Swords, Smut & Shadow Daddies: Defining Romantasy

What is romantasy, really? Host R.J. (Rosemary Jean-Louis) breaks it down in two parts. From Sarah J. Maas’ big ACOTAR release‑dates news, reader reactions from the Love Y’all Book Festival and insights from the Romance Fantasy Spectrum author panel - there’s plenty of common and differing opinions. 

Follow us on Instagram @mustluvromantasy for panel pics!

The excerpt from the Love Y’all Book Festival Romance Fantasy Spectrum author panel features:

• F.T. Lukens
• Ehigbor Okosun
• Nia Davenport
• Rebecca Ross
• Sasha Peyton Smith

Natalia Hernandez was also on the panel but not featured in the clip. 

The authors share the difference between fantasy romance, romantic fantasy, and “textbook”romantasy — and why the stakes of falling in love can matter just as much as saving the kingdom.

R.J. also  gives a mini lesson on the origins of fantasy romance and the romantasy term; her definition of what romantasy is; a list of tropes and the books that pulled her into the genre. 

Key Takeaways

• Romantasy blends romance + fantasy as co‑equal forces — remove one, and the story’s emotional core shifts.
• Readers define it differently, from “magic + transformation + love” to “give me swords, monsters, and a romance subplot.”
• Authors see romantasy as a spectrum, with fantasy‑forward, romance‑forward, and true 50/50 hybrids.
• Tropes are essential, including enemies‑to‑lovers, slow burn, fated mates, found family, and magical bonds.
• Romantasy has deep roots, from early sci‑fi/fantasy writers to paranormal romance to dystopian YA.
• The genre is thriving, thanks to BookTok, Bookstagram, and readers who know exactly what emotional ride they want.

Additional research from the Sci Fi Fantasy Writers Association article: "Romantasy: An Old Genre with a New Name" by Rosemary Jones.

