Book picks similar to
Born of Shadow by R.J. Murray


paranormal
urban-fantasy
vampires
lgbt

Basics of Spellcraft


L.C. Mawson - 2020
    Blocked memories. And an Academy for young witches that might just hold the answers. I should have known something was wrong when my weird aunt arrived in town just as I started getting killer headaches. But how was I supposed to know that it was a sign of repressed magic? Or that an ancient witch had escaped her tomb and sent demons after me? Demons who cursed my mother. I wanted to stay with her, even if she wouldn’t wake, but I was sent to Ember Academy for Young Witches instead. Somewhere the demons hopefully can’t get me. I need to find a way to lift the curse, but there’s a block on both my magic and memories that everyone is refusing to lift. A block that might hold the answers as to why an ancient witch is after me in the first place. If I can figure her out, maybe I can figure out this curse. My teachers don’t want me digging into it, worried about the danger. But I don’t care. My mother was cursed because of me, and I’m not going to rest until she’s safe again. BASICS OF SPELLCRAFT is the first book in the Ember Academy for Young Witches YA Urban Fantasy Academy series. If you love kick-ass heroines, Sapphic slow-burn romances, and magical boarding schools, you’ll love this latest fast-paced series in L.C. Mawson’s Snowverse.

Until Dawn


Brett Hicks - 2018
    My only friend in NYC talks me into meeting him for drinks at a club down near Brighton Beach, a strange one with an even stranger name. After leaving the insane bar, I am attacked by redcaps and saved by the mysterious and hot redheaded club owner. She feeds me her own blood, and I waken three days later in her club, but now I have fangs and a new craving. This is only the very tip of the iceberg still. I discover that all the strange things I have seen my entire life, were inhumans, and I was always one of them. I was a born necromancer, and now I am a necrovamp, what happens when a vampire successfully changes a necromancer. Everything goes to hell, a murdered fae girl threatens to bring her father's wrath down on the entire city of New York, unless we can prove our innocence and hopefully stop a boatload of nefarious plots in the process! Featuring two very strong, and kick-ass female leads! A new twist on urban fairy tales! Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Lost Girl will love this! Original supernatural style, with a lot of real-world elements blended in! First book in the NecroVamp Series!

Blood Bound


Idella Breen - 2016
    In a world where monsters and humans live in relative peace.... Snow Bennett just wanted to get away from her overprotective parents. So, she transferred to the high school in the next town. Monster High, isn't an ordinary high school. It's a monster high school, the perfect place for Snow who is human with a little extra. She can control ice. Snow has always wanted to spice up her boring life.......then she met Cait Fallon, the spice to her everything nice. Cait Fallon is a woman with secrets. Secrets, that have ruled her life preventing her from really living. When Snow transfers to her class, Cait is reminded of a promise she made long ago to protect the girl. Can Snow break down the walls Cait has spent centuries building? Or will they both fall victim to an age-old prophecy?

Blood Witch


Naomi Clark - 2015
    She's the only blood witch in Fort Rosser, mistrusted by other witches and happier working solo. But when her dark practices make her the prime suspect in a brutal murder investigation, she's forced to turn to others for help. Not that she has many allies—her ex-girlfriend thinks Lola is the killer, and the local coven leader thinks Lola will corrupt them all if she gets too close. Help comes in an expected—and alluring—form. Tristesse is a demon on the run, beautiful, enigmatic, and suspiciously keen to assist Lola while she chases down the real killer. How can Lola refuse? With the police breathing down her neck, accusations flying, and inhuman monsters on the streets, Lola needs all the help she can get. The killer is angry, desperate, and determined. But so is Lola Guntram. And she doesn't care how dark or bloody the magic has to get—she's going to stop them.

Callie's Secret


T. Jones - 2017
    She is haunted by nightmares and visions of things to come. She dreams of a tall dark woman and gunshots in a city street. Is this woman her future, or is it Jenny, the bubbly red-head from her home town? She learns of a group of psychics who are using their visions to make the future better. But fate is complicated and sometimes people die! As her abilities grow, Callie learns that her incredible gift comes with incredible responsibility, and that to get love, you must first give it away. Callie's Secret crosses many genres, but ultimately it is the story of a young woman discovering the power of love in all its forms. Previously published as: Callie's Secret, Revelations, and Redemption

Summer's Deadly Kiss


Cate Farren - 2014
    Not only did she lose Frankie, but Clover’s best friend, Saskia, hasn’t spoken to her since. Jared Van Clayborne seems to have it all. He is a gorgeous, newly-turned vampire, an heir to a fortune. On the inside, he’s a mess. Atrocities he’s committed in the past year torture his thoughts. Jared is forced into counseling, but because he must keep his vampirism a secret, it hasn’t helped. Jared makes a desperate decision one night, but fate brings him face to face with Clover, a girl he had a crush on when they were in elementary school. A passionate magnetism draws them to one another. They both have secrets, but find solace in each other’s arms. Things begin looking up when Clover is finally reunited with Saskia. The young women are determined to figure out what happened to Frankie, and launch an investigation to bring those responsible to justice. As Clover and Saskia start piecing together clues, it draws the attention of some powerful individuals and puts their lives, and everyone around them, in jeopardy. (Warning - This books contains sex, violence, bad language, and hot vampires.)

