Who’s up for rebelling against society’s gender roles? Now, wait a minute, this is not a feminist movement.
But, I’m tired of seeing the same tropes with a man trying to juggle the demands of his relationships with multiple women.
Why can’t we have a woman trying to maintain her relationships with a couple of cute studs?
Oh! We already have those! In harem reverse books.
Harem reverse stories are steamy reads with a passionate, bold, and fierce woman, a lady bold enough to have more than one love interest.
Harem reverse novels include some of the most fascinating and thrilling narratives, multi-dimensional characters, stirring and compelling conversations, and plenty of steamy romance.
Sounds like something you like? Find out the best 10 reverse harem books that you can read today!
What are Reverse Harems?
The name is self-explanatory, it’s the opposite of the “normal” harem, which has one man dealing with multiple women.
So, the opposite subgenre, the reverse harem, consists of one heroine and one, two, three, or more male love interests. It’s not like she has to choose from the list of suitors by the end of the story, she can have them all!
In reverse harems, their ‘happily ever after’ may include everyone; the woman and her multiple lovers.
This unconventional happily ever after offers the writer more room to make the story richer through relationship building. The writer has to set an atmosphere where a polyandrous relationship is acceptable, so there are a lot of things the writer can tweak.
This is more of a contemporary trend as far as romance fiction sub-genres go, rising because of the changing dynamics of social relationships (especially sexual relationships).
Reverse Harem Vocabulary
The vocabulary used in the reverse harem genre has evolved, becoming more complex as the genre booms.
Fiction usually represents a portion of reality, sort of a mirror image of society in the time it’s set in.
Nowadays, relationships have become more complex and countless subtleties added to sexual partnerships. This Means in a reverse harem, the heroine typically has complicated relationships with more than two partners.
Here are some terms for these kinds of relationships:
- Polyamory: “Any of various practices involving relationships with multiple partners with the knowledge and consent of all involved.”
- Polyandry: “Polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband at a time.”
- Polyfidelity: “A form of non-monogamy, an intimate relationship structure in which all members are considered equal partners and agree to restrict sexual or romantic activity only to other members of the group.”
The History of Reverse Harems
The reverse harem genre, which has lately gained appeal in Western romance novels, has its origins in a Japanese story-based video game called Otome and anime.
Actually, the word ‘harem’ comes from the Japanese term, ハーレムもの or harumumono, which simply translates to ‘a love triangle’ or ‘polygamous type of relationship’ in which a single individual receives attention from numerous people.
Many popular Japanese shows, books, and video games such as Ouran HighSchool Host Club, include a romance between a lady and numerous men.
What Sets Reverse Harem from the Traditional Harem
The goal of an otome game (乙女ゲーム, otome gēmu), is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player character and one of several male characters.
So, the origins and contemporary western reverse harems have some things in common.
However, the happily ever after part is where the Westernized reverse harem diverges from the Japanese gyaku hāremu and otome games (and K-drama).
While Western novels usually let the woman keep her multiple men, Japanese gyaku hāremu has a couple of men vying for the attention of the female protagonist—and each man might get their chance for a while—but the lady picks one love interest at the end.
The early adaptations of the Japanese anime-style reverse harem to western romance fiction can easily be traced to the 2000s or early 2010s.
And while the western version of reverse harems became popular in the mid-2010s, the Japanese gyaku hāremu has enjoyed readers for over 30 years.
There are also a few other core themes in reverse harems that are different from themes in the traditional harem, and contemporary harems are also more liberal.
10 Best Reverse Harem Books
1. Trickery (Curse of the Gods Book 1) by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
Trickery is the first in the Curse of the Gods series, and you’re going to enjoy every page of this book.
The authors did a good job on the main characters and secondary characters, the heroine is so funny and clumsy, and they also did a wonderful job on world-building.
This is the story in a couple of sentences:
Set in a fantasy world, the story is Willa Knight: A lowly peasant dweller, a slave., a non-magical being. One small mistake lands Willa at Blesswood Academy, a school for sols.
She now has to serve the sols, who are being groomed to become gods. Things take a turn for worse when she is tasked to serve five arrogant, perfect, and powerful sols. They are sort of demigods and almost gods themselves, and her chances of surviving these sols are almost nonexistent.
The authors, Jane and Jaymin, did quite a marvelous job creating this book, creating an action-packed, suspenseful, and hilarious reverse harem.
2. Adamson All Boys Academy Series by C. M. Stunich
Someone has a big secret at the Adamson All-Boys Academy. One Miss Charlotte isn’t ready to disclose her gender to the school, revealing that she is also a girl acting as a boy in an all-boys academy.
Especially not the five good-looking members of the student council: Church, Ranger, Spencer, Micah, and Tobias.
Charlotte already gets picked on because her father is the headmaster, so her gender is her secret to keep. After all, the school has its own bones in the cupboard: the last female student at the academy ended up dead.
Who murdered the other girl? And what will become of her when they come after her?
This book series is replete with mystery, suspense, romance, and you should expect foul language and sexual scenes.
3. Hunted (Feral Souls Trilogy, Book 1) by Erica Woods
This is probably one of those few reverse harem books in which relationships organically develop and the characters are believable.
This is the story in two short paragraphs:
Hope runs away from an organization that jailed, tortured, and abused her for 18 years. On the run, she meets four guys (Ash, Ruarc, Jason, Lucien) who take her home with them. Both sides have secrets, and although she knows this, Hope has decided she doesn’t want to leave her newfound protectors.
