Recommendations?

Hi, since I while I am into books featuring vampires and I am looking for recommendations. I have read Twilight (which is good for the the charming popcorn book it is), Dracula (obviously the classic) and Interview with the Vampire (not sure if I am into her writing style). Which books will I like?

Try Anita Blake (Guilty Pleasures by Laurell Hamilton)

I know about that one, but I am not sure if I will like it. People seem to be on the fence about that one. I can handle sex in stories, but it shouldn't get a pornfest (like Jean M. Auel).

I am thinking about the Vampire Diaries and the books by Charlaine Harris. They seem good books.

Actually there really isn't much sex (actually I can't remember if there was any) in the first Anita Blake book, Guilty Pleasures. I was surprised because I had heard the same thing about the series. That said I wasn't very wild about the book.

A couple other YA popcorn vamp series that I really enjoy are the Vampire Academy books by Richelle Mead and the Morganville Vampires books by Rachel Caine.

On the way more adult side there is the horror novel Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite which is wicked disturbing in a number of ways but pretty well written.

I have one on my 1010 challenge that I haven't read but have heard good things about called Agyar by Steven Brust which seems unusual in that it isn't a romance and doesn't appear to be horror.

I have a large amount of vampire books under the "vampire" tag in my library but the majority of them are paranormal romance and I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

DL - good choices to recommend. I second them, all good choices. You should like Vampire Diaries but you maybe comparing it to Twilight a lot, it's one of the reasons Twilight wasn't amazing for me, I was just comparing it to VD.

If you like Charlaine Harris you should like the first few Anita Blake books, I was a big fan up to book 9, Obsidian Butterfly and got a bit bored of the large quantities of sex in the following books, friends of mine love it, but not for me.

I have a lot of Vampire books in my library you are more than welcome to check it out - I would recommend Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason it is very Buffy-esque & very light on sex. Dark Lover is 1st book in Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward which has more sex but it is a great story & series so you can skip those parts & still enjoy. Off romance Stephen King's Salem's Lot is very good, scary & 1 scene that states "make love to me" & thats it. I am almost finished with that book now & pretty good. Also very scary no sex is The Strain by Guillermo del Toro very scary & read like a manuscript kinda.

Oh yeah, how could I forget about Salem's Lot! Loved reading it! So, I guess it safe to order Vampire Diaries and Charlaine Harris.

Does anybody know the books by the Nancy Collins? How are they? And the books by Ellen Schreiber?

@ Jenson_AKA_DL, what exactly do you mean with paranormal romance? Something like Twilight? Or is it more witches and vampires falling in love with each other? If it is the last, I don't think it is something for me: I'm not that big of a fantasy or science fiction fan.

The reason I am asking is that this big Dutch online bookstore has a sale on vampire books. Impossible to resist!

I love the Sonja Blue series by Nancy Collins. The Ellen Schreiber books are very juvenile. I much prefer the Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine.

I never actually considered Twilight a paranormal romance, although I know a lot of people do....

Mainly I mean romance novels with a paranormal twist. A lot of the times you get a generally normal girl with a supernatural type guy (vampire, werewolf, etc.) Some good examples of vampire paranormal romances are Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, mentioned before, My Demon's Kiss by Lucy Blue, A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole (werewolves), Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books or Christine Feehan's Dark Series. With these generally the relationship between him/her is the focus of the plot with varying degrees of intimate scenes depending on the author. The one's I've listed here I think of as "middle of the road" in the bedroom scene department but I think it is all in what you're used to reading. Some find these same books to be extremely explicit.

BTW - I agree about the Ellen Schreiber books, I found them to be pretty juvenile as well, although relatively interesting. Much more juvenile than Twilight.

There are a few interesting urban fantasy series that have vampires as kind of a subplot in them such as the Mercy Thompson books or the Harry Dresden series if you wanted to try something more along those lines.

Hm, no Ellen Schreiber for me then. That's not my level.

I want to explain one thing: I have no problems with sex, but when most of the book is sex, it get's boring. I like a plot, thank you. So I guess I am going to check the recommendations from #9.

One other thing on J.R. Ward that may be of interest to you. While Dark Lover sets the scene for this series (The Black Dagger Brotherhood books), it is really a paranormal romance. However, as the series goes on the story and world building gets much more complex with interaction by a cast of characters rather than a focus on just the hero/heroine of each book. It really is becoming more intricate tale than just a paranormal romance series, which may be something you would like. I still find the series to be very well done and enjoyable.

Hi I'm new to the group.I've read all of the Anita Blake books and the first five do not have all that sex in them.They don't get risque until later.But by then your hooked.And continue to read them all.

jenson - I just love the Mercy Thompson books :) & I wish they were a little more "detailed" lol...

