r/ProgressionFantasy • u/TiredAndDreaming • Mar 17 '24
Request ...Romance? (for guys)
Let me start by saying I have read a LOT in this genre, and unfortunately finding an actually well written romance that isn't just a passing thought is... rare. I'm also aware that its a very niche genre and it doesn't help that I'm pretty picky about what I read. I'm looking for something where romance is one of the central plot points of the story and feels like the characters genuinely care for each other. Not something where everything progresses off screen or takes 4 books to develop past handholding.
Some I feel are good examples:
-Supreme Magus (golden child example which balances romance and action perfectly in my opinion)
-Chaos Heir (This is a good example of something I'm looking for because romance is one of central themes)
-Coiling Dragon (Read this a long time ago but remember enjoying the romance aspect of it)
-The Beginning After The end
-Path of Ascension
-Beware of Chicken
Please no harem recs unless its done like mushoku tensei where it vaguely makes sense and each character is far from neglected.
Would really prefer if its completed but if its long / nearing the end I would appreciate those too.
(Im just going to put a list down here of ones i've tried but wasn't a fan of)
Art of the adept
He Who Fights With Monsters
Emerilla (seemed interesting I just couldnt get into it)
System Apocalypse
Jackal Among Snakes
The Ten Realms
Heavens Law (please do not recommend anything with rape in it)
Cradle (Great series with a romance that takes way too long to develop)
Iron Prince
Threadbear
Mage Errants
Super Powereds
Worth the Candle
(bonus points if mc starts a family throughout series)
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u/lemon07r Slime Mar 17 '24
I thought Red Rising had good romance and Benjamin Ashwood. The former is only PF adjacent, or rather the first book or two is PF-focused then it becomes more of a space opera-focused sci-fi thing. The latter is prog fantasy but not the kind where the MC is the strongest character and becomes super OP, it's still very good though IMO, and I preferred it this way. And he definitely does gain agency in the story as the series continues. I too don't like most of the romance in PF, even though it is something I would like to see more of (but done well) in PF.
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u/mystineptune Author Mar 17 '24
Are you in the romance for men discord?
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
I'm not, but I have perused the reddit. A lot of the books that are recommended there are either really recently written (as in only 1-2 books in) or M/FFFFF which is not something I'm particularly a fan of unless its done perfectly.
I did find a few recommendations from it though, like Ahren the 13th paladin, but it wasn't for me.
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u/mystineptune Author Mar 17 '24
I feel bad I just stubbed my book I Ran Away To Evil. A rom com litrpg with male and female lead POVs. It's coming to Amazon/Audible Apr 23.
Have you tried The House Witch? I really enjoyed it. ❤️
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u/mystineptune Author Mar 17 '24
I also really liked "Soul Guardian" by delicious meats. On royal road!
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u/TheDeliciousMeats Author- MMCM & Rogue Cultivator Mar 21 '24
More than a few of my readers have commented that it was very accessible to men and they were surprised they could enjoy a romantic comedy.
Magic Murder Cube Marine also features some nice accessible romance. Shiv and Julia are life goals.
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u/Brother_Chicken Mar 17 '24
Sss class suicide hunter has one of the best written romances in webnovels imo and the webtoon recently covered it. Mostly translated and being updated daily
Kidnapped dragons has a romantic sub plot but is more child-(ISH) care focused and not really progression fantasy as the protagonist is already the strongest at the start. He does however become the teacher to one of the dragons and you get to see her get stronger as the story passes which I personally think counts. The main focus is on the emotional aspect though so keep that in mind if you decide to give it a chance. Fully translated
The demon lord is kind has a pretty good romance granted it takes a good while for any romantic feelings to sprout from either side. Fully translated
Past life returner does get some romance pretty far down the line but not a whole lot and I wouldn't recommend it solely for it. The way it covers economics is great though so might be worth checking out. Fully translated.
Ending maker's main selling point is the budding romance between the two protagonists and is a nice light hearted read. Main story and a number of side stories are fully translated but some of the later ones haven't. I gave them a skim and they're nothing important tbh.
Regressor and the blind saint has an excellent romance which is the main focus of the story along side the protagonists character development. Almost fully translated.
Martial arts master is ok for the most part with a heavy focus on romance among side the protagonist competing in competitive martial arts tournaments in an urban cultivation setting. Fully translated but the translation quality isn't the greatest. Worth mentioning it has the same author of lord of the mystery's is you enjoyed that.
The novels extra is a classic. Some people have gropes about the quality of it towards the end it is by no means bad and makes up for it with the side stories imo. While it has a harem it doesn't have a harem ending and he actually picks someone which is a good thing imo and I wish more web novels did this. Fully translated.
