15 Books Like A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Before the War College, before the dragons, there was Threshing Day. Rebecca Yarros wrote this prequel novella to give Fourth Wing fans a taste of the brutal selection process that determines who even gets to attempt bonding with a dragon, and it reads like the ACOTAR equivalent of watching Feyre walk through the wall for the first time. The stakes are immediate, physical, and deeply personal. If you're someone who loved the early chapters of ACOTAR where Feyre is outmatched by everything around her but refuses to break, this hits the same nerve. It's a quick read, but it sets the tone for one of the most talked-about fantasy series in years, and it proves Yarros understands that the best romantasy starts with a protagonist who has everything to lose.

Welcome to Threshing Day, the brutal, high-stakes trial where would-be riders at Basgiath War College fight to earn the bond of a dragon or die trying. Amid ruthless competition and dragon fire, these thirteen cadets must survive a battlefield where desperate rivals will do anything to gain an advantage and dragons decide one’s ultimate fate―and where a single choice can forge a rider…or destroy them. Xaden Riorson, the powerful leader. Rhiannon Matthias, the clever friend. Dain Aetos, the dutiful rule-follower. Liam Mairi, the kindhearted protector. Ridoc Gamlyn, the jokester. Sawyer Henrick, the underdog. Garrick Tavis, the dependable aide. Imogen Cardulo, the impulsive fighter. Bodhi Durran, the second-in-command. Mira Sorrengail, the fearless rider. Brennan Sorrengail, the brilliant tactician. Aaric Graycastle, the restless royal. Sloane Mairi, the determined sister. On Threshing Day, there’s only one rule: don’t die. The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Fourth Wing Book #2 Iron Flame Book #3 Onyx Storm Though Threshing Day can be enjoyed as an introduction to the series, due to contained spoilers, it is best read after Onyx Storm

This is the recommendation that needs no introduction for readers looking for books similar to ACOTAR. Rebecca Yarros built a dragon rider academy where the entrance exam can kill you, dropped an enemies-to-lovers romance into the middle of it, and watched the internet lose its collective mind. Violet Sorrengail shares Feyre's core DNA: she's physically vulnerable in a world that rewards strength, underestimated by everyone around her, and far more resourceful than anyone gives her credit for. The slow-burn tension with Xaden mirrors the push-pull dynamic that made Rhysand so compelling, and the found-family squad Violet builds feels genuinely earned. Where ACOTAR gives you fae courts, Fourth Wing gives you war strategy and dragon bonds, but the emotional architecture is strikingly similar. If you haven't read this yet and you loved ACOTAR, it's not a question of if but when.

A #1 New York Times bestseller • TV series in development at MGM Amazon Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society • Amazon Best Books of the Year, #4 • Apple Best Books of the Year 2023 • Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023 • NPR “Books We Love” 2023 • Audible Best Books of 2023 • Hudson Book of the Year • Google Play Best Books of 2023 • Indigo Best Books of 2023 • Waterstones Book of the Year finalist • Goodreads Choice Award Winner • Newsweek Staffers’ Favorite Books of 2023 • Paste Magazine's Best Books of 2023 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret. Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die. The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Fourth Wing Book #2 Iron Flame Book #3 Onyx Storm

Iron Flame picks up where Fourth Wing left off and immediately raises the stakes in a way that will feel familiar to anyone who remembers the tonal shift between ACOTAR and A Court of Mist and Fury. The betrayals cut deeper, the political landscape gets murkier, and Violet has to reckon with the gap between what she was told and what's actually true. That same disorientation Feyre felt when she realized the Spring Court wasn't what it seemed runs through this entire book. Yarros also leans harder into the romance here, letting the relationship dynamics get more complex and more intense in ways ACOTAR fans will appreciate. The world expands significantly, revealing threats that make the Riders' internal conflicts feel almost quaint by comparison. It's a worthy sequel that understands bigger stakes mean nothing without emotional consequences.

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s wondering how she’ll get through it. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is—unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet’s body is weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she has her wits—and a will of iron. Leadership forgets the most important lesson Basgiath taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But determination to survive won’t be enough this year, because Violet knows the secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

This might seem like an unexpected pick, but hear me out: if you trace the DNA of what made you fall in love with ACOTAR, there's a good chance Twilight is somewhere in the bloodline. Both series center on an ordinary girl pulled into a supernatural world by a dangerous, magnetic love interest who is simultaneously the greatest threat to her safety and her fiercest protector. The forbidden nature of the romance, the tension between mortal fragility and immortal power, the brooding male lead with a possessive streak he's trying to control: it's all there. Twilight moves at a different pace and skips the political intrigue, but the core emotional engine is the same. For readers who loved ACOTAR's early-series romance before the series pivoted to war and court politics, Twilight delivers that intoxicating, all-consuming first-love intensity in concentrated form. Sometimes you want the full fantasy epic; sometimes you want to mainline the love story. Twilight is the latter, and it does it better than almost anything else.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.

