My Romance Sub-genre Recs for You – Paranormal

Posted 11 March, 2018 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Uncategorized / 16 Comments

My Romance Sub-genre Recs – Paranormal Romance

Hello, and welcome to my new romance sub-genre recs post! The idea for this post series came to me while chatting with Evelina @ Avalinah’s Books, and I have so many posts planned I’m starting to think this series might last at least for half the year!

Last week, my romance sub-genre recs was for steamy paranormal romance, so today, we’re going for paranormal romance, but with little to no sex. There might be a fade to black. There might be allusions. But the romance is still going strong. And so, is the action!

 

Spellcrackers.com is a series by Suzanne McLeod, and it’s set in London, England. There are faeries, vampires, and other beings who show up here. The main character throughout the series is Genny. She works for a detective agency, and she takes care of supernatural matters. You know, unless her magic back-fires on her. Which happens. At least it does sometimes.
I love the lore in this series, and there is a very slow-burning romance to keep things interesting between the action and the mystery going on.

 

 

The Hollows series by Kim Harrison is completed at thirteen books. And while I’m sad the series is over, it brought me a lot of satisfaction to read it from start to finish!
There are witches, vampires, shifters, demons… and more in this series. And throughout the series, we always follow the same main characters, with Rachel as the protagonist.
The world building her is complex, but still fairly easy to follow. And there are some aspects of the story where a little crumb was dropped in the first book – only for that to become something big in a much later book. Much love for Rachel, Ivy, Jenks and the others!

 

The Dorina Basarb series by Karen Chance is really good too. There are vampires, shifters, magic, possibly some time travel, and, of course, romance. The romance is not what moves the story and plot forward, though. There is chemistry between characters, and that’s really well done, It’s been a long time since I read these – apparently before I even started blogging, so I don’t have much more to say.

 

 

 

 

Cassandra Palmer is also by Karen Chance, and that series is still ongoing. I love Cassie, because she is very different from other heroines I have read about. She does not know the full extent of her own powers, but she never lets that slow her down. She can be a bit rash sometimes, but it is always well explained. The romance here is also secondary, and more like a strong yearning than anything else.

 

 

Strange Magic cover - (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

Magic series by Michelle Mankin is filled with magic (d’uh!), gargoyles, ancient gods, and very strong mythology. The romance here is also not completely overt, but very well done. There is also a little bit of mystery and quite a lot of action,. I hope there will be more books in this series, because I really enjoy the whole feel of it, and the characters just make me want to spend more time with them.

 

 

Sterling cover Dannika Dark - (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

The Mageri series by Dannika Dark is like a breath of fresh air! There is a vers strong heroine. The whole universe in this series is very different, too. There are people who are mages, they can be ‘made’ by putting a mage-light in them. Not all survive. There are also vampires – who are made, as well as shifters who are born. There are very strong relationships between the characters, and when the romance starts (not in the first book, even) it is a very slow burn, and nothing that is explicit. There are six books out in this series, and there are two series that are not exactly spin-offs, but that happen in the same universe, and where there are mentions of characters from the Mageri series.

Seven Years - (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

The Seven series is set in the same universe as the Mageri, but it follows a large family of shifters. They do not live in the same town as the characters in Mageri, but they adhere to the same laws, and there are some mentions about places and a character or two from that series here. It can still be read on its own, as everything is well explained.
Here, the romance has a bigger role, but the way things unfold are still good for those who do not want explicit sex scenes in the stories they read.

Keystone audio cover - (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

The Crossbreed series is set in the same place as Mageri, and one of the side-characters from Mageri is one of the main characters here. Crossbreed has four books out already (and I need to actually post reviews for three of them…) with at least one other book coming out. Keystone is a sort of private detective agency in for paranormals, and they have a lot of red tape to get around in order to get guilty parties punished according to the law. The stories are both character driven and plot-driven, and I love it!

First Grave on the Right cover - (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

The Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones is awesome! Charley is a private investigator, she has some extraordinary powers. She works with her best friend, and lives across the courtyard of her father’s bar. There are demons, vampires and other kind of paranormal characters involved. And the romance is rather light, but when the chemistry starts appearing, it hits the reader full force!

 

Magic Bites cover - (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

Kate Daniels series is written by author husband and wife Ilona and Gordon Andrews. This series is so, so good! I devoured the books as fast as I could when I first found it. There is a very strong romance here, and it spans over several books. This shows how a couple can evolve over time, the trials and tribulations of daily lives as well as facing danger outside of the home. The writing is excellent, and I love how there are many characters who are important to the overall story and plot. There is magic, shifters, vampires, and very, very old characters who are capable of incredible evil…
I have started reading the other series by these authors as well, and you should also check out both Hidden Legacy and The Innkeeper Chronicles.

 

Patricia Briggs is another author who really knows how to write characters that you want to spend all your time with! In her Alpha & Omega series, there are mostly shifters, but other creatures show up as well. The overall plot goes through the series, but there are also sub-plots that are resolved in each book. The series is still on-going, and the latest book was released just last week.

She also writes the Mercy Thompson series, which is closely connected to the Alpha & Omega Series. I can’t even manage to say how much I love these two series!

So that’s it from me for today – quite a long list, right? Have you read any of these? Are there other books I should add to my list?

 

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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16 responses to “My Romance Sub-genre Recs for You – Paranormal

    • I read a lot of romance (at least for the past year or two), but I totally get people who want less of it in their reads. So while there is some romance in these series, it’s definitely not the focal point of the story, nor the overall plot.
      If you pick any of them up, I hope you’ll enjoy them 🙂

  1. I’ve read several of these as you know(Dannika Dark and others)and I have been wanting to try Karen Chance for awhile now. Thank you for all the good info!

    • Ilona Andrews are so, so good. But if you enjoyed those, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy Dannika Dark’s books, too. While very different, the feelings I get from reading her books are a bit similar to the feelings I get from Ilona Andrews stories.

  2. This has become a favorite post, wifey. I’m always eager to see what books/series you’ll recommend! I think you’ve done a smashing job this week! I’ve read at least some of each of these series except for McLeod’s! 😀 Bet you can guess those on my favorites list… 😉
    {{{BIG HUGS}}} <3 <3

    • Does this mean I need to do my best to pressure you to start McLeod’s books? Hehe
      I’m glad you’re enjoying my recommendations, and that you’ve read several of the authors I’m raving about!
      I miss you, darling! Only four months until I can hug you for real 😉

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