Portions of this post first appeared in the Roswell Daily Record…
What better topic for June than brides in scifi, fantasy and paranormal romance?
I’ll lead off with Bride by Ali Hazelwood, which has nearly 65K reviews on one major ebook seller’s platform and takes the situation of a Vampyre princess (aptly named Misery) and a werewolf Alpha, entering into a marriage of convenience. Of course the political alliance turns into true love but there are obstacles between the couple and the Happy Ever After. Readers praised the world building, the banter, the spice, the romance…in short pretty much everything about the book. Because Ms. Hazelwood is a well known writer of contemporary romcoms, her venture into the paranormal enticed many of her regular readers to try a new-to-them genre. I was a big fan of the book myself. Amazon AB
Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery: A SciFi Alien Romance (Khanavai Warrior Bride Games Book 1) by Margo Bond Collins takes us into interstellar bride territory. Once a year every eligible human woman gets entered into the lottery. Despite the astronomical odds against it, hundreds of women get selected each year and sent off to the bride games, where the goal of the FMC in this book is to do well enough to survive but not so well that one of the aliens falls for her. The plot has aspects of a reality dating show, which some readers found offputting but overall the world building and the relationship between the two main characters drew praise. This is book one of a series. AmazonKU AB
I could have written an entire column about the topic of mail order brides in genre fiction because it’s a very popular trope (maybe next June). Since Ruby Dixon is such a well known name in the SFR world, I’ll mention her book The Alien’s Mail-Order Bride: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance Novella (Risdaverse). An alien farmer needs help and thinks a mail order bride from his home world would be the perfect partner. Unfortunately for him what he gets is a human who’s hiding from big trouble. Fortunately for her, the farmer is an ex soldier and he falls for her so there’s an HEA. It’s a short read but readers praised the character development and overall felt it was more romance-y than steamy but gave it high marks. AmazonKU
The Escape (Alien Bride Race Book 1) by Sybur Phyre takes a reader into another world where the human women can enter a competition to win a million dollars by avoiding capture during the obstacle race. If they do get caught, however, they become a bride. The FMC comes from a terrible family and is very determined to win the race. She wants the money to start her own business which will be, as the blurb says: “…teaching women alien self-defense, like how to use their extra arms, tentacles, and horns to our advantage.” The alien general who’s intrigued by her is equally determined to capture her for his own. Readers thought the book was a good series starter and liked the FMC and her relationship with the general. AmazonKU
The Monsters’ Bride Market might not sound too appealing at first glance since the women are bought but rest assured there is always an HEA in this sixteen book series by four different authors. The books are generally “quick, fun, steamy…a dash of trauma…” as one reviewer said and the variety of monsters in the market for a bride is wide. Ranging from revenant to void walkers, the list includes some I’d never heard of before like the jotunn and the bogatyr. The series started last October and will continue with planned releases through July. The first book in the series (which can be read in any order as standalones) is Bought by the Revenant by Cara Wylde. AmazonKU AB
There’s a different Monster Brides series that is focused on orc romances. Four authors came together to write this set of books and Sheltered by the Orc: Monster Brides by Sandra R. Neeley is the first. Her human FMC has this misfortune, as described in the blurb: “Fall through an ancient Fae portal to a time when Orcs ruled the Irish countryside. Stumble into an arranged marriage with an Orc who wants you less than you want him. And when it’s all said and done? Frantically search for a way to travel through time back to his side.” True love rules and there’s always an HEA. Readers cited the strong characters and almost fairy tale like air of the book. The other authors in the series have their own unique ways for the orc and the woman to meet. AmazonKU
For a scifi romance series featuring brides, look no further than Naomi Lucas’s Naga Brides series, which pairs human women with giant half-reptile alien Male Main Characters. As the blurb for book one says: “With the charm of a snake, and the wiles of a devil, these males will do anything, and I mean anything, for their females.” Lots of spice in the books but also great worldbuilding and strong FMC’s. Book one in the eight book series (so far – the author has a hotly anticipated new title coming soon) is Viper. AmazonKU AB
If you prefer your alien MMC’s to be more human-looking, there’s Vanquished: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance (War Brides of the Vandar Book 1) by Tana Stone. In this three book series the marriages are arranged but the spice is steamy and the romances are satisfying. Readers did express a desire for the books to be longer but that’s a good thing for an author to hear as feedback. The series does tie in to her previous Raider Warlords of the Vandar SFR series but can be read as standalones. Ms. Stone has an entire galaxy out there to be explored. AmazonKU
There’s also Evangeline Anderson’s 35 book (and counting) Brides of the Kindred series, which has a high spice level and a devoted readership. The FMC’s are curvy, the aliens are hot but have challenges to be overcome while they protect Earth from evil aliens in return for their pick of human brides. As one reviewer said, “Where do I sign up to be a Kindred bride?” Claimed: Brides of the Kindred is book one. Amazon AB
So many more brides I don’t have time to discuss today – happy reading!
VS Note: Here are a few more I didn’t have room for in the column, since the RDR is an actual newspaper.
One of my older books is MISSION TO MAHJUNDAR, in which a Sectors Special Forces officer has to escort a bride to her arranged marriage…
MISSION TO MAHJUNDAR
This one was partially inspired by The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye and the poignant situation of a man escorting the woman he loves to her arranged marriage. I was also inspired by a dear friend I had in college who was blind.
