Book picks similar to
Rise of the Mage by Keary Taylor


fantasy
paranormal
paranormal-romance
romance

Deep Blue Secret


Christie Anderson - 2011
    She has great friends, an energetic mother she adores, and the beach practically in her own backyard. But her carefree life is turned upside down when she's rescued by a mysterious and strangely familiar boy who won't even tell her his name.Each time the boy appears, Sadie's unexplainable attraction to him deepens along with her need to unravel his secrets. The boy is there to protect her. But as wonderful and exciting as it might be to have an irresistible boy with crystal green eyes protecting her every move, every minute of the day . . . why does Sadie need one?As Sadie finds answers, she realizes her life isn't as perfect as she thought. Not only is she caught in a world of dangerous secret agents she never knew existed, but it turns out her true identity may be the greatest secret of all.

Grim Tidings


Amanda M. Lee - 2014
    Well, actually, she’s having a bad life -- not that she's complaining. Okay, she's totally complaining.After being laid off from her secretarial position, she has no choice but to join the family business, and now she’s a full-time grim reaper. That’s right. She collects and transfers souls to the hereafter.Cool, huh? Not quite.On the second day of her new job, Aisling (literally!) stumbles over a dead body that’s not on her list and the stakes are suddenly raised because, when a name isn’t on the list, that means someone stole it (and that's never a good thing). Aisling’s family, which consists of a tempestuous father and four overbearing older brothers, are hot on the case – but the answers they’re coming up with aren’t exactly soothing. It seems a contingent of wraiths have descended on the area, and they’re not just dangerous for unsuspecting souls and the general populace. The Grimlock family is at risk, too. If that weren’t bad enough, Aisling finds herself inexplicably drawn to Detective Griffin Taylor – the police officer who considers her a murder suspect. Oh, and she's a wraith-magnet -- although, truth be told, she's more interested in Detective Taylor. Aisling is determined to prove that she has what it takes to be a great reaper – even if it means risking her life and proving her father and brothers wrong when it comes to her competence level.When things finally become clear, will Aisling survive long enough to make things right? Or, will she fall prey to the wraiths and the individual controlling them?

Romancing the Null


Tina Gower - 2016
    Lies the fates spin as half truths. Lies of destined love. And statistics. As a fateless, Kate Hale is immune to the first two, but the third kind of lie is her profession. After spending years as an actuary for the Traffic Department, Kate is promoted to Accidental Death Predictions. It’s all she’s worked toward, and her career is finally on track. But when an oracle delivers an impossible death prediction and insists on her help to solve the case, she might lose any chance of impressing the brass. Her only hope comes in the form of the police liaison assigned to her department, latent werewolf Ian Becker. Becker can grant her the clearance to find answers, but he’s a wild card with a shady past who doesn’t play well with others. Every prediction has a loophole, but if Kate can’t solve the case before the crime is fated to occur she won’t just lose her job–she’ll have the blood of an oracle on her hands. Romancing the Null is the first book in an exciting new urban fantasy romance series. Fans of Mercy Thompson, Charley Davidson, or The Dresden Files will likely enjoy this series. The Outlier Prophecy Series: Romancing the Null (book one) Big Bad Becker (Novella) Conditional Probability of Attraction (book two) The Werewolf Coefficient (book three) Standard Deviation of Death (book four) Shifter Variance (book five ~ fall 2016)

Easy Bake Coven


Liz Schulte - 2013
    She dabbles in harmless magic with her friends and never thinks much about it. However, when a stranger who seems to know her shows up at her studio and her grandmother is brutally attacked, her simple life becomes complicated.A world of elves, half-elves, fae—and one peculiar Sekhmet named Femi open up to her. She will discover that fairy tales are real, politics are ugly in any world, and there is a lot more to her life than she ever dreamed possible. This new reality threatens swallow Selene whole, but with a forgotten past beating down her door, she will have to dive in to save her future.

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.

Taming the Vampire


Chloe Hart - 2011
    But when a powerful enemy threatens their beloved city of Boston, they form a reluctant alliance. It's supposed to be temporary--just one night, in fact. But as the tension between them builds to the breaking point, neither is prepared for what happens next.Taming the Vampire is a sexy paranormal romance novella of 17,000 words, or about 60 pages. It's the first book in the Blood and Absinthe series.The Blood and Absinthe series:Book 1 - Taming the Vampire (a novella)Book 2 - Bound by the Vampire (a novella)Book 3 - Claiming the Vampire (a full-length novel)Book 4 - Drawn to the Vampire (a full-length novel)Book 5 - Caught by the Wolf (coming in 2014!)EXCERPT"I'll stay on one condition," he said.Her heart thumped against her ribs. "What?""We'll do the ritual, but on my terms."She wished he wasn't so tall. It gave him an unfair advantage, being able to tower over her like this. It was hard to breathe, hard to-- "What do you mean, your terms?""Do you want to know a secret?"Her blood was rushing in her ears. She couldn't speak.He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her hard against him. She gasped, as shocked as if she'd stepped into icy water. She felt his strength, his power, and for a second her own power seemed to desert her. He bent his head close to hers. "I want you," he whispered.Her face flamed, like a teenager's."I've wanted you from the first moment I saw you," he said, and now his lips were on her throat, at her pulse point, against her collar bone.She opened her mouth but no words came out. Her eyes closed and her head went back, and he kissed his way up her throat, to her ear, and then he was whispering to her again."I can make you feel good, Liz. Better than anyone's ever made you feel."

