I will never forget the first time someone told me “Romeo & Juliet is the greatest love story ever told.”
Me: “Are you kidding me? They’re fourteen, and they die at the end!”
I’d like to say that the way I responded was because I was a teenager with no filter, but in truth, even now, twenty years later, I would say the same thing. To each their own, I guess, but my romance-loving heart can’t help but suggest alternatives that still feel forbidden, but are—you know—actually love stories.
So what do I mean when I say ‘forbidden love’? I mean that, for whatever reason, the characters aren’t supposed to be together. That can be for any number of reasons: they’re your brother’s best friend, they’re blackmailing you, they’re your best friend’s ex, or maybe you just genuinely hate each other.
But forbidden romance is a tricky line to walk, with a lot of attempts falling into one of two categories:
It’s not actually forbidden, and the characters are just causing their own problems
It’s so forbidden that it gives you the ick, and them getting together in the end just feels wrong
Don’t worry, though, I’m here to recommend ten books that have ACTUAL forbidden romance (and don’t fall into either of the above categories).
And in an effort to do what Romeo and Juliet could not—bring opposing sides together through love—I have brought an element of the forbidden into the recommendations themselves, pairing Romantasy books with Romance counterparts. While two sides of the same coin, the two genres are often wrongly separated into opposing factions. So even if you read Romantasy but never Romance (or vice versa), I hope these pairings of books with similar, forbidden themes help you find some new and unexpected (dare I say, even forbidden?) favorites.
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What’s worse than falling in love with the person blackmailing you? Nothing.
Meet the books that tempt that fate anyway!
The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley
Genre: Romantasy
Book #2 in the Dearly Beloathed duology (completed)
Published: July 2026
Spice Rating: Mild (🌶️🌶️)
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Violence, Sexual Content, Injury, Child Death, Gore, Suicide (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Aurienne isn’t supposed to be falling in love with Osric. Realistically, she’s not even supposed to be helping him, though that part is more his fault since he blackmailed her into it. But the love thing? That’s all on her. After all, she knows he’s a murderer with limited morals and an uncanny ability to cause trouble, but somehow, he’s also thoughtful and protective and maybe not terrible.
So despite having to stop the impending war, heal the dying children, and avoid the clear threat to her life, the most difficult thing on Aurienne’s to-do list is not falling in love with an assassin.
The Duke by Anna Cowan
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Sexual Content, Misogyny, Sexism, Child Death, Child Abuse, Abandonment (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Realistically, Celine Genet knows that Kate, Duke of Howard, had no reason to help her flee France at the height of the revolution. But truthfully, her bitterness about being left behind is most of what drove her to survive. And now that she’s made it across the Channel into England and the Duke’s home, it’s time for payback.
Celine has a letter in her possession proving Kate to be a traitor. So when she demands to be introduced to society and married off to a good husband, Kate has no choice but to comply. Unexpectedly, though, it turns out neither of them has a choice on another matter: falling in love with the woman they’ve sworn to hate.
As Kate and Celine learn more about each other’s pasts and the hearts they keep locked away, it becomes harder and harder to remember why they ever thought they hated each other.
Why Read These Together
There might not be anything worse than falling in love with the person who’s blackmailing you. Even if they’re blackmailing you to save their own life (literally), and you want nothing more than to save their life (also literally), it just seems doomed to end badly.
In fact, any ride-or-die friend worth their salt would absolutely forbid you from falling in love with the person who is threatening everything that you hold dear (especially if it’s your enemy). And yet… sometimes it’s just unavoidable. These are certainly two of those times.
Sometimes, your nemesis is a villain through and through. More often, they only seem villainous to you. But once you’ve chosen sides, can you really turn back? Will you be allowed to?
Meet the books that find their way home!
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Genre: Dark Romantasy
Book #1 in The Shepherd King duology
Published: September 2022
Spice Rating: Extra Mild (🌶️)
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Violence, Blood, Injury, Sexual Content, Death, Death Of A Parent (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Elspeth Spindle is sick, infected with magic and hunted by the kingdom to be executed by order of the king. But after years of hiding, she’s forced to enter society once more after her cousin gets sold into marriage to a cruel prince.
The only one who might be able to help her get her cousin back and protect her at the same time is Prince Ravyn Yew, a relation of the royal family who is everything she stands against—or so she thinks.
But as she faces down highwaymen, cursed forests, and even his own family, Elspeth begins to see another side to Ravyn, one she’s drawn to despite the fact that she’s been taught to fear him since birth, and her future lies in his hands.
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Sexual Content, Death Of A Parent, Vomit, Alcohol, Grief, and Infidelity (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Do not fall in love with your brother’s life-long best friend and business partner. It’s a simple rule, really, and one that Maya Kilgore is fully capable of following. Do not desperately want your brother’s lifelong friend and business partner, however? That one’s a bit more difficult.