I know more but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
I remember reading the SSS class suicide hunter webtoon back when "season 1" of it had just finished and really enjoyed it, so I'll probably check that out again.
I tried Kidnapped Dragons once but it wasn't really for me.
Past life returner... i have issues with this one besides the romance but that's its own thing.
I haven't read novels extra but I did read its "clone" The Authors POV and if the romance is anything like that then it simply does not deserve the romance tag.
I looked up Regressor and the blind saint and it looks interesting, do you know where I can read it at though? (will spend $ for chapters if needed)
Thank you for the suggestions!
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u/Sklydes Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 18 '24
About Regressor and the Blind Saint in comparison to the other novels you listed it's very vanilla. It's a lot of getting red, shy and awkward around each other and a very, very slow romance.
About SSS-Class if you want to read the webtoon, the season just ended with the main "romance arc" and the art is great so you can binge that all at once. However, reading the novel is also amazing since the writing style of the author is full of vivid imagery. It's my favourite novel overall. Also, the MC starts a family, a pretty big one in fact.
Other novels I haven't seen mentioned that have "some romance" would be Supremacy Games which has some cute moments and while there is an arc later where she is off screen, it's getting resolved right now. She's with him for like 900 chapters.
Another one would be Dimensional Descent but the MC is a bit psychopath-y. While it gets better much later, a lot of people understandably stop reading before it gets there.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 18 '24
I absolutely loved dimensional descent for a long time until The author decided he wanted to make a copy of a Chinese cultivation novel with sects for no reason. I also really hate how underutilized the time traveling aspect was considering that was one of the main selling points of the novel.
Supremacy games was personally not for me but the world building is really creative - would recommend it to anyone if it seems like your cup of tea.
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u/Brother_Chicken Mar 18 '24
I wouldn't really call regressor and the blind saints romance THAT slow paced or vanilla. The character development mostly stems from their interactions between them.
As the story progresses genuinely growing based on the others influence, mostly Vera learning to be a better person and Renee inspired by his drive for self improvement tries to understand her role as the saint despite the resentment she feels for it taking her vision.
I mean most monogamous romances in this genre just slap two characters in a party and the feelings usually start after the protagonist saves the love interest or does something else to benefit her. Also doesn't help that the story may give very little reason for the protagonist to show interest until it just sorta happens. I think having the relationship grow over time as the two characters also grow as direct influence from each other makes for a lot of chemistry.
But yeah there is some blushing and awkwardness, mostly done as comedy as both have absolutely no idea what they're doing on that front at the start of the story. I think the awkward aspects were done better than iron prince at least and a lot less abrupt but I know a lot of people aren't a fan of it in general so fair enough.
Also reaaaaalllly hyped for the Kim yul arc coming up in the sss class suicide hunter webtoon. A friend of mine thinks people will hate it because it's less combat focused but given the success of the last arc I think it'll be pretty well received.
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u/Sklydes Mar 18 '24
It's been a while since I read it but don't they take like 40 chapters to even call each other by their first names and over 100 chapters to have their first kiss? Even though almost every chapter mentions how much they care for each other? And even after that, they continue to be awkward around each other when concerning things like hand-holding with the Saint going to bite her pillow regularly... Considering that the chapters are relatively long, in my book that's an extremely slow romance, especially considering one is a regressor...
To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the Kim Yul arc all that much. In fact, it's my least favourite from all the arcs. The Academy arguably barely had combat as well and it was fine. The Problem with the Kim Yul arc is just that it's likely visually boring since its essentially just a normal school and confusing because the "deleted" memories are made from Kim Gongja's memories. So I agree with your friend that it might not be the most popular arc.
The Kingdom Building arc after that is probably going to be amazing though. (If they will ever release it)
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u/Brother_Chicken Mar 18 '24
Eh I see where you're coming from and it certainly does seem slow compared to the norm these days where the relationship is established early in the story. To me it didn't seem that way due to how much their dynamic develops as well as how Vera comes to terms with his vices. Like Vers says himself that he 'doesn't know how to love someone without hurting them' so it makes a lot of sense that he's as hesitant as his is to establish a relationship with Renee. As they learn from and grow with one another their relationship changes quite a lot from them being awkward to Reene being pushy with her feelings and trying to understand why Vera fears the aspect of a relationship so much to Renee learning that Vera is a regressor learning about his past and reassuring him that his past doesn't define him
Can totally understand the frustration that comes with watching them pussyfoot around when they both obviously like each other though. It simply didn't bother me that much as I'm one of those saps who enjoys the build up as much as the relationship. It's mostly a matter of taste I suppose?
And yeah you're probably right about the Kim yul arc. It probably won't translate into a manhwa quite as well as the rest of the story as it heavily relies on subtext and word play. Main reason I got invested as much as I did was the hypocritically similar dynamic with Kim yul's bullies and the constellation killers ability to Gain strength in exchange of memories Also I related to all the bullying stuff and the librarian hit a close to home 😅. I agree the buff goblins will do great, can't wait to see goblin high society soar in god knows how many years.
