Alien romances
The Stars Were Never Silent
Dear readers,
I also use the penname Ayla Jones for romance books, though I still publish some under my usual penname. Ayla was intended for more steamy reads.
So I wanted to write about Alien romance series, which I started back when the Vella serial platform still existed in 2023. I’m publishing them in full now.
A Bride for the Alien series
There are science fiction stories about wars.
There are stories about empires.
And then there are stories about two people who were born on different worlds, carrying histories neither of them asked for.
That’s what this series became.
When I started writing Ariss, I thought I was writing an alien romance.
Instead, I found myself writing about loneliness.
About what it means to meet someone who sees you before they understand you.
About two civilizations that have spent centuries believing they know exactly who the other side is... only to discover they’ve been wrong all along.
Bonus Content
Character Page: Ariss
Ariss was always the beginning.
The first contact wasn’t made by diplomats.
It wasn’t made by soldiers.
It happened between two people who should never have trusted each other.
One human.
One alien.
Both carrying far more responsibility than either wanted.
Their story asks a simple question:
Can love exist before trust does?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes that answer changes entire civilizations.
What’s next.
Character Spotlight: Araff
If Ariss could lead, Araff could read machines.
He wasn’t born into a noble house or trained to command fleets from polished council chambers. He grew up where ships were built—among welding sparks, coolant lines, engine housings, and decks that always smelled faintly of hot metal. His hands carry the story of that life. Scarred knuckles. Burn marks that never quite faded. Tiny white lines earned from years of repairing engines no one else could save.
To most people, a spacecraft is a masterpiece of engineering.
To Araff, it’s alive.
He doesn’t simply know the schematics. He feels when an engine isn’t happy, hears the difference between a healthy reactor and one beginning to drift out of harmony, and notices a vibration so slight that most sensors would ignore it. Give him enough time beside a machine, and he’ll tell you what it needs before it fails.
He has never believed technology should be conquered.
It should be understood.
Other engineers calculate first.
Araff listens.
He’ll rest a scarred hand against a bulkhead, close his eyes, and somehow know which conduit is carrying too much heat or which magnetic bearing is beginning to wear. His crew jokes that the ship talks to him.
Sometimes they aren’t entirely joking.
Away from the engine rooms, Araff is quieter than most expect. He doesn’t chase recognition, doesn’t seek command, and has little patience for politics. Titles impress him less than honest work. A person who keeps their promises earns his respect far faster than someone born into privilege.
Perhaps that’s why he and Alissa understand one another so quickly.
She sees the scars before she notices the brilliance.
He notices her curiosity before her fear.
Neither is interested in appearances.
Both want to know how things truly work.
Including each other.
Behind the Story
One of my favorite parts of writing this series has been building the alien civilizations.
It’s not just about different technology. It’s about different ways of thinking, unique traditions, varied ideas of family and honor, and different ways of falling in love.
I wanted the romance to feel as though it could only happen because these characters come from completely different worlds, and yet discover that some emotions don’t belong to any one species. The feelings that are universal:
Hope.
Grief.
Curiosity.
Love.
Araff is not yet published, but will be soon. All the books in the series are standalone, different romances, different heat levels, and different challenges.
And after that will be Aronn: Pilot.
Also coming soon are some hockey romances.
You can find link to these romancereads here
Link to series: A Bride for the Alien
If you need something else to read, here are both romance and thriller bookpromos.
A cozy mystery promo- ONLY TODAY!
KU Sweet reads:
Ready for more? I’ve added Gianna’s diary pages to paid. The first days onboard the alien vessel.
Excerpts from Gianna’s Journal
Day 3
I finally convinced myself this isn’t a dream.
If it were a dream, I’d have woken up by now.
Dreams don’t smell like this place.
Everything here carries the scent of rain after lightning. The air is cool but never cold, and every corridor hums softly, as though the ship itself is breathing.
I still can’t decide if that’s comforting or terrifying.
The crew watches me when they think I don’t notice.
Not in a cruel way.
More like...
...like they’ve found a bird that’s somehow wandered into the ocean.
They aren’t afraid of me.
They’re curious.
I suppose I’m doing exactly the same thing.
