Psychics, weres and vamps...oh my!
Paranormal romance is an extremely popular subgenre of romance fiction that is predominantly popular with women. Why are they a best seller? Possibly it has something to do with the sexy alpha males (in most cases literal alpha male werewolves), witty male/female dynamics, relationships, politics (yes, they have politics in romance stories), happy endings, humour, escapism and, perhaps, because it's not totally real. What are you likely to find in such a book? Psychics, ghosts, witches, vampires, shapeshifters, demons, extraterrestrials and time travel.
My selection below is not going to appeal to everybody - it really was hard to narrow it down. In the end it came down to one question: What paranormal series do you find yourself hanging out for the most? I'm sure you know the feeling, the newest novel is released, your copy arrives, you devour it within a couple of hours...and then you're left with that hollow feeling when you realise it'll be another year before the next release. Feel free to disagree with our choices - email and tell us what series you would have had here instead!
Honourable mention:
Fantasy lover
Dark-Hunter; 1
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
F KEN
Being trapped in a bedroom with a woman is a grand thing. Being trapped in hundreds of bedrooms over two thousand years isn't. And being cursed into a book as a love-slave for eternity can ruin even a Spartan warrior's day. As a love-slave, I know everything about women. How to touch them, how to savor them, and most of all, how to pleasure them. But when I was summoned to fulfill Grace Alexander's sexual fantasies, I found the first woman in history who saw me as a man with a tormented past. She alone bothered to take me out of the bedroom and onto the world. She taught me to love again. But I was not born to love. I was cursed to walk eternity alone. As a general, I had long ago accepted my sentence. Yet now I have found Grace--the one thing my wounded heart cannot survive without. Sure, love can heal all wounds, but can it break a two-thousand-year-old curse?
Slave to sensation
Psy-Changeling; 1
by Nalini Singh
F SIN
Born a Psy, Sascha Duncan must hide the emotions which mark her as flawed. But a passionate Changeling will tempt her to reveal everything-and risk her very soul.
Dark lover : a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
Black Dagger Brotherhood; 1
by J. R. Ward
F WAR
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood... The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed- orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate - Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead… Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both.
Moon called
(Mercy Thompson; 1)
by Patricia Briggs
SCFI BRI
Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.
Halfway to the grave
(Night-Huntress; 1)
by Janiene Frost
SCFI BRI
Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership. In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.
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