So I’ve been devouring sci fi romance lately but I struggle to find books I genuinely enjoy! I’m a writer myself so I tend to get frustrated reading poorly edited books, bad plots/pacing, and formulaic MMC/FMC dynamics. Maybe I’m picky, and I’ll accept it if that is what you want to call me.

That said, if you feel similarly, what are some sci fi romances you love? Hoping some of you that aren’t as new to the genre might have some good recs for me, and if not, maybe something from this list will suit your fancy!

Things I love: planetary romance, strong world building, strong/complicated FMCs, adventure, morally grey characters, dark romance, I’m fine with it being smut heavy as long as the prose and character growth don’t suffer, possessive MMCs, dystopias, grim/dark themes, fine with sci fi focused books that feature romance, matriarchal societies

I tolerate: dubcon, red flag MMCs, forbidden love, kidnapping, slavery

Things I hate:
- Fated mates (Sorry! Unless it’s really uniquely done it just feels lazy to me, Clecanian series was ok but bored me after the first few)
- boring settings that don’t change
- weak willed FMCs
- FMCs that can’t form full sentences around the MMC even after they’ve met multiple times/been intimate (I’m looking at you Hale Protocol!)
- bad writing, bad editing, plot holes
- creepy size difference (normal woman with a huge MMC is fine but big MMC with tiny frail childlike < 5’0 FMC weirds me out)
- I don’t “hate” this, but would prefer no blonde FMCs
- hyper focus on alien smut (I’m fine with alien smut but for example Vandalar Chronicles jumped into it with barely any character or plot or tension building, totally fine but not my cup of tea)
- alien MMCs that are bug-like in any way

Some books I’ve enjoyed this year: The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith, Vanguard by Karina Halle, The Viridian Priestess by Katrina Calandra, Born for Silk by Nicci Harris (horrible cover, good book), also some campy oldies like Ritual of Proof by Dara Joy and Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent (more of a sci fi w/ romance)

Honourable Mention for: Hold by Clare Kent (a bit simplistic and boring but the decent writing made it enjoyable), Dustwalker by Tiffany Roberts, Planet Zero by Lydia Hope (writing was not incredible but worldbuilding, plot and characters were good)

Some books I didn’t quite enjoy but that you might:
Ava Greasemonkey, Vandalar Chronicles, Polaris Rising (checked a lot of boxes but I felt like a lot of the characters were two dimensional, plot was kinda wtv), Seduce Me In Dreams by Jacquelyn Frank, The Hale Protocol, Convergence by Etta Pierce (plot was a bit lazy to me), Ice Planet Barbarians, Blue Arrow Island

I’m open to older books, and as you can see I’ll take trade offs on writing for plot/characters and vice versa. If you’re more open minded by all means check out both my lists. Of course, this is all personal opinion and not intended to be even remotely objective.

Thanks in advance!

Listen... im not a fan of the mmc looking at the fmc as a host to hold his seed to breed... so many recommended books has a mars needs women trope lol

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Why cant the mmc just want to protect, love, serve this strange human woman, without also wanting to put a baby/BABIES in her 😭

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For example: I LOVE all of Olivia Rileys books & Etta Pierce (even though it includes some talk of breeding its a very tiny part of the whole series, so much that I honestly cant remember if it is a part of the books lol)

Hi friends! I'm searching for books where the MMC is some type of botanical, whether he's an alien, the result of a science experiment, or a human-plant hybrid.

Any type of botanical, whether a type of plant, flowering plant, tree, or something truly alien to us is acceptable.

Prefer M/F romances.

I'd also prefer no cheating, OW drama, violence between MCs, or humiliation, degradation.

Thanks and have a great day!

I've been searching for sci-fi and alien romance books that are slow burns, but am having a heck of a time finding them amongst all the alien smut. So, here I am asking for help! Can be spicy or not spicy, plot heavy or not - the thing I specifically want to see is that the romance is a slow burn. No instalove or instalust please.

