Book picks similar to
Ritual of Proof by Dara Joy


romance
fantasy
sci-fi
paranormal-romance

Wicked as They Come


Delilah S. Dawson - 2012
    He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?

Shielder


Catherine Spangler - 1999
    In the hopes of finding a cure, the Shielders need a human host to get the deadly virus past Controller checkpoints and to a medical lab on the planet Santerra. With her people facing extinction, outcast Nessa dan Ranul volunteers to be the host and is injected with the virus. She has only four weeks to make it to Santerra before it kills her. When her ship breaks down in deep space, she’s rescued by her most dangerous enemy—a shadower, a bounty hunter who tracks down Shielders. She can’t tell him the truth about her dilemma, or he will turn her in to the Controllers. Shadower Chase McKnight has an agenda more pressing than claiming bounty rewards—vengeance. He doesn’t have time for a homeless waif who ignites emotions he buried long ago. He refuses to allow anything to deter him from his mission, which results in traveling away from Santerra—while the time bomb inside Nessa is ticking down. But she doesn’t dare trust this man who is an enemy of Shielders. Their secrets and agendas don’t prevent the growing attraction between them, even as they fight their individual demons—even as time runs out for Nessa. Only love can bring them full circle, offering Chase redemption, and the chance to save Nessa—and ultimately, her people.

The Sword


Jean Johnson - 2007
     Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day-they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. To avoid tempting their destiny, the brothers are exiled to Nightfall Island, a land where women are strictly forbidden. But, when the youngest of the mage-brothers rescues a woman from another universe, their world is altered forever. Kelly Doyle had wanted to get away from the world. Threatened, attacked, and accused of witchcraft, Kelly had enough of her narrow-minded small town. And now she has somehow landed in another, magical dimension-the only woman in a realm inhabited by eight men who are desperately in need of a woman's touch.

I Married a Lizardman


Regine Abel - 2021
    A pretty face, top-notch skills, and hard work mean nothing if your dowry doesn’t include fertile lands. With her twenty-fifth birthday approaching, and no suitors even remotely sniffing in her general direction, Susan will be forced to leave the family lands to work as an indentured servant in the capital city. Her only way out is to settle for an arranged marriage through the PMA – the Prime Mating Agency. She just never expected to be paired to a grumpy, massive lizardman, and above all not to grow so fond of his scales and quirky ways.With everything going on, the last thing Olix needs is a mate, especially a squishy, scaleless, off-worlder with strange ways, and an obsession with farming. He is a Hunter, not a dirt digger. The Seer must have been mistaken when she insisted that, for the sake of the people, he take a mate from the stars. How can such a tiny thing be their salvation? And yet, his Susan’s softness is disturbingly addictive while hiding a surprising resilience.With his ancestral lands on the line and the future of the clans threatened, could this wisp of a woman turn their fate around?

Red


S.J. Sanders - 2019
    Never wear red or any other bright color. Make as little sound as possible if one had to be outside the protection of the sanctuary settlements. And never, ever, go out in the wild places alone. The Ragoru, an alien species set down to live among them, dwell within the forests and everyone knows that they crave all things red. Arie’s life has always been one of playing by the rules. She doesn’t draw attention to herself. She doesn’t leave her home without her hood that conceals her bright red hair. It is a secret from everyone, and her hood protects her secret so that she may continue to live safely within the village until one day that secret comes to light. Absconding into the woods soon becomes her only safety, and she will risk her very life into the care of the very dreaded beings that all people fear, the Ragoru, in hope of making it to her grandmother’s house in the citadel at the other side of the great forest. When circumstances reveal them to not be the monsters of human imagination, but that they stir the ravenous beast within her, Arie finds that she is willing to risk far more to find a way to be with them forever. Even if that means severing ties with her grandmother, rejecting the human comforts of the citadel, and facing the horror of the Order of the Huntsmen. A new spin on the Little Red Riding Hood Story, bringing a well known fairy tell to a dystopian future with a wolfish alien species.

Double Down


Susan Hayes - 2016
    Kit and Luke Armas are cyborgs created for one purpose, battle. Now that the war is over, they must fight to carve out a place for themselves in a universe they were intended to die for but never be a part of. Cargo pilot Zura Watson came to the edge of civilized space to start over. The Drift is a haven for the hunted, the lost, and those seeking second chances. It was also the last place in the cosmos Zura expected to find love. When the shadows of the past threaten to eclipse this trio’s future, they’ll have to fight for their chance at love and the life they’ve always dreamed of.

The Scorpion's Mate


Susan Trombley - 2018
    The last thing she expects is to be abducted by aliens and dropped into a research facility, where a genetically-engineered alien soldier chooses her as his life-mate. Thrax’s pheromones are compelling, and his status as a fellow unwilling test subject makes them allies, but Claire isn't certain she can trust someone who is convinced she belongs to him, when all she wants to do is find a way to return home to Earth—a place that her devoted alien can never follow, because there’s no way the scorpion-like alien would ever be able to pass for human. Still, she’ll accept help where she can find it, so she doesn't hesitate to escape with Thrax from the facility, though their time running from their pursuers in the warrens beneath the research facility will forever change Claire, and could make it impossible for her to return to Earth. But will there be anywhere else in the galaxy they can go where their love will be accepted? Plus a BONUS Full-length novel: Into the Dead Fall Though she was raised by a survivalist, Alice was not prepared to be ripped from her dimension and dropped without ceremony into the massive junkyard of a parallel dimension. She’s wounded, alone, and lost in a world her mind struggles to comprehend. When a strange, four-armed alien comes to her aid, saving her life, she has no choice but to accept his help. She finally starts growing comfortable around her leonine companion, until another warrior intervenes to save her when creatures from the Dead Fall attack them during their exploration, making everything much more complicated. Alice still doesn’t understand what either of the warriors is saying, and if she can’t find the right words to soothe her beastly new protectors, they’ll end up killing each other. Author’s Note: 18+ These books contain scenes that are not suitable for younger audiences. It should also be noted that the alien heroes in these books look alien in many ways, and their cultures and mating habits might not be for everyone.

