He’s a ruthless, battle-scarred warrior with a dark past, and she’s stuck pretending to be his wife to save a fantasy kingdom.
From New York Times bestselling author Kristin Cast comes a new tarot-inspired fantasy series. Scarlett St. Clair meets Outlander in the seductive and spellbinding world of Towerfall, starting with The Empress, a high-heat, fake marriage romantasy with a swoon-worthy, morally-gray love interest.
What are the hottest romance books lighting up BookTok right now?
BookTok, in some ways, moves at a snail’s pace and, in other ways, moves at the speed of light. Sometimes, Toks from June or October come up, and we’re having the same conversation again. And sometimes, things go wildly viral overnight.
Because everyone’s algorithm on TikTok is different, I’ll give you a rundown on how I landed on this list of books:
- I started with my own Following list. I follow a lot of Book People, so that sounded like a good place to start. (I also apparently follow a lot of ADHD/Autism folks, and NONE of them were talking about books! How dare!) There were a lot of interesting books being talked about, but the folks I follow were talking a lot about their favorites of 2024 or about books that I would have been interested in, but that weren’t going viral anytime soon.
- After I looked at what folks I was following were talking about, I looked through the BookTok hashtag—but that was all over the place, so I used the filters to look at posts from the past month.
- I didn’t get much from that, so I went back to the regular feed and prayed to the BookTok Gods.
- I went with books that I had been seeing recently, both in scrolling and in the BookTok sections in bookstores and Target. I lean heavily toward the Toks with a significantly high number of likes and comments.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: this list is hella white and pretty straight. The algorithm leads to a lot of the same white books going to the same white, straight viewers, and the cycle continues. I have left off a couple of books by authors who continue to be popular on BookTok, including Elle Kennedy, Emily McIntire, Elsie Silver, and Rina Kent (had to break the alliteration). Instead, I looked to books I have only started to see more recently or that had been doing some mountain range-style peaking, with interest coming back after a push in months or years past. Some of these authors have new books out. Others have new books now available to more readers thanks to their redistribution by publishers like Bloom Books.
So with those caveats, here are the hot romance reads on BookTok right now.
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
Saeris has been a thief for as long as she can remember, but picking the wrong pocket leads to her accidentally opening a portal to the land of the Fae. By force of yet another accident, she’s metaphysically bound to a Fae warrior named Kingfisher. They have to stick together if she’s going to make it back to her own world, but they don’t get along At All. Too bad they also have enough chemistry to set both their worlds on fire.
Rhythm’s Blues by Kimberly Brown
After breaking up with her rapper boyfriend, occupational therapist Rhythm just wants to move on with her life. But when producer Channing is called to help his mother at Rhythm’s clinic, the two have an instant connection. They never expect to see each other again, but they keep running into each other in the unlikeliest of places—including with her ex, whose new album Channing is producing. Whoo. Messy.
Twisted Love by Ana Huang
With over a million ratings on Goodreads, Twisted Love continues to be at the top of the list when it comes to Ana Huang books on TikTok as well. Her more recent series, starting with God of Wrath, and her newest release, The Striker, are also seeing plenty of action across BookTok. Twisted Love opens her four-book series about wealthy younger adults in very messy relationships. It was also just optioned for a Netflix adaptation.
Lights Out by Navessa Allen
When Aly discovers she might have a bit of a mask kink thanks to a guy she follows on TikTok, she asks her regular hookup if he’s interested in exploring with her. He’s not, but he tells his roommate, who happens to secretly be the guy in question. He might sort of proceed to…stalk her? Just a little bit.
Captive Prince by CS Pacat
First published in 2013, Captive Prince is the oldest book on this list. A new 2024 printing with a newish cover has brought a new audience to the trilogy, in which warrior prince Damen lives as a captive in the realm of Prince Laurent. Over the course of three books, the pair come to understand each other, overcoming the physical, sexual, and emotional trauma that lies at the center of their relationship. Please read the content warnings for this one.
Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux
One of the earlier books to pop up in the dark romance phenomenon, the first in Harley Laroux’s Souls trilogy continues to rise to the top of romance BookTok. The newest hardcover copy with floral painted edges isn’t hurting its popularity on the incredibly visual platform that is TikTok. If you want to read about a woman accidentally summoning a demon and falling in love with a very dark being, this is your chance.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
The first book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Serpent and the Wings of Night introduces us to Oraya, the adopted human daughter of a vampire king. To prove herself, she must enter a dangerous competition, where she allies herself with her biggest rival. She and Raihn might be each other’s best hope, but their budding chemistry is more dangerous than any challenge.
Little Stranger by Leigh Rivers
On the backs of Haunting Adeline and Until I Get You comes another dark romance centering on a stalker seeking revenge on someone he believes wronged him. This time it’s Malachi, who returns to get back at his former foster sister Olivia after she had him sent to jail(!). This is another one with a huge dichotomy of responses and reviews, between people who loved it with all their soul and people who say they wish they had never learned to read.
Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana
Referred to as “dark cottagecore,” Lore of the Wilds introduces us to another human/fae partnering, this time centering Lore, a human trapped in a forest prison who agrees to work in a magical library for her freedom. No fae can enter the building, but maybe she can. There are also two fae love interests and a big cliffhanger, so let’s hope Lore of the Tides can help with that resolution.
Another book that appeared frequently was Goldsin by Aveline Knight, but it has a significantly lower number of reviews than the other titles—maybe it’s only just on the rise and will have crested 100K by this time next year? Only time will tell!
Maybe you have read this and wonder if BookTok is past its peak? Good news: We’ve got something considering that topic. But if you’re still riding with it, make sure you’re following Book Riot Over There!
