Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

I’ve been really hit or miss with my series choices for Urban Fantasy when I go just off of tags, reviews, and blurbs, so I figured I’d give asking for a rec a try. Also, bonus points if it’s a good audible book, bc Urban Fantasy is one of my favorite genres for house hold cleaning - no idea why, it just always works for me.

I’m wanting something along the lines of the Kate Daniel’s, Demon Days and Vampire Nights, and Guild Codex: Warped (or any of the Guild Codex series really) series, and by that I am really trying to indicate I want a good amount of snarky humor, consistent writing (which Kate Daniel’s has if you discount the first book), an ass-kicking female protagonist, and romance as a side plot rather than what the story is actually all about.

I don’t usually like vampires or the whole Angle/Demon paradigms. K. F. Breene is an exception bc her humor works so well for me that I can force myself get over it, but that almost never happens for me.

Thanks so much for any recommendations that you can think of

I really like CP Rider’s Sundance series, it’s not that well known but it’s got shifters and magic and a great female main character. It’s full of snarky humor and it isn’t heavy on the romance, which is nice. Anne Bishop’s The Others series is also good, it doesn’t really have that much humor but it has its lighthearted moments and the world and characters are really different. The world can feel kinda complex in the beginning but it draws you in the more you read. Also, Ilona Andrews is one of my favorite authors, her On the Edge book is one you might like and I love her Inkeeper series.

So I tried to respond earlier but had to get my Goodreads all set up. Shadow Beast series by Jaymin Eve is really good and has strong female characters, lots of humor, and hot shifters.

I didn’t see Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series when I compared our books. Burn for MeThat would be the perfect 100% fit for what you’re looking for. Not to mention it’s fabulous on audible.

Written in Red but it lacks the snark you’re suggesting. Don’t have it on audible to tell you if it’s any good.

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs while you say you’re not into vampires, this series has a new twist to the whole thing? Kind of a domesticated view on how to live with it and the stigma of it since it’s already known in the public. A Martha Stewart meets Snooky Stackhouse. And it’s loads of humor and snarky sarcasm. Like how her mother asks if she could just be something else as if it weren’t a condition but a fad. Don’t know about the audible version though. I encourage to take the sample pages to see if you may find it a suitable vampire UF. It maybe another exception to the rules.

I also see you have Darkfever in your list of To Read.. That one is also a good series, well up through book 5 at least. The audible is a mixed bag though. They switched narrators, then switched back and there was problems with the male narrator.

I have other suggestions but they are Paranormal Romances but their world building and stories are very rich in substances (Kresley Cole’s creation and extraordinary audibles) Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night and Poison Princess . There’s also a sci-fi one that’s very good, more fantasy sci-fi and minimal love/romance Red Rising.

For convenience the audible samples:

Burn For Me: https://www.audible.com/pd/Burn-for-M...

Darkfever: https://www.audible.com/pd/Darkfever-...

Written in Red: https://www.audible.com/pd/Written-in... The narration seems a bit stiff.

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs: https://www.audible.com/pd/Nice-Girls... Narration seems fine

Now my bias favorites all the way around

Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night: https://www.audible.com/search?keywor... Robert Petkoff is a God of narration. He is in theatre which explains how he can narrate all kinds of characters flawlessly. From man to women, to accents like southern, Scottish and eastern Europe. I’m including a better sample from the series that gives a better idea of his extraordinary talent. https://www.audible.com/pd/Dark-Desir...

Poison Princess: https://www.audible.com/pd/Poison-Pri... The first book is narrated by Emma Galvin and Kieth Nobbs. The rest of the series is only narrated by Emma Galvin and she does an outstanding job. Though not so flawlessly as Robert Pettkoff, upping the audible speed between 1.0 to 1.5 corrects this problem.

And lastly

Red Rising: https://www.audible.com/pd/Red-Rising... Also among the gifted gods of narration Tim Gerard Reynolds is also very talented

Well hope this helps. As always, check out the samples first before deciding and when it comes to audibles, I find upping the speed on them better. Seems to create a better flow between conversations.

Off topic here but I have hundreds of kindle books to add....is there an easy way? I plan on using this app a lot and contributing this new year 😘

There really isn’t an easy way, unfortunately. But for future ease, if you use audiobooks, if you want the “pages” to count in your yearly count, choose a different edition like kindle, paperback, etc. Then I’d you want to keep track of audios, create a shelf for audiobooks. Additionally if you do a re-read of a book, choose a different edition so the pages/book will “count” for your totals (if you care about that!)

