Incredible New Release Fantasy Books in December 2023!
*This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
Best new release fantasy books in December 2023!
We’re wrapping up the end of 2023 with some amazing fantasy reads! Now is the time to stock up on new books to read over the holidays, or try to cram as many books as you can into December to meet your reading challenge for the year.
Happy reading!
December 1st
1.Spells & Sourdough (Manhattan Magic #2) by Scott Walker
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Fantasy | Urban Fantasy | Christmas
The fae are coming for Melina Morgan. They didn’t count on her sourdough bread.
Days ago, I encountered a dwarf, a farrow, and a bunch of boggarts. And, no, that’s not the setup for a joke. It’s the beginning of the end to my sleepy, boring - but safe - life in tiny Cold Creek, N.C.
After spending decades trying to avoid the fae, I’m about to cross paths with them. A LOT of them.
More troubling, I’m beginning to suspect a lot of what my mom taught me about the fae isn’t true. Worst of all? I’m super behind on my holiday shopping.
So much for a quiet little Christmas at home...
Read Book #1- Dwarves & Daisies
December 5th
2. This Cursed Light (The Last Finestra #2) by Emily Thiede
Fantasy | Young Adult | Fantasy Romance | High Fantasy
When the gods make the rules, the players must choose: Sacrifice their love to save the world, or choose love and let it burn?
Six months after saving their island from destruction and almost losing Dante, Alessa is ready to live happily ever after with her former bodyguard. But Dante can't rest, haunted by a conviction that the gods aren't finished with them yet. And without his powers, the next kiss from Alessa could kill him.
Desperate for answers, Dante enlists Alessa and their friends to find the exiled ghiotte in hopes of restoring his powers and combining forces with them to create the only army powerful enough to save them all. But Alessa is hiding a deadly consequence of their last fight--a growing darkness that's consuming her mind--and their destination holds more dangers than anyone bargained for. In the mysterious city of the banished, Dante will uncover secrets, lies, and ghosts from his past that force him to ask himself: Which side is he on?
When the gods reveal their final test, Dante and Alessa will be the world's last defense. But if they are the keys to saving the world, will their love be the price of victory?
In This Cursed Light, Dante and Alessa face their most daunting challenge yet when the Gods demand they prove their worth by choosing the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity, once and for all.
Read Book #1- This Vicious Grace
3. All the Hidden Paths (The Tithenai Chronicles #2) by Foz Meadows
Fantasy | Adult | Romance | LGBT | High Fantasy
The follow-up to Foz Meadows's A Strange and Stubborn Endurance , a sultry political & romantic fantasy exploring gender, sexuality, identity, and self-worth.
With the plot against them foiled and the city of Qi-Katai in safe hands, Velasin and Caethari have begun to test the waters of their relationship. But the wider political ramifications of their marriage are still playing out across two nations, and all too soon, they’re summoned north to Tithena’s capital city, Qi-Xihan, to present themselves to its monarch.
With Caethari newly invested as his grandmother’s heir and Velasin’s old ghosts gnawing at his heels, what little peace they’ve managed to find is swiftly put to the test. Cae’s recent losses have left him racked with grief and guilt, while Vel struggles with the disconnect between instincts that have kept him safe in secrecy and what an open life requires of him now.
Pursued by unknown assailants and with Qi-Xihan’s court factions jockeying for power, Vel and Cae must use all the skills at their disposal to not only survive, but thrive – because there’s more than one way to end an alliance, and more than one person who wants to see them fail.
Read Book #1- A Strange and Stubborn Endurance
4. Sky of Thorns (Vandeleur Trilogy #1) by Fleur DeVillainy
Fantasy | Adult | Fantasy Romance | Adventure
The people of Kallistar believed the land was in peace… but darkness stirs in the North…
On the eve of the autumn equinox, unicorn shifter Sybil Vandeleur is kidnapped and stolen away to the Kingdom of Shadowvale, charged with treason against the crown. Only, she has never committed any crimes.
Aramis Adrastos, crown prince of Shadowvale, is told otherwise. Tasked by his father to capture the leader of a rebel group, he corners the woman planning to infiltrate the palace and take down the kingdom from the inside. But as soon as he lays eyes on her, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. She incites his anger, fills him with longing, and makes him question everything he believes in. Her very presence tempts him to betrayal. Chained in a dungeon, at the mercy of an evil queen, Sybil’s only hope for salvation lies with the prince who was raised to loathe her, just for being a shifter.