Callie Hart writes enemies-to-lovers with the kind of edge that ACOTAR fans who gravitate toward the darker moments in the series will devour. Quicksilver delivers a romantasy where the tension between the leads isn't just banter and stolen glances; it's rooted in genuine conflict, opposing loyalties, and the kind of simmering hostility that makes every moment of vulnerability feel hard-won. The power dynamics here recall the early Feyre-and-Tamlin tension, but with a rawness that's closer to the Rhysand dynamic Under the Mountain. Hart doesn't shy away from morally complex characters, and the worldbuilding leans into danger and unpredictability in ways that keep you off-balance. If you're looking for books like A Court of Thorns and Roses but want the dial turned up on intensity, this belongs on your list.

This #1 New York Times bestseller is a highly addicting enemies-to-lovers Romantasy with razor-sharp banter, heart-stopping action, and blistering hot romance. Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate. Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember. In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water. But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone. When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed. The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him… or her. Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home. Be careful of the deals you make, dear child. The devil is in the details... Now with an embossed cover, silver foiling, and an updated interior design. N.B. Quicksilver contains depictions of graphic violence/adult situations and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author's website.

Callie Hart's Brimstone occupies a space that ACOTAR fans who wanted more darkness in their fae-adjacent romance will appreciate. The power dynamics between the leads are complicated in ways that go beyond simple enemies-to-lovers, touching on control, trust, and what it means to be bound to someone whose nature terrifies you. There's an echo of Feyre's Under the Mountain experience here: being in close proximity to power that could destroy you, and slowly discovering that the real danger isn't always where you expect it. Hart writes heat and menace in equal measure, and she's not interested in making her characters easy to categorize as heroes or villains. The romantasy elements lean gothic and moody, closer to A Court of Mist and Fury's Night Court aesthetic than the Spring Court prettiness of book one. For ACOTAR readers who want their romance served with shadows, Brimstone delivers.

Duty. Blood. Honour. Power. Saeris Fane doesn't want power. The very last thing she needs is her name whispered on an entire court's lips, but now that she's been crowned queen of the Blood Court, she's discovering that a queen's life is not her own. A heavy weight rests upon her shoulders. Her ward - and her brother - need her back in her homeland . . . but the changes that have strengthened Saeris have also made her weak. Born under blazing suns, Saeris will surely die if she makes her way home through the Quicksilver. Which means that, once again, she must send someone else in her stead . . . 'Keep your mouth shut. Stick to the shadows. And for the love of all seven Gods, do NOT crack any jokes.' Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate has defeated armies and survived all manner of horrors, but traveling back to Zilvaren with Carrion Swift might just be the death of him. The male just will not shut up. Hidden dangers await them down the narrow alleyways of the Silver City. Unfolding secrets pose impossible threats. Fisher must wrangle the smuggler and accomplish his goals quickly if he wants to see his mate again. A darkness falls across Yvelia. The realm and their friends are in danger. Together, Saeris and Fisher will pass through fire and brimstone to save them.

Alex Aster made waves with the Lightlark series, and Starside continues to build a fantasy world where romance and deadly competition intertwine. If you liked A Court of Thorns and Roses for the way it combines a lush, magical setting with high personal stakes and romantic tension, Aster's writing scratches a similar itch. The worldbuilding is ambitious, layered with rules and histories that reward close attention, much like Prythian's courts and their politics. The romance here threads through the fantasy plot rather than sitting on top of it, which gives it the same structural importance that Maas gives her love stories. Aster's prose has a cinematic quality that makes her action sequences vivid and her romantic moments land with real impact. ACOTAR fans who enjoy being dropped into a fully realized magical world with romance woven into its foundations will feel right at home.

From Alex Aster, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lightlark series, comes her first adult romantasy. Enter the world of Starside , where swords wield magic and power is not inherited...but claimed. Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals—the descendants of the gods, living in a power-rich paradise. Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic. Every fifty years, the gates between them open, and fifty challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. Everyone has their reasons for entering, but Aris has only vengeance. As a child, a goddess set fire to her village, killing her family. Aris isn’t after the gods’ magic—she’s going to kill them. First, she must survive the Culling, the king’s deadly competition to choose his fifty challengers. An orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice, Aris doesn’t have the superior weapons of the heirs from the Great Houses. But the greatest swords—ones that contain power—are not inherited or bought, they are claimed, by both sides. And when Aris claims a great sword, it makes her not just a real competitor—but a target. Getting past the gates is only the beginning. Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magic-wielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago—and who may now be the key to her survival. But Aris is hiding a secret tied to her family’s death. And when it’s revealed, not even the gods will be able to stop what’s coming…

