Paranormal Romance

Let's Talk Paranormal Romance

I've recently been reflecting on my journey to reading romance.  To me, it felt like it was a recent change in my reading.  I used to read a ton of fantasy, then when I started my bookstagram account, I was reading a bunch of suspense/thrillers and women's fiction.  Now, I'm back to reading a bunch of fantasy and also a bunch of romance titles.

I read fantasy my whole life.  I still remember my mom reading me A Wrinkle in Time.  But when did I start reading romance?  Again, I recently realized it was something I started when I was pretty young - junior high or high school.  When I was younger, I'd borrow MMP copies of romances that my mother or grandmother had.  These were more traditional romance authors like Anita Shreeve or Nicholas Spark .  Then, I stumbled upon paranormal romance.  At the time, I would have told you that I read fantasy books.  And while I read a ton of fantasy that wasn't paranormal romance, upon reflection, I also primarily sought out paranormal romance.

I think a big key to me reading more romance and especially paranormal romance was the fact that I bought my first kindle in 2010.  That is the year I finished my doctorate and started working.  I had a Saturday job (in additional a real full-time job) that involved a lot of sitting around waiting for the physician to need me for something.  Since it wasn't my primary job, I didn't have a lot to do while I sat.  So, I brought my kindle and gave Amazon TONS of money for years.  I bought all of the books.  I found new books to read primarily by Amazon's algorithms.

Looking back at goodreads (although I didn't have goodreads at the time - I think I started using it around when I got my first iphone in 2011 or 2012), my introduction into paranormal romance started with some of the following:

The Twilight Series

• I was in the midst of undergraduate and graduate school when these came out, but I binged all three (from the library) once I discovered them.  Total guilty pleasure reads for me and I loved them!

Amanda Hocking books

• I have no idea how I found Amanda Hocking at the time.  Maybe the advice of a friend?  But I read her My Blood Approves series, her Trylle series, and her Kanin Chronicles books.  
• I reread these books and wanted more.  

The House of Night books

• Again, total binge guilty pleasure reads.  I loved these!  Such a fun concept and the right amount of heat for me.  

The Sookie Stackhouse books

• True Blood was a TV show by the time I found these books, but I read them all and loved them!

The All Souls Trilogy

• This is a combination of historical fiction and paranormal romance.  I still say its the perfect Fall read.  I've reread these books and I totally love the universe Deborah Harkness created.

My transition to actual romance probably started with the 50 Shades of Grey series.  I read these in 2014 after a friend gave me all of her paperback copies when I was visiting her in Washington.  Were these literary masterpeices?  No.  But, I enjoyed the story and I definitely appreciate them as an introduction into romance.  I think they also helped mainstream romance a bit as I saw TONS of people reading these in public.  I still found and binged certain paranormal romance authors - Karen Marie Moning, Sarah J Maas, etc.  

Now, I read tons of romance.  My recent favorite authors include Penny Reid (guys, I adore her books), Alyssa Cole, and Sherry Thomas.

I still occasionally dabble in paranormal romance.  My current favorites would likely include Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas.  These titles tend to masquerade as fantasy, but I think they totally fall into the paranormal romance category.  

What paranormal romance books should I be checking out?  I'm totally ready to embrace this genre and need your advice!