Help, I'm searching for a good book series to read but can't find anything that fits what I'm looking for!
Alright so let me be clear, basically what I'm looking for is a rough gritty story that is primarily focused on survival, growth, etc, but which also develops a steadily growing romantic relationship. In terms of the world itself, I really like the struggles, bleakness, and down-to-earth survival of stories like Shadow Slave, Bastion, The Beginning After the End, Ranger's Apprentice, etc. However, I also really would love to see some actually meaningful romance in the story as well. Ideally, I am envisioning something like this:
The story is harsh, with brutal survival, and a constant threat of death. The male MC is the main focus of the story, and he is in one way or another thrown out by the world, betrayed, or left for dead (kinda like bastion or shadow slave). However, over time he eventually meets the female lead, and completely doesn't trust her. Over time, this relationship grows, and he goes from not trusting her, to tolerating her, to cautiously trusting her, to actually caring for her. For the female lead's part, she starts out maybe fearing/also distrusting the mc, but slowly grows to see him as human, and then as someone she cares about. The story is not centered around romance, but it allows space for a deep and meaningful relationship to grow in the midst of a harsh and cruel world.
Basically, I'm looking for A high-stakes survival fantasy following a wounded, distrustful young man and a quietly loyal young woman whose relationship is forged through hardship, tested by separation and damaged trust, and gradually becomes the one place either of them can be truly vulnerable—with enough POV from both sides for the reader to witness that trust being earned.
I find that almost all stories overly lean toward the harsh world with cut-throat survival (like shadow slave/red rising/bastion) to the neglect of a genuine relationship development, or overly lean toward a mushy, lustful, or complicated romance (like an ember in the ash/powerless/daughter of no worlds). I don't want a story that shows romance as sexual tension, drama, multiple interests, or that whole "oh they are so hot so lets throw aside reason" sort of thing. The romance should be quiet, loyal, and earned. I mentioned alternating POV's before, cause I think that's the only way you can actually flesh out a good relationship. If you do it like that, you can primarily focus on the MC and his harsh world, but then also see chapters every now and then that show the female lead's quite care for the MC. Like the female lead shouldn't be there just to love the MC, she should be a genuine and meaningful character (a lesser protagonist if you will). Then you could see how she slowly chooses to stand by the MC maybe when others wouldn't. She's willing to stand up for him, protect him, and sacrifice for the relationship that they slowly develop. Characters that would fit this role well could be Amanda from Author's POV, Lianshi from the start of bastion, Evelynn from Ranger's Apprentice, Ceara from TBATE, etc.
I love grand stories about hardship, survival, and an MC spitting in the face of a world that's thrown him away, but I find the whole story becomes dull and boring without a central romantic relationship that slowly grows through earned and tested trust and care (don't really like Nephis from Shadow Slave since she's basically just a stoic chunk of rock, would much prefer a female lead who we get to see inside the mind of via POV chapters and who really cares and sacrifices for the MC). I strongly prefer a single, clear romantic direction. I'm not interested in love triangles, partner switching, or stories where the main romantic conflict is deciding between multiple people. I'd much rather watch one relationship slowly deepen and be tested by external challenges. The relationship should be built on trust, loyalty, shared hardship, and mutual sacrifice before it becomes romantic. I'm much more interested in seeing characters earn intimacy than feeling immediate attraction. Separation is completely fine (and can even strengthen the story), as long as the relationship continues to matter and both characters remain emotionally invested in each other.
Ultimately, I'm not looking for a romance story set in a fantasy world. I'm looking for a fantasy story where the relationship becomes emotionally indispensable to both characters. The world, survival, progression, and conflict should remain the primary focus, but the relationship should steadily grow into one of the most important parts of the story through loyalty, trust, sacrifice, and shared hardship.