Romance, particularly where it overlaps with fantasy and science fiction, needs a challenge for the main characters to overcome in order to be together.  Could anything be more challenging to overcome than time itself?  Today, I’m spotlighting a trendy subgenre that doesn’t seem to have an official name, but that I like to call “timestream romance”.  These books feature characters who fall in love amidst the tangles of time travel, time loops, and multiple reincarnations across the centuries.  Let’s get started!

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

The story of This Is How You Lose The Time War unfolds as a series of letters between Red and Blue, agents of two enemy organizations whose battlefield is time itself.  As Red and Blue leave messages for one another across time, their enmity first thaws into respect, and then blossoms into love.  But what will it cost for the two of them to be together?  This book is both exquisitely written and emotionally honest in spite of the out-of-this-world situation it portrays, with character voices that expertly thread the delicate needle of being witty and charming while still feeling real.  I found it pretty refreshing to read an enemies-to-lovers romance that focused on a meeting of the minds rather than flashy duels.  This book is an intense emotional journey in a small package, certain to stay with you even after the final page is turned.

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Historian Owen Mallory has just made the find of a lifetime – an original text on the life of Una Everlasting, legendary heroine of the country of Dominion.  When the book sends Owen back in time to encounter the real Una Everlasting, she’s not at all what he expected.  What he finds is a nearly broken woman, weary of war and what it has made of her.  Soon, Owen discovers that he has been sent into the past in the name of a particular purpose – one that cares nothing for him, Una, or anyone else who may be trampled in the name of solidifying power.  Owen must relive Una’s myth over and over in hopes of rewriting its tragic ending and freeing her from this vicious cycle.  The Everlasting is an emotionally potent romantic fantasy that makes excellent use of the time loop premise.  Anchoring the reader in the time-travel maze are the brilliantly realized characters: Una and Owen would be a compelling couple even in a far less fantastical situation, and Harrow sets them up against a truly chilling antagonist.  If you’re a fan of fantasy or romance who enjoys having your heartstrings tugged, this comes highly recommended.

The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

In an alternate Britain where time is malleable and magic is commonplace, the realm defines itself by a canon of Tales.  The Tales sustain themselves through the selection of Incarnates, who are compelled to play out the tale even if it ends in their death.  When the Tale ends, new Incarnates are chosen, and the Tale begins again. It is widely believed that if the cycle of Tales does not continue, the realm will fall into ruin.  Among the most tragic and enduring of the Tales is that of the Knight and the Witch, in which an honorable knight falls in love with the witch he is duty-bound to destroy.  Vina and Simran both seem an unusual fit as Incarnates of the Knight and Witch respectively, and when their tale finds them, both women react with horror – this may very well mean death for both of them.  If they wish to escape their fate, and have any chance that their blossoming romance will survive, they must find a way to undo the laws that govern all they have ever known.  I found it interesting that the characters in this book know that they are, in a sense, characters.  The self-aware fantasy world that Suri created for this book reminded me a little of The Last Unicorn and a little of Revolutionary Girl Utena.  I think this book stands as an interesting counterpoint to other romances about reincarnation.  Rather than a connection across time being a sign that the two leads are meant to be together, it’s something that they have to overcome in order to have any chance at a happy ending.  There may be plenty of familiar tropes to enjoy here, but The Isle in the Silver Sea is also a book that will make you think.