I Punched an Alien and Now We're in Couples Therapy

by Kimberly Lemming

First published 2026

Blair refuses to break when alien researchers beam her up to a spaceship and dump her on a distant planet. She survives forest fires and dinosaurs, then gets captured by King Osid, an arrogant alien warlord who thinks he can dominate her. Blair discovers she's been designated as Osid's mate in an alien breeding program. The researchers ship both of them off to a facility for what they call couples counseling, but the challenges feel more like a twisted game show mixing romance with survival trials. Blair and Osid bond over fighting their common enemies while love darts push them toward intimacy. They uncover additional secret schemes the aliens are running. Blair must navigate increasingly dangerous tests while figuring out her feelings for the king who was supposed to be her captor.

Genres: science-fiction, survival, romance, adventure, fantasy, action

Vibes: action-packed, darkly-humorous, fast-paced, high-stakes, romantic-tension

Tropes: captive-romance, common-enemy-alliance, enemies-to-lovers, fated-mates, forced-proximity

Setting: spaceship, distant-planet, alien-facility

Period: 21st-century

352 pages · Paperback · Berkley

Content warnings: kidnapping, sexual-content

More by Kimberly Lemming

• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon
• That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf
• That Time I Got Drunk And Saved a Human
• Mistlefoe
• My Boyfriends Are All Monsters

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