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Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker: Welcome to Must Luv Romantasy your podcast for recs and reviews of books and other content where love, magic, mayhem and hot takes collide. I'm your host, Rosemary Jean-Louis, but call me RJ. I'm a lifelong sci fi and fantasy lover turned romantic superfan. I love the genre so much. I started two real life book clubs. Join in to get recommendations and reviews of the romantasy books worth obsessing over or not. I also include shows and other content, plus the occasional author chat. So grab your swords or your coffee and let's fall in love. one epic story at a time. Hey Book Besties. How are you doing today? If I sound a little extra nasally, just know I've been personally victimized by the season transition bug that's making the rounds. That's why this month's episodes are a bit late. But the show's going on and we have some good stuff. Okay, I know you've already heard the big news that Sarah J. Mass dropped on the Call Her Daddy show earlier this month. ACOTAR release dates. Yay! Plural too. So October twenty twenty six. That's this year. And then January twenty twenty seven. So have you signed up for a midnight release party yet? Have you requested your PTO already so you can sit and read the whole thing in peace? Go ahead and do that now if you haven't already. I'll wait. Sarah J. Maas interview actually ties perfectly into what our two part episodes this month are about. Taking a step back to ask what is romantasy anyway? That's the name of the podcast, right? Must Luv Romantasy. Well, most say it's a story where the romance and fantasy are essential to the plot. Both can't exist without the other. Now, this type of storytelling isn't new. Sci fi fantasy writers like Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton were already doing that back in the day. The term romantasy itself gained traction through Book Tok and Bookstagram as a kind of shorthand in the twenty twenties. CNN and PBS NewsHour did stories on it, and of course, then Merriam-Webster popped it in the dictionary, and now it's legit. Back in February, I went to the Love Y'all Book festival in Decatur, Georgia. It was such a fun mix of romance and romantasy readers, authors, and fans. I asked a few festival goers how they define romantasy and here's what they said. My name is Paige. Um. Romantasy Um, I'm. I stick true to it. It has to be romance. Fantasy. And the biggest part of it has to be there's a fantasy element. So I want swords. I want medieval crap going on. I want monsters and stuff like that. And the romance is a big but a subplot. Um, I really like "Shield of Sparrows". I thought, um, a fire, and I think it's a fire. And ice was good. Uh, that's an oldie. That's very old. Hi, my name is Janhavi  (Jaan-vee). I think romantasy means magic. Being able to transport the reader from, you know, where you're sitting into another world like that. Transformative quality all mixed with gloves. So magic plus transformation plus love equals romance. In my mind. "The Plated Prisoner" series, um, by Raven Kennedy is the nominal, uh, one of my all time favorite book boyfriends. Now here's a snippet from the Romance Fantasy Spectrum panel featuring authors F T Lukens, Nia Davenport, Ehig bor Oko sun, Sasha Peyton Smith and Rebecca Ross weighing in on the topic. So I feel like we have to start with the question that I feel like everybody's been asking since the boom of romantasy and that is, what is romantasy and how you define it, especially like the distinguishing markers between romantasy fantasy, romance, romantic fantasy. Like how, how do we define that? I was just starting with the easy ones. Huh? To me, the difference between what would be marketed as a romantasy versus a fantasy with romance is how central romance is. But, uh, to me, if you take romance in the entire flat crumbles, it's probably a romantasy to me. Also, it's the stakes, like when I'm writing a fantasy. The fantasy is plot dressing, but the stakes. Are they gonna fall in love? Not are they gonna save the kingdom? I agree with you fully. Um, that that I think is a big distinction, but I was thinking about specifically this idea that if you took out the romance from the novel, the plot would crumble. And I was thinking about my books in general, and I was thinking about how like, it could be a friendship, like it could be like a love is a friendship. And then the plot would it crumble? So I think I would add that the love story is an important element in the characters development and the progression of the story. So not necessarily that the staff wouldn't survive. There's a lot of beautiful romantasy books that have such beautiful, vivid, lush world building that wouldn't necessarily crumble if there wasn't a love interest. I think like, friendships are really important. I think, you know, other characters can hold it up like the, you know, pillars of supports. Um, but the tone of the book would substantially change because that romantic element is so important to the character's development. Um, so for me, romantic fantasy is when the fantasy is the, A plot and the romance is a B Y and that it's more focused on that, you know, are they going to kill the king or are they going to save the elder beast? Whatever. Um, that is the fantasy part of the book. And then we get to, uh, fantasy, romance, romance. The romance is the A plot. And then the fantasy, like you said, is dressing. I think romantasy is slightly different. I think that for me, romantasy is that both plots are working in tandem and they're both equally important. And like you said, if you take the romance out, then you don't have the character problem and you don't have the essential items that you need to have the fantasy plot going along, it's like kind. And sometimes I see that and I'm like, really? I have a pretty similar definition for me. The rope in like rope in, in romantasy to see like a romance sits fifty fifty with the fantasy and it's as captivating. Um, and it, the deviates is a little bit, because when I'm reading it, um, if you take the romantic out, the fantasy for me does not crumble. Like the world building is like so lush and the characters are vivid and the, and the arcs are so complete outside of the central romance that you could take the romance away. And I'm still in engage in like devouring the world and the conflict and the drama that's going on, and vice versa. If you take the fit like the magic away, uh, I'm still so entrenched in the characters and their relationships, um, and how they evolve and grow and change with, with each other that I could devour them to if the book was just about how their romance by Persians. Um, so I really love books that have those elements. Yeah, I would tend to agree. I actually think that I, I see, I find that a lot of people say nowadays because I've been talking about romance. They'll say, I was just a bad one. And that really bothers me because I'm like fantasy, like fantasy worlds, like they bring us to like a different setting, right? It's like, if I can take this romance and put it in two thousand, like New York City, like, that's great. But that's not what a huge reach me. And why won't you read a book that is as engaging and as engaging in romance? And, you know, there's so many of those who've been doing this for such a long time, you just want to feel that way. And I think that there are different new, like styles of romance that are popping up. And I think that that's kind of where the divergence is happening with this sort of focus of my preferences is a nice background, but for me, it's the background. Then it, it doesn't fit as romance. It's not like will these two hate smash? Right? But it's like, will these two hate smash? But actually it's contingent, like their decisions affect this entire kingdom I right? When I think about these books, like books I  grew up reading - it was