Top 25 Book Series
Listed below are the series I like, in the order I like them. In the case of two series set in the same universe, I’ve put them both in the same “place”, as I generally see them as the same series by the same author. However, in both cases the spin-off series is not quite as good as the original series.
The series in places three through eight are all pretty much on par with each other and I had a really hard time deciding which I liked more. I actually considered having a five way tie for 3rd place, but decided I needed to try to put them in order, so I did.
| My Ranking Series Name Author Genre |
Description | Books in the series |
| 1. Kate Daniels Series
by Ilona Andrews Urban Fantasy / Dark Fantasy |
Set in an alternate Atlanta, where magic and tech come in waves, so that magic works for a little while but technology doesn’t, and then technology (cars, phones, computers) works for a little while and magic doesn’t. Sometimes it might be ten or fifteen minutes between changes, and other times it might be weeks between changes. Kate is kind of like a magical police officer, only she works for… I dunno, the equivalent of a federal agency instead of a local one, maybe? Anyway, she manages to get pulled into shapeshifter politics and ends up being the only Knight of the Order who can handle anything related to the shapeshifters. It’s hard to describe the series, but Kate has this snarky attitude that is great and really makes her fun to read. When she first meets the Beast Master (a werelion that everyone is pretty much terrified of) and he’s back in the shadows so she can’t see him very good she sings out “here kitty kitty”. | 1. Magic Bites (2007)2. Magic Burns  (2008)3. Magic Strikes  *. Magic Mourns in the anthology Must Love Hellhounds 4. Magic Bleeds  (2010)5. Magic Slays  (May 2011) |
| 2. The Hollows / Rachel Morgan series
by Kim Harrison Urban Fantasy | In this universe a large percentage of humans got sick and dyed when they ate some genetically altered tomatoes. The supernaturals were not effected, and they realized that they were no longer so outnumbered by humans anymore, so they announced themselves to the Humans. The story takes place a few decades after this. This series has plots within plots, as well as a lot of heavy emotion. The author is great at making you hate the villain and then showing you why the villain does the things he does so that he is still the villain but it’s not so easy to hate him (or her) anymore. | 1. Dead Witch Walking 2. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead  3. Every Which Way But Dead  4. A Fistful of Charms  5. For a Few Demons More  6. The Outlaw Demon Wails  7. White Witch, Black Curse  8. Black Magic Sanction (Feb 23,’10) 9. Pale Demon  (Feb 22, 2011) |
| 3. Jane Yellowrock
by Faith Hunter Urban Fantasy |
This series has shifters of all kinds, vampires, and characters that are new and so well constructed you feel as if you’ve met them for real.
Jane thinks of herself as a skinwalker, but she really isn’t, since she doesn’t need a skin in order to change. She is of Native American descent, and in the first full book she gets drawn into the world of vampire politics. I highly recommend this series. |
1. Skinwalker 2. Blood Cross 3. Mercy Blade  4. Raven Cursed (Jan’12) |
| 4. Elemental Assassin Series
by Jennifer Estep Urban Fantasy |
Gin Blanco is an assassin in an urban fantasy world with a new take. The worldbuilding is exceptionally well done, the characters are deep, and the story line is intriguing. As the story moves into the series the plots get deeper and deeper, and have me wanting to read what comes next long before the next book is available. | 1. Spider’s Bite  2. Web of Lies  (May ’10)3. Venom  (Sep 28,’10)4.Tangled Threads  5. Spider’s Revenge  (Sept’11) |
| 5. Night Huntress Series
by Jeaniene Frost Urban Fantasy |
Main protagonist is half vampire – her mother was raped and impregnated by a newly turned vampire, new enough the sperm wasn’t dead yet. Young Katherine (later to be known as Cat) was raised to believe that all vampires are evil. But she’s half vampire, so doesn’t that make her evil? The series opens with her searching for and killing vampires, but she’s doing it to try to get her mother’s approval. Then she meets a vampire that shows her that all vampires aren’t evil. And… it gets complicated. Humans do not know of the existence of vampires in this series. |
1. Halfway to the Grave 2. One Foot in the Grave 3. At Grave’s End 4. Destined for an Early Grave 5. This Side of the Grave  6. One Grave at a Time  (Aug’11) |
| 5. Night Huntress World
by Jeaniene Frost |
Set in the above Universe, but the stories of some of the others we’ve met in that universe.
