Laurel Richards's Blog - Posts Tagged "fiction"

Quick Book Browsing: Paranormal Romance

My Elementals series is a contemporary paranormal romance series about people who look human but have power over water, fire, earth, or air and can even shape-shift.

In the first book, In Her Element, Darya Drake meets Water Elemental Ethan Zale and is brought into the Elemental community after she and her younger brother have lived most of their lives in fear of their own kind. She has good reason to be afraid when a Phage—an Elemental who kills and cannibalizes other Elementals to steal power—begins stalking her.

The second book, Dragon Tears, continues with Darya settling into her relationship with Ethan and trying to find help for her brother, Matthew, who is an unstable Fire Elemental. Dragon Tears does have some love scenes and is part of the overall paranormal romance series, but the scenes with Matthew are strictly urban fantasy, since he’s underage.

Matthew is grown up in the third book, Passion Fire, and struggles to overcome his past and find his place as a powerful Fire Elemental in the community. He meets Livi Phyre at a special dance class, and the two Fire Elementals start a fiery tango together.

Readers who want all three books in one place for a discount can get The Drake Trilogy Boxed Set.

Books I Recommend:

Janet Chapman’s Spellbound Falls series – paranormal romance that falls outside of the usual vampire and werewolf categories

Jayne Castle’s Harmony/Ghost Hunter and Rainshadow series – sci-fi romance that includes paranormal abilities

Pippa Jay’s Restless in Peaceville – a darker work that I thought was fantastic and out of the ordinary. Also check out Pippa Jay's No Angel, a terrific urban fantasy.

For The Love of a God by Rosanna Leo – great to see the Greek gods in fiction

Vickie Taylor’s Carved in Stone – gargoyle romance

Marjorie M. Liu’s Dirk and Steele series – a paranormal romance series that features lots of psychic and shape-shifting abilities

TV Shows/Movies I Recommend:

The Fifth Element – a sci-fi romance movie that touched on the elements (fire, earth, air, water) and a heroine with special abilities

The Last Keepers (2013) – a movie with a mix of paranormal and romance, with the young heroine finding herself and coming into her powers.

Beyond – 2017 TV show about a man who wakes up from a twelve-year coma with special powers

Other posts:

Quick Book Browsing: Sci-Fi Romance (or help, I’m being chased by an alien/monster/robot!)

Quick Book Browsing: Werewolf Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Psychics and Sci-Fi Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Fantasy

Quick Book Browsing: Comedy and Mystery

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Published on January 11, 2017 06:41 • Tags: books, fiction, laurel-richards, paranormal, pnr, romance

Quick Book Browsing: Fantasy

In my book Riding the Storm, Jeorek is a Stormrider -- a shifter who can take flight, but only if he finds the right sorcerer to give him the power to transform. When he finally finds a sorcerer with a resonant aura, he's disappointed to discover the young man is a mute, crippled slave with now discernible power. Dare is far more than he appears, though, and the two must learn to trust each other if they want to survive their enemies.

In Vanquished, the Ulanesh—vicious soldiers from the underrealm—are invading the forest and destroying everything in their path. A sorceress, an army captain, and a tree-talker are all brought together by impending war. They go on a long journey, discovering new lands and cultures as they work to become allies and defeat the enemy.

In The Great Road, Queen Adhira’s city is attacked, and she’s captured by the winged sorcerer, Surtur Takkar. Her twin brother, Arnon, must set out on the Great Road to reach her, and he's accompanied by a Seer prince, a stable boy with more bravery than brawn, and a reluctant hero who is the only one who can defeat the sorcerer. Loyalty is put to the test as they leave their homes to save the ones they love.

Books I Recommend:

Fantasies by J.R.R. Tolkien, including The Hobbit, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and The Silmarillion.

The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold – wonderful fantasy world and characters.

Knight of a Trillion Stars by Dara Joy – great settings, but I object to how the hero treats the heroine in several scenes.

