Monster Romance
Grab life by the Minotaur d*ck.
Monster Romance
🔥🔥🔥
Read-&-Rated Favorites (⭐ 3.5+)
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Whispers of the Deep by Emma Hamm
⭐ 4.25
MEDIUM, HEA
“Best ‘I told you so’ moment in any book. Spectacular world.” - Cardigan B
Enemies to Lovers, Kidnapping, Different Worlds, Mythological Beings, Forbidden Love Interest, Dystopian
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Captive to the Shadow Prince by Mallory Dunlin
⭐ 4.25
MEDIUM, HEA
“Yeeeeeeeeeeees! It was exactly what I needed to complete the series. Fantastic.” - Cardigan B
Fated Mates, Monster/Human Romance, FMC & MMC Enter Into A Contract, MMC/FMC have to stop the end of the world, MC has Strained Relationship with Parent
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Captured by the Fae Beast by Mallory Dunlin
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“I had to look up fanart because the descriptions just don't do it. When you see "wing-arm" "two tails" "had to shave the fur off my dick" "scales" it really throws you for a loop.” - Cardigan B
Age Gap, Royalty, Fated Mates, FMC Gives Herself as Payment, Shunned MMC, Grumpy/Sunshine, Body Modifications/Piercings/Tattoos, Captive Falls for Captor, Tortured MMC, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Monster/Human Romance
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Halfing by S.E. Wendel
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“ADORABLE Indeed. Orek was presh. He did need to be on some Lexipro.” - Penelope Black
“Adorable. One thing I didn't love - not enough about their pet raccoon. It's criminal.” - Cardigan B
Orc, Orc/Human, Monster MMC, Rescue, Survival, Virgin MMC, Tortured MMC, Touch Her & Die, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Forced Proximity
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Kiss of the Basilisk (alt Split or Swallow) by Lindsay Straube
⭐ 4.0
HOT, TO BE CONTINUED
“What a strange ride. First of all, the premise. If you're born in the same year as a prince, you have to be trained BY SNAKES - IN CAVES - TO FUCK. HAHAHAHA. I was in from the first page.” - Cardigan B
Snake/Basilisk/Serpent, Virgin, Sex Education, Involved in a Rebellion, Love Triangle, Royalty, What the hell did I just read and why can't I stop
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Love Bites Extra Hard by Lola Glass
⭐ 4.0
HOT, HEA
“Read this series in two days. Couldn’t stop. Her strange obsession with the scales was so weirdly sweet. This book is book 5 out of 5 - the dragon king and the siren - so you should start with ‘Love Bites’ book 1. It’s so much fun.” - Cardigan B
Dragon MMC, Fated Mates, Revenge, Overcoming Emotional Trauma, Near-Death Experience
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The Midnight Arrow by Zoey Draven
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
“She's an outcast resident of the dark woods. He's a hunter looking for a specific prize. He finds the prize, and love, with her. Two worlds collide.” - Cardigan B
Witch/Warlock/Wizard, Mysterious, Brooding (MMC), Forbidden Love Interest, Forced Proximity, Hidden Identity, Slow Burn
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Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta
⭐ 4.0
HOT, HEA
“I don't like how much cow he looked like on the cover of this book, felt weird.” - Penelope Black
“What a riot. This book had no business being as good as it was. You've gotta appreciate someone stepping outside of their comfort zone and grabbing life by the minotaur dick.” - Cardigan B
Beauty & The Beast, Monster MMC, Workplace, Opposites Attract, Slow Burn, Down on her Luck FMC, Unconventional Love Story, Forbidden Love Interest
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Wave Song by Emma Hamm
⭐ 4.0
MEDIUM, HEA
She's the daughter of the underwater architect. He's the denizen of the building site. Two worlds collide and love blooms. This is a cockpocket situation.” - Cardigan B
Monster/Human Romance, Monster MMC, Learning a New World, Fated Mates, Dystopian, Different Worlds
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Falling by Christina Lauren
⭐ 3.75
MEDIUM, HEA
“No. Epilogue. AAAAAH. We deserved one. I’m going to write a strongly worded letter.” - Cardigan B