I did not like the first book in the spin-off series as much as I enjoy the Cat and Bones books. The second book was somewhat better, but still not on par with the Cat and Bones books. |
1. First Drop of Crimson 2. Eternal Kiss of Darkness  |
| 6. Anita Blake series
by Laurell K. Hamilton Urban Fantasy |
In this universe humans know about vampires. Anita is a necromancer (raises the dead for legal reasons, such as when a will is in question), and a vampire executioner. You can’t really arrest a vampire and put them in jail, so when they are found guilty an executioner is sent after them. Anita begins the series thinking all vampires are bad. She doesn’t think a whole lot of shapeshifters, either. But then she meets some of them and gets to know them.
Most early books involve a job with the police (usually helping to solve a supernatural crime) and something to do with either vampire politics or shapeshifter politics (or both) and frequently something going on in her private life as well. This is a pretty controversial series. Once you get past Obsidian Butterfly the sex gets a bit over the top. Obsidian Butterfly is most excellent though, and there is no sex in that one. |
1. Guilty Pleasures 2. The Laughing Corpse 3. Circus of the Damned 4. The Lunatic Cafe 5. Bloody Bones 6. The Killing Dance 7. Burnt Offerings 8. Blue Moon 9. Obsidian Butterfly 10. Narcissus in Chains 11. Cerulean Sins 12. Incubus Dreams 13. Micah (novella) 14. Danse Macabre 15. The Harlequin 16. Blood Noir (2008) 17. Skin Trade (2009) 18. Flirt  (novella) (2/2/10)19. Bullet  (2010)20. Hit List  (July 9, 2011) |
| 7. Mercedes Thompson Series
by Patricia Briggs Urban Fantasy |
Mercy Thompson is a Volkwagen mechanic and is of Native American descent. She can shift into the form of a Coyote. Her father died before she was born, and her mother didn’t know any of his family. Her mother did not know how to raise a child who could turn into a coyote, and found a pack of were-wolves who could foster her. So, Mercy was raised in a wolf pack, though she is not a werewolf. She is now grown and on her own, not living near her pack or her mother. Her current neighbor is the Alpha of the local wolves. The first book deals mostly with the local wolves. The second mostly with the local Vampires, and the third deals mostly with the local Fae population. At the start of the series humans do not know about werewolves and vampires, though they do know about the Fae. |
1. Moon Called 2. Blood Bound 3. Iron Kissed 4. Bone Crossed 5. Silver Borne 6. River Marked  (Jan ’11) |
7. Alpha and Omega Series
by Patricia Briggs |
Set in the same world as the above story, this series appears that it will focus on Mercy’s original pack. We’ve already met most of the players in the series, though not in the short story that starts off the series. | *. Alpha and Omega in On the Prowl 1. Cry Wolf 2. Hunting Ground 3. Fair Game |
| 8. Kitty Norville series
by Carrie Vaughn Urban Fantasy |
Kitty is a werewolf (the name came first, she was turned as an adult against her will). She begins a radio show called The Midnight Hour, which is kind of what the old Art Bell show used to be, but she only does it once a week. And, she’s a werewolf who knows about the existence of vampires, so she’s got a leg up on everyone.
Humans do not know about the existence of vampires or werewolves or any other supernatural as the series begins. |
1. Kitty and the Midnight Hour 2. Kitty Goes to Washington 3. Kitty Takes a Holiday 4. Kitty and the Silver Bullet 5. Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand 6. Kitty Raises Hell 7. Kitty’s House of Horrors 8. Kitty Goes to War  9. Kitty’s Big Trouble  (June ’11)– Kitty’s Greatest Hits  (Aug’11)10. Kitty Steals the Show |
| 9. Psy-Changelings Series
by Nalini Singh Romantic Urban Fantasy |
This series is more of a parallel world. There are humans, changelings, and Psy. The Psy have various types of psychic abilities, and they have this kind of psychic internet that their minds are all psychically linked in to. Without the feedback of that network, they die. About 100 years before the story takes place, the psy had a problem with those who used their abilities to kill, often because they could not control their abilities when they were emotional. When you can kill someone with a thought, you have to be very careful when you’ve just caught your boyfriend kissing someone else. So they implemented Silence, where kids are taught from infancy to not feel emotions. There is a training protocol with painful feedback when an emotion is felt. But Silence has its problems, too. And as the series progresses, there are all sorts of shades of grey between the black and white that we originally see. Each book is a romance, so we get a different focus (from the same narrator) for each book. I usually don’t like those, but this series is good enough that it doesn’t matter.
