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Book Beat: Alien Cowboys, Marriage of Convenience, & More
Feb. 21st, 2026 09:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
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Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.
House of Monstrous Women
Author: Daphne Fama
Released: August 12, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Gothic, Horror, Mystery/Thriller
A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines.
In this game, there’s one rule: survive.
Orphaned after her father’s political campaign ended in tragedy, Josephine is alone taking care of the family home while her older brother is off in Manila, where revolution brews. But an unexpected invitation from her childhood friend Hiraya to her house offers an escape….
Why don’t you come visit, and we can play games like we used to?
If Josephine wins, she’ll get whatever her heart desires. Her brother is invited, too, and it’s time they had a talk. Josephine’s heard the dark whispers: Hiraya is a witch and her family spits curses. But still, she’s just desperate enough to seize this chance to change her destiny.
Except Ranoco house is strange—labyrinthine and dangerously close to a treacherous sea. A sickly-sweet smell clings to the dimly lit walls, and veiled eyes follow Josephine through endless connecting rooms. The air is tense with secrets and as the game continues it’s clear Josephine doesn’t have the whole truth.
To save herself, she will have to play to win. But in this house, victory is earned with blood.
A lush new voice in horror arises in this riveting gothic set against the upheaval of 1986 Philippines and the People Power Revolution.
Gothic horror with Filipino folklore!
Married to the Alien Cowboy
Author: Ursa Dax
Released: July 9, 2024 by Peace Weaver Press Inc.
Genre: Western, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Cowboy Colony Mail-Order Brides #1
A quiet alien cowboy, a human woman on the run, and one very messy marriage of convenience. What could possibly go wrong?
In debt and on the run from a crime lord whose nose I may or may not have broken, I take the first ticket off-world that comes my way. It’s an all-expenses-paid, one-way trip to an isolated ranching outpost.
The only catch?
I have to marry an alien cowboy.
My plan is simple enough. Shack up with my groom Silar and convince him to keep me during the first month of our marriage. As long as he doesn’t decide to send me packing after the thirty-day trial period, I’ll be safe.
But maybe my plan isn’t so great after all. Silar talks more to his animals than he does to me, seems perplexed by every wifely duty I try to perform for him, and goes to offensively great lengths to avoid touching me.
Other than his eyes glowing bright white every time he looks at me, I have no idea what’s going on in my new husband’s head. Meanwhile, he shows me in subtle, wordless ways just how good a man he can be when he thinks that no one’s watching.
Yup. My plan officially sucks. Because now, it’s not just my life at risk if Silar sends me away after thirty days…
It’s my stupid human heart.
Welcome to the cowboy colony planet, where men outnumber women ten to one and cattle outnumber them all…
I’m getting Ice Planet Barbarians but make it Western.
The Mars House
Author: Natasha Pulley
Released: March 19, 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
A compulsively readable queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee.
Named a Best Book of 2024 by The Washington Post * Amazon * Book Riot * LitHub * Paste Magazine * HuffPost
In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London’s Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, January’s life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January’s job choices, housing, and even transportation are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly.
When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January’s life is thrown into chaos, but Gale’s political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January’s future without naturalization and ensure Gale’s political success. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They’re kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would prefer. As their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay-and January may be the only person standing in the way.
Un-put-downably immersive and utterly timely, Natasha Pulley’s new novel is a gripping story about privilege, strength, and life across class divisions, perfect for readers of Sarah Gailey and Tamsyn Muir.
Elyse posted about this one in our slack with just the words “Queer fake marriage ballet sci fi.” What a lovely combo of words.
Silvercloak
Author: L.K. Steven
Released: July 29, 2025 by Del Rey
Genre: Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Silvercloak Saga #1
In this addictive new fantasy series set in a world where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain, an obsessive detective infiltrates a brutal gang of dark mages—knowing that one wrong move will get her killed. . . .
“A dazzling (and frequently sizzling) new fantasy.” —Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy Undying
Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran’s parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite order of detectives—with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.
But when Saff’s deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she’s given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.
Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover—and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there’s also her growing feelings for the kingpin’s tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand.
With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved . . . the detective who’s dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it.
Book One of the Silvercloak Saga
“Magic is fueled by pleasure and pain” gives me slight Kushiel’s Dart vibes, and I see that as a good thing.
This fun Rec League was suggested by Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon discord:
Welcome back, everyone!
