I have always enjoyed reading about strong women though when I was younger these books were harder to find. Far too often the woman needed to be ‘rescued’ by a man. I wanted tough women that could kick ass and were loved by the men in their lives because of it. I found that over and over again in the urban fantasy genre. The series listed here motivated me to write my own and continue to inspire my current work. I hope you enjoy them and maybe find some inspiration of your own.
The Kate Daniels series features a unique urban fantasy world where magic and tech fight for dominance. This was one of the first series I read in this genre and I instantly fell in love with Kate Daniels. She is tough and snarky but isn’t afraid to ask for help when she needs it.
Kate Daniels is about to enter a world of gritty magic and dangerous mystery! Vampires, necromancers and mages abound on the city streets, with one kickass heroine in the middle
Future Atlanta is an interesting place to live: one moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters.
Here skyscrapers topple under the onslaught of magic; the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst for knowledge and wealth, pilot…
The Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance is a bit darker but that darkness comes with a richer narrative. The way the language flows in this series is what made me fall in love with it. The characters are beautifully crafted. This is a world I could revisit again and again.
Cassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits - talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead. The ghosts of the dead aren't usually dangerous; they just like to talk ... a lot.
The undead are another matter.
Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with vengeance on his mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection.
The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working…
After escaping from a government holding facility where she, along with other scientists, was being forced to build a deadly weapon. She headed for the most remote place she could think of, the wild Xantifal Mountains.
The Mercy Thompson series focuses on shifters trying to survive and stay hidden in a world much like ours. What I like about this series is Mercy is a simple mechanic that gets pulled into chaos no matter how much she’d like to stay out of it. It makes a fantastical character more relatable.
The first novel in the New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade
'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris
The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong
MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER
I didn't realize he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn't at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil . . .'
Mercedes Thompson runs a garage in the Tri-Cities. She's a mechanic, and a damn good one, who spends her spare time karate training and tinkering with a VW bus that happens…
In the Monster Haven series Zoey is a normal girl whose life changes overnight when she finds her childhood closet monster baking muffins in her kitchen. That should tell you everything you need to know about this series. While it does handle some heavier topics, there is a wonderful sense of humor that runs throughout. Truly enjoyable.
I stopped believing in monsters long ago. But I knew I wasn't imagining things when I found one in my kitchen baking muffins. I'd seen him before: lurking in my closet, scaring the crap out of my five-year-old self. Turns out that was a misunderstanding, and now Maurice needs a place to stay. How could I say no?
After all, I've always been a magnet for the emotionally needy, and not just in my work as a wedding planner. Being able to sense the feelings of others can be a major pain. Don't get me wrong, I like helping people…
Daniel “Dan” Bluford is the Director of Polar City Single Organism Research Lab Facilities. A business he helped to create. The world’s leading architect of sustainable, ecologically conscious products for energy, manufacturing, water treatment, waste management, and environmental clean-up equipment. A company whose mission statement read in part, “Better environment…
The Night Huntress series features a half-vampire vampire hunter named Cat. While hunting one night she encounters Bones, a vampire bounty hunter. These two are definitions of enemies to lovers and the heat between them is off the charts. I absolutely love the relationship between these two and how it develops through the series.
Kicking off the sexiest, smartest, most badass paranormal romance series out there. You won't be able to stop turning the pages.
Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of those deadbeats is her father - the guy responsible for ruining her mother's life.
But when she's captured by Bones, a bounty hunter and a vampire, she finds herself forced into an unholy partnership.
In exchange for his help in finding her father, and still astonished she hasn't ended up as his dinner, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her…
Juliana Norris is good at her job. Unfortunately for her, that means more middle-of-the-night wake-up calls. It’s a life she’s become used to, with which she’s grown content. Until the mate she hasn’t seen in seven years returns without warning. Thomas Kendrick is a master vampire whose word is law among his kind in the Western United States. His formerly compliant mate has no intention of listening to anything he has to say. She is full of fire and venom and he couldn’t be more intrigued. He’s less pleased to discover her peculiar habit of dying, however temporary the condition might be.
Tasha and the Biologist is the second book in the "A Better Man" series. It's a contemporary romance about second chances, two lonely birders, and the healing power of love.
Tasha Moore is a visiting nurse with a family secret. She just went through a bad breakup. Caleb Drexel is…
Born the half-breed, bastard son of an orc chieftain, Wrank tries to survive life in OrcHome among ignorance and spite aimed at his human heritage even as he develops a Talent for folding shadow. When life is no longer viable among the clans, he escapes into the world of humans…
