What is Sentient Object Romance?

A growing sub-genre within romance, sentient object romance typically involves a love story centered around one human character and one or more "sentient object" character(s): these are items or concepts that do not typically have human-like thoughts, a voice, emotions, etc. I personally describe it as the intersection between absurdity and romance, a type of tale that pokes a little fun at the interactions between characters by inserting an element of the unbelievable. While other romance genres such as fantasy, sci-fi, or omegaverse often have some governing rules, things are a little more fluid when it comes to SOR, which is largely free of genre-wide guiding principles or norms. Objects can either remain "as-is" or transform into more human-like shapes, often retaining some of their original characteristics in the process.

Arguably the most well-known name in SOR is Dr. Chuck Tingle, a trailblazer with a catalog of more than 400 titles and sentient object characters ranging from literal holidays to bisexual movie theaters, written from 2014 on. Other notable "proto-SOR" authors from the same time period include Leonard Delaney and Evelyn Cloves , both of whom contributed their own titles in 2015.  SOR experienced a new spike in popularity in 2023 with the publication of Vera Valentine's door romance novella Unhinged, a love story between a woman and the front door in love with her. 

Please note: The list below is not exhaustive and is a continual work in progress! A conscious choice has been made to exclude authors/covers that use generative AI (All current generative AI is artistic theft), and some judgement calls have been made on what constitutes sentient object romance vs. pure monsters/shifters/etc. I'm also not including all of Chuck Tingle's many fabulous titles because it'd read like a phone book at this point, and I don't mean a sexy sentient one! 

Important notes: as an Amazon Associate, I may earn compensation from qualifying purchases through the links on this site. Some title(s) or author(s) may have been consciously omitted because they've used generative AI in their work, and/or exhibited concerning or unsafe ideas/behaviors. If a problematic author falls into those categories but still appears on the list below, please notify me, as I may not be aware!

Sentient Object Romances and Their Authors

• Balloon Animals (Squeak by Vera Valentine, Squeal by Vera Valentine)

• Boat (Beached and Breached by Vera Valentine)

• Book (My Date with an Edible Book by Holly Wilde)

• Bubble Tea (My Date with Bubble Tea by Sylvia Morrow)

• Cake / Birthday Cake (Caked by Holly Wilde)

• Caps Lock (My Date with Caps Lock by Thea Masen)

• Cheese (Why Cheese by Ellen Mint)

• Christmas Stockings (The Stockings Were Hung by J.L. Logosz and Vera Valentine)

• Clippy (Conquered by Clippy by Leonard Delaney)

• Cloud (Nimbus by Nicole Parker)

• Copyright Page (Coaxed by the Copyright Page by Leonard Delaney)

• Couch (Pushin' Cushions by Vera Valentine and Unfortunate Reads)

• Cup / Stanley Cup (Cupped by Holly Wilde)

• Deviled Egg (The Deviled Egg Made Me Do It by Holly Wilde)

• Dildo (Juniper by Eve Delaney, Stiff by Thea Masen)

• Donut (Her Donut Shifters by Mia Harlan)

• Door (Unhinged by Vera Valentine)

• Earth (Earthed by Holly Wilde)

• Energizer Bunny (Fully Charged by Unfortunate Reads and Nicole Parker)

• Envelope (Licked by Nicole Parker)

• French Horn / Instrument (French Horny by Nora Noodle)

• Freezer (Freezer Teaser by Missy Love)

• Furby (Faulty by Nicole Parker)

• Groceries (Bagged by the Groceries by Fannie Tucker)

• Hot Dog (My Hotdog Came to Life and Screwed Me by Scarlet DeLorne and Sky Corgan)

• Ice / Ice Cube (Wynter by Mia Harlan, Melt for Daddy by Holly Wilde)

• Kool-Aid Man (Cold Sweat by Vera Valentine, Cherry Desire by Sloane Aycock)

• Halloween Decorations (Monster Mash by Latrexa Nova, Shift by Nicole Parker)

• Hammer (Nailed by Ames Winterbourne)