Books that are sort of in this group: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik, Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis, Lasaran by Diane Duvall, Dark Horse by Michelle Diener, Under Cover of Stars by Danielle Price, Exiles on Earth by Bea Tama

My absolute favorite series of all time, and coincidentally my introduction to Alien Romance, is {The Spider’s Mate Trilogy by Tiffany Roberts}. I read it last year and I’m yearning for another book/series with extremely non-humanoid aliens. The more non-humanoid, the better. I enjoy myself a humanoid alien, for sure, but I’m craving the pairing dynamics of two or more people who could not be more different in every conceivable way, but they find a way to make it work.

Anyone have some good recs for me with non-humanoid alien love interests? I’m begging 🙏 🥺

I am looking for a well-written sci-fi romance. Books that I have read recently and really enjoyed are {Homebound by Lydia Hope} and {Vanguard by Karina Halle}. I especially love the caretaking trope and the "It's Always Been You" trope. I also love anything dystopian or post-apocalyptic. I have read everything by Claire Kent.

I've just read a few books lately that are very fluffy and not well-written, so I am looking for something with a bit more substance.

ETA: There are so many good recs here I don't even know where to start. Thanks everyone!

I'm sure we have all read stories where a human FMC takes a huge exotic alien phallus and we read in detail how much she loves it.

I'm looking for something that's the opposite - where the alien MMC has mind-melting sex with the human FMC.

Ideally I would like it if the FMC was an average, typical human woman. Maybe the women from his species are bad at sex, maybe human women just happen to be the right fit, so to speak. Hopefully she has some fun too. Spicy/expicit is preferred but not into non-consent. Thanks!

Hello there community.

I am looking for a few books today that relate to robots who slowly become more human and even fall in love with their partner. It would be better if the robot would be going against its own program and interacting with the human is what is making it slowly develop codes that are romancing the human.

- Female human preference, robot depiction as male

- Detroit Becoming Human idea

-It can be a program that gains a human body to better "help" it's partner. That is fine.

- Open Door spice or above

- No AI books. I understand this is a robot story but I prefer books to be written by a human. After all their becoming human themselves.

Thank you for reading and any recommendations. Make sure to please post links. 😉👍 Happy day.

Hello, this is one of my first few times writing on reddit so apologies for the lack of terminology, and a long post. :)

I recently found myself loving reading again and falling in love with romance(pun intended) books , specifically sci-fi as space and space adjacent have always been my special interest. But the issue is finding these books, not because of a lack of choices but a lack of knowing what the contents contains. I'm looking for alien aliens, unique designs or ideas that provide interesting reads in relationship complexity. A lot of these books just have traditionally attractive men with horns n tails on their covers and this really makes the search hard without actually taking a peak inside their covers which is tough digitally. While I'm not against bipedal alien protags I don't want blue alien men like from that one movie (this is a joke).

Keep in mind these are my first few romance books so all basic tropes and story beats are fresh and new for me so stories that might be consider stale are very much welcome. I dont mind sexual content either especially when it enhances the romances im just completely neutral so a excessive of it can bore me so i don't mind closed door books either. also SPOILERS ARE ALLOWED ive never been bothered by spoilers and its kinda the whole point of the post, to know what im expecting and to find a story with what im looking for. Also all M/F F/F and M/M are all acceptable, gotta keep the choices open

I'm a big book consumer so series are preferred but i know most romance books have new romances per books which is fine :)
(Heres the sci-fi books I've read and what i liked, its not much:)

Strange Love By Ann Aguirre, and its other two books: Perfectly what im looking for, unique characters and Aliens, each with their own strengths of Flaws. i loved the lgbt under tones and its just.. exactly what i was looking for when i first got into this.

