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Those wonderful paranormals

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Much has been written lately about paranormals, but today I want to pay homage to those paranormal books and heroes that I really admire and enjoy and I hope that you will add your books to the list. There are many stories in this genre that I either haven’t read (so many books, so little time) or have missed in this post, which is OK because if I mentioned all the books, what would you write about in your comments? 🙂 In addition, there’s only so much I can say without boring the crap out of you.

Why is it that so many of us are such huge fans of paranormal books and characters? Usually the protagonists in these books are either werewolf, vampire,  dragon, angel, demon, incubus, elf, or half were/half vampire. These beings are only limited by the authors’ imaginations and we’re hardly likely to meet them on the street, which is probably a good thing and a major part of the attraction.

One of the most controversial series, which has a huge fan base, may be Soul Mates by Jourdan Lane. So far there are four books with vamps, weres, demons, incubi, and half breeds and the author is probably not going to stop there in terms of different beings. 🙂  The latest book, Soul Mates: Secrets, was written in October 2008 and so far there’s no release date for book 5, Soul Mates: Ascension. When Peter, a human, met Lucien, a vampire, in a bar in Soul Mates: Bound by Blood  (which in my opinion is still the best book in this series) his life changed drastically and I haven’t decided whether this change is for the better or worse. I have linked two of the reviews in case you’re interested in reading them – reviews on the other books are also on the site. This series smashed every concept I had about paranormals.  Here’s part of what I said in my review of BBB:

Do I say that this book destroyed all my preconceived notions about vampires and other paranormals?
That the author approached this book on a scale I have not experienced before?
That the story is like a wrecking crew that never lets up?
I was totally blown away as the author gives it to the reader with both barrels right between the eyes.

If I were to rate the paranormal series that I love the most I would be hard pressed to do so because PsyCop, The Draegan Lords, Channeling Morpheus/Sweet Oblivion (the last two, technically speaking, are the same series), and Soul Mates, are all on my keeper list as are many others.

J.L. Langley’s With and Without series, With Caution and Without Reservations are also huge favourites of mine. The upcoming book, With Abandon, is tentatively scheduled for release late in 2010. Who can forget Chay and Keaton in Without Reservations reviewed here where J.L. does a switcheroo with the characters and sweet, small, blond, effeminate Keaton becomes the alpha in the relationship in wolf form? Remi and bad boy Jake in With Caution reviewed here try to protect Remi’s brother Sterling from their brutal and abusive father but the first thing that Jake had to do was turn Remi into a werewolf to save his life. Not a good way to start a romantic relationship! I think I liked WC more because the story was much more complex and the characters are richer. Adding in a murder investigation and parental abuse made this a very intense story. With Love, the first book in this series, was part of an anthology Hearts from the Ashes that contains stories by Ally Blue and Willa Okati and it’s about two werewolves, Devlin and Laine. After rescuing Laine and falling in love with him Dev had to fight the pack Alpha who was determined to do anything to take Laine away, including kidnapping and possibly murder. Very exciting!


 
Like many of you, the books that made me a big fan of this genre were Jordan Castillo Price’s PsyCop series. Jordan is the queen of the paranormal and she doesn’t  have to depend on vampires, weres or otherworldly beings to make things interesting. The protagonists are human but one of them, Victor Bayne, has a small quirk (you might call it an advantage in his job) – he is a medium and he sees and talks to dead people who appear at will and are sometimes helpful in solving homicide cases, for a price. Victor and his  partner, hot Detective Jacob Marks, are sex on a stick who scratch their itch for each other everywhere they can, and it doesn’t have to be on a bed. In their first encounter they hook up in a bathroom in the middle of a retirement party. One of my favourite scenes is in PsyCop: Body and Soul where Jacob and Victor are having mind blowing sex in the hallway of Vic’s apartment just after a session with a ghost, and Jacob suggests a menage with Crash, his ex. If you haven’t met Crash you should read Striking Sparks where he’s laid out in all his glory. His apartment is the stuff of nightmares!

Jordan is working on  book 6 in the PsyCop series but so far there is no release date. I can’t wait for Vic’s and Jacob’s latest adventure into the supernatural.

Jordan’s Wild Bill in Channeling Morpheus and Sweet Oblivion is a vampire to die for. I love, love, love Wild Bill and this is one character that I want to read more stories about even though he already has two series. 

M.L. Rhodes’ Draegan Lords is supposed to end with Circle of Ariend but I’m not so sure. This is another series that is hard to put down because the world building is awesome, the characters are incredibly complex and alien, and I was hooked from  the first book True of Heart. When Gaige Rizik, captain of the Sorcerer’s High Guard in Velensperia meets Keiran Hareldson, leader of a race of half humans, half dragons called draegans, instead of spying on the draegans as he was supposed to do he falls in love with Keiran and defects. The characters are brutally tortured and kidnapped over the course of the series as they try to save the draegan race. Who knows what other adventures await them? Their creator is currently writing the newest adventures in this wonderful series where the best part is the love between Keiran and Gaige, which somehow manages to survive all of the terrible trials that they have to endure before they get their HEA.

