Book picks similar to
A Defender Rises by T.R. Cameron


urban-fantasy
fantasy
paranormal
fantasy-paranormal

Leif


Abbi Glines - 2012
    I owned her soul…until Death stole her heart."LEIF is a novella from the Existence series. It is glimpses into Leif's point-of-view during both Existence and Predestined. * Also, each digital copy of LEIF has a free download for Dank Walker (AKA Death) newest song - Closer.

Curse of Stone


Veronica Shade
    But Madison accidentally killed her boyfriend, and now a girl at her witch academy is dead, too.Madison spent her life avoiding her magical abilities, but when she’s forced to use them to save her best friend from a deadly storm and accidentally kills her boyfriend as a result, she decides she needs to enroll at La Voisin School for Young Witches after all.She knew starting a year later than her peers would come with its own struggles; she just never expected one of those struggles would be the impossible murder of a classmate. The school is spelled for safety, and witches can’t kill…so how did Giselle end up dead?Only Giselle and her killer know, and only Madison can find out. Because now, the dead witch is haunting her. Crazy thing is, Giselle’s murder isn’t even the biggest secret this school has.Just ask the statues.

The Write Hook


Robyn Peterman - 2021
    Not all of them are working for me.At forty-two I’ve had my share of ups and downs. Relatively normal, except when the definition of normal changes… drastically.NYT Bestselling Romance Author: CheckAmazing besties: CheckLovely home: CheckPet cat named Thick Stella who wants to kill me: CheckWacky Tabacky Dealing Aunt: CheckCheating husband banging the weather girl on our kitchen table: CheckNasty Divorce: Oh yesCharacters from my novels coming to life: Umm… yesCrazy: PossiblyFour months of wallowing in embarrassed depression should be enough. I’m beginning to realize that no one is who they seem to be, and my life story might be spinning out of my control. It’s time to take a shower, put on a bra, and wear something other than sweatpants. Difficult, but doable.With my friends—real and imaginary—by my side, I need to edit my life before the elusive darkness comes for all of us.The plot is no longer fiction. It’s my reality, and I’m writing a happy ever after no matter what. I just have to find the write hook.

The Girl


Lola St. Vil - 2012
    They've been sent to elicit the secret from her before the demons can. Emmy later learns that her name is the only clue to locating a sought-after bridge that for centuries, Evil has plotted to destroy; this would in turn bring about the end of humanity. Things get worse when Emmy falls madly in love with Marcus, the well-intentioned but obstinate leader of the Guardians. He eventually confesses that he is in love with her as well. Unfortunately, Marcus has been warned by his clairvoyant and omniscient guide that should he and Emmy get together, the mission will fail and humanity will perish.

Touching Smoke


Airicka Phoenix - 2012
    I dream of the day I burn the world to the ground. I dream of the dayI will finally die.Running is something my mother taught me to do very well. I never knew why until the night I cause an earthquake and meet Isaiah. My shadow. My protector. My other half. I need him. I need his blood. He is the only one who can keep me hidden from the man who created me. The man who createdthe monster.The world is depending on me not to fall in love. But what happens when the temptation becomes too great and falling is my only option? Can I live knowing I will destroy the world because his touch is the only thing keeping me alive?And how can I trust someone as lost as I am?Touch Passion. Touch Power. Touch Smoke!

Chosen Ones


Veronica Roth - 2020
    . . by destiny or by choice.A decade ago near Chicago, five teenagers defeated the otherworldly enemy known as the Dark One, whose reign of terror brought widespread destruction and death. The seemingly un-extraordinary teens—Sloane, Matt, Ines, Albie, and Esther—had been brought together by a clandestine government agency because one of them was fated to be the “Chosen One,” prophesized to save the world. With the goal achieved, humankind celebrated the victors and began to mourn their lost loved ones. Ten years later, though the champions remain celebrities, the world has moved forward and a whole, younger generation doesn’t seem to recall the days of endless fear. But Sloane remembers. It’s impossible for her to forget when the paparazzi haunt her every step just as the Dark One still haunts her dreams. Unlike everyone else, she hasn’t moved on; she’s adrift—no direction, no goals, no purpose. On the eve of the Ten Year Celebration of Peace, a new trauma hits the Chosen: the death of one of their own. And when they gather for the funeral at the enshrined site of their triumph, they discover to their horror that the Dark One’s reign never really ended.

The Faceless Mage


Kenley Davidson - 2020
    Guard the princess. Hide her magic. Wait for her family to return.But all of that changes when her king demands that she use her unique abilities to spy on the rival kingdom of Garimore.Alone, far from home, and living a lie that grows more perilous by the day, Leisa’s task is complicated by her most dangerous enemy yet—the masked assassin known only as the Raven.Everyone in the Five Thrones knows to fear him, but the Raven is not what Leisa expected. As silent as he is lethal, he provokes her curiosity as much as her fear, and hides secrets she’s determined to learn.When her already precarious mission takes a deadly turn, Leisa must evade the Raven himself if she is to succeed. It’s never been done before, but Leisa is nothing if not stubborn. And if she doesn’t become the first to escape his blade, her entire kingdom will pay the price—in blood.

