Book picks similar to
Overload Flux by Carol Van Natta


sci-fi
romance
science-fiction
space-opera

The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy


Greta van der Rol - 2011
    On the mysterious planet Tisyphor she meets a security guard who wins her trust and her affection. Like her, he suspects that there's more to the operation on Tisyphor than reopening an abandoned mine. Together, they uncover a plot that threatens to plunge the Galaxy into inter-species war. As they scramble to prevent the coming holocaust, Allysha is horrified to learn that her new lover is ex-Admiral Chaka Saahren, the man the Ptorix call Chozhu the Destroyer, the man responsible for the death of her father, along with millions of other innocent civilians.In a race against time, Saahren must convince Allysha to set aside her conflicted emotions about him to help him prevent the coming conflagration. And perhaps while he's doing that, he'll win back the only woman he's ever loved.

The Retreat


Kelly St. Clare - 2016
    Humankind destroyed. And it’s old news. Romy’s life is simple—for a genetically enhanced space soldier; pick up space junk with her four friends, and stave off the invaders fixated on stealing Planet Earth. It isn’t much. But it’s temporary—only another 850 years to go, give or take. When her crew tangles with a gulp-worthy alien mothership, Romy’s return to Earth is brought forwards at hurtling pace. Strength comes from the unlikeliest of quarters. As does leadership. …As does betrayal.

Captured


Willow Danes - 2014
    She races into the snowy North Carolina woods to help and discovers that this is no plane that’s crashed. Ra’kur’s people have been brought to the brink of extinction by war. After years spent searching for a compatible mate to bond with, an enemy attack lands him on a backward, primitive planet and right to the very female he has been seeking. And a Hir warrior’s first task in claiming a mate is to capture her . . .

Mercury Striking


Rebecca Zanetti - 2016
    He’s more than muscle and firepower—and in post-plague L.A., he’s her only hope. As the one woman who could cure the disease, Lynn is the single most volatile—and vulnerable—creature in this new and ruthless world. But face to face with Jax Mercury… Danger has never looked quite so delicious…

The Starlight Rite


Cherise Sinclair - 2010
    Desperate to survive, she picks the wrong target--Dain, the head of planetary security.Dain is amused by the attempted theft, and when Mella is sentenced to serve time indentured as a bedroom slave, he buys her contract. As he introduces the repressed Earther to the pleasures of sex with a dominating warrior, he slowly comes to realize that the little thief has stolen his heart.When the monster arrives on Nexus and has lunch with Dain, Mella is panic-stricken. Her owner must be part of the conspiracy to kill her, and it will only be a matter of time before the monster discovers that she’s still alive. She attempts to escape. She fails. Embittered by her lies and mistrust, Dain returns her to Indenture Hall to be sold again.Now the monster has found her. And she has nowhere left to run...

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.

Ensnared


Tiffany Roberts - 2021
    Fate has a different plan for him. When the queen he despises declares her intention to claim him, he retreats into the jungle.What he finds there changes his world.Small, delicate, and pale skinned, Ivy Foster is nothing like the females Ketahn has known. She’s not of his kind at all. Yet the moment he sees her, he knows the truth in his soul—she is his heartsthread.And now that he has her, he won’t let anything take her away. Not the jungle, not the gods, not the queen.Whether Ivy agrees or not, their webs are entangled. No one will ever sever those threads.----Book 1 of 3 in The Spider's Mate Trilogy.

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.

Swarm


B.V. Larson - 2010
    The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there....SWARM is the story of Earth’s annexation by an alien empire. Long considered a primitive people on a backwater planet, humanity finds itself in the middle of a war, and faced with extinction. SWARM is an 88,000 word novel of science fiction by award-winning author B. V. Larson.This book is the first book in the STAR FORCE Series.

Zero World


Jason M. Hough - 2015
    A spaceship that vanished years ago has been found, along with the bodies of its murdered crew—save one. Peter’s mission is to find the missing crew member, who fled through what appears to be a tear in the fabric of space. Beyond this mysterious doorway lies an even more confounding reality: a world that seems to be Earth’s twin.Peter discovers that this mirrored world is indeed different from his home, and far more dangerous. Cut off from all support, and with only days to complete his operation, Peter must track his quarry alone on an alien world. But he’s unprepared for what awaits on the planet’s surface, where his skills will be put to the ultimate test—and everything he knows about the universe will be challenged in ways he never could have imagined.

