Book picks similar to
Vengeance by S.M. Schmitz


sci-fi
sci-fi-romance
sciencefiction
prof-engineer

The Empress Capsule


R.K. Thorne - 2018
    DESERTER. COMMANDER. At 22, Commander Ellen Ryu is a little young to be "retired." Yet she’s planned—and bled in—more battles than veterans twice her age. And, well, she didn’t exactly retire so much as desert. Betrayed by her superiors, turned into a science experiment, and nearly driven insane, Ellen seized the chance for freedom when a shadowy organization offered her a ship of her own and an elite, all-female crew. She's got a new mission now: get revenge on the scientist who almost destroyed her. Nobody is going to get in her way this time. Especially not the merc who's just shown up at her cargo hatch, looking to hitch a ride. MERCENARY. CONVICT. RENEGADE. In the middle of an op gone wrong, cyborg mercenary Kael Sidassian gets stuck with a mission he can't refuse: carry a capsule to safety, the contents of which would bring the galaxy down on his head if anyone knew what was inside. But he’s also got damaged hardware inside his head and a plan to escape from the merc company that forcibly conscripted him over ten years ago. So when a humanitarian ship grants him passage, he thanks his lucky stars for a job that'll solve all his problems at once. That is, if the attachment he’s forming to the ship’s commander—one that goes way beyond duty and loyalty—doesn’t get in the way. As a new threat rises, the prodigy and the screw-up discover far more in common than they ever thought possible. Now both their missions will have to wait, because if they aren't audacious enough to work together, they'll never survive what's coming for them. For lovers of romantic space opera, Lois McMaster Bujold, and David Weber, THE EMPRESS CAPSULE is the first volume in the Audacity series.

Vindicator


Nikki Landis - 2020
    Total obedience. Swift justice.The creed of the Braxtharian Warrior.My task is simple: defend and protect the empire with my life.Sent on a mission to find stolen females and bring them back to my planet,I never thought the one I’d meet would drive my mating instincts to the surface.She’s off limits. Sacred. Pure. Untouchable.But when I’m near her all my control slips away and I fight the urge to claim her as my own.My hearts beat for her and my protective instincts won’t be denied for long.The female is mine.Kerra:My life is in danger.I’ve been attacked by strange alien beings that are obsessed with humanity.Every moment I’m alive becomes a struggle for survival.For days I’ve been followed, and I don’t know who to trust.Everything I believed to be true is a lie.When I’m almost kidnapped, I’m afraid to consider that we’re not alone in the universe.One champion appears from the shadows and saves my life but he’s nothing like I imagined.If I want to survive, I’ll have to trust the sexy alien and keep my distance, but it won’t be easy.No warrior owns me.

Arena Station


Viola Grace - 2006
    Being stolen while in stasis and sold to an arena was not. Fighting for her life everyday, plotting her escape, took up most of her time. When she was forced into an intimate situation with one of the alien gladiators, she suddenly had other things to think about. Tiergar was a champion, one of the highest and deadliest rankings of gladiators on the arena station, and he had no problem taking what he needed. As often as he needed it. Kyra had a lot to think about, and not a lot of time to do it.

At Star's End


Anna Hackett - 2014
    Eos Rai has spent a lifetime dedicated to her mother's dream of finding the long-lost Mona Lisa. When Eos uncovers tantalizing evidence of Star's End--the last known location of the masterpiece--she's shocked when her employer, the Galactic Institute of Historic Preservation, refuses to back her expedition. Left with no choice, Eos must trust the most notorious treasure hunter in the galaxy, a man she finds infuriating, annoying and far too tempting.Dathan Phoenix can sniff out relics at a stellar mile. With his brothers by his side, he takes the adventures that suit him and refuses to become a lazy, bitter failure like their father. When the gorgeous Eos Rai comes looking to hire him, he knows she's trouble, but he's lured into a hunt that turns into a wild and dangerous adventure. As Eos and Dathan are pushed to their limits, they discover treasure isn't the only thing they're drawn to...but how will their desire survive when Dathan demands the Mona Lisa as his payment?42,000 words

Break Out


Nina Croft - 2011
    Unfortunately, the radioactive mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few. A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves. The Collective, as they're called, rule the universe. Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can't resist two things: gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective's maximum security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted by the Collective has never been so dangerous–or so fun!

Dark Horse


Michelle Diener - 2015
    Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.