Check your library for Got Fangs? and Circus of the Darned by Katie Maxwell. They're YA vampire romances similar to Twilight. The author also writes paranormal romances as Katie MacAlister.

I have to second Vampire Academy and add Marked - the House of Night series.

Charlaine Harris is good and I'll also second Christine Feehan.

Well, thanks! I took the plunge and ordered the Vampire Diaries, Nightworld and the first books from the Vampire Academy series. Today I got the first Sookie Stackhouse novel and the first book of the House of Night-series.

I also got The Vampire Archive, a collection of vampire stories from various writers. Maybe some of you will like that one too.

I'll have to check out The Vampire Archive - my girlfriend just finished all the Sookie books & she loved them - she just read them straight through she said they were that good. So, ENJOY :)

NPR has a list of vampire books: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123115545&sc=nl&cc=...

You might find a few good ones there.

The Chroncles of Vladimir Tod I think are good books. The Vampire Kisses books by Ellen Schreiber are the best books I've read. The House of Night series. Vampire Knight but this one is a manga. I will warn you though I'm in high school, so our taste in book levels can be different.

Vampires on NPR?!!! How cool is that?!!

> 20 - They're everywhere!

I would definitely try Charlaine Harris the Sookie Stackhouse books, the Laurell K Hamilton series both Anita Blake and Meridith Gentry are an aquired taste, I have it! ;) But I would also try
Kelley Armstrong Women of the underworld series,
Keri Arthur the Riley Jensen series,
Michele Bardsley the broken heart series(funny),
Patricia Briggs mercedes Thompson series(too cool)
Rachel Caine the weather warden series
Mary Janice Davidson anything (funny)
Kim Harrison Rachel Morgan series
Katie MacAlister all of them! (funny)
Lilith Saintcrow Dante Valentine series (rather dark)
Christine Warren any
Casey Daniels for fun
Rebecca York the moon series
Karen Marie Moning the Dark series only if you can stand cliffhangers!
there are others some are mostly romance if you like that Christine Feehan, J R Ward, Amanda Ashley
These are some of the authors I like most.

Whoever said the first few (5-6) Anita Blake books don't have much or every little sex. The amount of sex doesn't pick up to obscene levels until later in the series. I am pretty sure the first 3 books have no sex.

Tanya Huff's Blood series is good. Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series is good. Chloe Neill. Deadtown by Nancy Holzner

Also, other paranormal romance you might enjoy:
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter)
J. R. Ward
Alexandra Ivy
Maryjanice Davidson's Undead series

And others, not necessarily involving vampires:
Rachel Vincent (my soul to lose), Cassandra Clare, Kresley Cole (romance. all kinds of thing), Nalini Singh (romance. weres and psy), Cathy Clamp (romance. weres), Jim Butcher (urban fantasy. wizard), Ilona Andrews (urban fantasy. were), John Levitt(urban fantasy), Lisa Shearin(urban fantasy), Faith Hunter(urban fantasy. were), Caitlin Kittredge, Seanan McGuire (urban fantasy. fey),

Hi i just joined and had to tell you about a book i'm reading at the moment called "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova and its about Vlad the Impaler (Dracula). So far its fantastic! Just thought some of you would enjoy it to :)

Another option from last month's ER list

Kalayna Price's Once Bitten and Twice dead
with more to come. It's still a little rocky in places with the world needing more defining, but the were-vampire combination is quite novel.

>24 Peta31:
Peta - I am currently reading The Historian too!! And it is very good....very, very, very good!

Lman - yes it is very good and i'm enjoying it so much! I am going to get the other Elizabeth Kostova book as i've read it's great to (just can't think what it's called at the moment).

The Swan Thieves
I've been eyeing it ever since I saw it in the bookshop. I'm with you there. :)

Has anyone mentioned Chelsea Quinn Yarbro yet? These are historical vampire novels; the main vampire, Saint Germain, became a vampire in ancient times, and she has novels set in various periods and cultures: ancient Egypt, Rome, Byzantium, China - all the way up through Nazi Germany. Very interesting and well written.

Try The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause, Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde and Sunshine by Robin Mckinley. Three of my all-time favorites.

Has no one said House of Night? I dunno if that counts... but, by definition, it is about vampyres... And not too much sex... really :P

I just finished A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I didn't realize it until just now, but it's kind of like a grownup version of Twilight for Team Edward fans.

I hate Twilight lol... Mostly just because everyone loves it, and I find no fun in a book about two guys fighting over a girl... (pretty much) XD

34> TabbyPoynter, that's why I said A Discovery of Witches was a grownup version for Team Edward fans - no werewolves, no love triangle, but the same themes of dangerous desires, forbidden love, abstinence, obsession, except the heroine is a witch and has power of her own. There's more to the book than just the love story as well.