Connor Harkness is kind and generous and never treats Maya like a child, even when he’s rescuing her from some of her worst youthful mistakes; she can’t quite seem to remember all of the reasons she’s not supposed to want him. Connor, however, is fully aware of those reasons. Not only is he her brother’s best friend, but he’s also fifteen years older than her, in a completely different place in his life, and she’s supposed to be like a little sister to him. But Maya doesn’t act like a little sister, and if he’s being honest, he’s never quite managed to see her that way.
So when they end up together at a resort for a week in preparation for her brother’s wedding, romance is in the air, and inevitably sparks fly.
Why Read These Together
Sometimes, the person who is everything you’re not supposed to want is the one you want most. It doesn’t really matter whether he’s part of a royal family that’s trying to kill you or he’s just fifteen years older and basically the only person who’s supposed to be on your no-fly list; the more you’re told not to fall for them, the harder it is to resist. While these two books could not seem more different at face value, in the end, they tell the same story: finding love in the most forbidden of places.
Loving someone can often make your life better. But what do you do when that love makes it worse? When that love isn’t allowed?
Meet the books that tell those stories.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Genre: New Adult Romantasy
Book #1 in The Empyrean series
Published: May 2023
Spice Rating: Medium (🌶️🌶️🌶️)
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Sexual content, Violence, Death, War, Death Of A Parent, and Injury (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
To be honest, summarizing Fourth Wing for romance / romantasy readers seems like pandering. But for those rare few who have somehow avoided knowing what this book is about, it’s time to join us. Welcome.
Violet Sorrengail is a Dragon Rider, one of the elite warriors of the realm, bonded to the powerful creatures that help keep their land and everything they hold dear safe. Or at least she will be if she can convince one of the dragons to bond with her, something the majority of people deem unlikely.
Xaden Riorson, for one, would love to see her fail. According to her friends, the son of their nation’s greatest enemy has had it out for her since day one, which makes his bitter attitude understandable and his determination to keep her alive… less so.
When Violet bonds with Xaden’s dragon’s mate, things take a turn for the interesting; the emotional (not to mention sexual) connection between them amplifies everything they feel for each other—the good and the bad. With the kingdom at stake, the children of sworn enemies may have to come together to save the world.
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Alcohol (Note: This list doesn't include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Writing a book is hard. Co-writing a book with another author is harder. Co-writing a book with another author who you swore you’d never speak to again after you accidentally fell in love with them the last time you worked together may just be impossible.
Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen have been through it all together, from a best-selling novel to a terrible falling out—those two things happening within about a month of each other. They’d been co-writers and friends for years, and considering they were in serious relationships with other people, that was never supposed to change.
As their friendship grew closer and their writing stronger, those other relationships started feeling less important, and things got messy. Which was why it was important to stay away from each other, even if they could never quite forget.
But now, with both their careers at stake, they have to come together one last time to write another book. The only question is: can they get the lines on the page without crossing lines of their own?
Why Read These Together
I can best sum this pairing up as “loving you makes my life so much harder. And yet…” These two couples, by all known rules of society, are not supposed to be together. Whether that’s because they’re on opposing sides or the exact same team, the fact is that a relationship between them is a hard no. But not only is society forbidding these growing feelings; having the feelings at all is against their moral codes. The slow-burn push and pull that blurs the lines of wrong and right will leave you wondering if their love was forbidden for a reason, or if this is the love they should have had all along.
It’s a tale as old as time. Boy meets boy. Boy falls for boy. Boy can’t have boy because he’s his brother’s best friend.
Meet the books that let him fall anyway!
Lightning & Thunder by Sara Raasch
Genre: Fantasy Rom Com
Book #1 in the Heroes and Romance series
Published: December 2026
Spice Rating: Hot (🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️)
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Bullying, Cursing, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Confinement, and Gun Violence (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Erik Thorson is everything you’d expect from a descendant of Thor, God of Thunder—diligent, dutiful, and heroic. Lux Keraunos is equally what you’d expect a descendant of Zeus, God of Lightning, to be—reckless, impulsive, and a cyber hacker intent on bringing down the Hero Council Erik and Lux’s brother, Castor, serve on.
But when Castor goes missing, people need a descendant of Zeus to rally around, and Lux gets dragged against his will onto the hero team. Thankfully, he’s spent his life making lemonade out of lemons, and he quickly realizes there are upsides to this unexpected promotion: he can finally out his abusive older brother for the monster he is, and spend a lot more time with Erik, the crush of his teenage years that has never really faded.
While Lux tries to decide if he really is (or even wants to be) a hero, Erik stands torn between awe at how wonderful Lux is and horror at everything he’s been through at the hands of someone who’s supposed to be a hero. Nothing takes precedence over saving the world… Except maybe falling in love.
