Book picks similar to
Experiment by Marina Simcoe


aliens
romance
sci-fi
science-fiction

Saving Askara


J.M. Link - 2018
    Such is the life of an emergency medicine specialist in the age of "post-discovery". Sure, she had always dreamed of interacting with intelligent extraterrestrial life- the real thing, not those microbes on distant moons. Who wouldn't? She was still happy with her career, however mundane and demanding it might be. That's what it took to run a ship the size of a small city smoothly. Monotony. But all that changes one morning, and suddenly she's not so sure she didn't stick her foot in it... Be careful what you wish for. *** Escape had been their only drive, and even death was preferable to the alternative. But they never thought their flight for freedom would put them in an uncharted system. Forced to interact with an isolated world and its inferior, albeit curious people. When it affords them an unforseen and unprecedented opportunity to take back their world from those who seek to destroy them, however, Aderus begins to wonder if it wasn't fate. Earth's proposal is shocking and uncomfortable for a fierce, independent race that relishes in their solitude. But the more he learns of humans, the more he comes to admire and respect them. One, in particular. *Saving Askara is a Part I of II* Book II coming Summer 2018 WARNING: Not intended for readers under 18. Contains explicit sexual content.

Chosen


Stacy Jones - 2017
    The next, she wakes to find herself in a cold, sterile cage surrounded by monsters, with no memory of how she got there. Accidentally abducted by alien poachers, unsure if she will live or die, she is dreading the worst. What she doesn’t expect is for her captors to dump her on an alien planet to fend for herself. Now, she must fight to survive the planet… or die trying. Frrar, Tor, and Arruk have been searching endlessly for a mate to belong to, someone to finally accept them, but they are losing hope. The time of cleansing, when the great waters drown the land, draws near. They are on the verge of abandoning their search and fleeing the forest when they spot a strange, tiny, two-armed female. They are immediately drawn to her, fascinated by her differences, but they must act fast to save her life, and their own, from the coming flood.

Queen's Ransom: The Golden Bulls of Minos


Isabel Wroth - 2018
     The Promise of a Queen's Ransom is too much for life-long gambler Jalia to pass up. The untouched planet of Minos is rumored to be so wealthy, one can walk along the beach and pluck diamonds from the sea. According to the contract, all she has to do to win is solve a few puzzles and navigate a labyrinth or two. Simple! But she didn't read the fine print... She isn't competing to win treasure, she's competing to become Queen of Minos. Marriage to the king: Mandatory. A king who sends men to their deaths by the dozen kills anyone who dares speak against him, and his people live in fear of his wrath. Bound by the contract, Jalia has no choice but to try or die while the challenges grow ever more deadly. Even if she wins, marrying the Monstrous king of Minos may be a fate worse than death.

Starshine: Aurora Rising Book One


G.S. Jennsen - 2014
    Now two individuals from opposite ends of settled space are on a collision course with the darkest of those secrets, even as the world threatens to explode around them.The year is 2322. Humanity has expanded into the stars, inhabiting over 100 worlds across a third of the galaxy. Though thriving as never before, they have discovered neither alien life nor the key to utopia. Earth struggles to retain authority over far-flung planets and free-wheeling corporations while an uneasy armistice with a breakaway federation hangs by a thread as the former rebels rise in wealth and power.Alexis Solovy is Earth Alliance royalty, her father a fallen war hero and her mother an influential military leader. But she seeks only the freedom of space and has made a fortune by reading the patterns in the chaos to discover the hidden wonders of the stars.Nothing about her latest objective suggests the secret it conceals will turn her life— not to mention the entire galaxy—upside down. But a chance encounter with a mysterious spy leads to a discovery which will thrust Alex into the middle of a galactic power struggle and a sinister conspiracy, whether she likes it or not.When faced with its greatest challenge, will humanity rise to triumph, or fall to ruin?Aurora Rising is an epic tale of galaxy-spanning adventure, of the thrill of discovery and the unquenchable desire to reach ever farther into the unknown. It's a tale of humanity at its best and worst, of love and loss, of fear and heroism. It's the story of a woman who sought the stars and found more than anyone imagined possible.

Among Galactic Ruins


Anna Hackett - 2015
    Lexa Carter discovers a secret map to a lost old Earth treasure—a priceless Fabergé egg—she’s excited at the prospect of a treasure hunt to the dangerous desert planet of Zerzura. What she’s not so happy about is being saddled with a bodyguard—the museum’s mysterious new head of security, Damon Malik. After many dangerous years as a galactic spy, Damon Malik just wanted a quiet job where no one tried to kill him. Instead of easy work in a museum full of artifacts, he finds himself on a backwater planet babysitting the most infuriating woman he’s ever met. She thinks he’s arrogant. He thinks she’s a trouble-magnet. But among the desert sands and ruins, adventure led by a young, brash treasure hunter named Dathan Phoenix, takes a deadly turn. As it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want them to find the treasure, Lexa and Damon will have to trust each other just to survive. Note to readers: This sci fi romance contains a lot of action (think desert ruins, dangerous animals and freak sandstorms), sexy treasures hunters and a steamy romance (lots of sexy times between a smart archeologist and a mysterious former spy). This is treasure hunting sci-fi style. So if you like it fast, and fun, and sexy, this is for you! Includes preview of Book 1 of the Phoenix Adventures, At Star’s End. ___________________________________________________ If you like action and adventure with your science fiction romance, there are more stories in the Phoenix Adventures series for you to enjoy: Among Galactic Ruins At Star's End In the Devil's Nebula On a Rogue Planet Beneath a Trojan Moon (novella) Beyond Galaxy's Edge On a Cyborg Planet (novella) Return to Dark Earth - Starring Niklas and Nera Darc, coming in August 2015

Ghost Planet


Sharon Lynn Fisher - 2012
    A bond deeper than love.Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world - a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she'd struggle with the requirement to shun these “ghosts.” She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet.Reincarnated as a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy - creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone - oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love - Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence.But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet…a struggle that could separate her forever from the man she loves.

