Category: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Fantasy Romance Reviews (Page 1 of 7)

My favorite fantasy reads of 2023

November 17, 2023 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

Shepherd asked me if I’d be willing to look back through my reading lists and see which books most hit the spot over the last year. Those of you on my email list have already been regaled with the fantasy book recommendations I came up with.

To which, I now must add another instant favorite:

Neither the cover nor the title of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries appealed to me, but if you’re a fan of female scientist-explorers you won’t want to miss this book.

There’s a slow-burn romance, geeky awkwardness, fairy-tale cleverness, and best of all a warm cozy feeling that I wanted to stay in all winter. I lost myself so deeply in its pages that I could barely step back out of the Norwegian fae-filled snow.

It’s almost certainly at your library too, so check it out!

What’s up with romantasy?

As a side note, I noticed that two of my top picks for this year are being listed under the subgenre “Romantasy.” Interestingly, I saw this term for the first time in 2022 when my translator suggested it as a keyword for my German translations. Which made me wonder — is it possible “romantasy” hopped over from German to English?

Geekily, I headed straight to Google’s Ngram Viewer to check my hypothesis out:

Popularity of the term romantasy

A more traditional google search suggests the term “romantasy” started skyrocketing in English this year due to the popularity of The Fourth Wing (and likely also BookTok). But whether “romantasy” hopped over to English from German is as yet unconfirmed.

More book recommendations!

February 25, 2023 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

I realized it had been almost a year since I’d summed up recent beloved books. How time flies when your kindle is perpetually full! As usual, I’m going to start with books most like mine and veer away a bit near the end, but every one of these is a very good read.

Black Hat, White Witch begins a deeply bingeable series full of the warmth of found family, an excellent slow-burn romance, and a great urban fantasy adventure. All the books are in Kindle Unlimited, which is probably a good thing because it’s impossible to stop at book one.

Wolf in the Shadows probably isn’t the best book to start with. (It’s book 6.) But if you’ve been reading along, you won’t want to miss this continuation of Maria Vale’s usual excellent worldbuilding and the very unique shifter pack she immerses us in. (If you haven’t been reading along, head back to book one of course.)

Silver Silence is my favorite of the Nalini Singh books I’ve read so far. I’m usually not a big fan of bear shifters, but this Russian alpha with his big, wobbly family is irresistible. Meanwhile, the heroine’s dilemma is page-turning. A must read!

Soulless was a re-read this year and a much-deserved one. Gail Carriger is such a master of the spunky Victorian heroine, the gruff werewolves, and the perfect blend of adventure and romance.

Only a Monster is a little darker than I usually prefer, but the worldbuilding and characters are so excellent that it’s well worth the read. (Young adult.)

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels is good, but I probably wouldn’t have recommended it if I hadn’t liked book two even more. The worldbuilding is just so excellent — women as witchy pirates piloting flying houses!

If you’re willing to accept my theory that space opera is basically urban fantasy at its heart, you’ll love Hunt the Stars. So many excellent female characters, a wonderful romance, a darling alien pet, and a space ship crew that might as well be a wolf pack. Read it.

I hope that keeps you busy until May when my next book comes out!

Favorite fantasy novellas of the winter

April 5, 2022 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

Fantasy novella recommendations

I was recently approached by the new website Shepherd.com to share my all-time favorite werewolf books for lovers of fantasy and romance. These are the classics I’d recommend to someone who just discovered how awesome werewolf books can be and didn’t know where to start diving into the massive backlist. Perhaps even those of you who’ve been reading for quite a while will find something new there?

If not, I read three definite crowd pleasers recently:

Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews — I’m not sure how I missed this delightful series of novellas that combine action, fantasy/light sci-fi, and romance in perfect proportions. I can only suppose the covers threw me off. Don’t let yourself fall for the same avoidance tactics!

Tarnished Knight by Bec McMaster — This is part of the author’s paranormal Victorian/steampunk series, some of which I like more than others. This particular novella is tight and delightful, with a fascinating setting that combines gritty city streets and Christmas cheer.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow — My final recommendation is a bit on the young adult side and is a fairy tale retelling rather than straight fantasy. But it’s such a delightful, self-aware fairy tale retelling, complete with lovely art, bits of research, and great characters. I suspect you won’t be disappointed if you give it a try.

Happy reading!

Nine months of excellent fantasy

November 30, 2021 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

I can’t believe it’s been nine months since I wrote a book recommendation post. With extreme effort, I’ve managed to narrow the dozens of novels I gulped down during that time into my favorite half dozen.

It seems a little crazy to start with book six in a series, but it would be crazier not to include such an excellent read. Patricia Briggs’ Wild Sign will be best enjoyed if you’ve read the rest of Anna’s adventures. With that one caveat, I highly recommend this combination of characters and fun monster hunt. Pretty much perfect in every way.

Next up, Jeffe Kennedy’s Dark Wizard is the best fantasy romance I’ve read in years. Between excellent characters and stellar worldbuilding, you will be hooked…and will crave book two immediately. As I write this, book one is marked down to 99 cents on Amazon.

