[updated: January 2026]
I often get asked about my favourite books/series/authors, specifically in the urban fantasy and why choose genres. And since I find myself repeating myself a lot – I’m a rather loyal reader – I thought I’d start a list here, then add to it as it becomes necessary.
To make it easier on myself, the links below lead to book one of the series on Amazon.com (simply replace the .com with .ca or .co.uk to find the book in your region). FYI these are affiliate links. I reinvest any $$ I make into paperback (etc) giveaways.
Favourite authors
Authors who I preorder the instant I know they have a new book coming, and who I reread.
Ilona Andrews – Kate Daniels (Magic Bites), Hidden Legacy (Burn For Me), and my favourite (by a terribly slim margin), The Innkeeper Chronicles (Clean Sweep).
Patricia Briggs – Mercy Thompson (Moon Called) and Alpha & Omega (Cry Wolf).
Faith Hunter – Jane Yellowrock (Skinwalker) and Soulwood (Blood of the Earth).
Kelley Armstrong – my current favourite is the Casey Duncan thrillers (City of the Lost), but also any of her Otherworld novels, including the YA offshoots, starting with Bitten. Kelley gets bonus points for being a fellow Canadian. 😀
Hailey Edwards – I loved her Foundling series (Bayou Born). Also her Beginners Guide to Necromancy (How to Save an Undead Life) and her newest series, Black Hat Bureau (Black Hat, White Witch).
Tracy Deonn. Her Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn) is actually life-altering. I can’t wait for the next book!
Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I’m absolutely in love with her The Inheritance Games series but I have now read her entire backlist.
Tijan – yep, contemporary romance! Best known for her Fallen Crest Series, my favs are Anti-Hero, Teardrop Shot, and Anti-Stepbrother.
Kathryn Moon – Omegaverse and Monster Romance. Auto buy author alert! Baby & the Late Night Howlers (Sweet Omegaverse 1), Lola & the Millionaires (Part One), Monster Smash Agency. Sexy, Why Choose, with bites, knots, and a plot! Fun, Fun!
Favourite series
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
The Psy/Changeling Series (Slave to Sensation) by Nalini Singh. I was late picking up my first Nalini Singh book (Why? Such a terrible oversight on my part!) but I’m now all caught up! I’ve reread Mine to Possess, Kiss of Snow, Heart of Obsidian, and Shield of Winter multiple times. And loved all of the off-shoot series. I’m also a fan of her Guild Hunter Series (Angel’s Blood).
Sookie Stackhouse (Dead Until Dark) by Charlaine Harris – one of my first entry points into ‘modern’ urban fantasy. I recently picked up her Gunnie Rose Series (An Easy Death) and absolutely adored it.
Kalayna Price – Alex Craft (Grave Witch).
InCrypid Series (Discount Armageddon)[ongoing] and October Daye (Rosemary and Rue)[ongoing] by Seanan McGuire. Seanan also writes as Mira Grant, and I LOVED her Newsflesh Series (Feed).
Terry Pratchett – any Discworld book with witches in the lead POV with Wintersmith being my favourite. I own but find myself unable to read, The Shepherd’s Crown, which was published after Terry passed away. I got to a certain plot point, lost it, and had to put the book away so I could continue to function in my everyday life.
The Scholomance (A Deadly Education) by Naomi Novik. Loved! I reread, bought the audiobook, and I instantly preordered book two. Then I read that and instantly preordered book three! Big fan.
The Legend of All Wolves (The Last Wolf) by Marie Vale. Love this very different take on werewolves/magic/etc. The first and the fourth book are my favs. Sexy, emotional reads.
The Guild Codex: Demonized (Taming Demons for Beginners) [complete] by Annette Marie. Fellow Canadian!
Space Opera/Sci-fi Romance
Mercenary Librarians (Deal with the Devil) by Kit Rocha.
The Firebird Chronicles (Rules of Redemption) by T.A. White [Ongoing series]. I’m obsessively in love with this space opera/sci-fi romance.
The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Illuminae). Also their newest collaboration, The Aurora Cycle (Aurora Rising).
The Consortium Rebellion (Polaris Rising) by Jessie Mihalik. Also, I really enjoyed her newer sci-fi romance, Starlight’s Shadow (Hunt the Stars).
The Crownchasers duology (Crownchasers) [complete] by Rebecca Coffindaffer.
All three books in the Galactic Love series by Ann Aguirre. But the first book, Strange Love, had me in tears because I was laughing so hard. Also sexy! Sexy!
And, if I’m listing fun ‘alien’ romps, I’d be seriously remiss if I didn’t mention the epic Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. Blue aliens, mating bonds, and seriously sexy times.
Romantasy/Fantasy Romance
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses) by Sarah J. Maas. I’m also enjoying her newer Crescent City series (House of Earth and Blood).
Kingmaker Chronicles (A Promise of Fire) by Amanda Bouchet.
Forgotten Empires (The Orchid Throne) by Jeffe Kennedy [completed trilogy]. And Bonds of Magic (Dark Wizard) [ongoing].
Gargoyle Queen (Capture the Crown) by Jennifer Estep. Romantasy. This is an offshoot of Jennifer’s Crown of Shards (Kill the Queen) series but I think it can also be read separately.
Favourite Why Choose/Reverse Harem/Omegaverse:
The two-volume, Pack Darling (Part One) by Lola Rock is a great omegaverse (knots, bites, Why Choose) as well.
Pack’s Companion (House of Omega) by Roxy Collins. Roxy is pretty much an audio buy author for me. Uber alphas, mixed packs, criminal underground/underpinnings.
The Bonds That Tie (Broken Bonds) by J Bree. This series totally sucks you in and keeps you guessing, full of sexy times (Why Choose!!), magic, enemies to lovers, and traumatic histories. I also enjoyed J Bree’s Hannaford Prep series (Just Drop Out).
WITSEC (Find Me) by Ashley N. Rostek. New adult, thriller, four brothers.
Rich Boys of Burberry Prep (Filthy Rich Boys) and Adamson All -Boys Academy (Secret Girl) by C.M. Stunich. New adult, YA. Academy, bully romance (light bullying b/c/ I’m not a fan otherwise).
Influential books/series/authors:
William Gibson – his sci-fi Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer). The character of Molly Millions has definitely influenced how I perceive/write/create my own superhero females. [Also the namesake of my chocolate Shar Pei). I’m also a big fan of Pattern Recognition (just adding that link makes me want to reread it).
Stephen King – favourites: The Talisman, The Stand, and more.
Jane Austin – Pride & Prejudice and more.
Anne Rice – all of her early books, starting with Interview with a Vampire (of course!! and probably goes without saying). But I also really enjoyed The Mummy.
More recent great reads:
Her Vicious Beasts (complete series) by Ep Bali. WhyChoose, Magical Academy, shifters, magic.
Clash of Claws (Shifter Guardian Academy 1) by Elizabeth Dear. Loved the first book, and have already preordered book 2!
Villains of Lore (Blood of Hercules) by Jasmine Mas. Totally unique take on Greek Mythology mixed with a dystopian backdrop. Why choose. Loved the second book as well. And the audiobooks!
The Blackened Blade by Isla Davon. Academy, mysterious past/powers, shifters. Ongoing series.
What are some of your favourite books and authors?
These are actual CDs, so you need a CD player to play them (or to download the files into iTunes, etc). Sorry about the glare (the plastic covers are annoyingly shiny).