• Hockey Stick (Handle Me by Unfortunate Reads)

• Hose (Hosed by Nicole Parker)

• Inflatables (Smashed by the Christmas Inflatables by S.R. Griffith, Wacky by Nicole Parker)

• Jack-in-the-Box (Jacked Up by Latrexa Nova)

• Jellyfish (My Date with a Jellyfish by Unfortunate Reads)

• Kudzu Vine (Taken by the Kudzu by S.R. Griffith)

• Lamp (Light Me Up by Sabrina Cross)

• Lightbulb (My Date with a Lightbulb by Vera Valentine)

• Lint (Laid by the Lint Trap Monster by Holly Wilde)

• Mascot Costume (Howls and Home Runs by Biblio Barbie)

• Mountain (My Date with a Mountain by Luna Cantrip)

• Oven / Stove (Heat by Nicole Parker)

• Pastry (Her Pastry Shifters by Mia Harlan)

• Pillow (Stuffed by Sylvia Morrow, Double Stuffed by Sylvia Morrow)

• Peeps / Marshmallows (Mating with Mallows by Nora Noodle)

• Pickle (Gagged by the Gherkin by Biblio Barbie)

• Plushies / Crochet Plushies (Corny by Sabrina Cross, Tangled by Sabrina Cross)

• Present / Birthday Present / Christmas Present (Wrapped by Nicole Parker, Wrapped and Tapped by Vera Valentine and R.K. Pierce)

• Produce / Vegetables (Pounded by Produce by G.M. Fairy)

• Punctuation (My Date with an Ampersand by Nicole Parker)

• Rake (Rake by Nicole Parker)

• Rock / Paper / Scissors (My Date with Rock, Paper, & Scissors by Holly Wilde)

• Rubber Ducky (Rubber Ducky Shifter Next Door by Mia Harlan, Ducked by Rebecca Massey and Adelyne Graves, My Date with a Rubber Ducky by Thea Masen) 

• Rubic's Cube (Solved by Nicole Parker)

• Rug / Carpet (Step on Me Please by Missy Love)

• Sand Sculpture (Pounded by Poseidon by Holly Wilde and Thea Masen)

• Seat / Airplane Seat (Airpeen by Holly Wilde)

• Silverware / Fork / Spoon / Knife (Forked by Ruth Cardello, Spooned by Ruth Cardello)

• Sleigh (Sentient Clause by Holly Wilde)

• Snowman / Frosty (Frosted by Rebecca Massey and Adelyne Graves) 

• Socks (His Perfect Pair by Dickie Fitz)

• Spatula (Spread by Nicole Parker)

• Statue (My Date with a Leif Erikson Statue by Biblio Barbie)

• Stuffed Animal (Fluff by Nicole Parker)

• Sunscreen (SPF Me by Holly Wilde)

• Sweatpants (My Date with a Pair of Grey Sweatpants by Dakota Cockaday)

• TBR / To-Be-Read List (Taken by My TBR by Holly Wilde)

• Tee Shirt (My Date with a White Tee Shirt by Dakota Cockaday)

• Tetris (Taken by the Tetris Blocks by Leonard Delaney)

• Teddy Bear (Banging My Birthday Bear by Holly Wilde, Snuggle by Sabrina Cross, Teddy by Christina Mattingly)

• Thanksgiving Food (Back for Seconds by J.L. Logosz and Vera Valentine)

• Triangle (Love Triangle by Sylvia Morrow)

• Trees (Sap and Spile by Vera Valentine)

• Underwear (His Perfect Fit by Dickie Fitz)

• UFO (My Date with an Unidentified Flying Object by Luna Cantrip)

• Vacuum (Milky by Daisy Jane, Love and Suction by Gerglug Writes, My Dirty Vaccum by Missy Love)

• Watch / iWatch (Invaded by the iWatch by Leonard Delaney)

• Water (My Date with Water by Unfortunate Reads)

• Yarn / Knitting (Holy Knit by Deborah Alexander)