Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

I've discarded and dnf-ed practically every PNR/UF and erotic SciFi* in the past year for being completely boring and patently unerotic, and I'm desperately looking for something readable.

(*the one exception is and was R. Lee Smith)

My main problem is that practically all of these books share common tropes and worldbuilding. It's as if authors all wrote in the same fandom or fandoms. It's ages that I found something clean, different, engaging (Soulless), the majority of books are so interchangeable and so boring I tend to mentally chuck up within sight of the first chapter.

For instance, I really really dislike the "zoo" of supernational beings, monsters and fiends that books seem to have currently. It's as if people think that the more the merrier, though to me it ends up being the more, the less interested and the faster bored. I never fell for some of the apparent gold standards of PNR/UF, namely Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher or Sookie, etc.. I also didn't watch or like any of the related TV series, I tend to find them ridiculous.

A lot of the alleged lore people write to is faulty, or genre-masturbative, insofar that just because there was Twilight you now get werewolves coming in packs and having soulmates and whatnotelse, instead of the actual myths.

You tend to get a gazillion "PNR-huntresses", mostly sarky, vulgar "strong/kick-ass" women who take on the whole zoo, fucking everything which isn't up a tree within a second of their arrival and looking for some fated soulmate, or being saddled with one. All that in between slaughtering reams of every paranormal creature mankind has ever invented.

That's not what I like to read, meaning I'm looking apparently for pins in haystacks.

I would prefer adult heroes and heroines, as in give me people older than 25 (and I mean in their behaviour adult). I like my paranormal monsters preferably one species at a time, just as in good old boring "Dracula", where you had vampires and that was it. Or one change from reality at a time. I like it to be horrific instead of amusing or boring, and I prefer paranormal lore to gel with actual lore of these paranormal entities (meaning I prefer authors who actually researched the background of their monster, rather than just watch "Supernatural" or read Butcher, Meyer and Hamilton). And I really like sex to be erotic and not throwaway. I also really hate present tense narration.

Any bells ringing for anyone? Pretty please? ;)

Have you tried The Dark Brotherhood by Ward. It is set in New York and primarily vampires with a few interesting other world beings, that are tied into the vampire world and explained nicely so they fit in. The sex is hot and steamy; but not erotica. So far each character is nicely fleshed out; and they usually have their own books which fleshes the Brothers each story line so you can follow the story lines when they interact as a group. It sounds like you probably have read them; but it is the only suggestion I have. Hope this helps. I will be following this message line too; I'm hoping I can pick up some hints on what to read next.

Thanks for the rec ;) Unfortunately they are exactly what I don't want to read. I'm not interested in slayer-vampire-wars, super-beautiful princess brides/wannabe Buffys and feuding groups and all that. And I'm afraid I found the sex to be boring and unerotic. I read the first one of the series and that will stay the last one.

What I mean is: I really want to read something fresh, something different and, above all, not catering to current tropes.

I just listed a NYV: PUNK giveaway for two signed paperback copies, at the link below.



https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

K.D. wrote: "I just listed a NYV: PUNK giveaway for two signed paperback copies, at the link below.



https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh..."

Thanks, I'll look into it.

You might look into the Saint Germaine Chronicles by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. It's been ongoing for quite some time and is an interesting vampire premise (no other paranormal creatures).

Thanks, those do look quite intriguing!

If you're looking for an author like R. Lee Smith, I'm afraid the outlook is pretty grim. The PNR genre doesn't really take very well to the idea of true, permanent bad stuff happening in the story. Theres also no royalty and if theres true love to be found its fond among a pile of strewn rotting corpses and screams of unimaginable pain while evil laughs in the background.

Its just a bit too much for the average PNR reader which is why the books remain relatively unpopular despite being about 6 trillion times better written than even the top PNR books like, for example, the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The best I can offer you is to check out Joey W. Hill. It doesn't have the darkness that R. Lee Smith's books have, but it isn't brainless fluff either. Its very well written and has genuine emotional content. Does everything turn out OK in the end? Sure. But the world she builds is pretty good and the characters are believable.

Best of all not every character is secretly royalty. I hope you don't mind like S&M stuff though because Joey Hill has some kind of fetish with it and it makes an appearance in every book, multiple times.

Hmm. What has royalty got to do with R. Lee Smith? I'm referring mainly to books like The Scholomance, Heat, Cottonwood or The Last Hour of Gann.

No, Hill doesn't work for me. I'm a r/l BDSMer and her fantasy-BDSM has me in screaming shitfits. Not my thing at all.

It shouldn't be that difficult. Sigh.

I'm expecting my own UF to do crap in sales because of all the things you are looking for. Lol. There is just one species (fae), the woman is over 25, who is not snarky, vulgar or your typical "ass-kicker." Her strength mostly comes from an emotional/psychological standpoint. There's no sex in the 1st book, but there is a "spark." I don't know if I'd say it is horrific...depends on your definition. I'd say there are some horrific moments. It doesn't hit all of your points, but it hits some.

Anyway. I get you. I have similar problems. The whole market seems full of the same template. I'm not into self-promotion, so I won't list the title or anything here. Mine's not even out yet; I'm waiting on the cover to be finished. But if you're interested, shoot me a message and I'll give you a freebie coupon or something when I get it up. Give a review or don't. 1 star, 5 star, or nothing. I don't care. I just want good stories in the world, and hope to keep getting better at telling them.

Epic series. Mainly Wizard focused, tho huge world building with other species. Adult, intelligent, slow romance build, some dark elements to story.

Try Prince of Thorns. It's a trilogy.
It's a well built magic based world with really grim plot. The MC is an anti-hero and the ''romance'' (if you can call it that) is found between violence, blood, gore etc etc...