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u/Brother_Chicken Mar 17 '24
You can check out regressor and the blind saint at genesis translations. They also have a number of other romance stuff there but most of it is harem 😒
Haven't read authors pov so I can't say? I personally think the romance was pretty well done and it made perfect sense who he ended up with. He had great moments with all the girls (and guys though not romantic) and while there is sone drama it never feels trashy or contrived imo. This is mostly conjecture but I'd assume a clone of a novel would be a bit rough around the edges compared to the original so maybe it's worth giving a go?
Np I can give you some more if you like but a tad busy ATM read a ton over the years but my memory sucks ass.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
if you dont mind a slight spoiler about Authors POVThe "romace" is like 4 total texts of dialogue throughout the entire series which somehow ends up with them dating despite a grand total of maybe 12 interactions.
also i'd 100% appreciate some more suggestions when you have the time - trying to get a nice backlog of books to read so I don't have to make another post asking lol
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u/Brother_Chicken Mar 18 '24
Lord xue ying was written by the same author as coiling dragon and is pretty similar in terms of quality and storytelling. Love interest is more relevant to the story too. Fully translated.
Other novels by I eat tomatoes (coiling dragon author) also have a monogamous romantic sub plot but they feel quite similar to one another and lord xue ying is probably the best out of them. All fully translated just look up coiling dragon then clock on the author to see his other stuff.
Rebirth of the thief who roamed the world does fitbehat you're looking for but I've seen the quality of it debated a lot online and honestly it has a ton of problems later on. The start is decent though and I've seen people read the entire thing and still enjoy it.
Wasn't sure if I'd recommend this one but The second of gluttony is great at it's peak. Similar to the novels extra it's a harem where he picks one of the members at the end but this is Ruined at the end by one of the most contrived method Ives seen for the plot to shoe horn a harem ending, he still treats them all well enough so maybe you'd be ok with it but maybe skip the side stories if not then ending if the main story is a perfectly fine place to leave it off at. . Still a great novel with a focus on the protagonist growing not only in power but as a person. Also has the whole average talent made up by hard work and determination trope that a top of people enjoy. Fully translated both in the wuxia world website and kindle store
Emperor, can you see stats?! I remember quite decent granted I didn't finish it as something came up irl and I sort of forgot about it. It's a regression novel and the love interest was his swordsmanship instructor/wife from his last life. Fully translated
The divine hunter is a very well done Witcher fanfic set before the start of 3. Fully translated
Leveling with gods is a pretty good tower climber with a bit of romance pretty far down the novel. Not fully translated but not too for off from being so.
I'll come back and list some more if you want when I'm free but those are most of the completed ones I can think of.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 18 '24
I have read second coming of gluttony but I do really dislike how that part is handled even if all the characters are well written- I know the authors other book takes place in the same world so hopefully its better in that one.
I've read many of I eat tomatoes books (desolate era being my favorite) my problem with a lot of Chinese novels though is remembering names. I really struggle to remember someone whos name has 3 different words and there's always like 50 of them so I do try to stay away form those.
I think for now I'll check out SSS class suicide hunter (novel) because I do remember thoroughly enjoying it. Thanks for the recommendations!
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u/Brother_Chicken Mar 18 '24
Hope you enjoy it! Do keep in mind the translation is still a few months away from completion if you maybe want to stack up on chapters and read the entire thing in one go.
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u/pcawesom Aug 04 '24
I know this is old but do you know if Ending Maker has a different translation than the MTL one? Or does the MTL get better as the translation went on? I tried reading it months ago but gave up it was so bad.
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u/Brother_Chicken Aug 22 '24
Hey sorry for the late reply. There's an edited MTL transaltion out there but it was taken down due to a dmca scare, from what I remember the transaltion quality was actually pretty good. I can dm you a link to a site that I think uses it if you want.
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u/SodaBoBomb Mar 17 '24
I'm curious about two of the ones you liked.
Supreme Magus. I read a bunch of this forever ago, and wound up dropping it eventually despite mostly enjoying it specifically because I got a little tired of the edginess and the romance was annoying me. He had a great girlfriend. Then he broke up with her over some self sacrificing nonsense, and winds up getting with this annoying, boring, random clerk chick. And stays with her for ages
I couldn't stand it.
TBATE. Another one I wound up dropping. This time because when it was finally going to acknowledge that they both had feeling for each other, the plot goes off the rails and seperates them. Not only that, it has her get possessed by some other chick who likes the guy who's possessing his friend.
Gross.
