Below is a random short list of action-adventure romantic SF and sci-fi romances. Between my reading and research, it seems like many SFR books lately have featured romances paired with a lot of chases, combat, and stuff blowing up!
So, just because, here's a snapshot of the range of action-adventure romances you can find in SFR (pretty great range if you ask me!):
FORTUNE'S PAWN: Paradox #1 -- Rachel Bach
Romantic SF
Devi Morris isn't your average mercenary. She has plans. Big
ones. And a ton of ambition. It's a combination that's going to get her killed
one day - but not just yet.
That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn't misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she's found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn't give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
SOLIA'S MOON: Outer Settlement Agency #1 - Lyn Brittan
Sci-fi romance
When her terraforming company expands beyond making places
habitable, to creating humanoid life, Lunar Physician Solia Calian has to find
a way to stop them. She’ll have the help of a mysterious sheriff named
Giancarlo Sable, but they’d better hurry up. When the ones they hope to
liberate start turning on them, figuring out where the real danger lies is the
only way to escape alive.
STAR PIRATE'S JUSTICE: Legends of the Seven Galaxies #2 --
S.E. Gilchrist
Sci-fi romance
Carly has one focus in her life: to return home to her
terminally ill younger sister. When she learns that a Darkon traitor possesses
gateway maps to Earth, she uses all her skills to track him down. But capturing
the charming star pirate turns out to be trickier than she anticipated…
Volkar is determined to prove his innocence to those who drove him to a life lived on the Outer Rim, and he will overcome anyone who gets in his way. But his surprisingly sweet captor has some skills that will come in handy, so he strikes a deal: the maps for her help. Neither expect their partnership to turn into more, but as dark secrets are revealed, their lives become forfeit — and the relationship blossoming between them nothing but a starburst of happiness in the deep shadow of the sky…
Volkar is determined to prove his innocence to those who drove him to a life lived on the Outer Rim, and he will overcome anyone who gets in his way. But his surprisingly sweet captor has some skills that will come in handy, so he strikes a deal: the maps for her help. Neither expect their partnership to turn into more, but as dark secrets are revealed, their lives become forfeit — and the relationship blossoming between them nothing but a starburst of happiness in the deep shadow of the sky…
IN THE DEVIL'S NEBULA: The Phoenix Adventures #2 -- AnnaHackett
Sci-fi romance
He lost it all.
His career, his woman, his sanity.
Two years ago, on a deadly mission to the lawless Devil’s Nebula, Commander Zayn Phoenix’s life imploded. Now the former Strike Wing pilot fills his days with dangerous adventures alongside his treasure hunter brothers.
But his nights are another story: haunted by nightmares of one unforgivable act.
Until an assassin lures him into a hunt. A hunt for her freedom from the Assassin’s Guild. A hunt for a derringer used in an ancient and infamous assassination—of old Earth president, Abraham Lincoln.
Zayn is compelled to join the perilous adventure with Ria Dante that will take them straight into the heart of the Devil’s Nebula, but not for money, fame or treasure.
He joins because Ria has the face of the woman he left for dead in the Nebula years before.
His career, his woman, his sanity.
Two years ago, on a deadly mission to the lawless Devil’s Nebula, Commander Zayn Phoenix’s life imploded. Now the former Strike Wing pilot fills his days with dangerous adventures alongside his treasure hunter brothers.
But his nights are another story: haunted by nightmares of one unforgivable act.
Until an assassin lures him into a hunt. A hunt for her freedom from the Assassin’s Guild. A hunt for a derringer used in an ancient and infamous assassination—of old Earth president, Abraham Lincoln.
Zayn is compelled to join the perilous adventure with Ria Dante that will take them straight into the heart of the Devil’s Nebula, but not for money, fame or treasure.
He joins because Ria has the face of the woman he left for dead in the Nebula years before.
PANGAEA: EDEN'S PLANET -- Tom Johnson
SF with romantic
elements
A Love Story, 250
Million Years in The Making
Seven astronauts en route to Mars
encounter a time warp in space that disables their ship. Crash landing on
Earth, they discover an alien planet sixty million years before the dinosaurs.
Pangaea, the super continent, is filled with danger and terror, as they must
survive against fierce reptiles that ruled the Earth 250 million years in the
past!
REVENGE OF THE MAD SCIENTIST: Airship Adventure Chronicles
#1 -- Lara Nance
Steampunk romance
When Lady Arabella Trunkett’s father, the High Lord Minister
of Urbannia is kidnapped, all clues point to the mysterious country of Gandiss
and the world is thrown into political upheaval.
Arabella is convinced the more sinister nation of Carabarras is to blame., urged on by a mad scientist seeking revenge. So, she sets out on a perilous airship journey across a variety of exotic locales to save him, and halt the potential world war.
But airship pirates, secret assassins and slave traders aren’t her only trials. The fickle hand of fate has made the captain of the only airship available for charter, the man that left her at the altar. For eight years she's wished him dead. Now he's her only hope.
Arabella is convinced the more sinister nation of Carabarras is to blame., urged on by a mad scientist seeking revenge. So, she sets out on a perilous airship journey across a variety of exotic locales to save him, and halt the potential world war.
But airship pirates, secret assassins and slave traders aren’t her only trials. The fickle hand of fate has made the captain of the only airship available for charter, the man that left her at the altar. For eight years she's wished him dead. Now he's her only hope.
NIGHT WHISPERS: ShadowLands #1 - Alisha Rai
Post-apocalyptic romance
When every night is a battle for survival, love is an
endangered species
Analyst James Bennett has spent the years since humankind fell victim to the Illness living underground. Part of an elite group of survivors determined to save their race, his only interaction with the blood-drinking Shadows roaming the Earth is through surveillance technology carried by his team of search-and-rescue agents. Scarred by vicious events, he has no desire to leave the safety of his bunker for the dangerous world outside—until he recruits a tough, haunted young woman clear across the country.
Former gang member Jules Guerrero learned two things early on: the value of loyalty and never backing down from a fight. Both of those teachings come in handy now that her job description includes protecting humans and kicking Shadow ass. But it’s hard to keep her mind strictly on her mission when all she can think about is the man whose voice keeps her sane through the depths of each dark night.
When Jules is captured and threatened by a rogue organization even more bloodthirsty than the Shadows, James must draw on all of his courage to fuel a furious cross-country chase through the lawless land…before the Jules he loves is destroyed forever.
Analyst James Bennett has spent the years since humankind fell victim to the Illness living underground. Part of an elite group of survivors determined to save their race, his only interaction with the blood-drinking Shadows roaming the Earth is through surveillance technology carried by his team of search-and-rescue agents. Scarred by vicious events, he has no desire to leave the safety of his bunker for the dangerous world outside—until he recruits a tough, haunted young woman clear across the country.
Former gang member Jules Guerrero learned two things early on: the value of loyalty and never backing down from a fight. Both of those teachings come in handy now that her job description includes protecting humans and kicking Shadow ass. But it’s hard to keep her mind strictly on her mission when all she can think about is the man whose voice keeps her sane through the depths of each dark night.
When Jules is captured and threatened by a rogue organization even more bloodthirsty than the Shadows, James must draw on all of his courage to fuel a furious cross-country chase through the lawless land…before the Jules he loves is destroyed forever.
ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE - Veronica Scott
Sci-fi romance
Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of
the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a
political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane
barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t
about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy
he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.
Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.
That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.
Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.
Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.
That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.
Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.
***
Feel free to share about your own SFR action-adventure experiences!
Joyfully yours,
Heather