[MartaDec]

I read quite a bit of SFR a while back. I second Rachel Bach with her "Paradox" series - I've read "Fortune's Pawn" and it was pretty good. I'd also recommend anything by Ann Aguirre - both her series about Sirantha Jax and "Dred Chronicles" have elements of romance, and they're fantastic.

 

[worktolive]

How funny that this thread popped up again. There's a SF Romance called Escape Velocity by Jess Anastasi on sale today for $0.99. It's part of MacMillan's Entangled Otherworld Select line. The second book, Damage Control is also on sale for $1.99.

 

[soche]

I love science fiction romance! My very favorite is Lord of the Storm by Justine Davis and another one that I loved is Shamara by Catherine Spangler.

 

[Atunah]

I love science fiction romance! My very favorite is Lord of the Storm by Justine Davis and another one that I loved is Shamara by Catherine Spangler.

I just looked up Lord of the Storm and found out I bought it on sale in 2015. I had no idea. Got lost in the shuffle I guess. Moved it up on my list.
Thanks for those recs.

Glad to see a few more SFR readers in the thread.

eta: and I just realized I own the first in that Spangler series, Shamara being the 3rd. The first called Shielder was also lost in the depth of my books.
I did not see them in my SFR collection for some reason, I must not have added them. No wonder they got lost.

 

[kdiem]

There's a 99 cents Sci Fi Romance sale this week... http://author.carolvannatta.com/solstice-sfr-99-cent-sale/

It includes the new Ruby Lionsdrake series, Star Guardians. I like her stuff.

 

[worktolive]

Here's an SF Romance trilogy that has a pre-release price of $0.99 from Crimson Romance:



I haven't heard of the author, but for that price it might be worth a try.

 

[C. Gold]

On a lark I picked up one of those alien abduction sci-fi romance books with the typical beefcake cover and wound up finding a really interesting world consisting of three races who were cursed by a goddess in different ways. One lost their food, one lost their ability to birth females, and the other went crazy. There's this whole political and survival thing going on in the background when a slaver race finds Earth. The discovery that Earth women are compatible starts an explosion of events that could either destroy all these civilizations or ultimately save them.

The books are by M.K. Eidem. I think a couple had bad formatting issues but the rest read fine. There is a series for each of the non-crazy races - The Tornians and the Kaliszians. She also has a third series which is about a few human survivors from a destroyed Earth.

 

[Atunah]

On a lark I picked up one of those alien abduction sci-fi romance books with the typical beefcake cover and wound up finding a really interesting world consisting of three races who were cursed by a goddess in different ways. One lost their food, one lost their ability to birth females, and the other went crazy. There's this whole political and survival thing going on in the background when a slaver race finds Earth. The discovery that Earth women are compatible starts an explosion of events that could either destroy all these civilizations or ultimately save them.

The books are by M.K. Eidem. I think a couple had bad formatting issues but the rest read fine. There is a series for each of the non-crazy races - The Tornians and the Kaliszians. She also has a third series which is about a few human survivors from a destroyed Earth.

They do look interesting, but I am really concerned about the many mentions of editing issues. That is one strike already and then I see that some had issues with the present tense, which is not something I like reading. That is 2 strikes for me. I just don't think I want to deal with obvious editing issues anymore at this point. As much as I hate present tense, I'd overcome that over editing stuff. Baffling to me that someone would put stuff out like that. Those reviews come from folks I trust on goodreads and those I don't know. Just too many mention it. Sigh. Not like its hard enough as it is to find decent SFR.

 

[Atunah]

This is free now



Some reviewers call it more space opera than SFR. Diener is suppose to be a good one though.

 

[A.Q.]

I can't say I'm a fan of romance stories - by that, I mean, the main purpose of the narrative is purely about romance - but I am a fan of romance acting as a dedicated sub-plot in stories.
Genre doesn't matter for me: crime, mystery, sci-fi... If your aim is to imbue your story with a sense of drama, romance is often a critical component in doing so (but not always necessary, and I tip my head off to any author who can create a compelling dramatic story without using a romance trope)
 

 

[Galaxy Dog]

I had no idea Sci-Fi Romance existed. I would not be averse to it. My sci-fi tastes are more at the hard end of the scale with Alastair Reynolds and Arthur C. Clarke. I don't think I'd enjoy anything where people were being cursed by a goddess. Is there sci-fi romance at this end of the spectrum?

 

[Don DeBon]

It is hard to find good novels in this sub genre, and many of the ones suggested here I have not read.  But they are now on my TBR pile.

It is far more common to have more action/adventure than outright romance where the core of the plot is not about the two characters getting together.

 

[C. Gockel]

I love Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold:
https://www.amazon.com/Shards-Honor-Vorkosigan-McMaster-Bujold/dp/1476781109/

And Barrayar: https://www.amazon.com/Barrayar-Vorkosigan-Saga-McMaster-Bujold/dp/1476781117/ (This one isn't as romantic as the first.) There is no on scene sex, so if that's your thing, you might not be interested.

I will third Michelle Diener's Dark Horse: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Horse-Class-Michelle-Diener-ebook/dp/B00Z9R1W9W/
It has a believable romance, but the story really centers around the girl and her friendship with an AI.

 

[Atunah]

bringing this one up in case there are more unicorns, I mean SFR to be found. 

 

[worktolive]

Ok, Atunah, continuing the discussion from the HR thread, the book I just finished is called Thanemonger by Bex McLynn. This appears to be the author's first book and it was quite good. It had space opera elements, a solid romance and the editing was clean. It's in KU and is $2.99.



I found some good SFR authors through the Pets In Space II anthology and was excited to see that there's a new anthology coming out in a month or so. These might not work for you because some of them were in the middle of established series and I know you don't like that, but I found all of the stories to be enjoyable (the alien pets were adorable) and didn't find them confusing even though I hadn't read any of the series they were related to.

 

[Atunah]

Yay, you found it. I had to dig a bit to bring up up.

Thanks for the recs, I'll check them out.

As far as the anthology, I don't like series in middle, but this way I can see some names and look through their backlist. And start at the beginning of a series. As is proper. 

 

[worktolive]

Just finished Overload Flux, the first book in the Galactic Concordance series by Carol Van Natta, along with 2 novellas in the same series. I found this through the Pets In Space anthology. This is SF Romance, although the romance is not overemphasized IMHO. This series doesn't have any aliens, but it does have humans, some of whom have developed mind powers like telepathy, who have spread out and colonized various worlds in the galaxy. There are evil big pharma companies, a somewhat evil quasi-gov't agency that is supposed to protect people with "minder" powers, but actually exploits those powers, a spaceship crash on an supposedly uninhabited world - lots of fun action in other words.

 

[worktolive]

On sale today as part of the Kindle Daily Deal, Polaris Rising, a fantastic space opera type SF Romance by Jessie Mihalik, new author whom I've been following thanks to a rec from Ilona Andrews. I actually just read this through the library a couple of weeks ago, but bought a copy today for my archives. The next book, Aurora Blazing, is out in in the fall I think. I've already read the first chapter from it and it's on the wishlist.



Another debut SFR that I read recently and quite enjoyed is Spacer's Cinderella by Adria Rose.

 

[Atunah]

Polaris Rising was great. Enjoyed that one very much. I see the other you listed is in KU so I can give it a try. Title is a wee bit of a turnoff, but I trust your reviews. 

 

[JamieE1998]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned but i LOVE the "Across the Universe" series. Excellent writing. Great characters, and just enough of both genres to be awesome. I highly recommend it.