ACOTAR created a problem for the readers it made into romantasy fans: it’s very good, it’s a high bar, and there aren’t that many things that scratch exactly the same itch. The standard recommendations (the rest of the ACOTAR series, Fourth Wing, A Touch of Darkness) are obvious starting points, but readers who have burned through those and are looking for what comes next often find themselves in territory that doesn’t quite deliver what they’re looking for: court politics without the romance depth, romance without the fantasy world, or a level of heat that’s milder than what they’ve calibrated to expect.
What ACOTAR Readers Are Actually Looking For
The series draws readers for a specific combination of elements. The fae world — the courts, the political intrigue, the sense of a world with deep history that the heroine is discovering. The morally grey hero who is dangerous to the world but devoted to her specifically. The slow burn that eventually delivers. The world-building that rewards attention and makes the reader feel like they’re somewhere real. And the heat — ACOTAR escalated heat expectations for romantasy readers in ways that made a lot of the YA-adjacent content that existed before it feel inadequate afterward.
The challenge is that most of what gets recommended as “for ACOTAR fans” delivers only some of these. Dragon romance often has the heat and the devoted hero but lighter world-building. Court political dramas often have the world but lighter romance. Straight vampire romance often has the morally grey hero and the heat but no fae element.
Dark Fae Masters of Italy: The Case for It
Dark Fae Masters of Italy isn’t a straightforward ACOTAR comparable — the structure is MFM (two heroes, not one) and the setting is contemporary Italy rather than high fantasy. But for ACOTAR readers specifically, it addresses most of the elements that make that series satisfying:
The fae world: The Twilight Realm has Summer Fae Courts with kings and princes, Winter Fae in the north, court politics that drive the plot across five books. Lucca is a Summer Fae Prince — beautiful, powerful, leading a rebellion against his own king. His fae court dynamics are developed in the tradition that ACOTAR readers know.
The morally grey dangerous hero: Quinn is a Master Vampire, centuries old, who runs his own court by his own morally grey standards. He is specifically described in the same register as ACOTAR’s most beloved hero type: dangerous to everything except her, protective in ways that come with real costs and obligations. The touch-her-and-die dynamic and he-falls-first devotion are explicitly part of the series’s design.
The heat: Explicitly adult, open-door throughout the series. The author writes for the “25+ crowd.” This is not YA-adjacent content.
The world-building: Reviewers consistently describe the prose as “luxurious” and the world as one they “see and feel.” The setting — contemporary Florence and Tuscany plus the Twilight Realm — is a specific, realized world rather than generic fantasy geography.
What’s Different
The two key differences worth naming for ACOTAR readers: this is contemporary (modern-day Italy) rather than high fantasy, and this is MFM rather than single hero. Both are features for the right reader and potential mismatches for others.
If you specifically want high fantasy geography and a single hero, this isn’t the right series. If you want fae court politics, a morally grey dangerous hero, explicit heat, and immersive world-building — and you’re open to a contemporary setting and two heroes instead of one — Dark Fae Masters of Italy is one of the cleaner recommendations in the market for ACOTAR readers who want something more.
The Practical Case
Five complete books, free in Kindle Unlimited. No waiting for the next installment, no cliffhanger without resolution. For ACOTAR readers who have been burned by series that are ongoing or that ended prematurely, a complete series with a satisfying ending is a practical advantage in addition to everything else.
Start with Dark Master’s Kiss — both Quinn and Lucca are established within the first two chapters, and the fae world opens in Book 1.