Other paranormal books that are in my ‘keeper’ file include Fire Season by Lex Valentine reviewed here with two memorable dragon shifters – black dragon Holden Antaeus and green dragon Garret Renquist. Not only are they the hottest dragons around, but Holden is straight and Garret is bi, and to Holden’s consternation they are destined to be mates. I don’t know how many times I have re-read this book. Dragon fire is something to be experienced and when they spread those huge wings they’re awesome creatures.

T.A. Chase’s dragon series is another fan favourite starting with Here Be Dragons starring Kael Hammerson and his boss Hugh Price who fight for their love, their lives and that of all mankind when dragons return to earth and wreak havoc, and the destruction of everything we know seems imminent. Dreaming of Dragons tells the love story of George St. Albans and Mordred a beautiful elf who had lived together for hundreds of years in the Realm of Dreams before the barrier between Earth and the rest of the world was compromised. The goddess Gaia tries to screw things up for our lovers while they were in the middle of trying to save earth from the dragons. The latest book in the series Fighting Dragons  is a love story between two humans rather than a battle with the dragons, but it’s just as well written as the others. I can’t wait to see whose story T.A. will write next. I’ve linked the review for Fighting Dragons and hope to review the other books in the series soon.

Many of you love A.M. Riley’s vampires and my first experience with her writing was What to Buy for the Vamp who has Everything which was a different kind of vampire story. How can the reader take a vamp seriously who uses condoms because he wants to be safe, even if he’s dead? It’s not as if he’ll die if he catches something. 🙂 Then there is Immortality is the Suck when Adam became one of the undead and has a different relationship with Peter, his sometimes f**kbuddy, than when he was alive. The latest is No Rest for the Wicked which is just as incredible as the other books in the series and I can’t wait to see Peter and Adam in a new adventure.

Back when I was still reading het, I read a series called Dragon Riders and I thought the first book Bonded Hearts was  wonderfully imaginative. It’s the story of a female dragon who lives with her male rider to whom she is bonded for life. Then a time traveller from another world, Earth, shows up and throws everything into chaos because he’s from the future and it turns out that he’s bonded to the pair. I loved the concept, the world building and the characters and if you’re interested in stories about dragon shifters I’ve linked the review here. This book is M/M/F and I can’t believe that I’m actually recommending a menage with a female, but the fact that she’s a dragon made a difference in this one instance. 🙂

There are many great paranormal books that I’ve missed. What are your favourite paranormal books and which creatures do you love best? I think mine are dragons because they are huge and powerful  and dragon sex is totally awesome – WOW! 🙂

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88 comments

  • Well, (since I do like angels and Jen did the Wings review) I do like Kiernan Kelly’s angels/demons a lot. In general I love Kiernan’s stuff (hell, I even got Chris to read a zombie story that she loved thanks to Kiernan) but her angels were some of my first experience with that creature.

    You’ve covered most of them. Hmmm. How about the were-ferret/were-prairie dog book I just read. LOL Not great literature but a different twist on the usual wolves and big cats. 🙂

    In the vein of were-ferrets, I do enjoy when other creatures show up than the usual alpha types. Jade Buchanan did a very funny couple of Thanksgiving shorts (I still get the giggles over the second one) at Fiction with Friction with a turkey shifter. She also has horse shifters in Horsfall and I’ve enjoyed the Del Fantasma stories which have house cats, unicorns, mallard ducks and a few other less usual creatures. (Not all are m/m you have to search through for those.)

    KZ Snow’s Looking For Some Touch and the two sequels have demons, trolls, magicians, hybrids and a very sexy vamp. Oh and of course the Hell Cop boys. Swoon. So those are some of my faves.

  • Tam
    I don’t know about were/ferrets, were/prairie dogs, were/turkeys, were/housecats/trolls etc. as romantic leads in an M/M book. I would get the giggles. Imagine eating that turkey for Thanksgiving and hearing a voice saying “hey, I’m a person not a real turkey, you stupid fool”. 🙂

    I remember reviewing Dancing on the Head of a Pin by Kiernan Kelly which had an angel and a demon as the protagonists and I loved this book. She does have a way with paranormals. Thanks also for reminding me about K.Z’s Looking For Some Touch which I reviewed. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we forget?

    I haven’t read any of the Del Fantasma stories for the same reason you like them – house cats??? Now I’ll have to check out the stories with unicorns. 🙂

    • Jet Mykles does the unicorn one, so you know it will be good.

      They are more on the humerous side with the shifter duck. I thought it was hilarious. The housecats too were cute. They aren’t serious paranormals but it’s nice to see a change from oh so serious and manly wolves and cats. A little humour to lighten the load works sometimes.

      • Shit, did you say a shifter duck? What the hell have you been reading? Girl you need a serious brain meld. 🙂

        I will try the unicorn one but only if it’s M/M – no more girl cooties for me. 🙂

        • Pure m/m and I have unicorn hair envy. The unicorn one was more serious and some have some serious undertones, but writing about a shifter cat (in human form) who forgets he’s got company and is about to lick his privates and gets caught is funny.

          It was funny, honest to god, I loved that mallard.

