16 Must-Read Reverse Harem Series - The Literary Invertebrate

A while back, I wrote this beginner’s guide to the (then relatively new) genre of reverse harem romances, which feature a single heroine with three or more heroes. I did have a couple of recommendations in it, but the genre has absolutely exploded since then. Here are more books I’ve enjoyed.

All links are to Amazon; please note that should you purchase through my affiliate link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I’ve also written individual reviews for most of these books, which you can find by searching my blog, but a summary is in the article below.

#1. IRDESI EMPIRE SERIES BY ADDISON CAIN

#1. Sigil#2. Sovereign#3. Que (not out yet)

This sci-fi series comes from Addison Cain, the woman who popularised—or at least claims to have popularised—another romance subgenre, the omegaverse. Sigil was raised by scientists to be a biological weapon and is her species’ only female. Sovereign, the ruler of her species, is her designated Consort, but her voracious appetite means that she must also be shared with some other members of his Brotherhood. Too bad she’s a violent rebel with no intention of swearing allegiance to his Irdesi Empire. The reverse harem here is a little different, as Sovereign is definitely the central partner whereas other novels try to have some sort of equality, but it doesn’t suffer because of that.

The series is very dark but very good: Cain is a good writer. Unfortunately, she has the bad habit of beginning lots of new series without finishing old ones. Both Sigil and Sovereign came out in 2016. There’s been no word of when we can expect Que for five years. Cain also has another reverse harem series, the omegaverse horror Wren’s Song, but the series is of course also unfinished with no word on the sequel.

#2. MADISON KATE TETRALOGY BY TATE JAMES

#1. Hate#2. Liar#3. Fake #4. Kate

James is a veteran author of reverse harem romances. I’ve enjoyed her previous works, but this one is definitely one of her best. Madison Kate is an eighteen-year-old wildcard whose charmed life abruptly gets derailed when she’s framed for a crime she didn’t commit; upon returning from exile in Cambodia, she discovers that the people actually responsible are now living in her house. Her new stepbrother Archer D’Ath and his best friends Kodiak and Steele become the targets of her enraged vendetta.

The titular ‘hate’ Madison feels for them fizzles out a bit sooner than I’d have liked, and the latter two books aren’t as good, but overall this is a highly entertaining series full of OTT drama and sarcastic banter. A nice way to spend a couple of days. And the good news is, the series is done! No Addison-Cain-like frustrations here…

#3. CURSE OF THE GODS SERIES BY JANE WASHINGTON & JAYMIN EVE

#1. Trickery#2. Persuasion#3. Seduction#4. Strength#5. Pain

I have recommended this series to basically everyone I know on Goodreads, because it is the absolute gold standard of reverse harem romances. Willa is a dweller—aka human–who accidentally ends up as a servant in a school for sols, or people who are going to end up as gods. Her life is changed forever when she meets the five Abcurse brothers. Willa and the boys are hilarious, the writing is fabulous… I could go on.

#4. THE (UN)LUCKY SUCCUBUS SERIES BY L.L. FROST

This series is structured a little differently. It actually consists of over 40 books, released as a short serial every month. The first of these is here. Every so often, Frost collates them into a single larger book.

This is one my favourite reverse harem romance series. It features a succubus named Adie, who’s unusual in that she doesn’t like feeding directly from humans. So instead, she strikes a bargain with three powerful demons of destruction – Kellen, Tobias, and Emil – who need their energy drained regularly.

I’m not wild about the serialisation format, but the books are filled with humour and delightfully well-rounded characters.

#5. END OF THE WORLD DUOLOGY BY EVE DANGERFIELD

#1. Taunt#2. TBA

If I’m being totally honest, this series may well never be finished. It’s already been four years since the first book came out. But it just about works as a standalone, so I still highly recommend reading it.

Daniel Schwartz is a Jewish New Zealander whose eco-terrorist activities have got her confined to house arrest. How does she pass the time? By driving crazy the security guards hired to watch her: John, Colt, and the long-suffering Seb. Their tense interplay is complicated by the fact that the literal end of the world is fast approaching.