Hope wants to kill the Hunters (although she’s unskilled for the task), but this is a reverse harem, so before that get ready for the juicy bits!
4. Taunt (End Of The World Duology) By Eve Dangerfield
Daniel Schwartz is a free-spirited, independent Jewish New Zealander who discovers the world is about to end.
Because of this accidental find, she becomes an eco-terrorist and is placed under home arrest as a result of her actions.
Now locked in a beachside mansion, she has a lot of time on her hands—and three incredibly sexy private security guards who were hired to keep her under constant surveillance.
As the end of the world fast approaches, Daniel becomes drawn to the men, and the feelings are evidently mutual.
Will she choose one? Or take them all?
5. Hunted (Haven Realm Series Book 1) by Mila Young
The series has four books: Hunted, Cursed, Entangled, and Claimed—and they are all some type of standalone books.
Scarlet is a healer who lives a quiet life in the forest—on one side are humans and on the other, wolves. Her peaceful life is disturbed when she is stolen into the woods by a pack of shifters. The pack wants Scarlet to use her healing magic on an injured Alpha who has been plagued by a mysterious affliction.
She soon starts to fall for three sexy Alphas and must balance it with figuring out the mysterious affliction.
In this fantasy reverse harem, Mila Young mixes magic, wolves, steaming hot scenes, and suspense to introduce us to the amazing world of The Haven Realm.
6. Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight
The Vipers (Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel) run the town and everyone in it.
These merciless bloodstained individuals are not the type you want to play with at all! However, Roxy’s dad did.
He owed the Vipers money and when he couldn’t pay it back, Roxy became collateral. Roxy is now theirs to own and use.
But, Roxy is fierce, bold, and independent—and these criminals will have to learn to live with her, not the other way round.
The tale is not about villains or heroes (heroines, in this case), just people who have embraced their darkness and are trying to live with it.
Get ready to enjoy a dark tale full of fun and adventures.
7. Devils’ Day Party by C.M. Stunich
The book tells the tale of Karma, a 17-year-old girl who falls in love with three popular, rich bullies at her school: Calix, Barron, and Raz.
Somehow, she slipped into a time loop and now keeps waking up at the moment of the crash.
She wakes up slamming into Calix’s Aston Martin every time that she sleeps, passes out, or dies, yes, dies. And… It’s on Devils’ Day, a day when people wear masks and play practical jokes on one another.
She’s having the worst day of her life!
So, after experiencing a couple of devils’ days and trying to get out of the loop, she professes her love to her three bullies. Forget the time loop stuff, this book has a lot of erotic stuff.
But if you’re okay with that (I’d like to believe you are), pick this twisted Reverse Harem romance to find out if Karma will be stuck in the loop forever.
8. Hate (Madison Kate Book 1) by Tate James
The whole Madison Kate tetralogy (1. Hate, 2. Liar, 3. Fake, 4. Kate) was entertaining but the first book, hate, set standards higher than the sequels could soar.
Tate James showed us when she is a USA Today Bestselling Author and a popular name in the world of reverse harem romances.
And this enemies to lovers reverse harem tetralogy is one of her best—if not the best.
Madison Kate Danvers was 17 when three young men (Archer D’Ath, Kodiak Johnson, and Max Steele) framed and accused her of being the culprit of Riot Night (when violence erupted at an abandoned funfair).
Her father sent her to live with her aunt in Cambodia and she came back eleven months later. She discovers that the boys who framed her are now living in her house; Archer is now her new future stepbrother, and he and the other two boys have moved into her home.
She is enraged, and this heroine has some vengeful plans for them.
Find out what will become of the four.
9. The Vixen’s Lead (Kit Davenport #1) by Tate James
Another one by Tate, but the heroine in this one isn’t being framed, she is—truly—a criminal
Kit—who is also a boarding-school student—isn’t just an ordinary criminal, she is a thief of international repute known as The Fox.
When her true identity is discovered by the Alpha team from Omega (a group of young top-secret agents) who were tasked with catching her, both her life and those of the five men change.
She slowly starts to learn that she, as well as the guys, isn’t human. In between the first meeting and the end of the book are lots of sex scenes, voyeurism, and 18+ language.
10. Four Psychos (The Dark Side #1) by Kristy Cunning
Well, it is a reverse harem that also falls in the paranormal romance genre.
The main character, Keyla, is an invisible ghost and has been following four guys (four handsome supernatural guys, Ezekiel, Kai, Gage, and Jude) for the last five years.
Keyla invests all of her time observing the four guys who, by the way, live in her house. She doesn’t remember a thing about her past life, no memory of her life or death, all she remembers are the five years.
What will happen when she suddenly becomes visible? Will they ruin her life or will it be for the better?
You’ve got to read this one!
One thing people may not like about the book is language, some bits are going to be too much for conservative readers, but, overall, it’s a nice read!
Summary
Reverse harem has become an accepted and popular subgenre in romance fiction.
For some people though, they’re still too steamy or sexually intense. That’s why you see a couple of one-star ratings claiming that the plot was utter rubbish or they read was sex, sex, and more sex.
But… isn’t that the idea? What do you expect from a story of a woman having sexual relationships with 3, 4, or five men at the same time?
Flirting, kissing, cuddling, touch, groping, everything, all the time!
If you love reverse harem books, I can guarantee you’ll find at least one book on this list that will blow you away!
If you’re new to reverse harems, it’s not a bad time to explore this subgenre, either.
