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A handful of books I recommend with vampires that don’t sparkle.

You won’t find Twilight on this list.
But if you’re like me and Edward didn’t do it for you (understatement).. one of these just might be a better fit.

There are a good amount of vampire books out there so I decided to bypass the more well known ‘Interview With a Vampire’ types. Here are a handful that I feel have slipped through the cracks.

Warning! these books may feature adult AND/or triggering content!

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(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

Publication date: May 2009
Pages: 308
Genre: Young adult, Fantasy fiction, Paranormal fiction
Series: Book 1 of 5: Strange Angels

In Strange Angels, Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.)

Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

“People don’t really want to know anything about you. They just want you to fit into their little predetermined slots.
They decide what you are in the first two seconds, and they only get nervous or upset if you don’t live up to their snap judgments.”

This is a pretty well paced story, easy to follow, with a variety of entertaining characters and supernatural situations. It is also very noticeably a YA book, with rather young feeling characters. I still found it to be a fun read but.. fair warning. Many cliches are present!

Three and a Half Stars!

I give this 3.5 stars because I prefer to leave room for improvement.
Luckily the later books in the series do show steady improvement on both the development of the characters and the story itself. I enjoyed watching their personalities and relationships mature.

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Thirst by Christopher Pike

Publication date: June 2012
Pages: 625
Genre: Supernatural fiction, Fantasy fiction
Series: Book 1 of 5: Thirst

At five thousand years old, the vampire Alisa thought she was smart enough to stay out of trouble. But when her creator returns to hunt her, she must protect herself by befriending Ray, the boy who may be her only chance at finding her maker. When she begins to fall in love with Ray, all of a sudden there is more at stake than her own life.

“Will I get lost in this illusion, my Lord?”
“Of course. It is to be expected. You will be lost for a long time.”

Four Stars!

I grew up reading Christopher Pike’s earlier books and later moved on to loving his ‘Remember Me‘ series. ‘Thirst’ is a step away from the typical. A brutal, self involved vampire.. an unexpected love. Give this book a chance and you might just find the richly layered world and artfully flawed characters drawing you in.

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Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Publication date: August 2007
Pages: 354
Genre: Young adult, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Series: Book 1 of 6: Vampire Academy

The story that kicked off the international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series is NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

“It was something of a mystery how a couple of teenage girls had managed to escape detection for two years, especially when one of them was a privileged Moroi princess and the other a delinquent dhampir with a disciplinary file so long that it broke school records.”

You could just watch the ‘major motion picture (insert a healthy dose of sarcasm here) but it will ruin the books for you. Possibly forever. In other words.. avoid the movie at all costs. I’ll restrain my urge to go off on a tangent about the sheer ridiculousness of- Nope. Restraint.

This book is packed with amazing. All of her characters are so well written, all with distinct personalities and flaws, and set in a fast paced storyline that really grabs your attention. Each book gets progressively better as they go, giving the characters a sense of growth that I found very appealing. Richelle Mead really knows how to capture an audience. I highly recommend the entire series.

Five Stars!

The relationships and wordplay here are an especially delightful bit of fun.

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Ash by Leia Stone and Jaymin Eve

Publication date: December 2015
Pages: 298
Genre: New-adult, Paranormal fiction, Fantasy fiction
Series: Book 1 of 3: Hive Trilogy

Are you an Ash?
*Increased stamina
*Lack of appetite
*Anger outbursts
*Insatiable thirst
*Beauty & Strength
*Male

Call the hotline if these symptoms come on suddenly!

Turns out Charlie Bennet was all of those things except the last. Don’t let the name fool you, Charlie was all woman and she wanted nothing to do with the ash … until the day she found out she was one. It all started when infected bats bit a small group of humans and created what are now called vampires. Then, the male vampires knocked up some female humans and the result was a gorgeous race of all male ash. Superhuman freaks that had looks to kill.
Charlie is the first female ash, aka unicorn of the Hive – the gated compound in Portland that the humans have designated to isolate vampires and ash from society. Problem? The Hive is full and only a select few will be allowed to live there. To live at all, really. If Charlie wants to earn the right to become a citizen of the Hive, she will have to survive the culling – a series of fights to the death. And guess what? Just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she’ll get special treatment.
Good thing there’s Ryder, the mysterious lead ash enforcer, who seems to always have her back. But when secrets bubble to the surface, it will take more than one guy to save her.

