I decided to do something a little different this time around. Usually, when I film a recommendations video for YouTube, I stick to one genre. But I’ve kind of been bouncing around lately in my reading, and it can be good to try different genres. So I was thinking about starting a new series of posts where I recommend a few books, but they would each be from a different genre. Here are my first 3 recommendations for you.
Mystery – Dark in Death by J. D. Robb
Dark in Death is the 46th full novel in the In Death series by J. D. Robb which is the pen name of Nora Roberts. The great thing about this series is you can jump in at any point and have enough to not be lost. This is also the most recently released book of the series. (I myself started with Innocent in Death, the 24th book of the series; loved it so much I went back and started from the beginning.) This series quickly became an auto buy for me, and each time I finish one I want to read the next. It’s like a television series you binge watch. You sit down intending to read one book, and end up reading ten.
The book follows our favorite lieutenant of the NYPSD, Eve Dallas, and her partner Delia Peabody as they work to solve the mystery of who is imitating murders from books written by a specific author. Of course, Eve’s husband Roarke is there to help with some of the technical details, and help fill her in on some more entertaining facts; such as details of the classic film Psycho.
This series is also the reason I love reading today. Before I found this series, reading was more a chore. Something I had to do for school, or something I should do if I want to be a writer. This series sparked something in me and for the first time, I read because I wanted to pick up the story and see what happened. This series holds a special place in my heart for this reason.
Science Fiction – Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci
I stumbled across an Authortuber by the name of Jenna Moreci. At the time she still had some time to go before she published her first novel, Eve: The Awakening in August of 2015. I enjoyed her no nonsense sometimes funny way of putting things to other aspiring or even professional writers. I’m ashamed to say it took me almost 3 years before I picked up her book to read. (She just released her second novel, The Savior’s Champion, which is a Fantasy.)
The story follows a Chimera by the name of Eve, who just wants to blend in with the other “normal” humans. In this story, a Chimera is not the animal combination that likely came to mind. Instead they are humans with special abilities, they can run real fast without getting winded or breaking a sweat, and they never get sick; but an alien race known as the Interlopers are out for Chimera blood.
Eve is also special. Her Chimera abilities showed themselves at a very early age, after she witnessed her parents be killed by another driver. Since Eve was in a small town, things got difficult for her. The “normal” humans don’t like the Chimera’s, and everyone knew Eve was a Chimera after her parents death.
She gets in to one of the best universities there is, but that university has a problem. The Interlopers keep sniffing out the Chimera’s even before the Chimera’s know who they are. They do experiments with the Chimera’s then leave them broken. Eve slowly makes some friends, and they start fighting the Interloper problem which makes for some exciting reading.
Eve: The Awakening is also available for free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.
Supernatural Thriller – Dead Spots by Melissa F Olson
I listened to the audiobook of Dead Spots by Melissa F Olson a few years ago. It was definitely different. Dead Spots is book 1 of the Scarlett Bernard trilogy, which continues with the Disrupted Magic trilogy.
Scarlett Bernard is what is known as a null. They are rare in the supernatural world. A null can do, pretty much what is sounds like, they nullify magic. If a werewolf or vampire get close enough, they will become human as long as they are near the null. Once they leave the null’s radius, they go back to being a werewolf or vampire. Likewise a witch would be unable to perform magic, and any spells in place would be null & void (pun intended).
Scarlett works for the heads of the supernaturals in Los Angeles. She cleans up magic crime scenes. When a werewolf loses control and eats a human, leaving a bloody mess somewhere, Scarlett is called in to clean it up. This is to protect the supernatural world from being discovered by the humans. For this example, the head of the werewolves in Los Angeles would then deal with the werewolf who lost control.
On one unlucky night, Scarlett gets caught at a scene by LAPD officer, Jesse Cruz. Scarlett cleaning the scene doesn’t sit well with Jesse, so they end up making a deal. Jesse would keep the secret if Scarlett helps him solve the crime. Soon however, the clues point to Scarlett as the culprit. Now it’s a race to prove her innocence before the head Vampire punishes her for a crime she didn’t commit.
Dead Spots is also available for free as an ebook or audiobook through Kindle Unlimited.