Rachel Gillig proved with One Dark Window that she could write the kind of atmospheric, magic-steeped romantasy that makes ACOTAR fans sit up and take notice, and The Knave and the Moon continues that tradition. This one leans gothic in a way that will appeal to readers who loved the darker, more unsettling corners of Maas's world, the parts where magic has a cost and trust is a liability. The romance builds through tension and proximity rather than grand gestures, recalling the slow, wary circling of Feyre and Rhysand in the early stages of their relationship. Gillig's magic system is inventive and genuinely dangerous, which gives the stakes a weight that pure romance can't achieve on its own. The character dynamics are layered with secrets and competing loyalties, so every conversation feels loaded. If ACOTAR's blend of dark magic, political maneuvering, and reluctant attraction is your sweet spot, this belongs near the top of your TBR.

Rachel Gillig, the queen of gothic romantasy, returns with higher stakes, darker mysteries, and deeper longings in this gorgeous sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling sensation The Knight and the Moth. Aisling Cathedral is in ruins. Rodrick Myndacious, Bartholomew, and Maude Bauer are rumored to be dead—and the king has taken Sybil Delling as his bride. To show off their union and solidify his power over Traum, Benji proposes a series of tournaments throughout the hamlets. Captive and drugged, Sybil remains determined to vanquished him as she once did the Omens, even if she destroys the kingdom’s faith—and herself—in the process. But then a mysterious knave rises to the top of the lists, a man with no name and no memory who may just be Sybil’s ticket to undoing Benji’s power. For in a land where stories repeat themselves, where a king can prove as cruel as a god, the only way to truly destroy the Stonewater Kingdom’s faith is to save it.

This is the wildcard pick on the list, and it's here for a specific reason. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is a contemporary romance, not a fantasy, but it shares something fundamental with ACOTAR: a protagonist navigating a world with rigid rules and expectations while trying to figure out who she actually is underneath the role she's been playing. The traditional lifestyle influencer setting might seem miles from Prythian, but the emotional arc, a woman dismantling the version of herself that was built to please others and discovering something fiercer underneath, mirrors Feyre's journey from survival mode to self-possession. The romance is warm and well-constructed, with the kind of slow build that ACOTAR fans who love the tension before the payoff will appreciate. If you're between fantasy series and want something character-driven that hits similar emotional notes in a completely different package, give this one a chance.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them. Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible. As darkly funny as it is shocking and gripping, Yesteryear is an electrifying examination of tradition, fame, faith and the grand performance of womanhood, from a thrilling new talent in fiction.

Devney Perry's Rites of the Starling drops you into fantasy kingdoms teetering on the edge of destruction, which is territory ACOTAR fans know well. The sense of a world where the political structures are fracturing and no one is safe gives the romance an urgency that pure peacetime love stories can't match. Perry writes characters who are shaped by their circumstances, carrying the weight of duty and loss in ways that recall Feyre's transformation from a girl focused on survival to a leader grappling with the fate of entire courts. The romantic elements are woven into the larger conflict rather than existing in a bubble, which means the stakes for the relationship mirror the stakes for the world. If you loved ACOTAR for the way personal and political stakes intertwine until they're inseparable, Rites of the Starling operates on that same principle. The fantasy worldbuilding is fresh enough to feel distinct while still delivering the court intrigue and power struggles that ACOTAR readers crave.

Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart. I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian. Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm? What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love? For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make. It’s time to discover the monster within.

The Hunger Games doesn't have fae or romance as its primary engine, but it shares something crucial with ACOTAR: a young woman who is thrown into a system designed to crush her and responds by becoming more dangerous than anyone anticipated. Katniss and Feyre are spiritual cousins. Both are hunters. Both are fiercely protective of the people they love. Both are used as political pawns before they learn to play the game on their own terms. The love triangle element, while handled very differently, creates a similar tension around which relationship will define the protagonist's future. Collins writes survival and political manipulation with a clarity that makes every chapter feel urgent, and the way the series escalates from personal stakes to full-scale rebellion mirrors ACOTAR's expansion from a single court to a war across Prythian. If you loved Feyre's evolution from a girl with a bow to a force that reshapes the world, Katniss's arc will resonate deeply.

Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . . In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Sable Sorensen's Fury Bound leans into the vengeance-driven romantasy space that will appeal to ACOTAR fans who loved watching Feyre come into her power with fire in her veins. The protagonist here isn't waiting for anyone to save her; she's crowned by destiny and fueled by a need for justice that gives the story a forward momentum reminiscent of Feyre's arc in A Court of Wings and Ruin. The romantic elements are tangled up with power dynamics and competing allegiances, which creates the kind of tension where you're never quite sure if a kiss or a knife is coming next. Sorensen writes action with confidence and doesn't pull punches when it comes to consequences. For readers who loved ACOTAR's later books, where Feyre is no longer a victim but a weapon, Fury Bound channels that same energy. The fantasy worldbuilding supports the romance rather than competing with it, which keeps the pacing tight.

