Book picks similar to
To Kill a Unicorn by John Corwin


fantasy
urban-fantasy
3-good
fantasy-urban

Princess of Shadows


Olivia Hart - 2021
    Except that normal girls don’t walk through mirrors and meet the man sent to kill them. Now I’m being dragged kicking and screaming into a world where nothing makes sense.Sebastian, my dark and mysterious captor, promises to protect me. But how can I trust someone who can sneak into my dreams?Someone who hungers for the untouched parts of me.Sebastian claims I could be the next Dark Queen of the Fae. He says I have powers, that I’m immortal… and that he’s the only one I can trust.He’s arrogant and bossy, but I might have to trust him in a world where shadows are gateways to other worlds. Where every gift has a price, and where the man in black might turn out the hero.Everyone in this new world is trying to murder me. If I’m to survive, I have to embrace the shadows and become more than human. I have to become something stronger. Something darker.Something they’re afraid of.

The Young Ancients: Books I-VI


P.S. Power - 2014
     Tor Baker is a Builder. A Wizard from the Kingdom of Noram. Follow him as he rises in the world, and discovers that things aren't even close to what he thought they were. This long running epic series is a favorite of many and not to be missed.

Changeling Exile


Marina Finlayson - 2018
    I might only be a changeling, but it’s where I belong. That’s why I’m doing everything the Lord of Autumn commands. My latest job: enforcing fae laws in the human world. It’s hard enough, but it gets worse when I meet my new partner. The Hawk is a fae knight, hot as hell—and an unrelenting jerk when it comes to changelings like me. Somehow, I have to impress this guy to get back to the Realms. Kind of hard to do when we end up running for our lives. I said I’d give anything for the chance to go home—but I didn’t think that would include my life.

Once Bitten


Linsey Hall - 2020
    Sure, my idea of a party is a mini box of wine and hanging out with a feral raccoon, but it works for me.When I’m accused of murder, things get crazy. One, I learn that I have magic. Two, there’s a secret magical city hidden right in London itself. And three, my only hope is a vampire who’s sexy as sin and scary as the devil himself. He's called the Devil of Darkvale, and he all but owns Guild City.Some say I should just quit and turn myself in. Not a chance. I’m going to solve this murder myself, which means surviving in a new world of witch parties, magical guilds, and a vampire with a tortured past. The vampire and I are like colliding stars, and the heat is irresistible. I should avoid him, but if I want to save my own life, he’s my only hope.

Smoke & Summons


Charlie N. Holmberg - 2019
    At the command of her master, she can be transformed against her will into his weapon—a raging monster summoned to do his bidding. Unlike other vessels, Sandis can host extremely powerful spirits, but hosting such creatures can be fatal. To stay alive, she must run. And in a city fueled by smoke and corruption, she finds a surprising ally.A cunning thief for hire, Rone owns a rare device that grants him immortality for one minute every day—a unique advantage that will come in handy in Sandis’s fight for freedom. But Sandis’s master knows how powerful she is. He’s determined to get her back, and he has the manpower to find her, wherever she runs.Now, to outwit her pursuers, Sandis must put all her trust in Rone and his immortal device. For her master has summoned more than mere men to hunt her down…

Hard Magic


Laura Anne Gilman - 2010
    Recent college grad, magic user and severely unemployed. Until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work—so off I went.Two days later I'm a PUPI—me and Nick, Sharon, Nifty and Pietr. Five twentysomethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide. Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away. We're sniffing out things they'd rather keep buried.Looks as if this job is gonna get interesting. The only problem is, we're making it up as we go along….

The Immortals


Jordanna Max Brodsky - 2016
    Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson. She is alone-just the way she likes it. She doesn't believe in friends, and she doesn't speak to her family. Most of them are simply too dangerous.Murders.In the predawn calm, Selene finds the body of a young woman washed ashore, gruesomely mutilated and wreathed in laurel. Her ancient rage returns. And so does the memory of a promise she made long ago. To protect the innocent-and to punish those who stand in her way.Gods.With the NYPD out of its depth, Selene vows to hunt the killer on her own. But when classics professor Theo Schultz decodes the ancient myth behind the crime, the solitary Huntress finds herself working with a man who's her opposite in every way. Together, they face a long-forgotten cult that lies behind a string of murders, and they'll need help from the one source Selene distrusts most of all: the city's other Immortals.Much like Lev Grossman's The Magicians spoke to a generation of adults who grew up with Harry Potter, THE IMMORTALS will enchant anyone who loved American Gods or Percy Jackson.

