74 Books Like Born In Fire

What if a witch, a vampire, and a Fairy walk into a bar, all having quit their job to start a detective agency, and you get this book? I loved the pacing, the characters, all of it!

The female lead character, Rachel, is just one of the funniest characters. I loved how she was A-okay with going around the legal system in the ways she did to trip up her target was just fun.

When I first encountered Harry Dresden, a professional wizard solving a double homicide in Chicago, I was instantly hooked by its noir, fantasy, and traditional mystery with dollops of humor. This novel—the first in The Dresden File series—kept me engaged the entire time with a fast-moving plot and interesting characters.

I could see in my mind’s eye Chicago’s skyscrapers and their reflection in Lake Michigan as Harry dug deeper into the crimes and the supernatural world. This was my first urban fantasy read, and Butcher’s ability to blend a private investigator story with the supernatural ensured it was not my last.

This chart-topping writing duo can do no wrong in my eyes. Their Innkeeper Chronicles series ranks amongst my all-time favorites, but when it comes to fierce female protagonists, their Kate Daniels series truly takes the cake.

I find Kate fascinating. She has a complex backstory (no spoilers here!), and she is a masterful fighter, excelling in both physical combat and magical prowess. She consistently stands up for others, often putting herself in peril to protect those around her. 

I love how her wit and humor shine through, striking the perfect balance between light and shade. 

I will always remember the way she greeted a particular deadly lion shifter with a cheeky “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.” For me, Kate Daniels embodies everything a fierce female protagonist should be.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book, where a novelist’s main character comes to life to solve a crime.

It has twists and turns, witches and paranormal characters galore, and a plot that kept me guessing to the end. I adored its irreverence and was so happy to learn it’s the first in a series.

This series of books by Elrod was one of my first introductions into not just vampire fiction but also this style of dryly-humorous narration. Up until my mid-to-late teens, I’d read a lot of high/epic fantasy, which is typically third person and more pragmatically written, but here I met a first-person narrator who was snarky as heck. I loved it. Not only that, but it’s a vampire P.I. story that plays in the land of noir in gangland Chicago during Prohibition. It was so engaging and fun that I devoured the series as fast as I could, and when anyone asks for my inspirations, it’s at the top of my list. Like it is here.

I adore it when characters name inanimate objects, be it weapons or their cars; take my money, I’m all in. London, the kickass knight at the heart of this series, is the heroine I needed. Armed with her trusty axe, Babe, and an unwavering moral compass, London isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty in the name of what is right.

I love everything about this book, including the phenomenal world-building and a kick-butt female protagonist to root for. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the sun is forever obscured, allowing vampires to reign supreme, London captured my attention from the very first page.

I love her courage, strength, and determination, all of which make her an unforgettable character. And I loved Babe, the axe. 

This is an American Gothic road novel that takes us across not just multiple state lines, but also multiple generations.

We see the entire life of main protagonist Vic McQueen, and how the trauma of her abuse-ridden childhood causes her to become an abusive parent herself—only to find herself racing across America to save her son from an innocence-sucking vampire.

NOS4A2 may lack bats and crumbling castles, but the villainous Charlie Manx is a perfectly creepy supernatural monster, and the book’s focus on psychological trauma feels right in line with the Gothic tradition. I loved NOS4A2 from the moment I started reading it, and it has stuck with me ever since. Not only is the book a thrilling, spooky, action-packed ride; it’s also full of characters I genuinely cared about.

Hot take, but I think I like Joe Hill’s books even more than his dad’s.

I’ve always been a fan of vampire stories and the related lore. From Dracula to Buffy to Anne Rice, I love all the different takes on vampire mythology, so The Incurables was a really neat book to discover. It takes a different approach to vampire lore, making it a viral disease that affects certain people based on their biology. The main character, Eveleen, contracts the disease and is put in an underground bunker with other infected, as the government tries to cure them, but there are much darker forces at play, and conspiracies to uncover and escapes to plan. The story was dark and twisty with threads of romance and really high stakes, and basically everything I love about vampire stories. 

I liked this story because of its inclusion of a main character drawn into a new world of magic and elemental powers. It is situated in an academy, but the story takes the character elsewhere, too, letting us see more of the world.

It includes vampires and other mythical creatures and leads the reader on a journey to solve a whodunit and the mystery of the MC herself. The dialogue she has with others is funny at times, and I like how the academy is to train agents for this magical world. I enjoyed listening to this on Audible and have listened to the series twice. 

In Grey, Gabrian doesn’t believe in magic. She’s a psychologist, and proud to be one. She bases her life on logic, but when things start to happen that she can’t explain, she finds herself in a whirlwind of magic. The way that Gabrian slowly comes to the truth is probably my favorite part of this book. As a Borrower, she’s considered not just a magical being, but a dangerous one. At first, she doesn’t handle this well and takes on the role of an anti-hero, nearly villain which was an interesting way to not only build Gabrian’s character but to introduce the truth of the magical world as well.