What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I'm looking for a specific subset of urban fantasy, crossover fantasy.

I want books/series where the hero/heroine from our modern world gets transported to fantasyland.

I'm looking for a romantic book where where the modern girl falls into another world (but not a historical Earth, no Outlander, please). And while I adore Pamela Dean's Secret Country trilogy, I'm not looking for YA.

Karen Marie Moning's Fever series is on my TBR pile, so I've got that recommendation. I'm also looking for more obscure titles, lesser known authors, self-published books that fall into this category.

Some examples of what I'm looking for are Kristen Ashley's Fantasyland series:


And Cassandra Gannon's elemental series:
Cassandra Gannon

Help would be so very appreciated!

something like Daughter of Smoke & Bone - most of it is set in Prague, but there is lots of fantasy to it

I'll check it out. Thanks! And I'll take any more anyone has!

You should try My Fair Godmother, a teenage girl who goes to Middle Age. There is also a 2nd book, which I am reading now, My Unfair Godmother. Fantasy, young adult, it is funny, great characters, romantic...

Stephen R. Donaldson's Mordant's Need series (The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through)

The Merchant Princes series by Charles Stross (not too much romance here)

The Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly

Possibly Juliet - she's not so much transported, but fairly similar - there are a lot of flashbacks to the Romeo/Juliet time and a lot of it is sort of replayed again in modern times with the main character. It's also fantastic, so I'll always recommend it.

Same goes for
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.

And again for The Winter Sea ... I didn't realize I was such a sucker for the flashbacks-mirroring-modern-happenings storyline, lol.

Gateway is probably considered YA but it's Sharon Shinn and I can never walk away from anything she writes. This is a story of a young girl accidentally wandering through a portal and winding up in an alternate universe. I loved it.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll check them out.

I'm really not looking for Young Adult at all, and I don't want books where the hero/heroine are shifted back in history, a la Diana Gabaldon's Outlander.

I have read the Charles Stross Merchant Princes books, and they are amazing. The depth of the writing is wonderful; it has such a rich complexity.

Thank you all for your recommendations! More would be appreciated!

Knight of a Trillion Stars This one can get a bit cheesy but its entertaining if you dont expect nobel prize literature.

The Mirror of Her Dreams has this plotline. There is some romance,not my favorite but fit your request.

Wicked as They ComeThis was a fun read with plenty of romance :)

Abarat This is YA and there is no romance but its a very good book.

Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold There is some slight romance,just an ok read for me.

Adrienne Just because this fit your request. Not a very good book...too much erotica for me.

A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park is a terrific novel, although not much romance. An outstanding villain, though.

Moonwise by Greer Gilman. Light on the romance, heavy on the imagery/poetry.

Dragonsword by Gael Baudino. Militant feminist IIRC, I can't remember how much romance there was.

Tinker by Wen Spencer kind of fits this trope, except all of Pittsburgh falls into fairyland. More romance than the others though.

These are great suggestions! And Tinker is one of my all time favorites!

It's been a while, so I can't remember if there's romance in these.
Spellsinger
Castle Perilous
Lord Foul's Bane
Black: The Birth of Evil
Windmaster's Bane
The Infinity Concerto


City of Golden Shadow
This one isn't exactly what you asked for, but it's kind of like it. The people are in a giant virtual reality world with different fantasy worlds. It's very well done.

There's the Spellsong cycle by L.E.Modesitt jr. A woman is transported to a world where spells are sung, and finds she is a powerful sorceress.
Spellsong Cycle
1. The Soprano Sorceress (1997)
2. The Spellsong War (1997)
3. Darksong Rising (1999)
4. The Shadow Sorceress (2001)
5. Shadowsinger (2002)

My to-be-read shelf is getting quite full. Thank you!

I really enjoyed the Sasharia en garde! duology by Sherwood Smith, Once a Princessand Twice a Prince.

In the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, consisting of The summer tree , The wandering fire , and The darkest road by Guy Gavriel Kay, five people from our world get transported to Fionavar, the first world.
These books are my favourite fantasy books. Fionavar is a wonderful world with wonderful characters and I liked how all the pieces fit together.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I really appreciate you all taking the time to make these recommendations.

I really enjoyed Arena by Karen Handcock. College girl enters a psychological experiment, but it turns out these are aliens that put her in an Arena to fight for her life. Scary at times, but full of action, adventure, romance, and a little humor. I don't normally read anything with aliens, but this was good.

