81 books like Sweep of the Blade

By Ilona Andrews,

Here are 81 books that Sweep of the Blade fans have personally recommended if you like Sweep of the Blade. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Laura Hunsaker Author Of Dark Past

From my list on books where the hero falls in love first.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a reader, and with Irish and Scottish families, I’ve grown up hearing beautiful stories of magic and the fair folk. When I discovered romance novels, I was able to combine my love of happily ever afters and the myth and legend of my childhood. I even took classes on the Mythology of Ireland and Britain while I was obtaining my degrees. With a specialty in British Literature, I have been able to ensure my stories, while full of myth and magic, are also steeped in historical accuracy. The lush and vivid descriptions in my stories are paired with magic and time travel, with every story leaving the reader satisfied with the happily ever after the characters have earned.

Laura's book list on books where the hero falls in love first

Laura Hunsaker Why did Laura love this book?

I love this story because even though the hero falls for the heroine, and he falls hard, by the way, he fights it. 

He really doesn’t believe it could happen to him, so when that Black Moment comes, and he’s lost everything he’s worked for, his appreciation of the heroine is so vivid, so real, that the reader can’t help but fall in love with him too. 

By Kresley Cole,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Considering his history with Mariketa the Awaited, Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan should be pleased when dark forces unite against her. Yet when he discovers how vulnerable the beautiful, wee witch truly is, Bowen, a ruthless warrior, finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive. Mari can't control the awesome power she possesses and recognizes the need for a temporary Protector - even one as cold as Bowen. Though it's rumoured that no one can touch his hardened heart, soon passion begins to burn between them. Once Bowen realizes he wants Mari for his own,…


Book cover of Protecting Piper

Laura Hunsaker Author Of Dark Past

From my list on books where the hero falls in love first.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a reader, and with Irish and Scottish families, I’ve grown up hearing beautiful stories of magic and the fair folk. When I discovered romance novels, I was able to combine my love of happily ever afters and the myth and legend of my childhood. I even took classes on the Mythology of Ireland and Britain while I was obtaining my degrees. With a specialty in British Literature, I have been able to ensure my stories, while full of myth and magic, are also steeped in historical accuracy. The lush and vivid descriptions in my stories are paired with magic and time travel, with every story leaving the reader satisfied with the happily ever after the characters have earned.

Laura's book list on books where the hero falls in love first

Laura Hunsaker Why did Laura love this book?

I love this book because the hero, Eric, has been in love with the heroine Piper since they were teenagers. However, the heroine is his brother’s best friend so he pulled back so as not to step on any toes. The entire time, Piper believed he hated her. I love when she realizes that not only doesn’t Eric hate her, but she loves him too.

This author is a master at romantic suspense, so while they are falling in love, there’s so much more going on in the background that when Piper realizes Eric loves her, it makes their story all the sweeter.

By Cynthia Eden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Protecting Piper as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She was off-limits.

Eric Wilde has always known that Piper Lane isn’t for him. She is his younger brother’s best friend…and probably more. But that hasn’t stopped Eric from wanting her, from longing for the one woman that he can’t have. Sure, he’s rich, successful—he’s built a security empire, and he’s got the world at his feet. Only he doesn’t have her.

He is the one man she needs the most.

Free-spirited Piper Lane has always considered Eric to be the enemy. He’s seemed to resent her, and the guy just flat-out makes her nervous. Every time she’s around him,…


Book cover of Dangerous Witness

Laura Hunsaker Author Of Dark Past

From my list on books where the hero falls in love first.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a reader, and with Irish and Scottish families, I’ve grown up hearing beautiful stories of magic and the fair folk. When I discovered romance novels, I was able to combine my love of happily ever afters and the myth and legend of my childhood. I even took classes on the Mythology of Ireland and Britain while I was obtaining my degrees. With a specialty in British Literature, I have been able to ensure my stories, while full of myth and magic, are also steeped in historical accuracy. The lush and vivid descriptions in my stories are paired with magic and time travel, with every story leaving the reader satisfied with the happily ever after the characters have earned.

Laura's book list on books where the hero falls in love first

Laura Hunsaker Why did Laura love this book?

I love this story, especially because the hero, Brooks, not only falls in love first but also believes the heroine betrays him, so he breaks things off with her. But Brooks never stops loving her.

