Books like Black Hat, White Witch — picked by fans

Though Tolkien’s Middle-earth was a centerpiece of fantasy for me, Lewis’ Narnia offset and balanced the more serious grave nature of Middle-earth with its more light-hearted adventures told through the eyes of children, where it feels like a fairy tale as everything in its world is simply extraordinary. 

The Chronicles of Narnia’s symbolism strikes me as being straightforward in its Christian allegory, which I find quite relatable. The aspect of being as children following the will of “our Heavenly Father” (in their case, walking in Aslan’s guidance) in what is truly a beautiful and imperfect world resonates so well with me, as it is a beautiful picture.

Its fairy tale style fantasy as a magical world just brings out the beauty of fantasy when its storytelling is kept simple. A simple beauty from levity, I love in contrast to the sorrowful beauty of Middle-earth that affects me on a… show more.

I love the characters in this series.

Lizzie and Belle are best friends. The kind that you want in your life and you want to live next door to. Well, if you don’t mind witches, magic, and living in werewolf territory. The bond between the two of them is so tight they touch each other's minds.

Follow along as they fight to stay hidden and safe while hunting a vampire that stalks their home. Each book brings us closer to the mystery of the two of them and I can’t wait to see where it ends.

One Word: Unputdownable! Mandy knows how to weave a story with believable characters and kickass paranormal world-building. I've always been a fan of her Urban Fantasy. In fact, that's the first genre I read from her. She's rocking Paranormal Women's Fiction, and I so want to rent a house in Grimm Cove. Or at least a vacation rental.

I came across this novel after I started following the author on Instagram. It was my first time dabbling in magical realism, and I found myself instantly hooked. Angie is an overweight, fifty-year-old housecleaner with a special skill—she can see the dead. Despite her best efforts to ignore her intuition, the spirits follow her, seek her out, and try to absorb and siphon her human powers. I love the arc of this novel, following the most unlikely of heroines into a death-defying struggle, where she learns that she is stronger than she ever thought possible and more importantly, she doesn’t need anyone else to save her. I rooted for her the entire way through, and now I’m excited to hear the author is making this into a trilogy.

I love this story because even though the hero falls for the heroine, and he falls hard, by the way, he fights it. 

He really doesn’t believe it could happen to him, so when that Black Moment comes, and he’s lost everything he’s worked for, his appreciation of the heroine is so vivid, so real, that the reader can’t help but fall in love with him too. 

I love a lot of K.M. Shea’s work because her plots involve character growth as well as a mystery to be solved. One of my favorite series begins with The King’s Captive.

The main is a little cat shifter. She is not a powerful shifter or even a powerful person. She’s down on her luck but thrifty, scrappy, and courageous. She’s also a cat, so she’s sneaky and clever, even if she does lose tufts of fur to her enemies now and then. She needs help to survive, but finding it and trusting others, well, that’s all part of the great journey.

I love how T.M. Baumgartner creates unique, lovable characters.

If her story doesn’t start out with family nuances, it definitely gets there as her characters find themselves swimming in problems that are not easy to solve. Her main character is a rare veterinarian, one willing to help pets, people, and other-world visitors regardless of race or origin. No lizard, pig, dog, or flying gremlin is too small.

Ooh, get ready for a wild ride with this series. It’s cozy, but fast-paced and full of intrigue!

I’d love to be a part of these adventures. Each mystery is tangled around one or more characters, and I found myself rooting for all of them. And some of the villains? Well, they might have snuck their way into my affections as well because not all characters are simple, and some have a way of growing, changing, and becoming friends. Also, Dragons. The main one in this series is a doozy. 

Tesha Geddes may have set out to write a Beauty and the Beast story, but like most of her books, her characters had plans of their own. This wonderful “retelling” strayed from the standard plot with lovely tangents, unique characters, and superb world-building.

I can’t help but hope for more of this kind of story from Geddes. Characters who start out needing a leg up learn that maybe they have something worthy to offer after all.

Some people familiar with the series may think it doesn’t belong on this list. The main character, Jorg, is an extremely broken individual and not likable in so many ways. In fact, there are plenty of moments through the Broken Empire series in which you truly despise him, but he is also irritatingly clever at times.

I found myself compelled forward through the simple desire to see how he would accomplish his goals and get out of the many difficult situations he often found himself in. One of my favorite aspects of Jorg’s story is the complicated relationships he builds with his Brotherhood of often equally despicable misfits that are, despite their differences, something of a family.

I will advise readers that this series is grimdark and includes a lot of unpleasant content. It is a dark, gritty fantasy with an almost villainous protagonist that won’t appeal to everyone.