Book picks similar to
Practical Boots by C.E. Murphy


urban-fantasy
fantasy
ebook
fant-urban

Semi-Fated


Isabel Jordan - 2021
    If you’re really lucky, sometimes he’s also in your bed…Adrianne Riddick is far from normal. But her latest psychic vision, the one of her death, is weird even for her. To stop it from coming true, she’ll need help from her family of supernatural hunters. She’ll also need to avoid Gabriel Malek, her first love. The demon who shattered her young heart.But as complicated as all that is, her life doesn’t really go to hell (literally) until a new enemy shows up and knocks Adrianne and Gabriel into another dimension. (Long story)Now, if they want to get home and stop Adrianne’s vision, they need to work together—all while dealing with the fact that her unrequited feelings for Gabriel aren’t exactly unrequited anymore. Yeah…his timing could be better.So, what’s a vampire hybrid, misfit of magic to do when her happily ever after—and, you know, her life—is on the line?She’ll get back to you on that…Semi-Fated is book 8 in the Harper Hall Investigations paranormal romance series. You could read it as a stand-alone, but it definitely works best if you've read the rest of the series, starting with Semi-Charmed. It also works best if you like strong, kick-ass heroines and the sometimes befuddled alpha heroes who love them. You also might want to skip this one if you don't have a healthy appreciation for characters who cuss, and snark. Lots and lots of snark. Happy reading!

Magic Lies


Fatima Bader - 2020
     My name’s Selena Valeron, and I’m the Supernatural Bureau of Investigation’s best undercover witch. After three years, the bureau has just handed me my biggest case: hunting the magical community’s most prolific serial killer, Xavier. Lately the dead women on the morgue table bear an eerie resemblance to me. A shocking revelation indicates the killer is someone from my past—if I can remember it. Years ago, an accident wiped out my memory and threatened to end my career. Now my magical powers seem to be manifesting into something stronger. Was my memory loss really an accident, or a failed murder attempt? Time's ticking as I dig through my past to find the killer. I need answers. If I can't get them in time, I'll lose friends, family—even my own life. MAGIC LIES is a fast-paced urban fantasy mystery with plenty of thrilling twists and turns that will keep you guessing. Agent Valeron may have lost her memory, but she hasn't lost her snarky attitude and she's still a badass witch. Jump into this magical world and start reading the Selena Valeron series today!

The House Lost at Sea


R.J. Blain - 2020
    Hiding in plain sight as an investment banker, she waits for the end of eternity and the death she has rightfully earned. When a rich client's fascination with her captain and her lover threatens to exhume the watery grave of Catalina's past, she must take up arms against friends and enemies alike to protect her captain's legacy. Should the Calico's sunken ruins be discovered, Catalina’s one true treasure, the House Lost at Sea will be plundered, exposing the secret of Catalina's immortality, and guaranteeing she'll lose the only thing she has left: her freedom.

Risky Magic


Tori Centanni - 2018
    They call me the Trash Witch because I play fast and loose with spell ingredients. Personally, I think of myself as an innovator, pushing the boundaries of what magic can do. So imagine my surprise when the handsome young Witch Council member Jaden Blackmore asks for my help finding a missing witch behind the council’s back. No matter how dangerous and reckless it is to defy the council, I just can't say no to Jaden's beautiful green eyes. But then parallels to my own mother's disappearance come to light and enemies crawl out of the woodwork. With the help of Jaden and my uptight, rule-abiding roommate, Valerie, we must test the limits of my magic and find the missing witch before whatever happened to him happens to me. And it turns out my magic may not be what it seems… Risky Magic is a stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Reluctant Werewolf Chronicles and Avery Burke appears briefly in Wicked Moon. Risky Magic is suspenseful urban fantasy with humor and romance.

Burn the Night


Zahra Stone - 2021
    After growing up in a slew of foster homes, I was excited to strike out on my own. Only the government found me and turned me into their little weapon.Now it’s my job to hunt down others like me—paranormals who have gone rogue—and I have no choice but to comply.For years they never cared about what I could do, they just needed me to get the job done. But now they're asking lots of questions, and I don't have any of the answers.The truth is: nobody knows who or what I am. Not even me.If I can't figure it out soon, I'll not only lose my job but possibly end up in prison... or the morgue.

Drop Dead


D.N. Erikson - 2019
    And it hurts. Bad.And there's a vampire warlock right outside the door. And he's coming to finish the job.Drop Dead is the first book in the new urban fantasy series starring Tess Skye.

Miss Spell's Hotel


Kate Danley - 2019
    And if you can't beat 'em.... well. Kill 'em with kindness.Get checked in with Miss Spell's Hotel - book one in the Know Spell Hotel spin off series, a funny, gothic, urban fantasy adventure... with witches!P.S.  Don't worry if you haven't ready any of the Maggie MacKay books (although book one - Maggie for Hire is currently FREE!)  Miss Spell's Hotel stands alone!

