Where To Get Started With Monster Romance

You've probably read at least one monster romance in your lifetime.

Twilight, Beauty and the Beast, and A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) all fit into this genre. Monster romance is a sub-genre of fantasy, paranormal, and science-fiction that provides captivating narratives between humans and non-human characters. The genre's flexibility allows readers to enjoy light themes and explore complex ones you wouldn't otherwise see in other genres.

Monster romance involves any romantic relationship where at least one of the individuals is not human. These monsters can range from human-appearing to ghastly monstrous.

So, where should you start?

Understanding what specifically appeals to you about non-human romance is crucial in finding the best place to start. If you enjoy a simpler, earth-based fantasy with shapeshifting fae or something more reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, you might prefer lighter fantasy smut. For those who previously enjoyed powerful, possessive men, an alien or omegaverse romance could be appealing.

If you love world-building, you may enjoy a lengthy series that takes its time to explore and build upon existing stories. On the other hand, if you're looking for something darker and want to see how intense it can get, we have some recommendations for monster erotica and naughty books here.

But, if you're just starting out and need to be eased into this magnificent genre or you're interested in spicing up your book club and want to try something different, here are our recommendations.

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

LOST You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet. FOUND And the only native inhabitant I've met? He's big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me...

Strange Love by Ann Aguire

He's awkward. He's adorable. He's alien as hell.

Zylar of Kith B'alak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he'll lose his chance to have a mate for all time. Desperation drives him to try a matching service but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This 'human being' is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.She's frazzled. She's fierce. She's from St. Louis.Beryl Bowman's mother always said she'd never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? She doesn't know what the hell's going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants. They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by kimberly lemming

Spice trader Cinnamon’s quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon, in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell.

All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.

After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he’s dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she like it or not.

On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt…

Soul Eater by Lily Mayne

Twenty years ago, monsters rose on earth and began a new age of civilization.

One where humans live in military-controlled, cramped and dirty cities along the coasts, and the majority of the United States is known as the Wastes. A lawless, desolate and dangerous place, teeming with monsters that have claimed the land for their own.

Including Wyn the Soul Eater.

He appears every three years, making his way across the country and slaughtering humans randomly, sucking them dry until they’re nothing but husks.

I’ve only been in the military for six months, but now I’m part of a unit tasked with trying to stop and capture him. And when I’m the only soldier out of hundreds that the Soul Eater leaves alive, I realise that… something about me has intrigued him.

But what is it? What could a twenty-three year old guy from the south, with no one and nothing in the world, have possibly done to capture the attention of a death monster with horns, blackened fingertips and a face hidden in the dark depths of his hood?

Susix by Amelia Rademaker

Being abducted by aliens is terrifying. Everything after that? Pretty boring.

Cece Levine didn’t believe in aliens. That is, right up until she was abducted. Life in space is not what she expected. She lives in a cage. She's left alone all the time. And the boredom is driving her insane.

That is until a snake man sets her free, and she decides he is her best bet for getting off this crazy planet. Unfortunately, he and his crew think she's an exotic pet. It's not too bad. She's fed, can walk around, and can spy on her new shipmates. They’re actually pretty fun to be around. When pirates attack her new home, Cece realizes her new 'friends' might be more dangerous than she thought.

Sign Here for Horns by V.k. ludwig

I accidentally bought myself an alien concubine.

Thirty-one, recently divorced, and behind on the mortgage for my farm, I scrape my last savings together and buy myself a farmhand. That big, horned alien I end up with? He’s a Vandalar saikh, a male concubine, and he wants to plow more than just my fields.

Guess I should have read the fine print of the purchase contract better because the trader refuses to take him back. Now I’m stuck with weed-infested fields, red letters from the bank, and a guy who says he studied one million ways to please a female. (His words, it’s not like I’m going to count…

Luxuria by Colette Rhodes

Ophelia, born into a family of Hunters, harbors a fascination with monsters despite her family's duty to protect humans from them. When her secret thoughts are exposed, she faces banishment. However, fate intervenes when she's chosen as the bride for the King of Shades, Allerick. Now, Ophelia must convince her surly monster husband that she's the perfect match for him.

Mercy by Catherine Miller

Dishonourable. Unwanted.Outsider.Such are the slurs cast upon Rykkon, however undeserved.