Flames of Auriel by Erin R. Bedford – fun fantasy, though it had proofreading issues.

Dragon Blue: A Lie That’s True by Macy Babineux

Beloved Crusader by Vijaya Schartz – Fae historical fantasy

The Royal Wizard by Alianne Donnelly - a fun fantasy with a female wizard

The Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker - a steampunk-style fantasy with lots of action and awesome characters

Movies I Recommend:

Willow (1988)

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Hobbit Trilogy

Krull (1983)

Legend (1985)

Dragonheart (1996)

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Golden Compass (2007)

Other posts:

Quick Book Browsing: Sci-Fi Romance (or help, I’m being chased by an alien/monster/robot!)

Quick Book Browsing: Werewolf Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Psychics and Sci-Fi Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Paranormal Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Comedy and Mystery

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Published on January 12, 2017 09:42 • Tags: fantasy, fiction, laurel-richards

Quick Book Browsing: Sci-Fi Romance (or help, I’m being chased by an alien/monster/robot!)

My sci-fi romance novel The Colony upholds the long tradition of science fiction movies where the heroine and/or hero have to run for their lives. Dr. Elisa Everett makes a huge paleontology discovery on the planet of Jangala, and the next thing she knows, all of her fellow colonists are slaughtered or missing. Alexander Valerian is part of the security team already en route to Jangala and finds Elisa hiding in a ventilation shaft, gasping for air. Will they be able to figure out what happened to the colonists and get off the planet before they share the same fate?

Books I Recommend:

Linnea Sinclair’s Dock Five Universe series – sci-fi romance that includes characters running from killer jukors

Rebel Heart by Lizzy Ford – one of my favorite sci-fi books

Wendy Lynn Clarke’s Liberation’s Kiss – wonderful SFR with an android hero

Keir by Pippa Jay – a unique SFR with lots of different settings and one of my favorite book covers

Marcus by Anna Hackett – fighting against an alien invasion

Stranded with the Cyborg by Cara Bristol – sexy cyborg bodyguard, evading assassins, staying alive on a deadly planet

Escape from Zulaire by Veronica Scott – a fun action adventure and romance on another planet

Movies I Recommend:

Alien (1979) and the sequel, Aliens (1986), with Sigourney Weaver

Predator (1987), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

Pandorum (2009), with Dennis Quaid

Previous Posts:
Quick Book Browsing: Werewolf Romance
Quick Book Browsing: Psychics and Sci-Fi Romance
Quick Book Browsing: Fantasy
Quick Book Browsing: Paranormal Romance
Quick Book Browsing: Comedy and Mystery

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Published on January 15, 2017 06:22 • Tags: browsing, fiction, romance, sci-fi, science-fiction, sfr

Quick Book Browsing: Vampire Romance with Bite

In the first post of this blog series, I mentioned the reason behind writing it. I know what it’s like heading over to Amazon or B&N and scrolling through page after page of books looking for something new to read. The smaller retailers are disappearing, making it harder and harder to browse. I offer up my own book recommendations based on a certain genre and tone.

As those who are familiar with my Elementals series and my werewolf romance Wild Side know, I’m a big fan of paranormal romance. The very first paranormal novels to hook my attention, though, were those about vampires. Some authors have taken vampires into lighter and more humorous directions, but for this post, I’m going to stick with more serious fanged favorites.

Books I Recommend:

Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles — in my opinion, you can’t truly say you’re a vampire fan if you haven’t read at least a few books in this series

J.R. Ward’s Blackdagger Brotherhood series — the word “badass” comes to mind, since this series is full of aggressive vampires, action, and hot love scenes

Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series — I love the Wroth brothers, along with just about every other supernatural character in this series

Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed series — plenty of edgy and an interesting take on vampire origins

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series — I enjoy the mythology mixed in

Angela Knight’s Mageverse series — King Arthur and vampires? Sign me up!

