I’m an author, but first and foremost I’m a reader. I’ve been voracious about it my entire life, but it wasn’t until just a few years back that I discovered the romance genre—which sucked me in immediately. After a few books I stumbled onto Ruby Dixon and it was over. Syfy and fantasy romance had their hooks in me. These recs are the books I re-read and the authors I follow because they are consistent in telling captivating stories, with rich worlds, and vibrant characters. Book hang-over guaranteed.
Ruby Dixon is quite the goddess herself. Literally everything she writes is gold. The Ice Planet Barbarian series introduced me to Syfy romance and I’ve re-read those books more times than I can count. I particularly enjoy the Anchor and Aspect books because of the length. It’s everything I love about Ruby Dixon, but I can’t devour it in a single night. That means one, two, sometimes even threenights of a story and characters that I love. Doesn’t get much better than that.
When I went to my neighbor's apartment to investigate strange sounds, I never expected to fall through a portal into another world. Yet here I am, a stranger in an even stranger land...and I'm stranded. In this world, might makes right, men carry swords, and gods walk the earth. Within minutes of arriving, I’m enslaved.
Fun place.
How do I get home? GREAT question. Wish I had an answer.
The one person that might be able to help me is also the one person I want to throttle most. Aron, Lord of Storms, Butcher God of Battle, is my new…
The intro to the world Naomi created really grabbed me. This idea of a misty, ever-expanding labyrinth…so cool! It’s one of those times that the setting in a story is so exciting and vivid that it’s almost an entire character in and of itself. Then there are all the characters we encounter along the journey. Hello centaurs… It’s a labyrinth you’ll definitely want to get lost in.
Aldora lived in a bordertown on the edge of the maze. A labyrinth that spanned an eternity filled with creatures that howled through the night. She was a daughter to farmers that worked the fields and endured a quiet life as a peasant, away from the capital and its nihilistic celebrations; away from all that would look at her and discern her worth. Because to be chosen as a sacrifice was to be chosen to die. Until one night, while at the labyrinth wall, she heard a husky voice in the darkness.
Vedikus Bathyr. He prowled the overgrown passages at…
I love everything Bex McLynn writes. There is depth to her stories unparalleled in the genre, on top of that: nobody writes a hero like Bex. I still swoon just thinking about the book Bane. Rein is as deep and complex as her Syfy work, but in a world of werewolves and moon Gods.
The hunt no longer satisfied them. They wanted more.
Nikolas has sheathed his claws. After centuries of hunting and exterminating his own people—wolf shifters cursed with Madness—all he wants is oblivion. Fortunately, a relentless huntress has targeted him, and he gladly welcomes his end by her hand.
In truth, death has never looked so lovely.
Oliviana wants her revenge, yet immortal beings who know her deadly secret have waylaid her hunt. Forced to follow Nikolas into dangerous territory, she hears whispers about an end to Madness. A ‘too-little-too-late’ cure that hinges on Nikolas being alive and well—and mated.
I just love this idea. A series starring the four horsemen as our heroes. It’s a pretty dire plot, set in a post-apocalyptic world with our heroine out there kicking ass and fending for herself, only to cross paths with a horseman. It’s tragic, and star-crossed, and basically everything you want in a romance novel.
They came to earth-Pestilence, War, Famine, Death-four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.
When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn's town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.
Too bad no one told her Pestilence can't be killed.
A fantasy read by the husband-wife author team Tiffany Roberts. This is a dystopian/insane asylum twist on Alice in Wonderland, featuring some absolutely gorgeous imagery and a Cheshire Cat hero named Shadow. Shadow is a character to swoon over—charming, heroic, and mysterious—he’s the book boyfriend you’ve been waiting for.
He’s deadly, seductive, and completely unhinged. He’s also her only chance of escape.
Alice knows Wonderland is just a virtual world operated inside an asylum to which she’s been wrongfully committed, but she can’t find her way out—can’t find her way back to the life she lived before she woke beneath titanic trees and towering flowers. With the terrifying Red King searching for her and chaos all around, her only hope of escape lies in Shadow, a tall, mysterious being with glowing eyes, sharp claws, and a haunting grin who may be the maddest of them all.
Once the belle of her village, life took a dark turn for Adelaide upon her parent’s death. Plagued by lingering grief, Adelaide finds herself alone on the edge of The Perished Woods—a cursed and evil place. Without warning, an orc army attacks. Her village ablaze, Adelaide races into the Perished Woods, seeking refuge in a place of nightmares. With orcs on her heels, she’s desperate to escape. But when the young woman crosses an ancient stone bridge she’s met with an even more fearsome enemy. A troll… who is determined to save her.
From the time I was a girl, I’ve loved stories that put a lump in my throat even as I’m laughing. As a fiction writer, that funny-sad tone is the one I go for in my own work. I gravitate toward female protagonists of all ages who break the mold—women who are intelligent and strong but who also have unconventional, quirky personalities. Women who can be hilarious, infuriating, and heartbreaking—sometimes all at once. Because they are complex and unique, these women tend to struggle with life’s challenges more than their contemporaries. That’s what makes their stories so interesting, and why I have chosen the books on this list.
When Mar’s husband divorces her, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy starting over, she’s ready for new adventures—as long as she can keep things casual. Each month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical consultant. . . and a handsome novelist who wants more than she can give. Mar learns from each encounter. But can she open herself up to true connection?
Surrounded by quirky, endearing characters, Mar navigates her…
"A fun, entertaining novel! I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book as much as I did." -Leslie A. Rasmussen, award-winning author
When Mar Meyer's husband divorces her for another woman, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy to start over, Mar is young-looking, fit, and ready for new adventures-as long as she can keep things casual.
With each passing month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next. Among them: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical…
