This is a spicy tentacle books rec list, put together mainly because I love stories with tentacles, but also because I love reading to theme. It forces me to dig deep, discover new (to me) authors, and find books that I may not have found had I not been specifically looking for them. This list is filled with books I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and I hope you enjoy all the tentacle-y goodness as well.
When we choose a book with tentacles in it, we do so for a reason. As such, all book recommendations below are spicy, four chilis and higher (you can find my overall rating and heat rating scale here). As tentacle smut isn’t big in traditional publishing, the majority of book recommendations below are independently published. Let’s support the indie authors who give us the stories we want to read.
I’ve separated the list into two categories: Aliens with tentacles and Mythical Creatures with tentacles. But if you’d like your recs by vibes, here’s a mini roundup:
✨My three favorites (that are going straight to my 2023 faves list): Wriggle and Sparkle by Megan Derr, The Klockwerk Kraken Collection by Aidee Ladnier, and Sacrifice the Sea by Anna Fury and Amy Pennza.
✨For cozy “chicken soup for the horny soul” vibes, I’d recommend Delaney Rain’s The Sea Monster’s Mate duet and C.W. Gray’s A Mate from the Deep (Book 2.5 in a series. The whole series is warm and fuzzy but only book 2.5 has tentacles.)
✨If you’re looking for banter and frequent laugh-out-loud moments, check out Megan Derr’s Wriggle and Sparkle and C. Rochelle’s Herculeia (featuring The 12 Hunks of Herculeia, Herculeia the Hero, and bonus content).
✨For otherworldly vibes that emphasize the difference between the tentacled creature and their intended, try The Two Queens of Firixina by Dalia Davies and the We Are Nepenthe series by Octavia Hyde.
✨If you want a story where a woman is the tentacle monster, you’ll love Surrendering to Scylla by Wren K Morris, The Two Queens of Firixina by Dalia Davies, and Tentacles and Teeth by Rowan Merrick.
✨For those of you who like mysteries and paranormal investigations, check out Wriggle and Sparkle by Megan Derr and Acsquidentally in Love by K.L. Hiers.
✨If you like your dark little mermaid retellings with a side of tentacles, check out Wrecked by Nyla K and Sacrifice the Sea by Anna Fury and Amy Pennza.
✨For fans of Greek mythology, you’ll love C. Rochelle’s Herculeia and Surrendering to Scylla by Wren K Morris.
Affiliate Disclaimer: I participate in the Amazon Affiliate program. As such, if you make a purchase through one of my links below, I’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Spicy Tentacle Books featuring Mythical Creatures
Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Monster Romance, MF Romance — Dual POV, first person, present tense — Witches, Kraken Shifter, Fated Mates, Sex Magic]
When Gideon, an immortal kraken shifter, stakes out an antique store in search of a stolen artifact, the last thing he expects is to fall in love. But a chance encounter with the lovely matchmaking witch Rose has his inner creature rearing up and declaring, ‘Mine.’
Rejected by her fated mate, Rose yearns to get her life back on track. But she refuses to open her heart again. Her family-owned bathhouse desperately needs magic—sex magic—and agreeing to three nights with Gideon will provide plenty for their coffers. But it’s only physical. It doesn’t have to mean anything… (Check out my detailed review).
Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark (Monstrous Matches Book 1)
Wriggle & Sparkle by Megan Derr — Novella Collection
🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Paranormal Romance, MM Romance — Mostly Single POV, third limited, past tense — Kraken Shifter, Unicorn Shifter, Paranormal Investigations, Office Romance]
Lynn, a surly kraken shifter who works for the paranormal equivalent of the FBI, goes through business partners as quickly as he does Italian suits. He has no filter and doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but the bureau keeps him on because he’s their best investigator. When Lynn’s boss assigns a unicorn shifter as his partner, he thinks it must be a joke. Unicorns don’t belong in the violent crimes unit. But Anderson isn’t your typical unicorn. He’s gorgeous, sarcastic, and won’t put up with Lynn’s shit.
This five-novella + bonus epilogue collection follows their relationship from meet-cute and beyond, all the while solving crime and overcoming the trouble these two hilarious assholes inevitably find themselves in. (Check out my detailed review).
Wriggle & Sparkle by Megan Derr
A Mate from the Deep by C.W. Gray — Novella
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Paranormal Romance, MM Romance — Dual POV, third limited, past tense — Merman shifter + Tentacle-tailed Merman Shifter, Fated Mates, Omegaverse, Found Family, Curses]
A Mate from the Deep is part of the Silver Isles series, but you can read it as a standalone (although I recommend reading the entire series because it’s yummy). Luca, a shark-tailed merman, is on permanent leave from the royal guard after he’s injured in the line of duty. Dedicated to the royal Muir family, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Until he hears the mating call.
