Fans pick 51 books like Balthazar

Rose and Lissa are dragged back to a school for vampires; though it’s a fair bit more complicated than that, with vampires of different sorts and being able to wield magic.

Rose is Lissa’s bodyguard and the school trains their powers, so that Rose will be able to protect Lissa (who is a princess) when the time comes. Their lessons don’t stop them from getting into a whole swath of familiar teenage drama.

I love the entire Midnight Breed series. The lore is unlike what I've ever seen in most vampire books. The vampire race was born from alien fathers and human mothers with special talents. These vamps can see their reflections, are not allergic to holy water, and are very much alive. So sexily alive. I spent a solid hour trying to choose one favorite book from this series. They’re all so bloody good! However, Taken by Midnight has some of my fave tropes: badass heroine, protective but gentle hero, interracial relationship, and all the spice. If you like vampires with a unique twist, you’ll love this series.

Again, it’s so hard to choose between all the amazing books in The Black Dagger Brotherhood, and the Black Dagger Legacy series, but Blood Fury has one of my favorite M/M romances ever. Ruhn and Saxton aren’t even the main couple, but gods, do they steal the show! I got all the feels. I shivered and teared up, laughed, and swooned. Ruhn is a gentle giant, and Saxton has had his poor heart broken in quite a spectacular way, but they find each other, and… I’ll stop because I’ll spoil the awesomeness. The spice is hot as hell too, so don’t read in public ;)

You're seeing I'm a vampire fanatic right? This is just another one of my favorite books and author. It's also another book made into a movie but trust me when I say the book is so much better than the movie itself. I loved the descriptions in this book and how another talented author created a brilliant world of vampires. It was thrilling and exciting. Another book that put me through a whirlwind of emotions. Not only was it action packed but there was romance topped with unbelievable betrayal. It will keep your interest just like it did for me. I recommend you don't watch the movie before you read the book.

A contemporary storyline mixed with historical details give book one in this four-book, gothic fantasy series a rich backdrop for family conflict on an unexpectedly dark scale as the main character, Lena, faces a cursed countdown to her 16th birthday. The movie version of this book is good, but as often is the case, the book is better. Stellar writing, plotting and a believable, swoon-worthy, and fated romance combined with an intriguing cast of characters make this book one of my favorites for coming-of-age magical stories. 

Michelle Belanger is a psychic vampire and an intellectual leader of the real vampire community. This book draws on her experiences of coming to self-identify as a psychic vampire and she actually began writing it in notebooks while in college. The Psychic Vampire Codex provided vocabulary for people in this community to talk about their experiences and a metaphysical theory of what exactly psychic vampires are and why they are different from other people.

I have had the opportunity to meet Belanger and she is a really fascinating person. She founded a metaphysical community called House Kheperu and offers workshops on magick and psychic energy.  She is also a fiction author, musician, activist, and many other things.

Where to even start with this super weird masterpiece? It’s like William Burroughs (Naked Lunch, etc.) and Billy Martin (Lost Souls, etc.) teamed up to write a vampire novel.

Hobo junkie vampires roam the highways and streets of America, a teeming group of young kids, strung out, hungry for blood. The writing is beautiful, impossible to put down, pure poetry. The content? Disturbing, dark, and delicious.

I love books that include paranormal aspects. Not in the sense of vampires, but things like psychics, mediums, or empaths. This book is about an empath who has struggled her entire life to figure out how to utilize it in a good way and not let it overwhelm her. The story also involves some Native American myths which is also something I am naturally drawn to. Elidor is an archaeologist. What a fascinating occupation! When she and her partner make a massive discovery, she must decide whether to keep it a secret or to hand it over to the dig director. Greed can make a man do things he wouldn’t ordinarily do. I devoured this book. The colorful characters, the setting in the fictitious town of Joshua, and the storyline make this a most compelling read. 

Far Journeys is a profound and unusual book. The story in which Robert Monroe, who was a radio executive, finds himself having spontaneous out-of-body experiences sometimes reads like science fiction. Yet it is his honest account. Dedicated to an exploration of human consciousness, he later founded a nonprofit called The Monroe Institute, which pioneered research into changing brainwaves using only binaural sounds. Monroe kept pushing the envelope with his explorations, learning to explore places beyond our world that most have only dreamed of; and it’s given me such great inspiration for my stories. It also blew my mind and helped me make sense when I had my own glimpses of the energetic realm that he describes here. This is technically his second book, but I feel it’s even better to start here.

What’s more fraught and intimate than friends? Sisters.   

Munro’s title story is about a relationship of extremes: sisters Char and Et can laugh over the darkest shit imaginable, and yet they also have certain psychic rooms they’ll never let the other into. Is this love or hostility? More happens in here than I can say, except that Char is the beautiful sister and Et the sharp-tongued, practical one, and an old flame returns and wreaks havoc.

It’s Munro, so there is sex, death, and betrayal, but delivered so obliquely you aren’t always sure what the characters deliberately did. Maybe that’s why this story enraptures me: it’s about the things you’ll never get to know, and I always think I'll figure it out this time.