We’re back with another Harry Potter house Rec League! This one was sent in by Viktória:
I was browsing through the Rec Legues the other day and got inspired by the Slytherin falls for Hufflepuff prompt. I started to wonder if there is such thing as a Slytherin/Slytherin trope? I imagine power couples here, two classic Slytherins be it in the sense of power hunger or having power already through family connections or something else entirely. It wouldn’t be competence porn in the classical sense. In this prompt I see two characters who are intelligent, sly, cunning or all of the above, not necessarily good or bad – classic for the house – fall in love or be in love. The association to power couples came because two characters like this would probably be an unstoppable force to reckon with.
So all in all, I am asking for the help of the Bitchery in finding Slytherin/Slytherin power couples ruling together in any scenario, be it contemporary or historical (I would appreciate recs from both).
Amanda: Of course, sorting romance characters into houses always proves for a lively debate.
Aarya: I can think of a couple but the book isn’t out until next year, ughhh.
Amanda: You can still include it!
Aarya: It’s Lucy Parker’s next book, Headliners (with Sabrina and Nick).
I haven’t read it – Lucy and I have DMed about it and she was like “yeah I’m super excited bc they’re both Slytherins.” But she hasn’t finished writing!
Wait: I think Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews might qualify. Hugh D’Ambray is super evil (but reformed now) and Elara is extremely powerful/ruthless on behalf of her people
Elyse: The Bastard’s Bargain by Katee Robert. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Aarya: I think The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin ( A | BN | K ) also qualifies even if they’re not on the evil end of the spectrum. Leaning into Ravenclaw, but I’d classify both as Slytherin
Elyse: King’s Captive by Amber Bardan.
Man, looking back at Goodreads I’ve read a lot of books I have no memory of at all
Aarya: I’m scrolling through my kindle and every time I see a Slytherin, I get excited and then deflate because their partner usually isn’t.
Earth Bound by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner. This is another one where I hesitate, but they definitely match the “ambition” part of Slytherin. The hero is 100% a Slytherin, and the heroine is maybe 50/50 Slytherin and Ravenclaw. But I think it qualifies.
Sarah: I’m wondering if some of Julie James’s characters might work.
Amanda: I’m wracking my brain for career-oriented main characters.
Something tells me the next Joanna Shupe, The Prince of Broadway, will be a Slytherin pairing, but that’s purely speculation.
Aarya: Re: Julie James. The one that might work is Practice Makes Perfect. Both are very, very ambitious and fight for the partner position in their firm.
This is a difficult question because many characters are actually a mix of two houses.
Amanda: Sarah, I wonder if one of the later Elder Races would fit?
Carrie: I disagree re: Earth Bound – they are clearly Gryffindor/Ravenclaw not Slytherin.
Aarya: Which one is the Gryffindor?
Carrie: They are both a mix of G/R (brave and brainy)
Aarya: But they’re both so ambitious! And the hero in particular feels Slytherin to me.
Carrie: She has to be G to fight for her role in a male-centric organization but she’s not about status, she’s about ability to get shit done.
Well, there’s a fine line between G and S…and I haven’t read it for a while..
Aarya: I see the G. I also see the S.
In summary: this is hard.
The only unambiguous one is Iron and Magic. I still stand by Jade Temptress.
Amanda: Obviously this is all open to interpretation, haha! We had the same discussion when trying to find Slytherin/Hufflepuff pairings, which I think is a bit easier than this one.
Carrie: I say go for it.
Which romances would you recommend that feature Slytherin couples? Do you also agree that this is kind of tough?
The Pirate and the Pagan by Virginia Henley. I’m going old school with this one, and it’s been awhile since I’ve read it, so maybe I’m not sorting accurately. The hero is a power player within Charles II’s court. The heroine will do whatever it takes to protect her family’s smuggling business, including a scheme to trap the hero into marriage.
Yes this book is bonkers, but I loved it. It’s worth reading the sample just for one of the most amazing intro’s in any romance.
