Good Omens
Neil Gaiman
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Demon
Stories featuring demon characters as love interests, often with dark paranormal elements.
8 books with this trope
Demons in romantasy are usually princes. Sometimes kings. Always dangerous, always centuries old, always interested in the human protagonist for reasons that get explained over the course of multiple books. It's a trope that overlaps heavily with dark romantasy and villain romance, and the best demon books understand they're playing in dangerous territory.
The 8 Best Demon Books
Throne of the Fallen
Kerri Maniscalco
Throne of Secrets
Kerri Maniscalco
City of Thorns
C.N. Crawford
Hush, Hush
Becca Fitzpatrick
A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon
Sarah Hawley
Crescendo
Becca Fitzpatrick
Silence
Becca Fitzpatrick
Why Demon Works
Demon love interests work because the rules are weighted. They have powers the human doesn't have, knowledge of bargains and contracts that turn every conversation into a negotiation, and the kind of patience that comes from being immortal. The romance becomes about whether love can exist across that asymmetry, and whether the human is willing to pay the price the demon will eventually ask.
What to Watch For
The trope can lean too hard on the bad-boy aesthetic without earning it. A demon who's just a hot guy with horns isn't actually demonic. The good books use the demon's nature to create real conflict. Bargains have teeth. The hunger isn't always for blood. Power corrupts the human protagonist too if she stays close enough.
Where to Start
Kingdom of the Wicked is the romantasy bestseller. The Book of Azrael for the angel-demon war angle. Neon Gods for the modern Greek pantheon take where the gods read as demons in everything but name. From Blood and Ash for the romantasy where the demon-coded love interest holds the throne.