In the world of romantic literature, asexual romance carves out a special niche, offering narratives that celebrate love in its myriad forms beyond the physical. These stories bring to the forefront characters and relationships that resonate with asexual readers and anyone looking for a romance that focuses on emotional connection, companionship, and the many layers of intimacy.
If you’ve been searching for tales that reflect the diversity of human affection and connection, where relationships blossom on the grounds of mutual respect, deep understanding, and shared values, then you’re in for a treat. This post will guide you through a curated selection of asexual romance novels that promise to warm your heart, stir your soul, and broaden your understanding of love. Join us as we explore the beauty of asexual romance, where the focus shifts from the physical to the profound bonds that tie us together.
10 Asexual Romance Books
Sexual attraction and sexual experience can be different, and how a person can have no sexual attraction but can still have a libido. It’s tough to wrap your head around as a sexual person.
- Allosexual people experience sexual attraction. Their attractions are very much related and intertwined.
- Demisexuals don’t experience any sexual attraction until a powerful bond has been formed.
You don’t have to be asexual not to experience attraction to a person and then still have a sexual experience with them. It’s the same way that they are not sexually attracted to every person they meet.
Asexual romance stories explore the complexities of romantic relationships that are not centered around sexual intimacy. These stories highlight the importance of emotional connection, communication, and intimacy in relationships, demonstrating that love can be fulfilling and meaningful without sexual attraction. Here are ten popular asexual romance books.
Just like in any other genre, these books feature diverse characters with varied backgrounds, identities, and experiences. They celebrate diversity and intersectionality, showcasing the richness of human relationships and identities beyond the confines of sexual orientation. Let’s go!
| Name | Key Focus | Rating (Goodreads) |
|---|---|---|
| Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann | A bisexual girl explores friendship and relationship with an asexual. | 3.7 |
| The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee | An asexual girl represents the difficulties the sexuality and existence in the 1700s. | 4.0 |
| Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire | In a magical world, a girl explores herself and finds her love. | 3.8 |
| Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee | A girl is trying to figure out how to tell her crush that she is asexual. | 3.7 |
| We Awaken by Calista Lynne | Two asexual girls help each other in a magical world. | 3.1 |
| Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor | The story represents a lesbian and asexual in a sci-fi environment. | 3.7 |
| City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault | In a high fantasy world, different queers deal with disabilities and racism. | 3.9 |
| Beyond the Black Door by A M Strickland | In a dark fantasy world, a trans and an asexual are on an adventure to find a superpower. | 3.7 |
| This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria | An orphaned asexual girl is trying to fix some problems in the past and make a new world. | 3.4 |
| Loveless by Alice Oseman | A story of identity and self-acceptance and teaches that true love isn’t limited to romance. | 4.3 |
1. Let’s Talk About Love
This book focuses on Alice, her family, and her friends, suggesting that she is bisexual. But she’s also asexual. Her current girlfriend breaks up with her because of that. So she decides that the best thing to do after this is to give up on love. That is the way that she is going to go forward from this point in her life.
Then, she meets Takumi and forms a relationship. You will see how their relationship grows and how Alice can open up and accept more things about herself. Also, it explores that whole friendship and relationship and everything that comes from that. Usually, the whole bi-romantic thing within that doesn’t seem to exist, but it’s real.
Author: Claire Kann
Publisher: Square Fish
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Tropes: Romantic Comedy, Mental-illness, Queer
Number Of Pages: 304
Reading age: 13+ years
Grade level: 7 – 9
Item Weight: 9.3 ounces
Dimensions: 5.38 x 0.82 x 8.22 inches
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
2. The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings)
This is a sequel to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice Virtue, in which Felicity is the main character. In the 1700s, women did not go to school. Felicity wants to be a doctor, which is what she wants to do with her life. Also, she is asexual. It is never explicitly stated because of the times. But Mackenzie has stated how Felicity would identify.
All the books in the series are funny and serious. They have so many incredible aspects to them. If you want to discover the real scenario of asexuality in that period, you must try the ‘Montague Siblings’ series.
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Publisher: HarperAudio
Award nominee: Goodreads Choice
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Tropes: Pirate Action, Adventure, History, Fun, Feminism, Dragon, Fantasy
Number Of Pages: 450
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
3. Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children)
This book focuses on children who end up in magical worlds like Narnia, Neverland, and Wonderland. Also, it has a sexual representation in it. One of the characters is asexual, and there is an exploration. Some people like it and feel that the representation is valid for them, but others do not.
I did like the story and thought that it was well-written. But the representation is not something I can speak for, and I have heard mixed reviews about that side of things. You can try it if you want to discover asexual romance among young adults.
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Average Rating: 4.3/5
Tropes: Fairy Tale Fantasy, Classic Literature, Mystery, Magical Realism
Number Of Pages: 176
Available: Audiobook | Hardcover | Kindle
4. Tash Hearts Tolstoy
We follow our main protagonist, Natasha or Tash, who is perfectly okay with the fact that her little web series, Unhappy Families. It is an adaptation of Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Not many people know about it. But then she gets a shout-out from a very big YouTuber, and it blows up, and overnight, she has gone viral.
Then, when ‘Unhappy Family’ is nominated for an award, it gets to the point where her online flirting with her crush has the potential to develop into something more. But she is trying to figure out how she can tell her crush that she is asexual. It was funny and explored lots of different themes of Tasha’s character.