Sea Witch Johanna of the Deep sends her general, Kristoff, a tentacle-tailed merman, on a forced vacation because he works too hard and won’t willingly take time off. He’s ignored his mating call in favor of work, but with nothing else to do, he travels north. The Deep and the Northern Silver Isles have long been adversaries, but the mating call is never wrong. (Check out my detailed series review here).
A Mate from the Deep by CW Gray (Silver Isles Series Book 2.5)
Sacrifice the Sea by Anna Fury & Amy Pennza (Beautiful Nightmares Book 3)
🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
[Paranormal Romance, MMM Romance — Multi POV, first person, present tense — Dark Little Mermaid Retelling, Mermen shifters (one with tentacles), War Against the Leviathans, Dystopian World]
The sea is a vicious place, and Mer king Triton’s rule is tenuous. At all costs—whatever lies must be told, whatever blood must be spilled—he must protect his people against the Leviathans. But he draws the line at murdering an innocent child. Instead, Triton confines him to a cave.
The child grows into a handsome young man, and when his powers manifest, Triton sends Ari, his lover and second-in-command, to investigate. Neither man expects to become enamored with the young sea witch, and Ursan just might be their undoing. (I love this book sooooo much! Check out my detailed review).
Sacrifice the Sea by Anna Fury and Amy Pennza (Beautiful Nightmares Book 3)
Tentacles and Teeth by Rowan Merrick
🥭🥭🥭.75
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Monster Romance, FFM Romance — Multi POV, first person, past tense — Human, Shadow Fae (with tentacles made of darkness), Werewolf, Primal Play, Slice of Life, PWP]
Katarina is looking for excitement; one night only, no strings attached. But she gets more than she bargained for when she goes home with Sid, the gorgeous Shadow Fae bartender with tentacles made of darkness. Katarina smells irresistible to both Sid and Fenn, her werewolf roommate, and they will do whatever it takes to make her theirs. (Check out my detailed review).
Tentacles and Teeth by Rowan Merrick
Herculeia by C. Rochelle — Novel Duet + Bonus Content
🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
[Monster Romance, Why Choose Romance with MM — Multi POV, first person, past tense — one human, twelve monsters, sixteen fancy peens, one cockpocket, and a plethora of tentacles, Sassy Heroine, Greek Mythology, Vengeful Gods, Forced Proximity, Mystery, Banter]
Nursing a broken heart and a wounded ego, newly single Herculeia goes on a Greek Island cruise hoping to mend her broken heart by getting under someone else. Things don’t go according to plan. Or maybe they do. She finds herself stranded on an island, and the inhabitants are mythic beasts who’ve been trapped for centuries. And they think she’s their fated mate. Loosely based on the twelve labors of Hercules, Herculeia must conquer their hearts to set them (and hopefully herself) free.
The Herculeia omnibus contains both novels (The 12 Hunks of Herculeia and Herculeia the Hero), bonus epilogues, three bonus short stories, and NSFW art (by Mon Reyes Artworks). (Check out my detailed review.)
Tinsel & Tentacles by Kate McDarris — Novella
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Contemporary Romance, MMF Romance — Multi POV, first person, present tense — Rockstar, Manager, Bodyguard, Xmas in NYC, Pining, Ice Skating, Snowball Fights]
Tinsel & Tentacles is a polyamorous getting-together rockstar romance set in New York City at Christmas. Barney is a world-renowned rockstar with a secret. His manager, Marci, and bodyguard, Ryder are secretly pining for him, and Barney thinks they could never love him back, especially if they ever found out about his fishy little secret. This novella brings the fluff, the heat, and the shenanigans. (Read my review).
Tinsel & Tentacles by Kate McDarris
Acsquidentally in Love by KL Hiers (Sucker for Love Mysteries Book 1)
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Paranormal/Moster Romance, MM Romance — Single POV, third limited, past tense — Human + Older God inhabiting a human host, Older Gods (Lovecraftian Mythos), Magic, Murder Mystery, Old vs New Religion]
Acsquidentally in Love kicks off the Sucker for Love Mysteries series but can be read as a standalone. If you’re drawn to Lovecraftian imagery with tentacles, mystery, revenge, and magic rituals, you’ll love this one. Private investigator Sloane Beaumont doesn’t have much of a personal life. When he meets the attractive Lochlain Fields at a Halloween Party, they hit off. But hours later a tentacled older god, Azaethoth the Lesser, shows up wearing Lochlain’s body and hires Sloane to investigate his murder. Then things get weird… (Check out my detailed review.)