Resurgence


S. Usher Evans - 2018
    At the urging of his partner Cam Macarro, he's starting a new life in Atlanta, hoping he'll find the man he used to be. But on a routine hunt, they come across a new type of demon--one that saves instead of kills.Meanwhile, demons across Atlanta are preparing for the quadrennial uprising of their Underworld brethren. Worse yet, there's a rumor the so-called king of the demons, Bael, will appear for the first time in over a century. Jack and Cam must uncover the truth about the mystery woman before all hell--literally--breaks loose.Resurgence is the first in a new Urban Fantasy trilogy from S. Usher Evans, author of the Madion War Trilogy, Razia, and Lexie Carrigan Chronicles. It will be released by Sun's Golden Ray Publishing in February 2018.

Xoe


Sara C. Roethle - 2009
    So she was stuck going to high school, and she only had a few friends to call her own. She liked her normal life. Things were about to change though, because there's a new guy in her small town, and he is anything but normal. Before Xoe can say, "Werewolf," her best friend's life is in peril, and Xoe's world is turned upside-down. Then, of course, there's Jason. Xoe doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him, and given that he's a vampire, she'd have to be able to catch him first.

A Date With Death


Mia Archer - 2018
    Save the school. Get the girl. As if senior year wasn’t already complicated enough! I just wanted to keep my head down, hang out with friends, prep for college, and worship Stacy Thompson from afar. Was that too much to ask? I guess, because I got distracted by Stacy heading to cheer practice in a pair of impossibly tight shorts and stepped in front of a bus. That’s right. I died on the first day of school. Oops. Dying wasn’t the bad part. Not really. I’d died before, and I always bounced back. Call it a perk of being a reaper’s daughter. Only with this death I learned the terrible awesome truth: I keep bouncing back because I’m destined to become a reaper just like dear old dad! That’s right. Me. A reaper. Complete with black robes and a scythe. The whole shebang. Yeah, right! I figured with enough time I could avoid my fate. Only fate came looking for me when I followed Stacy, and her impossibly tight shorts, up to the infamous Thompson mansion. A haunted mansion that was once the haunt of an evil necromancer who sent his fair share of people to the other side, and was now a favorite makeout spot for teens with more hormones than sense. Go to a makeout spot with Stacy? Yes please. Even if we were going with a group of friends. Even if the whole almost-date was ruined by a necromancer who should totally be long dead showing up, killing my friends, stealing their souls, and enslaving their bodies into his undead army! Now I’m stuck with a ghost cheerleader who spends half her time acting like she’s interested in yours truly and half her time demanding I get her body back. Talk about confusing. Meanwhile I have to hide her existence from dear old dad so he doesn’t drag her to the other side, all while trying to figure out how to defeat an evil necromancer before he unleashes his undead minions on the world! Call me the Gwen Reaper, because it’s time to kick some necromancer butt and save the girl! A Date With Death is a lesbian paranormal thriller with a dose of humor and romance! From the author of Villains Don't Date Heroes!

everafter


Nell Stark - 2009
    She is consumed—both by a craving for human blood, and by an obsession to find her attacker and bring him to justice. Alexa is determined to be everything that Valentine needs, but when Val's appetite outstrips Alexa's ability to nourish her, Alexa risks her life to save her lover. Will Valentine be able to control her thirst—for blood and for vengeance? And can Valentine and Alexa's relationship endure against seemingly impossible odds?

Sweet Blood of Mine


John Corwin - 2012
    But as he learns the ropes of his new supernatural life, he soon realizes he's not alone.Vampires, felycans, sorcerers, Templars--they all exist, and what he doesn't know can most certainly kill him in more gruesome ways than he can count.

The One Who Eats Monsters


Casey Matthews - 2017
    When Ryn is found weakened after saving the life of an innocent villager, the U.S. military mistakes the battered immortal for a feral teenager and places her in New Petersburg, a decaying city full of monsters. In her clash with the city’s demons, Ryn is confused by her intense emotional connection with Naomi Bradford, a senator’s daughter she has sworn to protect. But while her claws can kill anything that dies (and a few things that cannot), she must also contend with the human race. They lie, they speak in riddles, and to protect her friend, the immortal must navigate the senseless rules of their flawed civilization. Worse, they are fragile—and giving her heart to one makes Ryn afraid for the first time in her eternal life.

Released


Megan Duncan - 2011
    When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark than they could have ever imagined.

Beautiful Demons


Sarra Cannon - 2010
    She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she's lost count. Shadowford Home is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.

Darkness Descends


Alex Westmore - 2015
     Sure, her lover is a ghost, but in Savannah, that’s not what’s unusual. What is strange is the influx of supernatural creatures roaming the streets looking to start trouble—with Denny specifically. To fight back against the wave of demons, she racks up one unusual companion after another––from ghosts to witches to demons. In her search for answers to her supernatural problem, Denny discovers that she is a born demon hunter, and, no, she doesn’t have any choice in the matter. Okay, so being possessed by an ancient demon doesn’t exactly fit into her life plans, but somebody has to do it. Denny must either accept the mantle of demon hunter or stand back helplessly as the dark forces destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved. At least she can always pick up her sword and chain whip to go kick some demon ass. After all, it is her legacy, right?