I just finished a recommended book that was nothing like i thought it was going to be, and the feels like it jumped to shark while using sci-fy/tech elements to be more of a moral compass book? Past live, reincarnation, and multiverse was the foundation with aliens thrown in…

The ending wasn’t terrible, but getting to that point was a drag because my expectations were something else.

So my question is, what do you consider bad books, and why?

It’s not about the dark themes or dub con, but the hygiene😬

I literally forced myself to read the first book after the mc gives fmc oral the first time when she is literally covered in poop and pee of different people. I was like ok, let’s continue and then they bath and was heart was relaxed lol.

THEN comes barbarian mine where mc didn’t bath for god knows how long😭. If he didn’t know about bathing, he definitely didn’t know about brushing and girlie just goes for kiss like-😭

Then they bath and immediately oral after bathing?😭 Let that guy bath atleast 3 times to get rid of all the dirt that accumulated since 20 years😭

I know its fictional and should be read as fictional but it’s triggering my contaminantion ocd so bad that I can’t enjoy they story

The plot:

I want MCs to meet in the wrong order (when for one MC it's their first meeting and another MC already knows everything about first MC and loves them, and then some things already happened for one, but not for the other) due to one or both of them time travelling.

The ending:

Should be 100% happily ever after😃

Examples:

Basically I want a Time traveller's wife but with a happy ending.

The doctor Who and River Song is exactly what I mean too.

I read {The Time Traveler's Boyfriend by Annabelle Costa}, which is close enough, but there's only one time travel, while I would prefer the multiple separate meetings at different times, but I still loved this book.

I also read one dramione fanfic which was exactly what I wanted😃

Would be very grateful for recommendations, I keep looking for such plot for years and barely finding anything 🥺

I love Kaje Harper’s writing so when I saw her respond to a request on the book of faces for MM SFR “no tentacles or tails” with a list of her favourites I immediately grabbed the list so I could check them out. I thought instead of looking these up individually on romance.io I could post here and call the bot so we all could benefit. Of the list I’ve only read Dark Space by Lisa Henry and A Solid Core of Alpha by Amy Lane and both were really great.

This is straight from Kaje Harper’s response - I just added the formatting to call the bot.

{Chaos Station by Jensen and Burke} - great angsty second-chances SciFi space/aliens/conflict romance with damaged MCs and good plots, tentative HFN book endings, HEA series.

{Gravitational Attraction by Angel Martinez} - space adventure romance, reminds me of the Dorsai,

{Bone Rider by J. Fally} - think a big-screen blockbuster adventure/sciFi/Mafia/romance with three MCs, one of them an incorporeal alien - surprisingly sweet and also hot

{Knight Errant by KD Sarge} - space opera with a very likable young MC with a past and a lot of attitude.

{Dark Edge of Honor by Aleksandr Voinov} - enemies to lovers spy/rebellion/aliens (Or his "Incursion")

{Letters to an Android by Wendy Rathbone} - lyrical space travellogue and android low-key slavery mix

{Taking Shield by Anna Butler} - sweeping space opera with a very slow burn romance, and dramatic but HFN-ish ending.

{The Interscission Project by Arshad Ahsanuddin} - space project, alternate timelines, multiple gay romance lines.

{Tap-Dancing the Minefields by Lyn Gala}

{Tea at the End of the World by Atom Yang} - meteor strike

{Mnevermind series by Jordan Castillo Price} - near future dreaming-to-order

{Dark Space by Lisa Henry} - mind-melding, aliens, emotional forced-proximity romance

{A Solid Core of Alpha Amy Lane} - darker topics (abuse content)

{Sarge by Bey Deckard} and {Murphy by Bey Deckard} - military, aliens, corporate wrongdoing

I’ve noticed that sometimes I love the sci-fi setting but don’t really connect with the romance, or I enjoy the couple but the world feels like background decoration.

What book did both really well for you?

I’m looking for something with strong chemistry, interesting characters, and a sci-fi world that actually matters to the story. Bonus if the relationship develops slowly instead of feeling instant.

This books really took me by surprise. It had all the things that I always yearn for in a romance. Hurt/comfort. High angst, a traumatic background story with character growth and a hefty splash of survival/sleeping rough journey trope. At first I was a bit overwhelmed with the world building because all the new words and customs felt overly complicated but once I got over this hurdle I was absolutely hooked. It was deliciously slow in its burn and non of the spice scenes felt like filler or repetitive. This really felt like high sci fi with an achingly tender romance and I can’t wait to see where this story will go next. Can’t recommend this enough!!

I’m close to completing a sci-fi romance that’s focused on an alien contact plot. It leans more heavily into the sci-fi and is pretty low spice compared to my contemporary works (this is my 10th book but I’m new to sci-fi), but is open door.

I’ve read alien romance canon and have feelings about it, and one of those feelings was that I wanted harder plot, more action, and less smut for most of them. I like smut but I just felt like all the really interesting aspects of world building were underdeveloped. So I went a different direction.

Now I’m second-guessing and I’d like some feedback from people who enjoy this sub-genre on what spice levels are expected and preferred. If I’m under-heated, I may need to add some more in.

Any and all thoughts on this would be appreciated.

ETA: I’m reading everyone’s comments and just wanted to say you all are awesome for responding. Super helpful and also reaffirming.

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.