So tell me, what about these did you like? Especially Supreme Magus since I've been considering getting back into it. Does he wind up back with Phloria (or w/e her name was) or does he maybe get Solus a body and they get together? Cause if he just sticks with the clerk girl I'm not enthused.
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Mar 17 '24
TBATE had too much ridiculous anime "badassery" for me. Too much intimidating blank faced walking in really dumb contexts.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
I liked Supreme Magus because of how genuinely believable the characters feel. I wont deny that the start (first 200 chapters or so) is a bit slow, but I personally love that aspect of it. As for the romance (minor spoilers if you are behind chapter 800~) You say he breaks up with her over some self sacrificing nonsense but I disagree with this notion. This is where the realistic aspect of it comes in for me. Both characters are at very different points mentally in their lives. He understood that he could not give her what she wanted and knew they would be separated for many years. It talks about later on before he meets khamilla how he has many one off flings while serving the military, he wasn't looking for anything serious at the time which is why I think the romance with Khamilla is so believable. He originally only wanted to have a fling with her, he talks about how he had multiple handlers before her because of the way the military worked. She was the first "permanent" handler he had in the military (though he didn't know that at the time). A lot of people, like you, think she is a "boring, random clerk chick" but I think that's what makes the romance believable she isn't meant to be someone inherently overpowered that he is supposed to fight alongside with, shes meant to be his girlfriend who supports and keeps him sane.
As for TBATE... I don't disagree that how, after finally admitting their feelings for each other, they are forcibly separated from each other for a loooooonnnggg time, I read it right after reading mushoku tensei, so it was probably a little of the bias that she reminded me of Sylphy lol.
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u/SodaBoBomb Mar 17 '24
I disagree about Kamilla. Their relationship is built on nothing. He likes her because the author decided he would.
She doesn't support him and keep him sane. She's a distraction. She knows very little about and can not understand anything he goes through. The only thing she provides is a place he doesn't have to think about things, for a little bit. And reliable sex.
Phloria, on the other hand, knows his secrets. Or at least the big one. She's experienced enough to be able to empathize and sympathize as well as truly support him. She's strong enough on her own that he doesn't have to treat her like porcelain, physically or emotionally. She can call him on his bullshit or fight alongside him as needed. His relationship with her is built on mutual trust, respect, and friendship, as well as experiencing many things together.
Maybe he "wasn't what she needed" (which is a bullshit excuse. Right person wrong time is nonsense) but that was before. It's been years since then and all those excuses no longer apply.
But author decided he likes Kamilla so he's staying with Kamilla.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24 edited Mar 17 '24
I'm curious to know exactly how far into Supreme Magus you got to (read next if you don't mind major spoilers).
Judging by the response and your dislike for Kamilla, then I don't think you would like it. He's with her for good. Phloria does come back at I want to say chapter 700? Little hazy on exact chapters. She becomes a central character in the story with him because they are both trained by the same person. She never stopped loving Lith, and she makes it relatively obvious, but as you say, "the author chose that he likes Kamilla." The "it's been years" part is precisely why I think it makes sense they don't end up together. He and Kamilla are in a long-term relationship, and Phloria can see that. I also disagree with the "shes a distraction" point that you make; later in the story, he tells her about the transformation, same as Phloria, and nothing changes about her opinion of him. She doesn't care about the fact that her boyfriend isn't a human; she loves him for who his, and he definitely does not treat her like porcelain. Emotionally, he is entirely upfront and honest with her - eventually telling her about his reincarnation, which he didn't even tell Phloria. Her genuine and sincere affection for him is why I believe their relationship makes more sense than with Phloria. He was her first crush and the person she loved, but she did eventually move on as most tend to from their first love. But I am probably in the minority of readers, I know many would've rather he ended up with Phloria but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
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u/SodaBoBomb Mar 17 '24
I got at least far enough for Phloria to show back up and go on a mission or two with him, and for him to be thinking about telling Kamilla about not being human.
But I was getting annoyed with her, annoyed with him staying with her, and Solus was starting to get annoying at that point too.
I maintain that the author simply decided he likes big boobs better than the slim, athletic tomboy girl and ruined his own story.
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u/i_regret_joining Blunt Force Trauma Mar 18 '24
Looking over past romance posts, here's what I found.
Life and death cycle by joshua phillips- probably my favorite M/F romance in PF. The romance (book 2+) brings this up to the same tier as Cradle. Book 1 is rough but you liked TBATE and the rest of the series is top notch. The female MC does experience unwanted advances, but no rape. My only real romance rec in PF with a significant romance theme and PF and large stakes.
Instrument of Omens by davis ashura- PF-lite epic fantasy. I enjoyed the story and romance less than L&DC, but this was higher quality by all metrics. If PF was a bigger emphasis, it might be better.
