When Jackie mentioned this idea to us, I was all excited. Not only do I get to share with you my favorite books/authors, but I get ideas of books to try. It’s the best of both worlds!
Although, I don’t know about you, but my wishlist is about a mile long already…but I digress.
Heads up, some of these have been in my collection for a while. One series in particular, I’ve had since I was a teen and it shows, the books are falling apart.
- James R. Tuck’s Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter [4+] series. O.M.G. Deacon is a badass bounty hunter, who has been saved by an angel making him harder to kill and an ability to sense the boogie men. He fights things like shifters, not just wolves, but spiders, bears, and a few others that will blow your mind. Not to mention, truly psychotic vampires. On top of all that, this man has a heart, and helps people every chance he gets. There is crazy funny, sarcastic humor and incredible fight scenes, you are literally laughing or on the edge of your seat with fear/anticipation from beginning to end. Tuck’s vision, his descriptions, his writing, will knock your socks off!
- Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake [22+] series and Merry Gentry [8+]. I love Hamilton’s way with descriptions, her intense fight scenes and the mystery she weaves in each book. Her vampires are scary but oh so sexy in the Anita Blake series. So are the lycanthropes. It makes it real hard for a girl to pick a team! And then there are the faeries in Merry Gentry series, oh baby. Six foot tall drop dead gorgeous men at your disposal, whose jobs include guarding you and getting you pregnant to secure your throne, really do I need to say more? I do have to say, though, her earlier books are the best, the farther you go in either series. the more the story gets clogged with too much sex…yes there is such a thing.
- Nancy Gideon’s Moonlight [7+] series. She’s got this knack of making things edgy and dangerous with her shape shifters, yet soft and romantic. It’s a wonderful blend. She also is one of those writers that has webs of story line that stretch for miles. You get clues here and there about what is going on, but you don’t know about them until the very end. And then, when the next book comes out, you learn even more about this world of hers. Everything is constantly evolving, changing, and since she changes point of view throughout the series, you see things from multiple angles. It’s one hell of a series!
- Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter [18+] and Dream Hunter [6+] (she has other series, but I am so far behind these two are the only one’s I know a little about). It has been few years since I’ve had the privilege of reading a book of Ms. Kenyon’s, I may not remember the characters, but that doesn’t change that I love love love these books. The men are hot, dangerous, yet romantic, that I do remember. She uses historical sites and events as back stories and interweaves them with her characters. LOVE THAT!
- Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardians [3+] series. In this series, vampirism is a virus that deteriorates the person’s mind until they go crazy. Gifted ones, those with powers like healing or reading minds, etc., are the only ones immune to the virus. They have a special gene in their DNA that counteracts the virus turning them into immortal fighting machines, aka Immortal Guadians. Their job is to hunt down the vampires and protect humans. These guys are lethal; there’s very little that can stop them. Except women, and boy do these men get all romantic when they fall in love.
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings [3]. This is another set of books I haven’t read in a really long time, but one I hold dear. No one does descriptions like Tolkien. No one does fantasy like him, in my opinion. Honestly, I can’t explain this man’s work properly, he was amazing, you should read his work. Just be warned, it’s a lot to take in, a lot to read, a lot to keep track of, but man is it brilliant.
- Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars [3]. This is Alice in Wonderland grown up version…although I think it’s also listed as YA. I was afraid to give this series a try, but I’m so glad I finally did. Beddor took his crazy imagination and a children’s tale, twisted them together and came out with a wicked cool series. It’s so unlike any Alice in Wonderland cartoon or movie, it’s soooo out there and yet it works. People teleport in mud puddles, to random places and times! Anything you can imagine, appears right before your eyes! The Cheshire cat, oh he’s a shape shifting, lethal villain. And the Mad Hatter? He’s Hatter Madigan, who has a hat that is a weapon! Yup, wicked cool series.
- Jude Deveraux…does everything count? I can’t give you the exact number of books she has, some are a part of a series, some aren’t. I think I own almost every book she has written! My all time favorites would be The Velvet [4] series, technically there are more because it’s part of the Montgomery [20] series. This is the one I mentioned above that is OLD and falling apart. I’ve read them so many times, I know each book by heart, and still I read them. This part of the series tracks four brothers, living in the 1400’s in England and Scotland. Each book is about them meeting and falling in love. Legend would be another one that stands out for me. It’s about a girl who goes back in time (it’s kinda magical, never truly explained though), falls madly in love and well I can’t tell you the twist in this one except that it still to this day stands out as one of the CRAZIEST twists I’ve ever read. I will admit, her style is your typical romance with the whimpering heroines and ego driven men, things can be predictable (it’s romance, it’s expected), BUT her details and historical references bring these books alive. She writes mostly historical, which those are my all time favorites.
- Johanna Lindsey…same as above, she has so many books, I have most of them and they are OLD! Let’s see for her I’d highly recommend the Malory [10] series; my favorites are Tender Rebel, Gentle Rogue and The Present, although they are all good. These are set in London, with lots of sailing on ships and family drama. Second would be her Ly-San-Ter Family [3] series which is set in the future in space. You travel to different planets, see all sorts of crazy animals and inventions, all while reading a sappy love story. Lindsey and Deveraux are very similar in their style, they write mostly historical, there’s some predictable corniness and their series’ tend to stick with a certain family. Except that Lindsey’s characters have a bit more umph and humor, and a lot less Scarlet O’Hara drama.
There you go, my list of favorites that I recommend to everyone who will listen…and some who don’t. Happy Reading!
I just finished Nancy Gideon’s Moonlight series. I received the latest book for review, so of course I had to go back to the beginning. Glad to hear it’s a good one.