Book picks similar to
Nine Lives (Part One) by Karin De Havin
fantasy
paranormal
amazon
first-in-series
Final Life
Rose Garcia - 2012
All she wants to do is make it to graduation, and then she can move back to Michigan for college. That's the plan. That is, until her new neighbor pressures her into playing a mystical card game.And this deck is like no other.With one touch of the cards, Dominique plunges into a vision of a crimson desert inhabited by a dark presence with murderous intent. She desperately tries to convince herself it’s all in her head, but the images refuse to be ignored. And when the apparitions include hints of past lives, Dominique realizes the darkness is really after her. Not only in her visions, but also in her reality. If she’s to survive, she must discover the secrets hidden in her past. If she doesn’t she’ll be dead. For real.
Riser
Becca C. Smith - 2010
She lives in a future where the world is overpopulated and a little pill makes you immortal. Where people are secretly being exterminated and serial killers are sanctioned by the government. When Chelsan's mother is killed by one of these exterminations, she vows to take down the man responsible.
Enchanted
Melinda Kucsera - 2016
Carry No Weapons. Do No Harm. Those three rules safeguarded countless generations of travelers through the enchanted forest—until they didn’t. One boy’s murder ripped open a gateway allowing evil to enter. Now no one is safe from corruption.Enchanted trees take Sarn to where the forest failed to uphold its rules. Seeing a dead child gifted with the same magic as his son unhinges Sarn. He vows to find out the truth no matter what the cost. But his gift is untrained.Finding answers won’t be easy. Sarn must balance nights serving the Rangers with days dedicated to hiding his son from the dark forces stalking them both. When Sarn’s masters demand he abandon the quest, he faces an impossible choice—doom the ghost whose murder endangers them all or die from the backlash of breaking his word. With the odds stacked against him, can Sarn fix anything or will all be lost? In a country where magic is illegal, an untrained mage is their only hope.
Blood and Magic
Melissa Sercia - 2018
Dhampir. Undead. Cursed.
With supernatural powers and an insatiable need for blood, her existence is cursed.
When Gray awakens from a three-year spell induced coma, she not only discovers her lover as the one responsible, but that he has joined with a dangerous organization known as the Consilium to help them create a new breed of hybrid demons. Humans and Witches are being taken against their will, and fear is growing throughout the covens.Gray never had a choice—forced to become a monster, the Dhampir. Yet after four hundred years, she still yearns for her humanity, like a long-lost echo from another life. She cannot allow the Consilium to do this to anyone else. With a renewed lust for vengeance, and a target on her back, Gray must use the one thing she swore never to in order to stop them—blood magic.Armed with a magical pirate ship, an immortal monk, and a flower plucked from the Underworld, Gray will stop at nothing to start a war. Yet in her quest to track down her enemies, she uncovers a dark family secret that threatens to destroy the last shred of humanity she has left."Melissa Sercia packs a punch with her debut novel with its rich world building and unique interpretation of gothic literature. It’s a must read if you’re looking for a fresh take on gothic fantasy.” – Science Fiction Author, Samantha Huewagen ★★★★★
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Q: Why do you write?
A: When I was a kid, reading was a way for me to escape into magical worlds. I was about twelve years old when I first started writing and making up my own stories. It made me feel like I had a connection to the literary greats. Like I was in some sort of secret magical club. Today, I write to try and capture that magic in hopes to inspire writers and readers alike. To take my readers on a journey. An adventure. An escape. I write to breathe life into characters, to transport readers to fantasy settings, and to hopefully make people believe in magic again.
Q: What books do you write?
A: I write Fantasy and Science Fiction and all of its sub-genres. My current series, Blood and Darkness, is adult Urban Fantasy. I love playing with the real world and spinning it on its head, adding magical elements and creatures to it, and creating worlds within worlds. I keep a very long notebook of story ideas filled with everything from Portal Fantasy, Steampunk, and High Fantasy to Dystopian, Hard Sci-Fi, and Space Opera. BLOOD AND DARKNESS
BLOOD AND MAGIC (book 1)
FLESH AND BONE (book 2)
GODS AND DEMONS (book 3)
Q: Why should readers pick up your books?
A: Blood and Darkness is a fast paced, page turning Urban Fantasy series. If you are a fan of Gothic settings, sexual tension, ancient prophecies, dark magic, and deep rooted mythology, then you will love this series. Ultimately, Blood and Darkness is about love and betrayal, revenge and redemption, and all-out war. From the first page of Blood and Magic to the last, you will not be able to put this series down. These characters will haunt you, their stories will stay with you, and they will leave you wanting more.
