Book picks similar to
The Flame and the Shadow by Denise Rossetti


fantasy
romance
fantasy-romance
paranormal-romance

Dagger-Star


Elizabeth Vaughan - 2008
    . .She is a mercenary trained in the ways of war and the blade--nothing more. A woman known only as Red Gloves has come to the land of Palins in search of work. What she finds, however, is the torched fields and razed farms of a land defiled.If you see her without the gloves, run... This is all Josiah knows about the mysterious woman--until he catches a glimpse of the dagger-star birthmark, a sign that she is destined to free his people from a ruthless usurper's reign of terror.But she is more dangerous when following her heart... Red doesn't believe in gods. Nevertheless, she finds herself drawn into the rebellion--not by the prophecy or the chance to win the throne, but by the pain of untold loss in Josiah's eyes...

Vulnerable


Amy Lane - 2005
    She was terrified of disappearing into the aimless vortex that awaited the lost and the young that haunted her neck of the woods. Until the night she actually stopped looking at her books and looked up. What awaited her was a world she had only read about--one filled with fantastical creatures that she was sure she could never be. And then Adrian walked in--and she discovered that risking your life was nothing compared to facing who you really were. And then falling in love.

Naamah's Kiss


Jacqueline Carey - 2009
    But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts—the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow.Moirin has a secret, too. From childhood onward, she senses the presence of unfamiliar gods in her life—the bright lady and the man with a seedling cupped in his palm. Raised in the wilderness by her reclusive mother, Moirin learns only when she comes of age how illustrious, if mixed, her heritage is. The great-granddaughter of Alais the Wise, child of the Maghuin Donn and a cousin of the Cruarch of Alba, Moirin learns her father was a D'Angeline priest dedicated to serving Naamah, goddess of desire.After Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine acceptance... on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange, where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in, Moirin's skills will be a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, a noble warrior-princess desperate to save her father's throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.

The Descent Series: Vol.1


S.M. Reine - 2012
    (Approx. 200,000 words total.)Books included:1. Death's Hand2. The Darkest Gate3. Dark UnionDEATH'S HANDElise Kavanagh doesn't want to hunt demons anymore. It's been five years since she killed her last enemy, and life has been quiet since then. She went to college. Got a job, and then lost it. Made a friend or two. Lived a normal life. Now her former partner, a powerful witch named James Faulkner, wants Elise to fight one more time. The daughter of a coven member has been possessed, and Elise is the only exorcist nearby.Becoming a hero again would mean risking discovery by old enemies. But digging into the case reveals that it might already be too late--bodies are disappearing, demons slither through the night, and the cogs of apocalypse are beginning to turn. Some enemies aren't willing to let the secrets of the past stay dead...THE DARKEST GATEWhen Elise Kavanagh retired from demon hunting, she swore it would be permanent. But an attack from a powerful necromancer forced her back into the business, and now she's trying to balance her normal boyfriend and normal job with everything supernatural.Mr. Black is a demon hunter gone rogue. He's enslaving angels and stealing ethereal artifacts in pursuit of forbidden immortality, and an old grudge drives him to make his final stand in Elise's territory. Destroying her life and killing her friends isn't the goal, but it's a definite perk.A demonic overlord offers to join against Mr. Black and protect Elise's loved ones. All she needs to do is ally with the demons she's sworn to kill, at the cost of her morals--and maybe her immortal soul. But once she crosses that line, there's no turning back.Nothing is sacred when Heaven and Hell collide on Earth...DARK UNIONEvery fifty years, the most powerful ethereal and infernal beings convene on Earth to resolve conflicts with mediation by kopides--humans born to police relations between Heaven and Hell. They're meeting in Elise Kavanagh's territory this year, and she used to be the greatest kopis in the world. But she's not invited.An old friend, Lucas McIntyre, asks her to attend the summit in his place. But when she arrives, she discovers that a human faction called The Union has taken charge of the summit, and they're not playing nice. Worse yet, someone has killed a prominent Union member... and now they're demanding blood.

Wicked as They Come


Delilah S. Dawson - 2012
    He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?

Cold Iron


D.L. McDermott - 2014
    McDermott’s fast-paced, sexy paranormal romance series—available exclusively in ebook!The Fae, the Good Neighbors, the Fair Folk, the Aes Sídhe, creatures of preternatural beauty and seduction. Archaeologist Beth Carter doesn’t believe in them. She’s always credited her extraordinary ability to identify ancient Celtic sites to hard work and intuition—until she discovers a tomb filled with ancient treasure but missing a body. Her ex-husband, the scholar who stifled her career to advance his own, is unconcerned. Corpses don’t fetch much on the antiquities market. Gold does. Beth knows from past experience that if she isn’t vigilant, Frank will make off with the hoard.So when a man—tall, broad shouldered, and impossibly handsome—turns up in her bedroom claiming to be the tomb’s inhabitant, one of mythic god-kings of old Ireland, Beth believes it is a ploy cooked up by her ex-husband to scare her away from the excavation.But Conn is all too real. Ancient, alien, irresistible, the Fae are the stuff of dreams and nightmares, their attentions so addictive their abandoned human lovers wither and die. And this one has fixed his supernatural desire on Beth.