Day 5
Today I learned they don’t actually “eat” meals together.
Nutrition is mostly individual. Efficient.
No conversations around tables.
No arguing over who stole the last dessert.
No family recipes.
No birthday cakes.
No Thanksgiving.
When I explained what Thanksgiving was, one officer asked whether humanity held annual diplomatic ceremonies with birds.
I laughed so hard I nearly cried.
Then I realized I actually missed my family.
I hadn’t let myself think about them.
Not until today.
Day 6
Ariss came to check on me.
Or at least I think he did.
He insists he was “passing through.”
Which is remarkable considering his route apparently passes my quarters every single evening.
He asked whether I required additional environmental adjustments.
I asked if the ship could make pizza.
He looked genuinely concerned.
“I’m unfamiliar with this nutritional compound.”
I spent fifteen minutes explaining pizza.
He listened with the seriousness of someone being briefed on an interstellar treaty.
When I finished, he simply nodded.
“It appears your species survives primarily through melted dairy.”
I laughed.
He didn’t.
I’m still not entirely sure whether that was a joke.
Day 8
I finally asked why everyone keeps staring at my hands.
Apparently humans gesture far more than they do.
To them, my conversations look almost theatrical.
One engineer admitted he’d been trying to determine whether I was constantly issuing secret tactical signals.
I told him I was Italian.
He looked even more confused.
Day 10
I saw Ariss smile today.
Actually smile.
Not the polite little expression he gives during formal conversations.
A real one.
It lasted maybe two seconds.
His entire face changed.
It’s strange.
His people seem so controlled that when one of them laughs, it feels like watching sunrise after weeks of rain.
I wish he smiled more often.
Day 12
Today he asked about music.
Not because he enjoys it.
Because he couldn’t understand why humans would willingly listen to the same sounds repeatedly.
I had taken my laptop with me, and I had a collection of music and popular songs stored there.
So...
I played him Debussy.
Then Queen.
Then Einaudi.
Then Elvis.
That might have been a mistake.
He sat perfectly still through all of it.
Finally he asked,
“Is emotional instability considered a requirement for artistic excellence on Earth?”
Honestly?
Maybe.
Day 14
I’ve started noticing little things.
He always walks on the outside when we’re in unfamiliar sections of the ship.
He slows his pace without realizing it.
He remembers everything I’ve mentioned.
Everything.
I casually told him coffee helps me think.
The next morning there was a mug waiting outside my door.
Not coffee.
They don’t have coffee.
Something...similar.
Apparently half the science division spent the night trying to replicate caffeine.
It tasted terrible.
I drank every drop.
Day 17
The stars look different here.
I knew they would.
Of course I knew.
But knowing something and seeing it...
Those are different things.
I spent almost an hour looking out one of the observation windows.
I couldn’t find Orion.
Or Cassiopeia.
Or the North Star.
The sky I’d known my whole life simply...
wasn’t there.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so far from home.
I didn’t realize Ariss had been standing beside me until I heard his voice in my head, asking, “Which stars are missing?”
I pointed.
One by one.
He listened.
Not because he knew the constellations.
Because he knew they mattered.
Day 19
I’m beginning to think he worries about me more than he admits.
Today I tripped over one of those ridiculous floor seams.
He caught my arm before I hit the deck.
His reflexes are unfair.
He immediately let go, as though he’d done something inappropriate.
Then apologized.
Twice.
For preventing me from falling.
Aliens are weird.
Day 22
I asked him today if his people ever fall in love.
The question seemed to surprise him.
He thought about it for a very long time.
Finally he answered, “Not quickly.”
I asked what that meant.
He said, “Our hearts decide before our minds are willing to admit it.”
I haven’t stopped thinking about that sentence.
Neither, I suspect, has he.
Day 25
Something is changing.
Not the ship.
Not the mission.
Us.
The silences aren’t awkward anymore.
Sometimes we simply stand together looking through the observation windows without speaking.
Sometimes that’s enough.
Home still feels impossibly far away.
But somehow...
I don’t feel quite as alone as I did three weeks ago.
Maybe that’s what friendship looks like when it begins among the stars.
Or maybe—
No.
It’s far too early to finish that thought.