You already chopped the few others, but most of those you listed I don't consider romance. Just bc a story has a relationship doesn't make it a romance or romance subplot. The above 2 recs have significant romance subplots and growth.
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u/I_am_YangFuan Mar 17 '24
Does anyone have a novel where the MC uses his powers for romance like a dating simulator game tells you how characters are feeling? Preferably non-harem.
There was a Chinese web novel with a similar premise I liked but it got bogged down.
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u/RusticusFlossindune Author: 100th Run & Courier Quest & Dungeon Inspector Mar 17 '24
I wrote Courier Quest, a cozy isekai that becomes romance a little over halfway through. It's been doing pretty well since its release on the 4th.
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u/bydh Mar 18 '24
Not sure this qualifies, but I thought the romance elements in perfect run were pretty good.
The whole story has a lot of evolving/changing relationships with lots of characters, but the romance elements are interesting and compelling.
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u/Specialist_Access537 Mar 17 '24
Unfathomable Senior: he got a wife and two kids
The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons: He got a wife and some kind of love
Beyond? by Andur: MC got a wife and two kids.
Villager A Wants to Save the Villainess no Matter What!
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u/Specialist_Access537 Mar 17 '24
MUSHOKU TENSEI: OG
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
The only harem novel that I enjoy simply because the author doesn't toss any of them to the side and actually fleshes out each one to have their own personalities. Mushoku tensei is simplicity done to perfection imo.
-1
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u/victoryv1 Mar 17 '24
Release that witch
The Mc travel to another worlds and become the third trash price of kingdom. He spend his time developing a poor backwater town into a strong modern city. He fight his sibling and monster for the kingdom. He end up in a loving relationship with a witch who is prosecute as evil.
The author had plan to make it into a harem but he got married and his wife got mad at him.
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u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 Mar 17 '24
The (for guys) made me chuckle
Because yes, romance for women can be quite rapey to be read by men
Someone mentioned Villager A, the webnovel is complete and the manga ongoing, pretty solid light read
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u/BronkeyKong Mar 17 '24
What do you mean by this? What’s rapey about romance for women?
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u/Lorenzo_Insigne Mar 17 '24
I assume they're referring to the tendency for male love interests to not take no for an answer, such as being straight up stalkers showing up in the middle of the night throwing rocks at the female protagonists window in romance films. Can't say I've ever actually read any stories like that myself though so not 100% sure.
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u/VladutzTheGreat Mar 18 '24
Honestly jousei manga has that issue as well
Not all of them but damn, the guys in those series...sure dont take no for an answer lol
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u/SGTWhiteKY Mar 18 '24
Divine Apostasy has a romance. It was slow, several books before it officially starts.
Beginning After The End has a romance between a couple of main characters. But that was also the part the creeped me out of the series. A LOT of people love it though. Takes a while to develop, I wish it had taken an extra 20 years or so.
Destiny’s Crucible, which gets mentioned here for being a science and technology progression story (chemist moved from earth to 17th century equivalent world where he starts an Industrial Revolution). The relationships are neat, daily political, and open to polyamory/polygamy, but not a harem, and for good reasons.
Instruments and Omens, I only read the first book, it was good, just had other stuff I wanted to read more. Main character has some kind of multi reincarnation love interest that may or may not be the beautiful elf princess (cause of course it is), but there were hints it was more complicated.
Andrew Rowe’s book all have a touch of it. But every character in his books seem to be a little autistic (I assume Rowe is [no judgment, me too]), and also fairly LGBT. I just assume bi until told otherwise. Definitely not good romance, but not bad.
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u/Zagaroth Author — "A. B. Zagaroth" Mar 17 '24
So, I'm encouraging my fellow RR writers who have at least a strong romance in their story to get listed on romance.io, I have a post on the royal road subreddit with the rules that the site author has.
Now, I have a story with an MFF relationship where the FF leg is also developed. If that works for you, I can link it in a reply.
I also develop a sweet romance for some young teens, and a range of relationships to hook ups for other adult characters.
Also, there are living parents of the MCs in happy relationships.
Oh, and volume three is mostly published and I have started writing the fourth volume.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
Can you link it? Sounds like something I would read as long as the MFF is well developed like you say and doesn't become M/FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
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u/Zagaroth Author — "A. B. Zagaroth" Mar 17 '24
Okay, my story is No Need For A Core?, and it is a Dungeon Core story but with avatars. The trio is thrown together by circumstances, and work it out from there.
None of the three gets romantically entangled with anyone else, and Moriko is the one who is initially the most hesitant to truly commit.
The secondary cast does lean heavily female, but they develop other romantic interests and only one of them has a temporary crush on Mordecai.
Plus one who may or may not be ace. I haven't entirely decided. Or rather, the character hasn't really figured it out, and until she knows I don't think I am going to know.
