Fantasy romance is a genre that the Hallmark channel rarely touches, except for the occasional time travel movie and movies featuring the North Pole. But there’s a whole world of fantasy romance books that Hallmark fans might enjoy. But is the five-book “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series by Sarah J. Maas one of them?
‘A Court of Thorns & Roses’ Might Have Too Much Spice for Some Hallmark Readers
The answer really depends on the Hallmark viewers’ preferences. “A Court of Thorns & Roses” is the first book in a five-book series (though one is technically a novella.) The books are:
- A Court of Thorns and Roses
- A Court of Mist and Fury (my personal favorite in the series)
- A Court of Wings and Ruin
- A Court of Frost and Starlight (more like a novella)
- A Court of Silver Flames
The books’ description reads: “Feyre is a huntress. The skin of a wolf would bring enough gold to feed her sisters for a month. But the life of a magical creature comes at a steep price, and Feyre has just killed the wrong wolf … Follow Feyre’s journey into the dangerous, alluring world of the Fae, where she will lose her heart, face her demons, and learn what she is truly capable of.”
The books create a compelling story with beautiful world-building and characters that feel quite authentic. The romance is also quite compelling to read (just know that if you don’t like the first book, the second book makes up for a lot of flaws that were in the first. I can’t write more else I’d be straying into spoiler territory.)
But whether a Hallmark fan will like it really depends on their preferences. This is not a family-friendly series of books. If a TV series was made straight from the pages of the books, there would be quite a few scenes that your young children most definitely couldn’t watch. This is what readers refer to as a “spicier” series of books, in that there are a number of explicit sex scenes. And while these scenes are great for character development, they might be off-putting to some Hallmark readers.
If you don’t mind any of that (or if you prefer it!) then you’re in for a treat and I highly recommend these books. But if spice isn’t what you’re looking for in your reading material, then this would be a series to skip. (I personally loved the series, because I don’t mind spice at all! But it won’t be for everyone.)
Stephanie Dwilson has been working in entertainment journalism for more than a decade. She's led teams of writers covering top TV show franchises like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, and more. She's a veteran Hallmark journalist and runs a 60,000-member Facebook group dedicated to the genre.
Stephanie is a licensed attorney and she has a master's in science in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].
