Book picks similar to
Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas
urban-fantasy
fantasy
paranormal
magic
The Witches of Dark Root
April Aasheim - 2012
Some call me a wilder - a woman with untamed magical powers. Others just call me a witch. My childhood was spent dreaming of a world beyond my hometown of Dark Root - a world where I could be whatever I wanted to be, and not the coven-leader I was slated to become under the tutelage of my mother. When I finally got the opportunity to leave I jumped at it, never looking back. Now, seven years later a call from my beloved sister forces me to return to Dark Root and I'm unprepared for what awaits me: a mother with a mysterious illness, a renewed sibling rivalry, and a town that's fallen into disrepair and has lost its magic. I never wanted to be a witch but it seems I have no choice. I only hope it's not too late to set things right again.
Dead Man Talking
T.M. Simmons - 2004
When her cousin Katy calls looking for help with the resident ghost at Espirt d'Chene, the family mansion near Jefferson, Alice agrees to come to the rescue.Sir Gary Gavin, dead now over two hundred years, insists Alice is the only one who can expose his undeliberate murder to allow him to leave his tortured existence; and he's not above wreaking havoc at Espirt d'Chene until Alice concedes to his demands. Before Alice can even pack, though, Katy discovers a new murder — a headless corpse floating in her swimming pool. This new ghost — Bucky, the black-sheep son of a Texas senator — is dangerous in his newly-dead, confused state as he searches the plantation for his head.Alice must somehow uncover the identity of Bucky's murderer, or else it looks like Katy will be charged with the crime, despite several other suspects who have motives for wanting Bucky dead. To make matters worse, the homicide detective in charge, Alice's ex-husband Jack, doesn't believe in ghosts. That leaves Alice no choice but to depend on her ghost hunting mentor, Twila, and her elderly neighbor, Granny, to assist in the investigation.Katy is arrested, and there's no help for it: Sir Gary's going to have to join the investigation. Much to Jack's dismay — and the delight of the women — he is finally forced to admit that Sir Gary is real. A real ghost, anyway. Together, the unlikely team of sleuths join forces to help send Sir Gary to his deserved reward, track down the real killer, and set Katy free.
Switching Hour
Robyn Peterman - 2015
Released from the magic pokey and paroled with limited power is enough to make any witch grumpy.However, if you throw in a recently resurrected cat, a lime-green Kia and a sexy egotistical werewolf, it’s enough to make a gal fly off the edge.Not to mention a mission…with no freaking directions.So here I sit in Asscrack, West Virginia trying to figure out how to complete my mysterious mission before All Hallows Eve when I’ll get turned into a mortal.The animals in the area are convinced I’m the Shifter Whisperer (whatever the hell that is) and the hotter-than- asphalt-in-August werewolf thinks I’m his mate.Now apparently I’m slated to save a bunch of hairy freaks of nature?If they think I’m the right witch for the job, they’ve swallowed some bad brew.
Divine and Dateless
Tara West - 2014
Bad girls go all the way... What can be worse than electrocuting yourself while getting ready for your Internet date? Realizing the hot stud you’ve been fondling is the Grim Reaper? Being chased by a sex-crazed bloated, naked corpse? How about an eternity of more bad hair days and horrific dates? Or lusting after the one guy in all the afterlife whose hydrophobia rivals his fear of commitment? Yeah, that’s a whole lot worse.
The Scarlet Thread
D.S. Murphy - 2016
After I saw my little brother’s death but failed to stop it, my parents abandoned me to a juvenile detention facility. I don’t let people touch me anymore. Not my fingertips, not my skin, not my heart. I make my own clothes by stitching together the donations we get; usually a bunch of crap that fits like a parachute. My sweater is a patchwork of different shades of inky, dark squares. I make plain gray skirts that hang to my knees, with cute or funny T-shirts sewed in. They clash ironically with my unsmiling face. My Allstar high-tops are black and frayed, like my soul. I also wear a chunk of brightly colored legos around my neck. My little brother was working on it the day he died. The day I failed to save him. It’s unfinished, so I’ll never know what it was meant to be. Most days, I just try to get by. But then I got a visit from a cute guy, who tricked me into giving up my secrets. He said I was special. That he needed me. For a while, I believed him. But once I found out what I could really do, I learned everybody wanted the power I possessed. The power to destroy deities. To kill gods. To end the world... or to save it. My heart is torn, and those I loved most betrayed me. I'm trying so hard to do what's right, but nobody can tell me what that is anymore, and the moral boundaries I'd always let define my life have been shattered. Whose rules should I obey now? Or do I have to make my own? The Scarlet Thread is a dark fantasy for fans of Greek mythology and Gothic romance. Fans of Fallen and Percy Jackson will be captivated by this mashup of fallen angels and forgotten gods.
