When readers ask me what pulled me into writing Why Choose / Reverse Harem, I usually hit them with my favorite question: Why choose Why Choose?
The quick answer is simple: Why settle for one brooding, morally gray love interest when you can have the whole royal court? Why endure the heartbreak of a love triangle where the secondary love interest is left suffering in the rain?
But if I’m being completely honest, my love for this genre runs much deeper than trope checklists and spicy dynamic breakdowns. Writing my upcoming Fae fantasy series, Her Bound Fae Kings, isn’t just me diving into a favorite genre.
It’s me coming home.
The Spark: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Magic of Merry Gentry
My journey into reverse harem didn’t start on BookTok or BookStagram. It started over twenty years ago, the moment I picked up Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series.
Before Merry Gentry, most fantasy romance told you there was only one way a love story could end. One heroine, two suitors, an agonizing choice, and someone’s heart getting shattered into a million pieces. But LKH flipped that entire script on its head.
Through Princess Meredith and her royal guard, I saw a world where women didn’t have to compromise their power or dilute their desires. The men around her didn’t compete to shrink her; they stepped up to support, protect, and worship her. The political intrigue was razor-sharp. The Fae folklore was dark and intoxicating. And the group dynamics were unlike anything I’d ever read. Peak dark fae why choose romantasy.
I was completely hooked. If you haven’t read this series, go add it on Goodreads immediately!
The Gateway: Falling Down the Anita Blake Fanfiction Rabbit Hole
Naturally, Merry Gentry led me straight to Hamilton’s iconic Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. And while those books were a wild ride, Anita Blake fanfiction is where my imagination truly caught fire. I spent countless late nights reading—and eventually writing—stories where nobody had to choose. Where every character brought out a different shade of the protagonist’s soul, and where devotion was an absolute, unyielding force.
Writing ABVH fanfiction taught me how to balance complex cast dynamics. It taught me how to make several different love interests feel distinct, vibrant, and necessary. Most importantly, it taught me that readers crave stories where love isn’t a zero-sum game.
Full Circle: Her Bound Fae Kings
When I got serious about writing my own books, it was a rude awakening. Sure a titan like LKH could write a fae court reverse harem. Sure, there was a ravenous market for why choose romantasy. But no agent was interested in that upstream swim. I joined RWA and was indoctrinated with the “rules” of the genre and markets. My projects shifted, and I spent years exploring different corners of urban fantasy and dark romance trying to find my niche. But those Fae roots and reverse harem origins never left me. They were just waiting for the right story to pull them back to the surface.
When the concept for Her Bound Fae Kings hit me, everything clicked into place.
I realized I was coming full circle. I was returning to the dark, dangerous fae realm that first made me fall in love with fantasy. To five distinct, possessive Fae kings who would burn the world down before letting their mortal female suffer. And I was returning to the unapologetic joy of Why Choose Romantasy.
Her Bound Fae Kings is my love letter to every reader who grew up loving Merry Gentry. Every fan who stayed up until 2:00 AM reading fic archives. And everyone who ever looked at a love triangle and said, “She should keep them both.”
So… Why Choose “Why Choose”?
At the end of the day, writing this genre feels like returning to my roots. It’s about complex emotional dynamics, slow-burn tension and spice at the same time, and the fantasy of watching powerful, stubborn men go from clashing egos to a unified front for the woman they love.
If you’ve been along for the ride since the fanfiction days, or if you’re just discovering the magic of reverse harem now, I can’t wait for you to meet these kings!
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