Book picks similar to
A Matter of Trust by Greta van der Rol


science-fiction-romance
love-star-crossed
romantic-oh-yes
shorter-100-pgs-or-so

Breakwater: Leo


Becca Fanning - 2016
    White kinetic fabric dress, the latest grav-heels and a sea of her loved ones all blinking away tears of joy. But this wasn't a dream: it was a nightmare. Instead of her father giving her hand in marriage, he's lost it in a game of poker to the galactic war criminal Strathmore. But if fate had dealt her a bad hand, it was time to flip the damned table and run. Captain Leo Ingram. Smuggler. Bear Shifter. Lover. Or at least that's what his business card said. Not that the mewling merchant in front of him cared about any of that. This was a quick hand-off, merchandise for credits. Then he and his crew would be back aboard the Breakwater and off to the nearest trade port to drink and piss their ill-gotten gains away. But before they could finish the deal, a young woman stumbled out of the underbrush into their illicit business deal. Was that... a wedding dress? This 15,000+ word novella has hot Science Fiction Space Opera Bear Shifter action, a Happily Ever After, no cheating and no cliffhangers! I've attached some free stories afterward as my thanks to you.

Gladiator


Piper Stone - 2020
    Then he claimed me like one.Xander didn't just win me in the arena. The alien brute claimed me there too, with my punished bottom still burning and my screams of climax almost drowned out by the roar of the crowd.Almost...Victory earned him freedom and the right to take me as his mate, but making me truly his will mean more than just spanking me into shameful surrender and then rutting me like a wild beast. Before he carries me off as his prize, the dark truth that brought me here must be exposed at last.

Hope In A Time Of War


Athena Storm - 2019
    And yet she saved me… An angel who brought peace. I revel in war. In conflict. Death. And destruction. I fight for vengeance. In hopes it will soothe the sadness of my soul. At first I think nothing when I capture Faith Jorelle. But then I realize there is more to her. Her beauty - ethereal and fragile. Her spirit - passionate and free. She enraptures me. And the predator becomes the prey. We are on a world of the damned. Mindless conflict is all we know. And yet, when Faith walks among us. There is peace. This is the story of my beloved. The woman who stopped a war. Some call her a miracle. Others call her a goddess. Her presence and voice may bring hope to many. But to me, she will always be. My fate. My angel. My salvation. Mine. Hope In A Time of War is a standalone book within the wider Athenaverse. It can be read as a standalone, but it shares the same universe that you’ve found in other books. This book features a romance of an alpha male alien warrior, a smart, sassy human woman. Expect to see characters you’ve come to love pop in during the story. No cheating and HEA guaranteed!

Paax


Nancey Cummings - 2016
    Sending her back to Earth was the only way to keep her safe. However, the moment the curvaceous woman stepped off the transporter, his tattoo burned with a passionate intensity he’d never experienced before. Paax knew he would do anything to protect her, to claim her, even challenge the clan’s violent Warlord. No force in the universe would take his mate from him.Matched to an alien warrior in the Draft, Mercy swore she’d do whatever it took to get out of the marriage contract. She liked her life on Earth and her independence. No one would take it away, not even the ridiculously hot warrior who demanded she call him husband!Why is being claimed by the horned muscular alien the only thing she can think about? She didn’t want to stay, did she?

Frontiers of the Imperium


Jan Kotouč - 2019
    This ability now tells him that something is in the air when he almost become a victim of an attempted murder and the upcoming mission to the fringes of the Imperium does not give him a good feeling. The more they talk about how it is just a routine test of a brand new communication ship, the more suspicious it is. Central Imperium is too big, too fragine and holds together by too many compromises. External enemies are about to také a bit of its territory but the internal ones are even more dangerous.

Mastering The Mistress


Evangeline Anderson - 2015
     A warrior who has vowed never to take a bride Bought by a girl who needs a body slave... but has no idea what to do with him Will Kaylee be able to tame the huge Havoc she bought at the Flesh Bazaar? Or will Solar turn the tables and end up... Mastering the Mistress? Solar M'Tex is a Havoc--a race of males who have sworn never to bond themselves to a female. So the idea of serving or loving any woman, no matter how beautiful, is foreign to him. But when he gets captured and sold at the Flesh Bazaar, he has no say in who buys him. Before he knows it he is the exclusive property of Kaylee, a lush little female from Yonnie Six who wants her own personal body slave. Kaylee is new to Yonnie Six high society. She didn't even know she needed a body slave until her new friend Lyla told her. But when Lyla talks her into buying the huge, muscular Havoc, she doesn't know what to do with him--or have any idea how she's going to master him. Soon they're in Kaylee's new dungeon with all the equipment a Mistress could need to tame a new slave. Kaylee does her best but when Solar gets free of his restraints, the tables are turned. Will she escape from the male she dared to try and master... or will Solar end up Mastering the Mistress? Mastering the Mistress is a Brides of the Kindred novella but it can and should be read as a stand alone novella.

