Book picks similar to
Lost Angeles by Lisa Mantchev


paranormal
vampires
fantasy
urban-fantasy

Blood of Anteros


Georgia Cates - 2011
    The leech inside me came out to find prey, but found none in this enigmatic girl. The close proximity of her essence didn’t entice the monster within, so what did that make her? I had more questions than answers, but one thing was unmistakable; although she released me from her embrace, her hold on me remained."Cruel circumstances turned Curry Brennan into the wretched monster he hates and refuses to accept, but when an expected turn of events releases him from the bond of his obsessive maker, he returns to the home he knew 161 years earlier and finds the return of happiness and joy in something he didn’t know existed. Puzzled by his growing attraction to Chansey Leclaire, a human, he is unable to resist the captivating relationship that threatens to reveal his existence as a vampire. He eventually discovers the reason he was destined to find what he didn’t know he searched for and is faced with the cruel realization that the living and the immortal undead will always be separated by one thing. Eternity.Be sure to check out the book trailer for Blood of Anteros on my Goodreads profile page or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LbJpi...BRIEF EXCERPT-Although somewhat involuntary, I was part of this now. My confrontation fanned the flames of Julian’s obsession, making him more determined than ever to have Chansey. Consequences battled within me and my heart spoke against my mind’s better judgement. “Maybe I should drive you back and forth to work for a while, just until he backs off.”She looked appreciative, but didn’t intend on taking my offer. “I can’t ask you to do that, it’s too much for you to take on.”I didn’t intend for her to not take my offer. “You didn’t ask. I offered and I insist.”Relief flooded her face. Then, she surprised me by stepping forward and put her arms around me. She placed her head against my chest, leaving me without an option and I returned the embrace by placing my arms around her. I lowered my face to her hair and inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of lavender and vanilla. I dropped my face closer to her shoulder and smelled the lingering fragrance of jasmine, cherry blossom and peach, mixed with a slight release of salty perspiration due to the combination of heat and anxiety.The monster, deep within me, unexpectedly resurfaced. He no longer laid dormant as he screamed in agony, begging to be set upon this innocent creature. He pleaded with me for one taste. Didn’t he deserve it? It has been so long.One scent of her blood essence would surely send me over the edge, giving the awakened one the upper hand as he urged me to side with him. I braced myself for the battle against the leech within me and begged him to leave me in peace.I held my breath and didn’t move a muscle, for fear the beast might interpret any sudden movement as permission to strike. When I could no longer hold my breath, I exhaled, then inhaled slowly and shallowly. I waited for her fragrance to signal my defeat, giving the leech the permission to strike.I readied myself to charge against this inner beast when her aromatic essence penetrated my line of defense. When her aroma registered in my brain, I waited to see what my level of temptation would be. The beast received the verdict first and my battle was won as he retreated.I was intrigued by Chansey’s unexpected essence. It wasn’t unappealing, yet not enticing either. It was neutral and I was spellbound.She lifted her head from my chest and leaned back to see my face. “I don’t know what to say or how to thank you.”She raised up onto her tiptoes and planted a kiss on my cheek before she released her hold of me. I reluctantly released my hold, as well, but I wasn’t finished exploring this. I wanted more, I needed more.We both knew we had just shared a significant moment, although neither of us voiced it.“I’m sure you’re exhausted. You should get a good night’s rest,” I said, verbally encouraging her to go to bed, but inside begging her stay.I regretfully watched her walk up the steps to the backdoor. Before entering, she turned and said, “Thank you again, Curry. You’re a real life saver.”The paradox of her words brought a smile to my face. She saw a life saver in a skilled killer and I was tantalized by the mystery of her. The leech inside me came out to find prey, but found none in this enigmatic girl. The proximity of her essence didn’t entice him, so what did that make her? I had more questions than answers, but one thing was unmistakable; although she released me from her embrace, her hold on me remained.I was uncertain what this meant for me, but more importantly, I didn’t know what it meant for Chansey. Of all the puzzling things in my head, there remained one clear circumstance; she needed my protection because, for once, I wasn’t the dangerous one.I lifted my eyes to Chansey’s bedroom window and watched darkness replace the light. She remained standing at her window, believing she was hidden in the darkness, and briefly watched me before she crawled into bed.She was lying in her bed, unaware of the strange emotions flooding me. Beings like me didn’t desire romantic relationships with humans, so it was unnatural for me to desire anything other than her blood while all I wanted was to be near her. I remembered the way she leaned forward to kiss me and it left room for no doubt in my mind; I wanted her with all of my heart, body and soul, if there still was one within me.

