Book picks similar to
Westward to Strange by Ray Litt


mermaids
fantasy
first-reads
paranormal

Beyond Every Mirror


Christine Church - 2016
    Women desire him. Men envy him. Despite his charmed life, however, what Dane Bainbridge truly craves is love. But the only woman who sends his heart aflutter and his emotions in turmoil is the "imaginary woman" he has been seeing in mirrors all his life. Meirah resides in a time dimension beyond every mirror. Her world is one of imagination and nightmares, kept alive by the strength of a mortal’s blood. And Dane’s is the strongest, which curses him to life after life of suffering and torture - watching the only woman he could ever love slip away with his sacrifice. Can they break the curse that separates them before they die in a war of worlds never before known?

Mythos


Vrinda Pendred - 2013
    BOOKS 1 & 2 WERE AMALGAMATED AND EXTENSIVELY EDITED. READ ABOUT REVISED BOOK 117-year-old Itzel Loveguard has a secret. The stories she can’t seem to stop writing...sometimes they come true. And now she thinks she may have killed her own father.But she’s not the only one. Her estranged half-brother Oz and his unfailingly charming friend Seth can do things too. And so can the handsome grey-eyed boy, who seems to have stepped right out of Itzy’s dreams and has been travelling to London in search of the mysterious black pulse.Suddenly, Itzy is flung on an emotional journey as she struggles to come to terms with her traumatic past – and it leads her into a strange new world of magic and mythology.Now she finds herself questioning everything she’s ever believed...and wondering who her father thought was coming for her.

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder


Wendy Webb - 2020
    Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos.But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows.In this chilling season of love, transformation, and fear, something is calling for Brynn. To settle her past, she may have no choice but to answer.

Shadows Gray


Melyssa Williams - 2012
    Her family is one of the Lost; time travelers who have no power over their journeys. Hopelessly old fashioned and yet more modern than most girls, Sonnet speaks several languages and takes care of her motley crew back home by working in a coffee shop and playing guitar. Over time, the Lost leave behind those they love and pick up new characters along the way. In twenty-first century America, Sonnet meets Emme, a Lost young woman with a questionable line of work, Luke, a mysterious photographer, and Israel, a young doctor . But no one can take the place of Sonnet's sister, Rose, who was left behind as a baby in the fifteenth century. The ghost of her beckons from each time and place; but what's real and what isn't? Is Rose Gray trying to contact her before it's too late?A ghost story with a sci-fi, Gothic romance twist, Shadows Gray will keep you up at night, wondering: is the redemptive power of love enough to change history?

The Devil's Pride


T. Birmingham - 2020
    Their greed for blood consumed them. Their once orange eyes bled to red, and they became one of the demons of legend. And when they die, they do not rest. They haunt. They take. They devour. Their souls become Shadows. Darkness. Death. Alexia Maria Garda-Martinez was born a monster. Red hair. Red eyes. Pale skin. And nowhere to call home. But after years of foster care and state homes, she has finally found her niche. A family. A promising career. And a life that’s fulfilling. Devon Waters ran from his hometown of Montville, New York fifteen years ago, and he found more than he bargained for. Reunited with his twin brother, a detective in the local police department, Devon doesn’t plan on running again. When a brutal, ritualistic murder happens right in their little college town, Alexia and Devon are pulled into a world of good versus evil that will have them both questioning who they are. The Skröm and the Shadows are closing in, and Alexia and Devon must join forces to stop the darkness at all costs. Will Alexia be able to fight her darker instincts, or will the devil inside of her draw her into its seductive web? *Disclaimer: smexy scenes, kickass heroines, murder, mystery, fantasy...and yes, Man Bears. **Trigger Warning: This book contains scenes of abuse that may be difficult for some readers.

Jenny Pox


J.L. Bryan - 2010
    A lifetime of avoiding any physical contact with others has made her isolated and painfully lonely in her small rural town.Then she meets the one boy she can touch. Jenny feels herself falling for Seth...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the deadly pox inside her to confront his ruthless and manipulative girlfriend Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.* * *Not recommended for readers under eighteen.BONUS: Includes an excerpt of Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel.

The Problem with Black Magic


Karen Mead - 2012
    Sam, a mysterious co-worker at The Daily Grind, seems to have taken an instant dislike to her, but for Cassie, the looming specter of the SAT Verbal section is a much bigger concern.After a freak accident nearly leaves Cassie and her co-workers dead, a spell cast in desperation transforms her from a regular teen to a valuable familiar: a magical well a demon can tap. As if she didn't have enough problems, now every demon (and their monstrous minions) seems to be after Cassie's latent magic, and will stop at nothing to possess her.Blending a hint of gothic romance with wry humor, The Problem With Black Magic is a tale of one young woman's struggle for independence in a brand new world of sorcery, intrigue, and wonder.

