5 Forbidden Romance Books to Add to Your TBR
Forbidden love is right up there with enemies to lovers when it comes to my favorite romance tropes. I eat up stories that feature individuals, who despite being told that they can’t be together, fight the world to stay together – bonus points if the backdrop is a lush, fantastical realm. If you are also a fan of this trope, then here are five books that you should check out.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
I love this book so much that I am always trying to find a way to include it on my book lists. It features a beautifully written romance between a morally grey, centuries-old vampire and a powerful but reluctant witch. Interactions, let alone relationships, between different species, however, are strictly forbidden in their magical underworld. To stay together, they will have to challenge the very foundation of their society.
The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
Set in 19th-century New Orleans, this YA paranormal romance follows 17-year-old Celine Rousseau as she finds herself thrust into the city’s underbelly and rubbing elbows with members of the notorious and secretive La Cour des Lions. Sparks fly between her and the group’s enigmatic (and off-limits) leader, Sébastien Saint Germain, but despite her growing attraction to him, she can’t shake the feeling that he is hiding something from her. When the bodies of murdered women begin turning up over the city, she begins to wonder if Sébastien might somehow be involved.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
As the Maiden, Poppy’s entire life has been decided by others. Forced to live at arm’s length from all others, she must uphold the utmost propriety so that she might be found worthy by the gods upon her Ascension. Albeit difficult, it has been feasible – that is, until her new bodyguard, Hawke, arrives. He arouses feelings in her that she has never experienced, but as the Maiden, she knows there can be no future with him…or can there?
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
In this urban fantasy spin on the Hades and Persephone myth, the latter is a journalism student, who has only been allowed to attend college on the condition that she not associate with any gods, least of all the god of the underworld. She manages to abide by that mandate until one evening when she accompanies a friend to Hades’ nightclub and inadvertently enters into a bargain with him. Unless she can fulfill her end of the deal quickly, her mother, the goddess Demeter, will discover that she has broken her vow to not interact with any immortals, and her freedom, which she has only recently gained after a lifetime of confinement, will be clawed back. The trouble is, the more time Persephone spends with Hades, the less she wants to sever her tie to him.
Feather by Olivia Wildenstein
A modern-day twist on Romeo and Juliet with a hefty dollop of the paranormal, Feather follows twenty-year-old angel Leigh as she attempts to earn her remaining feathers and ascend to Elysium. To speed up her wing completion, she elects to reform a Triple, the worst type of human sinner. The already herculean task becomes even more difficult when she finds herself developing feelings for the man. If she reforms him and earns her remaining feathers, will she be able to leave him when the time comes to go to Elysium?
And that’s a wrap! Let me know in the comments if you’ve read or plan on reading any of these books!
-Julia
P.S. You can buy all of these books over at Bookshop.org.
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