Sometimes I want fantasy with complicated kingdoms, ancient prophecies, and enough world-building that I need a map.

And sometimes I want somebody to accidentally summon a demon and then have to pretend they’re dating him.

Fantasy rom-com books are for those days.

These stories still give us witches, vampires, dragons, enchanted swords, villains, magical bargains, quests, and occasionally the fate of an entire kingdom. They just also understand that all of this becomes significantly more entertaining when two people are trying very hard not to fall in love in the middle of it.

The books below lean into the funny side of fantasy romance: banter, ridiculous magical situations, awkward attraction, supernatural dating problems, and plans that go spectacularly wrong.

Basically, magic is already complicated enough. Naturally, we added romance.

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Witches, Vampires & Magical Dating Disasters

Magic has a way of making an ordinary dating problem considerably worse.

Bad blind date? Annoying.

Bad date with a vampire? Now we’re getting somewhere.

Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross

Mateo Cruz has a werewolf problem.

More specifically, his wolf has been trapped inside him for months and is getting increasingly difficult to ignore. He turns to witch Evie Savoie for help, even though her family’s rules regarding werewolves are basically: absolutely not.

Obviously, that goes well.

The supernatural problem gives Mateo and Evie a reason to keep getting thrown together, while the romance gets increasingly difficult to separate from the magical mess they’re trying to fix. It’s paranormal romance with witches, werewolves, family complications, and plenty of personality.

A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

Mariel Spark is trying to summon flour.

She gets a demon instead.

This feels like an important distinction.

Ozroth is supposed to collect her soul, but Mariel refuses to bargain it away. Unfortunately for both of them, he can’t leave until they make a deal. Then Mariel panics and tells her family that the demon hanging around her house is actually her boyfriend.

And there we have it: magical disaster becomes fake dating.

Witchcraft, demons, forced proximity, fake dating, family pressure and the minor inconvenience of your love interest technically being there to take your soul. What could possibly go wrong?

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

Emmy Harlow left the magical town of Thistle Grove years ago and built a life elsewhere.

Then family obligation drags her back home just in time for a spellcasting tournament—and straight into a revenge plot involving Gareth Blackmoore, the man who managed to break more than one woman’s heart.

Enter Talia Avramov.

Powerful, intimidating, gorgeous Talia Avramov.

What begins as helping a couple of women knock Gareth down a few pegs starts becoming considerably more interesting once Emmy realizes she can’t stop thinking about Talia.

There are magical family rivalries, revenge, a witchy small town and a romance that sneaks into the middle of all of it.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Mika Moon has spent most of her life following one important rule: witches should stay away from one another.

Then she gets an invitation to Nowhere House, where three young witches desperately need someone to teach them how to control their magic.

The house also comes with a found family, secrets that need protecting, and Jamie—the librarian who is not particularly thrilled about having Mika there.

You can probably see where this is going.

The result is softer and cozier than some of the other books here, with magic woven into everyday life and a romance growing in the middle of a very unconventional household.

My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

Cassie desperately needs an affordable place to live.

Frederick J. Fitzwilliam has a room to rent.

The price is suspiciously low, the decor is extremely old-fashioned, and her new roommate has some very strange habits.

Because Frederick is, naturally, a vampire.

This is paranormal romance built around one of my favorite comedy setups: two people living together while one of them is hiding something so absurd that every normal explanation somehow makes even less sense.

And once Cassie discovers exactly what Frederick is, the roommate situation gets considerably more complicated.

If the vampire part is really what caught your attention, I also have a whole list of steamy vampire romance books and series for when one vampire roommate simply isn’t enough.

Demons, Villains & Extremely Questionable Love Interests

Sometimes the romantic lead isn’t merely morally gray.

Sometimes he has an actual villain job.

Reasonable.

Signs of Cupidity by Raven Kennedy

Being a cupid sounds romantic until you’re the one who can’t actually have any romance.

The heroine of Signs of Cupidity spends her afterlife helping other people find love while being invisible, lonely, sarcastic, and increasingly unimpressed with the entire cupid system.

Then she attacks a fae prince with love arrows.

Things escalate from there.

This one is raunchier and more chaotic than several of the others, and it is a reverse-harem/why-choose fantasy romance for adult readers, so know that going in. The cupid situation gets increasingly ridiculous from there.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

All Cinnamon wanted was a quiet life.

Instead, she gets drunk, saves a demon, and ends up dragged into a quest to help him defeat an evil witch.

This was not on the schedule.

Fallon may be dangerous, but Cinnamon is much more concerned with the fact that she never wanted to go on an adventure in the first place—and the man keeps inconveniently losing his shirt.

The whole thing has the energy of a fantasy quest being narrated by the one person in the group who is fully aware that fantasy quests are a terrible idea.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Evie Sage needs a job.

The Villain happens to be hiring.

And apparently working for an infamous evil overlord still involves paperwork, coworkers, office problems and the uncomfortable realization that your terrifying boss is becoming increasingly attractive.

Assistant to the Villain takes the workplace-rom-com setup and moves the entire office into a fantasy world full of heroes, villains, danger and suspiciously complicated feelings.

It’s basically: what if your boss were evil…but also maybe kind of adorable?

That seems inconvenient.

Throne in the Dark by A.K. Caggiano

Throne in the Dark begins with a villainous plan.

Then Amma gets involved.

Damien is supposed to be dark, dangerous and focused on his own goals. Instead, he ends up on an increasingly ridiculous journey with a woman who is very good at interfering with the whole intimidating-villain thing.

