Book picks similar to
Somber Island by T. Lynne Tolles


vampires
young-adult
witches
paranormal

Mortal Obligation


Nichole Chase - 2011
    Seventeen year old Ree McKenna has three goals: get through high school, convince her crush she is more than his best friend’s little sister, and save money for college. Fate, though, has other plans for her. After the untimely death of her older brother, Ree is haunted by dreadful nightmares and terrifying visions. To make matters worse, Ree has started to suspect that something dangerous is stalking her from the shadows. A night full of frightening surprises leaves Ree with unsettling news. Gifted by the gods with unusual powers, she must devote herself to a battle that could very well lead to not only her death, but the demise of everyone she knows and loves. After all, Ree is the only mortal standing between the Earth and utter darkness. Set in Savannah, Ga, Mortal Obligation is the first book of The Dark Betrayal Trilogy.

Fateful


Cheri Schmidt - 2011
    Darcy when she leaves Colorado to attend art school in London. Of course she knows it’s silly to wish for that, naive even. But she’s met enough males who lacked respect for women, a growing trend it seemed. And at nineteen...well... However, on only her second night there she gets lost and is threatened by a stalker who proves to be immune to her martial arts training. Before she is completely overpowered, she is then saved by Ethan Deveroux. While Danielle does find the romance she seeks in Ethan, he’s no Mr. Darcy. Her hero is held by a spell which fractures their chance at a happy ending. During the day Ethan is closer to mortal than immortal and can date her like any other man. Yet, as the sun sets, the powerful magic of an ancient curse returns and the evil of that spell is revealed. When that magic begins, Danielle's fairytale romance ends because Ethan Deveroux is a vampire.Fateful is a clean, coming of age vampire romance that blends fantasy and paranormal with a healthy dose of romance and a dash of humor.

Icarus (The Kindred)


J.S. Chancellor - 2011
    Take dieting for example kind of hard to do when you ve only got two choices: fresh blood and slightly less fresh blood. The media makes it all out to be glamorous. Romantic, even. But the books, movies and witty television shows have it wrong. Especially the ones that make a big to-do about not being wrong (you know, the ones that spell vampire Vampyr, like it s original). And don't think for a second that I was turned in some amazing, soul-binding, body-meshing way either. I don't think my libido is damaged enough to forget that kind of rendezvous. Though, to be honest, I don't recall anything about it. As soon as you are turned, as soon as anyone is turned, the powers that be rush in like witness protection agents and whisk you off, never to see your family or friends again. Your life changes in ways you never imagined that it could.Like the fact that I was kidnapped last night. Totally didn't see that coming. Not being the Covenant-level assassin that I am (did I mention that already? I didn't get much of a choice in that either, the profession I mean). Oh, and get this the creeps who grabbed me claim that my mentor/should-have-kept-it-professional boyfriend, Trinity is the vampire equivalent to the anti-Christ.Nice. And to think it's only Tuesday.But wait, it gets better. See, there is one fact about vampirism that everyone gets correct our bodies can't biologically process natural light. Past that, all I know is that if I don't partake of my usual dose of Icarus every seven days (provided via injection by the powers that be), I'll lose my existence as I know it. It allows me to bask in the sunlight, keeps us from exploding into flames and I've heard rumors that it's what makes us immortal. You know, little things.Now, since Head Creep removed the dosing disc from my arm, whether I had anything to do with it or not, I'm guilty of betraying High Coven. This fact not only sucks (pun intended), it means I've been condemned to death. An assassin condemned to death. Seems like kind of a shitty deal if you ask me.I don't care that Head Creep is hot enough that he gives Christian Bale a run for his money. He claims that Icarus is part of some massive conspiracy, that vampires are a perverse mutation of beings from another universe, and that Trinity (along with some dark army he's supposedly in charge of) plans to exterminate the human race. Of course, he says this will occur in less than a week. And damn, wouldn't you know he'd kidnap me on day six of my dose

The Dead Travel Fast


Deanna Raybourn - 2010
    With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh--and a disappointed suitor--far behind. She is bound for Rumania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence.She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians, replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle's master, Count Andrei Dragulescu.Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora's imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute--Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway.Before her sojourn is ended--or her novel completed--Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal...and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire.

Breathless


Scott Prussing - 2010
    That’s when her mom started acting weird, refusing to go outside during the day and insisting the sunlight hurt her skin because she had been bitten by a one-fanged vampire…But fascinated doesn’t mean Leesa believes—any more than she believes in blue fire, people who live for centuries, and kisses that can kill. When her beloved older brother suddenly disappears, she is forced to confront all these and more.

Bound


C.K. Bryant - 2011
    Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira's life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she's falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive. BOUND is a heroic tale of true friendship, infinite sacrifice and untamed love.