Alcandian Quest


Mary Wine - 2005
    She wants a man who will love her, make her heart pound with desire and her body melt from passion. Marriage is in there too, but finding the right guy is turning out to be mission impossible.Dumping Mr. Wrong, she heads to her cabin in the mountains, hardly expecting to be swept off her feet and out of this world—literally—into the arms of the sexiest man she's ever met. What she isn't prepared for is to get the man of her dreams—in duplicate!Dylan and Jett don't care which planet they discover their mate on, only that they find the woman who will complete them both. And when Dylan touches Jessica's mind and body, he knows it is his mate he holds in his arms.But Jessica is about to find her personal taboos stretched to the limit by these two sexy, powerful warriors. Offering her everything she ever wanted from a man, she finds out that sometimes what you wished for is a whole lot more than you can handle. But an Alcandian warrior never gives up until the battle is won…

Prisoner of His Passion


Juniper Kerry - 2020
    A warrior stripped of his title. Together they will change the course of history... and discover a love the universe cannot deny.When Cleo Harris is taken from Earth, she finds herself in a situation she never could have predicted: breeding with a lust-worthy alien warrior. The connection she feels with Kon is undeniable; but when this warrior learns of Cleo’s true self, will he still love her as she loves him?Captain of the Spectacle’s Peril, Jelathikon (Kon for short) is a two-time reject with a misfit crew. When his prince asks him to save a group of human women from a breeding experiment, he tries his best… and winds up as one of the breeding partners himself. Kon resists as best he can, but he cannot deny his feelings for Cleo. Will he be able to stay away from her, even though their pair bond pulls them together? Or will he give in, and endanger her life?Prisoner of His Passion is book one of the Warriors of the Augur Nebula series, which tells the stories of strong warrior races and their bonds with human women. This book features steamy love scenes, romantic pair-bonding, and a guaranteed HEA.

The Derelict Duty: A Space Adventure


James Haddock - 2019
    I threw my covers off and was halfway to my Vac-suit locker before I was fully awake. It felt like I had just fallen to sleep having just finished a long EVA shift. It would be just like Dad to have an emergency drill after an EVA shift to see if I had recharged my suit. I had, I always did, both Mom and Dad were hard taskmasters when it came to ship, and personal safety. Vac-suit recharging was top of the personal safety list. If you can't breathe, you die, easy to remember. Donning a Vac-suit was second nature for me, after 16 years of drills and practice exercises. Having literally been doing this all my life, but I loved life on our Rock-Tug. I was reaching for the comms when I felt the ship shutter. "That can't be good,” I said to myself. Mom's voice came over ship-wide, "This is not a drill, this is not a drill, meteor strike, hull breach in Engineering". Mom's voice was just as calm as if she was asking, what's for lunch. This was a way of life for us, we trained and practiced so that when the reality of working in "The Belt" happened you didn't panic, you just did your job. You didn't have to think, you knew what you needed to do, and you did it. I keyed my comms, "Roger, hull breach in Engineering, where do you need me Mom?" "Get to Engineering and help your Father, I'm on the Bridge trying to get us in the shadow of a bigger rock for some protection." Mom answered. My adrenalin was spiking but Mom's calm voice, helped to keep me calm. I sealed my helmet and left my cabin heading for Engineering. The klaxon had faded into the background, my breathing was louder than it was. I kept telling myself "Stay calm, just do your job, stay calm." I had just reached Engineering, when the Tug was rocked by a succession of impacts each one harder that the last. The hatch to Engineering was closed and the indicator light was flashing red, telling me there was hard vacuum on the other side. I switched my comms to voice activated, "Dad? I'm at the hatch to Engineering it's in lockdown, I can't override it from here." "Dad? Dad?, Dad respond! "Mom, Dad is not answering, and Engineering is sealed, you are going to have to evac the air from the rest of the ship, so I can open the hatch." Mom's steady voice replied, "Understood, emergency air evac in 10 seconds." Those were the longest 10 seconds of my short life. The hatch indicator light finally turned green and the hatch door opened. The Engineering compartment was clear. No smoke, no fire, some sparks and lots of blinking red lights. I looked over to the Engineering station console, there sat Dad. He had not had his Vac-suit on when the hull was breached. Hard Vacuum does terrible things to the human body. I suddenly realized that I had not heard Dad on comms the whole time, just Mom. She probably knew what had happened but was sending help in the hope that Dad was all right and that maybe the comms were down. I heard Mom in the background declaring an emergency and calling on the radio for help. Her voice still calm somehow, "Mayday, mayday, this is the Rock Tug Taurus, Mayday, we have taken multiple meteor strikes, have multiple hull breaches, please respond." "Come on Nic, think! What do I need to do?" I asked myself. I closed the hatch to Engineering, to seal the vacuum from the rest of the ship. I turned and started back toward the bridge. There was an impact, a light flared, and sparks; time seemed to slow, there was no sound, we were still in a vacuum, just shuttering vibrations and sparks. Holes seemed to appear in the overhead and then the deck, it was so surreal. The meteors were punching holes through our ship like a machine punching holes on an assembly line.