The Girl In Between


Laekan Zea Kemp - 2012
    Afflicted with Klein-Levin Syndrome, she suffers episodes of prolonged sleep that steal weeks, and sometimes even months, from her life. But unlike most KLS patients, she doesn’t spend each episode in a catatonic state or wake up with no recollection of the time she’s missed. Instead, Bryn spends half her life in an alternate reality made up of her memories. For Bryn, the past is a place, until one day a boy she’s never met before washes up on the illusory beach of her dreams with no memory of who he is.But the appearance of this strange boy isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Bryn’s symptoms are worsening, her body weakening as she’s plagued by hallucinations even while awake. Her only hope of finding a cure is to undergo experimental treatment created by a German specialist. But when Dr. Banz reveals that he knows more about her strange symptoms than he originally let on, Bryn learns that the boy in her head might actually be the key to understanding what’s happening to her, and worse, that if she doesn’t find out his identity before it’s too late, they both may not survive.

The Palace of Lost Memories


C.J. Archer - 2018
     The king's magnificent palace was built in a matter of weeks. No one saw the builders, no villagers are allowed beyond the gilded gate, and only one servant has ever left. The haunted look in her eyes as she was recaptured by the palace guards is something Josie, daughter of the village doctor, has never forgotten. For Josie, the palace is a mystery that grows more intriguing after she meets the captain of the guards, a man known only as Hammer, as mysterious and captivating as the palace itself. Whispers of magic fuel Josie's desire to uncover the truth, but an ordinary girl like her can only dream of ever being invited inside. When the king decides to take a wife from among the eligible daughters of the noble families, the palace gates are finally thrown open and the kingdom's elite pour in. In a court where old rivalries and new jealousies collide, the king's favorite is poisoned and the doctor is summoned. As her father's assistant, Josie finally sees inside the lavish walls, but she soon learns the palace won't surrender its secrets easily, for not a single resident, from the lowest servant to the king himself, has a memory from before the palace existed. In the search for the truth, Josie is drawn deeper into danger, and the answers she seeks might shake the very foundations of the kingdom.

The Rook


Daniel O'Malley - 2012
    With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.

Staked


J.F. Lewis - 2008
    UNIMPRESSED. AND TOTALLY UNDEAD.Eric's got issues. He has short-term and long-term memory problems; he can't remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, much less how he became a vampire in the first place. His best friend, Roger, is souring on the strip club he and Eric own together, and his girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath. It's almost enough to put a Vlad off his appetite. Almost.Eric tries to solve one problem, only to create another: he turns Tabitha into a vampire, but finds that once he does, his desire for her fades—and her younger sister, Rachel, sure is cute. When he kills a werewolf in self-defense, things really get out of hand. Now a pack of born-again lycanthropes is out for holy retribution, while Tabitha and Rachel have their own agendas—which may or may not include helping Eric stay in one piece. All Eric wants to do is run his strip club, drink a little blood, and be left alone. Instead, he must survive car crashes, enchanted bullets, sunlight, sex magic, and werewolves on ice—not to mention his own nasty temper and forgetfulness.Because being undead isn't easy, but it sure beats the alternative.

The Soulkeepers


G.P. Ching - 2011
    A beautiful and mysterious neighbor offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. But in exchange she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a protector of human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him.

Throwing Shade


Deborah Wilde - 2021
    Divorced. Hormonally imbalanced. Then she got magic.Underestimate her. That’ll be fun.My best friend got tangled up with some vamps and now she’s missing. As if that wasn’t scary enough, I snapped, and in a cold dark rage, unleashed a rare and powerful shadow magic. So, I won’t be having that second date, but in all fairness, he got what he deserved. My only regret is that I may have put a target on me and my kid. I’ll fix it, that’s what moms do.Now, with only a mouthy golem and a grumpy-yet-sexy French wolf shifter to help me navigate this world of hidden magic, I’m in a race against time to rescue my friend and keep my loved ones safe from the skeletons in my past.Sure, I’m caught in a spiderweb of supernatural power plays, but I’m a librarian, I’m over forty, and I’m definitely done with being sidelined in my own life. If anyone can survive this dangerous adventure, it’s me. New to-do list: kick butt and rediscover the woman who got lost along the way.I’m turning my invisibility into strength; they’ll never see me coming.Throwing Shade features a sassy, slow burn romance, and is perfect for fans of K.F. Breene, Darynda Jones, and Shannon Mayer.​​​​​​​Get it now!

Unclean Spirits


M.L.N. Hanover - 2008
     Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College. Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life. Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....

Hyde


Lauren Stewart - 2012
    It includes lots of cursing, descriptive sex, biting sarcasm, and dark themes. HYDE was inspired by Stevenson's novella but is not a retelling, in part because he and this author have very different definitions of 'bad boy'.Honesty is impossible when you don't know the truth to begin with.Mitchell Turner is everything women want most in a man--he's charismatic, successful, and undeniably gorgeous. But he's not a man--he's a monster. By venting his rage 24/7, Mitch keeps people out of the danger zone that surrounds him. But, after the most incredible night of his life, he realizes that might not be possible. Except the woman he wakes up with claims she doesn't remember any of it. And that kind of thing can make a guy insecure.Eden Colfax is kind, loyal, honest to a fault, and cavity-inducing sweet. To rid herself of the monsters that haunted her broken childhood, Eden doesn't lie, doesn't curse, and definitely never wakes up naked in strangers' beds...until the day she does. Then the flashbacks start--places she's never been, people she's never met, blood she's never spilled. And the only person with any answers is a man she never wants to see again.What they don't know is that someone is manipulating them, determined to find out exactly what they're capable of. And when the truth leaves them nothing to hold onto, they will be forced into a partnership neither expected. Or wanted.But in life, who you trust is as important as who you are. And when you can't even trust yourself, sometimes the only person you can rely on is the last person on earth you should be falling for.