I love the apologies, I love the way actions speak louder than words in this book, and I love the way they get back together for a well-deserved HEA (happily ever after).

By Katie Reus,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dangerous Witness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Glimmer of the Other

Heather G. Harris Author Of Protection of the Pack

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about fierce female protagonists in fiction because I believe that fiction is a great way to highlight real-life issues. Before becoming an author, I was a lawyer. It was tough navigating the challenges of maternity leave and trying to have a career whilst being a mum to a young family. The reality is that there’s still plenty of gender inequality remaining in the world at large, so I made sure that I always write strong, competent female main characters to lead by example. As you can imagine, my reading tastes are the same as my writing ones, making me an excellent curator of strong female fiction. 

Heather's book list on fierce female protagonists in urban fantasy

What is my book about?

Delve into this internationally best-selling series, now complete! A fast paced laugh-out-loud mix of Urban Fantasy and Mystery.

I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time. I’m Jinx, a PI hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar–yet my gut tells me there’s more to this case than a party girl gone wild. Firstly, she’s a bookish soul who’s as likely to go off the rails as Mother Theresa. Secondly, I’m not the only one on her trail; she’s also being tracked by the implacable and oh-so-sexy Inspector Stone. Stone…

By Heather G. Harris,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Glimmer of the Other as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time.

I’m Jinx. As a private investigator, being a walking, talking lie detector is a useful skill – but let’s face it, it’s not normal. You’d think it would make my job way too easy, but even with my weird skills, I still haven’t been able to track down my parent’s killers.

When I’m hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar – yet my gut tells me there’s more to this case than a party girl gone wild. Firstly, she’s a bookish…


Book cover of The Wrath

Laura Hunsaker Author Of Dark Past

From my list on books where the hero falls in love first.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a reader, and with Irish and Scottish families, I’ve grown up hearing beautiful stories of magic and the fair folk. When I discovered romance novels, I was able to combine my love of happily ever afters and the myth and legend of my childhood. I even took classes on the Mythology of Ireland and Britain while I was obtaining my degrees. With a specialty in British Literature, I have been able to ensure my stories, while full of myth and magic, are also steeped in historical accuracy. The lush and vivid descriptions in my stories are paired with magic and time travel, with every story leaving the reader satisfied with the happily ever after the characters have earned.

Laura's book list on books where the hero falls in love first

Laura Hunsaker Why did Laura love this book?

I am recommending this book as one of the best books where the hero falls in love first because it’s not your typical love at first sight, or the hero falls first trope.

When Rathbone realizes he’s in love with Neeka, it’s a turning point in the book. So many things fall into place for him with that realization. And in that moment, he knows he needs her to love him back. 

By Gena Showalter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wrath as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with a new book in the tantalizing Rise of the Warlords series, featuring a brutal Hell king and the irresistible beauty who upends his world.


For centuries, Rathbone the Only, King of Agonies, has existed for one purpose: recovering the enchanted bones of his slain wife to bring her back to life. He's never been closer to success. But a new enemy has risen. A band of deadly war gods who have thirty days to destroy her or suffer the consequences. With time running out, Rathbone hires a maddening harpy-oracle, unaware she…


Book cover of A Bargain of Blood and Gold

Reni Stankova Author Of The Enemy of Heaven

From my list on MM fantasies in alternate worlds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been an avid reader of MM literature in all its genres and sub-genres, since I was a teenager. Even now, MM fantasy titles are some of my favorite books of all time. I’d love to share my preferences with other readers so they could see the magic I see.

Reni's book list on MM fantasies in alternate worlds

Reni Stankova Why did Reni love this book?

Johnathan Newman is a novice hunter who teams up with a five-hundred-year-old vampire named Vic on a dangerous mission.

The town is plagued by mythological creatures in need of saving and they work together to solve the mystery. However, Vic’s secrets bring trouble, and their mutual attraction doesn’t make things any easier.

A Bargain of Blood and Gold is one of the best-written books I’ve ever read. There hasn’t been a book where every word was chosen so perfectly to my liking. It has the exact amount of descriptions and dialogue. The style is simply perfect.

Additionally, the characters were so vivid and fun to read. John and Vic had such distinguished ways of expressing themselves that I knew every time who was talking without being told.

They are easily one of my favorite M/M couples.

