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FizzyWater · 07-23-2015, 01:29 AM

Okay, I got home and dug through my book db.

First, a few comments:

ONE: You say all romantic SF appears to be "erotica". Some people think if a couple kisses and the scene doesn't automatically "fade to black", it's erotica. For others, it's not erotic unless it include some level of kink (BDSM/menage).

These days, it's hard to find a book specifically tagged as a romance, that doesn't have at least a couple of sex scenes, including the usage of a few words previously only heard in locker rooms (or at home, if you grew up like me with brothers

).

So I'm going with my definition of "romance" versus "erotica". Romance will have some kissy stuff, and will likely have at least a couple of sex scenes. It may hint at kink, but it's mildly executed.

TWO: My book db doesn't track whether the books were written in first person. You can check samples. There's one series I mention that I'll never read because it's "first person present tense". I noted it, but it's been recommended to me by so many people, I listed it anyway (for anyone else following the thread that's interested).

THREE: I like Science Fiction Romance as a genre, but tend to read it irregularly. I tend to buy books on recommendation from folks I trust, even if I'm not currently going to read it. So some of these books have been on my TBR (to-be-read) pile for awhile, and I still haven't gotten around to them. My last big read of SFR was when Linnea Sinclair was still publishing (feels like a decade ago).

FOUR: There's an entire subgenre of romance called "futuristic". I think of it as Sci-Fi Lite and in some cases, Very Lite. Some of these books/series are probably more "futuristic" than "science fiction". In those cases, the science-fiction part of the book is more backdrop than required for the storyline. If you have questions about a specific author/series/book, ask and I'll see if I can remember.

FIVE: Some of these are set on other planets, some are set here on Earth.

So here goes (book lists hidden under SPOILER tags to keep this from being far too long a post).

SCI-FI with ROMANTIC ELEMENTS (not marketed as romance, just happens to include one)

Spoiler:

SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE (setting is better fleshed out and/or necessary for the plot)

Spoiler:

FUTURISTICS (Usually, the world building isn't very deep, or it's hardly necessary for the plot - the stress is on the romance. However, some of these were actually marketed as Futuristics by the publisher - could be there's more to them than the label implies.)

Spoiler:

CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT/HAVEN'T READ/PICKED UP BASED ON A GOOD REVIEW BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE DETAILS

Spoiler:

NO ROMANCE, BUT I REALLY LIKE THIS SERIES

Spoiler:

DON'T BOTHER WITH

Spoiler:

