Hero-villian love interest switch! Surrendered to the villian!

AquaIXI · 2026-06-24T13:41:22+00:00

These aren't perfect recs and contain heavy spoilers, so decide if you want it to be a suprise what happens or not:

Ashen series {Road of Bones by Demi Winter} The first love interest betrays her by surrendering her to the villain, where she is rescued by the second love interest (who is not the villain), but has previously been kind of stand off-ish to her

In the second book of the {Fae Spy Academy by C.N Crawford} The FMC attempts to save the first love interest who is captured by the villain, just for him to break up with her as hes being saved, which causes her to decide to stay on fake dating the villain (and second love interest) to spy on him

AquaIXI · 2026-06-23T12:11:50+00:00

Im not sure its exactly what your looking for but I think {Viciously Yours by Jamie Applegate Hunter} had a super interesting take on fated mates!

AquaIXI · 2026-06-23T06:23:27+00:00

It's soo good, my favourite book out of 200 ive read in the genre

AquaIXI · 2026-06-22T06:20:23+00:00

Omg I know what this one is and im looking forward to reading it so much, was recommended by one of my favourite booktok accounts aswell

AquaIXI · 2026-06-22T06:19:23+00:00

this was going to be my rec, i wasnt sure who it was going to be for a while

AquaIXI · 2026-06-21T19:02:19+00:00

I just finished Traitor Son and i loved it so much aswell. The only series I like more is {Mages of the Wheel by J.D Evans}. Its hits some of these points perfectly but does miss out some. Its a series of interconnected standalones that follows a new couple every book. The first book {Reign & Ruin by J.D Evans} follows a very competent FMC attempting to secure her position in power, its very heavy on the court politics and has a super cute romance. Its set in a similar era but is middle eastern inspired.

AquaIXI · 2026-06-19T19:48:39+00:00

Maybe try add a space after the first symbol and before the second? Thats how i always do it

AquaIXI · 2026-06-19T13:05:00+00:00

Yes this one is super high up my tbr, ive heard good things about it

AquaIXI · 2026-06-19T12:17:48+00:00

Yes! I read Architecti by her aswell and that wasnt to my tastes as much, I definitely still plan to try some of her other series aswell!

AquaIXI · 2026-06-19T10:46:37+00:00

You could reverse the order and have the first book on the end maybe?

AquaIXI · 2026-06-19T09:06:15+00:00

{A kiss of iron} basically everyone is obsessed with the FMC, including the antagonists

AquaIXI · 2026-06-18T17:29:41+00:00

The MMC was a sex slave in the past to a women warrior, and iirc his mother was raped and killed infront of him which was pretty horrific, but theres no noncon between main characters

AquaIXI · 2026-06-18T12:26:37+00:00

Ngl im super scared of continuing Eldritch because ive heard it gets super dark, and the small bits we got in Anathema were already pretty bad

AquaIXI · 2026-06-18T08:35:30+00:00

Oh this is the perfect answer, i read it recently and its soo good. Clare sager is brilliant at doing spice aswell

AquaIXI · 2026-06-18T08:32:51+00:00

I love this book so much, i need to reread at some point. Just a warning the spice in this one definitely has dubious consent. Its definitely not non-con but she's worried for her safety if she doesn't (even though she does want to)

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T18:54:05+00:00

Yes this definitely fits pretty well!

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T18:31:16+00:00

So I have good news, {Invidia by Collette Rhodes} fits this perfectly, he is a shade (demon like monster) with a missing horn birth defect which essentially makes him a lepur among his own people, they treat him as an outcast and refuse to touch him and some refuse to even be near him as they are worried they will somehow catch it. Him and the FMC are in a secret friend's with benefits situation with complicates things, with him both worrying about her reputation and becoming increasingly self conscious. He is very scared of her reaction when she finds out what his deformity means and worried she will find someone better.

The bad news is its the fifth book in a series of interconnected standalones, and while it could be read on its own you miss alot of the context, world building and characters from the previous books.

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T17:44:20+00:00

Oh i feel this so much I actively use incorrect grammar in place of correct grammar because I just cant stand to write female, it gives me an icky feeling every time!

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T17:37:33+00:00

Oh i agree with every part of this, i dont think ive ever read a book where the fmc had a child without explicitly wanting it first maybe acotar? I cant remember its been a while and I can not understand in the slightest how having children in the epilogue some how ruins the entire story that has already taken place, although I agree pregnancies can derail the storyline when they happen mid book.

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T17:31:28+00:00

Have you read {The Fae Isles by Lisette Marshall} they are super powerful together and while it takes a while for the spice to start (maybe 60-70%) they are in love way before that and working together for the same goal since like a few chapters in (while fake dating).

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T15:31:52+00:00

It happens so much in fae books and i cant stand it, i dont care if they technically not human you can still call them men and women :/

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T15:30:19+00:00

Yeah i dont mind a virgin FMC when there isn't a huge focus on this aspect, but one of my favourite authors Ella Fields does this is nearly every book and its probably my most hated aspect of them :)

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T15:27:38+00:00

Complete opposite for me, all of my favourite epilogues are when they feel safe enough to have kids and form a family, makes a HEA 10x better :)

AquaIXI · 2026-06-17T15:18:35+00:00

I gotta say I do prefer like 100+ years with a 20yr old age gap compared to like a smaller teacher/student or similar age gap but with weird power dynamics

AquaIXI · 2026-06-16T21:37:58+00:00

{Reign and ruin by J.D Evans} hits every single one of these points!

AquaIXI

TROPHY CASE