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1.Slave to Sensation 2.Visions of Heat  3.Caressed By Ice  4.Mine to Possess  5.Hostage to Pleasure  6.Branded by Fire  7.Blaze of Memory  8. Bonds of Justice  9. Play of Passion  10. Kiss of Snow  (Hawke’s book, finally!) (May’11) |
| 10. October Daye series
by Seanan McGuire Urban Fantasy |
Toby is half fae and half human, with very little fae magic of her own. Bad things happen to her, and she survives. I like Toby. A lot, and as the series progresses I like her more and more. This one is often listed in the YA section and it would be fine for most teens to read, but it isn’t about a teenager. I have a problem with mot of the YA stuff because I can’t deal with too much angst, but there is none of that in this seres.
Highly recommended. |
1. Rosemary and Rue 2. A Local Habitation  3. An Artificial Night  4. Late Eclipses  5. One Salt Sea  (Sept’11)6. Ashes of Honor (Sept’12) 7. The Chimes at Midnight (Sept’13) |
| 11. Meredith Gentry
by Laurell K. Hamilton Urban Fantasy |
This series is about the Fae. As the series starts Merry is a Fairy Princess who has ran from her home and is hiding out in California. Over the course of the books she goes home to the UnSeelie Court and has a whole lot of adventures. Her aunt, the Queen of the Unseelies doesn’t like her very much.
The first book doesn’t have much sex. The rest of them do. A lot of sex. |
1. A Kiss of Shadows 2. A Caress of Twilight  3. Seduced by Moonlight  4. A Stroke of Midnight  5. Mistral’s Kiss  6. A Lick of Frost  7. Swallowing Darkness  8. Divine Misdemeanors |
| 12. Sookie Stackhouse (Southern Vampire) Series
by Charlaine Harris Urban Fantasy |
Sookie is a telepathic “bar maid” in small-town northern Louisiana. Vampires are out of the closet in this series, and when Sookie finally meets a vampire she discovers she can’t hear their thoughts. This is heaven to someone who can’t help but hear people’s thoughts. She gets involved in vampire politics and things get very interesting. Humans know of the existence of vampires, but not shapeshifters or witches or fae (or anything else) in this series. |
1. Dead Until Dark 2. Living Dead in Dallas 3. Club Dead 4. Dead to the World 5. Dead as a Doornail 6. Definitely Dead 7. All Together Dead 8. From Dead to Worse 9. Dead and Gone 10. A Touch of Dead 11. Dead in the Family  12. Dead Reckoning  – Sookie Stackhouse Companion  (Aug’11) |
| 13. Allie Beckstrom series
by Devon Monk Urban Fantasy |
I didn’t care much for the first book in this series, but I had so many people tell me to stick with it until the end of the second book, that I did. Eventually. I put the first book down a few times. Now, at six books into the series, I’m really glad I made it through that first book. You’ve got to learn the rules of this world, and you need to understand Allie’s world before her life changes.
This series has very impressive world building, great characters, and intense plots. |
1. Magic to the Bone 2. Magic in the Blood 3. Magic in the Shadows 4. Magic on the Storm 5. Magic at the Gate 6. Magic on the Hunt 7. Magic on the Line (Nov’11) |
| 14. Riley Jensen, Guardian, Bk 5)
by Keri Arthur Urban Fantasy |
Riley is half werewolf and half vampire, as is her twin brother. Riley is more werewolf than vampire (she’s basically a werewolf with a few of a vampire’s strengths) and her brother is a little more vampire than werewolf (most think he used to be a werewolf but was turned into a vampire). In this universe werewolves go into “heat” in the days leading up to a full moon and have a lot of sex. The first book happens during this time, but most of the other books do not. So, the first book has a lot more sex in it than the other books (kind of the reverse of the Anita Blake series – LOL). Riley and her brother are agents of… kind of the equivelant of todays FBI (or higher), only from a supernatural point of view. In this universe humans know about werewolves and vampires, and this is the agency responsible for policing the supernaturals. | 1. Full Moon Rising 2. Kissing Sin 3. Tempting Evil 4. Dangerous Games 5. Embraced by Darkness 6. The Darkest Kiss 7. Deadly Desire 8. Bound to Shadows 9. Moon Sworn 
Dark Angel Series (Risa)
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| 15. Jane True series
by Nicole Peeler Urban Fantasy |
I kept not reading this series because of the covers. They seem so childish, it was a turn off. But I was finally convinced to not judge the books by the covers, and read the first. In a way the stories fit the covers, as they are written in a lighthearted and simple way. Kind of in the style of the Sookie books, or even the Stephanie Plum books. But some serious stuff happens, it’s not all fluff. The character development is well done, the plots are nice, and there is a triangle that also has similarities to the Sookie and Plum books. It’s a fun series with serious things that happen. | 1. Tempest Rising 2. Tracking the Tempest  (July 1, 2010)3. Tempest’s Legacy  4. Eye of the Tempest  (Aug 2011)5. Tempest’s Fury (2012) |
| 16. Women of the Otherworld
by Kelley Armstrong Urban Fantasy |
The first two books are about werewolves and are told to us by the same narrator. Books three and four are from a different narrator, and they give us a completely different set of characters. The series has werewolves, witches, warlocks, wizards, ghosts, vampires, necromancers, and more. The stories tie together nicely once you get into the series, even though you’ve got different women narrating the stories.