Incursion


Aleksandr Voinov - 2012
     When the local authorities ask Kyle Juenger to hunt a shape-shifting Glyrinny spy, he can’t refuse. After all, he can use the reward to replace his paralyzed legs with cyberware, and maybe even to return to his home planet. Besides, he hates the morphs—those invasive, brain-eating monstrosities whose weapons cost him his legs. Kyle’s best lead is the Scorpion, a mercenary ship armed to the teeth. Grimm, the Scorpion’s pilot and captain, fascinates Kyle. He’s everything Kyle lost with his legs, and he’s from the same home world. He’s also of the warrior caste—half priest, half savior. But Grimm’s been twisted by life as a merc, and Kyle’s stuck undercover as a criminal on the run. That doesn’t stop Grimm from coming on to Kyle, or from insisting he’s more than the sum of his past and his useless legs. But Kyle has other concerns—like tracking a dangerous morph who could be wearing anyone’s face. And as if things weren’t complicated enough, Kyle can’t tell if Grimm is part of the solution . . . or part of the problem.

Sarazen's Claim


Isabel Wroth - 2016
    This book is PART OF A SERIES. Not a HEA and not a Cliffhanger...somewhere in between. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------One hundred and fifty years ago the most powerful countries of Earth built and launched five ships. Ships meant to carry what remained of humanity out into the space beyond their known galaxy to find a new home. As a third generation botanist, it never occurred to Clary Starborn that she might some day be in charge of anything other than her little lab. That changed the day their ship was attacked by an alien species straight out of myth. ----------As commander of the Sarazen armada, Tarek had seen some poor excuses for spacefaring vessels. The one currently being attacked by the Na'ah was to date, the worst. So primitive in its design, Commander Tarek was fascinated it had even survived the harsh vacuum of space. Or the time it had taken to launch it. The species was unfamiliar to him, but initial scans suggested the beings within here somewhat intelligent. Though the ship was outside Sarazen territory, it was his duty to eradicate the Na'ah wherever he encountered them. He had not anticipated that by his actions, the course of his life would be forever changed. By a soft, delicate being who studied flowers and trees. One scent, one touch, was all it took to be Claimed.

Born to Darkness


Suzanne Brockmann - 2012
    These “Greater-Thans” undergo rigorous training to master unique abilities—including telekinesis, super strength, and reversal of the aging process—by accessing untapped regions of the brain. But for the rich and reckless, there’s a quick, seductive alternative: Destiny, a highly addictive designer drug that can make anyone a Greater-Than—for a lethal price. Michelle “Mac” Mackenzie is determined to end the scourge of Destiny. As one of OI’s crack operatives, she’s learned to wield her powers responsibly. But she’s knocked for a loop when she meets the new test subject: Shane, the same smoldering stranger who just rocked her world in a one-night stand. Mac’s got reasons to keep her distance from him—and reasons that are just as strong to want him close. She’s used to risking her life, but now, in the midst of the ultimate war on drugs, she must face sacrificing her heart.BONUS: This edition includes Suzanne Brockmann's short story Shane's Last Stand.

Warship


Joshua Dalzelle - 2015
    The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy? Would humanity fold and surrender, or would they return to their evolutionary roots and meet force with force? One ship—and one captain—will soon be faced with this very choice. Against incredible odds, Jackson Wolfe is determined to save humanity–and in the process, might end up saving himself.

DarkShip Thieves


Sarah A. Hoyt - 2010
    Never wanted see the eerie glow of the Powerpods. Never wanted to visit Circum Terra. Never had any interest in finding out the truth about the DarkShips. You always get what you don't ask for. Which must have been why she woke up in the dark of shipnight, within the greater night of space in her father's space cruiser, knowing that there was a stranger in her room. In a short time, after taking out the stranger--who turned out to be one of her father's bodyguards up to no good, she was hurtling away from the ship in a lifeboat to get help. But what she got instead would be the adventure of a lifetime--if" she managed to survive. . .