In a world strained from rebellion and rife with injustice, two adversaries fight to overcome their prejudices and face the true enemy before them.
From author Fleur DeVillainy, comes a captivating, magical book that blends romance and adventure into a tantalizing read.
5. The Ruined (The Beautiful #4) by Renée Ahdieh
Fantasy | Young Adult | Historical Fiction | Vampire | Paranormal
The Sylvan Vale and the Sylvan Wyld are at war. Now that the unsteady truce between them has been broken, lines must be drawn. In an effort to protect the weakened Winter Court, Bastien rallies powerful allies and friends in New Orleans to come to their aid.
Meanwhile, under protection alongside her injured mother in the Summer Court, Celine is uncertain of whom to trust. She cannot get word to Bastien, and does not understand why he has not returned. When she realizes war between the fey courts is imminent, she journeys with Ali in an effort to find the time traveling mirror and change their fate.
But when Celine's rivals realize Bastien has rallied his allies in the mortal world, they decide to take the fight to him.
Read Book #1- The Beautiful
6. A River of Golden Bones (The Golden Court #1) by A.K. Mulford
Fantasy | Adult | Fantasy Romance | LGBT | High Fantasy
A sleeping curse. A fallen court. A secret twin.
Twins Calla and Briar have spent their entire lives hiding from the powerful sorceress who destroyed their kingdom…and from the humans who don’t know they are Wolves. Each twin has their own purpose in life: Briar’s is to marry the prince of an ally pack and save the Golden Court. Calla’s purpose is to remain a secret, her twin’s shadow . . . the backup plan.
No one knows who Calla truly is except for her childhood friend—and sister’s betrothed—the distractingly handsome Prince Grae. But when Calla and Briar journey out of hiding for Briar’s wedding, all of their well-made plans go awry. The evil sorceress is back with another sleeping curse for the last heir to the Golden Court.
Calla must step out of the shadows to save their sister, their kingdom, and their own legacy. Continuing to hide as a human and denying who she truly is, Calla embarks on a quest across the realm, discovering a whole world she never knew existed. Outside the confines of rigid Wolf society, Calla begins to wonder: who could she be if she dared to try?
Full of adventure, love, gender exploration, and self-discovery, A River of Golden Bones follows Calla’s journey through treacherous Wolf kingdoms, monster-filled realms, and the depths of their own heart in this thrilling romantic fantasy.
7. This Spells Love by Kate Robb
Romance | Adult | Fantasy | Contemporary Romance | Paranormal
A spell for you to forget your ex, but what else might you lose?
Reeling from a recent breakup, a young woman tries to heal heartbreak with a spell--only to wake up in an alternate reality where she's lost more than she wished for--in this witty, whimsical friends-to-lovers debut rom-com.
"Once lovers, now enemies, soon to be strangers with some memories, this love cleanse will rid you of your woes."
When Gemma Wilde gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she reacts the way any reasonable twenty-eight-year-old would: by getting drunk with her sister, kooky aunt, and best friend, Dax, and performing a love cleansing spell to forget all about her ex. Sure, it sounds a little crazy, but nothing else has worked, so why not try it? They follow the instructions, complete with an absolutely platonic kiss from Dax to seal the deal, and Gemma falls asleep in a margarita haze, thinking nothing of it.
But when she wakes up, she realizes that this silly spell has worked. Not only has she never dated her ex; her life looks completely different --and spoiler alert, the grass is not greener in the alternate reality. The worst part of all: Dax has no idea who she is.
To get back to her old life, Gemma must reverse the spell before the next full moon. That means she has one month to convince a now near-stranger, Dax, to become friends with her in order to get his kiss. But as Gemma carries out her plans, she finds herself falling for him, and begins to wonder whether she even wants to go back to the way things were...
8. Forged by Malice (Beasts of the Briar #3) by Elizabeth Helen
Fantasy | Adult | Fantasy Romance | Fae | Steamy Beauty and the Beast Retelling
I’ve found a new home and fallen in love with four cursed fae princes. But everything could be taken from me in an instant. If I’m to save the Enchanted Vale and the High Princes, this rose is going to need to grow thorns.
Being a part of the fae is wonderful. Except that the enchanted castle I live in is falling apart, one of my mates wants to give up his magic for good, the other one seems to be hiding something from me, and the two cursed fae princes I’m in love with still need to find their actual mates. Oh, and the villainous Prince of Thorns keeps trying to kiss me. And I kind of want him to.
