“Love triangles are a divisive trope in the reader community. Some readers absolutely hate the trope and wish it would vanish from the face of the earth… FOREVER.
Ā
And others (like me!) get excited when the love triangle is hinted throughout the book.
This Book List features books that have interesting and well-done love triangles with compelling characters and a good story.
I left aside the most popular books for the sake of not being repetitive of popular fantasy romances, which are continuously being recommended.
Ā
I included some of them in the first section with an explanation of the different love triangles featured in this post.
Enjoy and happy reading!!
Table of Contents
Types of Love Tirangles
I’ve divided this Book List into two sections. The books curated for the first section correspond to traditional love triangles (Twilight era, the 2000s), and the second section features modern love triangles (circa 2015 until now)
2 love interests. The author doesnāt show any preference for any of them until later on in the story. The reader doesn’t know who is going to be endgame at first sight.
Notable examples
Due to love triangles being a ‘thing’ back in the 2000s to 2010, readers grew tired of the trope. Authors now tend to include two love interests, but the main difference is that they give clear hints as to who will be endgame throughout the book.
Notable examples
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Must-Read Traditional Love Triangles in Fantasy Romance
To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.
The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdomāand the world.
Why you should read it
āI think I might fetch you the moon if only to spare your tears again.ā
From the Queen of Love Triangles herself, Tahereh Mafi, comes the This Woven Kingdom series, a new fantasy romance series from the author ofĀ Shatter Me.
Ā
This one is a favorite of mine and a love triangle 101. It features a charming and sweet prince and a broody, morally grey character who wants the girl only for himself.
And believe me, with Tahereh Mafi, you’ll be guessing who is endgame until the end of the series!
Layla just wants to fit in at school and go on a date with Zayne, whom she’s crushed on since forever. Trouble is, Zayne treats Layla like a sisterāand Layla is a half demon, half gargoyle with abilities no one else possesses. And even though Zayne is a Warden, part of the race of gargoyles tasked with keeping humanity safe, Layla’s kiss will kill anything with a soulāincluding him.
Then she meets Rothāa demon who claims to know her secrets. Though Layla knows she should stay away, it’s tough when that whole no-kissing thing isn’t an issue. Trusting Roth could ruin her chances with Zayne, but as Layla discovers she’s the reason for a violent demon uprising, kissing the enemy suddenly pales in comparison to the looming end of the world.
Why you should read it
āWell, arenāt you special. Cocky much?ā
āIām all kinds of special, but you know that.ā
Another traditional love triangle, this time from the author of the popular fantasy romance series From Blood and Ash.
Ā
White Hot Kiss is one of her older works, filled with YA nostalgia. We follow Layla, a high school girl with special powers who is torn between her best friend – and love of her life – Zayne, and the new demon in town, Roth.
Ā
I devoured this book in 2 days. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a Young Adult fantasy the likes of Twilight or Crave, but with more humorous characters and situations, something that Jennifer L. Armentrout uses frequently in her books.
The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can’t abide. Like having to marry someone she’s never met to secure a political alliance.
Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia escapes to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive – and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets – secrets that may unravel her world – even as she feels herself falling in love.
Why you should read it
āI will find you.
In the farthest corner, I will find you.āā
This book was a pleasant surprise.
I loved the premise of a royal girl escaping from her duties and going undercover in a distant town.
The Assassin Trope is one of my favorite tropes, so maybe I’m a little biased with this one. I can’t help it! haha
Ā
And royal fantasies are always whimsical. A prince looking for his betrothed? Check. An assassin who falls in love with the person he is supposed to kill? Check.
Totally recommend!
Zahru has long dreamed of leaving the kingdom of Orkena and having the kinds of adventures she’s only ever heard about in stories. But as a lowly Whisperer, her power to commune with animals means that her place is serving in the royal stables until the day her magic runs dry.
All that changes when the ailing ruler invokes the Crossing. A death-defying race across the desert, in which the first of his heirs to finishāand take the life of a human sacrifice at the journey’s endāwill ascend to the throne. With all of the kingdom abuzz, Zahru leaps at the chance to change her fate if just for a night by sneaking into the palace for a taste of the revelry. But the minor indiscretion turns into a deadly mistake when she gets caught up in a feud between the heirs and is forced to become the Crossing’s human sacrifice.
Now Zahru’s only hope for survival hinges on the impossible: somehow figuring out how to overcome the most dangerous people in the world.
Why you should read it
āAll good stories start with bad decisions.ā
Very similar to This Woven Kingdom but more character-driven, The Kinder Poison features a hilarious heroine who can talk to animals.
Sadly, this beautiful power is considered totally worthless, and she gets entangled between two princes who want to claim her for themselves.
Ā
Do not expect lots of worldbuilding with this one. The Kinder Poison deals more with the characters’ emotions than with the story itself, but it totally delivers regarding the love triangle tension.
Similar Book Lists
Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universesāand promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite’s father is murdered, and the killerāher parent’s handsome, enigmatic assistant Paulā escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knowsāincluding Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul’s guiltāas well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is far more sinister than she expected.
Why you should read it
āI would love you in any shape, in any world, with any past. Never doubt that.ā
A Thousand Pieces of You is the perfect choice if you miss those 2000s dystopian novels with original worldbuilding.