Seven Psychics


J.C. Diem - 2014
    Her dream is to become a sniper, just like her often absent father. During routine weapons practice, she meets Mark Steel, the head of a small team of agents who work for a mysterious organization. He needs someone with outstanding skills to help his squad destroy seven psychotic psychics. With her father overseas on a mission, she is the next best choice. Still reeling from the knowledge that psychics actually exist, Lexi agrees to become a temporary member of their team. From the first moment that she meets Reece Garrett, she is instantly drawn to him. He is strong, sexy and charismatic and unfortunately thinks of her as little more than a child. Agent Garrett and his team have a secret that few people are aware of. They are shape shifters who transform into ravenous beasts with every full moon. The upside of being shifters is that they possess a natural resistance to mind control, which makes them the perfect team to hunt the psychics. But Reece soon learns that some instincts are impossible for even him to deny. Caught in a mind trap that he can't escape from, he finds himself irresistibly attracted to the one person that he'd do anything to protect.

New Blood


Donna Ansari - 2011
    Luckily, Alex Thompson, a handsome stranger (who also happens to be a vampire), jumps in to save her, turning Emma into a vampire. She quickly discovers the numerous advantages (no more allergies, glasses, or acne) and slight drawbacks (wanting to eat her boyfriend) of joining the ranks of the creatures of the night. But Emma soon finds out her new undead life isn't all it's cracked up to be when she gets pulled in to an age-old dispute between two feuding vampire clans.

Rippler


Cidney Swanson - 2011
    Handsome Will Baker offers help and secrecy, but soon Sam will have to choose between keeping her secrets and keeping Will in her life. Suspenseful and romantic, Rippler and its sequels capture the collision of the beautiful with the dark.Two further sequels form a complete trilogy. Four additional books in series for those who fall in love with the Ripple world and want even more!RIPPLER is the free first book in a teen and young adult paranormal fantasy series set in a contemporary world where invisibility has long been a well kept secret. It combines the heart pounding action of a thriller with a touch of clean romance and a science fiction twist.

Kissed


Kimberly Loth - 2014
    With uncut hair, denim skirts, and only roses for friends, Naomi seldom questions why her life is different from other kids at school. Until the day her abusive father, who is also the cult’s leader, announces her wedding. Naomi must marry Dwayne Yerdin, a bully who reeks of sweat and manure and is the only one person who scares her worse than her father. Then she meets Kai, the mysterious boy who brings her exotic new roses and stolen midnight kisses. Kisses that bring her a supernatural strength she never knew she had. As the big day approaches, Naomi unearths more secrets of about her father’s cult. She learns she has power of her own and while Kai may have awakened that power, Naomi must find a way to use it to escape Dwayne and her father—without destroying herself.

Sojourner


Maria Rachel Hooley - 2009
    When she returns home to Hauser’s Landing, the very place her father disappeared, she comes in contact with a gorgeous boy named Lev Walker, and it’s not long before she’s falling in love. But there’s something wrong with Lev. When she realizes he’s the eerie watcher in her dreams, she’ll have to discover the truth. Is he a guardian angel or a sojourner, an angel of death who has come to collect her soul?

Archangel's Kiss


Anna Santos - 2018
    Deadly enemies. An Angel Prince looking for his fated mate to break his curse. A Vampire King with a heart of stone. Whom will Aria choose? Aria loses her humanity after being saved by a monster she believed only to exist in horror stories. But everything isn’t what it seems when her savior becomes a handsome angel prince who awakened her ancient and deadly powers. Powers that can save the world, or destroy it.Only true love can break the prince’s curse and stop him from turning into stone for all eternity. Despite the overwhelming chemistry between Aria and the prince, they only have thirty days to fall in love before their bond is put to the test.Peril strikes in the form of an addictive drug that can kill vampires and angels are to blame. Conflict is blooming and the peace treaty between the Angel Prince and the Vampire King is threatened. Aria is caught in a love triangle when the Vampire King discovers that the girl he had refused to take as his is now the prince’s new mate. Tormented by the rash decision that almost killed her, the king now believes that he’s saving Aria from the clutches of the manipulative prince.Finding out that supernatural creatures exist becomes less terrifying for Aria than discovering what she’s destined to become if she lets her Archangel’s abilities take over and change her. Aria is much more than the average, eighteen-year-old girl who wanted to find the cure for cancer. She’s now a deadly Archangel warrior and the future queen of the angels and gargoyles if only she can manage to break her lover’s curse and keep the Vampire King at bay.What would you give up for true love? Find out in Archangel’s Kiss.

Dark Heirloom


J.D. Brown - 2012
    Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like why she's able to see in the dark and walk through solid objects. What she doesn't understand is why the other vampires expect her to have all the answers. It's their fault she turned into one of them...right? Jalmari's hatred for his old-man intensifies when he's ordered to bring that troublesome girl to their castle. He has a clan to run; there's no time for babysitting newborn vampires no matter how they were converted to their culture. But when a two-thousand-year-old premonition threatens to take the crown and his life, Jalmari sees no other choice than to take out the catalyst, Ema Marx. Fortunately for Ema, she could also be the clan's only savior. The race to figure out her vampiric origins is on. And maybe she'll get the hang of the blood-drinking gig along the way.