Grim Beginnings


Amanda M. Lee - 2015
    In fact, she was dead set against it. When an economic downturn causes her to lose her job, she’s forced to go to desperate measures to earn a living. Aisling comes from a big family of grim reapers – no, you read that right. She’s the youngest of five siblings – and the only girl – and the testosterone is going to hit the fan when the Grimlocks try to teach Aisling the ropes and keep her safe at the same time. Between rogue wraiths, murderous new acquaintances and gargoyles dropping from the sky, Aisling has her hands full. That’s on top of four brothers (and one curmudgeonly father) who would die for her – while also killing for her – and a police officer who’s desperate to learn the family secret. Follow Aisling as she delves into the mystery of her mother’s death and a world she never wanted to explore – and yet might fit in all the same. This omnibus includes the first three books in the Aisling Grimlock mystery series: Grim Tidings, Grim Offerings and Grim Discovery.

Kiss of Venom


Jennifer Estep - 2013
    Owen Grayson is still wracked with guilt over the end of his love affair with Gin Blanco, and there aren’t enough gin and tonics in all of Ashland to ease his heartache. But when Gin happens to show up at the same nightclub, he isn’t the only one hoping to get her alone. Some shadowy figures will do anything to take down the Spider, Gin’s assassin alter ego, and Owen will do anything to protect her. This could be the way to win her back, or at least give her a night off from fighting for her life—if Owen can survive...

Little King Henry


Richard Raley - 2011
    But how exactly did she find out about her most troubling recruit just days before the new school year? How did she find out about King Henry Price?This story is set in the world of THE KING HENRY TAPES:Book 1 - The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady (released)Book 2 - The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes (released)Book 3 - Forthcoming

Putting the Fun in Funeral


Diana Pharaoh Francis - 2018
    As luck would have it, someone beats her to murdering Mommy Dearest and now Beck gets to plan the tackiest funeral the world has ever seen for the worst woman she’s ever known. But first, Beck has a few minor problems to deal with. First on the list? Avoid getting kidnapped. She also has to convince the police she didn’t kill her mother. And then there’s surviving a death curse …. With the help of her three best friends, cheesecake, and a little magic, Beck figures she can handle anything, even the mysterious and irritating Damon Matroviani, whose sexy good-looks light her panties on fire. All too soon, her life is turned inside out, and just when things are looking like they can’t get any worse ... everything hits the fan.

Finding Magic


Stacia Kane - 2012
    Before Chess Putnam was a magic-wielding Churchwitch, she was a student in the Church of Real Truth—with a keen sensitivity to magic, a strong rebellious streak, and a penchant for self-destruction. And in Finding Magic, a grisly ghost murder becomes Chess’s baptism of fire.   When eighteen-year-old Chess Putnam is offered the chance to train with a special team of investigators known as the Black Squad, she feels torn. She’s never been a team player and hates how one male Inquisitor condescends to “the new kid.” But at her first bloody crime scene, she gets a taste for investigation—and is hooked on the high. Though the seasoned Inquisitors consider the series of ghost murders random events, Chess starts to detect a pattern. Is a psycho killer summoning ghosts from the City of Eternity and using them as murder weapons? As Chess gets closer to the dark truth, she puts herself in grave danger and risks losing everything she’s fought so hard for.   Includes a special preview of Stacia Kane’s upcoming urban fantasy thriller, Chasing Magic!

Backup


Jim Butcher - 2008
    I'm not Harry Dresden. Harry's a wizard. A genuine, honest-to-goodness wizard. He's Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull, with a big leather coat and a .44 revolver in his pocket. He'll spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences--and yet somehow my little brother manages to remain a decent human being. I'll be damned if I know how. But then, I'll be damned regardless. My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster. So begins "Backup" a twelve thousand word novelette set in Jim Butcher's ultra-popular Dresden Files series. This time Harry's in trouble he knows nothing about, and it's up to his big brother Thomas to track him down and solve those little life-threatening difficulties without his little brother even noticing.Also in Side Jobs.

Naked City


Ellen DatlowJohn Crowley - 2011
    In Jim Butcher’s ”Curses”, Harry Dresden investigates how to lift a curse laid by the Fair Folk on the Chicago Cubs. In Patricia Briggs’ “Fairy Gifts,”, a vampire is called home by magic to save the Fae who freed him from a dark curse. In Melissa Marr’s “Guns for the Dead”, the newly dead Frankie Lee seeks a job in the afterlife on the wrong side of the law. In Holly Black’s “Noble Rot”, a dying rock star discovers that the young woman who brings him food every day has some strange appetites of her own.Featuring original stories from 20 authors, this dark, captivating, fabulous, and fantastical collection is not to be missed!Contents:Curses / by Jim Butcher --How the pooka came to New York City / by Delia Sherman --On the slide / by Richard Bowes --The Duke of Riverside / by Ellen Kushner --Oblivion by Calvin Klein / by Christopher Fowler --Fairy gifts / by Patricia Briggs --Picking up the pieces / by Pat Cadigan --Underbridge / by Peter S. Beagle --Priced to sell / by Naomi Novik --The bricks of Gelecek / by Matthew Kressel --Weston walks / by Kit Reed --The projected girl/ by Lavie Tidhar --The way station / by Nathan Ballingrud --Guns for the dead / by Melissa Marr --And go like this / by John Crowley --Noble rot / by Holly Black --Daddy longlegs of the evening / by Jeffrey Ford --The skinny girl / by Lucius Shepard --The Colliers' Venus (1893) / by Caitlín R. Kiernan --King pole, gallows pole, bottle tree / by Elizabeth Bear.

A Test of Mettle


Kevin Hearne - 2011
    It is available for free on the author's website.