“Solo, think about it from my perspective. You want to be director of a field office one day, right? What would you do? Put a green agent with insufficient clearance on protection duty for a high value target? All because a more senior and experienced agent hates kids?!”
“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t hate kids”—actually, he’s pretty sure he does—“but I don’t think I’m the right fit for this job. Would you believe me as a preschool aide?”
Children and Other Wild Animals by Virginia_Tradescant|@silmarilliant@virginia-tradescant|Explicit | 90k | Complete | Modern AU | Multi POV | FBI | Witness Protection | Bodyguard | Organized Crime | Undercover agent!Ben Solo | Hitman!Kylo Ren | Teacher!Rey | Schools/Children | Forbidden relationship | Pining | Drama | Action/violence | Angst | All-aboard-the-pain-train | HEA | Multi POV | Ben Solo’s return to field work should be easy, but a sting operation to draw out a mole within the FBI, disguised as Witness Protection will test his every resolve and push him to his limits. Caught in the crossfire is Rey Niima, a early childhood educator who is just trying to teach children and not fall in love with her very own special agent.
God I loved this fic. I read it, was blown away and then flipped back to the first page and started it again. It was that good!
Without a doubt this will be added to my all-time-favourite fics list.
The prose is engaging, the characterizations are great, the chemistry between all characters, really, is brilliant! But the simmering tension and pining between Ben and Rey is just *chef kiss*
The slow build is perfectly executed, and the payoff is explosive! The Multi POV really adds to the drama and angst.
Oh, and the angst. Never have I read a fic where almost every single chapter did I want to comment “it hurts so good!”
This fic is defintly a Pain Train, but it had a super satisfying HEA, so it’s all worth it!
And OH MY GOD, I dont want to spoil anything, but chapter 29 had a scene in it unlike any I have ever read in all my fanfiction reading. It was so moving. It floored me.
You absolulty should give this fic a read. It is fucking phenomenal.
Modern Neighbors AU. A troubled Ben moves next door to a lonely Rey … the longing, the angst, the past trauma, in a quiet neighborhood with front porches and manicured lawns.
Modern Neighbors AU. I scrolled past a mood board post for this fic yesterday, I’m reccing it today. Lovely apartment neighbors one shot to get lost in for a morning. Ben keeps waking up to find his neighbor Rey asleep in his bed …
Modern Roommates AU. Delightful, with depth. This is one of my favorite Reylo authors, angharabbit consistently delivers delightful fics with depth. the name of the fic has humorous cheekiness in delivery, while keeping a smile on your face as you read, then hitting you with the emotional introspection at the end.
Modern Neighbors AU in the Amnesia & Holiday Trope. Rey may be responsible for her attractive neighbor’s current amnesia, to assuage her guilt she’ll just have to take care of him until he is better …
Modern Apartment Neighbors AU with Accidental Anonymous Sexting. When Rey accidentally receives a sext meant for someone else, she’s too intrigued not to text back …
Modern Apartment Neighbors AU within the Fake Relationship Trope. Rey and Ben keep “saving” each other from awkward situations by pretending to be in a relationship, it keeps happening over and over, it’s almost as if they are in a relationship …
At Poe’s birthday party, Rey realizes she has a thing for other women flirting with Ben. They decide to explore the kink (among others) in the backseat of his Mazda 6.
seatbelt, 1/1, rated e cw for consensual rough sex/choking
Alpha CEO Kylo Ren never puts himself first. He carries his company on his back, so much so that his assistant brings in an Omega masseuse named Rey to work out some of the resulting knots and painful cricks.
✨come get a hold of me ✨ chapters: 2 / rated: e ✨read now on ao3
“You’ll have bi-weekly doctor’s visits with Dr. Kanata, and she’ll be the one that will help you adjust your suppressants once you’ve gotten far enough in courting. She’ll also administer physicals and blood tests to make sure you’re remaining healthy. Ben will, of course, accompany you to those as well.”
Rey scoffs. “Will he stand in the room while I undress, too?”
She doesn’t look at him as she asks, but she knows that he’s standing behind her, ramrod straight with his hands still folded in front of him.
Luke kinks a brow. “He’ll sit right outside the door, actually.”
It’s not like she hadn’t seen this coming—Rose reminded her weeks ago that he was invited. It was an inevitability Rey was always going to have to face, but she didn’t think that Rose would be so merciful as to also give every guest a plus one.