Starstruck
Brenda Hiatt - 2013
Orphaned as an infant and reluctantly raised by an overly-strict "aunt," she's not even sure who she is. M's dream of someday escaping tiny Jewel, Indiana and making her mark in the world seems impossibly distant until hot new quarterback Rigel inexplicably befriends her. As Rigel turns his back on fawning cheerleaders to spend time with M, strange things start to happen: her acne clears up, her eyesight improves to the point she can ditch her thick glasses, and when they touch, sparks fly--literally! When M digs for a reason, she discovers deep secrets that will change her formerly mundane life forever... and expose her to perils she never dreamed of. Book 1 of the award-winning Starstruck series, where teen romance blends with science fiction to open a whole new world of action, adventure and discovery.
Dragon's Call
Ann Gimpel - 2019
The first book in a magic-laced, fast-paced fantasy trilogy. With dragons. After the Breaking, not much was left. I assumed it was a case of magic gone bad—until I discovered my goddess mother had broken the world. She didn’t like it that I’d turned my back on the pantheon. My long tenure among witches rubbed salt into the wound. After a confrontation where Mommy Dearest fessed up—and lacked the decency to bat an eyelash about the widespread destruction she’d caused—I was digesting what to do next when a dragon showed up. Yes. A dragon. The beast didn’t talk with me or anything, but it flew overhead wreaking havoc on a goblin horde. Witches are old souls with kind hearts, but they’re not particularly strong magically, so I was grateful for the help. And suspicious as hell. Why a dragon? Why here and why now? More importantly, why was he—she?—helping me? Part of me didn’t want to know, and another part was certain I’d find out anyway.
The Knowing
Ninie Hammon - 2015
It ends with the return of an evil as ancient as the skeleton of the universe. In the middle, normal garden-variety people must figure out how to live their everyday lives—how to survive!—after they discover that all those Bible stories about demons and angels...they're true. When the hot call comes over the radio: “Code Red! Active shooter at Carlisle Elementary School,” Police Sergeant Jack Carpenter has only one job: find the gunman; take him out. Carpenter rushes into the school, fully armed and focused on cold, hard reality. But what happens to him in the next few hours shatters the world as he has always known it. And in the next three days, everything Jack Carpenter believes about himself, about life and reality, about good and evil and the whole nature of the universe will be challenged. Can it possibly be true—seriously?—that invisible demons prowl among us every day? That there exists in the real world a winged creature more horrifying than any Hollywood-animated, computer-generated, mechanical unreality? And that the single-minded mission of that beast—a creation of absolute, soul-less evil—is to kill Jack Carpenter? That’s crazy! Fairy-tale-science-fiction-horror-movie-bogeyman crap! Bottom line: it flat-out cannot possibly be true. But it is. In this first book in The Knowing Trilogy, award-winning journalist and bestselling Christian suspense and thriller author Ninie Hammon begins a sprawling tale of spiritual warfare that spans a quarter of a century. If you enjoy sleep-with-the-lights-on suspense coupled with characters so lifelike they'll feel like family, The Knowing will open up for you a world you probably don't want to believe is real. But it is. Interview with the Author Q - What makes The Knowing special? A - It's real life on paper. Things happen that really are "unexplainable." There are forces at work in the universe we can't see, with power we can't begin to imagine and plans we don't understand. Is it any wonder that some things flat out don't have a reasonable, rational explanation? Q - Is The Knowing a paranormal book? A - Not in the sense that most people think of as "paranormal." It's not about zombies or vampires or people who turn into werewolves or giant bears or attack-gerbils. The characters in The Knowing are folks you could bump carts with in a small-town grocery store, so when the unexplainable starts to happen to them, you realize the same thing could happen to you, too. Q - Is this Christian fiction? A -Yes, Christian fiction with a backbone. There are Scriptural realities that many Christians say they believe, even think they believe--but when push comes to shove, they discover they really don't. Theresa Washington from The Knowing says it best: "The smartest thing Satan ever done was to get people to believe he don't exist." Q - Why should readers give this book a try? A - Because it will capture your heart and mind, grab you in a reality so gripping you'll decide you can fold the towels later and the lawn will still be out there to mow tomorrow.
The Vampire from Hell: The Beginning
Ally Thomas - 2011
He wants her to take an active role in the family business. But she's not interested in his schemes for world domination. Instead she wants to spend her time shopping on the Internet, rescuing humans from a horrific eternity, and practicing martial arts with her seven foot hellhound. Then one day everything changes. Here's the first part of her story about how it all began. (6,155 words)
Death Whispers
Tamara Rose Blodgett - 2011
making the teens more powerful than the adults.After Caleb discovers he has the rare, Affinity for the Dead, he must do whatever it takes to hide it from a super-secret government agency whose goal is exploitation.Caleb seeks refuge in his new girlfriend, Jade, until he realizes that she needs as much protection from her family, as he does from the government.Suddenly, Caleb finds that hiding his ability while protecting Jade and his friends is a full time job; can he escape the government, protect Jade and lose the bullies that are making him miserable?
