6 Mythology-Themed Romances You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Bramble, a romantic imprint of Tor Publishing Group

At Beecher University, Jocasta has finally found her home with good friends, great classes, even a messy situationship with her former TA—a normal life. Well, as normal a life as the only child of Death can have. Jo has never embraced her father’s legacy. Instead of feeding on lives, she feeds on her classmates’ disappointments, failures, and rejections. Which is going great, until Death decides to name her as his successor, making her both a powerful ally and a massive target. But Jo will do anything to protect the people she loves and the life she’s worked so hard for…even if that means becoming a monster.

The Legend of Meneka by Kritika H. Rao

We’re kicking things off with a story about Hindu mythology! In The Legend of Meneka, we follow the titular celestial dancer. But that’s not all Meneka is. Trained as a warrior, the king of heaven constantly uses her for political gain. Her latest mission? To seduce a mortal sage whose powers are growing with each passing day. If she succeeds, the king will allow her to skip future missions. But Kaushika is not what she imagined, and she starts to fall for him. Will Meneka choose her duty, or her heart? You’ll have to read it to find out!

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Now we’re exploring Chinese mythology with Sue Lynn Tan’s Daughter of the Moon Goddess! This novel is the most popular book on this list. The story follows Xingyin, whose mother is hiding her from the Celestial Emperor. Except her powers keep growing stronger, and so when she is discovered, she has to flee her home. After she escapes, Xingyin winds up in the worst possible place: the Celestial Emperor’s household. Her identity is still a secret, but she quickly becomes friends (and maybe something more?) with the emperor’s son. Years later, she is still intent on saving her mother from her curse, so she challenges the emperor and strikes a bargain with him that could lead her to lose everything. 

Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui

Next, Aicha is one of the few books I’ve seen that involves Moroccan mythology! It’s not as romantic as some of the other books on this list, but her love story is definitely important to the overall plot. Aicha is the daughter of a freedom fighter. She has witnessed so much violence, which fuels her anger and her desire for revenge on the Portuguese empire. Only her sacred lover, Rachid, can calm her, and even he may not be enough when the conflict reaches its violent climax. Because something hungry lurks under Aicha’s skin, and it won’t be ignored.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Moving on to the only YA novel on this list. I couldn’t not include it, since its treatment of Korean mythology is incredibly fun and it’s such a sweet and cozy read! The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea tells the story of Mina. She lives in a town in which every year, a girl is sacrificed to the Sea God. This year, that girl is meant to be Shim Cheong, her brother’s beloved. Mina will do anything to help Joon, so she takes Shim Cheong’s place—only to enter the Spirit Realm to find the Sea God in an enchanted sleep. So, Mina decides to team up with a mysterious man named Shin on a quest to wake up the Sea God and save her town in the process. 

The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis

The story of Psyche and Eros is one of the greatest love stories in Greek mythology, and De Robertis does a wonderful job of reimagining it with queer rep! The Palace of Eros follows a beautiful, young woman who longs to escape the expectations of the men around her. Psyche is so beautiful, in fact, that Aphrodite despises her. To appease the goddess, Psyche’s father ties her to a rock and offers her up to a monster. But instead, the nonbinary deity of desire Eros shows up and takes Psyche to a place hidden from the outside world. There, the two quickly fall in love. Even though Psyche can’t see Eros’s arrival. Even though Eros leaves before light can reveal Eros’s identity. If you’re already familiar with this story, then you know Psyche devises a plan to uncover her lover’s identity—and the consequences of this are bigger than she ever imagined.

Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola

Last but not least, I thought I’d close this list with a short story collection that involves different mythologies from around the world! Love in Colour uses myths from West Africa, the Middle East, and even Greece to decolonize some of our favorite love stories. From Nefertiti to Scheherazade and Yaa, Babalola gifts us with 13 romance stories that are compelling and thought-provoking but also joyous and hopeful. And the best thing? This book by itself has plenty of mythology-themed romances you can read— all wrapped up into a single volume. So if you don’t know where to start with the longer novels, this is a great place to dip your toes into these kinds of stories!