Angel/Demon, Cursed MMC, Seasonal, Hidden Identity, Immortal/Mortal, Age Gap Romance, Fated Mates
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Games with the Orc by Kathryn Moon
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“There was so much cum in this one. So much. He had her squeezing it out the night after their games. I was dying. I didn't expect to like this book.” - Cardigan B
Orcs, 20+ FMC, 20+ MMC, Fated Mates, Size Difference between FMC & MMC, Curvier FMC, Dominant MMC, Submissive FMC, Dom/Sub, BDSM, Aftercare, Body Positivity, Exploring Fantasies, Monster MMC, Orc/Human
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Kings and Bones by Juliette Cross
⭐ 3.75
MILD, HEA
“There's something to be said for an FMC that accepts her circumstances with grace. We've had a lot of whiny FMCs. Murgha isn't one of them.” - Cardigan B
Fae/Fairies, Fated Mates, Age Gap Romance, Rescue, Strong Sister Bond, Hidden Identity, Hidden Powers
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Space Vampire by Ruby Dixon
⭐ 3.75
MEDIUM, HEA
“She's a human pet for some asshole aliens. He's a testtube vampire grown in a space lab to be a gladiator. He escapes his confines and scares the hell out of everyone...but her.” - Cardigan B
Seasonal, Vampire, Alien, MC is trapped, MMC/FMC is/are on the Run, Rescue, Survival, Kidnapping
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Sweet Berries by C.M. Nascosta
⭐ 3.75
HOT, HEA
“She’s a marketer for a strawberry farm. He’s a mothman who loves strawberries. Sure, he stalks her and watches her sleep. But she thinks it’s cute.” - Cardigan B
Monster/Human Romance, Workplace Romance, Stalker/Stalking
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Guarded by the Snake by Layla Fae
⭐ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“I'm learning a lot about myself with reads like this one. I genuinely liked the premise. New term: "cockpocket.” - Cardigan B
Snake/Basilisk, Bodyguard, Monster/Human Romance, Monster MMC, Forced Proximity, What the hell did I just read and why can't I stop, Praise Kink, Grumpy/Sunshine, Size Difference between FMC & MMC, Tall MMC, Dirty Talker, Only One Bed, Opposites Attract, Fated Mates, Touch Her and Die Vibes, Creative Anatomy
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Howl for the Gargoyle by Kathryn Moon
⭐ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“I loved that she found someone who could help her with the parts of herself that she detested and turn them into something she celebrated. I mean, he’s a gargoyle with confidence.” - Cardigan B
Gargoyles, Monster/Human Romance, Monster MMC, Werewolves, Sex Worker/Escort, Shapeshifter Romance, Fated Mates, Mating/Bonding, Grumpy/Sunshine, Rockstar, Forced Proximity
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When She Purrs by Ruby Dixon
⭐ 3.5
HOT, HEA
“She's living on an alien catnip farm, looking for a husband to protect her. He's really into catnip and loves her from afar. They marry for convenience but find love in a 1-bedroom palace.” - Cardigan B
Marriage of Convenience, Alien/Human, MC has a Secret Past, MMC Teaches FMC Martial Arts, Accidental/Surprise Pregnancy, MC is Shunned by Family, Slavery
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Wicked Conjuring by Sarah Piper
⭐ 3.5
HOT, TO BE CONTINUED
“Gargoyles are new! One mistreated witch who was sold by her father to bond to a DEMON meets 4 gargoyles trying to break a curse. By the end of book 1, she had seduced two of them. They've banded together, though, to break the curse holding the gargoyles in their monster state. A shockingly sweet story.”
Monster MMC, Stalker/Stalking, Witch/Warlock/Wizard, Cursed MMC, Paranormal Protection, Revenge
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Railed by the Easter Bunny by Dalia Davies
⭐ 3.25
MEDIUM, TO BE CONTINUED
“We’re not saying you shouldn’t read this. We’re just saying we want to know why the Easter Bunny lives in a prostitution den.” - Cardigan B
Easter Romance, Seasonal, Holiday Romance, Folklore Romance, Age Gap Romance, FMC & MMC Enter Into A Contract, Marriage of Convenience, Creative Anatomy
@35CARDIGANS @BLACKCAT100
Find us on The StoryGraph
Join The StoryGraph, our romance book tracking app of choice. Scope out our TBRs, see which titles we’ve read, and watch us rate in real time. Just more proof that we’re humans.