          What I meant out the Del Fantasma books is there must be 20 of them or so (well, lots), some are m/m, some are m/f amd some are m/m/m and variations of m’s and f’s. So you just have to read the blurbs for each book to find out which are which. Some m/m authors people will recognize but others are less evident. Some cute stories in there surrounding the Del Fantasma bar and vamp bartender Cody, along with his “special” cocktails he serves to his clients. (includes recipes)

          • Tam, I just stumbled upon this Del Fantasma story with the Mallard shifter a few days ago. The idea alone is hilarious. 🙂
            I read the excerpt and it peaked my interest although I had one huge problem with it: the word “diminutive”. Maybe I’m just a victim of my false understanding of the english language because it doesn’t make me think of “small” but very VERY small. That always throws me out of a story and makes me think of dwarfs or nasty things involving darfs.

            I can see why a Mallard would be rather small in human form but still…
            You think I should take the plunge with this story? 😉

          • Definitely Lilli. Yeah, I suppose it depends on your thinking because I just think small and fine boned, not midget.

            There is a lot of humour in it, I quite enjoyed it. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously but I found watching human Keith deal with twinkies Bailey (cat) and Drake (duck) was very amusing. Hope you enjoy it.

          • Tam

            >>writing about a shifter cat (in human form) who forgets he’s got company and is about to lick his privates and gets caught is funny.

            It was funny, honest to god, I loved that mallard<< I didn't see this comment and I'll definitely check out both this one and the unicorn story. Could you, for those readers who haven't read these stories, list the names of the M/M books you really like so that our credit cards can get a workout? 🙂 Thanks, I'll owe you one (although considering all of those great recs I sent you way maybe I don't owe you). 🙂

  • Oh I love Jordan’s PsyCop books.

    Thanks for mentioning my Dragon books, Wave. I think there’ll be two more in the series..when I can get to them. Seamus and Maksur need their stories told…lol

    I totally agree about J.L.’s books…and I’m eagerly awaiting With Abandon.

    I haven’t read any of the other books you mentioned, but I do know that I’ll be checking them out.

    Okay…speaking of weird shifters, I wrote a short story in a shifter anthology for Aspen Mountain. The main shifter in my story was a snow leopard, but I had a lot of other unusual shifters. Emily Veinglory’s contribution had a guy who could shift into like a hundred rats (instead of just one big one…lol) and Fiona Glass’s shifter was a were-pigeon. I liked both their stories. Sometimes, I think it’s interesting to try different types of shifters, just to see what would work and what doesn’t. Also, depending on the author, even the most unusual/weird shifter you could think of would work. 🙂

    • When you feel like trying something a bit out of the norm TA I made this picture for something then scrapped the idea, but think how handy that talent would be at concerts and I’m sure some other situations. Have you ever SEEN a giraffe’s tongue? Looooong. 😉 Feel free to take the idea and run with it.

    • Hi T.A.
      Thanks for dropping by and you KNOW how much I love your dragons. 🙂 I’m looking for Seamus’s and Maksur’s stories (Maksur is such a cockwhore) 🙂

      The PsyCop guys – smoking hot – what more can I say. Also Wild Bill is one of my favourite vamps.

      J.L’s guys are seriously hot and I can’t get enough of them. With Abandon can’t come soon enough for me – that’s Matt’s story – but I also want her to finish Sterling’s and Rhy’s story (Without Fear).

      I could do a snow leopard shifter but a fricking shifter pigeon may not be exactly what I look for in a hot smoking hunk and forget the rats, that’s just ridiculous. 🙂

      You should probably start with Fire Season if you’re looking for a standalone – that book is on fire (no pun intended). The family are funeral directors. 🙂 Also The Draegan Lords series by M.L. is to die for … I could go on but check out the reviews before you head to the store. Happy reading.

  • I’m partial to vampires. After all, I do live in a country which, according to the most accepted theory, gave the word vampire to the world. XD Jourdan Lane & A.M. Riley write great vampires, but let’s not forget Z.A. Maxfield’s Notturno – Donte is one badass vampire. And that’s always the best – no sparkling vampires for me, thank you very much. I also like vampires with a twist, like in Castillo’s Hemovore. It takes really talented author to make a new spin to a motif so used (and abused).

    Beside vampires… I’m not really much into other creatures of the night. I will more likely enjoy a classic ghost story than whatever shifter story people come up with. Because, really… Some of the species are just plain ridiculous. PsyCop is the law. Victor is just adorable. No one says ‘I’m screwed’ like he does. *laughs* Although, Tam mentioned Hell Cops which are just… oh, yeah. Other winners: Rowan McBride’s Paul’s Dream, Ginn Hale’s Wicked Gentlemen, Kirby Crow’s Angels of the Deep… That’s all I can remember right now.

    • LadyM

      I do love a vampire – the undead really get my blood boiling especially if the story is well written. This started with Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire and I haven’t been able to stop. 🙂

      You’re right about Notturno – I reviewed it and I think I rated it as 5 stars or pretty close. Paul’s Dream and Wicked Gentlemen both of which I rated as DIK – just incredible stories. Damn I have to stop reading or I soon won’t have a life. 🙂 Val just reviewed Angels of the Deep -scary stuff.

