My first real love in the land of books is and will always be Fantasy & PNR with or without romance, but most likely with romance. It’s the genre that I fell in love with, the genre that is my go-to, and the genre that holds some of my most beloved favorites. xo
Complete Series | 10 Books + a standalone, plus Novellas + a Spin-off Series
In 2008 I discovered Magic Bites and I haven’t looked back since. There is something about the Kate Daniels series that sucks me in and refuses to spit me out. I love the duo that is Ilona Andrews, the way they tell stories and the worlds in which they choose to tell those stories.
“Why a raven?”
― Ilona Andrews, Magic Bites
“To honor my father.”
“The writing under it, is that Cyrillic?”
“Yes.”
“What does it say?”
“Dar Vorona. Gift of the Raven. I am my father’s gift.”
“The raven is holding a bloody sword.”
“I never said it was a nice gift.”
Complete Series | Nine Books + a spin-off series, plus novellas
This is deeply dark and the magic system is unlike anything I’ve read before. Imagine a world in which you can do magical things but it’ll strip your memories when you do it. Add in a romantic relationship that I adored, and these books will forever be some that I continually reccomend.
“…Magic is a heartless bitch, and she’s had me by the throat for years.”
― Devon Monk, Magic to the Bone
Complete Series | Eleven Books
Jericho + Mac are everything.
This series wrecked me, I began right around the release of book two and went through the torturous wait for each subsequent release. KMM’s other series have light ties with the Fever series and it is decadent and sublime.
Love KMM, all her words, any of her words.
“There are really only two positions one can take toward anything in life: hope or fear. Hope strengthens, fear kills.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Darkfever
Mercy Thompson Series: Ongoing | Nineteen Published with Novellas + Short Stories and the Alpha & Omega series as a spin-off
Alpha & Omega Series: Ongoing | Six Books Published
So, hear me out, the cover of Moon Called and most of the subsequent books in the Mercy Thompson series are incredibly artistic – I love the artist, Dan Dos Santos, and while I love the covers, they also are a bit misleading in my opinion, they make it seem like these books are going to be on the spicy side because, you know, look at them. Mercy is looking fierce and sexy, and in the books, she’s amazing but I don’t recall her ever dressing quite like the covers portray her or being on the sexually sexy side of life.
Every time anyone sees these on my shelves, I get a look, which I don’t care, I read those smutty, spicy books too. But yeah, these are clean book babies. So whether you love the covers or don’t, I actually do, but don’t let the covers mislead you or stop you from reading these gems. These series, and actually everything I’ve read by Patricia Briggs is closed door romance. There is no smut going on here. They are romantic, yes, so beautifully wrought and perfect. The fantasy is top notch. The writing – incredible. These two series are classic must-reads at this point because they are sooooo good. Highly recommend. Just don’t expect smutty goodness in these beauties.
Mercy Thompson: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
Alpha & Omega: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
Ongoing Series | Seventeen Published + Novellas
Rachel Morgan is one of my absolute favorite FMC’s and Kim Harrison is cemented as one of my favorite authors. This series has been one of my go-to’s since they started coming out, yes, I’ve been reading them that long. Every year is a good year when I get to go back to the Holows with Rachel and crew.
Witches, Demons, Magic, Incredible world-building, and a story arc that’ll entice and take you through the wringer. I hope KH keeps writing this series.
Ongoing Series | Nineteen Books + additional Novellas
Holy, wow. This is the gritty, intriguing, captivating, addicting series of my Urban Fantasy dreams. Back in the day when these books were releasing – I was obsessed. I love Gin Blanco, the assassin with a darkly tragic past and the many additional characters that make up her merry crew. Soooo soooo good.
Complete Series | Five Books + Novellas
I’ll be honest, I never finished reading this series, but I absolutely loved Omens, I sort of treat it as a standalone-esque novel.
Olivia finds out that she is adopted, her bio parents – serial killers. When her life implodes she finds herself hiding out in a mysterious town full of secrets.
The light romance subplot got me right in the feels. Super good novel.
“First you buy me a mocha. Then you let me help you hide a body. Now you take me to a biker clubhouse. Best. Day. Ever.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Omens
Complete Series + a Complete Spinoff Series | 13 Books
Chicagoland Vampires is snarky, fun, awesomely written, and at its heart – has amazing characters. I have been wrapped up in all things Chicagoland for as long as Chloe Neill has been writing these books and I regret nothing.
“We’ll see if she can rise to the occasion, do what needs to be done.”
― Chloe Neill, Some Girls Bite
“We’ll see if she can manage not to kill her Liege and Master, especially if he continues talking about her like she’s not in the room.”
Complete Series | 9 Books
Absolutely, positively, smutty, hilarious, fluffy fantasy. There is no one else like G.A. Aiken, the way she writes sucks you in and will make you legit laugh out loud. Who knew that dragons could be so delightfully hilarious? Apparently Aiken knew.
Highly recommend if you are looking for humor with your smut and yes, these are smutty.
“His affection for the human grew steadily by the day. Sometimes by the minute. And it wasn’t simply her beauty, but her utter lack of fear of everything and anything except her brother. She didn’t fear dying. She didn’t fear battle. And, most importantly, she didn’t fear Fearghus. She touched him. Ran her hands across his scales and through his mane.
But it was when he covered her up with the fur and she sighed his name in her sleep, that he lost his heart.”
― G.A. Aiken, Dragon Actually
Incomplete Series | 3 Books
This is a fun series while also not shying away from harder topics. I picked it up for the cover, and I stayed because of the story.
Keera is a spy and an assassin for the King, she’s also a halfling and super set apart from the populace, which happens when you murder people for a living. What happens when she is sent out to hunt down an enemy to the crown will end up changing everything she thought she knew about herself and the world around her.
Complete Series | 3 Books
Magical. Beautiful. Irresistible.
Katherine Arden brought to life the most wonderfully imagined trilogy. Layer upon layer of mystical folklore with characters richly imagined.
“I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow in the forest than live a hundred years of the life appointed me.”
― Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale
I loved this book so completely, it became a facet of my personality.
Uprooted reads like a classic folk tale with dollops of familiar roots while being wholly unique.
When the wizard known simply as the Dragon comes to town he selects a new young woman to be indentured to him for ten years. This time he’s about to pick a girl that’s going to upend and change absolutely everything.
“You intolerable lunatic,” he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me.”
― Naomi Novik, Uprooted
Born of Night is the first in The League series, I’ll be honest, I don’t think I ever read the follow ups, or if I did, I don’t remember them. There was alwasy something about this one though that just altered my brain chemistry.
Sci-fi fantasy by the absolute queen Sherrilyn Kenyon.
In the Ichidian Universe, The League and their ruthless assassins rule all. Expertly trained and highly valued, the League Assassins are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption . . .
Command Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades once turned his back on the League—and has been hunted by them ever since. Though many have tried, none can kill him or stop him from completing his current mission: to protect Kiara Zamir, a woman whose father’s political alliance has made her a target.
As her world becomes even deadlier, Kiara must entrust her life to the same kind of beast who once killed her mother and left her for dead. Old enemies and new threaten them both and the only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.
Chronic Ever After 