My Favorite Monster Romances
While some people run away from monsters, others want to get much, uh, closer to them. Monster romances have become somewhat of a favorite of mine and Halloween seems like the perfect time for a rundown of some of my favorites!
For this list, I’m avoiding the typical werewolves and vampires and going for the much less human. Perhaps you’ve seen this chart on Twitter? We’re going for a 3 at least. I’m also excluding aliens for the moment (though I’d highly recommend Strange Love if that’s your thing!).
Let’s go!
Morning Glory Milking Farm – C.M. Nascosta
Ah yes, the BookTok famous romance that brought monster love into the mainstream (ish). Violet, your typical millennial with a crapton of student loans, finds a job at a pharmaceutical company as a technician. The catch? The job is manually… milking… minotaurs. Of course, Violet catches feelings for one of her clients and, well, you can guess what happens.
Sure there’s giant monster cock, but this book is also adorably sweet with a lovable heroine and a kind hero. If you read one book on this list, make it this one!
My Review: Morning glory milking farm
Sweet Berries – C.M. Nascosta
The second book in C.M. Nascosta’s Monster Bait romance series is nearly as sweet as the first! And it features my favorite cryptid – a mothman! He’s absolutely adorkable and the heroine is so much fun as well. Definitely a book to leave you with warm and fuzzy feelings!
My Review: Sweet Berries
Match with the Demon – Chace Verity
Maybe you’re noticing a theme here? For whatever reason, I drift towards the super soft and cozy monster romances. The entire Loved By a Demon series by Chace Verity definitely fits that theme (Deal with a Demon was one of my favorite pandemic comfort reads) but I feel like this book, the third in the series, best fits this list’s criteria.
When a empty-nester dad decides to try out dating again – and dating someone same sex, no less – he ends up matched with a… trash demon. This novella is hilarious, ridiculously sweet, and oh-so-Canadian.
My Review: Match with the demon
Titan – Jillian Graves
And let’s go straight from the sweet and filthy to the daddy Dom kink, shall we?
Jules is the perfect sort of unlikeable heroine (for very good reason) and watching her go toe-to-toe with a literal stone gargoyle is ridiculously fun. Highly recommend if you’re of the age where Gargoyles (and Goliath and Desdemona, mm) was a favorite afternoon cartoon.
My Review: Titan
Stalked by the Kraken – Lillian Lark
The heroine works in a sex-powered paranormal bathhouse. Look, if that sentence doesn’t sell the book, I’m not sure anything else I say here will!
For a book whose title includes “stalking,” this is actually quite sweet as well, though, you know, tentacles. The hero is an absolute sweetheart who decides the heroine is his mate the moment he sees her and then spends the book trying to convince her to give him a chance. It’s fun, hilarious, and, uh, tentacles.
Feed – Aveda Vice
This novelette serves as a prologue for a longer novel, but it’s the perfect story to whet your appetite for the rest of this author’s work.
A succubus uses a paranormal dating app to find her next “meal” – and is surprised when her work nemesis, a death’s head hawk moth fairy, shows up. That doesn’t stop them from engaging in some fun kinky sex.
The Dragon’s Bride – Katie Robert
The main reason I’m including this short novel on the list is for that cover. I mean, a classic clinch cover with a giant lizard man? YES, PLEASE.
Briar Rose makes a deal with a literal demon to escape an abusive relationship and ends up married to a literal dragon. Despite that start, this is very consent-focused (and steamy) though more of a focus on the whole breeding kink than I like.
Radiance – Grace Draven
And I saved my favorite for last!
The Kai are more human-like than most of the folks on this list, but they’re still incredibly foreign for Ildiko, the king’s niece, who ends up in an arranged marriage with the younger Kai prince. Their initial meeting is absolutely hilarious, mostly because they each believe the other is incredibly ugly. They’re both determined to make the best of it, and that’s part of what makes this friends-to-lovers arranged marriage romance work so well.
That’s my current favorites, but I’m always looking for more! Any suggestions?