Christine Feehan’s Dark/Carpathian series — has both good Carpathians and the nasty vampires they can turn into

Allie Ritch’s Vampire Territory series — contemporary (but with an alternate history), and the books have plenty of action and spicy love scenes

Jennifer Turner’s Darkness Within series — edgy and original

Jessica Sorenson’s Darkness Falls

Melissa R. Smith’s Six hours to Sunrise

Jacquelyn Frank’s Drink of Me

Carissa Broadbent’s The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Previous Posts:

Quick Book Browsing: Sci-Fi Romance (or help, I’m being chased by an alien/monster/robot!)

Quick Book Browsing: Werewolf Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Psychics and Sci-Fi Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Fantasy

Quick Book Browsing: Paranormal Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Comedy and Mystery

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Published on January 20, 2022 06:08 • Tags: browsing, fiction, laurel-richards, romance, vampires

Quick Book Browsing: The Lighter Side of Vampires (though not the sunny side)

Not every vampire book has to be dark or edgy. For those times when you want something lighter or even humorous, there are now a lot of vampire books out there in a..ha, ha...lighter vein.

Books I Recommend:

Fred Saberhagen’s The Dracula Tapes and the rest of the Dracula series —such a droll sense of humor in these books

Kathy Love’s Fangs for the Memories and the rest of the Young Brothers series — definitely made me laugh

MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead and Unwed and Undead and Unemployed — the rest of the series lost me, but I loved these

Nina Bangs’s My Wicked Vampire and the rest of the Castle of Dark Dreams series — ridiculous but entertaining

Kerrelyn Sparks’s How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire and the Love at Stake series — these books always make me laugh

Movies I Recommend:

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), starring Leslie Nielsen

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Love at First Bite (1979), starring George Hamilton

Previous Posts:

Quick Book Browsing: Vampire Romance with Bite

Quick Book Browsing: Sci-Fi Romance (or help, I’m being chased by an alien/monster/robot!)

Quick Book Browsing: Werewolf Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Psychics and Sci-Fi Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Fantasy

Quick Book Browsing: Paranormal Romance

Quick Book Browsing: Comedy and Mystery

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Published on January 21, 2017 05:20 • Tags: browsing, fiction, funny, humor, laurel-richards, light, paranormal, pnr, romance, vampires

Quick Book Browsing: Historical Romance

I don’t write historical romance, but I’ve read some great books in this genre. Here is just a sampling of a few of my favorites.

Books I Recommend:

Tessa Dare’s A Night to Surrender and the rest of the Spindle Cove series — I really love these books, both the bits of humor and the romance

Loretta Chase’s The Last Hellion — this author is definitely one of my favorites

Amanda Quick’s Desire — another fantastic author in all the genres and pen names she writes under

Loretta Chase’s The Knave’s Wager

Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel — if you haven’t read this classic, you’re missing out

Amanda Quick’s Deception

Amanda Quick’s Mischief

Mary Balogh’s Famous Heroine and The Plumed Bonnet — both made me laugh out loud

Georgie Lee’s The Courtesan’s Book of Secrets — I loved what the heroine did when the hero taunted her in this book!

Karen Ranney’s The Virgin of Clan Sinclair

Loretta Chase’s Scandal Wears Satin

Loretta Chase’s Miss Wonderful

Amanda Quick’s The Paid Companion

Stephanie Laurens’s All About Passion

Delilah Marvelle’s Prelude to Scandal

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Published on January 22, 2017 06:29 • Tags: browsing, fiction, historical-romance, laurel-richards

Quick Book Browsing: Dragon Shifters

In case it wasn’t obvious from my logo, I love dragons. If they’re dragon shifters, even better. I created a talking dragon birthmark in my urban fantasy Dragon Tears, and then I had Fire Elementals who could shape-shift and fight in dragon form in the paranormal romance sequel, Passion Fire.

Books I Recommend:

Cara Bristol's Line of Fyre - great sci-fi dragon shifters.

Angela Knight’s Master of Dragons — What can I say? I love everything about the Mageverse series.