Revenge demands sacrifice. CROWNED BY DESTINY. CONSUMED BY VENGEANCE. Against all odds, Meryn Cooper has inherited the crown—and a deadly war. As the Kingdom of Nocturna splinters under the weight of generations of lies, it is up to Meryn, her bonded direwolf Anassa, and their allies to bring the country back from the brink. But the commoners, the Bonded, and the nobles are distrustful of their new queen and Meryn is caught in a deadly game of politics. Meanwhile, Meryn’s beloved younger sister, Saela, is more at risk than ever. Confusingly, the one person Meryn can trust is Stark Therion—the dark, dangerous Alpha she thought hated her as much as she loathed him. Yet, his loyalty is unshakeable. His presence is intoxicating. And with his guidance, Meryn can seize an unthinkable level of power. With enemies closing in and shadows stirring in her dreams, Meryn stands to lose her kingdom—and her heart. Blood will spill. Bonds will break. Fate will be tested.

Sheila Masterson's The Poison Daughter hit the NYT bestseller list for good reason: it takes the enemies-to-lovers formula that ACOTAR fans love and wraps it in a story with real teeth. The central relationship is built on opposition and mistrust, which means every moment of connection between the leads feels like it matters. That's the same trick Maas pulled with Feyre and Rhysand; making readers earn the romance alongside the characters. Masterson writes tension well, balancing the push-pull of attraction against genuine obstacles that aren't easily resolved. The pacing keeps you turning pages, and the emotional payoff is satisfying without feeling rushed. For readers who loved ACOTAR's core romantic structure and want another story that makes the enemies part of enemies-to-lovers feel real, The Poison Daughter is a strong pick.

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller The must-have, true enemies-to-lovers standalone romantasy about a woman whose lips are deadly poison . . . until she meets the one man who can survive her kiss. This edition features a full-color illustrated case, designed endpapers, and an exclusive bonus chapter from Henry’s POV. In the absence of a conscience, men need something to fear. I’ve made myself their monster. Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition. Her first husband is in the ground. Her mysterious new betrothed is next. But Harlow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents’ whims, she moonlights as a vigilante hunting abusive men in their walled-off city. Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die. Worse, the man immune to her kiss is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. The only way to protect her secret and her city is get close enough to Henry to figure out why the Havenwoods have reappeared after years of silence and what they have planned. Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fortress surrounded by vampire-infested woods, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway. Marriage of inconvenience / Feminine rage / Forced proximity / Touch her and die / Enemies to lovers / Vigilante FMC / Dash of vampires / Primal/fear play / “Who did this to you” / Dual POV

If there's a single book on this list that ACOTAR fans are most likely to love, it might be The Cruel Prince. Holly Black wrote the definitive mortal-girl-in-a-fae-court story, and the parallels to ACOTAR are striking: a human protagonist who refuses to be diminished by the immortal beings around her, a dangerous love interest whose cruelty masks something more complicated, and political intrigue sharp enough to cut. Jude Duarte is Feyre's meaner, more ruthless counterpart. She doesn't stumble into the fae world; she was raised in it and clawed her way to relevance through sheer force of will. The enemies-to-lovers arc with Cardan is one of the best in the genre, built on genuine antagonism, shifting power dynamics, and moments of vulnerability that hit like a gut punch. Black's fae world is treacherous and beautiful in the same way Prythian is, full of rules that can be exploited and beauty that hides real danger. If you've somehow missed this series and you're looking for books similar to ACOTAR, start here.

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Verity is the curveball at the end of this list, and it's here because ACOTAR fans tend to be readers who love intensity, moral complexity, and the feeling of having the rug pulled out from under them. Colleen Hoover's thriller doesn't have fae or magic, but it has something ACOTAR shares in abundance: the slow reveal that nothing is what it seems, and that the person you thought you understood is far more dangerous than you imagined. The romantic tension in Verity is dark, complicated, and built on proximity and secrecy, not unlike the charged dynamic between Feyre and Rhysand when she's still trying to figure out his true motives. The twists in this book are genuinely shocking, the kind that make you flip back to earlier chapters to reread scenes with new eyes. If you loved ACOTAR for its ability to upend your expectations about characters and their loyalties, Verity does the same thing in a completely different genre. It's a palate cleanser that still delivers the emotional whiplash ACOTAR readers are wired to enjoy.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.