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Sexual Content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Grief,and Homophobia (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Jordan Carter doesn’t get what all the fuss is about when it comes to relationships, kisses, and love. He’s dated, he’s kissed, but he’s never really felt anything. Well, almost never. Of course, there was that one practice kiss with his cousin’s best friend, Jamie, when he was sixteen, but one is a fluke, especially when it can’t have meant anything. After all, Jordan would have noticed if he was into guys or into anyone, for that matter.
The only reason his heart climbs into his throat, and his body warms, and he loses all sense of rational thought around Jamie is because—well—there might not actually be a clear reason for that one. Still, just because he’s going to be seeing a lot of Jamie while he helps plan Jamie’s best friend’s wedding doesn’t mean anything will happen between them. And it’s not like Jordan’s been avoiding Jamie for months due to an almost-second kiss either. So it’s all going to be fine. Perfectly, totally fine.
Why Read These Together
I can’t get enough of the “my _____’s best friend” trope. Whether it’s siblings, cousins, best friends, or even parents, I am all in for the forbidden-by-association shenanigans. I think, though, what I love most about this pairing is how different the books are. Lightning & Thunder deals masterfully with trauma and a connection formed with someone you met through a mutual antagonist, while Last First Kiss flips the script and throws Jordan into the fray with someone connected to the most important person in his life. In both books, being truly seen never felt so wrong… Or so right.
Sometimes, making one choice means another gets taken from you. But what do you do when the option you no longer have turns out to be the one you want?
Meet the books that try to answer that question!
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
Genre: Historical Romantasy
Book #1 in the Regency Faerie Tales trilogy (interconnected standalones)
Published: March 2020
Spice Rating: Mild (🌶️🌶️)
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Classism, Ableism, Child abuse, War, Kidnapping, and Blood (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Theodora Eddings has been missing half of herself since she was a young child. Well, missing might not be the right word, considering she knows exactly where her other half went–stolen by a faerie who caught her wandering in the woods.
This missing half hasn’t bothered her much, though, considering all he really took were her emotions: fear, embarrassment, sadness, and happiness. That last one was a bit of a bummer, but at the end of the day, muted emotions didn’t seem like such a large price to pay for escaping with her life.
Enter: Elias Wilder, a powerful and powerfully disliked magician who’s fascinated by her and might even be able to help her find a cure. Her family firmly rejects the idea of her getting involved with the most hated man in the country. In fact, they would prefer if she didn’t get involved with anything at all and stayed out of their way.
On the one hand, Theodora has spent her whole life without those pesky feelings, and she’s not sure she wants them back. On the other, the sacrifice she made so long ago may be the very thing keeping her from a future she could love. For the first time in her life, there’s no clear answer about which way is right, and the emotions she’s supposed to trust to lead her are nowhere to be found.
The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book #2 in the Say You’ll Remember Me trilogy (interconnected standalones)
Published: March 2026
Spice Rating: Medium (🌶️🌶️🌶️)
Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
Depression, Food allergies (life-threatening), Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol Death of parent, Vomit, and Grief (Note: This list doesn’t include all content warnings. Please do your own research before reading this book.)
Chris is doing his best; he really is. His best friend Mike is having a tough time, wrestling with depression after a life-altering injury and refusing to get help. This means all Chris can really do is show up for him in ways Mike will accept and encourage him to take the next steps towards wellness.
So, when Mike asks Chris to take his girlfriend, Larissa, to the hospital for her mom’s surgery, Chris immediately says yes. But soon, Chris is shoveling out her car after a snowstorm because Mike forgot, or getting her medical attention when she has an allergic reaction that Mike caused.
When Mike can’t show up for her, Chris does it in his name. And when Mike fails her, Chris makes up the difference. There are only two problems. First, the times Mike can’t be there are becoming more frequent. And second, Chris is catching feelings. Hard. Larissa is someone he can see spending his life with, except she’s currently on track to spend hers with his best friend.
Walking away means leaving her stranded without someone to take care of her. And staying means jeopardizing the most important friendship in his life. With options that range from bad to worse, Chris, Larissa, and Mike will all have to follow their hearts and hope they don’t destroy everything along the way.
Why Read These Together
Some of my favorite stories are the ones where there is no good answer. You, the omniscient reader, may see what none of the others do, but each character is so grounded in their focus that they miss parts of the story. These, to me, make the best love stories because they feel so real. Choices are made, and sometimes they’re regretted, but they have to be lived with either way. And in these two novels, they make the best out of it, something that feels even more beautiful for what they went through to earn it.
So there we have it: ten love stories, all forbidden in their own ways, and yet you can’t help but root for them regardless. I love forbidden romance when it’s done well—real obstacles in the characters’ way as well as their own thoughts and feelings.
It can be hard to tell when the world is working against your love story, or you’re getting in your own way, and that’s what makes forbidden love feel so real. So entrust these books with your heart, and know that no matter what happens, true love always finds its way through. Happy reading!
All book cover images are sourced from Goodreads/Storygraph.
The titles featured have been selected and recommended by the author of this blog,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsements of OwlCrate.
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