Sci Fi Recommendations for Romance Readers
By Rebecca Hall
Edited by Emilee Saigh
Whenever someone asks me what I read, I say “mostly sci fi and romance.” I hear romance readers debating whether they want to read a contemporary or a historical romance novel next, but those aren't the only two options! There’s a lot to fall in love with in the sci fi genre. These four books are not only excellent evidence of that, but give readers a bit of the happily ever after (HEA) we’re all craving. If you’re primarily a sci fi reader, stay tuned for my romance recommendations in Readin’s October issue!
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
The Last Hour Between Worlds is one of my favorite books I’ve read in the past few years and is also one of the most challenging books I’ve tried to describe. It takes place in a fascinating, brain-bending world that feels right out of Doctor Who. Kembral Thorne can step between dimensions, or “Echoes.” She works for a guild that rescues kids and dogs who have fallen from the main dimension down into the Echoes where all sorts of strange things lurk. Kem is on maternity leave and has reluctantly left her newborn with a babysitter for the first time so she can attend a New Year’s party. The problem is the entire party falls into an Echo, and Kem and her work nemesis Rika are the only ones who realize it. If you’re into sapphic enemies-to-lovers stories, this is the book for you. Kem’s relationship to her daughter and her single-parenthood are essential to the story. She, like many of my favorite romance heroines, is very reluctant to ask for help, but as she opens up to Rika, a beautiful and witty relationship develops. It’s also the first book in a series, so you can watch their relationship continue to flourish if you enjoy this recommendation.
Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow
Folks who are familiar with classic romance novels may know there’s a subset of the romance community who loves a really bonkers book (Gorilla Twins, anyone?). Lady Eve’s Last Con is a sci fi novel written precisely for these readers. Ruth has been conning people for years and is posing as a wealthy debutante visiting the New Monte satellite to enter the marriage market. In reality, she’s there to con the extremely naive and extremely rich Esteban Mendez-Yuki. There’s just one problem—she’s falling in love with his suave sister. If you’ve ever read a Regency romance and were transfixed by descriptions of gorgeous gowns and hair, this book is for you. The “debs” of New Monte make fashion statements in limited gravity, and for some reason, they all love swing dancing and space operas. A key part of the story is Ruth’s complicated relationship with her younger sister. If you appreciate the sibling-side-character romance trope, you’ll find Ruth very compelling. This book took me for a campy ride and I loved it.
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
This is another beautiful sapphic love story with a twist: one of the main characters is a hologram of a spaceship captain. Yes, you read that correctly. Cleo was a child when all the crew and passengers of the spaceship Providence vanished right as the ship was supposed to launch. Two decades later, Cleo and her friends break into the abandoned Providence launch site . . . and the ship suddenly takes off with them on it. Billie, the captain, is able to advise the group despite being a hologram and is also able to feel plenty of feelings for Cleo. I found the science part of this sci fi story not too technical and certainly strange enough to keep me transfixed. As with The Last Hour and Lady Eve, non-romantic love plays a role in The Stars Too Fondly and the characters are beautifully fleshed out.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
There are multiple reasons The Ministry of Time received such attention when it came out in 2024. It features both compelling characters and an absolutely fascinating premise involving government technology. The book is narrated by a mixed-race woman whose job is to help acclimate one of the first five historical individuals to be plucked out of their own timeline and placed in modern-day Britain. Our narrator is tasked with living with Graham Gore, a real man who explored the Arctic with the doomed Franklin expedition in the 1840s. In the story, the Ministry staff very slowly introduce Graham and the other unwitting time travelers to facets of modern life. Graham and the unnamed narrator effectively have a roommates-to-lovers trajectory that changes both of them deeply. As many romance main characters do, they deal with emotional turmoil internally and externally. The narrator and Graham come from extremely different backgrounds, but it’s easy to root for their partnership as you read the book.
I have to mention a spoiler here, so please scroll if you’d like to avoid it! This novel features an element I find underused but extremely powerful in romance stories: an ambiguous ending. If you’ve ever wondered what Marie Antoinette or Alexander the Great might get up to in the twenty-first century, this is a book for you.
I’ve gone through plenty of phases as a reader where I wanted to block out the world and only read historical romance. If you relate to that sentiment, my hope is these books can show you escapism comes in many forms. Additionally, I aspire to show romance readers that there’s much more to sci fi than the “hard” sci fi published in the 1960s, which rarely featured optimism or female protagonists. Sci fi today has something for everyone and has much more in common with the romance genre than you might have assumed. For anyone who might not be convinced yet, come back next month to see recommendations for readers who tend to pick up sci fi first!
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