Pros and Cons


Jenna Black - 2013
    An original eNovella in the acclaimed Nikki Glass urban fantasy series, taking place between the events of the novels Deadly Descendant and Rogue Descendant.As a living descendant of Artemis the Huntress, private investigator Nikki Glass knows how to track someone down—but this time, her latest case leads to unexpected revelations of lies and betrayal...

Scarlett


Isobella Crowley - 2018
    Brilliant humor, specially designed for the avid Anglophile.""So exciting. Can't wait to see what happens next!" **Set in Bicester (near Oxford) in England, UK, this urban fantasy has a touch of paranormal cozy mystery in it. It's also more of a thriller than one normally expects from this genre.Plus, it is also contains the occasional swear word.And British expressions.(But don't fret about the British, there is a glossary at the front to help you out!)**+++When Scarlett is (seemingly randomly) accused of murder, she has no choice but to take up sleuthing and find a way to clear herself of suspicion.Her only choice is to find the killer before she is arrested.Her efforts are further thwarted by having no recollection of the night in question, and to make matters worse, weird things keep happening around her.Meanwhile, the military police are closing in on her, and what she discovers in her own investigation is far more sinister than she could ever have imagined.Can Scarlett figure out what's going on before the charming, emotionally distant soldier Tim takes her into custody?Read it now, to find out...If you like your protagonists quirky and hilarious, your mysteries confounding, your vampires secretive, and weres dashing, you're going to love everything in the Very British Witch series!Get it now.

Rise of Gods


Dyrk Ashton - 2016
    And not all legends are myth.When a local hospital is attacked by strange and frightening men, Fiona Patterson and Zeke Prisco save a catatonic old man named Peter—and find themselves running for their lives with creatures beyond imagination hounding their every step.With nowhere else to turn, they seek out Fi’s enigmatic Uncle Edgar. But the more their questions are answered, the more they discover that nothing is what it seems--not Peter, not Edgar, perhaps not even themselves.The gods and monsters, heroes and villains of lore—they’re real. And now they’ve come out of hiding to hunt their own. In order to survive, Fi and Zeke must join up with powerful allies against an ancient evil that’s been known by many names and feared by all. The final battle of the world’s oldest war has begun.Paternus: Rise of Gods, is Dyrk Ashton’s critically acclaimed debut novel and the first book in The Paternus Trilogy. It has been compared to works by Neil Gaiman, Scott Hawkins, Roger Zelazny, China Miéville, Joss Whedon, and Kevin Hearne.Editions note: Earlier editions list the title as simply Paternus. These are the same book as Paternus: Rise of Gods.Genre: Urban Fantasy / Contemporary Fantasy / Mythic Fiction.Market: Adult to New Adult (as opposed to Teen or YA, though savvy 16 or 17 year olds might survive without permanent damage).

Mind Games


Carolyn Crane - 2010
    Any second now. Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem.Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.

Heirs of Grace


Tim Pratt - 2014
    Bekah expected a pleasant year to get her head together and have a romantic fling. Problem is, the house is full of junk...and siblings she didn't know she had are willing to kill her for it.More important, the junk in her new house is magical, she's surrounded by monsters, and her life seems to be in mortal peril every time she ventures into a new room. As Bekah discovers more about her mysterious benefactor and the magical world he inhabited, she's realizes that as tough and resourceful as she is, she might just be in over her head...Heirs of Grace is a tale of family and magic, action and wonder, blending the strong heroine, cheeky humor, and dark fantasy that have become the hallmarks of Tim Pratt's writing.

The Veil


Chloe Neill - 2015
    Now, those with paranormal powers have been confined in a walled community that humans call the District. Those who live there call it Devil's Isle.Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused.Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack—in full view of the French Quarter—Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs, even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head.But when the Veil threatens to shatter completely, Claire and Liam must work together to stop it, or else New Orleans will burn…

Blood Rights


Kristen Painter - 2011
    A finely wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers.Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Enigma


Lindsay Buroker - 2012
    The captain has acquired a mysterious stolen artifact… and the owners want it back. When he learns of Tikaya’s background, he urges her to decode its secrets, implying her life—and everyone else’s—might be forfeit if she fails.Engima is a 15,000-word short story set after the events in Encrypted.