Turning up the heat (again)
You asked, we delivered: our spice rankings are back. When we first published A Definitive Spice Ranking of the Hottest Fantasy Romance Series, six series made the cut: Shades of Magic, Throne of Glass, All Souls, Outlander, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Blood and Ash. A lot of new books have landed on readers' nightstands since then, so here are fifteen more of the most talked-about romance reads, from swoony slow burns to series that should come with a fire extinguisher.
Whether you're picking your next read, choosing a book club title, or buying for someone whose comfort zone you'd rather not guess at, here's how our scale works:
- 0/5 – Sweet: Longing looks, maybe a kiss. Safe for any reader.
- 1/5 – Warm: Real romantic tension, closed doors or fade-to-black.
- 2/5 – Simmering: A few on-page moments, kept brief and soft-focus.
- 3/5 – Steamy: Open-door scenes with some detail, still plot-first.
- 4/5 – Hot: Frequent, detailed love scenes woven through the story.
- 5/5 – Scorching: Explicit, plentiful, and absolutely the point.
The 2026 spice rankings, from sweet to spiciest
Sweet: 0/5
Caraval & Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
Spice: 0/5 · Series status: Complete
A magical game, a mysterious stranger, and a Prince of Hearts whose kiss can kill. Garber writes swoon, not steam: plenty of charged kisses, nothing more, and a perfect pick for younger readers.
Warm: 1/5
Secret Shanghai by Chloe Gong
Spice: 1/5 · Series status: Complete
A girl who cannot die and a playboy agent go undercover as a married couple in 1930s Shanghai. Fake dating, real feelings, and only the softest heat.
The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
Spice: 1/5 · Series status: Complete
Victorian London, clockwork monsters, and the most famous love triangle in Shadowhunter history. Tessa, Will, and Jem will break your heart long before they raise the temperature, with just one tasteful scene in the final book.
Simmering: 2/5
Book Lovers: Deluxe Edition by Emily Henry
Spice: 2/5 · Series status: Standalone
A cutthroat literary agent spends a summer in a tiny North Carolina town and keeps running into the brooding editor she can't stand. The banter does most of the heavy lifting, with a couple of brief open-door scenes.
Steamy: 3/5
Green Creek Series by TJ Klune
Spice: 3/5 · Series status: Complete
Werewolf packs, found family, and a love story that will wreck you in the best way. Klune's open-door scenes are tender and emotional rather than graphic.
Ali Hazelwood's STEMinist Romances by Ali Hazelwood
Spice: 3/5 · Series status: Standalones
No dragons here, just fake-dating PhD candidates, grumpy professors, and more chemistry than a lab. Starting with The Love Hypothesis, Hazelwood pairs laugh-out-loud banter with a few genuinely steamy scenes per book.
Crowns of Nyaxia by Carissa Broadbent
Spice: 3/5 · Series status: Ongoing
A human raised by the vampire king enters a deadly tournament and forms a dangerous alliance with a rival she should be trying to kill. The tension simmers through most of The Serpent and the Wings of Night before boiling over, and the heat rises as the series goes on.
Hot: 4/5
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Spice: 4/5 · Series status: Ongoing
Dragons, a deadly war college, and Xaden Riorson. Violet's survival story comes with detailed scenes that made BookTok collectively fan itself.
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
Spice: 4/5 · Series status: Ongoing
A thief from a desert city stumbles through a portal into a frozen fae realm, straight into the path of a brooding warrior called Kingfisher. The burn is slow, but once it catches, it does not hold back.
The Plated Prisoner by Raven Kennedy
Spice: 4/5 · Series status: Complete
A dark retelling of the King Midas myth, told by the gold-touched favored he keeps in a gilded cage. Book one is a slow burn, but the later books more than earn this spot.
Twisted Series by Ana Huang
Spice: 4/5 · Series status: Complete
Four standalone romances and four very morally gray men, starting with Twisted Love. No magic required: the scenes are frequent, detailed, and a big part of why BookTok can't stop talking about them.
Chestnut Springs by Elsie Silver
Spice: 4/5 · Series status: Complete
Trade the dragons for cowboys. This small-town series follows the Eaton brothers and the women who knock them off balance, starting with Flawless, and the heat is as reliable as the banter.
Scorching: 5/5
Hades x Persephone Saga by Scarlett St. Clair
Spice: 5/5 · Series status: Complete
The Goddess of Spring strikes a bargain with the God of the Dead, and the Underworld has never been hotter. Seven books of explicit, frequent, deliciously dark romance.
Neon Gods by Katee Robert
Spice: 5/5 · Series status: 10 books, each a new couple
Another Hades and Persephone retelling, this time in a glittering modern city run by power players named for the gods. The first in the Dark Olympus series is explicit from start to finish and makes no apologies for it.
The spiciest romantasy series of 2026
And the crown for the spiciest series on this year's list goes to...
Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas
Spice: maxed-out 5/5 · Series status: Ongoing
The first in the Villains of Lore series drops a mortal heroine into a world of brutal demigods, Greek myth, and very morally gray men. Dark, intense, and absolutely dripping with spice.
2026 spice ratings at a glance
| Set | Author | Spice | Series status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caraval & Once Upon a Broken Heart | Stephanie Garber | 0/5 | Complete |
| Secret Shanghai | Chloe Gong | 1/5 | Complete |
| The Infernal Devices | Cassandra Clare | 1/5 | Complete |
| Book Lovers | Emily Henry | 2/5 | Standalone |
| Green Creek | TJ Klune | 3/5 | Complete |
| STEMinist Romances | Ali Hazelwood | 3/5 | Standalones |
| Crowns of Nyaxia | Carissa Broadbent | 3/5 | Ongoing |
| Fourth Wing | Rebecca Yarros | 4/5 | Ongoing |
| Quicksilver | Callie Hart | 4/5 | Ongoing |
| The Plated Prisoner | Raven Kennedy | 4/5 | Complete |
| Twisted | Ana Huang | 4/5 | Complete |
| Chestnut Springs | Elsie Silver | 4/5 | Complete |
| Hades x Persephone Saga | Scarlett St. Clair | 5/5 | Complete |
| Neon Gods | Katee Robert | 5/5 | 10 books, each a new couple |
| Blood of Hercules | Jasmine Mas | 5/5 (spiciest) | Ongoing |
Find your heat level
Whatever your spice tolerance, there's a series here with your name on it. Start sweet and work your way up, or jump straight into the deep end. We won't judge.
Phew... is it getting hot in here, or is it just our bookshelves?