**Recommended reading age is 17+ due to language

“I knew it was going to take him some time to stop treating me like a delicate flower and realize I was just as tough as most of the ash. Sure, I had boobs, but that only increased my power.”

This book seems to be a hodge podge of several books blended together, which doesn’t make it bad, it’s actually a great read. The main character is pretty resilient. The story has a great pace and hilarious side characters. And this author’s vampires in general is a unique take on a trope that’s been practically exhausted. All good things, all good things.

Four Stars!

(Don’t ask me how I rate things, please, because I’m not sure it makes sense to me either.)

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Half Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication date: July 2017
Pages: 408
Genre: Young adult, Fantasy fiction, Paranormal romance
Series: Book 1 of 5: Covenant

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi—pure-bloods—have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals—well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1: Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem—staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

“There’s nothing like a bunch of catty teenagers who could either kick your ass halfway across the country or set you on fire with a mere thought. That alone changed who people picked fights with or became friends with. And at the end of the day, it was always good to have a firestarter in your back pocket.”

Not a bad series. Full of witty banter, the book starts off with a bang, with characters and a plot that will keep you decently absorbed. There are some pretty frustrating cliches that kind of through me off and a couple of things I just think the book would have been better without.. but the author did a good job creating a story that will keep you turning pages.

Three and a Half Stars!

I would probably recommend this as a light read for fans of ‘The Vampire Diaries‘ or ‘The Infernal Devices‘.

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Here Be Sexist Vampires by Suzanne Wright

Publication date: January 2012
Pages: 268
Genre: Paranormal romance, Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of 6: Deep in Your Veins

Sam Parker is a vampire with a gift so strong and substantial that she is invited to partake in a test for a place in the Grand High Master Vampire’s private legion. She finds that not only has the army never included a woman, but it has never included a Sventé vampire – a breed that is regarded by the super strong Pagori breed and the hypnotically beautiful Keja breed to be too tame and human-like. Most refuse to take her seriously, especially dangerous Pagori commander, Jared, who she craves in spite of herself. The Grand High Master, however, sees her potential and offers her the position of Jared’s co-commander to help train the newest squad in time for the impending attack on his island. Sam has to demonstrate to Jared and the squad of chauvinists why it is incredibly foolish to underestimate a willful, temperamental, borderline-homicidal Sventé female.

Warning: This novel contains an iron-willed female vampire with an energy whip, a sexist male vampire who is determined to have her, explicit vampy sex, and a romance story with real bite.

“God, I loved this woman: this very crazy, borderline-homicidal – on second thought, scrap the borderline – woman.”

They changed the cover for this, which is such a shame, I thought the last one was better.

I really, Really loved this story. The main character is amazing. She has no intention of letting the chauvinistic male love interest get away with his crap for long.. and she does it with style. I am such a fan of characters who stand up for themselves and don’t allow the other sex to dictate their lives. The side characters are brilliantly entertaining. And Wright’s world building is an incredibly vivid example of her impressive ability a s author.

Five Stars!

There are some moments where the male lead is obnoxious and infuriating, where she’s a little too accepting but.. he’s a male vampire. If you can overlook that? It’s well worth it.
(He’s still a douche-canoe, fair warning.)

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Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill

Publication date: February 2009
Pages: 356
Genre: Urban fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal romance
Series: Book 1 of 13: Chicagoland Vampires

First in a brand new series about a Chicago graduate student’s introduction into a society of vampires.

Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.

Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan Lord o the Manor Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries? worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude? and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan?s attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone’s still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war and there will be blood.

“There are days when I would love to pull the cover over my head and say to hell with it.
But I don’t do that. And most people don’t do that. Most people get up and do their jobs and work their asses off for no reward at all – but just so they can get up the next day and do the whole thing over again.”

Four Stars!

Something about male vampires being chauvinistic a-holes. Merit (love the name,) the lead female, is a great character.. flawed but really well done. She gives back twice as much as she gets, which seems almost necessary in these books. The side characters are really a treat though.. their personalities and interactions with one another were both funny and charming. Plus, I found the supernatural aspects of Chloe Neil’s brilliant world building to be an uniquely intricate quality in her books.

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Sleight of Hand by Mark Henwick

Publication date: August 2012
Pages: 575
Genre: Urban fantasy, Adult paranormal, Paranormal fiction, Crime mystery
Series: Book 1 of 7: Bite Back

Not dead. Yet. Not undead either, but the odds are stacking up against Amber.