Sharon Shinn’s Royal Airs is the second book in a series, but each one follows different characters and can be enjoyed as a standalone. The plot is meandering, but not in a bad way. The world is fascinating and unique. And the characters suck you in and won’t let you go.

Chloe Neill’s The Bright and Breaking Sea is pure fun. Age of Sail slightly tweaked to allow magic to spark and women to be captains. Add in swashbuckling adventure with a side of romantic tension. What’s not to love?

Kelley Armstrong’s A Stitch in Time isn’t the genre I usually recommend, but I figured many readers would be willing to try this book given Armstrong’s werewolf history. This page-turning blend of Elizabeth Peters-like Gothics and non-formulaic time-travel romance is deeply satisfying.

I’ll end with, Rachel Hartman’s Belondweg Blossoming, one of the few books I keep on my shelf in physical form. The comic is so sweet, with new depth on every reread and girl-power characters I’ll always adore. A delight for all ages.

Hopefully those books will make the cold winter nights a little warmer. Happy reading!

Snow day book recommendations

February 10, 2021 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

It’s cold and white outside. Our wood stove is raging. The cats are lazing. The perfect time for a book!

It felt a little decadent, though, to start my evening reading right after lunch. So, instead, I dug through my notes and pulled out some must-read recommendations for you.

I adore Maria Vale’s The Legend of All Wolves series, and Season of the Wolf is no exception. Vale does an astonishingly good job creating a world so vivid you can almost taste it. Her shifters are wolf-rough but also so lovable you can’t put the book down. Unlike some of the other installments, though, I feel like this isn’t the best entrance point. So, if you’re new to Vale, start on book one.

If you need something lighter and sweeter, T.S. Joyce’s A Shifter for Christmas will hit the spot. The sure antidote to family holiday difficulties (or, in this year’s case, the antidote to holiday-without-family difficulties). 99 cents at the moment or free in Kindle Unlimited.

I didn’t realize Seanan McGuire’s In an Absent Dream was book four in a series when I picked it up…and it didn’t matter. This is a tearjerker of a beautiful, richly written book about visiting the Goblin Market and deciding whether or not to stay. It feels like the old fantasy I grew up with — Five Children and It and Narnia and the Wizard of Oz — but written so sparely and tightly that I wanted much more. Read it!

Olivia Atwater’s Half a Soul is a great combination of light magic (fae) and a Regency romance. From the unique and interesting setup to the lovable characters, I was hooked. This is a little heavy on mystery, though, so you might not be as pleased if you’re looking for pure fantasy romance.

Michelle Diener’s novella, The Rising Wave, is the prelude to The Turncoat King and really, really should be read first. As long as you do so, this is a great fantasy romance series. I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding, based on sewing spells into fabric that then has to touch someone’s skin in order to work. The anthology and standalones are all free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

Heidi Heilig’s The Girl from Everywhere has a different feel from the books above, but is equally delightful. Time travel! Sailing ship! Problematic father! Unlikely crew of found family! Fun history of Hawaii! You wouldn’t think all those things fit together, but they really do.

I hope that’s enough to fill a few snow days for you. Happy reading!

Books I lost sleep over this spring and summer

August 11, 2020 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

Young adult book recommendations

March 24, 2020 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

I burned through young adult books like they were candy a decade or so ago, then I mostly stopped reading them. But over the last nine months, I stumbled across quite a few that sucked me back in. Here are my favorites.

A Study in Charlotte is true to and at the same time better than the original Sherlock Holmes. It really worked having the protagonist be Watson rather than Holmes (the way most modern reincarnations spin it), while Holmes becomes female without losing any of the original complexities. The entire series is page-turning!

Hacking plus archaeology made Navigating the Stars a must-read for me. I particularly liked the way long travel times exacerbated the normal teenage angst resulting from a parent-mandated move.

Fast, fun, and ethically gray, The Deceivers is a bit like Harry Potter crossed with the Gallagher Girls, but a little darker than both. A thoroughly satisfying read!

Little White Lies was definitely a page turner, and I enjoyed the Gilmore-Girls-esque storyline and setting. I felt like the mystery aspect slightly took away from the emotional resonance at times, but only a little.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before felt nothing like the blurb hook and title suggested it would. Instead, the true story was a Little Women-esque tale of sisterhood. Very sweet.

Now over to you. Have you read any young adult books that gripped you recently? If so, I hope you’ll hop on over to facebook and leave a recommendation!

Four must-read romances

March 17, 2020 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

Did you run through all of my paranormal recommendations and still need something to read? Or perhaps you’re like me and crave the simple sweetness of an excellent contemporary romance when times get tough. Either way, here are four romances bound to leave you with a smile on your face.

This entire Reluctant Royals series is absolutely perfect, but you might as well start at the beginning with A Princess in Theory. The hook is awesome — a Nigerian prince scam about being the chosen husband of a prince. The heroine is even better — an ex-foster kid studying to be a scientist. Her point of view is full of scientist speak that is laugh-out-loud funny. Such a delight! Here are a few more exclamation points in case I didn’t get my point across already — !!!!!!! Read it!