Drawn


Marie Lamba - 2012
    He’s the medieval ghost that conquers her heart. And their time is running out.Michelle De Freccio moves with her dad to England, where she hopes for a more normal life. Instead she discovers a handsome guy appearing in all her sketches. When she actually meets him at the town's castle, she's unmistakably drawn to him. But something is definitely not normal.He wears medieval garb, talks of ancient murders, and tends to disappear with a kiss. Could he be a ghost? Could Michelle be losing her mind? Or has she simply uncovered a love so timeless it's spanned the centuries...

The Childe


C.A. Kunz - 2011
    Sure, she’s taller than most girls, has a mane of fiery red hair that’s impossible to tame, is left-handed, and her eyes are two different colors, but that’s where the differences end... unless you include the minor detail of her slow transformation into a Childe. High school can definitely be challenging, and for Cat it’s no different. This is especially true when she’s faced with the daunting task of trying to hide her budding Childe traits as they begin to reveal themselves at the most inopportune times. To make matters worse, her family is oddly dead set against Ryan, the boy she grows to like. But everyone has their secrets: is Ryan really what he seems to be, and what is Cat’s family not telling her?The Childe is the first book in this coming-of-age fantasy series which follows Cat's life through the twists and turns toward finding out whom and what she really is. Come and take the plunge with Cat into a world filled with mystery, biting humor, and the paranormal.

Influential Magic


Deanna Chase - 2013
    Four years after her twin brother’s mysterious death, Willow’s life is threatened and the director saddles her with a new partner—her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he’s turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him… and any other specimen of the undead.In order to save Willow’s life, David agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she’s convinced they know something about her brother’s death. Unsure where David’s loyalties lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the mystery.Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who’ll stop at nothing to control Willow’s gifts, she’ll have to follow her instincts and learn who to trust. Otherwise, she risks losing more than just her life.

The Taker


Alma Katsu - 2011
    . . but immortality comes at a price. . . . On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural St. Andrew, Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a quiet evening--until a mysterious woman, Lanore McIlvrae, arrives in his ER, escorted by police. Lanore is a murder suspect, and Luke is inexplicably drawn to her. As Lanny tells him her story, an impassioned account of love and betrayal that transcends time and mortality, she changes his life forever. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Lanny was consumed as a child by her love for the son of St. Andrew’s founder, and she will do anything to be with him forever, but the price she pays is steep--an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate.

The Lesser Dead


Christopher Buehlman - 2014
    And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody—he has spent the last forty years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city’s sidewalks.The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It’s almost too easy.Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him…or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were.And neither are the rest of us.

Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic


Meghan Ciana Doidge - 2013
    Just the way I liked it.That’s what twenty-three years in the magical backwater of Vancouver will get you — a completely skewed sense of reality. Because when the dead werewolves started showing up, it all unraveled … except for the cupcake part. That’s a universal truth.

The House


Christina Lauren - 2015
    Her parents are still uptight and disinterested, her bedroom is exactly the way she left it, and the outcast Gavin Timothy still looks like he’s crawled out of one of her dark, twisted drawings.Delilah is instantly smitten.Gavin has always lived in the strange house: an odd building isolated in a stand of trees where the town gives in to mild wilderness. The house is an irresistible lure for Delilah, but the tall fence surrounding it exists for good reason, and Gavin urges Delilah to be careful. Whatever lives with him there isn’t human, and isn’t afraid of hurting her to keep her away.

Deception


Stacy Claflin - 2012
    It's too bad that everything she knows is wrong.After meeting a gorgeous stranger on a blind date, Alexis feels like she's known him her entire life. Suddenly, dark long-forgotten memories swirl in her mind. She realizes she's powerful, stunningly beautiful, and marked for death.As she faces the one who ordered her execution years ago, Alexis must learn her strange new powers and trust in unlikely allies to keep herself alive.Deception is the first installment in the young adult Transformed Series by USA Today bestselling author, Stacy Claflin. It's a paranormal romantic suspense series that features gripping supernatural drama, surprising twists, dynamic characters, page-turning suspense, heart-pounding action, and angsty romance.Pick up Deception today and you won't put it down until the stunning conclusion.This urban fantasy romantic thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat. In this book and the rest of the series, you’ll find a supernatural world far beyond the normal scope of vampires and werewolves. Buckle up and get ready for a ride full of twists and turns. It’s one for all ages – as long as you have an imagination and love surprises!

A Conspiracy of Alchemists


Liesel Schwarz - 2013
    It is 1903, and the world is divided between light and shadow. On the side of light is a wondrous science that has transformed everyday life by harnessing magical energies to ingenious new technologies. But each advance of science has come at the expense of shadow—the traditional realm of the supernatural. Now two ancient powers are preparing to strike back. Blood-sucking immortal Nightwalkers and their spellcasting Alchemist allies have a plan to cover the whole world in shadow. All they require is the sacrifice of a certain young woman whose past conceals a dangerous secret. But when they come after Elle, they get more than they bargained for. This enterprising young woman, the daughter of a scientific genius, has reserves of bravery and determination that even she scarcely suspects. Now she is about to meet her match in more ways than one: a handsome yet infuriating Warlock named Hugh Marsh, whose agenda is as suspect as his charms are annoyingly irresistible.