Raquel wrote: "Off topic here but I have hundreds of kindle books to add....is there an easy way? I plan on using this app a lot and contributing this new year 😘"

Two things:

If it’s a physical book, the Goodread app has a Scan function in it and all you need to do is scan the book’s barcode with your camera on the iphone/ipad etc.

There is a Sync option in the Kindle App under the bottom right hand side’s MORE option. There’s the SETTINGS option. From there, a little ways down, is where you find LINK. From there you can link it to Goodreads.

Hope you enjoy some new reads.😃
Nightwalker
This Side of the Grave
Angels' Blood
Also have some MM suggestions. Or MFM.
Happy New Year!!!

Oh wow. Thanks for all the suggestions, y’all! I got a bit distracted binge listening to Hidden Legacy based on Cozen’s suggestion and was just finally circling back around to see if I got any other hits.

❧⍭ L̴E̴X̴I̴E̴ ⍭☙ wrote: "I really like CP Rider’s Sundance series, it’s not that well known but it’s got shifters and magic and a great female main character.

I was actually looking at this one right before I made the post. My only pause was one reviewer made the TSTL comment about the h and alpha-hole comment for the H. How accurate do you think that description is? And if it’s accurate, is it entertaining enough to shrug off those moments? Bc other reviews were great, but I also know some women really dig that alpha-hole thing… I’m not too into it, but if there’s enough humor or other good characteristics to the story or characters then I can get over it. Also sometimes people say a female lead is “too stupid” if she makes a perfectly logical choice based on the information she has as a character, rather than the information we have a readers so…. what are ya gonna do?!


Cozen wrote: "I also see you have Darkfever (Fever, #1) by Karen Marie Moning Darkfever in your list of To Read…"

That one has been on my To Read list for forever! I’ve just never been able to get a decent indication of how heavy of a book it is… for some reason the synopsis always seems kinda intense with no comedic relief - and I’m not saying huge, belly-laughing, hilarity is necessary, but I am usually wanting some snarky-sarcastic humor when I’m in the mood for this kinda book. Or at least I am at the moment…

Also, have you read the Andrew’s The Edge books? If so do you think they might be a good option? I’m a little hesitant bc it looks far more romance-y, but I’ve now really like both Kate Daniel’s and Hidden Legacy so I’ve liked at least 2 out of 3 of the series I’ve tried from them…

Anita wrote: ""

Ok so… The synopsis for “To Woo a Warrior” kinda reminds me of the Shelly Laurensten books. Do they end up with a kinda similar vibe? Also are each of the books true one offs? Or are they more like the Pride series where by book 4 you have little 2 to 3 book arcs?

Thanks for any response! I’m still looking through these recs, but these were just a few questions that popped up when I did my first cursory look

The Edge books by Ilona Andrews are pretty much a Meh for me personally. Too much insta-love for my liking.

I do want to conquer the recommendation for Southern Sanctuary series, To Woo a Warrior. That would be a good funny series (gets funnier with each book) to read. There are a couple book that really miss the mark (but only a couple). And it is self published in which an editor would have been helpful in saying, “No, no,no. Stop doing that.”

But overall, the world building is fascinating. The characters are interesting. And the storyline is compelling. Oh and it’s funnier the further you read into it.

The downside, for as many books that are in this series, why there is no audible version of it is a mystery. And it is about pairing love interests up in each book so that might be what you’re not looking for. Too much PR and less UF. Read the samples before deciding if you’re willing to try it.

As for Darkfever. You are correct. While there are some light humor in it, it’s more towards the absurdity of a young 20 something trying to hold on to some kind of normalcy while the world is literally following down around her. So, not a lot of snarky humor but really some great lines:

"Every time I think I'm getting smarter I realize that I've just done something stupid. Dad says there are three kinds of people in the world: those who don't know, and don't know they don't know; those who don't know and do know they don't know; and those who know and know how much they still don't know.

