Cryptid Romance Books: Bigfoot, Mothman, and Other Questionable Life Choices
Monster romance is one of the biggest things in fiction right now and most people outside it have no idea. Alien warriors, minotaurs, vampires, things with too many arms. It is an enormous, extremely online, extremely well-read audience, and it is not a joke genre. The good ones are properly written.
This list is the cryptid end of it. Bigfoot. Mothman. The alien who moved in next door and will not explain herself. Less fated-mates fantasy, more: what if the thing in the woods had opinions about your relationship.
The monster romance everybody starts with
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
The book that built the modern genre. Human women stranded on an ice planet, enormous blue aliens, fated mates, survival stakes. It went viral years after publication and dragged an entire subgenre into the mainstream with it. If you have never read monster romance, start here so you understand what everybody else is referencing.
Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta
A minotaur romance with a title that stops people mid-scroll, which then turns out to be a genuinely tender, cosy book about two lonely people. The gap between what the cover promises and what the book delivers is the whole appeal.
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
A werewolf and a vampire in an arranged political marriage, written by an author better known for STEM romcoms. This is the one to hand somebody who thinks the genre is beneath them.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
Vampires, a deadly tournament, and considerably more plot than you expect. Darker and more serious than most of this list.
A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne
Duskwalker Brides. A woman is given to a creature her whole village is terrified of, and he turns out to be the least frightening thing in her life. Very popular, and deservedly.
Now the cryptid end, which is where I live
Full disclosure, this is my site and the rest of these are mine. I write the funny end of this genre rather than the swooning end. Same premise, more chaos, and everybody involved is having a considerably worse time.
I Knocked Up Bigfoot’s Sister and Now the Whole Holler Wants Revenge
Cryptid in-laws. It turns out a Sasquatch family has opinions about your intentions, your timeline and whether you have steady work. The holler does not forgive. Read the summary.
Simping for Sasquatch
Dale Sturdivant is forty-three, has been married nineteen years, and services two hundred and eleven vending machines across three counties out of a white Chevy Express. In eleven years of doing it, nobody has said his name. Then something in the woods takes an interest in him. It is the funniest premise on this list and, unexpectedly, the most tender, because it is really a book about a man nobody has been curious about in a decade. Read the summary.
I Got Cucked by a Cryptid: Mothman
The end times are coming and the Mothman situation is not helping the marriage. If you have ever wondered whether Point Pleasant needed a romance angle, somebody has now answered that. Read the summary.
My Affair With the Alien Next Door
An alien princess steals a spaceship, runs away across the galaxy, and hides in rural Florida, where the entire town adopts her before anybody explains anything. The sweetest thing I have written, which is not a high bar, but it is true. Find it on Amazon.
My Girlfriend’s Alien Ex Won’t Stop Abducting Me
Abduction is not a healthy coping mechanism, and her ex is not taking the breakup well. Read the summary.
Bonded to the Alien Navigator
The straight one. Book one of Starbeast Bonds, a spicy sci-fi romance set inside a living creature the size of a planet. If you came here from Ice Planet Barbarians, this is the one for you. Read the summary.
White Trash Wendy Fights an AI Anaconda for Alimony
Not romance exactly. Divorce court, where opposing counsel is a snake and also software. Included because it is technically a relationship with a non-human entity and I am counting it. Read the summary.
Why cryptid romance works
Because the setup does something ordinary romance cannot. The obstacle is not a misunderstanding at a wedding. It is that he is nine feet tall, covered in hair, and his family lives in a holler that does not appear on any map.
The good ones take that seriously enough for the feelings to land. The funny ones take it seriously enough that the joke works. Either way the monster is never the actual problem. The people are.
More lists: Books With Crazy Titles That Are Actually Good, Dark Humor Books, and Books Like Quan Millz.