Hard to sort houses correctly (how does that hat do it?), but the Beacon Hill Sorcerer series might qualify. First book is Necromancer’s Dance. It’s M/M and free on KU. Contemporary paranormal. Main character is pretty ruthless when threatened, but not sure if his ambition is all the way Slytherin. Probably a G/S blend, really, sigh. Anyway, it’s a really good series by SJ Himes. Unusual for book 1 in paranormal series in that no one is an ignorant plebe dropped in to the world. Both men are strong and capable and fully empowered from the beginning.
Joanna Bourne’s books… Black Hawk for sure. Adrian and Justine are both as ruthless and focused on their goals as they come.
Someone above mentioned Katee Robert’s THE BASTARD’S BARGAIN, but I’d also point out two more in that same series (The O’Malleys): THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT and (especially) THE WEDDING PACT. I know “darker” romances (mafia/mob/crime family) aren’t to everyone’s taste, but many of them feature strong central characters, both of whom work from their own power bases, with their own allegiances and ulterior motives.
One of Lauren’s Willig’s Pink Carnation series (England during the French Revolution) – The Seduction of the Crimson Rose. Vaughn and Mary are both amoral, ambitious and really put out that they’re falling for each other. More genuine romance in their Slytherin-ness than a hundred saccharine books-with-dooks.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1363577.The_Seduction_of_the_Crimson_Rose?from_search=true
I just started Heart of the Falcon by Francis Ray and it might count. She’s an engineer at an oil company and he’s some sort of super successful business tycoon. Both are ambitious.
I would probably sort Drea and Simon from Linda Howard’s Death Angel into Slytherin.
What about Stuart and Emma from Judith Ivory’s Untie My Heart? They are both delightfully duplicitous.
For fans of comic books and romance, Batman (maybe the best example of a heroic Slytherin type in fiction) and Catwoman could qualify.
Elena and Raphael in Nalini Singh’s Archangel series…though, thinking on it, I guess Elena would definitely qualify as a Gryffindor more than a Slytherin. The line between G and S -as discussed above- is fine indeed!
Hawke and Sienna from Singh’s Psychangeling series may also qualify… there is a certain ruthlessness to Sienna that pushes her into Slytherin from say, a Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor.
I suppose no Singh reader is going to debate Hawke’s S card 🙂
@Snaptrix: OMG, I disagree completely! Hawke is a Gryffindor! And so is Sienna, although she has some Ravenclaw qualities.
I don’t see Hawke as ambitious or cunning at all. He’ll do anything to protect his pack, but that’s not Slytherin. Protecting your family isn’t a Slytherin trait.
Adding on to the above comment: I meant to say that protecting your family at all costs isn’t *exclusively* a Slytherin trait. I think all the houses have it to some degree.
What about Elinor and Rohan in Ruthless by Anne Stuart? She might have shades of Hufflepuff but she is as the title says, pretty damn ruthless which i love about her. And he’s a total Slytherin, cunning and clever and manipulative (not that the latter is strictly a Slytherin trait)
Kresley Cole definitely has some Slytherin characters throughout the Imortals After Dark series -Lothaire is a textbook Slytherin-, but maybe only one that would fill the bill, Kiss of a Demon King with its witch queen and aforementioned Demon King.
I’d say Dating You, Hating You might be a good choice.
Does Sherry Thomas’ The Luckiest Lady in London qualify? I’m not a Harry Potter person (sorry) so going off the description and a tiny bit of googling and I think it fits.
Also suggest Of Silk and Steam by Bec McMaster.
I don’t know how closely these couples will hold up to intense Slytherin/Slytherin analysis but i have a few suggestions where both members of a couple of fairly ruthless, are primarily concerned with self-preservation and are ambitious:
Bec McMasters’ You Only Love Twice
Loretta Chase Silk is for Seduction
Valerie Bowman’s The Unexpected Duchess (debatable but still delightful)
Adele Ashworth’s Winter Garden
Also, as a bonus one of my favorite (and kinda rare)Slytherin/Ravenclaw pairings is Julie Ann Long’s Like No Other Lover, Miles and Cynthia’s story from the Pennyroyal Green series, and one of my absolute favorites. Enjoy!