(Yea, we also use goodreads…but so do our families. Who we’re connected to).
Sizzle Scale
HOT
(Blazing & Explicit): This is the full five-alarm fire. Bedroom doors are flung wide open, and the scenes are DETAILED, EXPLICIT, and SCORCHING HOT. No fading to black here.
MEDIUM
(Simmering & Steamy): Expect passionate kisses that don't always fade to black. Could be graphic, but probably one scene that goes full throttle. Things get steamy, and the chemistry is sparking. You’ll blush, but you won’t need a fire extinguisher... yet.
MILD
(Sweet & Tender): Expect sweet sighs, maybe a stolen, chaste kiss or two, and plenty of heartwarming moments that make you go "awww." If things get more intimate, the bedroom door gently clicks shut (fade-to-black).
FLOUR
(Platonic, if anything): Rare to find around here. This is a book that has…no romance at all. We probably read this by accident.
FAQs
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A guide to romance novels of all heats and sizes. We’re recommending books we’ve read (we’ve read 1,000s) and telling you what to expect. We’ll help you do your research - your time and money will be happy.
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‘Happily Ever After’ - nearly every book you find on The Velvet Pages has an ‘HEA’. It means that the story reached a satisfying conclusion. It might say “To Be Continued” which means there’s probably an HEA in the series, but that particular title didn’t resolve the relationship.
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This is how sexual or sexy a book is. There’s a range: Hot, Medium, Mild, and Flour.
Hot is ‘“holy Hell I’m sweating.”
Medium is steamy.
Mild is tender and sweet.
Flour means there’s nothing romantic here.
We label each book so you know what to expect and you can choose what you’re comfortable reading.
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We rate each book out of 5. Cardigan B and Penelope Black can rate a book the same score on occasion, but usually the rating you see is an average of their scores.
The ratings are pretty subjective, but include things like:
Did the story make sense?
How did the characters measure up?
Was the writing literate?
Was the premise or were the plot points memorable?
Were the mysteries solved? Did the questions get answered? Did you leave me on ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER, ONYX STORM?
Did the book make us feel something?
Was there a cute cat?
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We recommend starting with Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, or Sports Romance. They’re the most popular and you’ll find recognizable tropes.
Start with Mild to Medium heat and definitely choose an HEA.
If you’re still stuck, email us and we can give you some recs!
Heyyyvelvetpages@gmail.com
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We’ll read pretty much anything. Each month, Penelope and Cardigan select a list of about 20 books to read together. There’s at least one book from each genre and some popular titles that have been recently released.
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We sure do! It’s called ‘The Velvet Edit’. You can sign up at the top or on the ‘Contact Us’ page. We send out a themed list of recommendations each month and a ‘Quickie’ (a single title spotlight) two weeks later. We won’t spam you.
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That’s the section of the site where we share what we’re reading this month for our book club. You can check out our other reading lists from the past few months of 2025, too.
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Nope, not even close. The books on the site are generally the ones we enjoyed the most. Or hit on different trends we see coming up.
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They are! If you buy from a button click on the site, we might earn a commission. You’re not paying more for the product, though. We’re all about ‘pay less for smut’ around here.
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We use Storygraph. It has a friendly app interface and has every book we’ve read. It also shows your reading stats, which is unique.
We have separate Goodreads accounts, but they’re connected to our friends and family and…I don’t want them to see that I read the first and second book in a series about a merman with two dicks.
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MMC is Male Main Character. FMC is female main character.
There are typically one of each, but there can be multiple in genres like Omegaverse or Reverse Harem.
Or, like in the case of Court of Thorns and Roses, the MMC could be one person in one book and another person in another book.
Don’t come at me about ‘spoilers’ - these books were published in 2015.
Email us
Looking for a book recommendation? Want to give us a recommendation you’ve read? Need to yell into the void?