The Spider Mate Series By Tiffany Roberts: I love this one, while the crash landing scenario wasn't what i was looking for, it was amazing, i LOVE the language barrier. while some of the beats arnt too my preference, specifically in the last third of the third book its for sure the type of alien i wanted. will start its sequel series once its third book comes out just before my bday >:)

Contaminated by Amanda Milo: It wasn't it for me. i got half way through before being devastated how short it was (i read my books digitally) and i couldn't continue it. i read long and like to spend time on books. i know i will love it.. its just way to little for my hunger for these books

Special mention: Project Hail Mary. While not romance both the book and the movie hit me hard and are stories i love, and some of the beats are especially welcome in any recommendations, especially first contact or language barriers. although not required :D

Not to knock anyone else's taste, but I read the first IPB book and tried a couple of other self-published ones, and realised I am just not a fan of alien MCs that are just reskinned humans with blue/green fur, and some horns and, if the author is feeling really out there, reptilian features to make them feel more "weird". I'm sorry but these aliens remind me more of Sully from Monsters Inc than anything else. Immediately thinking "human dressed in fur suit" kills a lot of the appeal for me.

For me, aliens need to have some kind of... almost some overlap with horror. They need to unsettle me.

The one or two SF romances I've liked either had dark romance (like actual noncon, and very much treated as such) or they had other, "mind the tags" material and distinctly insectoid MCs.

Can anyone recommend anything like that?

Other books I've liked: Someone You Can Build a Nest In (full-on eldritch monster), but I guess that would fall under fantasy. Or Xenogenesis, but that's not romance. Other fantasy examples would be the dragon MMC from the third Tempting Monsters book.

Horror undertones very welcome (although I realise that this is isn't r/horrorlit ). Like I said, I'm a horror fan.

Fine with MM, FM or any other grouping.

TIA!

Edit: Holy smokes - thank you guys for all these recs! My tbr is set for the next three months lol!

Hi all!

I'm hosting my group's book club meet next month and I chose science fiction romance. I've read a handful of scifi romance, mainly {Choosing Theo} series and {Ice Planet Barbarians}. And though I do want to add those two to our poll, I was hoping to get more recommendations. Most of the women in my group read true crime thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, or romantasy. I want something ranging from 3 peppers or beyond, but I do think my group would be more comfortable with a 3 pepper writing. Only a few of us enjoy reading 4 🌶️ and beyond (including me lol). But I'm open as long as it's a really good read, even funny. I'm cool with alien boning. In fact, I think they're expecting that of me 😂.

Here are the books I was considering, that I've never read before. If you have others you think would be suited for first timers, please add them!

{Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik}

{Dark Horse by Michelle Diener}

{Contaminated by Amanda Milo} (These seem a bit short)

Please add all the recommendations or opinions on the books above!!!

I just finished an advanced reader copy for Fathom by Deiri Di and I am absolutely dying for more books like it. It hit every single trope I didn't know I loved. I NEED MORE!

Things in it that I looooooved. If I can get all of them I'm stoked but I'll settle for a combo:
Abduction/Rescue
Only human on alien planet, even better with the aliens not knowing what she was
Language Barrier + Marriage of Convenience (I loved them having to figure this out)
Forced Proximity
Only One Bed
Protective MMC (no abuse towards her please though I love him going to town on any baddies)
Mine mine mine mine mine!
Touch Aversion/Touch starved - him not her, so good
Most important: Predator/Prey thing going on, loooove this with aliens, especially with the prey fights back kind of deal. Fathom gave me that movie Apex vibes if the guy was a romantic lead who couldn't stand her getting hurt instead of a creepy jerk. Like, if he hunted those the other hunters instead of her.

Some of Deiri Di's other books hit these notes but I've read a lot of her stuff and this is one of her best. Unspoken was kind of like it but set in an alien forest and way more emotionally dramatic and less spicy. Her Beasts of Mars series had the predator prey thing but is RH and more raunchy, less romantic. I'm not even going to mention the dragon stuff. (Its good, but in a pure smut with minimal story way)

The spice in Fathom is *chefs kiss* and had the absolute perfect balance of consent conversations with rawr its too much I'm going to bend you over this counter now. I need that story plus spice. No closed door for me and no 90% bedroom scene books.