Grownup, meaning? I'm seventeen.... I mean, I counted that as pretty grownup... Until I got on here, where I'm one of the youngest :/

Would definitely recommend Charlaine Harris, personally. I love her writing style and some of the characters are really great. A lot of the vampire books out there are a little too... serious... for me. She mixes humour in at times, and it's great. Even though I'm 30 something, I still enjoyed The Vampire Diaries for a light, romantic read, or any of L.J. Smith's works. I enjoyed The Night World series a little more than the Vampire Diaries. Short stories, so if I didn't like a particular one, I didn't have to be too committed, even though the characters tied in throughout all of them. Those stories seemed a little more 'grown-up' than The Vampire Diaries.

32: LOVED The House of Night series by P.C. Cast. YA reads, again, but quite entertaining and had some interesting characters.

Edited to make a correction - I was responding to 36, not 37.

36> Grownup in that the characters are mature, college professors, not high school students. Grownup in that the story has a plot that doesn't involve a love triangle. People who liked Twilight will probably like A Discovery of Witches because it contains the similar themes that I mentioned before (in post 35).

NoNONo Discovery of Witches is actually more like The Historian than Twilight.

Why does everything vampire have to be compared to twilight if you read my review of Discovery you'll see I said calling it an adult Twilight is a disservice!

38> IMO, the characters are definitely more mature in The Night World Series. Of course, I enjoy the romance in them, but it seems a more mature (err... Should I say 'rounded') romance to me. :)

40> Oops! My comment was in response to 36, not 37.

I have heard that Night World is better than Vampire Diaries. I really didn't like the VD books. They were so bad, I couldn't even read The Return series. Maybe someday I'll give Night World a try, but it's not high on my TBR list.

39> NoYesMaybe ;^) It's been years since I read The Historian but I read A Discovery of Witches because of the comparisons. (I hadn't heard it compared to Twilight.) I was surprised, not unpleasantly, that it was more of a vampire romance.

I agree that DOW is similar to The Historian because they both have the whole academia thing going on, but that's where the similarities end for me. In The Historian, Dracula is a scary, malevolent presence and the main character is searching to discover if he is real and still alive. In DOW, the main character knows the vampire is real and finds him mysterious and sexy.

I still think DOW is more like Twilight because of the themes. To really simplify it, it all comes down to the type of vampire - sexy or creepy.

Everything, not just everything vampire, "has to" be compared to Twilight because it's THE THING at the moment. Just like everything before that had to be compared to The DaVinci Code or Harry Potter. (And The Historian was compared to The DaVinci Code). Some people compare The Hunger Games to Twilight just because they both have love triangles, but if you look below the surface, they have nothing in common. On the surface, Twilight and A Discovery of Witches have almost nothing in common (besides the vampires), but if you look more deeply at the themes, they are similar.

I don't want to get into details and give any spoilers, so can we just agree that the original poster would probably like A Discovery of Witches?

If you're looking for something lighthearted, consider You Suck by Christopher Moore. The first line alone got me laughing!

For humorous vamp books, I would suggest The Vladimir Tod Chronicals (excuse my spelling). I will admit they're more based for teen readers but adults may find them humorous as well.

the newest series that i have become addicted to that i'm recommending to everyone is the chicagoland vampire series by chloe neill. i read these books in four days and patiently waiting for the next one to come out in november. its soooo good! the first book in the series is some girls bite.

I love the series of books called Vampire Kisses so far there are like 8 books

I love Vampire Kisses too, but I want her to stop the series already! The books may be small but there comes a time where the series should stop like maybe 8 or 9 in.

the Vampire Academy series is to die for!! i got lost in these books soo easily!! it's like a drug!!!!

i agree the chronicles of vladimir tod are really good books. i just purchased the last one Twelfth grade kills

Final book for the Vampire Academy comes out at the end of the month & cant wait - this was a good series.

50> Are you talking about Bloodlines? It's not the last VA - it's the first of a spin-off series.

>51 BookLizard: - Oh really! I thought that was the last book finally - now a spin off. Awesome!! Thanks for the heads up

I really really love the Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian. There's nine books to the series. The tenth comes out in January (2012), (there might be a novella coming out before it, its unsaid yet) but It's really good. It's more of a mature novel, not really kiddish such as Twilight, Blue Bloods, Vampire Diaries, or the marked series.

I can't give you too much but I can give you a general run down to see if you'd be interested.
Basically it's about a group of vampires who call themselves "The order of the midnight breed" and they protect citizens (breed and human) from vampires who have gone "rogue" or been lost to "bloodlust" and there are several different enemies of the order that they have to defeat. Each book revolves around a different member of the order and how they meet their breedmates (like girlfriend/wife). And its not the same story told from different views. The story progresses in each book but it's just told from different members. Each book switches between the order member and their girl. (its really not as confusing as it sounds) I really like it.