Acsquidentally in Love by K.L. Hiers (Sucker for Love Mysteries Book 1)
“Wrecked” in Wicked Things by Nyla K — Novella
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Monster Romance, MMM Romance, Historical Romance-ish (set in 1700s but they talk modern) — Multi POV, first person, present tense — Human Pirate, Merman, Kraken, Bisexual Awakening, Forced Proximity, Stranded on an Island]
tw: period-typical homophobia, dubious consent, Stockholm Syndrome, breath play
Wicked Things is a collection of four monster romance novellas. “Wrecked” is the third story, inspired by The Little Mermaid and Moby Dick.
When buccaneer Andros Van Alden’s ship is smashed during a storm, he thinks he’s dead, and that he’s only imagined the powerful arms and flash of a teal tail as he’s carried ashore. But when he comes to, he finds he’s not as alone on the remote island as he once thought.
Cane, the reluctant Triton Prince, longs deeply for connection to the human world and has a collection of trinkets to prove his desires. When rescues a human, he’s determined to make him his. And if things weren’t complicated enough, a former foe reappears… Wreck, the kraken and local troublemaker, just can’t leave well enough alone. And when all is said and done, Cane and Andros may not want him to leave… (Check out my review of all four novellas.)
Wicked Things by Nyla K (Four Novellas including “Wrecked”)
Surrendering to Scylla by Wren K Morris
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Monster Romance, MF Romance — Multi POV, first person, past tense — Greek Mythology, Vengeful Gods, Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, Female Monster, Domme/Sub]
When she isn’t busy eating sailors, Scylla, a beautiful nymph turned monster, spends her days in a secluded sea cave fashioning bones into trinkets. But when Ophelos and his ship encounter Scylla, she notices he’s different from the other blood-thirsty sailors. She spares him, intending to eat him later. Except he sees her like no one else ever has, and she has difficulty following through with her plans. (Check out my review).
Surrendering to Scylla by Wren K Morris
Spicy Tentacle Books with Aliens
The Sea Monster’s Mate (Delaney’s Sea Monsters) series by Delaney Rain
I love this series so much. Both are fluffy, cozy, steamy getting-together stories, but they give different vibes. Book one has a lot of fascinating background info on mersquid history, and has a fantastic balance between heat and fluffy parenting moments with adorable mersquid babies. If you’ve never read a book with oviposition (egg implantation) in it, this is the one you want to start with. It’s adorably gentle. Book two is an age-gap romance between two humans and the mersquid they rescue. There’s a lot of pining and shenanigans with meddling friends. While it’s not necessary to read them in order, you will get more of the creature background and be able to recognize character cameos if you read book one first. (Check out my detailed review.)
Book 1: The Sea Monster’s Mate — Novella
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Monster/Alien Romance, MM Romance, Science Fiction — Single POV, third limited, past tense — Fluff, Found Family, Instalove, Oviposition, Parenting]
After being outed and disowned by his family, Eric Baird builds a house on a small island near Hawaii. While swimming in the lagoon, he almost drowns. However, unbeknownst to him, his secret admirer—Ty, a tentacled mersquid—comes to his rescue. Mersquid (Cecaelia) once came from another planet and now require a host in order to reproduce. Ty would very much like for Eric to be their host.
Book 2: Aquaculture Affair — Novella
🥭🥭🥭🥭.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Monster/Alien Romance, MMM Romance, Science Fiction — Multi POV, third limited, past tense — Age Gap, Dad’s Best Friend, Fated Mates, Sea Rescue, Found Family, Meddling Friends]
Larkin has been pining for his Dad’s best friend, Dean, from the moment he realized he was into men. But it’s hopeless. Dean’s been there for every stage of Larkin’s life, and Larkin is sure he’ll never see him that way. But when they rescue a strange tentacled creature from the sea, it sets things in motion. Mo, a mersquid, is sure Larkin and Dean are both their fated mates, and they will do anything to have them both.
The Sea Monster’s Mate & Aquaculture Affair by Delaney Rain
Cosmic Kiss by Clio Evans
🥭🥭🥭🥭.25
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
[Alien Romance, MMF Romance, Science Fiction — Multi POV, first person, past tense — Human + Aliens, Fated Mates, Burlesque Dancer, Enemies to Lovers, Second Chances, Royalty, Virgin]
Stella is a burlesque dancer, touring the galaxy with Madam Moonie’s Galactic Gems. The first stop is the Monarch Galaxy, planet Lapis. As Stella starts the show, something is amiss. She falls from the stage but is caught by the Lazulian Prince, Zin, and the tentacled Tourmalind chancellor, Toras. The two aliens have a strained relationship, but both claim Stella as their fated mate. What’s a gal to do? Cosmic Kiss is a book with gorgeous worldbuilding, mystery, burlesque routines, and delicious spice. (Check out my full review).