07-23-2015, 01:29 AM	#6
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Okay, I got home and dug through my book db. First, a few comments: ONE: You say all romantic SF appears to be "erotica". Some people think if a couple kisses and the scene doesn't automatically "fade to black", it's erotica. For others, it's not erotic unless it include some level of kink (BDSM/menage). These days, it's hard to find a book specifically tagged as a romance, that doesn't have at least a couple of sex scenes, including the usage of a few words previously only heard in locker rooms (or at home, if you grew up like me with brothers ). So I'm going with my definition of "romance" versus "erotica". Romance will have some kissy stuff, and will likely have at least a couple of sex scenes. It may hint at kink, but it's mildly executed. TWO: My book db doesn't track whether the books were written in first person. You can check samples. There's one series I mention that I'll never read because it's "first person present tense". I noted it, but it's been recommended to me by so many people, I listed it anyway (for anyone else following the thread that's interested). THREE: I like Science Fiction Romance as a genre, but tend to read it irregularly. I tend to buy books on recommendation from folks I trust, even if I'm not currently going to read it. So some of these books have been on my TBR (to-be-read) pile for awhile, and I still haven't gotten around to them. My last big read of SFR was when Linnea Sinclair was still publishing (feels like a decade ago). FOUR: There's an entire subgenre of romance called "futuristic". I think of it as Sci-Fi Lite and in some cases, Very Lite. Some of these books/series are probably more "futuristic" than "science fiction". In those cases, the science-fiction part of the book is more backdrop than required for the storyline. If you have questions about a specific author/series/book, ask and I'll see if I can remember. FIVE: Some of these are set on other planets, some are set here on Earth. So here goes (book lists hidden under SPOILER tags to keep this from being far too long a post). SCI-FI with ROMANTIC ELEMENTS (not marketed as romance, just happens to include one) Spoiler: Alex Hughes - Mindspace Investigations series - the romance is not the main part of the story, and develops over multiple books. I got sucked into these books to my surprise. Drug-addicted main characters are not generally my cup of tea. Gini Koch - Katherine "Kitty" Katt (haven't read it, but reviews looked good) SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE (setting is better fleshed out and/or necessary for the plot) Spoiler: Patricia Waddell - True Blood and True Deception (I think this was meant to start a series, but didn't get picked up, but I could be wrong) CL Anderson - Bitter Angels (haven't read it, but reviews looked good) Jean Johnson - Theirs Not to Reason Why series - I think I picked this up purely because the cover caught my eye Multi-author series - 2176 series - Liz Maverick, Susan Grant, Patti O'Shea, Kathleen Nance (some are stronger than others; these same authors +1 also wrote a vampire paranormal romance series) Pattie O'Shea - Jarved Nine series - only read the 1st one, 2nd only recently released after author got rights back to first story Gena Showalter - Alien Huntress series - I really liked the first 2 or 3 of these, but it turned more into a "paranormal" romance series that happened to include aliens living on earth Michelle O'Leary - The Huntress (also liked Last Chance, but it was supposed to be a trilogy, and she disappeared online for so long, I never followed up to see what happened to it) FUTURISTICS (Usually, the world building isn't very deep, or it's hardly necessary for the plot - the stress is on the romance. However, some of these were actually marketed as Futuristics by the publisher - could be there's more to them than the label implies.) Spoiler: Jayne Castle Harmony series, St Helens series - the science fiction backdrop of these novels is so thin, it's like you're on a movie set where are the buildings are just fronts with no depth . They're very popular with "futuristic" readers, however. Robin D. Owens - Celta Tales series - more like paranormal/fantasy that happens to be set on another planet. I like these, but they're hardly SFR. Main premise: people with paranormal powers from Earth leave the planet so they can practice their religion without persecution. One of the books spends a lot of time on one of the ships (that's set up as a sort of museum of Earth tech). CJ Barry - books all start with "Un" - Unearthed, Unleashed, I don't know if there's a series name. I know I read the first one, but it was so long ago I don't remember details. Justine Davis Coalition Rebellion series - I think these came out not too long after Star Wars. Early attempt - and before the ebooks were released, sold for ridiculous prices on the used book market - for Sci-Fi romance Space Opera. Susan Kearney Rystani Warrior series - I have no memories of these books. Catherine Spangler Shielder series - I know I read the first one, but it was so long ago I don't remember details. CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT/HAVEN'T READ/PICKED UP BASED ON A GOOD REVIEW BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE DETAILS Spoiler: Kristin Landon Hidden Worlds series Sharon Shinn - Jenna Starborn (supposed to be Jayne Eyre in space) Shannon K Butcher - Forget Me Not Sara Creasy Scarabaeus series Kris DeLake (sci-fi romance pseudonym of Kristine Katherine Rusch) - I bought these because I like Rusch's Retrieval Artist series, but I've never gotten around to reading them. CL Wilson Tairen Soul series - this looks like a SF/F hybrid, but it was gushed over by romance reader blogs I follow Marcella Burnard Enemy series Ann Aguirre Sirantha Jax series - I passed on reading these because they were written in 1st person, present tense, but they've had a lot of good recommendations, if you can read FPPT Sherrilyn Kenyon The League series - may be more superhero-y than true SF Jess Granger Beyond the Shadow Realms series Cheryl Brooks Cat Star Chronicles series - definitely romance-heavy over sci-fi NO ROMANCE, BUT I REALLY LIKE THIS SERIES Spoiler: Kristine Katheryn Rusch Retrieval Artist series DON'T BOTHER WITH Spoiler: Jacquelyn Frank Three Worlds series - it's like hunter/gatherers living in trees on another planet (and she never intends to finish the series) Katherine Allred Alien Affairs series - more hunter/gatherers in space (to be honest, I only remember I was disgusted I'd wasted my time reading the first book and I marked her as never-buy-again) Sharon Lynn Fisher - Ghost Planet - I actually thought this started out really well, with an interesting concept, but the 2nd half was so bad IMO, it was as if it was written by another person (or she'd written the start and cleaned it up, then rushed to finish the book) Dara Joy Matrix of Destiny series - this series is...over the top campy. It's almost like she wrote it as a satire of the romance novel. Some romance readers really love these books.