Janet Chapman’s Dragon Warrior — Chapman always delivers books that make you feel good

Ashlyn Chase’s How to Date a Dragon — this was a fun read

Nulli Para Ora’s Dragon Revealed — this book has a fantastic fantasy world; the cover doesn’t do it justice

Macy Babineaux’s Dragon Blue: A Lie That's True — lots of shape-shifting action

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dragonswan — short, but a nice PNR

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Published on August 27, 2020 06:13 • Tags: browsing, dragons, fiction, paranormal-romance, pnr, romance, shifters

Quick Book Browsing: More Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi Romance

In The Colony, Dr. Elisa Everett makes a huge paleontology discovery on the planet of Jangala, and the next thing she knows, all of her fellow colonists are slaughtered or missing. Alexander Valerian is part of the security team already en route to Jangala and finds Elisa hiding in a ventilation shaft, gasping for air. Will they be able to figure out what happened to the colonists and get off the planet before they share the same fate?

In Fate’s Mission, warrior priest Reinn sets out on a mission to investigate a new historical discovery that could shatter everything his religious order believes in. Along the way, Fate brings him his soul mate, and Isibel’s destiny is entwined with his own. They face bombings, attempted kidnappings, and assassination attempts, and the danger only increases the closer they get to the truth.

In Stellar Affair, Ardra is kidnapped and programmed with a set of coordinates that could mean life or death for a whole planet of people, and along with that, she’s reprogrammed with memories that aren’t hers. Jack has the psychic ability to read people’s minds, and he uses this talent to try to untangle Ardra’s memories to get at the coordinates. He isn’t supposed to fall in love with her along the way.

Books I Recommend:

Lindsay Buroker's Star Nomad — has a wonderfully snarky female captain and interesting crew, with lots of action and suspense

Terminus (Fringe Worlds, #1) by Kevin Hardman – Gant Maker is a bit like a sci-fi Jack Reacher, and his companion, Erlen, makes this a fun read

Flare Shifter (T'nari Renegades–Pleiadian Cycle, Prequel Novella) by Erin MacMichael – too much insta-love as far as the romance goes, but the alien races are interesting, and the story focuses on life for a conquered and occupied people.

Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings #1) and the rest of the Claimings series by Lyn Gala – if you’re fine with a couple of spicy m/m love scenes, Lyn Gala does a fantastic job of creating an entire alien culture and makes the reader look at our own human cultures in a new light.

Prophecy (Prophecy #1) by Lea Kirk – although this book could have been edited better, the beginning catches the reader right away, and it’s nice to see an alien race that isn’t entirely homogenous and united.

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Published on June 13, 2018 08:27 • Tags: book-browsing, fiction, sci-fi, science-fiction, sfr

Quick Book Browsing: Series

For those of you who have been following this blog series, you know I started these posts following the closure of some of the smaller book vendors. Browsing for something to read on the larger booksellers’ sites can be overwhelming. You might miss out on a great book simply because the author didn’t spring for expensive advertising or because the title wound up on page twenty-five of that genre’s listings. For some time now, I’ve been posting my own recommendations within various categories. In case you missed those blog posts, you’ll find links to all of them at the bottom of this article. While there are a lot of great single title works out there, I know sometimes readers want to dive into a series. Below, you’ll find my personal recommendations for series in sci-fi and fantasy romance, paranormal romance, historical romance, humor, etc.