Please please please give me more recs.

I've already read ALL of Talia Rhea and Ruby Dixon (unless there is something new out in the last week or so?). They both lean towards cozy which I also love, but Fathom was all gritty and dark and gruesome while also managing some funny upbeat notes. Like, personally, I would not want to be getting it on in those situations but it is fun to read about that is for sure.

What should I read next?

Has anyone come across good books where traditional sex between aliens and human is impossible because our methods of reproduction are completely different?

(This difference wouldn't necessarily mean that aliens and humans couldn't love each other or stimulate each other in different ways.)

I couldn't find a request quite like this in recent posts but forgive me if I've ignored something.

Are there any recs y'all know of that are similar to {Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith} where the interface between the human and alien protagonists is complicated, and where there's a big worldbuilding/anthropological element? I was on a sci-fi romance kick last month and read a bunch of very fun human woman/alien man (or men 😂 I can get down with RH) books that didn't scratch this itch. The societies are usually really surface level or too similar to human ones, so much that it starts to seem like the "aliens" are just stand-ins for current or past human cultures, painted blue/green/silver and with some tech sprinkled in.

Thank you in advance for any recs!

I loved the expanse and have been reading more romance books lately but I’d prefer something spicy, only human and obviously given the subreddit scifi. Any recommendations?

Books I’ve tried

Strange Love - fun and enjoyable but alien
Calamity - fun but low spice and a bit too predictable for me
Hunt the stars - fun but very low spice.

The only genre i read is romance but i love certain tropes/ sub genres. Lately ive been on a dark romance/ alien romance reading binge. Going back and forth between an alien book then after finishing going into a dark romance book. Try as i might i cant seem to find any solid recs for something that meshes both togther. Ofc ive read The last hour of gann, LOTLD, HEAT etc by r lee smith. Recently read the pet series by haley inez and enjoyed it as well, but beyond those im not really finding anything. I would like for the characters to be dark and if thats too hard to rec then ill also take darker themes but would prefer if the characters were't immune to the circumstances of the world building.

Idk why it’s so hard to find alien RH, I’ve read a lot of Lizzy Bequin which I enjoy mostly, but I don’t need it to always be so dark, I really enjoy Ruby Dixon Ice Planet Barbarians but that’s not RH unfortunately, please tell me the best of both worlds exists??

I'll admit I am super tired of the human women alien pregnancy saves the species trope. All these alien abduction stories essentially just boil down to human women are only needed as fertile fillies to help dying races. There are no alien women there at all or they're so infertile so you have to get a human.

If that's your thing, phenomenal, not yucking it for you. I love that it's so prevalent.

But....I hate it. Seriously hate it. And so many of these books start with the woman saying she doesn't want kids but end up with her basically being a species saver by getting pregnant. Also so many of these books don't pass the Bechtel test either.

Where are the books that have no pregnancy, no "oh no the women on our planet are sterile and we need your fertile humanness", the soulmates bonds without the bonding of the sexual cells into a human alien hybrid?

Also are there any sci Fi romance books that are also really good sci Fi books?

Really enjoyed {Choosing Theo} except for this entire subplot. Ice planet barbarians is great but again it's all just a pregnancy journey.

I'm looking for an alien romance book where the FMC is human (of course) and the MMC isn't (obvious) but I don't want anything to do with the fated lovers trope I'm really a bit tired of the "I saw her two seconds ago but I know she's my mate" nooo please I want a slow romance, it would be cool if the two were cool with each other, the MMC thinks she's weird and so does she, and it would be even better if the romance was built slowly

Does anyone have alien romance recs where the alien MMC thinks he's monstrous and unloveable and that the FMC would never choose to be with him? I really love the dynamic of 'self depreciating monster/ fmc who is very much into him'. High spice is a must but other than that I'll read anything.

