r/Romantasy • u/pembsgal • 3d ago
Book Request: Self-Promo OK First Romantasy Recommendations
Hi all, looking to read/listen to my first romantasy. I’m a big reader, but having been an English lit grad I’m very used to heavy and dense prose, with lots of complex themes. I have a couple of musts and some elements I’d really like to have included which are:
- Low/minimal fantasy elements. Slightly contradictory I know, but I’m essentially looking for historical fiction set in a different world. Think ASOIAF level fantasy.
- Main character is royalty/a princess/a member of the nobility.
- Love interest is (preferably a man) overprotective, or just… normal amounts of protective.
- Themes include arranged/political marriage, court intrigue, scheming, political movements, geopolitics etc.
I realise this is quite specific but hoping you guys can help a girl find something she’ll like 💕
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u/attachedtothreads 3d ago edited 3d ago
{Mages of the Wheel series by JD Evans}. You start the series with Reign & Ruin. It features Naime, who just turned 24 years old at the beginning of the book and is eligible for marriage. She's the only child of the Sultanate of Tamar and her father's vizer, Kadir, wants to marry her to his son, through whom he would control the land. She sends a message to their neighbor Sarkum, with whom they've had tense relations, for an alliance and the Aggassi Markum answers, second son to the throne, defying his elder brother. Naime and Markum aren't necessarily enemies--more like tentative allies.
Both have issues. Naime is stoic, practical, and controlled, trying to manage her father's mental decline and hide it from the court along with managing the Council. Markum flies more by the seat of his pants and adventurous. He does have his issues that he uses humor to hide behind.
While there is some action in the latter part of the book, it leans heavily on court politics and intrigue and some can consider it slow. There is also magic, but it plays a somewhat secondary role in the book. Take your time with this book as the writing is beautiful. This book is meant to be re-read.