Humans do not know of the existence of supernaturals in this world. |
1. Bitten 2. Stolen 3. Dime Store Magic 4. Industrial Magic 5. Haunted 6. Broken 7. No Humans Involved 8. Personal Demon 9. Living with the Dead *. Men of the Otherworld *. A Fantasy Medley 10. Frostbitten *. Angelic  (Novella)*. Tales of the Otherworld 11. Waking the Witch  *. Counterfeit Magic  12. Spell Bound  (July’11) |
| 17. The Dresden Files
by Jim Butcher Urban Fantasy |
Harry Dresden is a wizard in Chicago. Humans do not know about vampires or werewolves or fae or wizards in this series. Harry has a yellow pages ad as a wizard, but the general public doesn’t really take it seriously.
Harry helps out the police on crimes that have them stumped. And he gets clients of his own who need a wizard, too. This series pulls in dozens and dozens of creatures from various mythologies. The sex in this series is pretty much nonexistant. The Sci Fi channel made it into a television series for one season. You can buy the completel first season on DVD. |
1 Storm Front 2 Fool Moon 3 Grave Peril 4 Summer Knight 5 Death Masks 6 Blood Rites 7 Dead Beat 8 Proven Guilty 9 White Night 10 Small Favor  * Backup 11 Turn Coat 12 Changes  * Side Jobs  – Short stories13. Ghost Story  (July’11) |
| 18. Cal Leandros series
by Rob Thurman Dark Urban Fantasy |
Mom is a crack wh.. uh, prostitute. Dad was a very evil thing. Think, much worse than the most evil vampire ever written. Maybe closer to one of the dark Fae than a vampire. Or a cross of the darkest of those mythologies. Cal and his big brother basically survived on their own while their mom was wasted or gone. Cal’s big brother was four when Cal was born and pretty much raised Cal without help from “mom”. The non-human things took Cal once and he escaped, and now they are grown and on the run from them. | 1. Nightlife 2. Moonshine 3. Madhouse 4. Deathwish 5. Roadkill (Mar 2,’10) 6. Blackout  (Mar 1,’11) |
| 19. Twilight Saga
by Stephenie Meyer Romantic Urban Fantasy |
A different kind of vampire than most of the urban fantasy books. This one is Young Adult, so it stays at a PG where the sex is concerned. Edward and his “family” look like older teens or early 20′s, so when they move to a new town they start out in high school so they can stay longer before having to move again. Bella moves to a new town and meets Edward when she starts her new school. It is impossible to tell much about this series without giving spoilers. The series is complete. No more books. |
1. Twilight 2. New Moon 3. Eclipse 4. Breaking Dawn Novella: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner |
| 20. Stephanie Plum series
by Janet Evanovich Humor / Crime |
As the series opens Stephanie has been laid off from her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store. She blackmails her cousin Vinnie (this is set in New Jersey, after all) to let her try to bring a bounty in that is worth 10,000 if she can manage to bring her guy in.
Throughout the rest of the series Stephanie is a bounty hunter. She’s not very good at it, which is part of the comic relief. The other part of it are the characters she interacts with. A good bit of the humor comes from her grandmother. This is a series that will have you laughing until tears come out of your eyes. It’s a very entertaining read. There are no deep plots, or plots within plots, it’s just a nice, easy, entertaining, series. The latter books unfortunately aren’t very good, but books one through about ten or eleven are very good. |
One For the Money Two For the Dough Three to Get Deadly Four to Score High Five Hot Six Seven Up Hard Eight To the Nines Visions of Sugar Plums Ten Big Ones Eleven on Top Twelve Sharp Plum Lovin’ Lean Mean Thirteen Plum Lucky Fearless Fourteen Plum Spooky Finger Lickin’ Fifteen Sizzling Sixteen  Smokin’ Seventeen 
New Diesel Spinoff Series: |
| 21. Dark Hunter Series
by Sherrilyn Kenyon Romantic Urban Fantasy |
This series pulls from Greek Mythology and gives us something that the vampire myths could easily have come from.
