Read-alikes

Books Like Painted Devils

Painted Devils is enemies to lovers, slow burn & morally grey — mild (2/5), first-person, ending on a hard-won happy ending. These 12 romantasy read-alikes are ranked by how much they share with it, closest first — each one explained.

Vanja Schmidt accidentally builds a cult around a fake goddess she invented on the spot, and her lie spirals dangerously out of control when the Scarlet Maiden actually manifests and claims her love interest Emeric as a virgin sacrifice. Emeric arrives to investigate Vanja for fraud — meaning the one person she needs to save is also the one building a case against her. Together they chase a way out through folklore, forest spirits, and the Wild Hunt while Vanja hunts for her long-lost birth family.