This post first appeared in the Roswell Daily Record…

When you were a kid did you love the circus? Or are you a fan of Cirque du Soleil? It will come as no surprise I’m sure to hear that the romance genre offers quite a selection of stories revolving around a circus of some kind. The first modern circus dates to 18^th century England which were equestrian shows given by a cavalry officer named Phillip Astley, who later added acrobats and clowns to his performances. The concept has expanded and evolved since then and now we’ll add romance behind the scenes.

Perhaps one of the most famous circus stories with a romance would be The Night Circus: A Novel by Erin Morgenstern. The description grabs a reader’s attention right away: “The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.” As one reviewer said, “the circus is the main character,” although there’s a fierce duel going on behind the performances, with a star crossed pair of young lovers who are magicians. Published in 2011, the book has garnered thousands of rave reviews and over a million ratings on Goodreads. It’s an excellent place to start the circus journey.   Amazon     AB

Apprentice (Galaxy Circus Book 1) by Lexie Winston is the first of nine books in a why choose, reverse harem scifi romance series. The books are quite spicy so be forewarned. The Female Main Character Lila is stuck in a boring job and a humdrum life on Earth when she gets a a surprise inheritance and is off to tour the galaxy with the circus and a lot of hunky alien guys. Reviewers appreciated the strength of the FMC and how she proceeded to live her new, exciting life.     AmazonKU

Circus of the Dead: Book 1 by Kimberly Loth is the start of a fourteen book paranormal romance series revolving around one of the creepier circuses I’ve seen. Here’s how the FMC describes her predicament after her mother sends her to help with her uncle’s circus for the summer: “In addition to avoiding the human scorpion, staying away from the big cats, and having trouble figuring out who’s dead and who’s alive, I have to find a way to escape this horror show. Will I get out of the circus alive or will I join their army of ghosts and become a murderer myself?” She has a thing for the sexy ringmaster but many questions arise and she discovers new aspects of herself which get more attention in the later books.     Amazon     AB

If you prefer your circus stories without scifi or magic elements, there’s Tangled Encounters: A Sapphic Circus Romance (Cirque Callisto Series Book 1) by Madison Nicole. Ozzie needs a job, the circus needs a juggler and she’s hired. Unfortunately she also has to work the aerial hoops with one of the other performers and the two women don’t get along. Or do they? Are those sparks between them attraction? The duo get into a fake dating relationship and as I’ve said before, (spoiler)  in a romance novel that guarantees a couple will fall in love and achieve their Happy Ever After.   AmazonKU

The Carnival of Mysteries is an intriguing 26 book series, written by many different authors. As the blurb states “Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special.” This is an LGBTQ Fantasy Romance series and the first book released was Crow’s Fate: Carnival of Mysteries by Kim Fielding.  In this book a man who expected to stay in Illinois his entire life and grow corn ends up with the circus as he tries to escape a terrible fate forecasted for him. Reviewers liked the way the character finally took control of his life, with the help of a handsome stranger connected to the circus, and fought back against fate.     Amazon     AB

The Girl Who Joined the Circus (Dark Circus Book 1) by J.R. Rain and H.P. Mallory is a paranormal tale of a girl who runs away to join the Cirque du Noir with her best friend, only the friend never arrives and the FMC is soon plagued by uneasy feelings. “Or maybe it’s the circus itself—the more time I spend here, the stranger things get—like seeing people whose faces I can’t make out, or an old gypsy woman I’m reasonably convinced is a ghost, or the caravan parked on the far side of the circus which is off-limits. Yet, I can’t help but feel an unearthly call to the place.” Even more confusing to her, there are two men to whom she’s drawn, although they’re very different types. Reviewers called the book “eerily clever” and “unique” and there are two more books in the series.   AmazonKU    AB

What would a circus be like in post apocalyptic times? Circus Save Me (Her Freaks Book 1) by K.A Knight and Erin O’Kane answers the question. As the blurb states: “It’s been over thirty years since the bombs dropped that almost decimated the planet. The fallout changed not only the animals and the landscape, but the people too. Freaks they called them; outcasts of society and hunted for their powers. The Circus has the only people to openly flaunt them, offering a haven for the lost and the damned.” This is a why choose, reverse harem romance. Readers praised the world building and the family the ‘freaks’ created together at the Circus Alcide. There are two more books in the series.   AmazonKU

For a palate cleanser from the darker romance, there’s The Failed Audition: A Sports Romance (Circus Is Family) by Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie, which is a contemporary romance. The logline for the book is “…Cirque du Soleil meets the steamy, athletic romance of Center Stage.” A somewhat naïve Midwestern girl goes to Las Vegas to follow her dream of becoming an aerialist with the Amour show but the road to success doesn’t run smoothly. Of course there’s a sexy co-worker who helps her out and romance ensues.    AmazonKU

No need to run away to the circus when you can read about it with so many variations told by skillful authors.

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VS Note: A Bluesky reader suggested adding Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ KISS AN ANGEL, so here it is:

Alex Markov, as humorless as he is deadly handsome, has no intention of playing the loving bridegroom to a spoiled little feather-head with champagne tastes. He drags Daisy from her uptown life to a broken down traveling circus and sets out to tame her to his ways.

But this man without a soul has met his match in a woman who’s nothing but heart. Before long, passion will send them flying sky high without a safety net… risking it all in search of a love that will last forever.

Amazon     AB

VS: It was also suggested to me more than once that I should have included my own FATED STARS, which begins at a carnival/circus and revisits the activity several times, so here that is:

The Fated Stars – fourth in the series but can be read as a standalone

The blurb: Larissa Channer, a tough no-nonsense mercenary in the Sectors, is celebrating success on her last job and a big bonus, with no slightest thought of taking on another assignment anytime soon. Out for a night of carousing with her friends at a third rate carnival on a backwater planet, she walks into the tent of a fake fortune teller and finds herself confronting the most intriguing man she’s ever seen. But something’s wrong, ominous currents lie beneath the surface of their encounter and Larissa can’t leave well enough alone.

Samell, a powerful, high born empathic priest, has been kidnapped from his own primitive planet along with a number of his people, and sold to the shady operator of an interstellar carnival. Kept enslaved, pretending to be a fortune teller while forced by his captor to steal information from the minds of all who come before him, Samell despairs of every breaking free.

Until Larissa walks into his tent and he recognizes the warrior who might mean the difference between life and death.

The situation becomes dire when Larissa and Samell come to the attention of the Shemdylann pirates who kidnapped him in the first place and the deadly Mawreg, aliens who threaten the Sectors. Can she save herself and the empathic alien noble, and derail the Mawreg plot against the Sectors? And will the soldier end up with her prince when all’s said and done?

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