The Dark Hunters are hunting something similar to a vampire, but not a vampire. The Dark Hunters were once men and women, but who made a bargain with their soul and now they are unbelievably rich, have supernatural powers, don’t age, and are practically impossible to kill. But, they must hunt. And they can’t be around each other or their powers are drained. The first book is not about the Dark Hunters, it’s an introduction to their world and a few of the characters in the series, though. Each book is a HEA book for a different couple. We don’t get the same narrator twice. |
1. Fantasy Lover 1.5 Dragonswan 2. Night Pleasures 3. Night Embrace 4. Dance with the Devil 5. Kiss of the Night 6. Night Play 7. Seize the Night 8. Sins of the Night 9. Unleash the Night 10. Dark Side of the Moon 11. Devil May Cry 12. Acheron 13. One Silent Night 14. Bad Moon Rising 15. No Mercy  (Aug 3,’10)16. Retribution  (Aug ’11)17. Alpha (Oct ’11) 18. Daemon’s Angel (Sept ’12) Chronicles of Nick |
| 22. Immortals After Dark
by Kresley Cole Romantic Urban Fantasy |
Each book is a HEA book of a couple getting together. You don’t get the same narrator more than once. But, after the first book, you’ve already met the narrator and usually know a little bit of their story.
There is a very good plot line that runs through the books, so you have to read each book to continue with the main plot – a battle shaping up between good and bad supernaturals, and the winner will control things for the next (appx) 500 years. This series is great at pulling old mythologies in and bringing them to life. |
1. A Hunger Like No Other 2. No Rest for the Wicked 3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night 4. Dark Needs at Night’s Edge 5. Dark Desires After Dusk 6. Kiss of a Demon King 7. Pleasure of a Dark Prince 10. Demon from the Dark  (Aug 24,’10)11. Dreams of a Dark Warrior  (Feb 15,’11) |
| 23. Phoenix Chronicles
by Lori Handeland Urban Fantasy |
Liz was once a cop but is working as a bartender when we meet her. She’s psychic, and that caused problems working as a cop. She needed proof to arrest someone, and her psychic sense was not considered proof. When her foster mother is murdered Liz gets thrown into the middle of things and discovers that humans aren’t as close to the top of the food chain as she’d believed. This series has werewolves and vampires and dhampirs and skinwalkers and a whole host of creatures from various mythologies.
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1. Any Given Doomsday
2. Doomsday Can Wait 3. Apocalypse Happens 4. Chaos Bites  5. Demons at the Gates (Mar ’11) |
| 24. Black Sun’s Daughter series
by M.L.N. Hanover Urban Fantasy |
Another relatively new series that shows a lot of promise. The series begins as Jayné (pronounced zha nay) arrives in Denver to settle her dead Uncle’s estate, only to discover he was rich (as in, properties and accounts all over the world – an empire), and he was killed by something that isn’t human. As she meets his friends and discovers the rules of this reality she never realized existed, she decides to go after the being that killed her Uncle. The first book was great, but it also set the series up for several long term plot arcs. The second book continued that, and I can’t wait for the third book. | 1. Unclean Spirits 2. Darker Angels 3. Vicious Grace  4. Killing Rites  (Nov ’11) |
| 25. Nikki Heat series
by Richard Castle Crime Drama |
This is a spin-off from the TV show Castle. The books are good if you watch the series. If you don’t watch the series I’m not sure they are good enough to stand on their own. I was pleased with the way Nikki Heat is characterized – it’s the relationship Castle wishes he has with Becket. But Nikki Heat is written as a strong woman who works to get where she is, it’s not all sexual fantasizing. Just a little.
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1. Heat Wave  2. Naked Heat  3. Heat Rises  (Sep ’11) |
| 26. The Spellmans
by Lisa Lutz Crime Drama |
Isabel (Izzy) Spellman is a 28 year old woman who is still growing up. She led a very wild childhood and young adulthood (as in drugs and indiscriminate sex and various irresponsible behaviors). Izzy is a PI, as are her parents. She started as a child and was doing surveillance before she could drive. Her little sister was doing surveillance before she could read. This is a family with deadbolts on bedroom doors because, since they are all professional snoops, they don’t trust anyone. Not even family.
The family is… functionally dysfunctional? Maybe dysfunctional is too strong of a word. We’ll just say they love each other, but they are not normal. It’s a good story, but the way it as told, as a report, didn’t work great for me. |
1. The Spellman Files: A Novel 2. Curse of the Spellmans: A Novel 3. Revenge of the Spellmans: A Novel 4. The Spellmans Strike Again |
(Sept ’11)
(Oct ’11)
