What are the best bittersweet ending books?

Some of the best bittersweet ending books include Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan, The Midnight Star by Marie Lu, Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow, The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles, Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff. You can browse the full list on MoodReads, filtered by spice level, content warnings, and more.

What is bittersweet ending in romance?

bittersweet ending is the type of romantic ending a book has—whether the couple gets a Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happy For Now (HFN). MoodReads lets you browse books by this category with detailed metadata including spice levels, tropes, and content warnings.

bittersweet ending Books

230 romantasy books with this ending type

Completed series only

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showing 60 of 230 books

Heart of the Sun Warrior

The Celestial Kingdom, #2

Sue Lynn Tan

🥛·first person·✓

love triangleforbidden loveenemies to lovers

The Midnight Star

The Young Elites, #3

Marie Lu

🥛

beauty and the beastredemption through loveseeing past the monster

Working for the Devil

Dante Valentine, #1

Lilith Saintcrow

🌶️·first person·✓

badass heroineforced proximityhuman/demon

The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal

K.J. Charles

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·epistolary / mixed media

secret relationshipforbidden loveslow burn

Empire of the Dawn

Empire of the Vampire, #3

Jay Kristoff

🌶️🌶️🌶️·epistolary / mixed media

vampire romanceforbidden loveforced proximity

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

Roshani Chokshi

🥛·dual POV

forbidden lovehidden past revealedarranged marriage

Bookshops and Bonedust

Travis Baldree

🥛·third person

summer flingopposites attractsapphic romance

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah

🌶️🌶️·third person

survival romanceforbidden lovechildhood sweethearts reunited

To Poison a King

Heirs of Isla, #1

S.G. Prince

🌶️·first person

enemies to loversslow burnforced proximity

The Isle in the Silver Sea

Tasha Suri

🌶️🌶️🌶️·dual POV

cursed love interestsoulmate/destined bondblood feud romance

Gate to Kagoshima

Ancestor Memories, #1

Poppy Kuroki

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

blood feud romanceright person wrong timesecret relationship

The Book Eaters

Sunyi Dean

🥛·third person

forbidden lovequeer awakening

The Huntress

Kate Quinn

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·multi-POV

misunderstandingsecond chancesurvival romance

One for My Enemy

Olivie Blake

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·multi-POV

second chance

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Bryn Greenwood

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·multi-POV

caretaking romancerescue romancesecret relationship

Take Me With You

Nina G. Jones

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·dual POV

captive romancedark romancevillain gets the girl

Harem

Colin Falconer

🌶️·third person

captive romance

A Witch in Time

Constance Sayers

🌶️🌶️·multi-POV

reincarnation romancetime travel romancecursed love interest

We Were Men Once

Malediction's Embrace, #1

Candice Morris

🌶️🌶️🌶️·multi-POV

amnesiasacrifice/martyrdomadventure romance

The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)