Driven


Eve Kenin - 2007
    She's spent her life on the run, one step ahead of the megalomaniac who hunts her. All she wants is to stay out of trouble and haul her load of grain to Gladow Station--but trouble finds her in the form of a sexy stranger called Wizard. He has the trucking pass she needs, and she has to drag him out of a brawl with the very people she's trying to hide from in order to get it. She may have rescued him, but Raina's not foolish enough to see Wizard as anything close to helpless. He's hard and honed and full of secrets--secrets that may destroy them both. As they race across the Waste, trying to outrun rival truckers, ice pirates, and the powerful man bent on their destruction, Raina's forced to admit that trouble's found her. And this time, there's nowhere left to run.

Rebel Heart


Lizzy Ford - 2012
    It will take all his connections and strength to protect Lana and keep from falling in love with her.

Captive Surrender


Linda Mooney - 2011
    Little did she know what the Kronners had planned for her and the Ellinod until she woke up naked in a cell inside their ship. And it wasn't long before she found out a translation device had been implanted against her spine, debilitating her and making her helpless with pain whenever she tried to use her psi powers.Neither she nor the Ellinod had any idea how twisted their captors were, but they soon discovered that she and the beast were at the mercy of someone who expected them to "entertain" his "customers", and entertain them well regardless of the consequences.Warning: Contains moral degradation, public sex, self sacrifice, unexpected tenderness, sadistic little aliens, banishment, exorbitant Pay Per View charges, and sweet revenge served cold.

Polaris Rising


Jessie Mihalik - 2019
    As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars.Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head.When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape.But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .

Lord of the Storm


Justine Davis - 1994
    He lives only to serve her desires.A warrior. A sex slave from a conquered world.What will he do to her if she sets him free?Shaylah Graymist, ace fighter pilot for a brutal intergalactic Coalition, is given a slave as a reward for heroism in battle. The incredibly virile slave named Wolf wears a collar which controls him completely, allowing her to make him do anything she wants. Yet Shaylah has an old-fashioned belief in love and refuses to take advantage of him. A tense friendship grows between her and Wolf, along with deep desires he refuses to admit. The Coalition destroyed his people. He won't betray their memory.When Shaylah returns to battle, Wolf rebels and is sold to a prison colony. She frees him, and together they journey to his home planet. As she learns more about Wolf, she begins to question her loyalty to the Coalition, and the passions between them burn out of control.

When Sparks Fly


Autumn Dawn - 2009
    — Perhaps it was his wild black hair and indigo eyes, or maybe it was his enigmatic aura, but there was something about Hyna Blue that drew Gem. The man had clearly done hard labor, his cybernetic implants gave him increased strength, but he was no longer whole… -- and now he was getting drunk in her tavern.Yes, Hyna Blue aroused instincts both carnal and nurturing. Gem’'s blood had been fiery to start with. Blue heated it even more.Of course, since the planet of Polaris discovered its trainum mine, things were hot all over. Prosperity had blown in on a solar wind, along with many disreputable types, the least deceptive of which were the shape-shifting aliens. The ruined beauty of one patron and his drunken proposals were the least of Gem’s worries—and perhaps her one solace. Like her father had named it long ago, this inn was The Spark. Gem had to survive the blaze.

The River of No Return


Bee Ridgway - 2013
    The Guild, a secretive fraternity of time travellers, informs him that there is no return. But Nick yearns for the beautiful Julia Percy, who remains in 1815. As fate and the fraying fabric of time draw Nick and Julia together once again, the lovers must match wits and gamble their hearts against the rules of time itself.  Rich in romance and historical detail, Bee Ridgway’s debut is a thrilling, fast-paced narrative evocative of Deborah Harkness’s time-bending bestsellers.

Assigned a Mate


Grace Goodwin - 2016
    She must offer herself to the Interstellar Bride Program. After a deeply humiliating assessment of her suitability, Eva will be assigned a mate and transported to his world to become his bride. Upon arriving on the desert planet Trion, Eva soon learns that things are quite different than she is used to on Earth. Her assigned mate, the powerful, handsome High Councilor Tark, makes it clear that she will be expected to submit to him completely, and she quickly discovers that disobedience will earn her a painful, embarrassing spanking on her bare bottom. An intimate examination from her new mate leaves Eva blushing crimson, but to her surprise Tark’s mastery of her body arouses her beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Soon enough she finds herself naked, bound, and unable to resist the urge to beg for more as his skillful lovemaking brings her to one shattering climax after another. It doesn’t take long, however, for Eva to realize that there is much more to Tark than just a dominant brute who will not hesitate to take his misbehaving wife over his knee and redden her bare bottom thoroughly. But just as her passion for him begins to blossom into love, events back on Earth threaten to tear her away from him forever. Can Eva find a way to remain at Tark’s side and in his bed, or will she be left with nothing but memories of the man who has claimed both her body and her heart? Publisher’s Note: Assigned a Mate is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, sexual scenes, medical play, anal play, elements of BDSM, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.