#RomBkLove Day 26: PNR, SFR, UF & Fantasy Magic, shifters & spaceships? Beyond the imaginative settings, what makes it special?

Magic, spaceships, shifters, I read them all. I love action, imaginative settings and I have a high tolerance for worldbuilding. In some ways I am more comfortable reading about kissing on the bridge of a spaceship than in corporate office. I came to Romance through PNR and UF and before I read romance I read SFR, UF and Fantasy for the romantic storylines.  These stories, whether it is the X-men or Tolkien, superheroes or mystical elves, helped me reflect about about our own world and many universal questions about humanity.  

PNR is really a huge genre, everything from mermaids to vampires and witches, and every mystical, supernatural creature in between. Personally I adore romances with Shifters. My favorite PNR is Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series. Her worldbuilding is imaginative and even though I sometimes have issue with some of the dynamics of her world (where are the LGBTIA people?? ), I am in too deep, I am deeply invested in the pack and family saga and the fascinating by the political suspense.

My favorite UF Series is probably Patricia Briggs Alpha and Omega series (a spin-off of her Mercy Thompson series).  It feature two wereworlves, Anna, a newly made wolf, who is neither a dominant or submissive wolf but something else. Anna had been forcibly turned and abused by her pack, and Charles, the chief enforcer for the supreme leader of the North American wolves, has been sent to investigate her pack and put things right. Their romance is gentle and sweet and it grows with each book as they learn about each other and how to make each other stronger. The stories have a lot suspense and political intrigue. 

I am currently reading a ton of SFR via KU, Ice Planet Barbarians. I was so skeptical (sex-toy like sex organs, aphrodisiac-pumping parasites), but the subtly expanding worldbuilding and family survival sagas aspect sneak attacked me into reading a dozen books about super-tall, blue, betailed aliens living in Hoth.  

But my SFR heart belongs to  Kit Rocha's amazing Beyond series. What started out as story about a diverse free-loving gang of bootleggers, carving out their own kind of happiness in the shadow of repressive city, grew into a sophisticated political saga, that grapples with the costs of war and moving beyond hedonism to building community, where family and belonging is not simply defined by blood relationships.

My favorite fantasy romance authors are probably Grace Draven whose Entreat Me (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), is emotional and rich in characterization.

What do you read? Why?