Searches for polyamorous romantasy novels are frequently overwhelmed by erotica and unhealthy harem stories. To help with that, I’m starting a series on polyamorous romantasies I’ve enjoyed. If you have any recommendations, please feel free to contact me on one of the social links over in the sidebar or by commenting here. (Note: I prefer closed door sex over explicit scenes, but can handle a little bit of graphic detail provided it isn’t one of the primary focuses of the work.)
First up, I’d like to present an adorably sweet pair of triad romances by L. Rowyn. These books are set in the same fantasy world and there are characters who appear in both. They stand alone, but I recommend you read them in order. (Although if you’re only going to read one of them, I actually preferred the second.)
Both books feature positive pan/bisexual representation, respectfully handled neurodiversity, and trans-positive messaging. Their themes are about being true to oneself, helping others be true to themselves, and the importance of respect and communication with those you love.
They both contain brief sex scenes, but are for the most part sweet romances.
The Princess, Her Dragon, and Their Prince starts out with a bang as a princess must help her people flee a dragon who has decided to conquer her kingdom. No, not the dragon from the title. That dragon has been peacefully living in the woods outside the castle for some time now and is madly in love with the princess, whom she helps escape.
This princess isn’t the type to hide in a tower and wait for her fate. Seeing a chance to gain parental approval to marry her girlfriend, she talks her parents into offering her hand in marriage to whomever slays the usurper and sets about planning to make sure it’s her beloved who manages it. There’s a slight complication, though: they need help from a childhood friend who would very much like to claim that prize himself. Lucky for the three of them, this isn’t the kind of romantic triangle where one person gets left sad and lonely, but getting to a happy ending involves overcoming a lot of assumptions, expressing a ton of honesty, and summoning no small amount of bravery.
(Note: The Mortal Prince and the Moon Etherium is a prequel novelette of 15,000 words about the prince’s journey to affirming his gender identity. It adds depth to his backstory but isn’t required to understand his character.)
The Lord, His Monster, and Their Lady takes place after the events of the first book and follows a minor character from that one. This is a book for anyone who ever read a Regency Gothic novel and thought it would be better with polyamory, magic, and queerness. When a sweet young noblewoman from a disgraced house marries a lord who’s haunted by his past, she’s instantly drawn into a number of mysteries. First and foremost, what happened to his previous wife? Is it related to whatever he gets up to in the part of the house neither she nor the servants are allowed to enter? And what is the deal with the intense, and extremely attractive, antlered man who was once his friend?
L. Rowyn has written other polyamorous stories that I’ll talk about later, but if you want to learn more about them or their author, you can check out her website at https://ladyrowyn.com/.
