The theme of this list is so important to me as an independently published author. Ever since I was about 14 years old I knew I wanted to tell stories, and my way, so even then I was looking into indie publishing. The idea of offering my books up to the traditional publishing chopping block, to be edited and mulled into what’s most marketable, scared me so much! I didn’t want to tell my stories another person’s way. So here we are, and I’m giving you guys a list of indie recommendations whose authors feel very much the same way. We just want to tell our stories. And have control over how that’s done. ;)
So this book. Post the ending of Supernatural, I was of course deep in my Supernatural feelings and this book absolutely filled that road trip, paranormal adventure vibe the SPN television series had given me for so many years. Naturally, it helps that two of the main characters are also fan casted after Reylo. ;) But this book is the perfect mesh of adventuring, paranormal creatures, and a delicious rivals-to-lovers slow-burn romance that even after the second book I can’t get enough of.
For as long as she can remember, Eden has been on the run. The open road is the only freedom she’s ever known, the only life she’s ever had. But when the road ends in a backwater town, a mysterious phone call sends her on a new journey.
Lazarus is no stranger to ghosts. Shades and spirits are his constant companions, it’s the living that set him on edge. The decision to help a troubled mage will find him taking on more than he bargained for.
Becoming a hunter was never part of Zeke’s plan. He finds himself stepping into…
I really love deep, living worlds. CE Clayton does such an amazing job of building you into her cyberpunk fantasy that you can easily believe you’re there. Add in the characters you can’t help but root for, and this book is a staple in my library. Ellinor, the protagonist, struggles with the very real emotions behind grief, loss, and the bitterness that comes with a life that feels entirely out of one’s control. Resistor has action, laughs, and again, a slow-burn romance that I simply inhaled.
Ellinor Rask has wanted one thing for the past eight years: vengeance. But when Ellinor is captured, she finds herself dragged back into the world she walked away from, entangled once more with friends she would rather forget.
As if that weren’t humiliating enough, Ellinor learns first hand that her magic can be stripped away by a piece of bio-tech—and her ex-boss is happy to leash her with the technology in order to get what he wants. If Ellinor behaves, the device will be removed. All she has to do is deliver a package. One containing a creature created from…
Ilahara is actually written by a sister duo that share a pen name, but you could never tell by the intricate way they’ve woven their styles together. Tolkien is one of my favorite authors, so I love a deep fantasy, and Ilahara gives that with some heavy Game of Thrones flavor. They’ve got dragons, magic, platonic soul bonding, and layers of political intrigue that somehow manage to never feel dense or overbearing. I am utterly dying for the sequel, and you will too!
Princess Asharaya Myrassar lost everything on the night of the Coup of Fire when the usurper queen, Aerella Argarys, slaughtered the royal family and claimed the throne of the fae kingdom of Ilahara. After seeking refuge on the human continent and leaving her magical past behind, Asharaya takes on a new identity: Shara, an assassin blessed with dark powers.
Prince Derron Argarys owes his royal title to his mother’s coup, and although he has all the status and power one could wish for, he cannot escape the memories of the brutal death of the former prince he once called friend.…
If you like your fantasy a little darker, with more longing than spice (but still a little spice too ;) ) then this might be the book for you. Of Divine Blood features a main character who embraces her femininity and emotions and eventually manages to turn them into a fiery rage that leads her to take revenge on her abusers. It’s pretty glorious. And Corvina’s love interest is pretty amazing too; empowering without being dominating, and he’s the perfect mix of sweet and protective. Check the trigger warnings, then give her a read!
The Divine Gods may have been Corvina's patrons but she would tear them down from their thrones and ascend to claim their places - to claim her place - both in this world and the heavens above. For none would own her body again.
All her life she spent caged like an animal. The shackles the Elder Priest cast over her held her prisoner to the chantry. She had once been devoted to her lessons, to harnessing each of the seven magics the Divine had bestowed upon her. She had once loved…
Jesikah Sundin is one of my absolute favorite indie authors. Not only are her pages rich with easter eggs and factual knowledge, she weaves them together in a magical way that makes her stories utterly impossible to put down. Of Heart and Stone is technically the second book in the Ealdspell Cycle, but as they’re standalones, you can read them out of order just fine. And this Snow White retelling is so worth the read. Not only does she intermingle a world of technology and magic, she does it so seamlessly it feels completely natural. Add in that she writes delightful slow-burn romance, and add in the feminist vibes that make her stories deeper still, and truly, you’ll inhale the whole series.
She has a heart of stone. A heart he is fated by the faeries to break.
Eirwen Blackvein grew up in a dwarven mining camp at the edge of the map. A perfect place to hide an elven princess destined to destroy a queen and save a kingdom at war, as foretold in a seer’s magic mirror. Except, Eirwen doesn’t know she is the lost princess. Only that she was found as a newborn with her heart carved out. And why she now possesses a heart of stone in her chest.
For fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Deal with the Elf King. Daylight's Curse is a standalone new adult romantic fantasy novel, a retelling of the fairytale East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
Mald Magicae. The title is a curse, whispered throughout the elven holdings. After the Ninth War ravaged Numeryon, leaving its citizens impoverished and desperate for survival, a moniker like Mald Magicae could be a death sentence. So when Sabrena is extended a tantalizing offer, she leaves everything she's known to marry the Prince of the Fae—even though she's never met him. But the prince has problems of his own...
My favorite fantasy novels tend to be rather complex. Winding plotlines, mysteriously interconnected characters, whimsical settings, and intricate, thoughtful worldbuilding combine to create immersive stories that stick in the mind like overworn folklore. Time travel or interworld travel lend additional layers of intrigue and mystery, forcing the inescapable contemplation of a more thrilling, alternate reality. And if it’s all packaged in artful, breathtaking prose that breeds full-color images, audible noises, indelible flavors, nose-crumpling odors, and tangible textures, I will happily lose myself in the pages, truly forgetting about the strictures of everyday life… at least until I get hungry and remember I need to consume more than books to survive.
An Heir of Realms tells the tale of two young heroines—a dragon rider and a portal jumper—who fight dragon-like parasites to save their realms from extinction.
Rhoswen is training as a Realm Rider to work with dragons and burn away the Narxon swarming into her realm. Rhoswen’s dream is to Ride, but her destiny will pit her against her uncle and king, who have scorned her since before her birth.
In the Exchange, the waystation between realms, Emmelyn fights the G’Ambit, a gambling ring with members more intent on lining their pockets than protecting the realms—or their own lives.
Realm-devouring parasites threaten all existence. The Exchange is desperate to destroy them. But could their radical plans endanger the realms, too?
Soul-sucking parasites are overwhelming the realms.
Rhoswen of Stanburh is of age to train as a Realm Rider—a defender of the realms. Riders and their dragons work together to burn away infiltrating Narxon as they swarm in through tears in a realm’s fabric. But it’s not an easy battle: the mere touch of the smoky, dragon-like adversaries can reduce the lively winged beasts—and their Riders—to ash.
Becoming a Realm Rider is Rhoswen’s dream, but she carries far more responsibility…
