generations of trauma, while they live blissfully unaware of their history.

This book has: mer-esque people, themes of legacy/Black trauma(s)/white supremacy, GREAT audio

📕 Romantic fantasy standalone short story
🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Two sisters keep the magic of their home & lands alive through their song. They live on the edge of Faerie & are no stranger to some of the magic that bleeds through. But between a Faerie interest & a man attempting to court, their lives will be upheaved in one way or another.

This book has: an extremely lovely audiobook with singing, queer rep (nonbinary character) and a romantic subplot, story of sisterhood, really lovely writing

📕 Romantic historical fantasy standalone
❤️‍🔥 Low low low spice
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Ellory has the brains to attend any prestigious university but not the money to pay for it. One day she gets a letter stating she has earned a mystery scholarship to an Ivy League school & she goes. But her school experience is off; she’s got an arrogant academic rival, Déjà vu out the wazoo, & she’s trying to juggle life/class/work when she finds out the school has an odd mystery to it.

This book has: page-turning mystery, Memento vs. The Craft vs. The Covenant a little vibes, low fantasy, academia setting, secret societies, academic rivals to lovers

📕 Historical fantasy horror standalone
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Maryse lives in Macon, GA as a hunter of the KKK because they’re it just monsters (inside) they’re monsters (physical) & she happens to be one of the few to see this.

This book has: themes of racism/white supremacy/hatred, low fantasy setting, monsters (metaphorical and literal), horror elements

📕 Fantasy standalone
🏳️‍🌈 Very minor sapphic romantic subplot
🎧 Full cast audiobook

Plot: This follows the life of Medusa, from before she was the cursed stone-visioned woman of lore and then after.

This book has: Greek mythology, Medusa’s origin story, naive FMC, betrayals, trials, check your triggers

📕 Romantic fantasy standalone
🐣 YA
🎧 Solo-narrated audiobook

Plot: Every year, the most beautiful young woman in the village is sacrificed to the Sea God in hopes of ending a generations-long curse on their lands. When the woman is to be her brother’s one true love, Mina takes her place instead & finds herself in the realm of gods. & things are not as they seem.

This book has: Korean folklore, very sweet, found family

📕 Romantic fantasy standalone
🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic
📧 Not published anywhere, just accessible via ML Wang’s newsletter

Plot: Chi is one of the wives to the most powerful man on the steppe. & he has sent her to help retrieve his next wife the prophecies claim will have the heir that saves the world. But when she meets the nun-turned-wife-to-be & they begin their journey, things go wrong/awry & fast.

This book has: unique politics and gem-based magic, bodyguard trope, super surprisingly fun banter (ML Wang usually makes me cry), really easy-to-root-for characters

📕 Romantic dystopian
🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic
🎧 Full cast audiobook

Plot: The US has introduced a Gladiator-style fighting league to its prison system, where prisoners can choose to fight for their freedom (but most often to the death) in a stadium vs. deal with what comes with the prison system. There’s a growing opposition to this, but there are also fighters doing anything they can to stay alive. Including 2 women who are in love with each other & are both working their ways toward freedom.

This book has: dystopian USA, political commentary and critique out the wazoo (prison industrial complex, de-humanization of entertainment figures, slave experiments, political propaganda, capitalism, etc.), VERY good audiobook, likable characters, general brutality

📕 Romantic dystopian
❤️‍🔥 Spicy
🎧 Duet audiobook

Plot: Shadera is the top assassin in the guild & she has accepted a contract to take down the President’s Executioner. She despises them both, the president & the Executioner, his son turned weapon because they built & maintain a world where only the masked elite prosper in the inter rings of society. The poor barely scrape by under the immeasurable weight of constant surveillance, resource hoarding, & criminalization of every little thing in the outer rings, & Shadera wants to end it. But when she takes the job, something goes wrong & she discovers the players on the board aren’t all as she once thought. 

This book has: themes of patriarchy, class warfare, rebellion, and propaganda, multiple romances (ENEMIES to lovers, second chance, love triangle, slow burns)