This is slow-burn fantasy romance with quests, magic, villains, banter and a willingness to make fun of the very fantasy-romance tropes it’s using.

The romance takes its time.

The chaos does not.

If you have a habit of rooting for the dangerous option, I also have a whole list of books where the villain gets the love story. Apparently evil plans and romantic complications go together surprisingly well.

Dragons, Enchanted Swords & Fantasy Worlds Gone Sideways

Now we’re leaving the magical small towns behind.

There will be swords.

There will be dragons.

There will still be flirting.

Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis

Elinor Tregarth is trying very hard to be sensible.

Then she steals her horrible cousin’s pet dragon.

So much for that.

Set in Regency England, Scales and Sensibility mixes social expectations, romance, magical trouble, family problems and tiny dragons into something much lighter than the usual historical fantasy.

It’s Regency romance with magical misadventures, social chaos and pet dragons. Sensibility was never going to survive this.

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Halla’s relatives have plans for the inheritance she has suddenly received.

Halla would prefer they didn’t.

While trapped in her room, she draws an old sword and accidentally summons Sarkis—a warrior magically bound to the weapon.

Which at least solves one problem.

Unfortunately, it creates several others.

The pair set off together, and what follows is a fantasy adventure involving legal trouble, danger, an enchanted sword and two people gradually becoming much more attached to one another than either planned.

The romance is sweet.

The conversations are frequently ridiculous.

Excellent combination.

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

Victorian ladies.

Pirates.

Flying houses.

Assassins.

At this point, you either want this book or you don’t, and I respect both reactions.

Cecilia Bassingwaite is a proper lady and a member of the Wisteria Society, which just happens to be composed of criminals who fly their houses around England and commit piracy.

Then an assassin named Ned Lightbourne is sent after her.

Naturally, this becomes romantic.

This is fantasy rom-com at its most deliberately absurd.

Fantasy Rom-Coms That Do Their Own Thing

These don’t fit quite as neatly into the witch/demon/dragon piles.

Which is probably a compliment.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti has several social problems.

She has no soul.

She accidentally kills a vampire.

And then an extremely aggravating—and extremely attractive—werewolf is sent to investigate.

All very inconvenient.

Soulless mixes Victorian manners, supernatural creatures, mystery, romance and comedy into a paranormal story where social etiquette can apparently be nearly as dangerous as the vampires.

And yes, someone eventually has to ask the important questions.

Like whether the real enemy has treacle tart.

Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup

Caroline is writing a fantasy romance.

Unfortunately, her heroine refuses to cooperate.

Caroline wants a younger heroine, enemies-to-lovers tension and all the proper romance-novel tropes.

Lady Rosamund Hawkhurst is a thirty-six-year-old widow with children, political responsibilities and absolutely no interest in behaving the way her author thinks she should.

Including during an Only One Bed situation.

This one is gloriously meta: part fantasy story, part romance, and part ongoing argument between an author and the character she created.

Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater

Gadriel is a fallen angel of petty temptations who has managed to acquire a gambling debt.

The solution should be easy: tempt Holly Harker into enjoying herself a little.

Chocolate. Small indulgences. Nice things.

Nothing major.

Except Holly is apparently almost impossible to tempt.

So Gadriel keeps trying, changing forms and escalating the effort while what should have been a very simple assignment becomes something much more personal.

This is the gentlest of the bunch, leaning toward cozy fantasy with romance and comedy. Between the angelic bureaucracy, petty temptations and Gadriel’s increasingly unsuccessful attempts to corrupt Holly with nice things, it has a very different kind of magical chaos.

A Few Bookish Extras for Fantasy Rom-Com Readers

A fantasy rom-com reading marathon requires a few essentials: something comfortable, something to drink from and, apparently, the willingness to stay up much later than planned.

After a list full of witches, demons, vampires and people making spectacularly questionable romantic decisions, a few bookish extras feel appropriate.

Bookish Fairy-Tale Pullover Hoodie

If your preferred form of escapism involves curses, castles, magical forests and questionable romantic decisions, a fairy-tale bookish hoodie fits the assignment rather nicely.

It’s the kind of thing that works whether you’re actually leaving the house or just settling in for another chapter.

Just One More Chapter Tumbler with Handle

If you read fantasy romance, there is a very good chance “just one more chapter” has turned into a full late-night reading session at least once or twice. Probably more than that.

A handled tumbler also makes sense for long reading sessions, whether you’re filling it with coffee, tea, or whatever helps you survive the consequences of staying up too late with your book.

Funny Book Club Coffee Mug

The mug says, “Not so loud, I had book club last night.”

There is also a tipped-over wine glass on it, so apparently this particular book club got a little enthusiastic.

After spending an evening discussing demons, vampires, magical villains and whatever terrible romantic decision the heroine made this time, maybe that’s fair.

Coffee goes in it the next morning. Recovery complete.

Final Thoughts

Fantasy doesn’t always have to be grim.

Romance doesn’t always have to take itself seriously.

Sometimes the most entertaining combination is a heroine trying to save the world while also wondering why the demon, vampire, villain, werewolf, enchanted warrior or deeply irritating coworker has suddenly become attractive.

These books give us plenty of magic, but the real fun is watching romance make an already ridiculous situation even more complicated.

And if you’re craving fantasy with a little less flirting and more of that feeling of stepping through a secret doorway into another world, I also have a list of books for adults who miss the magic of childhood stories.

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