For those that enjoyed Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, but are looking for something a little more grown up, paranormal romance may be a good genre to explore. Many of the series that are being written are not your stereotypical romance novels.
Getting Into the Genre
Female characters of paranormal romance are: strong, independent, career-minded women who are commanding and often participate in the action as much as their male counterparts. The men, in keeping with the genre, are: preternaturally attractive, incredibly strong, and often have paranormal "superpowers" that make them as deadly as they are sexy. At the same time, love seems to transform these tough-guys and makes them vulnerable enough to draw the reader into the series.
J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood Series
Ms. Ward began writing her series in 2005 and seven books later has garnered a large following. Her novels are gritty, extremely sensual and intense, but have characters that the reader cannot help but fall in love with. The main characters of the brotherhood are vampire warriors. They are all tall, handsome and incredibly mysterious.
Each vampire has his own special ability and strength. In the novels the brothers use their powers to combat the Lessening Society, a group that wants to take down the vampire race. The strength of Ward's novels is in the universe she has created for her vampires. Her vampires defy stereotypes and make Dracula look like a sissy.
In addition to a stellar book series, J.R. Ward maintains an exceptional fan site which includes: blogs, short stories, interviews with her characters and previews of upcoming novels. The popularity of her series among paranormal romance/urban fantasy fans even garnered a stand-alone Black Dagger Brotherhood companion book, which was released last year.
Dark Lover (book one of The Black Dagger Brotherhood). Copyright 2005, Signet Eclipse Publishing. ISBN 0-451-21695-4
Lara Adrian: The Midnight Breed Series
With Lara Adrian's novels, the reader encounters more vampires. Adrian's vampires are descendants of a violent and vicious alien species that came to Earth and interbred with humans. Like Ward's series, Adrian's group of warrior vampires join to combat a force of Rogues that want to bring down the vampire race. Many of the Rogues are vampires themselves, causing a civil war amongst the vampires.
Each novel in the series profiles a different member of the warrior group while continuing an intriguing sub-plot that doesn't disappoint.
Lara Adrian also keeps a "fan"tastic fan site. With excerpts of the novels, previews of future books and video trailers, readers can really get a sense of what the series is like.
Kiss of Midnight (book one of The Midnight Breed). Copyright Dell Publishing 2007. ISBN 978-0-553-58937-5
Eileen Wilks: The World of the Lupi Series
Eileen Wilks' series is a breath of fresh air for paranormal romance readers. She pulls away from strictly vampire lore and explores different species and mythologies associated with paranormal fiction. The main character of the series is Lily Yu, a detective and a sensitive who is investigating a werewolf, Rule Turner, who happens to be the heir of a werewolf clan.
Wilks's werewolves are refreshingly different from the traditional "Wolf Man" and have a distinct and interesting society. Throughout Wilks' series Rule, and Lily work with the FBI's Magical Crimes Division encountering: sorcerers, dragons, demons, and other species that threaten the well-being of the human world.
Yet another author with a great website, Wilks' site has biographies of her characters, summaries of her novels and even poems written by the author.
Tempting Danger (Book one of The World of the Lupi) Copyright 2004 Berkley Publishing. ISBN 978-0-425-19878-0
Each of these series is recommended for anyone who likes science-fiction, fantasy and a lot of romance. As the genre of paranormal romance/urban fantasy grows there are hundreds of authors offering their own unique spin on traditional romance.
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