SCI-FI ROMANCE & FANTASY SERIES

Robotics Faction: Android Assassins Series by Wendy Lynn Clark
#android #romance

Spark Series by Autumn Dawn
#cyborg #SFR #translator #aliens #shapeshifter

The Emperor’s Edge Series by Lindsay Buroker
#fantasy #steampunk #assassin #action #romance

The Iron Seas Series by Meljean Brook
#steampunk #fantasy #romance

Claimings Series by Lyn Gala
#SFR #LGBT m/m romance

In Death Series by J.D. Robb
#SFR #futuristic #mystery #detective

Dock Five Universe Series by Linnea Sinclair
#SFR #spaceopera #telepath #war

Time-Hunter Series by Angela Knight
#SFR #romance #timetravel #futuristic

Ghostwalker Series by Christine Feehan
#SFR #psychic #military

Ghost Hunters / Harmony / Rainshadow Series by Jayne Castle
#SFR #dustbunnies #psychics #suspense

PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES

Elementals Series by Laurel Richards
#PNR #Elementals #urbanfantasy #shapeshifters #serpents #dragons

Psy-Changeling Series by Nalini Singh
#PNR #leopard #wolf #psychic #romance #shapeshifter

Mageverse Series by Angela Knight
#PNR #fantasy #romance #vampire #shapeshifters #werewolf #dragon #mage

Nightwalkers Series by Jacquelyn Frank
#PNR #demons #romance #Druids #lycanthropes #vampires

Shadowdwellers Series by Jacquelyn Frank
#PNR #romance #paranormal

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward
#PNR #vampire #romance

Vampire Territory Series by Allie Ritch
#PNR #vampire #romance #action

Midnight Breed Series by Lara Adrian
#PNR #vampire #psychic #romance

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series by Laurell K. Hamilton
#PNR #vampire #werewolf #shapeshifter #necromancer

Immortals After Dark Series by Kresley Cole
#PNR #Valkyrie #vampire #werewolf #foreseer

Dark-Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
#PNR #vampire #werewolf #gods

MacKenzie Vampire Series by Nina Bangs
#PNR #vampire #romance

Castle of Dark Dreams Series by Nina Bangs
#PNR #romance #themepark #demon #vampire #curse #humor

Dark Series by Christine Feehan
#PNR #Carpathians #vampires #psychics #Lycans #mages #romance

Love at Stake Series by Kerrilyn Sparks
#PNR #vampires #humor

Young Brothers Series by Kathy Love
#PNR #vampire #humor

Spellbound Falls Series by Janet Chapman
#PNR #romance #gods #timetravel

Dirk & Steele Series by Marjorie M. Liu
#PNR #psychics #shapeshifters #gargoyles #supernatural #agency

Goddess Summoning Series by P.C. Cast
#fantasy #romance #mythology

HISTORICAL ROMANCE SERIES

Carsington Brothers Series by Loretta Chase
#historical #romance

Bastion Club Series by Stephanie Laurens
#historical #romance

Bridgertons Series by Julia Quinn
#historical #romance #humor

Spindle Cove Series by Tessa Dare
#historical #romance #humor

MISC. SERIES

Arcane Society Series by Amanda Quick / Jayne Ann Krentz / Jayne Castle
#historical #contemporary #futuristic #romance #SFR #PNR #psychic

Short story collections by Patrick F. McManus
#humor #comedy #outdoors

Cassie Wynn Mystery Series by Laurel Richards
#comedy #cozymystery #romance #humor

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Previous Quick Book Browsing Posts

Shifters and Shifter Romance

Sci-Fi Romance

Sci-Fi Romance (or help, I’m being chased by an alien/monster/robot!)

Psychics and Sci-Fi Romance

Fantasy

Werewolf Romance

Dragon Shifters

Paranormal Romance

Comedy and Mystery

Historical Romance

The Lighter Side of Vampires (though not the sunny side)

Vampire Romance with Bite

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Published on February 10, 2019 14:12 • Tags: book-recommendations, browsing, fantasy, fiction, humor, pnr, sfr

Quick Book Browsing: Mages, Wizards, & Witches

I enjoy paranormal and fantasy fiction, including stories featuring mages, wizards, witches, and the like. My contemporary paranormal romance Spellbound, features a spellcaster who works in law enforcement and a shape-shifter he meets during a murder investigation. Riding the Storm is a sword-and-sorcery novel about a sorcerer who comes into his powers with the help of an unexpected friend. There are lots of great books out there, and here are some of my favorites in the genre.