This is my favorite series that I've ever read. And yes I try and get people into it.

53> I really like the midnight breed series as well. I u haven't read JR Wards blackdagger brotherhood series you really should because that is almost the same format but I liked maybe even better

scrpo1027 - I am aware of the Blackdagger brotherhood series, I do own the first novel but it is far down on my book list and I rarely have the time to read. I will get to it eventually. JR Ward and Lara Adrian aparently have become good friends, they wrote their series at the exact same time just Adrian started a month before Ward. Kind of funny how those things work out.

If anyone's interested in a different take on the vampire based on Chinese mythology, I recommend Bentley Little's The Summoning. There's an interesting article here which discusses some of the inspirations: http://www.lsu.edu/faculty/jpullia/asianvampirelore.htm

Ladies, Thank you for telling me which novels and authors had too much S_x because that is just what I like to read. Maybe I will pick up a few ideas, and get an idea what turns on you ladies. I may even come back and report which one's I liked the most.

Hey, JT. Don't feel the need to come back. Did you intend to sound so very creepy?

i need help,i can't find anymore good vampire books,vampire academy is my fav series so i already read those 6 books and i read bloodlines and still waiting for the golden lilly,read the morganville vampire books (11 so far and waiting for black down),i read the mortal instruments novels (city of bones,city of ashes,city of glass,city of fallen angels) but it wasn't that great, i found the infernal devices series alot better(clockwork angel,clockwork prince,and later this year clockwork princess will come out) i also liked the chicagoland vampire series,night huntress, and by richelle mead besides the vampire academy series which i already mentioned the succubus series and the black swan series(both were amazing)i also read the vampire diaries novel( the tv show is better) and two of the nightworld series(i really didn't like L.J smith's writing) i also read the southern vampire mysteries which i liked alot(they r better than true blood) so i can't find anymore good vampire books so if any1 can help then kindly suggest something :)

Interesting article! For me, the question vampires raise is "what's so special about life?" why would someone want to be here forever and what does he/ she gain or lose by cheating death? I can't think of any other monster that is as thought provoking as a vampire.

I'll put A Discovery of Witches on my to-be-read list. I think vampires are incredibly romantic & sexy but like more complexity & danger than the twilight series delivers (also find it easier to relate to an older heroine). Thanks for the rec :)

Amanda Hockings My Blood Approves series was great. Its taken alot of flack for its similarities to the Twilight books but I do not agree. Amanda Hocking has a way of describing her characters and their history in such a way that you become emotionally invested in them rather than just reading to see who wins the girl at the end. Yes, its a human girl and a vampire boy, but her story goes so much deeper and maybe a bit more emotionally disturbing. Plus, the main character isnt the hard to love Bella. Her series is aimed at YA but the story is mature enough to keep most adults interested as well. Just thought I would pass it on, I originally bought the books while trolling B&N for cheap Nook books. I think I paid a buck each at the time, but even now they are less than three bucks each. ...I totally loved the Sookie books too...happy that we had a female protaganist that was at least past puberty!!

It isnt vampires, but Amanda Hocking's Switched was an original take on the "girl meets paranormal" theme. Not bad.

not a big fan of the romance novels. I prefer actual horror stories. loved Akeldama: The Field of Blood by Ardy. It's on Smashwords.com This is a straight up scary book with a lot of classic vampire action and no teen romances. check it out!

Just found out Ardy posted a prequel to Akeldama on Smashwords. It's totally free. I read it in less than an hour and it was awesome!

66> Let's see, now, Nicola Claire (oops, I mean NicNacNoodle), you just joined LT on June 13 and you've so far got three books in your library, all of them this "Kindred" series, the three books of which only seem to be available in Kindle editions, for each of which you've posted an LT review (you're the sole reviewer for each) telling us that you've read all three books "back to back," which seems quite an achievement considering that you're now indicating in this post (as well as in similar posts you've made to five other topics, all of these posts having been made between 6:51pm and 7:07pm today) that "the third is due out at the end of this month" and that "there are more books in the series planned" (this on a post to an Urban Fantasies topic).

You really should check the LT TOS regarding spamming your own book. FLAGGED (along with the other five posts you've made).

The early ones especially. All are strongly into the erotic, with some becoming almost nothing but (e.g., "Micah).

Charlene Harris is excellent. I've read them all and enjoyed them all.

I am reading the Aris series by Devin Morgan. It is a fantasy/historical vampire romance series, and a mystery!

A vampire series that I just discovered is A Shade Of Vampire by Bella Forrest. I loved the first book. Not really any sex so it is good for Adults and YA. It is a unique take on vampires that I'd never read before and really enjoyed.