She's still working on

Also a little off from what you described you were looking for but you may enjoy:

Those all sound awesome, and are going on my TBR. Thank you!

If you want to read then all, she offers the first three books in the Kingdom Series together "Kingdom Series Collection: Books 1-3", it's a bit cheaper that way ;)

Amy wrote: "If you want to read then all, she offers the first three books in the Kingdom Series together "Kingdom Series Collection: Books 1-3", it's a bit cheaper that way ;)"

Several of her books have also been Kindle deal of the day books, and available for 99 cents. Awesome! I had scooped two of them up and hadn't even realized what I had.

Man, my TBR is a MESS.

They are fantasy and one of my favorites.

You could also try His Dark Materials

It starts in a parallel universe in the first book, crosses over to our world in the second, and jumps back and forth in the third. Excellent trilogy!

A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court (There is a second book, so you'd have 2 to read.) Sorry, I know you said "no historical", but hey, she goes to Camelot. . .

And I notice that no one has mentioned The Bloodhound Files series. Dying Bites No romance, but it has an FBI agent pulled into an alternate world where were-wolves and vampires are real, and humans are almost extinct. And yes, there WAS a WWII--but Hitler was a vamp and he killed the humans as a sacrifice to give vamps the ability to give birth to children. A good series.

Not quite what you are asking for but I highly recommend the Wondrous Strange series by Lesley Livingston. They primarily take place in New York but there's a lot of crossing back & forth to the Otherworld (faerie realms), especially in the second book.

I also recommend her spin-off series, Starling. First book takes place in New York, too, but the 2nd book is going to be a lot of Asgard.

All I have is kids books to suggest! But they're old favourites.

Okay, so I suppose you don't want quite this young but if you want a super fast and sweet read Into the Land of the Unicorns (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11... Bruce Coville might make you feel like a child again. It's lovely and a childhood favourite of mine. It only recently was continued in a sequel, like 12 years after the original was out.

Also the Hidden World (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...) by Alison Baird is very similar, probably pretty young as well, I was 12. And it's celtic. It's a fairly unknown book from Canada (I think Newfoundland) so it almost fits your "self published" request.

Oh, also there is a 12 book series called Everworld by K.A. Applegate (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27... it's probably like an early teens reading level. It's pretty different, the writing is servicable and literally every single mythos comes into play. Definitely a fun read for what you've requested.

Strike-outs because I just read where you said "no YA"

I would suggest The Enchantment Emporium. It's a little different than your description, but it was a hilarious read, since the emporium is rather like a world unto its own.

I know you said you don't want YA but this is one of my favorite books so i had to recommend it, haha. Inkheart

zjakkelien wrote: "In the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, consisting of
The summer tree
,
The wandering fire
, and
The darkest road
by Guy Gavriel Kay, five people from our world get transported to Fionavar, the..."

Outstanding books. These are on my top ten list and Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my all time favorite authors. Also loved Tiagana and Lions of Al Rassan.

Shelly Thacker, Forever His (part of a series, but I've only read this one and His Captive Bride

Amy Patrick, Hidden Deep

Are you def looking for time travel like Forever His, or is it enough that the mc gets dragged into a world they didn't know was right alongside theirs? Like Hidden Deep?

Oh... haven't read them in ages, but used to be my fav... Traci Harding, Dark Age, The series.

Chick lit - It's somewhat fantastical, though King Arthur/Robin Hood, so perhaps it's more of historical travel? A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court and A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest.

And if you don't mind erotica, I think I remember reading a whole series by Jaid Black - basically warlords from alternate universes kidnap brides from earth... I think the first two, in order, are The Empress' New Clothes, Seized and No Mercy :)

You might like P.C. Cast's Goddess Summoning series, if you don't mind erotica. In this fantasy romance series, Goddesses and women swap places and worlds. The first book is Goddess of the Sea.

A Different Kingdom

I read this one about 20 years or so ago. You might enjoy it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

The night circus perhaps? She doesn't so much get transported to another world, but I think everyone whom has ever read it can attest that The Night Circus is a world unto itself. And the romance in it is quite brilliantly done.

Doon Trilogy series (It is YA)
by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And this one is an alternate earth kind of deal. There are two books to the series (I hope she makes it a trilogy). 1st book: Tandem and 2nd book: Tether by Anna Jarzab- this author is my favorite for YA fiction yet by far.

Still looking? I just finished The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic. It's a long read (over 500 pages) and really develops the fantasy world. The romance is a bit lacking, though, it's a lot of subtext and subtlety.