Escapism is my drug of choice. As a child, I was angry that my existence was confined to this reality, and I did everything I could to find a way out. Stories made it bearable. Whether it was Thor’s Bifrost, the wardrobe of Narnia, or the mirror in Stephen R. Donaldson’s Mordant’s Need duology, I was hooked. Now, I tell my own stories of escape. I create and invite others to find solace, adventure, love, and passion in fantasy realms, outer space, and reinvented parallel realities. This door is always open.
No matter how long since I entered the world of Magiere and Leesil, I find my mind wandering back occasionally. Perhaps I connected with Magiere’s awareness of her difference to all those around her. Her desire to walk away from life as a mercenary vampire slayer intrigued me because, though she had a hard exterior, the book offered a smattering of opportunities to see beneath her rough surface into the human part of her heart.
Magiere’s emotional dichotomy resonates with me in an unexpected, life-altering manner. In fact, the story might have been a catalytic element in the crucible where the main character for my novel was born. Snarky humor permeates in places that bring levity to long periods of darkness, and a diverse and interesting cast of characters brings depth to the worldbuilding that Hendee crafts through their storytelling.
Magiere has earned a reputation as the most formidable vampire slayer in the land. Villagers far and wide welcome her with both awe and disdain—grateful to her for ridding their towns of the undead menace, but finding themselves made poorer for their salvation. Magiere knows she’s dealing with simple folk, who only wish to have their superstitions silenced, and sees nothing wrong with exploiting them for profit.
Now, tired of the game, Magiere and her partner, the half-elf Leesil, are…
I’m a fantasy romance author with a love of creating real, in-depth characters with agency. To me, that’s the very definition of a “kick-ass” heroine. It doesn’t matter how she’s kick-ass (e.g., loud/vocal vs. quiet and cunning; the one charging ahead of the army or the one strategizing the attack), just that she’s in control of her own destiny. It’s important for me to have my characters feel like actual people, facing real decisions and the consequences of said decisions, and then I want those characters to have onus and show off their true bad-assery.
Good lord, Kat simply dominates when she enters a scene.
She leaves no room for argument with all her decisions (some of them bad, some of them good) or dialogue, and even in moments where you’re screaming at her or she’s second-guessing herself, she grounds herself in her resolve and pushes forward.
Plus, Bones is swoon-worthy, and she still honors her own feels in the presence of his…well…everything, haha. I also love her evolution through the Night Huntress series and how her viewpoint toward vampires and paranormals shifts in a way that suits her character development. Also the spice? Heck. Yes.
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…
Jinua,
the main character, is a strong warrior woman itching to prove herself as a newly
tapped Paladin—and I do love a good warrior woman!
More importantly, I love
a good, flawed character. It leaves a
lot of room for growth. Every
character in this story is fully realized; it's easy to imagine them popping
off the pages.
This
was just the first of C. M. Alongi's books, but there's a reason I've bought
everything she's published so far: she always delivers.
In a world of greed, gods, and monsters, paladins are chosen to do what no mortal human can. Granted divine attributes of their chosen deity, they protect the broken fragments of human civilization from any and all threats. Often from necromancers, those born with the ability to speak with and raise the dead. Such a power inevitably corrupts and turns each and every necromancer evil.
Right?
Jinua has just received her first assignment as paladin: to execute a necromancer terrorizing a small town with an undead army. But what should be a straight-forward mission turns complicated when another necromancer reveals…
I love weird situations. I have been writing since I was four years old, and have been patiently waiting for the man who appreciates my wide range of vocal inflections. Books have always been companions for me. It helped me develop empathy for others at a young age. Reading about situations that involve people who are nothing like you helps you think beyond yourself. I think that is partly why I’ve always gravitated towards books with unique plots and characters. There’s something invigorating about a story that breaks the mold and offers something new, even if it’s a little strange. The books I’ve recommended all have heavily influenced me and my writing throughout the years.
I’m amazed that more people aren’t talking about this book. It falls in line with the vampire romance genre so effortlessly, and yet it is egregiously overlooked. I remember reading it years ago when I was a teenager and being totally entranced. There’s this beautiful lilt to the writing, and the plot is so richly complex. It deals with the subject of immortality in such an interesting way, comparing the endless life of this vampire to the swiftly expiring life of this girl’s mother. The romance itself is actually refreshing as well. There’s this soft, sweet gallantry that you don’t see a lot in modern work, in my opinion.
Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the beautiful yet frightening Simon comes to her house. Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother.
Simon is one of the undead, a vampire, seeking revenge for the gruesome death of his mother three hundred years before. Does Simon dare ask Zoe to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?
I’ve read everything I could lay my hands on since I was young, and like so many others, I’ve always preferred to read about unusual characters, uncommon situations, or both simultaneously. The books I described here fulfill those requirements for me, even though they are superficially very different from one another. Now that I write my own novels, my over-arching goal is for each of my books to be better than the one that precedes it. I do my best to offer my readers interesting characters in compelling situations, and if my readers think I’ve succeeded, I will be a very happy author.