I feel like Annabelle & Simon from Secrets of a Summer Night (Kleypas- Wallflowers series) are Slytherin. He miiight be a Griffindor- but I think they’re both Slytherin at heart. Super ambitious, not careful of other’s feelings, etc.
I feel like Annabelle & Simon from Secrets of a Summer Night (Kleypas- Wallflowers series) are Slytherin. He miiight be a Gryffindor- but I think they’re both Slytherin at heart. Super ambitious, not careful of other’s feelings, etc.
Maybe The Hating Game by Sally Thorne? Hero and heroine fighting for the same position at work? Doing underhanded things to each other etc.
I would say Cat and Bones from Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series are probably both Slytherin. But you have to read something like 6 books to get to their HEA so…
Yes, I agree that the Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas definitely qualifies.
Maybe Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran also?
I disagree on Kiss of a Demon King. Rydstrom is known as “the Good”.
Kelley Armstrong’s Cainsville series has super S Gabriel and less S Olivia. Also, Eve Levine and Kristoff Nast from Women of the Otherworld have a novella. Jack and Nadia are pro killers in the Nadia Stafford trilogy.
Audrey and Calder from Ilona Andrews Fate’s Edge? Con artist thieves.
GA Aiken has Ragnar and Keita in Last Dragon Standing. Actually there are a bunch of female Slytherin in the Dragon Kin books. Dagmar is awesome.
Adele Ashworth’s Winter Garden. They’re spies but good guys. I’m torn on that.
@Michelle, good and Slytherin are not mutually exclusive terms.
@CarolS YES to the Hating Game. I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but absolutely. Both driven by ambition, competitiveness and general arrogance. Cunning and cutthroat. You are so right.
From my favourite series evah The Iron Seas by Meljean Brook, Heart of Steel and the two slytherins found within Lady Corsair aka Yasmeen and Archimedes Fox. Let the adventures begin…
Some possibilities:
The Schemer by Avery Flynn
The Allure of Dean Harper by RS Grey
(Maybe?) Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost
I definitely think that His at Night by Sherry Thomas is also a main Slytherin/Slytherin pairing. (Also there’s a delightful secondary romance… I waffle between Slytherin and Ravenclaw for Angelica, but Freddie is definitely a Hufflepuff.)
I second Joanna Bourne’s Black Hawk and Bec McMaster’s Silk and Steam, and add Donna Thorland’s Turncoat – he’s an English soldier and she becomes a spy for the colonists during the Revolutionary War
I also recommend Kelley Armstrong’s Cainsville, but that’s a 5 book fantasy series, so if you want the romance resolved in 1 book, you won’t get it with that. Eve and Kris from her Otherworld series have a full-length novel (Haunted) as well as the novella mentioned by Michelle above (Angelic). They also have a short story that covers the beginning of their relationship; Haunted is a second chance story.
This is so great, thank you for all the recommendations!
I second The Luckiest Lady in London and Practice Makes Perfect but I am kind of iffy about The Hating Game . I should probably reread that one.
Since I submitted the ask I actually came across one myself: What I Did For a Duke from the Pennyroyal Green series. The Duke of Falconbridge is a classic Slytherin and I consider Genevieve Eversea in that house too, though she has Ravenclaw traits too. She is knowledgeable and considerate but totally up for the game, as the novel goes I think her inner slytherin comes out more and more. I would leave this decision to the Sorting Hat.
Also Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase worth consideration. Jessica Trent is a Slytherin in my opinion, daring and scheming and never doing anything without a plan, where Dain has a Slytherin facade going on, that actually proves to be true in the end.