Denver’s brutal drug gangs want her dead, but there’s no chance for her to hide away. Her PI business is already struggling to get by, and she has to take a job for a wealthy local businesswoman, Jennifer Kingslund.

That’s despite knowing the case will compel her to deal with the reason she had to leave the military’s most secret Special Forces unit: she was bitten by a vampire, and there’s no escape from that.

Out of sight of humanity, Denver’s dark side pulses with supernatural dangers, and the vampires want to claim Amber as their own.

Can Amber defeat the gangs and solve Jennifer’s case before she has to face her own personal crisis – to oppose the vampires … or to become one?

“This is the gift and the sorrow of the Athanate; to see your loves pass before you like the days of summer while your heart still beats. To keep your vigil in the shadows and rise again with every sun.”

She is one tough cookie. This ex-military, kick-butt woman may have a tragic and mysterious past but she’s about to be the main attraction for change. Action packed and interesting as heck, this author does vampires a little differently here.. and it works. Brilliantly fashioned, fully developed characters that will keep your attention throughout.

Five Stars!

These books only get more interesting as you go!

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Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin

Publication date: October 2007
Pages: 324
Genre: Urban fantasy, Paranormal fiction
Series: Book 1 of 9: Jaz Parks

I’m Jaz Parks. My boss is Vayl, born in Romania in 1744. Died there too, at the hand of his vampire wife, Liliana. But that’s ancient history. For the moment Vayl works for the C.I.A. doing what he does best — assassination. And I help. You could say I’m an Assistant Assassin. But then I’d have to kick your ass.

Our current assignment seemed easy. Get close to a Miami plastic surgeon named Assan, a charmer with ties to terrorism that run deeper than a buried body. Find out what he’s meeting with that can help him and his comrades bring America to her knees. And then close his beady little eyes forever. Why is it that nothing’s ever as easy as it seems?

“Sometimes things would be so much simpler if you could just pull out your gun and shoot the bad guy. Reason number seventeen why Indiana Jones is my hero.”

Need a really entertaining protagonist with serious butt-kicking skills? This one had me chuckling often. The relationship between our lead characters is funny and charming. Besides.. Who doesn’t love a good assassin or two? If you’re a fan of action, old fashioned gentlemen vampires, and a smart mouthed assistant.. Look no further.

Five Stars!

I highly recommend checking this one out!

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Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J. A. Saare

Publication date: August 2018
Pages: 364
Genre: Urban fantasy, Paranormal fiction, Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of 4: Rhiannon’s Law

One bad corpse can ruin your whole day.

Rhiannon Murphy left behind the flash and sass of Miami for the no-nonsense groove of New York City, eager for a clean slate and a fresh start. A bartender by trade, a loud mouth by choice, and a necromancer by chance; she managed to keep her nifty talent hidden from those around her — until now.

The deliciously good-looking vampire, Disco, knows her secret. When he strolls into her bar to solicit help investigating the mysterious disappearances of his kind from the city, Rhiannon discovers he’s not the kind of person that appreciates the significance of the word no. But in a world where vampires peddle their blood as the latest and greatest drug of choice, it’s only a matter of time before the next big thing hits the market. Someone or something is killing vampires to steal their hearts, and unlike Rhiannon, this isn’t their first stroll around the undead block.

**Warning. Contains coarse language, sexual situations, violence. For mature audiences only.**

“Listen,” I sighed and reached for my plastic bottle. “I want to get this sh!t over and done. Can we strive to obtain that goal? I have a meaningless existence, and I can’t put that kind of action on hold indefinitely

There’s a lot a lot here you could love in this book.. and a few things that just didn’t click. Slightly reminiscent of Laurell K. Hamilton‘s ‘Anita Blake‘ series, a hardheaded necromancer finds herself in the path of a very old, rather attractive vampire. He wants something from her and the fun begins. While I did find Rhiannon frustrating at times.. I found myself pretty absorbed in her story. The small twists and unexpected situations they face are what really kept me turning pages.

Three and a Half Stars!

I don’t think this book is for everyone.. but some of you will love it. I would suggest this if you’re looking for a more urban fantasy feel to your vampire experience.

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Well.. that’s pretty much it for now! I hope you’ve enjoyed this list and are able to find something of interest!

What do you think makes a good vampire?
Dark and seductive?
Eternally tragic?

Have you read any of these?
I would love to hear what you thought!

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