By Kristin Jacques,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Bargain of Blood and Gold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A novice hunter with a mission. A five-hundred-year-old vampire with a strong sense of irony. A town plagued by creatures in need of saving.

When Johnathan Newman arrives in Cress Haven, the last thing he expects is for his life to be irrevocably changed. Sent by a clandestine league of vampire hunters to investigate a string of murders, signs point to a vampire lurking amid the townsfolk. Johnathan’s attempt to enlist the locals leads him to an unlikely partnership with Vic, the town's most eligible, enigmatic bachelor.

As the pair work to solve the mystery, Vic’s secrets come back to…


Book cover of Swipe Date Bite

Tania Gold Author Of Prophecy of a Vampire

From my list on a different perspective of the Vampire genre.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved Vampire Romance themes since I was a teenager. They were all over the house, with my mum and my sister both reading them too, all part of our home library. I can’t count how many series and standalone books I’ve read, but I don’t foresee it ever stopping. Whilst I am also a fan of fantasy and sci-fi, I love the romance factor in Paranormal books. As a result, I find them to be best suited for my mood. I not only read paranormal romance but write it and have dabbled in researching backgrounds on the myths of vampires, which led me to read vampire novels that integrate fiction and speculation.

Tania's book list on a different perspective of the Vampire genre

Tania Gold Why did Tania love this book?

I found this book funny and different from what I expected.

There is a love triangle, suspense, and a twist between the three characters, which I found refreshing too.

It’s got that ‘new age’ feeling to it, based on a dating app, but with a delicious twist. 

Something that also caught my eye was that it is a standalone, so it's perfect if you just want a vampire romance to read and leave it at that. I usually read series, so it was nice to not have to mentally prepare myself to dive into a sequel. 

By Tori Tucker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Swipe Date Bite as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dating apps are hard, at least for 26-year-old Aurora Lopez, who feels like her love life and career are both going nowhere fast. After a string of eighteen first dates in less than four months, Aurora has had enough of dating. Out on her luck and running out of patience, a friend manages to persuade her into one last effort at finding Mr. Right on an app called Love Bites. I mean, why couldn't this dating app work for her? Her friend's coworker's best friend's cousin had success with it, or was it her friend's cousin's best friend's coworker? Either…


Book cover of Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires)

J.D. Brown Author Of Dark Heirloom

From my list on vampire books for adults.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been an avid vampire fan since I was a child. I read Interview With The Vampire when I was nine. Where does one go from there? Well, I’ve devoured just about every vampire-themed book and film on the market today. Then, when it came time to write my own books, I did a deep dive into the history, theology, sociology, and speculative science behind the vampire myth. But I’m not going to tell you to read the boring classics (even though Dracula is a personal favorite). I’m going to list the fun books—the ones like Twilight, but better. I firmly believe reading should be fun and full of magic, no matter how old you are.

J.D.'s book list on vampire books for adults

J.D. Brown Why did J.D. love this book?

I’m biased. Some Girls Bite takes place in Chicago, where I’m from, and where some of my own characters are from. It’s really cool to see how another author uses the city I grew up in and love. But aside from that nifty accolade, it’s a fun well-written story with mature themes. The main character, Merit, is no shrinking violet. She can kick ass and take names with the best of them, which is why I love her books. It would be amazing if our characters could meet mine someday. 

By Chloe Neill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires) as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first Chicagoland Vampires novel from New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill.

Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was Merit's. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.

Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps…


Book cover of Our Vampires, Ourselves

Philip Ball Author Of The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination

From my list on vampire myths and their cultural fascination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have written more than 20 non-fiction books on a wide range of topics. I was trained as a chemist and physicist, and as both an author and a journalist I am mostly concerned with the sciences and how they interact with the broader culture – with the arts, politics, philosophy, and society. Sometimes that interest takes me further afield, and in my new book The Modern Myths, I present a detailed look at seven tales that have taken on the genuine stature of myth, being retold again and again as vehicles for the fears, dreams, and anxieties of the modern age. Ranging from Robinson Crusoe to Batman, this list also inevitably includes Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula – leading him to examine how we have used the legend of the vampire in the past and present.

Philip's book list on vampire myths and their cultural fascination

Philip Ball Why did Philip love this book?