@Aarya Marsden: OMG yes to the Headliners , I was so hapoy to see that coming. Also, can I read Iron and Magic without reading Ilona Andrews’ previous books in that universe?
@Aarya I guess my reading of Hawke stems from how the Snowdancers are portrayed to have this image of ‘Shoot first, ask question of the corpses’; that basically they are ruthless power players ( though we know that is essentially to protect the den).
IMO, Hawke and Sienna mellowed out to be a Gryffindor alpha couple but preceding that? Atleast, I’m not so sure about Hawke… the man did resist Sienna because he did not want to be vulnerable and hurt again – not quite the big heartedness of a Gryffindor; but then again I’m LOLing at the very notion of a Hawke and a Snape sharing rooms at Hogwarts 🙂
@Viktoria: Iron and Magic is the first book in a spin-off trilogy. It takes place between the ninth and last Kate Daniels books. While it is self-contained and you could read it as a stand-alone, I wouldn’t recommend it. You can pick up on the world-building and Elara is a new character. But Hugh is a major villain throughout the series and you miss all his backstory. His path to redemption is a primary theme in the book.
@Sandra: Thank you!
Re: Iron and Magic. I have friends who enjoyed it without reading the Kate Daniels books. However, you would be missing a lot of nuance (as Sandra correctly points out). The choice is yours: if you want to read a Slytherin/Slytherin pairing, then I say jump in and start with I&M because nine Kate Daniels books is a lot to catch up on.
@Snaptrix: as I pointed out in the post, this prompt is so hard. Everyone is really a mix of the houses, and the reader chooses to accentuate the qualities they find most compelling.
Look at the Harry Potter characters: why isn’t Hermione a Ravenclaw? She certainly fits the bill. She’s brave, yes, but so are the Ravenclaws. Why is Pettigrew a Gryffindor? Difficult to say, based on traits. But they both wanted to be in Gryffindor, and the sorting hat takes our choices into account.
If the Harry Potter characters could be a mix of houses, then it’s not surprising that we all see fictional characters differently. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on Hawke (I did pose this question to my twitter friends and the overall consensus was that Hawke was a Gryffindor. There was disagreement re: Sienna, as people felt she could be any of the three remaining houses. Everyone, however, agreed that Kaleb Krychek was a Slytherin!).
So I wonder if the answer would be different if we posed the question differently. How would these fictional characters sort themselves given the choice? I agree with DonnaMarie that good isn’t mutually exclusive with Slytherin. But having read Kiss of a Demon King, I feel extremely confident in speculating that Rydstrom would consider himself a proud Gryffindor. 🙂
Not a Potterhead (didn’t even finish the series), so my understanding of the Houses is necessarily limited, but imho Everly and Sawyer from Right by Jana Aston are a Slytherin/Slytherin pairing. Everly is a DELIGHT, an Emma Woodhouse with no scruples and even less self-awareness. Hero Sawyer is also a Machiavellian type. Unfortunately, the book’s pacing isn’t great, and the ending was resolved too quickly and in a bewildering way. The heroine Everly is really the reason to read this book.
@Aarya Kaleb is definitely a Slytherin! In fact, in the light of that standard (and in his protecting of Sienna when she flamed up on the battlefield) Hawke would be Gryffindor gold standard. I totally see where you are coming from, and don’t mind joining you there.
I guess I am still salty over his initial distancing from Sienna because of<>
Because of SPOILER ALERT issues, is what I meant to finish with.
Sorry for the comment drag!
I haven’t read Kate Daniels and enjoyed Iron
and Magic. Hugh and Elara are soooooooo Slytherin.
And I agree, Rydstrom is Gryffindor.
The Bride and the Buccaneer by Darlene Marshall. Old rivals – a con woman and a pirate – inherit 2 halves of a treasure map and have to work together / compete against each other. She’s a little more ruthless than he is – but I think he counts as Slytherin. This is an early, romp-y Darlene Marshall and I remember it as a lot of fun.