      • Major downside of Rice’s vampires – no sex. I mean… really… That just isn’t a vampire for me. XD

  • Thank you Wave for putting together this list. I just love paranormal. Half the books you mentioned are some of my favorites and the other half are being downloaded to my Kindle now! 🙂

    • Diane
      You’re welcome. The Soul Mates series is one of the best and definitely a favourite, but it’s pretty violent. If you’re buying some of my recs it would be good idea to read the reviews first because I don’t want you to be unhappy. Remember these are paranormals and the rules in regular contemporaries don’t work, especially in some cases, sticking to one hottie at a time i.e. being faithful.

      Happy reading!

      • I love The Soul Mates series. Oh… Saaban and that tail of his ~blush~. One of the things I like about your reviews is that they aren’t limited to traditional romances. There are a lot of different kinds of love and relationships out there…. sometimes it is as simple as boy-meets-boy and other times it’s boy-meets-vampire-meets-werewolf-meets-demon-meets-angel! (isn’t there mention of a werebear somewhere in there?) 🙂

        Keep the diversity coming!

        • Hi Diane
          How did you know that Sabaan was one of my favourite characters from this series? I never thought of a tail as being an erogenous zone. 🙂

          I just heard from Jourdan and she hasn’t done any more work on the Soul Mates series, which is too bad.

          I read many books other than romances so I asssume that other readers have similar tastes, therefore we review almost everything here except for het or menages which include women.

    • My work here is done. *beams* I’ll be keeping an eye out for that story. LOL

      I think being with a giraffe shifter would also be handy for short people like me when you go shopping. No more hanging around the canned goods aisle praying that some tall guy is shopping or no longer having to attempt to scale the shelves to get that last can of deliciousness on the top shelf.

    • T.A.
      Stop listening to Tam – she’s evil. I can’t believe you’re taking her giraffe suggestion seriously. I’ll kill her when I find her. 🙂
      Remember she’s the reader who loves shifter rats, ducks and gerbils. *chuckle*

  • Great post, Wave! (and no jury duty for me today, so I have internet access and can comment. Woo-hoo!)

    Jordan is the queen of the paranormal Yay, Jordan! I’d have to agree.

    You all have already mentioned many of the paranormals that I’ve read and loved (Jordan’s series, A.M. Riley’s books, et cetera, but here are some I’ve read and enjoyed that haven’t been mentioned yet:

    Between States by J.M. Snyder – bobcat shifters during the American Civil War
    The Bonds of Love by J.M. Snyder – superpowers conferred during sex, which vary due to sexual position
    Damn Gorgeous by Jaye Valentine – (I can’t reveal the paranormal aspect without plot spoilers.)
    The Huntsmen Bareback by Amber Green – similar to vampires but not exactly – you’ll have to read it
    Muse by Clare London – (I can’t reveal the paranormal aspect without plot spoilers)
    The Summer Gardener by Jan Irving – little flying pixie man with a fun personality
    Wild Hunt by Willa Okati – Celtic mythological beings, i.e., the Sidhe

    I think we readers like paranormals because (1) they’re mostly set in our own real world but with a slight supernatural twist, so we don’t encounter the slowing effect on the story’s pace that we get with all the world-building in epic fantasy, (2) the plots are more outsized and exciting than the smaller and more subtle plots we get with contemporaries.

    And, Tam? A shifter turkey? That’s totally awesome! 🙂

    • It was funny wasn’t it?

      Damn Gorgeous by Jaye Valentine

      *shudder* Great story but induced a major case of heebie jeebies.

    • Hi Val
      I’m sure you’re glad to be home and not on jury duty.

      First, stop encouraging Tam – she’s going wild today with all of these suggestions. This was supposed to be a serious post, like all of my posts. 🙂 Where did I go wrong? I know – I shouldn’t have invited her to comment (like she needs an invite) 🙂

      You have some great suggestions and I’ll be putting my credit card to use. Damn Gorgeous is really scary from what I’ve heard. I read some of the superhero stories by J.M. including Bonds of Love – interesting concept of sexual positions having a bearing on superpowers. I’ve been practising but no superpowers as of yet. 🙂

      The Huntsmen Bareback I think I have in my files somewhere so I’ll have to move it to my TBR as well as The Summer Gardener and Wild Hunt. I wasn’t aware that Muse was released so I’ll check that out as well. Thanks for all of your suggestions Val.

  • Whee, being dubbed Queen of the Paranormal is the highlight of my day! Especially with the footnote, No one says ‘I’m screwed’ like [Victor] does.

    I see wild turkeys around here in the woods sometimes and they’re totally freaky. They look like dinosaurs.

    Shifters aren’t generally my cup of tea. They so often fall back on Laurell K. Hamilton-esque “pack” dynamics. The dragon shifters and the pile of rats totally pique my interest! The pile of rats reminds me of Stoker’s Dracula.

    • My only thought about the pile of rats theory was what happens if one gets lost/killed when you shift back? Would you find yourself suddenly missing a foot or maybe a spleen or half your brain? That would be awkward and not so romantic.