#6. TWISTED KINGDOM TRILOGY BY EMMY CHANDLER

#1. Dirty Lovely Broken#2. Wicked Charming Cruel#3. TBA

From almost the moment I began these books, I knew they would be some of the best reverse harem romances I’ve ever read. I wasn’t wrong. They’re dark, twisty, and emotional—but please check Goodreads for details of specific triggers.

Princess Maari is a royal daughter of Stead Delayne, which has long been at war with Stead Camden. When her brother tries to assassinate Camden’s King Jude, the international council gives her as a concubine to Jude in recompense —to also be shared with his brothers, Princes Orlann and Malach. What follows is a tale of obsession, jealousy, and self-assertion.

#7. SAVING SETORA HEPTALOGY BY RAVEN DARK & PETRA J. KNOX

#1. Stolen#2. Sanctum#3. Sedition#4. Seer#5. Solace#6. Surrender#7. Salvation

This is one of the longest series on here, but it’s a highly enjoyable ride. Setora is a Violet: a rare woman with heightened fertility, valuable in a dystopian world where the numbers of women have dwindled. Her whole life, she’s been raised to be sold into sexual slavery on her eighteenth birthday. But just before the auction she’s stolen by Steel and Pretty Boy—a pair of wild, charming bikers – and taken back to the Dark Legion, a motorcycle club. There she meets not just Pretty Boy and Steel but her other new masters, the reserved Hawk and possessive, enigmatic Sheriff.

The world-building in this series is awesome. It’s fairly dark, and there’s not much history, but it does feature an intriguing exploration of gender and power dynamics. Later in the series there’s a great depiction of a character’s blindness which I found very moving.

#8. TAKEN HOSTAGE BY KINKY BANK ROBBERS PENTALOGY BY ANNIKA MARTIN

#1. The Hostage Bargain#2. The Wrong Turn#3. The Deeper Game#4. The Most Wanted#5. The Hard Way

Melinda is a small-town farm girl who’s just out visiting the bank one day… when in burst Zeus, Thor, and Odin – three hot bank robbers whom she proceeds to help, because she hates the bank owner. Then she volunteers herself as their hostage. The adrenaline really gets her going, and soon Melinda has reinvented herself as ‘Isis’ and joined the gang. The next four books cover their wild heists, legal problems, and relationship milestones.

Isis is funny and the guys all have remarkably distinct personalities, which is always a little hard in reverse harem romance. Is it crazily unrealistic? No more so than any of the other series on this list! And it’s incredibly entertaining.

#9. RUTHLESS BOYS OF THE ZODIAC SERIES BY CAROLINE PECKHAM & SUSANNE VALENTI

#1. Dark Fae#2. Savage Fae#3. Vicious Fae#4. Broken Fae#5. Warrior Fae

Elise is a vampire whose older brother, Gareth, has just died under mysterious circumstances at a distant boarding school. (This is actually a very common trope in reverse harem romances, for some reason; I can think of at least two other books with the same plot). To solve his death, she transfers to Aurora Academy herself, where she ingratiates herself with the four likeliest suspects: a basilisk named Ryder, Dante the mafia dragon shifter, Leo the lion shifter, and a harpy named Gabriel.

The plot moves at a glacial pace. These authors, a writing duo composed of sisters, have a penchant for very long (150k+ words) books, which isn’t always the best option for sustaining tension in a murder mystery. But the writing is excellent.

#10. SLATEVIEW HIGH TRILOGY BY EVA ASHWOOD

#1. Lost Boys#2. Wild Girl#3. Mad Love

Cora has always been a sheltered rich girl. But when her father is arrested, she becomes a sheltered poor girl instead, forced to downgrade into a bad neighbourhood and transfer to a state school instead. There she meets Bishop, Kace, and Misael, three boys with the power to make or break her new life.

This was Ashwood’s debut series and I actually enjoyed it way more than anything else she’s published since. Cora has a quiet strength which meshes with her refined upbringing, but she’s idealistic rather than stupid. There’s no dumb relationship drama either.