Touched
A.J. Aalto - 2011
Twice-Touched by the Blue Sense--which gives her the ability to feel the emotions of others, and read impressions left behind on objects--Marnie also has a doctorate in preternatural biology and a working knowledge of the dark arts. She is considered without peer in the psychic community. Then her first big FBI case ended with a bullet in one shoulder and a chip on the other, a queasy heart and a serial killer in the wind, leaving her a public flop and a private wreck. When the FBI’s preternatural crimes unit tracks her down at a remote mountain lodge for her insight on a local case, her quiet retirement is promptly besieged by a stab-happy starlet, a rampaging ghoul, and a vampire-hunting jackass in tight Wranglers. Marnie figures the only real mystery is which one will kill her first. Too mean to die young, backed up by friends in cold places, and running with a mouth as demure as a cannon’s blast, Marnie Baranuik is about to discover that there’s no such thing as quitting time when you’re Touched.
Fugitive of Magic
Linsey Hall - 2017
No matter what.To the world, I'm a just a Conjurer. To my closest friends, I'm a FireSoul--a dangerous Magica with forbidden powers and a dragon's soul. The downside? If anyone discovers what I am, I'm dead. So I lay low, kicking butt with my weapons, not my magic.Things get ugly when I witness the murder of a powerful vampire ally and become the key suspect. Soon, I'm hunted by the sexiest, strongest supernatural I've ever met. Ares is an unheard of vampire hybrid, and it's hard to say if he wants to kiss me or kill me.I've got three days to catch the real killer. The bad news? It will take my forbidden magic to succeed. But can I control it, much less keep my secret with Ares watching my every move? Especially when the stakes get ever higher?I'm used to protecting others...now I have to protect myself.Fugitive of Magic is a fast-paced fantasy mystery with a kick-butt heroine, a tough hero, and magic that will blow your socks off.
Dark City
Kit Hallows - 2016
I guess you could call me a Supernatural Detective, Undercover Agent, the guy that takes out the trash and cleans up the messes people want to ignore. Mostly, it means I take out nightmares, demons and werewolves. You know, the things that go bump in the night. We call them Nightkind.Still, I’m ready to leave all that behind. Retire, find some sunny beach with pretty women, a few stiff drinks, and forget the Nightkind even exist.Talk about wishful thinking. See, I have one last job—eliminate a rogue vampire, named Mr. Tudor. In this business there’s no such thing as a simple job. And when bodies start piling up at my own front door, my dreams of retirement fade. Because the clues are adding up to something big.The missing piece of the puzzle… It’s me. How the hell do I fit into all this mess?
Wrong Side of Hell
Sonya Bateman - 2016
That honor was reserved for the living."
Hauling dead people around Manhattan is all in a day's work for body mover Gideon Black. He lives in his van, talks to corpses, and occasionally helps the police solve murders. His life may not be normal, but it's simple enough.Until the corpses start talking back.When Gideon accidentally rescues a werewolf in Central Park, he's drawn into the secret world of the Others. Fae, were-shifters, dark magic users and more, all playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Milus Dei, a massive and powerful cult dedicated to hunting down and eradicating them all.Then a dead man speaks to him, saying that Milus Dei wants him more than any Other. They'll stop at nothing to capture him and control the abilities he never knew he had.He is the DeathSpeaker. He is the key. And he's not as human as he thought...Life was a whole lot easier when the dead stayed dead.