      Gerbils Jordan, gerbils, it’s the new thing. Shhh. Don’t tell Wave.

        • Jordan

          >>Of course we know m/m heroes never carry any extra weight ;-P<< That's not exactly true. I read about a lot of "fat" cocks. In M/M, being skinny in one area is not exactly a compliment. Pencil dick anyone. 🙂

      • Book 6 should have been released ages ago (now that you have all that “free” time)

        Ha ha, no kidding! I’m pressuring myself to finish Sleepwalker this weekend–you can see how well I’m doing that by noodling around on your blog here–and then Zero Hour, and then I think my subconscious will come clean with what’s going on in the middle of PsyCop 6. I hope.

    • Jordan
      You know we love you and you can’t write fast enough. Book 6 should have been released ages ago (now that you have all that “free” time) 🙂

      Dragons are my thing – they are such magnificent beasts. When they shift from human form, OMG what a rush. 🙂

  • Hey Wave, great post…

    In another, “Pick it for me” challenge (I did two in April) I was given Among the Living by JCP. Holy moly, that did it for me! I was just looking at my April reading list: 25 books for the month and 10 of them are by Jordan! LOL. I am debating starting in on the vampire series although everyone around here knows I am not much of a vampire fan. We’ll see…

    The Hell Cop series just pulled me in totally. I really love the realistic Chicago setting (I lived in Chicago so I can picture it) and the people who seem like ordinary, normal people with a little…twist. And I guess I like that the twist is in their mind vs. they shift into something else.

    Like everyone else, I am eagerly waiting for no. 6 in the series. In the meantime, Jordan, maybe we can have a few more of those character interviews? Love those…

    L

    • Leslie
      >>I was just looking at my April reading list: 25 books for the month and 10 of them are by Jordan! LOL<< There's nothing wrong with reading that many JCP books. Not only is she a prolific writer but a fabulous one as well. I don't recall any books of hers that I've read which I didn't love. Hell Cop is a great series of two books with terrific writers like Ginn, Nicki and Astrid.

    • 25 books for the month and 10 of them are by Jordan!

      That’s so funny, Leslie! You’re gonna start to sound like me. I kind of forgot about those interviews. Maybe I’ll do one for the June newsletter!

  • A few more mentionable paranormals.

    Shadow of a Wolf/Jez Morrow
    Strongman/Denise Rossetti
    Out there in the Night/Laura Baumbach
    The(slightly paranormal)Soul Bonds – Series/ Lynn Lorenz
    The Elf and Shoemaker,Souls Deep(Jarrah is my favourite vampire)and Falling/M.L.Rhodes.

    Great post,Wave.
    (More fun than some of the books I´ve recently read!)

    • Hi Simsala

      I’m so glad you mentioned books like Strongman, Shadow of a Wolf, Soul Bonds series, Falling and Elf. All of which have been reviewed on the site.. The only exception is Out There In the Night which is on my list of ‘Old Favourite’ books to be reviewed.

      You’re so right that these books are much more fun to read than some of the newer M/M books. Sometimes on Sunday afternoons I sit down with a glass of wine and re-read an old favourite.

      BTW I’m giving away a ‘slightly used’ print copy of Couplings by M.L. Rhodes next week which contains Souls Deep. I already had a copy and she gave me an autographed one a few months ago so I’m trying not to be too selfish and will give away one of the copies (no, not the autographed one). 🙂

      Thank you for commenting Simsala.

        • I should not have said anything. You’re right – John did give me shit. Now he’s going to hound M.L. for his own autographed copy of something.

  • Thanks Wave for again putting together a great post. I found that I haven’t yet read most of your favourite paranormals.
    The Soul Mates series didn’t work for me – too much sex -, although I thought the ‘verse and its dynamics and characters were pretty intriguing. Same with the dragons series by T.A. Chase. Loved the protagonists and Mordred and George but the plot and ‘verse didn’t work for me. 🙁

    I very much like the wolf or cat shifters with their more or less traditional pack dynamics. Especially Alpha-Omega couples do it for me. Love J.L. Langley’s wolves!

    Mary Calmes “Change of Heart” is one book I’d like to mention. Funny thing is that I haven’t yet completely read it, just skimmed through it because I couldn’t contain my curiosity and stopped short of the end. (I hate it when that happens but it does all the time, unfortunately.) Have to do a proper reread but already I love the story and the slightly new twist on the cat shifter pack stuff. There’ll be a second book in that ‘verse. Yay! 🙂

    And Jan Irving’s “Mask”. The author created a really intriguing paranormal world in that one but unfortunately left the readers with just intriguing glimpses of it while focusing more on the story and characters. Which is fine, the story is rather unusual and good but I’d have loved to learn more of those otherwordly warriors. *sighs*

    Thanks for all those recs! I’ll definitey try some of them like the PsyCops, Fire Season and Damn Gorgeous. 🙂

  • Hi Lilli
    As I mentioned to a couple of readers, the Soul Mates series is not for everyone particularly because of the violence. I had forgotten about the sex – How could I forget how much SEX is in these books. 🙂 It’s been a while since I read them.