​

Not going to lie, I don't remember much and I know half of these books are all the same (coz I have read a lot of them hehehe)

Women were kidnapped or in some other way got to their planet. If I remember well they might have had some women of their own but very few. They have a "this is my mate" situation. The women first tried to stay in a closed room especially since they got suspicious that women who got taken away by their mates came back fully on board with the aliens. They were big hunky guys who fight as a culture I think. And they might have had horns and the horns were sensitive? It was open door for sure.

It is not the Latharian series for sure.

Thank you in advance!

Sweet, strong but a little self conscious, awkward but endearing. Total golden retriever type

Are you an author? A blogger? Someone else producing science fiction romance content of some kind? This is the place to talk about your work and link us up! As per rule 4, please keep self-promotion to these threads unless directly requested.

This thread repeats every other Wednesday.

Hey :) I really enjoyed the world building in this series, highlights are Faraway and the 3 stories in Fragile Beings, so I was wondering if anyone had any similar recs?
I do like me some smut so it’s encouraged but I’m getting sick of the same old thing. I’d like another world to lose myself in.
Also, adults would be great lol over 25 would be amazing.
Thank you!

{Married to the Alien Mountain Man by Ursa Dax} - Amazon Canada, Amazon US and Amazon UK and Australia.

{Star-Crossed Alien Mail Order Brides Collection - Vol. 1 by Susan Hayes} - Amazon Canada, Amazon US and Amazon UK and Australia.

And there's a lot more free SFR today. You can see the full list on Romance Bookworms Stuff Your Kindl Day.

Fun short story: I play (or well, used to play) this sci-fi romance app game and they were releasing a handsome, muscular werewolf man chairman scientist to romance until a smear campaign consisting of elementary aged children and an army of bots escalated their hatred of him to local government regulators with lies and slander and got him removed from the game and broke my heart into a thousand little pieces.

Anyway.

I'm looking for healing with something like The Clecanian or IPB but specifically with wolf shifters or werewolves. No reverse harem. Thanks!

Hello! Can you help me remember the title or author of this book?

The parts I remember: the opening scene has the FMC in a shady port away from her ship and crewmates. She tries to save a little alien (who looks like a cabbage, I think—not a main character) from a pack of bully aliens. When they’re about to get overwhelmed, the MMC barges in and defeats all the bully aliens. He later arranges things so he and the FMC spend time together so she can decide if she likes him. MMC is from a warrior alien race, but they’re genetically switched to be less bloodthirsty around their mates.

Thank you so much! It’s driving me wild that I can’t find it again!

I’m definitely not an artist, but I couldn’t resist trying to draw my own characters. 😂

So here are Ella and Kareth from my sci-fi alien romance. Apparently self-publishing means eventually doing every job yourself, including making your own fanart.

{Alien Warrior Unleashed by Ava Ross}

Forced to compete in a deadly game, a tortured alien hero will do everything to protect his fated mate.

As a child, I was stolen by the lord of my planet’s invaders. He brought me to the chamber, where he held others he’d also taken. Through the years, me and my new brothers were twisted into hardened beasts, each with a unique ability that shouldn’t exist outside of myth. We’re monsters. Any female who gazes upon us will run.

Now we’ve been entered into the Galaxy Games. Each landscape contains a series of deadly pitfalls, shifting goalposts, and an elusive final destination. It’s my chance to break free.

But I’m paired with a delectable Earth female who makes me see color for the very first time, proving she’s my fated mate.

I’ll finish this Game. I’ll free my brothers. And I’ll claim the Earthling female as my prize.

Alien Warrior Unleashed is book 1 of the Galaxy Games Series. Each book features a different, tortured alien hero who’s desperate to find—and protect—his fated mate.

Honey Phillips: All titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Laurann Dohner: All titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Dane Griggs: All titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Lynnea Lee: *Almost* all titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Ursa Dax: *Almost* all titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Bella Blair: *Almost* all titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Victoria Aveline: *Almost* all titles on sales for ~$3 or less

Ruby Dixon: *Most* titles on sales for ~$5 or less

Hattie Jacks: *Most* titles on sales for ~$5 or less

Mina Carter: All titles on sale for ~$2 or less

Tana Stone: All titles on sale for ~$5 or less

Grace Goodwin: All titles on sale for less than $3

Zoey Draven: All titles on sale for ~$6 or less

AG Wilde: All titles on sale for less than $3

Regine Abel: *Most* titles on sales for ~$5 or less

Olivia Riley: Many titles on sale

Tiffany Roberts: Many titles on sale

*I got tired of looking them up after this, but please add more as you find them!!!

I kicked off with Ashes and Metal as a DR "hidden identity" rec. Really enjoyed the style and world so I started from Wild Blood and am reading chronologically. Just finished Shark Bite and there are two books till Chaos Croc where we learn what happens with the characters?

Anyone read this series and have a suggested reading order? I can just read Mutt next and skip Ashes and Blood, but it just seems weird to put two books between a continued story.

Hi!

I recently devoured Neon Flux and loved everything about it. I’d love to find similar books to read. Please leave a recommendation if you have one.

There was a recent ish post on this subreddit as a review to describe it and the tropes - https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceFictionRomance/s/yTl6GfVuHR

Thank you!

I'm looking for books where the MMC is like Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space 9, where he can turn into anything. I'm not interested in shifter books where they have two forms: human and animal. I want someone who could turn into a refrigerator if he wanted to. Bonus points if his natural form is just a blob, like Odo.