There is no shortage of paranormal book boyfriends out there in the YA world.  But what about their counterparts–the book boyfriends who don’t come from secret covens, urban fantasy landscapes, or fae realms, but from other planets? 

We’re not talking about guys with tentacles and green skin.  (Phew!  That would be creepy.)  Our dream guys from other planets tend to look like very attractive members of the human species, don’t have heads shaped like cones, and usually carry some cool powers to boot. 

While there aren’t as many sci-fi boyfriends out there as the paranormal type, there are still thankfully plenty of reads to choose from.  Here are just a few.

1: Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout.  Okay, so this one doesn’t start off in space, but rather here on Earth, and it does have a bit of a paranormal vibe.  Not only do we have a hot alien guy, Daemon, who has an attitude, but we also have a hate to love romance and plenty of danger to keep us on our toes.  When Daemon marks the main character and makes her a target, too, her only way to stay safe is to spend more time with…you guessed it…Daemon.

2: Starfire by Jenetta PennerIn this first book of the Starfire Wars, our heroine, Cassieopeia, finds herself stuck on a spaceship to another star system.  And worse, when she does arrive on her new planet, an attack kills her father and leaves her alone on this new world.  Only she’s not alone.  When a mysterious boy enters her life, she feels a strange connection with him, setting off a course of events that leads to her discovering some juicy secrets about herself and this new planet.

3: Gravity by Melissa West.  Okay, so finding a complete jerk named Jackson hovering over your bed at night is creepy.  And what’s worse, Ari was never supposed to peek at him.  Set in the future, Ari finds that Jackson needs her help to prevent everyone on Earth from dying.  No small stakes there.  Oh, and even though she’s a tough military girl, Ari finds herself falling for Jackson.  And of course, in order to help him with his plan to save the world, she’ll have to betray her father.

4: The Lost Savior by Siobhan Davis.  So far, all the books we’ve covered feature one hot alien guy, so how about four?  This series features Tori, who turns out to be a powerful princess from another planet (and, of course, the target of rival alien races.)  She’s also been bound at birth to four hot protectors from the same planet, and better yet, it’s normal on her home for a woman to date four guys, leaving her no reason to have to choose.  If only she didn’t have a jealous boyfriend to contend with, that is.  No tension there.

5: The Eslites by C.M. Doporto.  Also set in the future, Miranda lives in a world where aliens have already arrived.  They imprison young women and run experiments on them, thanks to a government treaty, to help them reproduce.  Though Miranda doesn’t mind helping them, imprisonment isn’t so great, and then she learns that the aliens’ real plan for the egg donations is so much worse than she originally thought.  When she stages a rebellion, the mysterious, attractive headmaster of the facility, Dimas, shows he knows of her plan.  And despite this, Miranda finds herself attracted to him, and their love puts the fate of the world in the balance.  Yikes!

6: Alienated by Melissa Landers.  Aelyx is not only a great-looking, infuriating, brilliant guy from another planet, but he’s also an exchange student–the first from another world.  And now Cara gets to share her house with him and deal with lots of anti-alien sentiment.   As she falls in love with him, the danger increases to her and Aelyx both, and she uncovers a sinister reason for his exchange and a possible, terrible fate for the world.   It’s up to Cara and Aelyx to work this out and save the world.

Sure, while paranormal stories do offer the majority of book boyfriends these days, at least in YA, t seems that more and more space boyfriends are landing lately, complete with brawn and brains.  (If they’ve mastered space travel, they also have to be smart boyfriends, right?  And everyone loves a nerd.  Even a nerd with an attitude.)  What more can we ask for?  Sign us up for all the titles above.