61 Books Like Firstborn Academy

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 don’t know where to start. I read all three books back to back.

It was too hard to back away from Tisaanah and Max’s story spanning all three books. I had to know what happened next to them and what choices they were going to make.

The world-building is amazing and all I could hope was that Tisaanah would make it to the next obstacle in her way to free her people along with the best friend she left behind when she fled slavery. Now she needs to learn magic and hopefully lead a rebellion before it is too late.

This book, well in fact this whole series is about family and what it means to create a new one.

Three guys are hiking in the woods and discover a broken wolf pack. This story is about the fight to save and heal this family. Yes, it centers around shifters, but that is not the focus of the book. The focus is on each of the characters and how they grow as a person.

You feel like you are living beside them, and that they are your friends. Each book focuses on a different pack member and what life changes they are going through with the change of leadership within the pack. Be prepared to want to binge-read them all as everyone asks themselves can this pack be saved?

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

This book is every fairytale and classic story turned on its head.

I absolutely love the way the author weaves apparently unrelated adventures into an epic tale by the end. It also has a very strong found family feel to it. They’re mercenaries with rules, and they will fight you if you come after one of their own.

It’s amazing, and if you like audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to it; the voice actors are amazing.   

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.