The Citizens


L.M. Smith - 2012
    Sounds perfect right? But what if you can’t remember where you are or how you got there? What if you can’t ever leave? And what if the only other people around are hostages, just like you? Would you still want to stay?Jasmine Marshall certainly didn’t think so until she met Justin Beck; a dashing active-duty member of the United States Army and fellow hostage. With him around life in Kolob might not be so bad after all … or so she thought. There are vampires and psychics at the breakfast table! Disturbing acts of torture and senseless violence are commonplace. Biochemical warfare is a very real threat, and the town’s mayor is an elusive mad-scientist obsessed with his own theories about December 21, 2012!In a place where one has everything to gain and nothing to lose, one thing reigns true: nothing in Kolob is ever as it seems.

Midnight Rose


Dani Hart - 2017
    Vampires. Supernaturals. And love. It’s my world, and I have to save it, but not from the monsters. Abigail Rose’s life was as predictable as the tides rising and falling, until Wes Hunter returned to Sandpoint. Then, the impossible became possible, the predictable became unpredictable, and those monsters became more than friends. Wes would do anything to keep Abigail safe, and Abigail would leave everything behind to save everyone she loves. A suspenseful romance, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.

Darkness Brutal


Rachel A. Marks - 2015
    Since then, every three years the demons have returned to try to claim her. Living in the gritty, forgotten corners of Los Angeles, Aidan has managed to protect his sister, but he knows that even his powers to fight demons and speak dead languages won’t keep her safe for much longer.In desperation, Aidan seeks out the help of Sid, the enigmatic leader of a group of teens who run LA Paranormal, an Internet reality show that fights demons and ghosts. In their company, Aidan believes he’s finally found a haven for Ava. But when he meets Kara, a broken girl who can spin a hypnotic web of passionate energy, he awakens powers he didn’t know he had―and unleashes a new era of war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness.With the fate of humanity in his hands, can Aidan keep the Darkness at bay and accept his brilliant, terrifying destiny?

Evolution


Kelly Carrero - 2012
    He knew what she was. And like him, she was born this way.Now if finding out that people like her shouldn’t exist was bad enough, Jades best friend is kidnapped by the psycho who’s terrorised her dreams. With the help of Aiden, she has to figure out how to saver her, before it’s too late.But what Jade doesn’t know, is not everything is what it seems. She is merely a puppet in a sadistic game to find out what she is truly capable of – and the game has only just begun.

Hidden


Megg Jensen - 2013
    The mystery enshrouding Hutton’s Bridge is as impenetrable as the fog that descended at its borders eighty years ago. Each year, three villagers enter the mist searching for answers. No one ever returns.Then a dragon falls from the sky to the town square, dead—the first glimpse of an outside world that has become nothing more than a fairy tale to Hutton’s Bridge. Except to Tressa.Tressa grew up with Granna’s stories of the days before the fog fell. When Granna dies, leaving Tressa without any family, Tressa ventures into the fog herself, vowing to unravel the foul magic holding Hutton’s Bridge captive. What she discovers beyond the fog endangers the lives of everyone she loves.

Change


Melissa Stevens - 2012
    Nickie finds out that not only do shape-shifters exist, but she is one. The Kitsune are a race of shape-shifters that have been living in secret alongside humans for centuries. As Nickie struggles to master her newly discovered shape-shifting and the abilities it brings her, she learns that some of the people in her life are far more than she knew. Can Nickie handle all the changes headed her way on her own? Or does she have someone who can help her?

Hunting Kat


Kelley Armstrong - 2012
    After an experiment-gone-wrong and a bullet to the heart, she now hungers for human blood, and the worst part about that is the guilt. But guilt isn't the only thing stressing her. Kat is being hunted by the Edison Group, a dangerous Cabal that is responsible for her undead state. Kat is running out of places to hide, and she has no one to turn to — until she meets Chad and Neil. They're on the run like she is, and they offer to help Kat against their common enemy. But the boys aren't all that they seem, and for Kat, deciding whether to trust them may be a matter of life or death.

The Lost


Sarah Beth Durst - 2014
    But then Lauren finds herself trapped in a town called Lost on the edge of a desert, filled with things abandoned, broken and thrown away. And when she tries to escape, impassable dust storms and something unexplainable lead her back to Lost again and again. The residents she meets there tell her she's going to have to figure out just what she's missing--and what she's running from--before she can leave. So now Lauren's on a new search for a purpose and a destiny. And maybe, just maybe, she'll be found...Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, Sarah Beth Durst writes an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman's impossible journey...and her quest to find her fate.