But Rey can’t really be upset—and she is totally, unequivocally not upset—that he’s bringing someone because, well.
The pale brown of his attire tells her he’s a part of the force that’s meant to cage—protect, whatever—Omegas until they find their mate. There are cuffs and a gun holstered to his belt. Though Rey understands that these are meant to be used on outside offenders that mean to harm her, she also can’t help but wonder if they are ultimately meant to subdue her, too.
“This is Ben Solo,” Luke tells her, looking between them.
And like a nail in the coffin of her former life, he says:
The door hadn’t even shut behind him yet, and Ben already missed her.
He missed her more with every step he took toward his car, one foot in front of the other as he walked toward his future. A future that he hoped would be free of malice and corruption—one that he actually wanted to be part of, that he’d actually want to live instead of just survive.
The sky over Montana is a dangerous shade of blue the night they find her. She’s eighteen-years-old and nothing more than a swelling storm—nearly feral, with sharp teeth and years of dirt caked under her nails.
When the truck pulls up next to her on a darkened road twenty miles from town, she’s covered in Plutt’s blood. She’s stone faced as she stares at his overturned Chevy, listening to a symphony of last breaths—the truck’s and his—and thinking about how she’d light him on fire if she had a match.
She’ll settle on coming back here once the wreckage is clear and salting the earth.
Man, lots has happened since I posted my last reylo WIP fic rec! Some of the fics below were just starting out and now their almost complete!
Listed decending order of last update. At the very bottom I listed a few fics that are complete that came out in the last few months that I really enjoyed!
These are mainly Modern AU fics (my bread and butter), but there is a wide range of stories, topics and tropes, so always mind the rating and tags (I dont read anything that isnt ultimately a HEA, despite how angsty some of these can be).
And I hope no one takes my comments as criticism of their work ethic, these fics just bring me so much JOY that I cannot help but want MORE.
So it goes like this…
TITLE by AUTHOR | RATING | CURRENT WORD COUNT | DATE LAST UPDATED | TAGS | summary/my comments, authors tumblr (if applicable, if you know one I missed please let me know!)
Denotes brand new or fledgling fic
Denotes a fic I am either Living or Dying For
baby, it will bury us by diasterisms | E | 42k | 2020-12-05 | Modern AU | Paris | Class difference | Sugar Daddy | Daddy kink | Ben POV |@kylorenvevo|Businessman Ben meets waitress/college student Rey, and even though they have very different lives, sparks fly. Despite their powerful chemistry Ben is afraid of getting in too deep so he settles for an arrangement with Rey … how long he can go without breaking his own rules remains to be seen.
A King Is First A Man by LyricalRiot | E | 4k | 2020-12-04 | Historic/medieval AU | slow burn | enemies to lovers(?) | multi POV | no smut yet | Brand spanking new! Love this author’s other works and am so excited for this fic!
Checklists and Promises by crossingwinter | E | 23k | 2020-12-03 | Modern AU | BDSM | Sub!Kylo | Inexperienced-Domme!Rey | Angst | past abuse | Alternating POV | @shmisolo|so insanly hot, so interesting!
in want of a wife by AquaWolfGirl | E | 45k | 2020-12-02 | Historic/Regency AU | Strangers to friends to lovers | marriage of convenience | class difference | slow burn | cute | multi POV | @aquawolfgirl|omg you should just read all of aquawolfgirl’s fics they are amazing and I could fill an entire list with just them. This one is insanely cute and romantic and not angsty/dramatic at all (so far).
what you take with you by irridesca | E | 48k | 2020-12-01 | Modern Au | Amensia/brain injury | Injury recovery | boss/employee dynamic | enemies to strangers to friends to lovers | slow burn | Rey POV |@earstwo|based off a movie, but so wholly original and engaging. Chapter 12 cured my depression.
I Was Lost (For You To Find) by LadyReylo | E | 85k | 2020-12-01 | modern au | adoption | strangers to tentative friends to lovers | single-mom!Rey | Back-from-the-dead!Ben Solo | Original Character (Rey/Ben’s kid) | PTSD | Drama | Angst | idiots in love | Rey POV | I can’t believe it’s almost done! I don’t want it to end! So angsty and dramatic and brilliant!
i kill giants by diasterisms | E | 52k | 2020-11-30 | Canonverse | Post TROS | TROS fix-it | hermit!Rey Skywalker | back-from-the-dead!Ben Solo | road trip | romance | Alternating POV | I haven’t been enjoying canonverse fics ever since the TROS novelization came out, but I finally broke down and read this– all I can say is that canon hurt me so bad but Thea heals all wounds with this incredible fic!