Skye's Trail


Jory Strong - 2005
    Her origins shrouded behind an impenetrable wall of mental pain, Skye has survived and evolved into a tracker, a hunter who metes out justice to those who prey on the helpless. Alone but not lonely, she's been content with her life. But now her body is changing and there's an underlying craving that's left her restless. She needs to take a mate - or rather, two mates...Detective Rico Santana wants and needs Skye - for himself, and to track a couple of kids who have gone missing. In all the centuries that Giovanni Banderali has been alive, he's never desired any woman enough to bind her to him as a companion. That changed the moment he saw Skye. She's a threat to the fledgling vampires he's searching for, but nothing will stop him from claiming her - not even the Angelini blood that flows through her veins. Adversaries, natural enemies - dangerous allies - the bond that links them is stronger than lust, more powerful than love. When an Angelini chooses a mate, no man can resist.

The Magical Christmas Cat


Lora Leigh - 2008
    With four new stories, this is a collection packed with more surprises than Christmas morning, and more chills than the snowiest winter night . . .

Pursuit


Claudy Conn - 2012
    Nothing will stop Chance from fulfilling his mission of vengeance, not even the time barrier.The queen of the Seelie Fae has other ideas, however, and she sends Princess Royce to make sure Pestale is captured, not killed. Royce would rather spend time with the human family she has grown to love, but she has broken the rules one time too many, and Queen Aaibhe wants her to grow up and act like the Seelie royal she is!Royce doesn’t want to be part of Chance’s team. He most definitely doesn’t want her on his team, and from the start—fireworks.Chance has Pestale on the run, but after seeing the beautiful princess with the flaming red hair, Pestale has decided Royce must be his. A hunter becomes the hunted … Purposes collide …

Geist


Philippa Ballantine - 2010
    They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.But what greets them in the strange settlement is something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows.And if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in Hell is she returning to?

Taming


A.K. Koonce - 2018
    Eventually my Demons always find me. Unfortunately, that Demon has hired three insufferable dragon shifters to bring me back to him. I just have to hide my secrets a little longer. I just have to pretend to help these assholes find the person they’re looking for without letting them know the truth. They’re on the hunt for a dangerous Mage. Just wait until they find out the Mage they’re hunting is actually me … This is a Reverse Harem series containing M/M themes. Recommended for readers 18 and over.

The Dark Age


Traci Harding - 1996
    The mist rose towards the sky to form a billowing cloud. From within the largest stone a ball of blue light steadily made its way towards her.Late one evening, a car accident leaves Tory - a daughter of a prominent history professor - stranded near a ring of stones in the English countryside. She resolves to spend the night at the sacred site; a black belt in Tae-kwon-do, Tory holds little fear for her safety...But across the vortex of time and space, she is being watched. The Merlin knows of the legend Tory is to become, and through the wisdom of the Old Ones, teleports her back to the Dark Age.Prince Maelgwyn of Gwynedd and his band of knights stumble across this mysterious woman dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. Believing she is the witch of the stones, they threaten to kill her. Rising to her own defence, Tory challenges the Prince's champion to unarmed combat. With her superior fighting skill she easily overwhelms the warrior, winning the admiration of the Prince, and changing the course of British history forever.

Shadow of the Wolf


Dana Marie Bell - 2009
    His wolf is howling for his mate, and Chris knows it is only a matter of time before his needs override everything else in his life. He casts the spell all the Becketts have used to call their mates to them. What he wants is a woman of an older lineage, of power to equal his own. And she has to accept the one aspect that sets him apart from almost every other wizard: his wolf.What Chris gets is Alannah Evans, a powerful witch of the Evans Coven. The petite, dark haired woman has no problems with the wolf. What she does have a problem with is the fact that Chris is a wizard. Since wizards and witches don’t get along very well, neither should they, but the sparks flying between them can’t be denied. Chris isn’t taking no for an answer. When it becomes clear that an old enemy has targeted them both Chris will wind up engaging his enemy in a duel that could cost him his life.Or worse: Lana.

The Fire Rose


Mercedes Lackey - 1995
    Instead, her duties are to read to him, through a speaking tube, from ancient manuscripts in obscure, nearly-forgotten dialects.A requirement for the job was skill in translating medieval French, and she now understands the reason for that requirement, and assumes her unseen employer’s interest in the descriptions of medieval spells and sorcery is that of an eccentric antiquary. What she does not realize is that his interest is anything but academic. He has a terrible secret and is desperately searching for something that can reverse the effects of the misfired spell which created his predicament.

Servant of the Crown


Melissa McShane - 2015
    Even the prospect of access to the Royal Library doesn’t seem enough to make up for her sacrifice, but Alison is prepared to do her service to the Crown. What she’s not prepared for is Prince Anthony North, Queen Zara’s playboy brother, who’s accustomed to getting what he wants—including the Countess of Waxwold.When the fallout from an unfortunate public encounter throws the two of them together, Alison has no interest in becoming the Prince’s next conquest. But as the weeks pass, Alison discovers there’s more to Anthony than she—or he—realized, and their dislike becomes friendship, and then something more—until disaster drives Alison away, swearing never to return.Then Alison is summoned by the Queen again, this time to serve as Royal Librarian. A threat to Tremontane’s government, with her treasured Library at stake, draws Alison into the conflict…and into contact with Anthony once more. Can they work together to save the Royal Library and Tremontane? And can she open her heart to love again?