#11. LOLA & THE MILLIONAIRES DUOLOGY BY KATHRYN MOON

#1. Part One#2. Part Two

Moon has been one of my favourite RH authors for a while now, but this series just takes that to another level. It’s an omegaverse, but FOR ONCE, the heroine isn’t a precious and protected omega: Lola is an embittered beta whose inferiority complex has sent her down some very dark paths. This duology chronicles her return to self-acceptance, accompanied by a pack of alpha/beta men – and one irrepressible, amazing omega man. Lots of M/M in this one too.

#12. SERA’S CURSE TETRALOGY BY CLARA HARTLEY

#1. Bane of Dragons#2. Curse of Dragons#3. Fall of Dragons#4. Salvation of Dragons

Sera is mostly human. Mostly being the operative word: somehow, when she touches other people, they collapse in excruciating pain. She’s been ostracised and condemned for it her whole life. Yet when she accidentally touches one of the four dragon-shifting princes of her kingdom – Rylan, Gaius, Kael, and Micah – they discover that her power doesn’t work on them. But just as Sera has found acceptance, a vengeful goddess appears to snatch it away.

Like with Eva Ashwood’s series above, for some reason I’ve never enjoyed any of this author’s other books, either. This one isn’t perfect all the way through either. Hartley puts her characters through so much crap that it got really incredibly depressing. I love the first two books, though, and the characterisation is superb.

#13. OATH FORGER QUINTOLOGY BY NIA MARS

#1. Book 1#2. Book 2#3. Book 3#4. Book 4#5. Book 5

I keep looking to see if Mars has published anything since this series, and I keep being disappointed. But this is GOOD. Ava, a planetary scavenger in a post-apocalyptic space world, is kidnapped by space pirates. She’s liberated by Koah, a ruler of one of the five intergalactic royal houses, who believes she’s the Oath Forger foretold to unite their warring houses. Ava disagrees – but she’s willing to play along to get what she wants. Not all the leaders are as accommodating as Koah, though…

Lots of snark, good prose, and great world-building too.

#14. EVELYN MAYNARD TRILOGY BY KAYDENCE SNOW

#1. Variant Lost#2. Vital Found#3. Vivid Avowed

I have… mixed feelings on this one. It’s all about Evelyn, a teenager who believes she’s a human until she ends up at the Bradford Hill Institute for training supernaturally-gifted people. There she meets Ethan, Josh, Tyler, and Alec, and realises that she’s their Vital – able to channel and amplify their powers.

Ethan, Josh, and Tyler are fine. But I really, really, really hate Alec, who is a prick to Evelyn of the first order. So the fact that she kept liking him made me really think less of her and ruined a lot of my enjoyment in the series. Nonetheless, it’s on this list for good writing and (barring Alec) being fun.

#15. THE TRUE & THE CROWN QUINTOLOGY BY MAY DAWSON

#1. One Kind of Wicked#2. Two Kinds of Damned#3. Three Kinds of Lost#4. Four Kinds of Cursed#5. Five Kinds of Love

Tera’s father was basically the Dark Lord of Avalon. When he fell, she was exiled as a child to the human realm. Now she’s back – but nobody believes that she has no intention of following in his footsteps. Least of all Cax, Airren, and Mycroft, agents of the Crown who are tasked with watching over Tera without her knowledge.

This is my favourite series by Dawson. There’s an interesting plot, polished writing, high-stakes drama and a strong heroine. What’s not to love?

#16. THE SEER TETRALOGY BY R.M. WALKER

#1. Lily#2. Denial#3. Deceptive Secrets#4. Retribution

One of my first introductions to the genre, and what a great one it was too. Lily and her mother have just moved to a small village in Cornwall; she quickly befriends Matt, Nate, and identical twins Josh and Jake, the village golden boys. Their friendship is going to be tested by the revelations of magic in her bloodline.

I haven’t done it justice in my description, but Walker is a really good writer. There’s a sense of realism to the story. You might think that’s a crazy word for me to apply to a paranormal RH book, but I do mean it: the characters are so well-fleshed out that their actions and responses feel completely believable. I can think of no higher praise.

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