    I don’t believe I’ve read Change of Heart by Mary so I’m putting it on my TBB list. Haven’t read Jan Irvng’s Masks either so there’s another one. I love weres and J.L.’s books are top of that heap in my opinion. Can’t wait for the newest entry.

    Please try the PsyCop series. Some of the books might be a little scary because we’re dealing with dead people who come back in a matter of fact way. 🙂 Fire Season worked for me because there was the added complex dynamic of a bi and straight man struggling with being mated for life.

    Hope you enjoy the books.

    • Wave, I rather like the “I see dead people” theme, loved “The Sixth Sense”. 😉 So scary mixed with sexy sounds promising.

      Just check out the books I mentioned, first; but if you buy them I hope you’ll enjoy them!

      (still can’t believe you forgot about the sex ;))

      • Lilli
        >>(still can’t believe you forgot about the sex 🙂 )<< I know, considering how MUCH sex is in the series. As Tam is fond of saying about Sean Michael, a sea of cum. I think you'll like PsyCops because even though there's some sex it's not a lot - Vic and Jacob are busy with dead people. 🙂

        • I thought the amount of sex in the PsyCop books was just perfect. Enough to look forward to and keep things interesting but not so much to hijack the story.

          Of course, then again there’s Striking Sparks…LOL

          L

          • Leslie
            ..Of course, then again there’s Striking Sparks…LOL<< Striking Sparks is not technically a PsyCop story even though it's in the verse - this is Crash's story and we know what a hound dog HE is. I guess you haven't read the Channeling Morpheus/Sweet Oblivion series. *chuckle*

  • Tam, I guess I should work on the way I’m thinking and read this book. And eventually, who can resist a story titled “Duck fart”?! That was what lured me in in the first place… 🙂

    Thanks again, Tam, for the rec.

    (WordPress didn’t let me answer to you directly.)

  • An autographed copy? Oh my!! I see that M.L. loves Wave more than me. pout I’ll have to see what I can do about that………

    Simsala, glad you mentioned those Rhodes books. Don’t forget about Vertigo and Shattered.

    I will recommend Lone by Rowan McBride.

    One small correction, Wave. Draegons are fully draegon. Gaige is half human and half draegon. Ok, wait a minute, I’ve never thought of draegons as half human. They look human but can then shift into a winged form………. I think draegons and humans are two distinct races. I’ll ask M.L.

    • What can I say John? M.L has known me longer than she’s known you and so likes me better (even though you try to curry favour by sending her nude pics). 🙂 BTW I have autographed copies of most of her print books except the newest ones. 🙂

      >>I think draegons and humans are two distinct races. I’ll ask M.L.<< The draegans are shapeshifters, not fully dragon, so they must shift into something. I always thought it was human but I could be very wrong. Let me know if YOU are wrong. LONE is an excellent recommendation which I read a couple of years ago.

  • Oh my…so many good books to choose from. I’m totally in agreement with you on Jordan (& Jourdan), Kiernan, TA, JL, ML and AM (also, Of The Clan O’Grady & Curse of the Gianes–male banshee & elf). Kiernan has also written 2 shifter books called In Their Own Skins: Shifting Sands & The Mark of Cain. The main shifters in these are a wolf and a bear, but there is also a cougar, rhino, T-Rex, horses, velociraptors, and an eagle/dragon just to name a few. One of the first m/m books I read was the Shifting Anthology from Torquere with stories from Sean Michael & Julia Talbot writing together. I loved that book and still go back and read it ever once in a while. It’s got big cats (cougar, tigers, panther/leopard pack, 1 experienced wolf & 1 newly turned wolf who take care of the pack cubs). My favorite stories are the tigers (Rishi & Malak). In fact, I love all the shifting anthologies (Shifting, Shifting Again, Shifting Too, & Shifting Back). Shifting Perspectives is good as well. Laura Baumbach’s The Lost Temple of Karttikeya (The Collector #9) is really good. The paranormal element is the breaking of a centuries long curse tied to an artifact and the artifact’s ability to grant the possessor’s heart’s desire. There are 9 books in The Collector series, but only #2 (Emily Veinglory’s Grave Heart–don’t remember, but it has some paranormal element), #4 (Ally Blue’s Eight Arms To Hold You–octopus shifter), and #9 are m/m, but you don’t have to read the others. Laura’s book ends the series. Laura also has vampires (Enthralled & Breathing) and werewolves (Out There In The Night). About 3/4 of Willa Okati’s books have some paranormal element or another (Brotherhood series–incubi, shifters, etc; Dante’s World series–vampires; Freedom Rising series–elves; Dragons series–dragon shifters; Graffiti–comic artist’s creations come to life; Mountain Magic series–this one is excellent). Chris Owen’s Two Worlds series (Converge & Merge); Sean Michael’s got lots too (werewolves series (Bite & Bitten); Solstice; Playing With Fire; Need series–vampire (Need, Playing Dress-Up, Chosen); Caged–mind reader; As It Should Be–shifters; A Private Hunger–dragon shifter); B.A. Tortuga (A Fair Trade–crow shifters; Hunger–vampires; Instinctive Harmony–dog shifter; Interest Paid–supernatural pawn shop; Long Black Cadillac–more vampires; Timeless Hunger–vampire); Julia Talbot (Bloodrose series-werewolves & vampires; Cathouse series–wolves & cat shifters but only #2 is m/m; Chew Toy–white tiger shifter; Sit Up And Beg & Sit Pretty–wolf & cat shifters; Pack Mentality series–shifters but only 3 & 4 are m/m; Wolfy Resolutions–shifters & demons); Kate Steele (most of her books are shifter stories); Jules Jones’ Dolphin Dreams; Jane Davitt’s Cat Scratch Fever; Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow’s Ghost series–sees ghosts; Nica Berry’s Hart & Soul–deer shifters, Northern Love-various shifters, Ready Or Not–mind powers; Ally Blue’s Bay City Paranormal, Fireflies; J.P. Bowie’s Vampires series; Anne Cain’s Pawprints series; Mya’s An Unnatural Worth–blind vampire & werewolf, Obedience Training & Spring Tradition–werewolves, The Alpha’s Desire–werewolf free on her website http://www.myaserotica.com; Misa Izanaki (all); Joely Skye’s Minder series & Marked–werewolf; Vic Winter’s Billy and Bear; Amanda Young’s Pyromancer. Hope there’s a lot on here you haven’t read.