Heavy stuff, I know. I think I've finally graduated from the don't-knows that don't know to the don't-knows that do." - Karen Marie Moning, Bloodfever

I noticed that a lot of self-published books either tend to take awhile to make it to audible, or never quite make it there. I would assume it’s about money and that does make sense, which is a shame bc I’m guessing that a lot of these books would do really well with that niche. Also, I’ve noticed that choosing a really good narrator really smooths out some of the issues that come from self-published books. For instance, I’ve enjoyed some Jaymin Eve books when she’s chosen a good narrator who can actually land her jokes well even though her writing is rough and she has these awkward moments where she tries real hard to be deep in these very fluffy novels which make’s these unintentionally funny moments. But when she chooses a bad narrator it’s a freaking painful experience, even though overall her stories are fun. It just highlights all the bad and trite. So too bad that these aren’t on audible but I think I will put them on my to-read list anyways.

I did like the Pride series, although the first 3 of those books were a little too romance heavy without enough action and outside plot for me. But I did still enjoy them. And they are actually one of my regular reread series bc they are just so damn funny and entertaining. I will say that I tried the Thea Harrison ‘Dragon Bound’ series and the one just didn’t work for me at all. I think I made it through 3 or 4 books bc it was on the Audible Escape package and I was really hoping it would work since so many people who liked the Pride series liked that one, but it was just way too much romance for me with not enough action, humor, or plot.

I really enjoy how Laurenston/Aiken tends to tell larger stories in her books, which is also why the Pride books get so much better for me at book 4. By then she starts creating this larger arching issue that the characters essentially have to battle. So you get a wrap-up with each book on the love story, but you can also see something deeper and more planned out occurring within the over-all series. I haven’t found another author that does these kinda of series quite like she does. Humor wise, I found R.J. Blain the closest, but she also makes true one offs rather than over arching storylines and that just gets a little dull for me after a couple books. Also she mysteriously disappeared from the audible catalog and I have on idea why….

And ok, that is a pretty great line. So it sounds like it’s actually well written? Bc I’m much more inclined to deal with darker if it’s well written. I just can’t take both sub-par writing and dark. It needs to be one of the other and with this genre, I don’t feel like you get both super often

Carter wrote: "And ok, that is a pretty great line. So it sounds like it’s actually well written? Bc I’m much more inclined to deal with darker if it’s well written. I just can’t take both sub-par writing and dar..."

Darkfever is well written and has great world building… as it’s literally being destroyed. Darkfever is one of the few series that starts normal and than literally goes into the destruction/the vail coming down until you are in a dystopian world full of paranormal beings. Kresley Cole’s Arcana series is another one of those stories.

Just a bit of info, authors have no real say in who narrates their books. Which makes sense because Robert Petkoff is soooo good that if a lot of writers asked for him there would be a long line for him to do that and very few books narrated out there. But they might be able to put a request for someone. The whole audible process would be an insightful tool if they ever did a video on how they make them.

Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series sounds a lot like your Laurenston/Aiken books. Sure each book is based up on hooking up a couple but Cole doesn’t throw you into a book, she takes you on a journey. Each book can be a stand a lone but there’s an over arching plot throughout the series. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night I’d start on this one. Nothing says I love you than entombing your future love interest and six other powerful immortals far underground with a pod of ravenous cursed incubi, all to win a game of immortal treasure hunt. Great world building and very interesting characters.

Great thing about audible, is that if you don’t like a book, you can return it back. I had several over the years that I’ve returned because either the story was bad or the narration was like nails on a blackboard. So if you decide to give it a chance and don’t like it, you can get your money/credit back.

Personally, I’d choose Immortals After Dark over Darkfever because IAD is 17 books of great stories where as I stopped with the Darkfever after book 6, seemed like a perfect place to stop. The series lost about half of it’s fan on book 6 and never really recovered from it.

Well Immortals After Dark is officially now in my cue! And I kinda figured authors only had so much say in who narrate their books, but I had no idea that they had that little influence over it. That sorta sucks since the narrator really can make or break an audio book. I would love to watch a video on the whole audio/audible process! Dare to dream that something like that ever actually does get made

Immortals After Dark is a strong favorite for me - and after many years of no new books, she's about to release a new one on the 25th!

If you like Ilona Andrews, I'd give Hailey Edwards a try - her Foundling series has more of that overarching plot you mentioned. I was satisfied by each book, but there was so much more to find out.

If it's snark you're looking for Suzanne Wright is an absolute champ - but they don't have that overarching plot. These are more like the Kresley Cole books

If you're willing to go out on a limb, you could try my Dark World series. From Victory and Glory has overarching plot and snark - but no audio edition (it is a cost issue in this instance).

Any books by Kresley Cole!

I believe there is an audible as well

Broken Demon: After the Breaking, Book 1

Is Laurel K. Hamilton still popular? lol