When whispers of war spread from the Spring Realm, we find ourselves on a knife’s edge, trying to prevent a betrayal that could tear the realms—and my princes—apart. A vicious enemy from the Below will stop at nothing to kill me and claim Spring for herself. And Ezryn’s own brother has turned against him, claiming the Spring throne for himself. Allies become enemies, and enemies become allies.
Now, more than ever, I’ll need to light a way for my princes and help Ezryn, the High Prince of Spring, take back his throne. I won’t let him lose himself to the darkness… unless I lose myself first.
Read Book #1- Bonded by Thorns
December 7th
9. Gold (The Plated Prisoner #5) by Raven Kennedy
Fantasy | New Adult | Fantasy Romance | Fae | Mythology Retelling
"Find me in another life. Find me in them all."
Every end is also a beginning.
I thought I was going to die, and would have if it weren’t for Slade. The only way he could save me was to open a rip between worlds. The only way for me to save myself was to go through it. Sometimes, fleeing one dangerous place just brings you to another.
Annwyn.
The realm of the fae. There is magic and beauty here, though around every corner, threats lurk. But I’m a threat too.
I’m not a girl in a gilded cage anymore, and no one is going to stop me from finding my way back to Slade. But returning home means facing danger and secrets. So I have to burn bright enough to light my own way…
Or else I might be swallowed by the dark.
Read Book #1- Gild
December 23rd
10. A Serenade to the Elf Queen by Niro J. Hayle
Fantasy | Adult | Fantasy Romance | Fae | Beauty and the Beast Retelling
The Elven Queen of Aelfheim, Rhianelle Wiolant grew up with tales of the cruel Fae King all her life. When the wicked fae murdered her beloved sister, she swore fire and death would come for him. Caught between a divided court, the threat of war and her kingdom in peril, the Elven Queen has little chance of avenging her sister. But a song calls for Rhianelle to leave the safety of the tall walls of Aelfheim. It lead her to an abandoned well, where her only hope lies. A creature of night chained in the dark, forgotten by time. The beast that haunt her nightmares. A bloodthirsty immortal Vampire. A Serenade to the Elf Queen is a Fantasy Romance trilogy featuring elements of Enemies to Lovers, Arranged Marriage, and a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The book has strong language and scenes intended for mature audience. Note : This is a temporary cover and the release date will be moved earlier than the stated pre-order date.
December 26th
11. Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2) by Rebecca Ross
Fantasy | Young Adult | Historical Fiction | Fantasy Romance
The epic conclusion to the intensely romantic and beautifully written story that started in Divine Rivals.
Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.
Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.
Read Book #1- Divine Rivals
12. Lucero (A Forgery of Magic #3) by Maya Motayne
Fantasy | Young Adult | Romance | High Fantasy
In the aftermath of Sombra’s return, the balance between light and dark magic has been destroyed and chaos has broken out in Castallan and around the world. Sombra’s shadows have taken over to create monstrous versions of everyone Finn and Alfie love, and with war between Castallan and Englass looming, the prince and the thief must band together one last time—to save their entire world.
To stop the magical imbalance, they must find the stone relics of Sombra’s body before the god can unite the pieces and regain his full strengthonce more.
But the laws of magic no longer apply, and with their own magic—and even the laws of time itself—drastically changing at every turn, Finn and Alfie are left on their own to stop Sombra and fulfill their prophecy before it is too late and the darkness reigns.
Will they restore balance to their world or will its light be gone forever?
Read Book #1- Nocturna
December 28th
13. Captive (The Shadow Atlas #3) by Jenny Sandiford
Fantasy | New Adult | Urban Fantasy | Magic | Gods & Goddesses
Beyond the Mortal Realm, Fate Awaits
As the world descends into chaos, Azalea and Torin's lives depend on keeping their bond and newfound abilities under wraps. But being trapped at Blackbourne Manor with powerful mages and inquisitive friends and family isn’t helping.
Desperate to restore the balance of magic, their only hope lies in the mysterious Echo Dimension and its ancient gods. Or so they think.
When Azalea uncovers the long-lost Shadow Dimension gateway, she must make a choice. Follow Torin and Fabian on their quest for divine aid or take the darker path to strike a deal with the devil herself.
As magic's fate hangs in balance, can they trust these dangerous gods and make it back alive?
Read Book #1- Initiate
Make sure you add the ones you like to your TBR pile! Which ones do you like the look of? Let me know in the comments☺️