Demon Rogue
D.N. Erikson - 2016
I've been around for longer than you could know - and most people don't want to know me, being half-demon, and all - but right now I've got a big f'in problem. A woman just came into my office, and I gotta say, from the photo she slipped me, someone's got a serious issue with the supernatural. Life expectancy is looking kinda low if I don't figure out who's kidnapping magical creatures, selling their blood and trying to reveal magic's existence to the mortal world. Last time that happened it didn't end well. I'm not optimistic about this time, either. Joke's on me, anyway, for setting up a magical salvage and retrieval business. 50% of an item's magical essence and a per diem can't cover the damages this job is gonna inflict. Money and magic aren't of much use to a dead man. And If I didn't have a code (yes, I'm a demon with a code), then I would jet out of Texas faster than a vamp at a sorority party (you don't want to know). But I agreed to the gig, she paid the cash, so I gotta see it through. Did I mention the super-powerful wiccan - who I used to have, ahem, relations with - just returned from a long hiatus in a place worse than hell? And she's still obsessed with finding a certain god's spear that I may or may not have. Seriously. This situation is code red. I'm almost willing to accept help from wizards. On second thought, no wizards. I hate you guys. I'd rather die. So um, if I don't make it through the next three days, anyone want a talking dog that's read too much for his own good? Because the way things are going, Argos is gonna need a new home after the spells stop flying...* *His only request is that you suck less than Odysseus. Apparently the epic poems got that all wrong, and that guy was a major asshole. Or my dog might just be bitter. Tends to rub off when you live with a demon.
Deceived
L.A. Starkey - 2014
But what if you had two soul mates, which would you choose? What if your choices had eternal ramification?Deceived, the debut novel in the Soul Keeper Series, is a modern day love story about the implications of having more than one soul mate, and having to choose between the two of them. The decisions of the gods has left the next generation, their heirs, torn between fate and reality, and the balance of the future hangs in anticipation of what's to come.
Ignited
Desni Dantone - 2013
Good thing she has her guardian angel to protect her...sort of.Kris is aided by Nathan, the mysterious man that ends up being anything but angelic when he rescues her for the fourth time in fourteen years. Even if the handsome hero illusion is shattered by his harsh treatment of her, he knows how to fight this strange enemy and is determined to keep her safe at all costs. As the body count rises in their wake, Nathan introduces Kris to a world in which not everyone is human and the battle lines between good and evil are clearly drawn. Kris's piece in the puzzle is something neither is aware of and, as they uncover the truth, neither is prepared for what they find. Overcoming twists and revelations that shatter both of their lives, they discover that nothing is as it seems and nothing, least of all their hearts, are safe. From debut author, Desni Dantone, Ignited is the first novel in a tale of first love, mystery and adventure that will introduce you to an exciting new world as Kris discovers how she fits in it.
Eternity
Maggie Shayne - 1998
James was accused of witchcraft...Only one man tried to free her from the hangman's noose--Duncan, the town minister, who died trying to save her. Three hundred years later, the accused witch still lives and longs for her love...At last, after centuries of loneliness, Raven has found her precious Duncan. But as he awakens to the passion of his past life, so too does the evil that tore them apart. Now Raven and Duncan must prove their love for all eternity...
Revival
Jena Leigh - 2012
After catching her boyfriend in the arms of the prettiest girl in school, she made the journey from social elite to social pariah in a haze of electricity and exploding electronics. But finding herself at the bottom of Bay View High's social hierarchy was nothing compared to the shock of discovering who--and what--she really is.After being zapped out of a burning bookstore by the mysterious Declan--a hero nearly as handsome as he is infuriating--Alex finds herself under the protection of the powerful Grayson family. It's through them that she learns the truth: that the world she's always known is nothing like it appears to be... and that she has far more in common with them than she might want to believe.Now, on the run from a fire-wielding hit man and a secretive government organization, Alex must navigate a strange and treacherous new world filled with superhuman mutants known as Variants. As she begins to unravel the many secrets of her family's past, she uncovers the real reason for her parents' death twelve years earlier--and finds out that the threat to her family, and to everyone she cares about, is still dangerously real.
Just Breathe
Heather Allen - 2012
Out of the blue she has been dumped by her long time boyfriend, which is the ultimate of tragedies in her life. Little does she know that on that fated eighteenth birthday, she will have to make a choice that will change her life as she knows it, forever.A month before her birthday, Ever meets Jack, a mysterious new boy with mesmerizing eyes. He affects her like no one else. This meeting sets things into a whirlwind she never would have dreamed. With Jack's guidance she discovers a family line that leads her to the sea. She must make the ultimate choice, stay on land where life as she knows it, won't change, or go and live in the sea as a mermaid with Jack.Ultimately her choice sets into motion an even bigger decision, in which she has the fate of a race of people, in her hands. The people in the sea are in a feud, she will tip the balance. She must battle the ageless moral delimma of prejudice and race. Once she comes to terms with her life changing choices, she must ask herself, Did I make the right decisions? and Is Jack really who I think he is?