Neron Rising


Keary Taylor - 2018
    “You’re not nothing, Nova.” In the Eon galaxy, Dominion controls any planet with solid Neron deposits, and Nova just found out they’re coming for hers. Korpillion isn’t supposed to have any Neron—the galaxy’s purest form of energy—but Nova Ainsley has been working with the owner of a secret mine for months, building highly illegal weapons that can wield Neron. She wants off Korpillion, and selling these weapons will buy her and her father a ticket to another planet in the galaxy. Neron is incredible on its own, but there are those who can wield it to their will, granting them the ability to read minds, see the future, and destroy worlds—the Nero. But this is a galaxy where they are ceasing to exist, and Dominion owns the last one in the known universe, using him to take over and destroy billions of lives. An encounter with the last Nero shows Nova her future: it’s with him. She will stand by his side one day, her fingers laced through his, love and adoration in both their eyes, a dark queen to his evil, pawn king. Fate or destiny, Nova will do whatever it takes to change their future, and that of the galaxy. The Neron Rising Saga is a series of episodes. Neron Rising is a slow-burn space-fantasy romance.

The A.I. Who Loved Me


Alyssa Cole - 2019
    But the life she’s trying to rebuild is plagued by mishaps when Li Wei, her neighbor’s super sexy and super strange nephew, moves in and turns things upside down. Li Wei’s behavior is downright odd—and the attraction building between them is even more so. When an emergency pulls his aunt away from the apartment complex, Trinity decides to keep an eye on him…and slowly discovers that nothing is what it seems. For one thing, Li Wei isn’t just the hot guy next door—he’s the hot A.I. next door. In fact, he’s so advanced that he blurs the line between man and machine. It’s up to Trinity to help him achieve his objective of learning to be human, but danger is mounting as they figure out whether he’s capable of the most illogical human behavior of all…falling in love.

Ragnar and Juliet


Lucy Woodhull - 2011
    Flash a little cleavage, mix a roofie cocktail, and Juliet has her man right where she wants him: out cold, ready to be swapped for cash.  Her passions are freedom, trashy clothes, and pie -- not necessarily in that order.Hunky alien ship captain Ragnar doesn't deserve torture at the hands of the psychotic king who hired Juliet; he liberated one of William the Nefarious' illegal concubines. Juliet can't ignore such a noble act.  She doesn’t trust men, but this one, with the kindest smile she's ever seen, picks away at her resolve to stay aloof and clothed. He's just so...nice! Crazy she can deal with; sincerity is terrifying.Before she gives in to her irrational urge to get a timeshare with him (and his cute tail), they're caught by the bad guys. Ragnar disappears and abandons her to her disgusting captors -- so much for togetherness. Perhaps he’s not such a saint. Even worse, Nefarious William (who prefers "Bob") has nominated her for Concubine of the Evening. This dubious honor does not thrill her, and only a few hours remain before the king’s mind-altering drugs obliterate her free will.Sexual slavery might not be fatal, but Juliet would rather die. Of course, the third option (run away to a beach and hump Ragnar silly) is the best, if they can live that long.

Sufficiently Advanced Technology (Inverse Shadows, #1)