Elemental Arcane


Phaedra Weldon - 2014
    As an Elemental Witch in the Big Easy and owner of a wolf Familiar as well as the head of a former Faerie Queen, curious is as quiet as it gets for Sam.Until children start turning into blood-thirsty Changelings and attack their parents.When one of these children shows up in front of her shop, Sam and her friends are determined to find out where they’re coming from and where the exchanged children are being kept and put a stop to it. But will they succeed when they find themselves pitted against ninja ghouls, one of the oldest and darkest enemies of the mortal world, and a secret from Sam’s childhood that could unravel her magic?

V Games


Caroline Peckham - 2017
    But with her stepfather's blood fresh on her hands, she finds herself walking into an eight by six prison cell where she'll live out the next twenty five years of her life.Or so she thought...When a man as beautiful as he is terrifying walks into the prison, Selena is the only one seemingly unaffected by his charms. But Varick's impossibly dark eyes are trained on her and her alone, frightening Selena of what his presence forewarns. It's not long before she finds out as she wakes on a ship in the dead of night, a captive of the forbidding Varick who seems more beast than man.But when she arrives at a barren and isolated island in the stormy north sea, she soon realises that the obnoxious Varick may be her only hope of survival. Because, in a place where polar night reigns for the next six months, a powerful and cruel family are about to start this year's season of the V Games. And Selena is marked to participate in the blood sport, hunted by ravenous vampires and surviving the harsh terrain of the bleak island. And, not only that, but Selena just became the highest bid on contestant in a century...Find out why in Book 1 of the V Games Trilogy - 0.99 release price for a limited time only!

Dark Promise


Julia Crane - 2012
    But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, her perfect little world shatters. A stranger claiming to be her real mother appears with a secret: Rylie is a faery whose powers will be unleashed on her birthday. Captured and forced into a new life, Rylie struggles to keep everything she loves and discovers a terrifying truth: some promises cannot be broken.

Taste


Kate Evangelista - 2012
    Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn't realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

Choices of Fate


S. Simone Chavous - 2013
    She has a great job, the perfect apartment, every material possession a girl her age could desire. Unfortunately, she also has an unusual condition which has forced her to keep everyone at a distance. Ethan Kellar has spent his entire life running from destiny. When he was just a boy, a powerful seer prophesied his role in events that would determine the outcome of the secret war his people had been fighting for centuries. A role he was determined not to accept, leading him to avoid letting anyone get too close, until the night Alexa fell into his arms.Drawn to her in a way he has never experienced, Ethan decides to take the ultimate risk by trusting Alexa and revealing to her all he truly is. Thinking she is an ordinary woman, he believes she is the key to preventing the prophecy from being fulfilled and allowing him to live the life he has always wanted, one he chooses. Having been so consumed with the desire to determine the course of his own life he wants no less for Alexa and knows he must tell her everything, give her a choice. Before that happens they surrender to the intense physical attraction between them and he realizes too late that in trying so hard to change his fate, he may have set the events of the prophecy in motion. In that moment, Ethan makes the most difficult decision of his life and does the only thing he can to save Alexa. He walks away. Consumed by grief, Alexa falls into a deep depression until she learns her brief encounter with love resulted in a child and somehow finds the strength to put herself back together for the sake of her baby Chloe. Nearly two years after Ethan walked out Chloe develops an unexplained illness which sends Alexa in search of anything that can help. Her pursuit leads her back to Ethan and thrusts her into his dark and mysterious world, unlocking the secrets of her past and revealing threats to their future. Together, Alexa and Ethan fight to protect Chloe and their love, but there is one battle Ethan fights alone as he struggles to choose his own path and avoid the choices of fate.

Tantalize


Cynthia Leitich Smith - 2007
    DINNERS ONLY.APPLY IN PERSON BETWEEN 2:00 AND 4:00 PM.Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses - or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who's playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything? TANTALIZE marks Cynthia Leitich Smith's delicious debut as a preeminent author of dark fantasy.

Called by the Vampire - Book 1


V. Vaughn - 2018
    She also got a piece of the woman’s soul and now, Maggie can feel emotions she can’t explain. Emotions that help her decide to take a job for Sebastian Hart in a dark mansion on the coast of Maine. When she gets there, she discovers her heart had a good reason to make her go.  Sebastian isn’t the only Hart brother who makes Maggie’s pulse quicken. His younger brother, Alexander, captures the rest of her. While having her affections torn between two brothers who are her bosses is complicated enough, Maggie also learns the men are far more than they seem. Now she’s trapped in a world she never imagined existed, and it could be the adventure of a lifetime, or a lifetime in hell. **This is also published as Called by the Vampire Parts 1, 2 and 3.