    • Holy sh….!
      Sorry for the intrusion,but I always thought I`m obsessed with m/m.Now I see others are worse.*LoL* I`m so relieved….

    • CountrygirlXXOO
      Holy crap. I don’t know where to start. You are seriously obsessed. 🙂 I’m going to have to read through your suggestions later this evening. What a haul! I can see that I’ll be spending a lot of money.

      I’ve read some of the books by Kiernan that you mention and I loved the first Shifting anthology – the others not as much, they just didn’t live up to the first book which was exceptional, IMO.

      I have Out There in the Night and should be reviewing it in a couple of weeks and some of the others are old favourites. I read Willa’s Brotherhood series and have enjoyed most of the books. I reviewed Need and Chosen as well as Bite and Bitten a couple of years ago. When I re-read them about a year ago I thought that the sex was over much but the writing was superb, as always with Sean Michael.

      I think I’ve read all of Ally’s books and the ones that haven’t been reviewed are on my ‘review calendar’ for later this year since readers have been bombarding me with requests for reviews of older books. 🙂

      I’ll definitely be referring to your list again and again. Thank you so much. I know that other readers thank you as well.

  • Crap, I’m late for this – but can I just say THANK YOU for recommending that M/M/F dragon story? I’ve never heard of anything like that in my life and now I can’t wait to read it!

    • Alexi
      Are you saying that Bonded Hearts was ‘new to you’? Well hell, don’t tell Tam or she’ll suggest something gross like having Jax eat Nick. 🙂

      I enjoyed the story and I loved the fact that it ‘married’ two civilizations and I thought the characters rocked, especially Jax. I hope you enjoy it. It’s been a while since I reviewed the story so I’m not sure if it “wears well”

      • Wave,

        Yep, completely new. I have…maybe….a *slight* dragon fetish. Ahem. But I tend to steer clear of m/m/f so I would probably have passed by it without reading the synopsis. A menage with an actual dragon in it definitely gets my vote. Yay!

    • Hi Elizabeth
      I’m so glad that you love Bound by Blood as much as I do. I think Peter and Lucien are wonderful together because they feed on each other. I am hoping that Jourdan hasn’t abandoned us because there’s still the mystery to solve of who is trying to kill Peter. 🙂

  • I like paranormal. It’s one of my favorites to read and write.

    Kiernan Kelley’s “Change of Heart” with the lycanthropic veternarian was terrific. She gives good werewolf, as she proved again in “The Man Who Cried Werewolf.”

    I like mummies too. Kiernan’s (again) “Seti’s Heart” and the forthcoming “Soul of the Mummy” from BG Thomas (watch him, folks, he’s good. He wrote for magazines like Drummer in the 80s and got frustrated that all they wanted was sex. Now, he’s discovered our genre and is taking off like a rocket).
    I have a thing for Ancient Egypt.

    I haven’t read any demons, but I’ve written a few. My first sale was a boy meets incubus tale.

    Vampires I can take or leave. I’d rather see someone do something different, like hell-hounds or redcaps or kelpies.

  • Angel

    I loved “Seti’s Heart” by Kiernan; “Dancing on the Head of a Pin” with a demon and an angel is another of her books that I enjoyed..

    You’re right about Change of Heart but I haven’t read “The Man Who Cried Werewolf” *must make a note.*

    On your rec I’ll check out B.G. Thomas. Thanks Angel.

    BTW I just tried to find “B.G. Thomas, author” but am getting too many hits. If you can tell me at least 1 book that he wrote that would make the search easier.

      • Hi Dana
        I have that anthology. I must take it out of mothballs and read and review it. Thanks again for all of your great suggestions.
        Do you know the author B.G. Thomas that Angelia suggested as someone to check out?

