Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

People will ever get tired of reading werewolf/shifter books? I sure hope not....

I hope not too, but I'm seeing people not as excited about vampires, so who knows.

Maybe because(she said hopefully) vampires are just vampires and shifters can be just about anything....

I'm not a big fan of werewolf books because they tend to mostly be erotic and in some books are twilight similarities. I love shifters though and I dont think I'll ever get tired of them.

My werewolf book isn't like that. Plenty of UST, but payoff doesn't happen until they're hitched. Now, will anyone want to read it.
Better question, will I finsh my first draft this year...

Anne wrote: "My werewolf book isn't like that. Plenty of UST, but payoff doesn't happen until they're hitched. Now, will anyone want to read it.
Better question, will I finsh my first draft this year..."

I love shifters and I love erotic romance. :-) You write it, I'll read it as long as there is no cheating involved. :-)

I dont cope at all with infidelity. It put me off the Outlander series when I first started reading it. Luckily, I got past that.
One of my alltime favourite series is the Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series.
I also love the Kelley Armstrong ones, particularly those including Elena and Clay. That's a truly wonderful love story just as Mercy and Adam's is.

I think if a book about shifters or vampires is well written and the type of book that appeals to a particular reader, then it will do well. Some of us do not like erotic romance and some do. Some of us like dark and some don't. Both vampires and shifters can be portrayed either way. I've loved some vampire stories and detested others - same with books about shifters.

No cheating in mine, I wouldn't think of it.

Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms) wrote: "I think if a book about shifters or vampires is well written and the type of book that appeals to a particular reader, then it will do well. Some of us do not like erotic romance and some do. Som..."

I agree with this. I don't think people will ever truly get tired of reading shifter or vampire books. I think the trend is cyclical though but that's probably due to the saturation in the market of badly written books.

I also agree with what you guys have said about cheating. I will definitely put a book down, and never pick it up again, if the hero or heroine cheats.

I don't think people who like fantasy/paranormal elements in their books ever really get tired of it. Paranormal romance is a fairly "new" subgenre and like all subgenres will swing up and down in popularity. I think the first vampire novels I read that had romantic elements were those of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro whose books were shelved under horror. The first shifter books I read were those of Andre Norton which were science fiction/fantasy. That was back in the 70s and 80s when PNR didn't exist, and vampire and shifter books (especially ones that weren't straight up horror) could be hard to find.

I just wanted to make a correction to my earlier comment in regards to the cheating. I meant I would put the book down if it was in the romance or UF genres if the H or h cheats. I don't mind it in literary fiction or movies because I have different expectations for those. For example, I loved the film Unfaithful.

I think it's possible to get sick of anything of one overdoes a genre. I have to admit, that I have yet to get tired of PNR, although I admit I am jaded with vampires. I love werewolves, so I don't see me getting sick of them in the near future. The key for a writer is to keep things interesting in a series. If you want to stay with one theme, then find a way to make each book have it's own spin, or have distinct characters, so it doesn't feel like the same book being redone again and again.

I agree. PNR fans are PNR fans...not really a phase. If someone writes 'em, we'll read 'em!

Dale wrote: "I agree. PNR fans are PNR fans...not really a phase. If someone writes 'em, we'll read 'em!"

I totally agree!

I love those kind of books and can't imagine not reading them anymore!
Vampires are one of my favorites and even though i have read quite a bit of vamp books, i still enjoy them very much!

As long as there are fans of these kind of books, authors will keep writing and keep publishing them!

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words. I am resolved to have at least a very rough 1st draft done by the end of this year.

I know I'll keep reading them :) I've been a PNR fan for 12/13 years now and I've never lost interest in the genre. I've always been more of a werewolf/shifter fan than vampires. I blame Oz in Buffy lol!

I love the supernatural/paranormal and love romance but really don't care what kind it is....time travel, shifters, vampires, dragons, faery, witches, angels.... Within that I do have preferences about how dark, how much graphic sex, and most of all how good the story and the writing is!