An attempted assassination left Princess Shalira blind as a child and, now that she’s of marriageable age, her prospects are not good because of her disability. She’s resigned herself to an arranged marriage rather than face life under the thumb of her cold stepmother. But then she meets Mike Varone, a Sectors Special Forces officer sent to Mahjundar by the intergalactic government to retrieve a ship lost in her planet’s mountains. After Mike saves Shalira from another assassination attempt, she arranges for him to escort her across the planet to her future husband. She’s already falling hard for the deadly offworlder and knows she should deny herself the temptation he represents, but taking Mike along to protect her is the only way she’ll live long enough to escape her ruthless stepmother.
Mike, for his part, resists his growing attraction to the princess; he has a mission on this planet and rescuing the vulnerable but brave princess isn’t it. No matter how much he wishes it could be.
But what should have been an easy trek through Mahjundar’s peaceful lands swiftly turns into an ambush with danger around every turn. Shalira’s marriage begins to seem less like an arranged union and more like yet another planned assassination. The more they work together to survive, the harder it becomes to stop themselves from falling in love. Caught in a race against time, can they escape the hostile forces hunting them and make it off the planet?
Amazon Apple Books Kobo Nook Google Play AB: Amazon Apple Books
One of my favorite books in my entire backlist is the tale of an unusual honeymoon (because that’s what comes after being a bride, or in this case a mate, right?)
HONEYMOON FOR THE ALPHA
Thrown together as helpless prisoners in the punishing conditions of a Khagrish lab, Jill and Aydarr fell in love. Claiming each other as mates despite only having one night alone in a cell, they formed a deep, loving mate bond. Now, a planetary year later, after escaping the lab and leading the ongoing rebellion against the enemy together, Aydarr longs for more. He wants a chance to show Jill how much she means to him.
He decides to risk everything to take his mate away from it all for a few days. But will the Khagrish, the threats lurking in the planet’s unexplored wilderness and the Badari goddess allow them to complete A Honeymoon for the Alpha?
Amazon Apple Books Kobo Nook GooglePlay
A few others:
PENAL PLANET BRIDE (ALIEN INMATES BOOK ONE) by Lizzy Bequin
This planet is a prison. A dumping ground for the worst criminals in the galaxy. Aliens who take what they want and kill to keep it. Most of them haven’t seen a female in years. None of them have ever seen a human at all. I am both, and that makes me valuable. A prize on a planet built for monsters. Something to be hunted. Something to be claimed. I try to hide, but they find me. Three of them. The cunning thief. The horned giant. The ruthless warrior with conquest in his eyes. They belong different factions. They are not supposed to share. But in my case, they just might make an exception. They might decide I’m theirs. AmazonKU
TAURUS (THE ZODIAC BRIDE SERIES BOOK ONE) by Laetitia Aldin
Earth has never been kind to Melanie. After struggling to survive and take care of her sick grandmother for years, she’s taken away to an unknown location to serve her sentence. After all, she owes a lot of money to a lot of people…But it seems that the place she’s taken to isn’t your usual run-of-the-mill prison. They offer to reduce her life-sentence to a single year. But there’s a catch…In order to be free, she has to take part in the Zodiac Repopulation program, marry a strange Alien she’s never met and give him a child. Ghauro is green, horned, and way too hot to be true. Will Melanie even want to leave once she gets to know him better? AmazonKU
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TAMING THE ALIEN OVERLORD (NOVA BRIDES BOOK ONE) by Thea Dane
One minute I had a cushy job as an assistant to one of Earth’s intergalactic ambassadors. Now I’m stuck on Planet Xaxos with a seven-foot alien overlord. I don’t know what’s bigger, his muscles, his retractable horns or…his ego. Rone Azulim is used to being in charge. He lords over a whole planet and fleet of soldiers. My planet wants to form an alliance. He will only do so if I stay with him. As his mate. If Rone thinks I’m going to give up my independence to become his earthly arm candy, he’s out of his mind. I don’t care if his powerful voice and talented golden hands send thrills down my spine. It’ll take more than his dominant ways to make me submit. But we have more problems besides seeing whose will is strongest. Another alien species is planning an attack on Xaxos’ capital. If they’re not stopped, Earth will be next. Can I find a way to get out of this mission? Or will I trust Rone enough to want to stay with him…forever? AmazonKU
WARBRIDE by Sylvia Mercedes
Ruthless. Bloodthirsty. Killer. And now? Her husband. Ilsevel knows exactly how brutal the fae raiders are. She watched them attack the holy shrine of her god, slaughter the priests, and drag her sister away screaming into darkness. So when she’s forced up onto the auction block to be sold off as a warbride to the highest bidder—and when the chilling warlord, Taarthalor, pushes his way to the front of the crowd and lays down an outrageous bid—Ilsevel fears her nightmare is only just beginning. Taar took one look at the fiery little human, and something in him sparked. He cannot explain it. He knows only that he will not see her sold off to one of the soulless monsters trying to outbid each other for a chance to use and discard her soft, womanly flesh. If that means binding himself to her by marriage, so be it. Can this dark king convince his bride not to murder him in his sleep before he can decide what to do with her? Or do the gods have other plans in store for the captive princess and her terrifying new husband? AmazonKU AB
And I’ll end with this one but it isn’t out until November 22. I love this cover! You can preorder it:
BRIDE OF THE ALIEN WARRIOR: TREASURED BY THE ALIEN (BOOK 16) by Honey Phillips