  • Thanks for the great post. I’m going to have to read it again later with paper and pen handy to write down all the great suggestions(and from the comments).
    I love shifters the best of the paranormal beings. Dragons, bears, big cats, wolves and the quirky ones(like prairie dog shifters-yes there is a series about them, even a m/m couple). I have a few of the ones you mentioned above, but haven’t had a chance to read them all yet.
    I also have a sereis by Willa Okati with dragons.
    And Shelly Munro has a series called Middlemarch Mates(some m/f, some m/m and one m/m/f).
    And Kate Steele has a good series started(two books so far), werewolves where the whole pack is gay. They formed their own pack after their birth packs threw them out for being gay. And another really good m/m werewolf story called Altered Heart
    Oh, and you missed mentioning one of J.L. Langley’s called With Love. I have all three and they are good. Glad to know there is another one coming out soon.

    • Beth
      First of all thanks for reminding me about With Love. That was actually the first J.L. that I read as part of an anthology Hearts from the Ashes with Ally Blue and Willa Okati. How could I forget? I’ll update the post right away to include With Love.

      I do have Altered Hearts by Kate Steele – I just pulled it out from the mothballs today. I’m going to re-read it, Male of the Species and Transcending Darkness. Willa’s Dragon series is also in my files somewhere – glad you reminded me about that too. I don’t have the Shelley Munro series so I’ll be checking that one out, thanks for the rec.

    • Hi John
      I was under the impression that State of Mind was science fiction rather than a paranormal story. The protagonists had been given “powers” but that was as a result of an experiment. Maybe it’s a bit of both. 🙂

  • My fabulous other half spends his money on poker and trains- me books lots of books. I think- no I know most of the books currently reside in my library- aka hard drive. My first m/m was by Elizabeth Jewel the Dark Calling series. and that was the beginning or end of that- and I agree with all the different recommendations and those I haven’t read…. well looks like I will be out finding them. yay for your site and lists.

  • Hi Clovermax
    We are always willing to help you spend your money. Books are a better investment than poker and trains. You have them forever.

    Now I’ll have to check out the Dark Calling series. )

  • There’s one book which isn’t exactly shifters, but I think it fits into this theme, “A Companion to Wolves” by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. A story situated in Northern Mythology where men are bonded to wolves; there are only male human mates, but female wolves, so the humans bonded to females have to have sex with other men. It has paranormal elements out of the Northern Mythology as well like the mountain trolls and the smiths which are something like a mixture between elves and dwarves. A different book, and a difficult one for several reasons, but I loved it very much.

    • Feliz
      I’ve never heard of “A Companion to Wolves” which is quite an interesting concept. I’ll definitely be looking into that one.

  • The PsyCop novels are a fave of mine, for the imagination, the strong characters and writing, plus the fact that I don’t feel I’ve already read 10 or 20 books just like them. Hemovore, also by JC Price, surprised me by saying something new about vampires, so I liked it. Mostly I don’t read the vampires any more, because usually they feel way too been there, read that. (The Body and Soul books are like that for me — a chore to get through. Apologies to the many fans.) And mostly the shapeshifter books just don’t work for me, because I can’t suspend my disbelief about the laws of physics and whatnot for most of them.

    One book I enjoyed that I didn’t see above is The Vampire Fred, by Vaughn Demont. I didn’t feel like I was just reading the same old stuff about vampires. It has one of the best first lines ever: “I didn’t start hating Scooby Doo until after I died.” I was hooked from there. 🙂

    Also, Touching Evil, by Rob Knight, which I thought was very well done, both in plot and characters. It’s a psychic trying to help cops track down a murderer type of story.

    Skin Deep, by Drew Zachary, is another favorite paranormal story, with a compelling romance and an interesting take on paranormals as a kind of oppressed minority.

    • Ack! My error. Meant to say it’s the SoulMates series I can’t get into, rather than Body andSoul. Just goes to show, shouldn’t waste anyone’s time saying what I don’t like. Where there are so many fans, I figure it’s just my own peculiarity that I don’t enjoy a book series, and nothing wrong with the series.

      • Cary
        I think the Soul Mates series has almost as many detractors as fans because it’s quite different – lots and lots of sex, and everyone sleeps with everyone else. 🙂 Many readers don’t like what they consider to be cheating. I guess they don’t consider the fact that these are paranormals and they don’t need an excuse for sleeping around – demons, incubi, half were/half vamp. etc. 🙂

        Funny you should mention Rob Knight’s Touching Evil because it’s on my review list. I haven’t read Skin Deep by Drew Zachary – I’ll be getting that one because I love their books.

        • Wave – You make a good point about the Soul Mates series. I hadn’t thought about it in those terms. To me, the plot lines seem arbitrary and there aren’t any strong relationships or characters to bond to, and that is definitely related to the characters sleeping around, as you point out. I do scratch my head over why others love the books so much — or why I don’t. 🙂 Of course, every reader has that experience with certain authors.

          I hope you enjoy Touching Evil. I read it quite a while ago, and I still go looking to see what else Rob Knight has written, because that book made such an impression on me.

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