Author: Kathryn Ormsbee
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Tropes: Fiction on Peer Pressure, Friendship
Number Of Pages: 400
Reading age: 14+ years
Grade level: 9 – 12
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
5. We Awaken
The story follows Victoria, who doesn’t feel her life has much to it now. Her dad died in a car crash. Her brother is in a coma, and her main focus is that she will get into Manhattan Dance Conservatory. She finds that she starts to look forward to her dreams when she meets a girl called Ashlinn in her dreams. She is an otherworldly girl with a message from Victoria’s comatose brother.
Ashlinn is tasked with conjuring pleasant dreams for humans. Victoria starts to look forward to her nightly meetings with her and explains that she is asexual. Then Victoria realizes that she is also asexual. So Victoria needs Ashlinn’s help outside of dreams. She assumes a human form, and it is their asexual love story from there.
Author: Calista Lynne
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Average Rating: 3.9/5
Tropes: Dance Fiction, Ghost Stories, Magic
Number Of Pages: 180
Available: Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
6. Tarnished Are the Stars
This book is from three perspectives. The first is Anna, living illegally with a clockwork heart in her chest. Also, she goes under the technician’s name, providing medical technology to people who need it. Then we have Nathaniel, the commissioner’s son, who has never had to worry about laws in his entire life. But when he meets Anna, he starts seeing things from a different viewpoint and questions everything he knows.
We also have Eliza, who is an assassin and a spy. Her job is to find out as much about the commissioner as possible. These three lives all intertwine. The story unfolding from there, from people who have read early copies, has lesbian and asexual representation. So you get to see the LGBTQ community and their romance.
Author: Rosiee Thor
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Tropes: Space Opera, Steampunk, Lesbian, Bisexual
Number Of Pages: 384
Item Weight: 1 pound
Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.5 x 8.3 inches
Available: Audiobook | Hardcover | Kindle
7. City of Strife (City of Spires)
Every character in this book is queer, and it features several asexual characters as well. This book is a high fantasy book inspired by D&D, which is very exciting, and it is set in a city called Isandor, the city of Spires. So, it’s been 150 years since Arathiel stepped foot in his hometown and found himself different.
Despite the cities feeling very similar, he hides in the lower city, piecing together a new life. So, it is his story about who he meets, what happens, and how the story unfolds. I recommend this book as a fantasy asexual romance. The hardcover is not good, but the paperback is awesome in quality. Also, the font size and color of the pages are excellent to read.
Author: Claudie Arseneault
Publisher: Claudie
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Tropes: Sword & Sorcery Fantasy, Racism, Disabilities
Number Of Pages: 464
Available: Paperback | Kindle
8. Beyond the Black Door
This was the first book I’ve ever read with prominent representations of asexual romance. It is a standalone fantasy where we follow our main character, Kamai. She is coming to terms with her sexuality, and she is a social worker. So that gives her the power to go into other people’s souls. Every single time, she does so. It doesn’t matter whose soul she walks in, and a big black door always calls her name.
The one thing that her mother has always told her was to never go beyond the black door under any circumstances. A beautiful trans rip in here explains sexuality through the moon’s phases. The plot is fantastic, and I love the villain. The villain is on another level in this book. I recommend it if you want to read a book about sublime asexual relationships.
Author: A M Strickland
Publisher: Square Fish
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Tropes: Wizards & Witches, Dark Fantasy, Adventure
Number Of Pages: 416
Reading age: 14+ years
Grade level: 10 – 12
Available: Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
9. This Golden Flame
Our main character, Karis, is asexual, and she is orphaned. So she belongs to the script area where they try to bring the automatons back to life. Without them, the scripts are losing their power in wars. Karis finds an automaton in a cave and brings him back to life. Then, it follows Karis and the automaton, Alix.
They try to bring down the script. We’ve got pirates in this book, one of whom is a non-binary pirate and is essentially an incredible story of found family and a quest to bring down the script. The writing style was easy, and I flew through this book. The fantastic characters, wonderful diversity, and asexual representation are done fantastically.
Author: Emily Victoria
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Average Rating: 3.8/5
Tropes: Self-Esteem, Siblings, Pirates, Science Fiction
Number Of Pages: 266
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
10. Loveless
This one is a white contemporary, having a slight reprieve from the fantasy. You’ll be pleased to know if you’re not a fantasy lover. So we’re following Georgia as she is also coming to terms with her sexuality, asexual and aromantic. Georgia is going to university with her friends, and she thinks she only wants to get a boyfriend. She questions herself: Does she want a girlfriend?
Then she’s sharing a room with Rooney, who, on the surface, is very open and knows herself well. Georgia is having an internal war about many things plot-wise, but not a lot more than that happens. It’s a story of identity, self-acceptance, and discovering that true love isn’t limited to romance.
Author: Alice Oseman
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Tropes: Emotions & Feelings, Queer, Arc
Number Of Pages: 432
Reading age: 14+ years
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
Last words
The books we’ve delved into offer a glimpse into the diversity of love, showcasing relationships that thrive on emotional intimacy, intellectual connection, and the many other forms of closeness that exist beyond physical attraction. These stories not only provide representation for asexual individuals but also enrich our understanding of romance, challenging us to rethink our perceptions and appreciate the depth and breadth of human connection.
May your journey through these asexual romance novels inspire a deeper appreciation for the myriad ways love manifests and remind you of the power of literature to connect us through shared experiences and feelings. Happy reading, and may you find joy, understanding, and a reflection of your truths in these pages.
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