Coveted by OptimisticBeth | E | 106k | 2020-11-29 | modern AU | werewolves | A/B/O | werewolf politics | pack dynamics | strangers to lovers | drama | graphic depictions of violence | Multi POV | Rey is being courted by so many alphas it throws the pack into turmoil. New pack leader Ben has his hands full – not just of Rey. PHENOMENAL WORLD BUILDING! I thought I swore off werewolf fics in high school but this is so good! @optimisticsprinkles
Burning Daylight by Celia_and | E | 5k | 2020-11-28 | Modern AU | bodyguard!Ben Solo | Mayor!Rey | pining | Ben POV | no smut yet | expected gun violence/drama | *snorts this fic like cocaine*
May Divorce Be With You by SpaceWaffleHouseTM | E | 44k | 2020-11-25 | Modern Au | strangers to friends to lovers | bets and wagers | divorce-lawyer!Rey | Wedding-planner!Ben Solo | weddings | Rey POV | adorable and fluffy and so much wedding porn. Love Ben’s characterization.
Blind Owls by animal | E | 26k | 2020-11-25 | pre-modern society AU | Ficticious culture | arranged marriage | enemies to lovers (???) | antagonism | curses/superstitions | Ben POV | no smut yet |@ao3animal| animal once again brings us a wildly imaginative world with intricate characters in an engrossing story that only they can tell.
Love in the Age of Empires by bluetoast | E | 36k | 2020-11-24 | Historic AU | Royalty | Arranged marriage | strangers to lovers | romance | sexual tension | Multi POV | @blue-toast17|So steamy and evocative of the time period! Rey and Ben are both so horny for their wedding night it’s hilarious.
Tied by Anonymous | E | 37k | 2020-11-24 | Modern AU | BDSM | dom!Kylo | Sub!Rey | strangers to lovers to friends to lovers | class difference | angst | Rey POV | check the tags, because there are too many for me to list | Kylo and Rey have an arrangement every saturday. It’s all good till they start to talk, till they kinda become friends, till they kinda catch feelz… so, so, good. Super kinky and smutty and angsty.
Alpha & Omega: New Mating and Coupling Dynamics by Protonbeam | E | 18k | 2020-11-20 | Modern AU | A/B/O | House MD meets Venom | sequel | Doctor!Ben Solo | Patient!Rey | Ben POV | oh my god I discovered the first part to this and its fricken amazing and omg I am living for this sequel! Honestly though, you gotta read the first part before reading this one.
Transference by fear_of_being_bitten E | 33k | 2020-11-17 | modern AU | Therapist!Rey | Sex-addict!Ben | doctor/patient dynamic | therapy | taboo relationship | sexual tension | sloooow burn | Rey POV | @newerconstellations|this fic is still going strong and is still utterly delicious and brilliantly written!
Snowdrop by andabatae | E | 32k | 2020-10-25 | modern au | enemies to friends to lovers | sugar daddy-ish | class difference | poverty | angst | past childhood abuse | Rey POV | Ben accidentally gets waitress Rey fired and tries to make it up to her. She has always done things on her own and doesnt want to start accepting hand-out’s now. The more she gets to know Ben the more her life is turned upside down.
In the In Between by simplyabbey | E | 89k | 2020-10-24 | Modern AU | A/B/O | Rock-star!Kylo | Accidental mating | strangers to lovers | light Dom/Sub dynamic | long distance relationship | jealousy | drama/angst | @simplyabbeycat|One of my favourites, with fantastic charcterization and some *chef kiss* drama and angst– living for this fic!
Just You by charcuterie | E | 32k | 2020-08-15 | Modern AU | Neighbours | Strangers to friends to lovers | Banter | pianist!Ben | shitty-childhood-angst | LOVE LOVE LOVE this fic. @chimichangasaredelicious
Other fics I have enjoyed lately…
Compatible by AttackoftheDarkCurses | E | 62k | complete | Modern AU | Friends to lovers | Vacation | Daddy kink (without the “daddy”) | Dom/Sub | What-could-have-been type angst | personal growth | Rey POV | Long time friends, Rey and Ben, go on a joint vacation to get away from their Ex’s. OH. MY. GOD. THIS. FIC. THIS BLOODY BRILLAINT FIC. An exquisitely written fic with such a satisfying ending. The personal journey and growth … urgh. So perfect! Total kink fest with a healthy serving of angst!
