We all love a good romance novel, and there’s plenty to be explored when we know where to look. These spicy recommendations featuring main characters with piercings are sure to light a fire in your heart as you fall in love with the characters, their story, and their world.
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
When Emily relocated to a small Maryland town, she never would have guessed what life had in store. Rom-com heartthrob Simon, a high school English teacher, is set on maintaining a perfect Renaissance Faire experience. Normally, Simon wants nothing to do with Emily, but on the faire grounds, he acts like a different person, flirting with Emily in her wench’s costume. Is this a budding romance or a Renaissance act?
Starting this list mildly, Well Met features Simon, who is described as lanky with shaggy, dark hair and facial scruff. Hot enough on its own, but when he dons his pirate costume for the Ren Faire, it comes with an earring for some true rogue-like energy.
The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan
NFL center Dex has secretly been in love with his teammate’s sister-in-law, Fiona, for two years. When they are both in town to visit Gray and Ivy’s new baby, Dex decides now is the time to make his move. Will sparks fly, or is this a relationship doomed from the start?
As an MMC, Dexter is book boyfriend material from the start. Bearded, pierced, tattoos, a man bun, and muscles for days. He’s kind, sensitive, and a team player, too! There’s almost nothing wrong with this man.
Miss Sin by S.J. Tilly
Nora’s tired of being a nobody and blending in with the crowd. Her journey to find her confidence starts when she sees John, an FBI agent prominent in the Sin series, handle a bad situation outside the women’s shelter where she volunteers. She vows to start doing something brave daily and begins her vow with a trip to a tattoo parlor.
Our curvaceous heroine tries to hide her good looks, but it’s insta-love for our possessive man in uniform. In this romance heavy on the spice, newly pierced Nora emerges from her shell as the story progresses, and we love a good character arc.
Strictly Professional by Kathryn Nolan
Roxy Quinn thought she would never see Edward Cavendish III again after a night of passion. Edward needed to find a wife to ensure his family’s trust, and Roxy is not wife material. That all changes when they attend a business school mentoring program, and Edward becomes Roxy’s mentor. Will they surrender to their desires? I think we know they will.
In our forbidden love romance, we find Roxy, a blonde, tattooed goddess with secret piercings, struggling with her MBA classes and trying to keep her business afloat. She is the take-charge kind of woman we all love with a punk-rock attitude and ripped stockings.
That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert
Faced with the choice to attend an award ceremony alone, when her ex will be there with his new wife, Rae plans to find a date of her own. She chooses her young, hot new best friend, Zach, who is desperate for an emotional connection. The line between parody and reality is blurred during a weekend of romance. Can Zach prove that his attraction to Rae is genuine?
Recently realized demisexual Zach finds it too easy to be himself with our heroine, Rae. He’s known for being a player around town, and his piercing shows it, but he truly becomes a sweet and gentle hero for those of us who love the strong, sensitive type.
Put Me in Detention by Meghan Quinn
At a night celebrating her divorce, Cora went through a drive-thru wedding chapel in Vegas with British bad boy, Pike. When she tried to annul the wedding after the weekend, he said no and insisted they live together for three months as a trial run. Cora tried every prank and trick she could think of to convince Pike that they were no good for each other, but he saw right through her.
This forced proximity romance had me falling in love with Pike, the new history teacher at a local high school. His British accent, enticing tattoos, and attentiveness to Cora — not to mention that piercing — had me in his corner from the start.
Leave Me Breathless by Cherrie Lynn
As the saying goes, opposites attract. After already having a few one-night stands, country girl Macy is set up on a date with heavy-metal man Ghost for Valentine’s Day. They come from completely different worlds but are so drawn to one another that it’s anyone’s guess if they will make it through this whirlwind romance.
Pierced for your pleasure, Seth “Ghost” Warren is the hot, bad boy we all fantasize about. He runs a tattoo shop, is in a band, and has a shaved head; it doesn’t get more bad boy than that! But there’s more than meets the eye with Ghost, and that’s why we all fell for him as hard as we did.