Grace Burrowes can be a bit hit or miss for, but My One and Only Duke was a major hit. I’m a sucker for marriage-of-convenience storylines and this one didn’t disappoint.

Please ignore the awful, trope-heavy title and the man-chest cover. Instead, read Loving the Secret Billionaire for the hacker romantic lead and the sensuality of a blind character discovering love.

After stumbling across (and being wowed by) First Star I see Tonight, I read several other books by the author…and was less impressed. So if you’ve tried Phillips and shrugged, pick this book up anyway. It’s pretty much my perfect kind of easy read, with wounded yet strong characters, a bit of mystery/action, and a whole lot of character interaction and growth. Highly recommended.

If you can count, you’ll notice I’m now on book five of four…because This Is How It Always Is isn’t a romance. On the other hand, the book is amazing and highly, highly recommended. Transgendered kid, family, fairy tale — that’s all I can really say without spoiling it.

Now it’s your turn. I hope you’ll chime in with your own recommendations on facebook:

Stay inside with these great romantic speculative-fiction books

March 15, 2020 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

Has it really been nine months since I posted a list of book recommendations? If you’re lucky enough to be able to ride out the COVID-19 outbreak at home and need something to keep you occupied, here’s the cream of what I’ve read in the last three seasons arranged from most-like-my-books to least-like-my-books.

The only downside of Ilona Andrews’ books is that they’re so good, they often leave me in an “I’m an imposter” funk. Sapphire Flames was no exception (although, if you haven’t read the rest of the series, be sure to start with book one). There’s more action and story than the covers suggest, but the romance is also spot-on.

When I first found T.S. Joyce, I read too many of her excellent shifter romances back to back and burned out on her stories. Ever since, I’ve struggled to get into her books…but Steal Her Heart is an exception. Sweet and tight and likely to keep you up all night. Currently 99 cents or free with Kindle Unlimited.

I’m usually leery of shirtless guys on book covers, but the story inside was all plot and sweet (rather than sexy) romance. Add in a hacker heroine in a wheelchair who nonetheless manages to beat up the bad guys, and Defender Cave Bear is a must-read. Free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

I feel like this post is a litany of “please ignore the cover” but…please ignore the cover. Flash Gold has the feel of urban fantasy even though it’s set in a steampunk Wild West. Short, sweet, and full of awkward characters with difficult pasts, this is one of my favorite Buroker books (which is saying a lot!). Free on all retailers.

Do I have to repeat the cover caveat again? No? Good.

Even though it’s not the first book in the series, Necromancer’s Betrayal is a great alternate entrance point — understandable even if you’ve completely forgotten the earlier books in the series. Jacob is a crowd pleaser, and I was surprised by how much I liked Elysia. Great setup too with an accidental soul bond creating good banter and ethical dilemmas. And if you don’t want to pay for it, it’s currently available for free as part of the Wolf Nights box set.

Werewolf readers probably recognize the author’s name, which is the reason I picked up a thriller (not my usual fare). City of the Lost turned out to be psychological suspense with a paranormal/dystopian flavor. I’ve always wanted to visit northern Canada, so the setting really did it for me. And I appreciated a book interesting enough to hook me each night but light enough to let me go each morning. This one’s likely in your library.

I like Lindsay’s standalone adventure romances the best, and Knight Protector was a fun one. Smart heroine. Honorable knight hero with dyslexia. Explosions and action in space. What’s not to love? Free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

How about you? What cream has risen to the top of your reading list in the last few months? I hope you’ll click over to facebook and let me know!

Summer reading list

July 16, 2019 / Aimee Easterling / 0 Comments

Usually, it takes me several months to come up with a list of books I love and think you will too. But this has been a good reading season. So here are three werewolf books and a steampunk selection for your enjoyment.

My number one recommendation is Maria Vale’s The Last Wolf (and the sequel, which I thought was even better). The cover looks like such a run-of-the-mill shifter romance, but the story inside is deeply engrossing and unique. It’s beautiful in a way similar to Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, is steeped in Scandinavian lore, and is also lushly romantic. Do not start this book if you need to go to bed on time.

Again, the cover does this book no favors. But Alpha by Audrey Faye is a deeply engrossing story about a wounded pack and the young alpha who resolves to fix them. And it’s FREE to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ll know there’s a new Mercy Thompson book out. This one wasn’t my favorite, but Patricia Briggs’ worst book is better than pretty much anyone else’s best. Of course, you’ll want to start at the beginning rather than diving straight into Storm Cursed.

Finally, if you’re willing to branch out beyond werewolves, Saving Verity is a steampunk mystery with a delightful scientist heroine and Druid detective. Again, this one is FREE to borrow if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

And if that’s not quite enough, I’ve also marked down my Wolf Rampant Trilogy to 99 cents this week only. Snag it while it’s cheap, and happy reading!