Books like Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane — picked by fans

I have a soft spot for books about communities of supernaturals that live among mortals and this is another book that hit the spot. I read it years multiple times and it’s one of the books I think of when I need a paranormal romance fix. The hero is swoon-worthy, the heroine is engaging and the worldbuilding is inviting. There’s drama, romance, a bit of mystery and danger, and none of the story is sacrificed for the story which I’m always happy to read. I love the slow burn of the romance between the hero and heroine that allows you to see the attraction grow as the story advances. One of my faves!

This book is gritty, hard-hitting, and beautifully written–blood, sweat, and tears on a page.

I loved this book because the author did not pull any punches! The main male character was broken, his life had been tragic, and he didn’t just magically morph into some perfect model hero. While yes, I both see and imagine vampires as capable of incredible, deep love and loyalty, I also see them as a distinct species with an alternate nature, possessing the capacity for raw, animalistic pain, deep anger (even brutality), and the ability to act from all three places. This author nailed this, and she did it with intelligent, intricate plotting and bare, relatable emotion. She also wields some clever wit and biting snark. 

I was sucked in from the first chapter, and I never wanted to put it down. This story gave me so much to think about, and it stayed with… show more.

When I look for books to read, my criteria are a compelling mystery, an action-packed fantasy, or a blend of both. Welcome to the both. I love this book's excellent mystery, action, and world-building balance! While the action was on par with what I expected of Sanderson, the primary and secondary characters take the story a step further with depth that made me connect with their personalities and the motivation for their actions.

They feel like real people, with their dialogue and interactions adding to the investigation’s progression, and if a writer can achieve that in a story, that sells it for me. This, along with the worldbuilding and rather fun mystery, always makes it a reread option for me.

Mythology, romance, twisted villains, and a reluctant hero come together to make a book you will not want to put down. I’m a sucker for greek mythology and love it when it's brought into the modern world. The idea of a whole culture and supernatural world intertwined with ours will always catch my attention. There’s something so intriguing about the idea that there’s more going on in our world than we can imagine and this story pushes the narrative brilliantly. The main characters can irk your nerves at times but if there is no drama there’s no story in my opinion. These are realistic characters in unrealistic conditions and they’re always fun to read about.

I reread The Witness for the Dead at least three times in the first months after I got my hands on it and have bought it in both physical form and ebook. This is a great secondary world fantasy and murder mystery. It’s on this list because of the portrayal of Thara Celehar as a man struggling with depression, haunted by past trauma and the bleakness he expects of his future while carrying on doing his duty by those who depend on him, combined with his unfailing mixture of wisdom and kindness and his awkwardness in accepting kindness and friendship in return, is so beautifully done. I can tell that this is going to remain one of my comfort reads forever.

My editor wrote to me a few years ago (mostly all-caps and !!!s) about a book called The Goblin Emperor, and had I read it, and didn’t she think I’d adore it? She was so convincing that I ordered a copy from my favorite indie bookstore right away and read it in a sitting. I almost cried when I realized Addison had written only one other book at that point—until a friend told me she was also the author Sarah Monette. I spent the next month reading everything in her oeuvre. But none I adored with my whole body being like I did The Goblin Emperor: its deep kindness, its gentleness, its world-building and warmth, its high stakes and heightened language, its arc of grace and growth. 

Alan Campbell set the mixed steampunk science-fantasy genre for me, with his high fantasy worlds where machines and magic go hand in hand, to prison cities surrounded by poisonous waters that can turn you into permanent sea-dwellers, and telepathic abilities worth killing for.

This is a world where a trip to the beach might kill you if the telepaths don’t find you first.   

I love that the dedication is to the A to Z Challenge bloggers of 2014. (I was one of them!) Here's a well-written and comprehensive reference guide. There's a strong author voice and a great amount of information. It covers the importance of including diverse characters. I recommend The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch to writers building a fictional world, and to writers using an unfamiliar setting. A necessary reference tool for authors.

For my bookworm girlies who long for a historical adventure. This was one of the first historical fantasy/romance books I ever read and I loved it. I remember really loving the main character because not only was she bookish and unintentionally funny, she was smart, awkward, and relatable. The story gives the reader a chance to dive into a culture you may not be completely familiar with and that accounts for half the intrigue right there! I love the lore, the supernatural elements, the history, the action. It’s a story that ticks all the boxes for fun reads and I’d encourage anyone who enjoys those things to give it a shot.  

This is one of the very few books that made me yelp out loud in surprise when the twist happened, and I will forever recommend it because of how unique it was. The feel is reflective of The Road with the main part of the story showing a pained journey through a dangerous landscape. It also feels post-apocalyptic as these survivors struggle to cross the abandoned world that’s been overtaken by nature. The author wrote in a unique language that makes Idyll feel otherworldly but familiar too. All this blends together for really great world-building. I don’t want to give anything away, but there is a definite twist where the whole story flips into something different. You go from feeling like this is a Western to suddenly — Oh, yep, there’s the sci-fi!