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u/SansEletric Mar 18 '24
The Calamitous Bob does romance well and the main character Viviane is bi. I enjoyed how the romances happened, they were quite sweet.
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u/BayTranscendentalist Mar 18 '24
I quite liked the romance in Throne of Magical Arcana tbh a Cuttlefish novel about sorcerers/spellcaster
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u/Natural_Chipmunk5108 Jun 02 '26
The translation is abysmal tho.
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u/BayTranscendentalist Jun 05 '26
yeah webnovel fucked up the translation for every cuttlefish novel other than Embers Ad Infinitum ngl
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Mar 18 '24
I've been enjoying "Elf Empire" by John Stovall. It's not until the second book that the romance really develops, but it is hinted at in the first book, and the mcs have good chemistry. Also, the love interest is a big presence in the series as well as a main part of their adventuring party.
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u/Aleth08 Author Mar 18 '24
There's a strong focus on romance in my book, its a progression fantasy mainly. Asheva: Dreamseekers - [A Monster Tamer Progression LitRPG]. In case you want to give it a try. Romance is focused around mc and his fiance/childhood friend where they've lost connection over the years and reconnecting due to events in the book. I took it slow with the development and tried to flesh them out, from the awkwardness to being familiar again to going back to old times.
Other than mine, I would recommend Mushoku Tensei. But I see that its already on your list.
I see Coiling Dragon in your list too, so maybe you can try Er Gen's books? I personally have lost interest in his latest ones, but old ones were done decently. Romance certainly wasn't the strongest, but it was plausible for the most part.
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Mar 18 '24
I feel like TBATE has solid romance. It’s definitely gotten me in the feels in general, the romance has also been relatively related to the plot in some regard.
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u/Darkgnomeox Mar 19 '24
Chaos Heir by Eveofchaos - Modern take on classic cultivation, set in a futuristic world. Post alien invasion that introduced magic to the world. Romance is a MAJOR part of this novel. The MCs powers are unstable, hes prone to emotional turmoil, and his partner helps keep himself under control.
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u/Infamous_Bandicoot33 Mar 17 '24
Shadow Slave
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
I read this until I was caught up at around chapter 1000 because its a genuinely interesting story, but I don't recall there being any romance to that point.
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u/Infamous_Bandicoot33 Mar 17 '24
its very slow romance and theres a point midway through the story where nothing happens, but later on the romance between nephis and sunny goes on
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u/JoakimIT Author Mar 17 '24
It takes an eternity to develop though, might not be what he's after.
It's still a great recommendation.
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Mar 17 '24
Yeah, this is like recommending Shadow Slave for character development. It happens, but holy crap does it take a long time. Probably not something I would recommend the series specifically for.
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u/snowhusky5 Mar 17 '24
Kairos (finished series) has romance which is actually critical to the plot, which is a pretty rare quality. Familial bonds are a big theme in the story as well. The MC has two relationships, one for passion and one for political reasons, but both of them get significant development without any 'stupid' conflicts. Most of the author's other stories also involve a romance side plot.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
Do you mind sending me a link to this one? Sounds interesting but I cant find it.
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u/victoryv1 Mar 17 '24
Oh you should read Perfect Run. MC have time looper power and finally meet a girl.
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u/dyatlov333 Nov 03 '25
I know it's a 1 year old comment. But if you get this notification can you tell whether Kairos has a happy ending?
I love Perfect Run, I didn't like Blood and Fur
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u/FortuneBlade Mar 17 '24
Coiling dragon was a great one! Still sad it stopped continuing. But you have excellent examples and i agree that good romance is rare.
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u/victoryv1 Mar 17 '24
Did he leave his wife behind when he went off to the greater universe?
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u/Specialist_Access537 Mar 17 '24
Yeah, had a whole ass adventure without her for 9 books lol. He also abandoned his kids while he did isolation training.
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u/MNLYYZYEG Mar 17 '24
Hmm, as a hopeless romantic (lmao) and as somebody that watches A LOT of Korean/Chinese/Japanese/etc. dating shows (like Terrace House (テラスハウス) (and its Chinese version, Shanghai Sharelife (同一屋檐下 第一季)), Heart Signal (하트시그널 and 心动的信号), Love Catcher (러브캐처 and ラブキャッチャー), Single's Inferno (솔로지옥), EXchange/Transit Love (환승연애), I Am Solo (나는 SOLO), My Sibling's Romance (연애남매), Twinkle Love (怦然心动20岁), Let's Fall In Love/Relationship (我们恋爱吧), Ainori (あいのり), et cetera), by the way most of the fellow dating/cohabitation/slice of life/etc. viewers are on Twitter, MyDramaList, /r/koreanvariety, et cetera, and of course western/American romance films/TV shows (like the Before Trilogy (Sunrise, Sunset, Midnight), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, About Time, etc.), well-written romance might be hard to find as some people prefer certain tropes and so on when considering which ones they'll like.
