BBH: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

This week’s BBH prompt was supposed to be “Books that make you crave chocolate” but I could only come up with a couple so I went looking in the BBH archives and this one from last year looked fun:

Do you read paranormal romances? If so, what is your favorite thing about the genre? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

For the first 50 years of my life, this would have been a hard no for me. Not because I don’t like the paranormal—my Buffy addiction was well-documented. It was more that I didn’t read fantasy. I thought that the genre was all orcs and fairy princesses (I know…I KNOW) and that did not interest me. I prefer grittier fiction, which is why I read so many mysteries.

Then one day, I was standing in the kitchen and the lovely roomie said that she was reading a book that she thought I’d like. It was Dead Spots, the first Scarlett Bernard book by Melissa F. Olson.

And it literally changed my world.

I was not aware that URBAN fantasy existed, y’all. *head explodes*

And yes, Urban Fantasy isn’t EXACTLY Paranormal Romance. I get that. But there is so much overlap that I usually think of them as sort of the same.

After that, it was three years down a rabbit hold of shifters, vampires, witches, nulls, grim reapers, The People* (oh, Ghastek…how I do love you). Patricia Briggs, Chloe Neill, Ilona Andrews, Rachel Caine, Darynda Jones, Richelle Mead, Kalayna Price, AJ Lancaster.

Chloe Neill. Chloe Neill. Chloe Neill.

As for what I like, I mean…what don’t I like? The world-building is top-notch. There is usually some sort of mystery being solved at the core, which speaks to my little mystery-lovin’ heart. The girls are tough and snarky and bad-ass, the boys are hot, and the bad-guys are full of twirly-mustache evil.

They are delicious.

And while they typically do stick to the “Romance=HEA” rule, the HEAs are usually so much more EARNED. I mean, in a typical RomCom, you get your HEA after one wacky misunderstanding. In UF/PR, you need to save the world, sacrifice your best friend, murder your father, lose your house and adopt a dog to have a chance at one.

The only bad part is that I typically blow through entire series in a week, and then there is no more, which is kind of devastating. I would pay a ridiculous sum of money for one more Chicagoland Vampires book. One more Alex Craft book. One more Charlie Daniels book.

So, that’s my rabbit hole. Do you read Urban Fantasy? What is your favorite series?

*Also, People aren’t exactly people. They are necromancers who pilot vampires. How cool does THAT sound?