already there. You know, it was really I personally really loved these lush fantasy books with the world building just was so immersive. And then you have this Brown Institute that just, like, gets you by the throat. Uh, I think is what, like I'm always drawn to. Well, I am looking at like, what's, what is their romance? And so Chris is going back to a "River Enchanted". They're dead. That's a deeply romantic book, but there's also like a mystery going on. So like that's kind of driving the plot forward. But when I wrote "Divine Rivals", I just remember it was twenty twenty and I was like, I just want to write a book about two people falling in love. And I just want to spend so much time, like just building this romance between people. Um, and I feel like that's technically is the first book I wrote that I think I would classify as the romantic versus all my other books, which I was there or fantasies was very like strong romantic subplots. Um, so I think I just, I don't know, I'm writing, I'm also a discovery writer, So I like to sit in the moment and let my characters leave me. So sometimes I think it's just like that's part of the fun to me is like discovering where this book is going to fall. Um, that's always like a first draft thing. So then when you're going back to revisions, I'm thinking more about like, you know, expectations, who is this for? But like, I tend to like happy endings. So, um, yeah, I would say as well. I am an intuitive writer, um, I let my characters eat and kind of build a world that they need to. And I really drink to that and think of genre I dot I a lot. I wrote like genre bends because it just, it just does. And I think that a lot of that, I think a lot of genre is really comforting. And, you know, so you have a complex family dynamics, you know, you have, you know, for how do you get to know someone, your proximity to you, but you also have like obligation towards like things like that. So I think as I write, I just let you know, let let what, let it be what it is, you know, and then when it gets to high editor, then they'll have their idea about what is a sit on the shelf, who's the audience for this? So my process for there was I had two different expressions. Um, I had one that like, you know, like the inciting incident, the first plot point, the climax, the resolution, I plotted out like the political fantasy, and then I use a romance sheet. And so I plotted out the traditional conventions for like my, for a romance arc. And then I kind of like married the two together. So I started off thinking about John Morello's there too, and how I was going to get like a fifty over fifty fantasy. And so, so really it's, it's the fantasy first, and then the romance often comes and sometimes it's surprises. Um, because I'll have characters they're just going about their quests and I'm like, you're looking at her a little too long. Um, what's going on here? And then they tell me that they're in love or want to smash. So my subsequent books, I knew going in that the core of that book and what excited me as a writer was the romance and the romance, and those characters came first, and then I can feel the world around them. So I knew I do. I want to create a marriage competition. I do, I want to try royalty out. What world makes sense for them to exist? In my next book, I knew I wanted to write a friends to lovers arranged marriage. Now what world can I build around these characters? Uh. So the romance for me comes first. And I think that social media and reading communities have allowed a subsect of readers to dial in so specifically on what they know they like and want to read. Uh, so then once this manuscript, this book exists, how do I dial into those communities and market this effectively? Uh, I think that's where romantasy can be a helpful tag, helpful, you know, signal to the people who know they want a happily ever after, who know they want a very romantic, fantasy rich fantasy world. Uh, that that's what they're going to get with it doesn't make me scripts, but the book exists first. It wasn't just a little bit earlier on the panel that like, um, fantasy is a very historically male dominated space, but there have always been phenomenal women in the space writing stories and always also injecting romantic elements into those stories as well. So there's like a long history and legacy of these kinds of stories within the genre. But I am going to pitch my theory here that Modern Romantasy takes a lot of like right now of elements from was the dystopian moon of the early, like the two thousand, early two thousands. I think it had a lot of kinship with that. And early paranormal romance actually is I kind of constantly want to put early two thousand romance into romance readers hands and be like, this is what you want. So that's like my theory of like what modern romance is. I was just talking about this with my friends. I cannot abide a book where she likes him more than he likes her. He should be liking her. Or it's so like yearning, I think is like the thing that I look for a lot in like a love interest and like that, that deep desire. You know, I will say disclaimer my, my quintessential big void for our real life in real life. I'm all here for the golden retriever walking green flag. And I give her the toxic walking red flag. Give me the Shadow Daddy that is morally gray slash morally pitch black. The toucher and die! The Oh, you have enemies. I will deliver their heads at your feet. That is my quintessential book boyfriend. But in real life, I'll be like, heck no! I love that so much. Morally grey, possessive Shadow Daddies in real life. Absolutely not! In books.? Bring. It. On. By the way, Natalia Hernandez was also on the panel. You didn't hear her in the clip, but she was fantastic. Tropes are a hallmark of romantasy, and they are those delicious recurring patterns that tell you exactly what kind of emotional roller coaster you're about to go on. And here are five big ones, in no particular order. I wonder which ones you're into. Well, Number One: Enemies to Lovers. That's they hate each other until they don't. Number Two: Slow Burn. My personal favorite! The longing. The tension. The build up and payoff. Number Three: Fated Mates. Cosmic forces said you two get together. Number Four: Found Family. A group of misfits who become home. And Number Five: The Magical Bond. A spell or curse that forces closeness, honesty or shared sensations. Yes, that kind of shared sensations. So what's my definition of romantasy? I came to it through ACOTAR the Fourth Wing books and the Stariel series by A.J. Lancaster. But honestly, before that I was also a Twilight and Hunger Games fan, just like S JM. For me, romantasy works best when both the romance and fantasy are central to the storyline. But I also love books that lean more fantasy forward with a sprinkle of romance or sci fi with romantic elements or historical romance with a dash of magic. Give me a little smut. Give me a little cozy. The tent is big here at Must Luv Romantasy. We welcome it all. What about you? What's your definition of romantasy? What books made you fall in love with the genre? Tell me in the comments. I'm also now on Instagram at Must Luv Romantasy love spelled l u v and I'll be posting photos from the Romance Fantasy Spectrum panel and more from the Love Y' All festival so you can check it out. And of course, follow me. Drop me a DM. We'd love to hear from you. Next episode we're heading to Romantasy Con LA through the eyes of Jenn Beach from bookish Wine.com. She's giving us a recap and her take on what romantasy means. Before you listen, check out her pairings at bookishwine dot com. Until next time -  Happy Reading! Thanks for listening to Must Luv Romantasy If you enjoyed today's show, be sure to follow the podcast and then share it with your fellow romantasy fans. Until next time, keep your swords sharp, your coffee strong and your heart ready for the next epic love story.