The PNR genre was, at one time, flooding the market. It became a trend and even agents began stating they were tired of the subject. I write this genre and am having trouble finding an agency is still willing to consider it. But I believe this type of storyline will continue. I love it and would hate to think fans of PNR will let them fade into that ugly 'slushpile' of extinction.

Sometimes I think agents may grow tired of it because some (NOT all) but some of what I've seen seems so much like everything out there.
I do wonder if anyone would be interested in a Southern werewolf who has his own cooking show on PBS...:P oh, and his personal assistant, who's thrown into that world...and his arms---(good grief I think I've been reading the backs of too many books...:P)

It is probably going to take a lot for me to get tired of Vampire books- however, they come and go. The first time this trend came around, I loved reading Vampire Diaries and Anne Rice books, and they were generally shelved various places throughout the bookstore- not romance, although many were romantic. Sometimes we just need to take a break for a few years and then things will be back in another form.

I am not as big a fan of werewolves or shifters for some reason- I have always loved vampires since I was a kid, but I am sure that those types of books follow the same pattern.

One thing I am completely and already tired of is books where there is a love triangle between one vampire and one werewolf. As far as I am concerned, the love triangle, especially in young adult books, is one trend I would love to see run out of steam. Unfortunately, it appears that I am the only one who feels that way.

No, I agree with you there.

@Ann, I completely agree about love triangles. I roll my eyes at them now. Is there no such thing as monogamy any more?

Now, if it's a situation like the woman is not with either of them, NOT having sex with either of them and trying to decide, that's one thing...but still the whole idea is played out. And I know I MAY be in the minority, but it's hard enough to have a good relationship with one person.

I find both scenarios repugnant right now. Unless its well done and holds my attention, it knocks it down a rating.

I hate love triangles, and I just get frustrated when they won't just choose one guy and get it over with.

I agree with you Anne. A love triangle like everything else in books, has to be done right and then it can be a good read. I do think it is possible to love more than one person, but eventually a decision has to be made. I love the one in Queen of Camelot and the one in The Infernal Devices is definitely believable but a heartbreak. Some are just plain silly. I have found that often they are one romantic interest and one "friend" and that too happens in real life. I remember my mother telling me to "marry your best friend". I didn't and should have. LOL (and I realize we are off topic but such things seem to happen in these discussions)

I love the one in Infernal Devices, but even while reading Clockwork Prince I couldnt help but think Tessa was messing with both of them, and her seeming kindness was just cruel.
Yes, she loves them both.
But can't she be honest about it?

Thanks Goodreads for not saving my comment... Was saying that I have to remind myself of the historical era this was written in, Tessa's age and lack of any kind of worldly experience plus all she has experienced suddenly thrown into a supernatural world. Then I can kind of see her innocence in the situation. Heartbreaking for sure.

I just love Jem too much to abide his heart breaking..,I like Will too.
Actually, I like them all really. She just ticked me off in this book, but I do see your point, and it makes sense. Fantastic series.

She sure ticked off my granddaughter. LOL But she still gave it five stars.

I also feel like another reason I hate love triangles is that it seems like a really cheap way to create discussion and fangirling about the book. Not every book needs to have rival factions of 'shippers!

Interesting. Three of my four favorite YA series have a triangle (Twilight, Mortal Instruments, The Iron Fey - but Wolves of Mercy Falls does not) but have to think if any of my adult favorites do. All the King Arthur ones.....so that theme has been around for a long time! Even Outlander does although they are in different centuries.

I have been almost completely turned off by the Anita Blake series........although, things could have changed since there have been a few releases since the last one I read. I'm sick of the love triangle and I'm sick of how LKH snuck what amounts to soft porn in the series by making Anita dependant on sex. There is very little storyline anymore.
I think the type of paranormal books will change a little. Like instead of PR being one of the bestsellers in the paranormal genre we'll start seeing a bit more paranormal thrillers/horror. But then again PR has a large audience, so it may limp along at the top. ;)