Book picks similar to
Trial One by Annabel Chase


fantasy
urban-fantasy
tbr
indie-fantasy

Guardian


A.J. Messenger - 2014
    Perpetually under the radar, she’s surprised by the pull she feels to a mysterious and attractive new student, Alexander Ronin. Despite all the girls vying for his attention, Declan is the one he’s drawn to, and she finds herself returning his interest. As the intensity of their attraction builds and she discovers the truth behind his appearance in San Mar, he reveals the danger she’s in and why their relationship holds deadly consequences. But as Declan overcomes her fears and fights for her life, the connection between the two lovers may be the only thing that can save them both.Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, this story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

The Better Part of Darkness


Kelly Gay - 2009
    Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim -- but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

Vampires of Manhattan


Melissa de la Cruz - 2014
    When his all-too-human lover is found murdered on the eve of the coven's annual Four Hundred Ball--a celebration meant to usher in a new era in vampire society, and to mark the re-unification of the Coven after decades of unrest and decay--Oliver is devastated.Now, not only is he trying to create a new world order for the immortal elite, he's the prime suspect and is stalked by the newly installed head of the vampire secret police. Because according to the new rules, vampires who take human life can now be executed. Burned.How can an immortal sentenced to die fight back? He has to find the killer--and the answers lie deep in vampire lore.

The Hunt


Frost Kay - 2020
    Driven by rage and an oath to avenge her mother's memory, Tempest throws herself into training.But becoming the first ever female assassin isn't enough. Now, she must obtain the heart of her kingdom's most feared enemy - the jester - a deadly shapeshifter hidden in a land twisted by myth and darkness.Revenge is never easy or cheap. Tempest is willing to sacrifice everything to see justice served. Even her own soul and freedom.Enter the world of the Twisted Kingdoms at your own risk where monsters wear pretty masks, good and evil are at war, and fairy tales don't exist. If you love fiery heroines, sexy villains, enemies-to-lovers romance, pulse-pounding action, mafia undertones, and dark fairy tales, you need to discover the new series readers are comparing to Holly Blacks's Cruel Prince and Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows.

Quicksilver


Claudy Conn - 2012
    She wants to continue pretending she’s just human … only human, like her mother, like her friends. But she isn’t human.Heartbreak and betrayal send her off rushing to Scotland, to a familiar haven where she has spent so many summers with her father, but she soon discovers that everything has changed.From the moment she meets Quinn MacValdane, shock waves travel through him to her and back again, wrapping them in a tide of passion she had never dreamt possible. But if they are to have a future together, she must confront who and what she is, for she will need to call on the powers within her as she becomes embroiled in an adventure that will alter her life forever.The time for pretending is over.

Snakes and Shadows


Amy Hopkins - 2019
    Together, we've been recruited into the Academy of Myth and Legend. Who's Boots? A rainbow serpent--magical creature come to life--no big. It's actually not so unusual these days. Mythical creatures are tumbling through the Veil every two seconds. The Academy not only teaches us how to fight the bad ones, but to protect the good ones as well.That's why I joined. I'm only here to make sure Boots stays safe. Once we figure out a plan, I'm out. At least, that's what I'm trying to convince myself — and my new friends, including Cisco. It's only a coincidence that I blush when he talks to me, I swear.It's exciting to be recruited as one of the first wave of students at the Academy, but it's no joke. There are the classes, of course. And then there are poltergeists, bigfoot hunting expeditions, and psychotic gnomes. Just staying alive is a challenge. But together with Boots, I can face anything. And I will. No matter what happens.

Legacy


Michelle Dorey - 2017
    She’s flitted like a butterfly from one college program to another. The only thing she’s ever finished has been the last call at dance clubs. Everything changes in a New York minute when her parents decide it’s time for tough love and cut her off. No more credit cards, no more cash allowance and OMG they cancelled her apartment’s lease. On top of all that, she’s banished to her grandmother’s. A grandmother she never knew existed. Her grandmother is batty as hell—Pamela York lives in an antiquated manor, dresses for dinner like she’s the Queen of England and makes crazy talk about ghosts. Ghosts? As. If. Keira’s about to learn a few things. Haunted houses do exist and she’s living in one. Pamela isn’t psychotic; she’s a powerful psychic whose lifework has been assisting reluctant spirits pass through The Veil to a higher plane. When Keira discovers she has a lot more in common with the old woman than she ever imagined, her real education begins. But it’s not just reluctant spirits Pamela has had to contend with. There also exist malevolent forces; paranormal entities that crave the chaos of a Veil torn asunder. Keira finds out not only are ghosts real— so are demons. Uh oh. A supernatural thriller with danger and magic.

First Project


Jennifer Rose McMahon - 2019
    Keeping the strange Mystic Academy a secret within her prep school was the second. Competing against the strongest student, Dom, a stunning boy with a dark secret, was the unexpected twist.FIRST PROJECT: Explore Hell's Gates.Brynn must learn how to use her psychic gifts in time to uncover the mystery of a local urban legend. The town woods behind her school is where children become lost with no memory of where they'd gone, and its tales of burned witches smother the town in shame.Can this ancient myth be debunked, while fighting the maddening distraction of Dom, in time for the project deadline? Or will the sinister truth hidden within legend awaken, creating unhinged chaos within the academy? One-click to start the epic adventure of the Urban Mystic Academy: First Project.