Just for the Cameras by Viano Oniomoh
Sex workers Kian and Jordanne fantasize about their best friend and flatmate Luka, if only to scratch the itch. Then their fantasy turns into real life when they agree to make a video for their followers — just this once. But what happens when they don’t want to let Luka go after knowing what he feels like between them?
Just for the Cameras has it all: a Black queer romance featuring curvy hero/heroine and a polyamorous throuple that gets us steamy from the beginning. We get two pierced hotties to pine for, too! Jordanne with dimple piercings — swoon — and Luka with multiple piercings, including his nose, nipples, and a Prince Albert.
My Brother’s Teammates by Melissa Ivers and Lasairiona McMaster
Charlotte’s been dumped by her jerk boyfriend and decides to hide out in her brother’s apartment for the weekend. After all, nobody is home, or so she thought. When she’s caught dancing naked while she unpacks by her brother’s hockey player roommates, some rules get put in place. At first, they hold, but can this group of four resist each other as the week progresses?
This why-choose romance fits all my favorite tropes: hockey romance, curvy heroines, and forced proximity. Mateo, with his downstairs piercing, is the funny one in the group and a hockey heartthrob I can obsess over for a long time.
Surrender to Me by Shayla Black
Navy SEAL Hunter puts everything on the line when he accepts a proposition from an old friend to fulfill parole officer Kata’s menage fantasy. Friend-with-benefits Ben is too drunk to make it for the big event, so Hunter takes charge. When Kata’s life is threatened, will she surrender to Hunter or continue to resist her blazing desires?
Kata, our curvy Latina MC in uniform, grows in this book, which makes her very lovable for me. I was absorbed by her insistence that she can’t be controlled, her almost-bratty behavior, and then when she got those piercings at the end of the book, I knew I needed more!
Nyx by Serena Akeroyd
Trigger Warning: This dark romance is not for everyone and discusses/mentions abuse, rape, murder, and violence. Please read all content warnings before purchasing.
After their mom’s passing, Giulia and her brothers moved back home to the biker club. Once there, Giulia decides instead of lending her body, she will cook for them. There she meets Nyx, Enforcer of the one percenter Satan’s Sinners club. Fiery and full of sass, Giulia finds that she can handle the dark and brooding Nyx just fine.
Nyx, oh my — everyone loves a bad boy. This older-than-our-heroine MC exudes biker energy with his tattoos and pierced nipples. Don’t even get me started on his pierced you-know-what that is described as being “almost too big.”
Impromptu Match by Lily Mayne
Painfully average, Taylor finds himself thrust into the middle of a covert professional wrestling league in the basement of his office building, run by otherworldly beings. He meets Holt, a ridiculously attractive empyn who wants to bring him into his strange new world.
While I know a lot of people didn’t like this one, I am a sucker for the light reads — like a funny movie after watching horror. Holt is a monster who feeds on emotions, and I found him categorically sexy. He has dual skin tones, gray on top and copper on bottom, pointed ears, pink eyes, and pierced balls.
The Sinner by Shantel Tessier
Trigger Warning: This dark romance is not for everyone and discusses/mentions abuse, substance addiction, sexual assault, murder, and violence. Please read all content warnings before purchasing.
Sin and Elli go to the same prestigious Barrington University as in Tessiere’s The Ritual. Elli found herself drawn to him from a young age as they grew up together, even though he never paid her any mind. After an assignment to kill her stepfather, Sin learns the truth of Elli’s past and will do anything to protect her.
Both Sin and Elli are pierced in this story. You have Elli’s nipple and genital piercings to go along with Sin’s own piercings. They’re both tattooed, delicious characters, and unless you like dark, dark romance, you might not understand the chokehold they have on the audience.
Romance novels sweep us off our feet with their meet-cutes, relationship development, and spicy passages. With a book boyfriend, or girlfriend, for everyone, these perfectly pierced main characters will remain in our hearts long after we’ve closed the book.
To find more romance titles for your TBR, read Fierce Mermaids, Knives to Throats, and Marriages of Convenience!
For these books and more, check out our Love is in the Air: Contemporary Romance bookshelf at Bookshop.org!