Dragonlands: Volume 1-3
Megg Jensen - 2014
Includes: Hidden: The mystery enshrouding Hutton’s Bridge is as impenetrable as the fog that descended at its borders eighty years ago. Each year, three villagers enter the mist searching for answers. No one ever returns. Then a dragon falls from the sky to the town square, dead—the first glimpse of an outside world that has become nothing more than a fairy tale to Hutton’s Bridge. Except to Tressa. Tressa grew up with Granna’s stories of the days before the fog fell. When Granna dies, leaving Tressa without any family, Tressa ventures into the fog herself, vowing to unravel the foul magic holding Hutton’s Bridge captive. What she discovers beyond the fog endangers the lives of everyone she loves. Hunted: The fog that trapped the people of Hutton's Bridge for eighty years has disappeared, but now so have the villagers. Fearing the worst, Tressa and Bastian must navigate a new and dangerous world in search of their people. Among their allies are a healer, a warrior, and even a dragon--but their enemies are far greater. Hutton's Bridge has long protected a powerful secret, one the dragonlords will kill to control. As the realms rise, Tressa and Bastian risk everything to save their people, until one must make the ultimate sacrifice. Retribution: Tensions are mounting in the Dragonlands. The dragon hordes are mustering, each with its own agenda. But Tressa must conquer her personal demons before answering the call to war. Gravely ill, her body undergoing mysterious and frightening changes, she travels to a distant land for the answers crucial to her survival. What she discovers rocks her to the core. As the battle begins, a long-slumbering magic--dark, powerful, and brutal--awakens. And Tressa learns the ones you love most can become your greatest enemies of all. Books 4 & 5 - Desolation and Reckoning - sold separately
The Third Eye of Jenny Crumb
Martina Dalton - 2013
She’s smart, beautiful, and... normal. But, on the inside, she struggles to keep a dark secret from her friends and family. Jenny is psychic—and she fears that if people find out, she’ll be labeled as a loser and a freak. Jenny falls in love with the handsome new guy in school. But her visions are becoming jarringly intense and she is having trouble hiding her gift. Not only is she having premonitions about a creepy man with a knife, but she also learns a girl in her school has gone missing. Will her premonitions about the kidnapper put herself and the people she loves in danger as she tries to find the missing girl? Even if Jenny survives, her life will change forever.
Modern Sorcery
Gary Jonas - 2011
There are dozens of witnesses, and the crime is captured on the security cameras. To the police, it’s an open-and-shut case.To Naomi, the daughter of the couple, it’s evidence of dark magic. She hires her ex-lover, a private investigator named Jonathan Shade to prove her father is innocent.Shade specializes in paranormal cases, but he isn’t buying it. Still, he takes the case, hoping to rekindle their relationship. Instead, Shade finds himself mixed up in supernatural intrigue with wizards, magically engineered assassins, and an ancient sorcerer returned to life who’s willing to kill anyone who stands in his way.Too bad Shade doesn't have any magic. The Jonathan Shade series so far:
Modern Sorcery
Acheron Highway
Dragon Gate
Anubis Nights
Sunset Specters
Wizard's Nocturne
The Iron Butterfly
Chanda Hahn - 2012
Their leader has chosen Thalia as the test subject for a torture device of untold power, designed to change and twist her into something that is neither human nor Denai.Escaping, Thalia finds an unwilling warrior to protect her and an unlikely Denai to befriend her. After finding a home at the Citadel as a servant, Thalia’s worst nightmare comes to life and she begins to show signs of power. Scared and unable to control her gifts, she tries to hide her past to fit in among the Denai. But the Septori want their latest test subject back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her, dead or alive.
WitchBlood
Emma Mills - 2012
With Luke pronounced ‘off-limits’ and the blood of a vampire simmering in Jess’s body, can she forget the love of her life and move on? If not, she will risk exposing the entire Northern vampire clan to untold dangers, in order to live her life the way she wants.Can Jess be sure that Luke is all he appears to be? Will she succumb to the attraction she desperately tries not to feel for Daniel? And why does she still crave a packet of crisps more than a tasty teenage boy’s blood?
Incubation
Laura DiSilverio - 2016
Raised with other repo kids in InKubator 9, she has pinned her hopes on Reunion Day, the annual event where sixteen-year-olds can meet or reunite with their parents. When her Reunion Day goes horribly awry, she and her pregnant friend Halla escape the Kube, accompanied by their friend Wyck who has his own reasons for leaving. In a world where rebuilding the population is critical to national survival, the Pragmatist government licenses all human reproduction, and decides who can--and must--have babies. The trio face feral dog packs, swamp threats, locust swarms, bounty hunters looking for "breeders," and more dangers as they race to Amerada's capital to find Halla's soldier boyfriend before the Prags can repo her baby and force the girls into surrogacy service. An unexpected encounter with Bulrush, an Underground Railroad for women fleeing to Outposts with their unlicensed babies, puts them in greater peril than ever. Everly must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to learn her biological identity--and deal with the unanticipated consequences of her decisions.