As the only village healer, his people cannot cast him out entirely, but there is little comfort in such a life when he has long known that no mate from his clan would willingly join with him. It is a lonely fate, but one Rykkon has learned to accept. That is, until one tense exchange between his people and the humans brings him an offer he simply cannot ignore.The humans are not their slaves. Nor their property. Nor of any great concern. But neither are they free. It is by the provisions of the Arterians they scrape out a sorry existence in the Wastes, and by their goodwill alone that they continue to survive. Scavenging for hasart beetles under the two suns is the only life the desperate colonists have known since their ancestors first landed on the desolate planet. It was all they knew. It was all they hoped for.Until one day, a young female dares to ask for more.---“Wait.” The entire group stilled, staring at him as he continued to regard the female. She glanced up sharply, her brow furrowed and her gaze cautious. As right it should be. “I will take you for a mate.”

You're not my King! by Eryn Hawk

Reuben Carter

Throwing myself in front of my estranged sister didn’t win me any brownie points. It did, however, grant me one alien abduction and a cozy cell on an actual-freaking-spaceship, where I’m being poked and prepped for relocation to some backwater trading planet, then sold to the highest bidder—how’s that for a hero’s reward?

My escape plans hit a snag when Vo’ak, the hot and arrogant lizard king, buys me the second I land. There’s no denying our serious chemistry, but I gotta get back to the familiarity of Earth, where free will kinda exists and I’m no one's pet. However, chasing the comfort of old memories starts feeling like an unnecessary fixation, and I must decide what “home” really means before making any more stupid mistakes.

Tentacles & Triathlons by Ashley Bennett

Leviathan Fitness is the favorite place of monsters, muscles, and a tentacled creature who can seduce even the hardest to win over human.

When parks department supervisor Reece Rollins decides to sign up for a triathlon– there are two things holding him back. One, his fear of monsters. Two, his sub-par swimming skills.

At the urging of his sister’s wolven mate, Reece joins Leviathan Fitness to train in the gym’s olympic size swimming pool. After running into Reece at the pool, Cyrus offers to help Reece get ready to win the race.

New feelings arise from the depths as Reece and Cyrus learn that monsters and humans go together, tentacle in hand. The only question is- can these two hold on to their new found love despite their differences?

I married a Lizardman: Prime Mating Agency by Regine Abel

Scaly, grumpy, but oh so cuddly...

As a third daughter on the farming colony of Meterion, Susan's future prospects aren't too promising. A pretty face, top-notch skills, and hard work mean nothing if your dowry doesn't include fertile lands. With her twenty-fifth birthday approaching, and no suitors even remotely sniffing in her general direction, Susan will be forced to leave the family lands to work as an indentured servant in the capital city. Her only way out is to settle for an arranged marriage through the PMA - the Prime Mating Agency. She just never expected to be paired to a grumpy, massive lizardman, and above all not to grow so fond of his scales and quirky ways.

With everything going on, the last thing Olix needs is a mate, especially a squishy, scaleless, off-worlder with strange ways, and an obsession with farming. He is a Hunter, not a dirt digger. The Seer must have been mistaken when she insisted that, for the sake of the people, he take a mate from the stars. How can such a tiny thing be their salvation? And yet, his Susan's softness is disturbingly addictive while hiding a surprising resilience.

With his ancestral lands on the line and the future of the clans threatened, could this wisp of a woman turn their fate around?

My Minotaur Husband by Lyonne Riley

Celeste is one of only a hundred remaining humans on Earth, living on a secured preserve away from the many dangerous monsters out in the world. But some monsters desperately want human companions—and they’ll abide by all the strict rules and requirements to get one. Celeste has applications piling up from those who want to court her, but she’s afraid of taking the leap... until Theo.

Theo the minotaur is shy, gentle, and kind, and wants nothing more than a human wife to spoil. When Celeste agrees to move in and start a trial marriage, he’ll do anything in his power to keep her happy and safe in a world where a human might make a great meal for another monster.

The only problem? Theo is huge in more than one way—and he knows Celeste isn’t ready for him yet. It will take trust and time to prepare her as they start to build their new life together, and it might just lead to falling in love.

By considering what aspects of monster romance appeal to you most, you can find the perfect starting point and immerse yourself in this fascinating genre.

Happy reading!

If you’ve read or are considering any of these, you might enjoy our monster smut stickers.

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