Sinth Seeker


Pearl Tate - 2020
    But it’s time for me to plan for my future.As the Housing Coordinator on base, I’m sent to settle in new arrivals. During a routine walk through, I run into a man who’s easily the best looking I’ve ever seen. With dark hair and light piercing eyes, he catches me off-guard when he continues to relentlessly pursue me—despite my denial of interest in him.I’m ready to think about life after the military, so I want someone who can be around for the long haul. Definitely not another workaholic, and I know he will be reassigned and gone at any moment.For all I know–probably back to a wife and kids! I can’t let my heart get involved.

Blade Dancer


S.L. Viehl - 2003
    The fastest runback in the game, she is loved across Terra. But Jory Rask has a secret that she's lived with for twenty-four years. In a xenophobic world that despises aliens, she is not quite human...

Knowing Zip


Cynthia Sax - 2017
     Zip is the last of his friends to find his female, the one being meant for him. He isn’t certain she exists until he hears her voice over a transmission. A self-proclaimed systems deity, he researches his curvy little human and discovers she dreams of being abducted by a big, strong warrior. Zip plans to make his female’s fantasies come true. Ryssa wants one gift for her birthing planet rotation—to be captured by a warrior, preferably a tall, muscular cyborg with black hair, gray skin, and brilliant blue eyes. When Zip arrives on her planet, claiming to be her male, Ryssa assumes one of her friends has ordered the experience for her, and throws herself into the encounter, losing herself in Zip’s hot kisses, sensual touch, dominant embrace. When the fantasy fades, will their love survive? Knowing Zip is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Seeking Vector. It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes violent universe.

Mercenary Instinct


Ruby Lionsdrake - 2014
    But Ankari Markovich needs a few archaeological samples for her latest business venture, a venture that might prove lucrative enough to move her family off the impoverished planet where she grew up. Unfortunately, she has no sooner collected her samples than she’s captured by a band of brawny mercenaries. The captain might be handsome, but he’s intent on turning her over to some finance lord who has, for reasons unknown, put a bounty on her head, a ridiculously large one at that. If she can’t figure out a way to escape before she’s delivered to the lord’s home world, she could be forced into a life of indentured servitude—or worse.Captain Viktor Mandrake doesn’t usually take on piddling bounty hunting gigs, but when his intelligence officer informs him of a criminal on a nearby planet, he decides it wouldn’t hurt to take a shuttle down to collect the woman. But Ankari Markovich is trouble from the start, nearly eluding his elite forces, then fighting and tricking his people left and right. He finds himself admiring her spirit, but according to her warrant, she’s a criminal. The safest thing is to keep her in the brig and ignore her until she can be handed off to the man who wants her.But the situation grows more complicated when other bounty hunters show up, wanting to claim Ankari for themselves. Thanks to this woman, Viktor’s ship is in danger, his crew members are going missing, and he’s fighting enemies he never asked for in a jungle in the middle of a hurricane. He’s either going to strangle Ankari… or fall in love. Either scenario could get him killed.Mercenary Instinct is a full-length, stand-alone novel of 90,000 words. It is part of the “Mandrake Company” series of science fiction romance stories and is recommended for readers who enjoy space-based adventure (such as Firefly) and steamy love stories (in the style of Linnea Sinclair).

Peacekeeper


Laura E. Reeve - 2008
    Branded a war criminal, she was given a new identity and a new life in order to protect her from retribution. But now, twelve of Ariane’s wartime colleagues are dead— assassinated by someone who has uncovered their true identities. And her superiors in the Autonomist army have placed her directly in the assassin’s line of fire on a peacekeeping mission that will decide the fate of all humanity…

Zaine


Stella Sky - 2017
    She’s used to being unpopular, so when she is abducted by the enemy race, she isn’t sure whether it’s a good or a bad thing. That is, until she lays eyes on the fiercely sexy Verian enemy who abducts her. As head of the prison, Zaine Volaire is the strongest men left in his race. He’s well-known for his discipline and drive to help his species win the war against humans. It is his job to see that the females are fed and bred, but things get complicated when he is challenged by the brazen human. She awakens a need in him that makes it impossible to maintain his self-control, and he isn’t sure he wants to.When Regan lands herself in solitary confinement, everything starts to go awry. Zaine falls prey to a mysterious illness that harms all males of his planet. The only problem is, Regan may be the only one who can save him… Zaine (Verian Mates) is the first book in the Verian Mates Standalone series. All books in this page-turning Sci Fi Alien Abduction Romance can be read as standalones, there are no cliffhangers, and happily ever afters are guaranteed! Note: Adults Only!