Auerbach’s book takes the vampire story into more contemporary territory and, some might say, into more treacherous waters. Although beginning again with Polidori, she follows the evolution of the vampire tale through to Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, and Tony Scott’s 1983 film The Hunger (starring an elegantly wasted David Bowie). She shows how homoeroticism has been a part of the vampire narrative since its nineteenth-century inception, notably with Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 novella Carmilla, and how readily the narrative lent itself as an allegory of the 1980s AIDS epidemic. I don’t agree with all of Auerbach’s interpretations, but she has some zinging one-liners.

By Nina Auerbach,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Our Vampires, Ourselves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Nina Auerbach shows how every age embraces the vampire it needs, and gets the vampire it deserves. Working with a wide range of texts, as well as movies and television, Auerbach locates vampires at the heart of our national experience and uses them as a lens for viewing the last two hundred years of Anglo-American cultural history.

"[Auerbach] has seen more Hammer movies than I (or the monsters) have had steaming hot diners, encountered more bloodsuckers than you could shake a stick at, even a pair of crossed sticks, such as might deter a very sophisticated ogre, a hick from…


Book cover of The Vampire Lestat

Philip Henry Author Of Method

From my list on told from the villain’s POV.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was about 8 years old, I read a book called Tom and the Two Handles by Russell Hoban. It’s a children’s book designed to teach that every story has two sides. This book stuck with me for some reason. So, when I started writing novels, I always made sure my villains had pure motives. Remember, no well-written bad guy THINKS he’s a bad guy. He thinks he’s doing the right thing. This is true of all the classic Bond villains right up to Thanos in the MCU. Plus, and I’m sure most writers would agree, the bad guys are always more fun to write.

Philip's book list on told from the villain’s POV

Philip Henry Why did Philip love this book?

If there was one criticism I had of Interview With The Vampire, it was that there wasn’t enough Lestat. I can’t have been the only one because when Anne Rice decided to do a sequel, she didn’t keep following Louis, the tortured hero of the first book, but instead told us the story of his Maker.

I love that this book doesn’t try to repeat what the first part did and tell us another story of a vampire at odds with what he is. Lestat embraces the (after)life that is forced upon him. I admire the purity of his acceptance of what he is and having no regrets about what he must do to survive.

By Anne Rice,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Vampire Lestat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times Bestselling author - Surrender to fiction's greatest creature of the night - Book II of the Vampire Chronicles

The vampire hero of Anne Rice’s enthralling novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying exsitence. His is a mesmerizing story—passionate, complex, and thrilling.

Praise for The Vampire Lestat
 
“Frightening, sensual . . . Anne Rice will…


Book cover of Dracul

L.W. King Author Of Carrie's Legacy

From my list on supernatural with a sprinkling of realism.

Why am I passionate about this?

From an early age, I have been fascinated with anything supernatural and occult. My Aunt would read my palm, and then, as a teenager, I would visit clairvoyants to see what the future held for me. As I grew older, I found I had an ability, a gift of seership, and after reading many books, embarked on my pagan journey, from which I have never looked back, and am now studying Druidry,which is very much nature-based. I hope you love the books on this list as much as I do!  

L.W.'s book list on supernatural with a sprinkling of realism

L.W. King Why did L.W. love this book?

I love this book because, after a period when I could never find the time to read, I picked it up in my local supermarket, and my love affair with reading began all over again. Being a huge fan of Dracula, I was intrigued to discover if this title would carry the same level of eeriness, and I was delighted to find that it did!

The story provokes thoughts of ‘Could this be real?’ I finished it early one winter morning and found myself a little nervous to step outside into the darkness to call my dog in, which is a rarity for me. It was a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit jumpy, read.

By Dacre Stoker, J.D. Barker,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Dracul as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Scary as hell. Gothic as decay' Josh Malerman

'Reading Dracul is like watching a classic vampire film . . . a terrifying read' R. L. Stine

Inspired by the notes DRACULA's creator left behind, Dracul is a riveting, heart-stoppingly scary novel of Gothic suspense . . .
___
Dracul reveals not only the true origins of Dracula himself, but also of his creator, Bram Stoker . . . and of the elusive, enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a 21-year-old Bram Stoker has locked himself inside an abbey's tower to confront a vile and ungodly beast. He…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in vampires, presidential biography, and the paranormal?

Vampires 305 books
The Paranormal 250 books