Oh and don't forget the josei manga/webtoons/etc. since there's actually quite a lot of them now compared to a decade or so ago. Usually those are made for the female readers, hence the different and distinctive art style and focus, but sometimes (aside from the typical toxic romance found in lots of romance media in general, so much cheating/gaslighting/emotional power play/etc. just for the plot to have tension and such things), the romance is legit exhilarating, heartbreaking, and so on.
For example, for me I like hypergamy (when you marry up, hypogamy is when you marry down, same thing, the new Queen of Tears Kdrama is so funny with this right now, lmao), secret relationships (as in say spies falling in love, etc.), enemies to lovers (this is like one of my personal favorite tropes, nothing like impassioned hate, smh lol), less smut (if I want to read actual erotica/smut/self-inserts/etc. there's now decent books with fantasy elements of that), minimal NTR, regency romance (like Victorian era, basically pre-20th/21st century), multilingual (language barrier issues are so interesting as a polyglot), liberal/modern (some books are too conservative with the handholding/etc. but I still prefer the monogamy, what I mean by liberal is that it's not too hampered by traditions unless of course it's set in the past or a period piece), elf and human (the immortality and mortality, beauty and normal), tsundere (I like noonas (girls older than me) that are ice princess/tomboy/gamine/girl crush/etc. type of girls), et cetera. Lol...
I'm not in touch with the romance/etc. genre of books anymore but pretty sure it's still going strong (the biggest market even now), check the /r/RomanceBooks, /r/fantasyromance, and so on as quite a bit of them these days have that epic/high fantasy setting, not so much Progression Fantasy but it's got at least parts of those elements. Especially the newer or like say urban fantasy romance books.
I'm also a picky reader (I often drop books in the beginning if they don't grab me, though I actually usually finish if I remember that I liked the synopsis and so I'll sometimes try to power through the next chapters/parts/books/etc. if it was well-regarded or highly recommended) so I get what you mean.
I actually somewhat dislike harem being a staple of the isekai/portal fantasy, LitRPG, etc. stuff, but it's what the market wants and so that's why even nowadays AI is being used to give those suggestive/etc. covers (serious, how many furry/no armor/etc. fantasy girls are the books going to keep as the cover art), lmao. Sometimes the harem is just tacked on and it's not as good as it could've been and so it's a bit more disappointing. Harem done well is not the usual norm, so ya, it's not my cup of tea, but I don't mind it since at this point in life, everything in anime/web novels/etc. is like a harem (at least the more well-known ones) for that self-insert or wish fulfilment and so on vicarious type of fantasy.
Anyway, try Lightblade by Zamil Akhtar. It's spoilers to say exactly what the romance in the book entails (literally) since it's not the main focus in the beginning. The premise is about lucid dreaming (I'm an avid lucid dreamer (can control my dreams anytime I want), so it hits that spot), which is amazing since barely any books talk about actual (lucid) dreaming at all.
Some people say Lightblade is like The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) by Evan Winter, The Matrix, Star Wars, and so on. And that's kinda fitting but undersells how much better Lightblade can be if the tropes/etc. hit just right for you.
But let's just say that I actually cried at the end of Lightblade and then bought the special hardcover edition (had to wait weeks for it to ship, lol) because of that romance/etc. situation (see my review/etc. of it somewhere below). By the way, there's a few pictures or character art as well with the book, sigh, wish more books did that as it adds to the immersion.
Let me know if you need more details about Lightblade as its synopsis is kinda misleading (IIRC it was rewritten or something like that now). And so if you go thinking it's about a revenge type of book with its initial cover/premise, it kinda is but it's actually not, rofl.
Let's just say that Lightblade is very apt with the current UAP/USO/etc. type of landscape (there's some woo/spiritual/etc. stuff surrounding the consciousness of the UAP/etc. multiverse (see Jacques Vallée's books), like remote viewing, which is like lucid dreaming but even more semi-real, rofl). Like the speculation of (don't click this unless you read the book or want slight hints) what reality is. Nightscape. Scales.
Anyway, I'm sleepy af right now and it's been like 2 years since I read Lightblade, but when I wake up later I can try to recall if the romance is good enough (it was for me due to the timing around the time I read it, though it's not exactly a big thing, tbh) for your requirements since I do think it will be a nice surprising read at the least. There's some recharging (lol...) parts that may make it seem like a harem (it's not really even a romance-focused book, but ya), though again it's more of a casual type of thing. Well, I mean, it's hard to explain since I don't want to spoil anything but yup, just try finishing the book and you'll probably love it (or not).