This book features the time travel trope with all the consequences that implies (and a plot twist I for sure didn’t see coming!).
Ā
I really enjoyed this book, and I must confess I totally bought it for the cover… it’s beautiful!! A traditional love triangle with a twist and a must-read if you love the trope!
Similar Book Lists
Modern Love Triangles in Fantasy Romance
Blood is survival in Bly’s world ā any human can compete in the Revenant Games, an annual fight to the death between witches and vampires. The prize: resurrection or immortality. But Bly didn’t bargain on her mortal enemy, a vicious vampire, being able to steal her heart. ā
Why you should read it
āYour girlfriend is running off with another manā¦ or creature.ā
The Revenant Games is a highly anticipated YA ( young adult ) release for March.
One of my most anticipated reads for the first half of the year it features what I considered a ” modern love triangle”
Ā
Two love interests, but the author foreshadows from the start who is going to be endgame.
The romantic relationship between Bly and the two boys, Emerson and Kerrigan, was full of tension due to Kerrigan being a vampire and basically the ‘villain’ here.
Ā
If you loved the Xaden-Violet-Dain dynamics from Fourth Wing, then this book is for you (with no spice… this is a clean romance).
Ā
BUT looks can be deceiving, and considering how this first book in the series ended, let’s say that Bly, our heroine, doesn’t fall behind in the arts of mischief, and we may have a Jude Duarte here in disguise! (Jude Duarte is THE badass heroine from The Cruel Prince)
Ā
Stay tuned for my review of this book (coming in April).
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It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.
Why you should read it
āRhen,ā she calls after me.
I pause in the doorway and face her.
āIām not going to fall in love with you,ā she says.
Her words are not a surprise. I sigh.
āYou wonāt be the first.ā
Prince Rhen has lost all hope to break his curse and has only his good friend Grey as company.
Ā
Harper, our heroine, is kidnapped and brought into this magical world to try to free Rhen from the curse, but things will complicate A LOT throughout the book, and she will be torn between two men: the conflicted and tormented prince and his bodyguard and loyal (?) friend, Grey.
Ā
I loved the worldbuilding in this book, but I wasn’t totally convinced by the love triangle.
Regardless, I adore this author’s writing, so I read it anyway. Give it a try and tell me if you like it!
Why you should read it
The Scarlet Veil is a must-read for readers looking for a love interest with strong ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) vibes.
Ā
Celie was a side character in the previous series from the author, ‘Serpent and Dove,’ but it’s not necessary to read it to understand this spin-off.
Ā
It works similarly to Once Upon a Broken Heart and ‘Caraval.’ The two series are interconnected, but you can understand both without having read the first one.
Celie lives with her fiancƩ, Jean Luc, and everything seems to be going well until a devil vampire kidnaps her and brings her into his world.
Ā
Well… you can imagine where the story goes from here… A classic Hades & Persephone retelling with vampires, perfect for fans of Rhysand from Acotar.
Brie would do anything before making a deal with the Fae; death is better than their vicious schemes. But when her sister is taken by the sadistic king of the Unseelie court, there is nothing Brie wouldn’t do to get her back – including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the rival Seelie court.
Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie’s only choice is to pose as a potential bride for the Seelie Prince, Ronan – a prince who’s not quite as wicked as she once thought. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. But as Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she finds herself struggling to resist his seductive charm.
Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty…and with her heart.
Why you should read it
āāYou think I don’t want to kiss you? Half the time I can’t think of anything else.ā
This one is a classic modern love triangle. It has the right amount of angst and tension, and because it is a duology, it can be read rather quickly.
Ā
Brie is your typical fantasy romance heroine, a common girl involved in political conflicts, this time between the Seelie and the Unseelie Court.
Ā
Both love interests are total opposites and completely and irrevocably in love with our heroine. ‘These Hollow Vows’ has one of the best dialogues between two guys fighting for a girl since ‘Shatter Me,’ so it’s worth giving this duology a try.
When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, sheās lived by one rule: donāt let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.
Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Loreās job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Loreās power is revealed, sheās taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out whatās happening and who in the Kingās court is responsible, or die.
Lore is thrust into the Sainted Kingās glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, Augustās ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.
But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.
Why you should read it
Maybe I should have put this one in the ‘traditional love triangles’ section?
Ā
Okay, there are ‘hints’ all over this first book… but my gut is telling me to stay alert for a huge plot twist coming in the next book… so I’m keeping ‘The Foxglove King’ in the ‘modern love triangles’ section until I’m sure, hehe.
Hannah Whitten is a wonderful author, and she focuses a lot on the worldbuilding.
Ā
The book can seem a little slow at the beginning because of this, but the story is intriguing with a very good dose of slow-burn romance that will push you to keep reading!
My Top picks: Must-Read Love Triangles in Fantasy Romance
These are my two picks for the love triangle trope.
A traditional love triangle likeĀ This Woven Kingdom series, with a hint of insta-love but tension that intensifies with every book. (Queen Mafi sure knows how to write romances!)
Ā
And The Revenant Games as a must-read for modern love triangles. It features vampires (my favourite ‘magical’ creatures), witches, a heroine who doesn’t give up her dreams for anyone, and well-developed side characters.
