9 Books to Read After Iron Flame

Welcome back, romance readers!

Are you experiencing an Iron Flame-sized hangover? The BWBH has nine books that will cure that reading slump. These 9 books are the perfect reads after reading Iron Flame.

But before getting started, this is a friendly reminder to be aware of your triggers and to check for any necessary trigger warnings associated with the titles below.

Featured Book

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Empyrean, Book Two

For readers who enjoy

• Dragons
• Dystopia
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Fantasy
• New Adult Romance

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now, the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Get your copy of Iron Flame from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

Have you read Iron Flame? Share your spoiler-free thoughts in the comments below!

Add these books like Iron Flame to your TBR!

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and C.L. Herman

All of Us Villains, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Dark Academia
• Dystopia
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• LGBTQ+ Romance
• Young Adult Fiction

The Blood Moon rises. The Blood Veil falls. The Tournament begins.

Every generation, at the coming of the Blood Moon, seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath each name a champion to compete in a tournament to the death.

The prize? Exclusive control over a secret wellspring of high magick, the most powerful resource in the world―one thought long depleted.

But this year, a scandalous tell-all book has exposed the tournament and thrust the seven new champions into the worldwide spotlight. The book also granted them valuable information previous champions never had―insight into the other families’ strategies, secrets, and weaknesses. Most importantly, it gave them a accept their fate or rewrite their legacy.

Either way, this is a story that must be penned in blood.

Get your copy of All of Us Villains from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

The Hurricane Wars, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• BIPOC authors
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Fantasy
• New Adult Romance
• Science Fiction

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire’s shadows.

Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force that has never been seen.

Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion–one that could save their world…or destroy it.

Get your copy of The Hurricane Wars from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

The Shepherd King, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Fantasy
• Horror
• New Adult Romance
• Young Adult Fiction

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life drastically turns. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception; she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together, they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

Get your copy of One Dark Window from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Fallen Gods, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Disability Representation
• Fantasy
• Found Family
• LGBTQ+ Romance
• Mythology

Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor.

Pursued by demons and in the midst of a burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning – something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.

Get your copy of Godkiller from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

A Fate of Wrath & Flame by K.A. Tucker

Fate & Flame, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Paranormal Romance
• Slow-Burn
• Urban Fantasy
• Vampires

She would know the world of vengeful gods and monsters and the lengths one would go to for love. And nothing would ever be the same for her again.

Gifted thief Romeria steals jewels under a notorious New York City crime boss. But when an enigmatic woman secures her services at swordpoint, Romeria is wrenched from this world and transported into a realm of opposing thrones, warring elven societies, and elemental magic.

Waking up in the body of a treacherous elven princess, Romeria quickly realizes she’s entangled in a deadly plot and must hide her identity at all costs – not least from the princess’s betrothed, King Zander, who detests her. Romeria is forced to play the smitten princess as the unwilling pair work together to uncover the danger surrounding them.

But with their enemies closing in – and as she fights her growing feelings for the king – it’s time for Romeria to find out who she truly is.

Get your copy of A Fate of Wrath & Flame from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Temeraire, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Dragons
• Fantasy
• Historical Fiction
• Science Fiction
• Speculative Fiction

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future – and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire; he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Get your copy of His Majesty’s Dragon from audiobooks.com or check your local library! The book is also available with the Kindle app.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Roots of Chaos, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Dragons
• Fantasy
• LGBTQ+ Romance
• Magic
• Science Fiction

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Get your copy of The Priory of the Orange Tree from Bookshop or check your local library! The book is also available with the Kindle app.

Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

The Dragon Scales Trilogy, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Dragons
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Fantasy
• LGBTQ+ Romance
• Science Fiction

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the gods remember, and they do not forgive.

Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact’s magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.

The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfill his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completely–body, mind, and soul–and then kill them.

Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

Get your copy of Dragonfall from Bookshop or check your local library! The book is also available with the Kindle app.

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

The Scorched Throne, Book One

For readers who enjoy

• Adventure
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Fantasy
• Mythology
• Slow-Burn

Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic outlawed; its royal family murdered down to the last child. At least, that’s what Sylvia wants people to believe.

The Lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia, never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.

In a moment of anger, Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.

A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.

Get your copy of The Jasad Heir from Bookshop or check your local library! The audiobook is available through audiobooks.com. The book is also available with the Kindle app.

Thirsty for more book recommendations? Check out So, You’ve Finished Fourth Wing? Seven Books for Your Inner Wingleader

What books are you reading after Iron Flame?. Comment below!

Stay spicy, 

AJ 💋