Patient Zero by ProtonBeam | M | 69k | complete | Modern AU | A/B/O | House MD vibes | Venom vibes | Doctors and patients | “mysterious” symptoms | Alaska | doctor!Ben Solo | wildlife researcher!Rey | Ben POV | Powerhouse prose. So engaging. Great snappy banter/dialouge. Brilliant characterizations! lots of funny moments. Long chapters. Steamy AF.
Delayed Metamorphosis by LyricalRiot | E | 31k | complete | Historic/Victorian AU | A/B/O | victorian medicine | Hysteria | Doctor!Ben Solo | omega!Rey | beta!Ben (or is he? Oh ho ho!) | Ben POV | smut fest | a one-shot in 3 parts | Omg my favourite trope – late presentation. This is so good. Great prose, evocative of the time. Interesting a/b/o world building.
here grow the roses by neonheartbeat | E | 46k | complete | Modern AU | English countryside | city girl meets farm boy | strangers to lovers | author/poet!Rey | Mute!Ben Solo | virgin!Ben solo | shitty-childhood-angst | past abuse | Rey POV | Rey is intrigued by the mute caretaker of her late grandfathers country estate. As Rey gets to know Ben and his demons she must reflect on her own past as she struggles to write a new book of poetry. I freaked love so many of neonheartbeat’s fics and this is no different. A beautiful, steamy, well written story.
The Mechanic by DaytonBay | E | 122k | complete | Modern AU | One night stand | unplanned pregnancy | strangers to lovers | London | Europe | organized crime | poverty | mechanic!Rey | Mob boss!Kylo Ren | graphic depiction of violence | drama | Multi POV | Right off the bat the prose grabs you and immerses you in this engrossing story! Brilliant characterization! Fascinating story/plot! Great writting! Love Rey and Kylo*cough*Ben*cough*’s chemistry/dynamic! Lots of steamy; satisfying smut. Interesting, fleshed out OC’s that enhance and don’t detract. Some crazy dramatics that make it an addicting read!
For the rest of her life, Rey will remember the way Ben backed her up against the elevator wall when his mouth met hers for the first time.
She’ll remember how the cold metal felt icy against the material of her shirt. She’ll remember how his hands held her like she was precious. Like she was everything.
The pin is called Naughty Gifts For Men and Rey can’t help but click on it.
She completely rips off one of the ideas by turning it into a DIY project, and despite the fact that hers is composed of pastel-colored post-it notes instead of laminated cardstock, it’s still cute.
Anyway, the only thing that really matters is that it’s functional. That her handwriting is legible.
(It is. Barely.)
She gives it to Ben in a pre-wrapped box two days before his thirty-second birthday.
you look so comfortable (in my skin) 6k, 1/1, rated e READ HERE ON AO3
At 7:45 a.m., as it did every weekday morning, Rey’s alarm began to blare.
At 7:45 a.m., as she did every weekday morning, Rey grunted toward the device, reaching blindly and angrily for the button that would silence the unpleasant, incessant foghorn.
Only this morning, unlike every other weekday morning, she didn’t get very far. The alarm kept going off; it seemed to get louder the more seconds that passed, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move her arm toward the nightstand.
It wasn’t until the heaviness of a full night’s sleep had started to wear away that she realized her limb was being pinned down by something heavy.
It took about another ten seconds to realize that the heavy thing was Ben.
The storm is over and now they need to dig out from under all that snow. Will this be the end?
Excerpt:
She fiddled with all the knobs to start the shower and closed her eyes as she stood under the steaming spray, just enjoying the water cascading over her tired body. She wiped the water from her eyes and grabbed the bar of soap and started to clean herself with long broad strokes.
Suddenly, she heard the shower door open and she whipped her head around to see a naked Ben standing behind her, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Want some help?” he asked in that deep seductive voice she was beginning to crave.
Thank you to @fettuccine-alfreylo for the quick turn around on this chapter. And just like that, I have 2 complete fics!