Hmm, I need to clarify: I'm not interested in blood and gore (quiet horror works just fine for me), and I like romance which ends at least in a HFN. I'm also not interested in "grim" stuff per se. I like things which are just the other side of realistic.

I'm also not interested in anything "epic fantasy", ;) I'm afraid I lack the patience for that these days. Unless the author writes as engaging doorstoppers as R. Lee Smith I'll give it a pass :P

Of course, thank you everyone as well!

Steelwhisper wrote: "I've discarded and dnf-ed practically every PNR/UF and erotic SciFi* in the past year for being completely boring and patently unerotic, and I'm desperately looking for something readable.

(*the o..."
Have you tried Anne Bishop "Others" series? It's superb. WRITTEN IN RED is the first, and I doubt you'll have read anything quite like it. Fabulous worldbuilding, outstanding writing, terrific plot, and most of all, amazing characters. Not a lot of sex, if that's what you're looking for.

No I haven't. But if I go by the blurbs it has vampires, shape-shifters, werewolves, magicians, a very speshul princess cassandra, an alternate reality, and elementals. The very zoo I want to avoid, I'm sorry. But thank you for the rec! :)

It's not something I usually do, as I hate to fling my book in the face of people, but I'm thinking you may like it.

If recommending our own is forbidden, please forgive me. It's just that everyone who read it says it's different from other things they've read. It doesn't have a zoo but the protagonist is an alien who crashed on Earth and encounters vampires. So it's not one breed per se, but close.

It's not horror nor a romance story; however, there is something going on between the alien and a vampire which leads to one sex scene. They are definitely adults.

I can offer a free ebook if you are interested.

Here is the link: Fate

Have you tried anything by G. A. Aitkin? Her dragons are hot and funny. She also writes as Shelley Laurentson. Pack Challenge is the first book I read by her. Go Fetch is my personal Fave.

Thanks, I may try the dragon ones. Thank you for the recs!

(Not interested in alpha males and pack dynamics. I breed dogs. All and every single recent werewolf/shapeshifter novel has got actual pack dynamics of wolves and dogs wrong. Drives me cray-cray. And I really hate alpha males. )

Re. Anne Bishop— I know it seems like that, but it's not. You may not find it your cuppa, but I promise you this, you will have read nothing like it. Her protagonist is neither accomplished, nor kick ass. (BTW – I'm just a fan of her work. Nothing more.) I know how hard it can be to search for a compelling or unusual book.

It's already the whole zoo. I really don't want that. I'm totally pre-zoo ;)

The last werewolves I liked was the one played by Oliver Reed, the movie "Wolfen" and "La bête du Gévaudan". That is the sort of paranormal wolf-whatever which would intrigue me.

I love epic fantasy but PNR too so I was thinking you could try ( if you didn't already :) ) :
Angelfall Apocalyptic world with only angels and humans.
Kiss of Steel steampunk
The Greyfriar steampunk and vampires
Fighting Destiny Fae, no insta love insta fated mate.
Angels' Blood Only angels, humans and vampires with original origins story.

Have you tried the Nightwalkers series by Jaquelyn Frank? Jacob

The dragon series mentioned above was really good easy reads, i liked them. :-)

Thanks for the recs! :)

(Makes a list from the books here) ;)
I agree with Steelwhisper on most of the points, but I like the 'whole tamale zoo' as long as it's coherent. The idea that all those monster stories and myths are grounded in fact is one of my favorite tropes.
I dislike fated mates/insta-love. I like real peril. I cannot stand TSTL characters.
I like alphas, but not assholes, and I'm also a RL BDSM practitioner and can't stand that done dangerously (abuse/violence is fine, just don't call it BDSM).

I really don't know why I don't like more books you read SW :)

Heh, our tastes still are somewhat different, even if there are a lot of similar opinions and background facts.

Give these a look?

by Elizabeth Hunter. The first in a 4 book series that follows 1 couple. When H/h first meet, she's in college, but the series follows her as she ages to mid 30s (if I remember correctly) Slow development of the romance/relationship. Vampires only.

and other books by Grace Draven. Fantasy, mature H/h, no insta-love here.

Good luck in your search!

I don't get the PNR vibe from you, but I'll give you some UF rec's instead. Some I've read, some I've been eyeballing to read that kinda fit into what you are asking for.

Dark Horse by Michelle Diener

Dark Space by Lisa Henry

Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid

Anything Val McDermid works for me. I liked Dark Space (which I'd call a straight Scifi, not UF). I'll look into Dark Horse. Thanks for the recs! :)

I just read 20% into into A Hidden Fire and DNF-ed. This reads like Mary-Sue-ish Twilight fanfiction on a YA level. Sorry, not my thing.

Steelwhisper wrote: "Anything Val McDermid works for me. I liked Dark Space (which I'd call a straight Scifi, not UF). I'll look into Dark Horse. Thanks for the recs! :)

I just read 20% into into [book:A Hidden Fire|1..."

Bummer you feel that way about Hidden Fire! I really liked that series and the female MC definitely evolves throughout the four books.

I'll try to think of a series where the MCs meet your criteria from the first book (and early in the book! haha)

You might consider Elizabeth Hunter's other series . The female MC is sufficiently "tough" in the first book IMO and Hunter is making her own lore so you don't have to worry about "genre-masturabation." And no packs of any sort ;)

Heh, I'm not interested in "tough" per se. :) That term unfortunately too often leads straight towards all those "strong female characters" I really don't like either.

However, I want a grown-up MC who's intelligent, and thinks about other things than clothes or the colour someone's eyes have. If a vampire is falling for a mortal, I need a reason for that happening. I need show rather than tell, and I want characters who behave like adults. Also, this so clearly is P2P Twilight fanfiction, that I could just as well read the originals (which I did quite a while ago).