Sinners of New Orleans, #1

Carissa Broadbent

🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

mafia romanceblood feud romancegames/trials romance

The Sovereign

Magic of the Lost, #3

C.L. Clark

🌶️🌶️🌶️·multi-POV·✓

enemies to loversforbidden loveslow burn

Providence Girls

Morgan Dante

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·epistolary / mixed media

monster romanceforbidden lovehurt/comfort

The Witch's Heart

Genevieve Gornichec

🌶️·third person

enemies to lovers (sort of)second chance loveforbidden love

The Changeling Queen

Kimberly Bea

🌶️🌶️🌶️·third person

fae romancefairytale retellingforbidden love

Among the Burning Flowers

The Roots of Chaos, #0.2

Samantha Shannon

🥛·multi-POV

arranged marriageforbidden loveslow burn

The Haunting of William Thorn

Ben Alderson

🌶️·dual POV

forced proximityforbidden lovehidden identity

This Hunger of Ours

T. Pyre

🌶️🌶️·third person

beauty and the beastfairytale retellingforbidden love

Scorched Earth

Dark Shores, #4

Danielle L. Jensen

🌶️🌶️·multi-POV·✓

forbidden loveenemies to loverssurvival romance

The Despicable Duke Settles His Affairs

Miori Kayamoto

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

forbidden lovebodyguard/protection detailreincarnation romance

Marly's Ghost

David Levithan

🌶️·third person

fairytale retellingholiday romancetime travel romance

Atalanta

Jennifer Saint

🌶️·third person

fairytale retellingadventure romance

The Unmaking of June Farrow

Adrienne Young

🌶️·first person

hidden past revealedright person wrong timesecret relationship

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

🥛·first person

N/A

High Voltage

Fever, #10

Karen Marie Moning

🌶️🌶️🌶️·dual POV·✓

captive romancedark romanceforced proximity

Not Today, But Someday

Emi Lost & Found, #0.5

Lori L. Otto

🌶️·first person·✓

first lovehigh school romancesummer fling

Heartless

Marissa Meyer

🌶️·third person

fairytale retellingsecret relationshipblood feud romance

Redemption

The Alterran Legacy, #1

Regina M. Joseph

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·third person

bet/wager romanceroad trip romancevillain gets the girl

It Ends with Us

It Ends with Us, #1

Colleen Hoover

🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

love trianglesecond chancehurt/comfort

Leaves May Fall

Leaves May Fall, #1

Carissa Hardcastle

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·multi-POV

forbidden loveslow burnfound family

An Arrow to the Moon

Emily X.R. Pan

🌶️·third person

fairytale retellingblood feud romancesecret relationship

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

🥛·dual POV

star-crossed loverssurvival romance

Sunrise on the Reaping

The Hunger Games, #0.5

Suzanne Collins

🥛·first person

survival romanceforbidden lovegames/trials romance

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter, #6

J.K. Rowling

🥛·third person

friends to loversslow burnlove triangle

Me Before You

Me Before You, #1

Jojo Moyes

🌶️·first person

caretaking romance

The Curse of the Cole Women

Marielle Thompson

🌶️·multi-POV·✓

forbidden lovegenerational cursestar-crossed lovers

What Monstrous Gods

Rosamund Hodge

🌶️·third person

fairytale retellingcursed love interestsoulmate/destined bond

The First King

The Selene Trilogy, #3

Shameez Patel Papathanasiou

🌶️·third person

survival romanceadventure romance

Ledge (The Glacian Trilogy, #1)

The Glacian Trilogy, #1

Megan Haskell

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

captive romanceforced proximitysurvival romance

The Poisons We Drink

Bethany Baptiste

🌶️·first person

dark romancerevenge romanceblood feud romance

The Assassin's Blade

Throne of Glass, #0.5

Sarah J. Maas

🌶️·third person·✓

slow burntragic romance

The Godless War

Abi Welch

🌶️·third person

forced proximitysurvival romance

A Stage Set for Villains

Shannon J. Spann

🌶️🌶️·first person

dark romancehidden identitycursed love interest

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Harold Fry, #1

Rachel Joyce

🌶️·third person

second chance

Lady of Ashes (Lady of Darkness, #3)

Lady of Darkness, #3

Melissa K. Roehrich

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

dark romancefated mateshidden past revealed

Fate and Flame (Fae Rising, #3)

Fae Rising, #3

Miranda Honfleur

🌶️🌶️🌶️·first person

captive romancedark romanceforced to marry

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

🌶️·first person

marriage of conveniencehidden past revealed

Hold Back The Stars

Katie Khan

🌶️·third person

survival romanceforced proximitysecond chance

The Mists of Avalon (Avalon, #1)

Avalon (Publication Order), #1

Marion Zimmer Bradley

🌶️·third person

arranged marriagehidden past revealedsecret relationship

The Jasad Crown

The Scorched Throne, #2

Sara Hashem

🌶️🌶️·third person

blood feud romancegames/trials romancecaptive romance

Of Earthly Delights

Goldy Moldavsky

🌶️·first person

dark romancesecret relationshipblood feud romance