Eluding Destiny: Book I


Charlie Nottingham - 2021
    Having a soulmate doesn't seem too bad either. For the most part? Laila's pretty happy to be that girl. Until the best parts of her life are ripped out from beneath her.In just a few days, everything in Laila's life changes. The brother she never knew existed shows up from the Fae Realm looking for her and their mother. Her once perfect love life crumbles in the blink of an eye. If things aren't hard enough already, her oldest family friend is murdered too. And the nosy detective in town is pointing fingers Laila’s way.Is it all connected? How could it be?She saw what Jeremy did with her own eyes. Well, in someone else’s memories, but she still saw it. Why is she questioning it? Why can’t she shake the feeling that there’s more to all of this than she can see?Things started to go array before her brother entered the picture. And he seems nice enough. Surely, it can’t be his fault. But what else could it all boil down to?Or rather… Who could it boil down to?

Branded


Keary Taylor - 2010
    Nightmares of being judged for people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she's a crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.But when two men she can't ignore enter her life everything changes, including the nightmares. The two of them couldn't be more different. She will do anything to be with one of them. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck. But one of the two has set events into motion what will pull her toward her own judgment and turn her into the object of her greatest fear.

The Witch Squad


M.Z. Andrews - 2016
    Causing problems with the law in her hometown, she’s faced with two options. Go to a correctional institution or get shipped off to witch boarding school, or as her mother prefers to call it, finishing school. Choosing the latter, Mercy’s mother, Linda, drives her daughter cross country to the Paranormal Institute for Witches, situated high in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains in cozy, Aspen Falls, Pennsylvania. Upon arrival, Mercy is faced with cheerful smiles, friendly people, and a sticky sweet roommate who has turned their dorm room into an advertisement for the Pottery Barn. Mercy had hoped her fellow witches would be more like her, dark, dreary, and a little bit self-destructive. When the murder of a local teenager takes place on the first day of class, Sorceress Stone, headmistress of the college for wayward witches, takes the class on a consulting job to help the Aspen Falls Police Department solve the murder. Mercy and her mismatched classmates find themselves in the heart of the murder investigation and when the body of the murder victim suddenly goes missing and her roommate turns up abducted, Mercy must put aside her feelings of resentment about her gift and put her paranormal abilities to good use. Throw in a smokin’ hot cowboy wizard, a black cat that seems to be stalking her, and a Black Witch and you’ve got the first book in the new Witch Squad Cozy Mystery Series where the twists and turns just don’t stop!

Saving Angel


J.L. Weil - 2012
    Now includes bonus novella Losing Emma!I couldn’t help but wonder what my life would be like if we had never moved to the ho-dunk town of Spring Valley, Illinois. Sure the internet service is splotchy, there is nothing but miles of wheat fields, and I probably wouldn’t be faced with death at every corner.My only neighbor in this god forsaken town is…well, there really is only one to describe him—hot as hell. With his sinful dark looks, unusually silver eyes, and kissable lips, there is something about Chase Winters that is more than meets the eye.Of course I am determined to find out.Chase might be drool-worthy, but he is also insufferable, arrogant and…in short a d-bag. Our relationship is anything but love at first sight. Not even close. There is something weird about the family living next door.What I hadn’t expected to find is an underworld of trouble.Chase and his cousins Lexi and Travis are Divisa—half-demon, half-human. Getting them angry is hardly in my best interest, not if I want to live.As it turns out, that might be the least of my problems. I’ve been tagged by Hell.Now every ugly, nasty being from hades is on my trail. I have suddenly became a magnet for demon disaster, and the only way I am getting out of this alive is by putting my life in the demon spawn’s hands.One wrong decision and my butt is toast.Buy now to find out if Angel survives...DIVISA SERIES ORDER:Saving AngelHunting AngelChasing AngelLoving AngelRedeeming AngelADDITIONAL DIVISA SERIES (Novellas)Losing EmmaBreaking Emma

Good Witches Don't Lie


S.W. Clarke - 2020
    Welcome to my new life.I'm Clementine Cole. I thought I was a normal nineteen-year-old with anger issues, but I was wrong. I’m not angry, I'm just a witch.After my cat started talking to me one night, I made a few discoveries:First, magic is real and nightmares aren’t just in your dreams.Second, I'm the last witch in the world.Third, there's an academy for magic users just like me.Trouble is, I don't quite fit in at the academy. Witches get a bad rap, and everyone thinks we're destined to turn evil. Okay, maybe I've been in a few fights and speak my mind, but I'm no villain."Good witches don't lie," my teachers tell me. If I don't want to get kicked out of the academy, I have to follow the rules. No fighting, no lying, and definitely no secrets.But what if the one keeping secrets is the headmistress herself?Welcome to the Academy of Shadowed Magic.

Shadow Trials


Isla Frost - 2019
    The first of three. And today I will pay the price for my siblings' lives by surrendering control of my own. I will step through the runegate, and I will never see my family again.What the others do with the firstborn is shrouded in mystery. All anyone knows is they are never heard from again.I will step through the runegate willingly.But I can keep secrets too. And I'll do whatever it takes to bring the others to their knees...

A Girl from Nowhere


James Maxwell - 2020
    No one knows it better than Taimin. Crippled, and with only his indomitable aunt to protect him, Taimin must learn to survive in a world scorched by two suns and frequented by raiders.But when Taimin discovers his homestead ransacked and his aunt killed, he sets off with one mission: to seek revenge against those who stole everything. With nowhere to call home, his hunt soon takes a turn when he meets a mystic, Selena, who convinces him to join her search for the fabled white city. Taimin and Selena both need refuge, and the white city is a place where Taimin may find someone to heal his childhood injury.As they avoid relentless danger, Taimin and Selena attempt to reach the one place that promises salvation. And they can only hope that the city is the haven they need it to be…