Releasing Rage


Cynthia Sax - 2015
    Half Machine. All Hers. Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, has two goals — kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that’s all he’s been programmed to experience. Until he meets Joan. Joan, the battle station’s first female engineer, has one goal — survive long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice. When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage’s priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg’s heart for both love and revenge?

His to Claim


Taylor Vaughn - 2019
    The Xalthurians are rough, domineering, and huge all over. But, this is the deal our leaders struck, so that they would provide our human colony with desperately needed supplies... If the baby born from our taking is a girl, we will be allowed to keep it. If the baby is a boy, it will be taken away, never to be seen again. That is the way it has always been, on our small planet and that is the way it will always be... I should accept my fate, but I can’t! When they come for my sister’s baby boy, I dare to defy the alien, they call “Tel”. As it turns out, “Tel” means prince. But rather than killing me for my insolence, the future overlord vows to return to the planet. When I am twenty-one... He’s huge, all-powerful, and determined to claim me! Can I stop him? And how will I answer when the question becomes, do I want to?

Strange Love


Ann Aguirre - 2020
    He's adorable. He's alien as hell.Zylar of Kith Balak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he'll lose his chance to have a mate for all time. Desperation drives him to try a matching service but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This 'human being' is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.She's frazzled. She's fierce. She's from St. Louis.Beryl Bowman's mother always said she'd never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? She doesn't know what the hell's going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants.They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.

Wild Blood


Naomi Lucas - 2017
    Part of an elite group that dealt with the horrors of the universe. At least that was what everyone at the spaceport was whispering as he walked by. A Cyborg, a hunter, a beast with eyes as dark as the pits of Hell and the stride of a predator. Katalina was a nobody who was intimate with death. It clung to her like a shroud, It followed her like the plague, and infected her like a parasite. When she overheard that the Monster Hunter needed an assistant, she took the job. And when the Cyborg’s eyes caught hers, she knew getting closer to death might just bring her back to life. The Cyborg didn’t scare her. So she followed him and left fate up to chance. Warning: mature readers only, explicit sex scenes. Book one of Cyborg Shifters, same universe as Stranded in the Stars, every book is a standalone that only subtly builds off of the others.

Unexpected Hostage


Layla Stone - 2018
    I was too, for about three seconds. He’s quiet, but once I get him talking he’s the most fascinating man I’ve ever known. He shouldn’t be in that cage. He didn’t do anything wrong. But good thing he is, because I would love to snuggle down for a long night with a body like his.Everyone thinks they're safe.Everyone is wrong.My race is known for being peaceful, and I was too…until I was electrocuted, kidnapped, sold, and then put in a cage. I’ll get out of here soon, but while I plot my escape, I’ll enjoy my cabin-mate’s attention. She thinks she has figured me out. She’s not even close.The ship is being attacked, a perfect diversion. There is only one problem…I want to take my cabin-mate with me.---Note to readers: This is a full length Sci-fi Romance Novel with action, adventure, adult humor and a steamy romance. Mature readers only.

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 . . .

Homebound


Lydia Hope - 2020
    And aliens. Gemma McKinley works at a prison cleaning goop off the floors and serving food to inmates. When she is reassigned to the alien ward, Gemma is nervous. Aliens are dangerous and ruthless. They bite. But there is one that isn’t like them. Simon is damaged, starved, and wasting away in complete isolation. Touched by his loneliness, Gemma starts nursing him back to health, dismissing rumors that he’s high-risk, ignoring the advice to let him croak. Simon despises humans. His only goal is to get off this miserable planet fast, for he is hunted by a scientist obsessed with perfecting the human race. Simon’s rare alien genes are just the ingredient that’s missing for breakthrough research. Thanks to Gemma, for the first time in years he can escape. And he will. He will… As the hunt for Simon heats up, Gemma becomes an unintended target. Is she a fool to help him get away? And will he risk another captivity to protect her?

Forbidden Planet


Rinelle Grey - 2013
    Due to the noxious gas covering the planet, she can’t conceive a child, and the Council, determined to repopulate the planet, have ended her third—and most precious—relationship. They insist she pick a new mate and try again, but she’s sworn off love and the possibility of ever having a real family.When a ship from the thriving planet of Urslat crashes on Zerris, Marlee rescues the ship’s daring captain, Tyris. His ship is grounded, winter is setting in, and he won’t survive without help. She offers him a deal…he can live with her if he pretends to be her mate so the Council will leave her alone.Tyris agrees and a hungry desire sparks between them as they battle the harsh winter and primitive conditions. Their attraction grows, and soon, keeping their distance becomes impossible, even more challenging than the snow, the Council, and, for Marlee, the risks of a real relationship.Will she risk her heart one last time for a chance at her dream? Or will Tyris be her undoing?

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?