A Not-Totally-Tax-Deductible Guide to Monster Romance Subgenres

What I pondered while frantically sending off my taxes 🇺🇸

Every year, I say I'm going to do taxes earlier, and every year, something happens at the last minute. So this is late! 😅

This nerdy post goes out to my literary-critiquing girlies out there.

I read a lot of books and personally put a wide practical circle around "Monster Romance." In my world, the genre is part of this weird Venn Diagram. Everything on this Venn Diagram is fair game regarding what I like reviewing (that's not nonfiction and entirely out of scope for this commentary, so we'll skip right over that).

Monster Romance (without getting too pedantic or complicated, because believe me, the pull is there) pulls in at least the following subgenres: Sci-Fi Romance, Fantasy Romance, and Horror Romance.

Please feel free to add your own takes on this genre.

I have allowed my inner cynic to leave out Paranormal Romance because sometimes it just feels like Fantasy for marketers. Feel free to bring me to reason, but tag me when you create that rebuttal. 👀

🐉 Monster Romance

Definition: Romantic narratives involving non-human, often fantastical or mythical beings (e.g., orcs, dragons, krakens) engaging in relationships with humans or other entities.

Distinct Features:

• Focus on beings that are markedly non-human in appearance and nature.

• Often challenges traditional notions of attractiveness and love.

• Blends romance with other speculative fiction elements rather than sitting apart from them. It may incorporate elements of Fantasy or science fiction. Occasionally, there may be horror.

🔮 Fantasy Romance

Definition: Romance set within a fantasy world involving elements like magic, mythical creatures, and epic quests.

Distinct Features:

• Themes of destiny (like Fated Mates), heroism, and transformation.

• Romantic relationships often develop alongside plotlines involving political intrigue or battles between good and evil.

• Inclusion of fantastical beings and settings.

Books:

• Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon: A runaway noblewoman enters a marriage of convenience with a brooding minotaur to infiltrate a male-only guild and save her family's legacy.

• Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark: A matchmaking witch with a bruised heart strikes a steamy deal with an ancient kraken shifter who's convinced she's his fated mate.

• A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon: A bold woman embraces a life of sensual indulgence with a harem of supernatural lovers. Amid the pleasure, there is also hidden peril.

👽 Sci-Fi Romance

Definition: Romantic stories involving extraterrestrial beings, often set in futuristic or space-faring contexts.

Distinct Features:

• Common motifs include advanced technology, space exploration, and non-humans connected to one or both. These non-humans have unique physiologies but often possess human-like emotions and intelligence.

• Themes of cultural exchange and understanding.

• Settings are often off-world or involve interplanetary travel.

Books:

• Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon: Human women are stranded on an ice planet by alien kidnappers but are rescued and form mating bonds with the native blue-skinned aliens.

• I Married a Lizard Man by Regine Abel: A pragmatic human woman enters an arranged marriage with an alien warrior, only to find unexpected love and purpose as they bridge their worlds through mutual respect and a shared passion for farming.

• Programmed for Love by Lyonne Riley: A worker on a space freighter must stop an engine saboteur while falling in love with her kind and quiet android coworker.

🖤 Dark Romance

Definition of Dark Romance: Romance with elements of taboo or transgressive themes.

Distinct Features:

• Themes may include trauma, sacrifice, or the corrupting influence of power.

• Romantic relationships are often fraught with tension and ethical dilemmas.

• It may involve non-consensual or morally ambiguous scenarios.

Books:

• The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn: A woman is abandoned by her husband, only to be kidnapped by an orc who wants to make her his mate and take revenge.

• Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux: A woman becomes entangled with a demon in a tale blending horror and erotica.

• Run, Run Rabbit by C. M. Nascosta: A young werewolf enters a primal, toxic dance of lust and dominance with her domineering boss.

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