Christopher G. Nuttall - 2013
    Their scouts encounter Darius, a lost colony world whose inhabitants have apparently discarded the technology that brought them to the planet, in order to adopt a virtually feudal culture.But the scouts are shocked when they discover that the controlling elite, in each of the major centres of population, exhibit abilities that defy the accepted laws of physics. Although the population appear to believe their leaders to be capable of performing sorcery, the Confederation concludes they must in fact be using a technology sufficiently advanced to seem like magic. Is it a technology left behind by long-gone Elders, or an indication of an advanced race trying to control the colony – perhaps one of a number of such races who are intent on meddling in human affairs?Either way, the need to understand and utilise such a technology leads the Confederation Security Council to launch an urgent mission to investigate Darius. Suitable specialists are swiftly enlisted to create a team, including both scientists and AIs, but all under military control. Protocol dictates that stealthy infiltration should precede initial contact, but the lack of sufficient prior observation and analysis will make it harder for the team to establish a credible cover story. Although their ship can remain in a hidden orbit, the research team will be on their own once they land, especially as Confederation technology seems to be unreliable or even inoperative on the planet’s surface. But they will soon discover that the people on Darius are not all the simple folk that they seem.This is the first book in the exciting new epic Inverse Shadows universe from best-selling science fiction author Christopher Nuttall.

The Rise of the Iliri: Books 1-3


Auryn Hadley - 2016
    In an exotic and dangerous post-apocalyptic world, a nation of terrorists under the thumb of an evil Emperor sets out to systematically destroy every race but their own. And they’re just about to succeed. Author Auryn Hadley deftly blends heart-stopping epic adventure with the age-old struggle between good and evil, hatred and love—all through the lens of an intriguing female lead, the likes of which the fantasy genre hasn’t yet seen. BLOODLUST, Book 1Private Salryc Luxx is iliri, a species bred by humans long ago for protection...and entertainment. Enslaved until being conscripted into the army for biting a military officer, Sal's only goal is to fight her way into the Black Blades, an elite army unit. The Blades instantly recognize her as the perfection of exactly what she was designed to be: an unequaled killing machine, yet irresistible to every man. Each of the Black Blades will die to protect her. Some of them will submit to the bloodlust that overtakes her in battle and can be quenched only by roughly passionate mating. Eventually, all of them will submit to her command. After months of training, she becomes the most lethal member of the unit. It will take much longer for them to teach her who she is: their destiny. INSTINCTUAL, Book 2Now that Sal has won her place in the Black Blades, she's struggling to find answers about how to fit in with her new family. That's a challenging assignment; it's an all-male family of seven of the fiercest warriors in existence, all of them iliri with superpowers kept secret from humans. Sal's Black Blade commander and lover, Blaec, does his best to guide her, with the full understanding that she will eclipse him and that he must prepare her to do so. His best advice: "Listen to your instincts more and everything will work out. Our entire culture can be summed up pretty easily. We do what is natural."For the matriarchal iliri, what is natural is that Sal is the undisputed leader of her pack. She makes everyone better; she especially makes everyone fight better. DEFIANCE, Book 3A kind deed on the part of Sal and her partner Cyno, helping what they take to be a wounded animal, leads to the discovery of their true nature, to strengthening and re-energizing their pack, and to a surprising alliancethat offers hope for the future. The wounded animal, they learn, is a grauor wolf, a species of ferocious warriors with language and traits nearly identical to iliri. When two of them ask to join her pack, Sal recruits them as Black Blades and the iliri are no longer the only dog in the fight for iliri freedom.As the defiance of an entire species rises up in her, she really has no choice—she’ll just have to change the world.

A Christmas Carol


Marion G. Harmon - 2019
    It’s time for snowball fights and Christmas lights, family and tradition. So when Astra is attacked by a villain she’s never seen before, and saved by Faith, her sister in another reality, she takes her home for Christmas. That alone would have made it the most amazing Corrigan Family Christmas ever—but when Christmas morning dawns and the world awakens to find that Santa Claus really, truly delivered on the wishes of millions of children around the world, Astra and Joyeuse Guard are called upon to find out what happened. Because they may just have to save Christmas. ----------------------------------------------------- Wearing the Cape: A Christmas Carol, takes place after Wearing the Cape Book 8.

Wrecked


Meljean Brook - 2013
    But when he finally catches up to her on an airship flying above Europe's zombie-infested cities, Elizabeth discovers that Caius isn't the only danger she has to fear—and now that he's found her, Caius doesn't intend to let her go...Originally published in the anthology Fire & Frost.

A Viking's Peace


Zoe York - 2014
    But this Viking has finally found his mate in the beautiful Earth officer, and nothing else matters.

Luffs


Shay Savage - 2018
    Once upon a time, you fell in love with a caveman.His needs were basic, his ambitions primal, his love fierce.Now, fall in love with Ehd all over again…through Beh’s eyes.Luffs—Shay Savage’s holiday gift to Transcendence fans everywhere!Coming November 20th!