The Klockwerk Kraken Collection by Aidee Ladnier — Novella Collection
🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Alien Romance, MM Romance, Science Fiction — Dual POV, third limited, past tense — Human + Genetically Modified Human, Slowburn-ish, Hurt/Comfort, Scars, Secrets, Found Family]
tw: brief mentions of past SA
Two novellas and a bonus epilogue featuring Teo, a Celosian humanoid with four tentacles and the owner of the Klockwerk Kraken bar, and Jimenez, a freed slave turned space pilot. Located at the far edge of the galaxy, Teo needs a reliable pilot willing to bring in shipments of alcohol. Jimenez is grateful for the work, but unsure if he’s ready for a relationship, especially one with a tentacled human.
I am such a huge fan of this novella collection. Aidee Ladnier does such a great job with the worldbuilding, giving us a sense of this great big, universe out there, and the tension between these two is delicious. (Check out my detailed review).
The Klockwerk Kraken Collection by Aidee Ladnier
We Are Nepenthe series by Octavia Hyde
An ongoing series of spicy tentacle books featuring humans and aliens. A colony of humans, the last survivors from Earth, attempt to populate a habitable planet, but a virus decimates their population. The Nepenthe, an alien race with tentacles, also attempts to populate the same planet, finding it equally inhospitable. The Nepenthe are all males—their females did not survive—and they soon realize the humans may be their salvation. But will the humans agree to host their eggs?
I loved Nepenthe and Host so much. They are deeply intriguing stories that went by very quickly and I can’t wait for more. This is an ongoing series, but I’d say dive in. There isn’t a cliffhanger; it feels more like the first two books are building towards something bigger. (Read my detailed review.)
Book 1: Nepenthe — Novella Collection
🥭🥭🥭🥭.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
[Alien Romance, Science Fiction, MF Romance, MM Romance — Single POV per story, third limited, past tense — Human + Alien, Fated Mates, Telepathy, Inter-Species Dirty Talk, Oviposition]
tw: dubcon (the dubbiest of dubcon in the first story)
This novella collection features the first contact between the aliens and the humans. There are three novellas, two are MF romance, and the third is MM. (I love how well-matched the romances are!)
Book 2: Host
🥭🥭🥭🥭.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Alien Romance, MF Romance with MMF, Science Fiction — Single POV, third limited, past tense — Human(s) + Alien, Telepathy, Fated Mates, Human Sex Demonstrations, Breeding for Science, Mating Fugue, Oviposition]
Host is a full-length novel continuing the saga of exploration and cooperation. This one features Ea Nir, the Nepenthe Medipract; Alyss, a human geneticist; and Rajavi, Alyss’s assistant as they explore and document the mating process. They’re doing it for science.
We Are Nepenthe by Octavia Hyde
The Two Queens of Firixina by Dalia Davies — Novella
🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Alien Romance, FF Romance, Science Fiction — Dual POV, first person, present tense — Forbidden Love, Second Chance, Warring Kingdoms, Royalty]
Set in an alien world with warring kingdoms, this sapphic Romeo and Juliet-esque novella features two queens who have been taught to hate one another but fall in love instead. After a long separation, the heart still wants what it wants. This one is amazing for worldbuilding and spice with interesting anatomy. (Check out my detailed review.)
The Two Queens of Firixina by Dalia Davies
Kate and the Kraken by Honey Phillips
🥭🥭🥭🥭.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
[Alien Romance, MF Romance, Science Fiction — Dual POV, third limited, past tense — Human + Alien, Alien Abduction, Crash Landing, Royalty, Secret Identity, Women in STEM]
If you love the alien abduction trope, you’re going to love this one. Aliens abduct scientist Kate, but her pod soon crash-lands on a watery planet. She’s rescued by a kraken-like man, A’tai, who happens to be a prince. Kate is torn between her desire to be free and her attraction to A’tai.
This spicy tentacle book has intriguing worldbuilding and customs, a kickass female who knows her way around the lab, and so many laugh-out-loud moments. (Detailed review coming September 23).
Kate and the Kraken by Honey Phillips (Book 11 of Alien Abduction)
~~ If you enjoy themed rec lists, check out my Mermay Reclist ~~
~~ Next rec list coming in Orctober ~~
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