Water and Fire


Demelza Carlton - 2013
    Working as a student midwife in an Australian country hospital is never easy, but Belinda finds more trouble than most.There's the intern doctor who follows her around like an overgrown puppy, the dangerous local wildlife and her own secrets she must keep. When she finds herself without a place to live, what else can possibly go wrong? Or is it time for something to go right? A tiny taste of what's in store:I touched my fingers to his shoulder to steady myself before reaching for my drink. His face split in a wide grin beneath his ocean-deep eyes. "I think you've had enough. What'll you give me for it?"I shrugged. "What do you want?" His smile shrank, becoming more thoughtful. "You could start with a kiss."I looked into those yearning, deep-water eyes of a man who seemed all fire. It's been a long time, but I think I still remember how. I cautiously placed my hands on the sides of his face and touched my lips to his. His mouth was open, so the draught of his breath cooled my lips for the briefest moment before I pulled away. "F*** that!" He strode to the coffee table and clunked the glasses down. His hands were empty for barely a moment before they were splayed warmly on my back. "Belinda. That's not a kiss."I moved with him as he pulled me closer, one of his hands travelling up to the back of my neck as the other drifted down to the small of my back. I leaned in closer still. He bowed his head as I tilted mine up. I wet my lips and parted them, feeling fear for the first time. Perhaps I have forgotten how to do this. This is a stupid idea. He pressed his mouth to mine, layering our lips as we shared a breath. His smiling blue eyes drooped to show blue-veined lids as his tongue stroked mine. I haven't forgotten. This is new and I'm going to...I'm going to...His shoulders were smooth beneath my questing fingers, his lips warm and responsive as I deepened my kiss. I felt his chuckle rumble through both of us, though I couldn't see him with my eyes closed. He tasted of whiskey with a hint of chocolate and I wanted more..."Now that's a kiss." Ocean's Gift series This book is a stand-alone prequel to the Ocean's Gift series, which currently includes: Ocean's Gift (Book 1) Ocean's Infiltrator (Book 2) Water and Fire

The Princess Must Die


Everly Frost - 2018
    DESTINED TO BE TORN APART.In an Elven city beneath the streets of Chicago, the perfect storm rages, kept under control only by Marbella Mercy, the Storm Princess. Now she is of age, champions from each of the elven houses will play a game of wit and strength to fight for her hand – and for the chance to control the forces of nature.Baelen Rath, a warrior and leader of the feared House of Rath, is the only male Marbella has ever trusted. He'll risk everything to be her champion. But what he and the others don't know? The princess is fighting too.Because she's discovered that the winner is cursed to kill her, not marry her, and the only way to save herself is to win.But Marbella is fighting a power greater than herself, because someone believes that the perfect storm should be unleashed and for that to happen – the princess must die.

Elfin


Quinn Loftis - 2012
    Her feet were firmly planted in suburban reality and she had no reason to believe her life would be anything but that of a typical teenager. That is until tonight, when Cassie saw something that no human was ever supposed to see; in the blink of an eye she was thrown into the world of the Light and Dark Elves.He comes from a realm where light and dark have fought for millennia. He is of a race known to humans only in myths and legends. The darkness that lives inside him is a part of both who and what he is and it makes him the most gifted spy and assassin in the history of his time. His life is not his own; he lives in the service of the Dark Elf King. He slays who he must, has mercy on no one, is relentless in his hunt, and never tires of seeing his prey fall. He is Triktapic, assassin, spy, most feared of the Dark Elves.Now, in the midst of his King’s complicated plans to expand the Dark Elves’ holdings into the mortal realm, for the first time, Trik finds his loyalties divided. For no Elf, Dark or Light, can turn away from their Chosen.Unbeknownst to the mortal realm, the battle between Light and Dark is being brought to their doorstep. The only one who can keep it at bay holds darkness in his heart like a lover, and the one who can sway that heart must decide if she can look beyond his black past, beyond his evil nature and see the man he is destined to be.The question must be asked, does love really cover a multitude of sins? Can true love actually conquer all or will his darkness consume those around him until all that stands is an assassin with the blood of the mortal realm on his hands?

Rae of Hope


W.J. May - 2011
    Her mother and father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England that a mysterious family secret is revealed. Will the sins of the father be the sins of the daughter? As Rae struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness. It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of hope for her future.

Significance


Shelly Crane - 2011
    She was smart and on track, but her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating, barely, and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has. Then she meets Caleb. She saves his life and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing, but she's supposed to be on her way to a date with his cousin. Things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally. They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him. Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?