A romance retelling takes a familiar story — like a fairy tale or a Greek myth — and reimagines it as a romance novel. Retellings are one of my favorite styles of romance. There is something that’s just so much fun about taking a story we’ve all heard a million times and making the characters fall in love in all new sexy sort of ways.
These books are fun, often rather campy pieces of escapism that I can’t get enough of. As always these are just my opinions, always check trigger warnings, and if you are under 18 do not continue reading.
The Dark Olympus Series by Katee Robert
The Dark Olympus Series is a series of interconnected standalones, where a different love story features in each book, but they all exist in the same universe with some overlapping characters. The books are Greek myth retellings, set in a contemporary world.
Neon Gods, the first in the series, was a TikTok sensation, but the series only gets stronger (so far) as the books go on. The latest, Midnight Ruin, will be followed by at least two more in the series.
Thus far, my favorite in the series is Wicked Beauty, which retells the story of Achilles and Patroclus, with the addition of Helen of Troy. After Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, I will read or watch any single story that retells any aspect of the story of the Trojan War, even if it only is reimagined characters in a modern world.
Spice: 4
Writing: 4
The Wicked Villains Series by Katee Robert
Also from Katee Robert — the gift to the romance novel world that just keeps on giving— comes a series of interconnected standalones, turning all your favorite Disney villains into kinky romance antiheroes. These books exist in a contemporary but fictional city ruled by powerful gangs, with all the suspense that comes with warring factions. And the only neutral zone is a sex club run by Hades.
The Wicked Villains series is such an imaginative set of retellings, each of them a short and spicy read that will keep you turning pages. My personal favorite in the series is The Beast, an MMF romance where Beast and Gaston battle for Belle’s affections, and each other’s. If you like a polyamorous romance, Katee Robert is your person.
Spice: 4.5
Writing: 4
Hades x Persephone Saga by Scarlett St. Clair
The Hades x Persephone Saga is a Greek myth retelling where Hades and Persephone are gods in a contemporary world. Persephone is just trying to live a normal life, and her mother Demeter forces her to go to great lengths to keep her status as a goddess hidden, for her own safety. Then, on a night out, she meets Hades and finds herself making a deal with the god of the underworld.
There are some definite Mother Gothel vibes in these books, and Hades is an amazing male main character for the way he helps Persephone find her own power in the face of continuing struggle. There are seven books in the series, alternating between Persephone’s and Hades’ points of view. The series is ongoing and the final installment is set to be released on March 12, 2024.
Spice: 3
Writing: 3
A Kinda Fairytale Series by Cassandra Gannon
If you are looking for a series that’s super fun, very fast-paced, and easy to read, look no further. This series of interconnected standalones does what’s most entertaining about all these retellings and turns familiar stories right on their heads. The Kinda Fairytale series takes famous fairytales in a fictional fantasy world and makes Cinderella the villain and the Big Bad Wolf an anti-hero. It’s a topsy-turvy adventure.
In the Kinda Fairytale world, there is Good and there is Bad. It’s something the characters are born with, and the entire society is structured around it, with Good at the top, of course. But is Good always actually good? There are some underlying social justice themes in these books about prisons, equality, and what things like good and bad really mean. But while those themes are present, these books don’t take themselves too seriously.
There is absolutely hilarious banter between the love interests, and strong female characters that are incredible, smart, and take no shit. This self-published series has very inventive concept and is not super spicy (unless you count this one bit in the first book in which Cinderella is into some very freaky shit, but since it’s not an interaction between main love interests I don’t count it). In the first book, there are two relatively tame spicy scenes, but most of the rest of it is just fun and banter and true love. My favorite in the series is Beast in Shining Armor, which is unsurprising. Beauty and the Beast was always this bookish girl’s favorite.
Spice: 2
Writing: 3
The New Camelot Series by Sierra Simone
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