Quirky characters are my favorite, and if they come with a snarky attitude and impending death, so much the better. Nerdy Bill gets invited to a party by a beautiful woman he meets by chance. At the party, he’s turned into a vampire. This is the first book in a series following Bill’s adventures as one of the undead, along with his human friends and a host of other characters, including a 300-year-old vampire girl who claims Bill as her mate, sasquatches, rock people, and the human woman Bill loves from afar.
I’ve read the entire series at least three times, and I’m always entertained. The writing is good and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, and the storylines are somehow plausible. It's one of my favorites, for sure.
THERE ARE REASONS WE FEAR THE NIGHT. HE'S NOT ONE OF THEM.
Dateless dork Bill Ryder never suspected it would take death to make his life a hell of a lot more interesting, but then he met a girl to die for - so he did.
Now he’s a vampire, surrounded by creatures stronger, deadlier, and much cooler than he is. They’re giving him just ninety days to prove he has what it takes to be an apex predator of the night, assuming he doesn’t give them a reason to dust his ass sooner.
I’ve long had a passion (read: obsession) with the apocalypse in whatever form it takes. I’ve written viral pandemics, zombie outbreaks, post-nuclear survival, dystopian totalitarianism, extinction-level-event, alien invasion, WW3… all of them have the theme of the great reset. The ability to reinvent yourself in the new world. The erasure of your life and the clean slate to try again and become who you want to be. I read and listen to this genre as well as write it because I'm passionate about the worlds writers create and the way their characters adapt to overcome the challenges my own have faced. As a former police officer, I’ve probably spent too many night shifts pondering the end of the world.
Keith gripped me with his Mountain Man series. If ever there was a reluctant hero who accidentally self-sabotages often, one who is so real and relatable that you can’t help but love him, then Keith’s Gus character is for you. Tackling the zombie apocalypse from the point of view of a regular, everyday man, this series grabs hold and doesn’t let go.
Boomstick.Samurai bat.Motorcycle leather.And the will to live amongst the unliving.Augustus Berry lives a day-to-day existence comprised of waking up, getting drunk, and preparing for the inevitable day when "they" will come up the side of his mountain and penetrate his fortress. Living on the outskirts of a city and scavenging for whatever supplies remain since the demise of civilization, Gus knows that his next visit to undead suburbia could be his last. Not only does he face a corpse-infested urban hell, human scavengers, and unending loneliness, but now a new mystery has risen...The undead are disappearing from the streets.A force…
I was born and raised on the beautiful Canadian prairies and prefer to spend my time outdoors with my family, kayaking, skating, fishing, and hunting. I love to read and write about vampires, witches, fae, and zombies that get to find their own version of happily ever after.
Anyone looking for an addictive urban fantasy series needs to read this. Merit is a strong female lead character that rises to the challenges that come with her new undead way of life. Intense world building with lots of vamp politics. Just the right amount of mystical blended with reality to give me hope that vampires really walk among us.
First in a brand new series about a Chicago graduate student's introduction into a society of vampires.
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…
Growing up in the nineties I was a Buffy fan, although that is probably understating things. I have all the Buffy novels, which I read over when waiting for the next series to come out (this was in the days before Netflix!). For me, Buffy had the exact right mix of humour, horror, and deeper complexity, dealing with issues that really impacted me, but in a way that made them accessible. I loved the characters, I loved Buffy herself, I loved her strength and humanity. When I decided to write Raising Hell, I was influenced by Buffy, but there are differences – Ivy is no chosen one, she chose herself.
With an awesome nineties vibe that took me right back to my own teen years, Mina and the Undead is about a British teen girl battling vampires (obviously) in New Orleans. A great Gothic horror written by a fantastic new British writer, filled with gore and references to 90’s pop culture. A ton of fun!
'A dark and thrilling tale of the paranormal. With haunted houses, family secrets and murder galore, this delicious and gruesome tale of the macabre will ignite a whole new generation of vampire fans.' Lauren James
'Brimful of nostalgia and cinematic atmosphere. A thrilling read and a clever new twist on the vampire stories you love.' Laura Wood
New Orleans Fang Fest, 1995. Mina's having a summer to die for.
17-year-old Mina, from England, arrives in New Orleans to visit her estranged sister, Libby. After growing up in the town that inspired Dracula, Mina loves nothing more than a creepy horror…
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 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…
I love zombie apocalypse fiction and movies and games. There’s something fascinating about survival and post-apocalyptic fiction, where you see the real character and desire of humanity to survive no matter what. I also like the morbid humor that shows up. I started writing the zombie apocalypse call center series as a way to poke fun at my customer support center experiences and mix it in with my own fascination with zombie apocalypses.
Miranda Tucci is looking for love during a zombie apocalypse but finding love is hard when the majority of available partners are either zombies or psychopaths.
On top of that Miranda has a lead on a cure for the virus, but the government is trying to control it. Can she get the cure and save civilization?
I enjoyed the character development, especially around trying to find love and surviving the zombie apocalypse.
Urban farmer Miranda Tucci is lucky to be alive in what's left of California's Silicon Valley, despite a love life that's dead on arrival. Then an old flame turns up and she wonders…
...does her DOA love life have a pulse?
Or will the ghosts of her past collide with the present?
A ruthless governing council controls the cure for the zombie virus. If Miranda joins a plot to steal it, will the vaccine be used for political advantage, or can she survive long enough to usher…