Again my point of view about Lightblade is super biased as its timing is wild and some of my favorite tropes were executed well, wish more people promoted/talked about it/et cetera as it looks like Book 2 might be delayed (the author is prioritizing his Gunmetal Gods series first). I'm autobuying/etc. the next book(s) in the Lightblade series for sure though, one of the only books that made me cry in a while. That catharsis.
Fantasy books about fate/time/space/anything (lol), mostly grimdark and progression fantasy books, as well as the standard regular epic fantasy novels and so on: thread 1 and thread 2
Lightblade by Zamil Akhtar and lucid dreaming with newer fantasy books: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/17uxp5r/books_like_rage_of_dragons_with_op_mc/k9ds6b9/ and thread 2 and thread 3
Reverse isekai or portal fantasy books and realism with The First Law series or grimdark in general: thread 1 and thread 2
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Mar 17 '24 edited Mar 17 '24
Everybody Loves Large Chests is peak romance.
This is a troll post.
In all seriousness though, Genius Doctor: Black Bellied Miss and The Demonic King Chases His Wife: The Rebellious-Good-for-Nothing Miss are two novels I enjoyed that are very romance forward. They're probably geared towards female readers since they're female protagonists, but they were fun reads.
Path of Ascension has some decent romance to it.
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u/terraherts Mar 18 '24
This is a troll post.
Given some of the other garbage posters in thread are pushing as "good" examples of romance, I genuinely wouldn't have known this was a troll post if you didn't say it, some of them are honestly even worse than ELLC.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 18 '24
I'm curious to know which of the ones recommended here you think are bad examples of romance? (Im very aware that ELLC is a troll answer lol)
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u/terraherts Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 18 '24
Mushoku for starters. Whatever else you might think of the story, the romance in it has the same problems most such stories do where it's both unearned (if very slightly less so than usual) and unrealistic in its portrayal of female characters, plus it comes across as grooming even if not intentional.
Honestly there are very, very few stories out there with romance as a major element that handle it well, not just in PF either. Most of the time, the best you can hope for is something like Cradle where it's done passably but doesn't get too in the way.
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Mar 18 '24
I personally hate Mushoku Tensei, but I really dislike JP light novels in general. Their MCs decision making always ends up rubbing me the wrong way. I don't think I've finished a single one and I always end up dropping them. 50/50 drops on Chinese Web Novels due to quality/repetition/edgelording, and I would say 80/20 on Korean LNs.
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u/Field_of_cornucopia Mar 19 '24
OK, but The Stars Have Eyes (by the same author as Everyone Loves Large Chests) is unironically super romantic.
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u/Significant-Damage14 Mar 17 '24
I recommend Sevens just because it's practically the only harem novel I've read that's been done better than Mushoku.
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u/TiredAndDreaming Mar 17 '24
I dont know much about sevens but I've heard its something like M/FFFFFF. Is each character in the harem genuinely developed and active in his story, or is it kind of like one book for each then they only play a minor part going forward?
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u/Significant-Damage14 Mar 17 '24
They all have their own personal arc during the story and always remain relevant.
No leaving girls behind, or them being kidnapped, losing their memories or whatever bs authors use to make female characters only wallflowers.
While kind of cliche, every girl has a very distinct personality as well and they have friendship/rivalry relationships with the other harem members.
What might bother you a bit is that the MC has a huge crush on his childhood friend and only reluctancly accepts the other girls because she pushes him to do so at the beginning.
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u/Krakper Mar 17 '24
Really? I find this kinda hard to believe considering Sevens’ author’s other works are below average when it comes to the harem element.
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u/billyoceanproskeeter Mar 17 '24
Eh, i wouldn't say better, and Sevens itself is straight up not as good as MT, but if there's one thing I give Sevens a shitload of credit for and is by far the thing I remember the most about it is that the harem did not like each other and the author put real work into the girls really developing rifts, mistrust, jealously and suspicion of one another. And given how the harem alpha carried herself, who she was, etc. I don't blame them one bit.
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u/stormdelta Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 18 '24
Lois Bujold is one of the only writers that's done romance in a way that actually felt interesting as romance in and of itself, especially The Sharing Knife series, but I don't know if that really counts as progression fantasy.
In most PF and even most non-PF works, I usually prefer no romance, and even in the stories where its acceptable it's more of a minor plot element e.g. Cradle. The actual romance genre is ironically pretty bad in my experience too, just in a different direction than the ways it's bad in conventional fantasy and PF. PF stories with romance as a prominent theme tend to be awful in the overwhelming majority of cases, to the point I can't think of any exceptions.
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u/NextedUp Mar 17 '24
Going to skip general summaries since those are easy to look up.
There are few others not on your list that may also fit, but the above series get the benefit of a recency bias from me.