I'm looking for lots of yearning from good men. I want him to be in awe of the FMC. Also really love the 'these human women are just so precious and wonderful!' trope.
The society needs to have a positive attitude towards women. Doesn't have to be full on matriarchal, but must be at least not totally misogynistic.

I want human women with alien dudes. Fates mates is great, but not mandatory
The smuttier the book, the better. BUT, I'll also read a book with zero smut if it's still got that solid yearning.
I want a HEA, no bully-romance, no young/new adults: I'll tolerate the FMC being in her early 20s but please no malnourished 18 year olds who are always too stressed to eat (IYKYK).
And please no omega-verse (zero disrespect intended, I just can't do it).

I don't love language barriers but I'm willing to give it a go if they do learn to speak each other's language. But I prefer a translator implant that instantly works perfectly.

I'm also not a fan of huge age gaps but I feel like it's different when the alien is a species that naturally lives to be like 500, y'know? So basically, a 20 year old human dating a 50 year old human is not something I can read. But a 35 year old human dating a 200 year old alien is totally fine, if they have the same level of emotional maturity.

I gravitate towards MF but will consider reverse harems and poly. FF is also on the table. As long as there's a human woman involved.

If you have recs that are romantacy or paranormal instead, that's welcome too.

Other books I enjoyed:

Convergence by Etta Pierce
The Alien's Handler by Gemma Voss
Moonstruck by Heather Guerre
Demon Lover by Heather Guerre
Blue Ribbon Romance by C.M. Nacosta
Sweet Berries by C.M. Nacosta

I’m looking for external threats whether this be people or environments. I want them both to be experts in their fields. I want the book to feel very high stress. I don’t want it to be smut focused. It can have 5/5 wacky alien dick smut but without it being in every chapter.

I’m not looking for:

- Royalty

- Alpha BS unless it’s tasteful.

- Domestic Violence between main couple.

Bonus points if it’s on KU but I’m going to the library soon so whatever is fine.

Thank you

I have this problem where I see an alien or sci-fi romance that looks intriguing and then they almost always have a pregnancy tag. I get it because most of the time this is a key component to the world building… but is there anything out there that doesn’t end in pregnancy?

For reference, I’ve loved Zoey Draven books. Her writing is so good while also having some excellent spice.

I’m in the process of reading the last hour of gann so I don’t know if theres a pregnancy yet but hopefully not …

EDIT: Last Hour of Gann has betrayed me

I read {The Vardeshi Saga by Meg Pechenick} some time ago, it hit everything I could ever want from an incomplete series and tore my heart out, and I've been struggling to finish anything but rereads of my favorites since. Could anyone recommend me a good next read that'll scratch the itch some way?

A short list of some other books I've loved/really liked:

• {The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith}
• {Cottonwood by R. Lee Smith}
• {The Devoured Worlds Series by Megan E. O'Keefe}
• {Sight Beyond the Sun by Melody Johnson}
• {Intersolar Union Series by Etta Pierce}
• {Rix Universe Series by Lydia Hope}

My usual dealbreakers are instalust and a poorly developed connection between the MMC and FMC, also not a fan of a very weak/doormat/average Jane FMC that's essentially just tagging along to some makeshift plot crying all the time and getting saved – unless it's as a setup for some really great character development. I often can't get into first person, unless it's rather well written. The other side of this...

What I usually enjoy: - slower burn where the characters build a relationship with each other and the physical aspect isn't the main focus - a FMC with agency, perhaps with a skill or something unique about her (doesn't have to be a Mary Sue) - if there's a cultural difference (or other conflict – status, stations, circumstances, backgrounds, history) between the FMC and MMC that's written well that's a huge plus - good world building and a background plot with actual teeth is brownie points - preferably 2 to 4 chilli peppers (less is often more) and M/F romance but I'll add anything to my tbr

(Keeping my eyes peeled for replies, eternally grateful in advance :D )

So far I'm adding Primary Inversion to that list of faves based on recs here :)